Chapter 49

Four weeks

later , Edward and Alessandra

began spending time together outside more. They enjoyed the

simplicity of walking around the gardens as summer established and

the days grew warmer.

"When would you like your

mother to come and stay, my love?" Edward asked her, noticing her

tiredness as she became larger with the life growing inside of her.

"We can send for her at any time."

Alessandra looked at her

husband and was once again thankful for having been wed to a man

who was so considerate, and seemingly not at all afraid of his

in-laws. In response to his question, she nodded and smiled at

him.

"It would be nice to see my

mother and father, Edward," she said. "As soon as it is possible, I

would like them to be invited. They can then decide when is most

suitable, if you are in agreement with that."

Edward nodded at her. "Of

course. Write to them and let them know they are welcome whenever

they are ready to come. I will arrange their travel here," he said

quietly.

Alessandra looked at him.

Although a month had passed, she knew that he still clung to

something about Tom's death, but was determined to not talk to her

about it. She respected that and did not push him, but it made the

length of her pregnancy seem to go on even longer, knowing that

something was between them that was not being spoken of. Silently

she wished time would pass more quickly so that their child could

be brought into the world, and she and Edward would not have to be

so careful anymore.

As

s he clung tighter to his arm

as they walked, Edward looked at her face, also feeling a void

between them that he, too, knew was due to the censoring of

conversation they now had between them, at least temporarily. Even

though they were together every day, still the lack of desire to

speak freely in case he caused her stress, contributed to a slight

feeling of loneliness sometimes in each of them. He knew that

Alessandra would welcome the conversation, but would not pressure

him to provide further details about Tom's death. If he was honest

with himself, Edward could not pinpoint which aspect of the matter

he most wanted to avoid telling her. Still in his mind was the

haunting possibility of Tom having been in the forest, watching

Alessandra and Edward making love. He knew it made no sense to

think about it as Tom was now dead, so it did not matter what he

had seen. It still felt like a violation of Alessandra's privacy,

and the love Edward and his wife shared, knowing that another man

might have seen her body.

Suddenly feeling weighed down

by the undesired quietness between them, Alessandra stopped walking

and forced him to turn and look at her.

"Alessandra," Edward said

with a slight sound of alarm in his voice. "What is it?"

Alessandra moved up

to him, her large belly settling between them, and put her hands up

to either side of his face before leaning in and kissing him.

Although Edward tried to hold back, this time she did not let him.

She held him there, kissing him as passionately as she could, with

all the love she had for him. She desperately wanted him to let go

of whatever was inside of him that was keeping him from being with

her fully.

Edward felt overwhelmed. His

wife knew how to capture him and make him forget things, making him

breathless and dismissive of responsibility. As she kissed him in

the first truly passionate exchange they'd had in weeks, he fought

in his resolve to do the right thing by her. She persisted in

forcing him to acknowledge that they should be intimate. It was how

the two of them were meant to be. Regardless of them agreeing to

not join again until after the baby was born, the void between them

had overflowed into their intimacy when it hadn't needed to.

Alessandra heard Edward moan as

his passion deepened in the kiss. Finally, she felt his resolve

start to fall away as he put his arms around her and held her

firmly, kissing her back with overdue fervour.

They stood

like that for a long time, not touching in any other way, and yet

heavily fuelled in their passion. Edward argued with himself that

he should keep away from such passion with her. At the same time,

he conceded that he needed it - he needed her . He wanted

to be away from her, to let her be relaxed until after the child

was born, but she had initiated the kiss. He knew she wanted him,

just as she had always wanted him. He still could not understand

why that was when he was who he was, and he looked like he did, but

he could not deny that she always wanted him. Neither her pregnancy

nor news of Tom's death had changed that. The only person who had

changed was him. As he continued to enjoy the feeling of her lips

eagerly devouring his, he was angry at himself for having acted so

rashly in trying to control everything between them, instead of

letting things happen as they were meant to happen.

Alessandra indulged in

the blissful feelings rushing through her entire body. She knew

that Edward had been right to hold back from the two of them

joining in recent weeks. Even without any consideration of the baby

itself, she acknowledged inwardly to herself that she had become so

large that it was no longer comfortable to be with him in that way.

The feelings that occurred between them, even from their passionate

kissing, seemed so exciting and so natural. A part of her did not

want to stop. They continued until, eventually, they both eased off

and away from each other enough to be able to look into each

other's eyes.

"I miss you," Alessandra said

quietly. She spoke with great passion in her voice, determined to

make him understand that the decision he'd made to not talk to her

as he always had done before - openly, about everything - was

affecting their relationship.

Edward looked closely at

her with great conflict. Everything seemed right and yet everything

seemed wrong. Being so close to her, he took time to look deeply

into her eyes, and down to her lips. He realised that, despite them

having spent normal time together every single day, he had been

missing her too.

He said nothing. Instead, he

took her hand and led her as he started to walk.

Alessandra sighed to herself,

accepting he was not reachable yet. As she became mindful of where

they were walking, she realised he was leading her to their

bedchamber.

Inside the room, Edward

began to kiss her passionately again. He knew that she needed the

closeness as much as he did, and felt her lean firmly against him

as their lips and tongues entwined. As he kissed her neck, he heard

her moan. It was a sound he'd missed. It seemed far too long since

he'd last heard it.

He took his time alternating

between kissing her lips and undressing her slowly, until she stood

naked before him. With the time that had passed since they had last

lain together, he saw how much her belly had grown. It fuelled and

increased his love for her. He led her to the bed and guided her to

lie down before removing all of his clothing and joining her under

the blankets.

Kneeling near her, he kissed

her from head to toe. Alessandra lay back and let him take things

at his own pace, understanding he was forcing the start of a

healing process over whatever had been haunting him. She watched

him as he looked at every piece of her, lowering his hands and his

lips at different spots while returning his gaze to her eyes

intermittently. She did not try and touch him, knowing that if he

wanted her to, he would encourage her to.

She watched as he kissed

all over her belly. The depth of her love for him surged through

her. At that moment, she didn't care about anything to do with

Tom's death. Yes, it had saddened her to hear that he was dead, but

whatever Tom had done, or whatever aspect of his death had Edward

consumed, Alessandra knew she wouldn't care about it. It was

nothing compared to the emotion that she felt with and for Edward.

If only she could get him to understand that, and just let go of

whatever worried him.

Edward kissed and caressed her

over and over before lying down beside her, pulling her to him as

they faced each other. Still he continued to kiss her, gently and

with love more than passion.

Alessandra indulged in the

loving kisses and waited for him to get to the place she knew he

would, where he would open up and talk to her once again.

Edward felt himself relax. He

didn't need sexual release at all. What he needed most of all was

to just be close to her, without holding back. He continued to kiss

her lips, enjoying the taste of her and the sound of her deep

breaths. It was like meditation for him. He finally felt his body

relax and his mind quieten after weeks of internal stress.

Alessandra felt him pull away

from her. When she opened her eyes, she saw him looking at her.

"I have missed you too," he

whispered as he held her close but could still look into her

eyes.

Alessandra waited patiently,

looking at him without any pressure being placed on him.

Finally, he spoke. "I love you

so much, Alessandra, and I worry that anything I say…"

"Edward, you need not

worry as much as you do. I am well, and our child is healthy. What

is causing you so much concern?" she asked and waited. Edward

continued to look conflicted. She forced him to look at her as she

continued to speak. "Whatever is worrying you, is flowing through

to affect us. That is far more heartbreaking to me than whatever

you are thinking about, I am certain. Please, Edward, let it out so

that we can be as we were before this happened."

Edward looked at her and felt

desire for her but pushed that away. Instead, he focused on his

words.

"The letters that you were

missing from your mother … that were not reaching us…" he started

and she nodded, encouraging him to continue. "They were being

intercepted by Tom so they would not reach you."

Alessandra felt and looked

confused.

"That makes

no sense. Why would he do something like that? And

how did he do that?"

"He returned to your home and

befriended your mother and father so he could offer to send the

letters on their behalf, but instead of posting them, he held onto

them and did not."

Edward watched his wife's face

as she tried to make sense of what she was being told.

"Alessandra, do you

remember how worried you were about your mother when you had not

heard from her?" he asked and saw her nod. "That was his plan. He

wanted you to worry so much that you would go home to see your

mother. He had not considered that with you being with child, it

might be me who rode to check on your parents, rather than

you."

Alessandra heard and analysed

the revelation as Edward studied her face.

"Did you see Tom when you

went there?" she asked.

Edward nodded. "Yes."

"What happened?"

"When I was with your

parents, he walked in. Initially, he appeared surprised to see me

there. He then went on to tell me that he was going to do whatever

it would take to get you back, because in his mind, the two of you

were supposed to be together."

Alessandra pictured the scene

in her head.

"Were my parents there?" she

asked and saw Edward nod. "They saw this interaction between you

and Tom?"

"They did. I think they only

then realised they had been fooled by him - used by him for the

purpose of causing grief in our life together."

Edward saw Alessandra's face

intensify with concern. It made him question whether he had done

the right thing, starting the conversation. Still she asked more

questions, leaving him no choice but to keep moving forward.

"But that is not what has been

bothering you, is it? Yes, I am sure it must have been horrible for

you and my parents to discover Tom's intent and his true nature,

but what are you still not telling me, Edward?"

"Tom's body was found on the

estate," he said and paused before finding the strength to

continue. "He was found not far from the waterfall, and the

estimation of how long he had been there…"

Alessandra finally understood

the conflict in the man before her - the man she loved so

deeply.

"You think that Tom was

watching us, that last day that we were there," she said and saw

him nod slightly as a tear appeared. "You are worried that he saw

us make love."

Edward looked up at her,

the horrific thought crossing his mind again, and resulting in his

eyes clouding over with tears. He knew it was not something to cry

over, and yet something about the violation of their privacy did

deeply affect him.

Alessandra kissed him softly,

summoning her strength to put him at ease.

"Edward, even if he was there

that day, and even if he did see us, it does not matter. Why does

this upset you so?"

"He would have seen you…"

"Oh, my love. My body is

yours alone, and I do not wish for anyone else to see it - ever -

but if he watched us, then that is done. If he was found nearby, he

did not have any opportunity to share anything he saw, even if he

had intended to, which I doubt he would have. I love you for

wanting to protect me so much, but Tom is dead. He will not be able

to hurt us, and I am not hurt by thinking that he might have seen

me with you like that. If he saw us together, then all he would

have seen was how much I love you, and how much we share as husband

and wife."

"To me, it feels like he

violated you…" Edward started to say Alessandra pulled him closer

and soothed him.

"Yes, I can

see how much it affects you, but, Edward, I have not been violated.

Even with this news, I do not feel it. Tom does not matter to me.

All I care about is you, and our child, and my parents, and your

parents. Whatever Tom was intending, and whatever he did, he is

gone and he will never hurt us. He could never have hurt

us, because I love you so much. There was never any way he could

have changed that."

Edward looked into her eyes and

felt himself start to relax. She had such inner strength that

sometimes he found himself in awe of her. Suddenly he thought back

to when she had arrived at the manor, and how incredibly timid she

had been. He smiled at the memory.

"What makes you smile

so?" Alessandra asked him, hoping all of his worries might finally

be at peace.

Edward gave her the most

incredible smile. It made her blush softly.

"I was remembering how you were

when you first came here - those first few days. I never would have

guessed at that time, just how strong you are," Edward said and

relaxed into himself for a further moment, formulating words in his

head. "I am blessed to have you, Alessandra, and I do love you so

much."

Alessandra saw tears once again

return to her husband's eyes. She kissed him softly before

speaking.

"I love you too, Edward, but

please, if there is anything else bothering or worrying you, speak

now. Let me put your mind at ease. It has not been the same with

you so concerned about Tom. You are far more important to me than

anything you can be worrying about."

Edward kissed her in reply and

pulled her closer to him.

"All is well, my lovely wife.

It has been just this horrible business about Tom that has been

consuming my mind. Are you sure you are alright with what I have

told you today?"

Alessandra kissed him once

more, pulling him into a passionate embrace and reassuring him

through her actions that she was not giving Tom Missinger another

thought.