‘I noticed,’ he replied, ‘I realised it was more comfortable than the one you had been sleeping in but to think you were in it because you were thinking of me brings me much joy.’
He leaned in, his forehead touching the side of her face. ‘You know I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you Catherine.’
Turning her face towards him she smiled before kissing his lips. ‘My head was still in Ajara back then but I knew you were a good man, I’m so glad I agreed to marry you. I love you so much.’
He grinned. ‘I love you too, now let’s get you out of here and back into bed so you can rest.’
After helping her dry off and putting a fresh shift over her head Richard sat her in the chair beside the bed while Sarah changed the linen. ‘Thank you, husband,’ Catherine said, as he knelt beside the chair.
He kissed her chastely on the cheek. ‘You’re welcome wife. I only hope you recover quickly so we can be together again.’
She smiled. ‘I would like that, I’d also like to see my son if I could.’
‘He’s sleeping right now,’ said Sarah, ‘he will love to see you too when he’s awake.’
‘Stay with me?’ Catherine asked Richard, ‘I just want you with me tonight.’
‘Of course love,’ he replied, ‘it would be good to have you in my arms.’
Sarah arrived back with food and Catherine ate like she was starving. ‘Be careful,’ Richard said laughing, ‘you’ll be sick.’
Catherine grinned. ‘It would be worth it, I am so hungry. I am sure my recovery will be hastened by your presence my love.’
Richard could not hold back the smile as his heart pounded at her words.
Finally she climbed into bed and Sarah kissed her cheek. ‘Goodnight sweetheart, I’ll leave you in Richard’s capable hands.’
The door closed and Catherine smiled at Richard. ‘I’m sure your hands are very capable.’
Richard laughed. ‘You will have to wait to find that out love, tonight I will hold you in my arms but nothing requiring effort. That will wait until you are well again.’
She sighed. ‘I know. It is just so good to have you here.’
Stripping off his shirt she murmured words of appreciation before he took off his trousers. ‘Behave,’ he said waggling a finger at her before climbing in beside her and wrapping his arms around her.
Catherine nuzzled into his chest. ‘You smell nice,’ she said, ‘this is why I was sleeping in your room, it smelled of you.’
Richard kissed the top of her head. ‘You smell nice too, all clean and fresh. Now let’s see if we can get some sleep and in the morning you can see James.’
She sighed and Richard soon realised she was already asleep. ‘Sleep well my love,’ he whispered.
Chapter 31
James was sitting on the end of the bed when she woke. Richard had been out of bed as soon as he’d heard the little boy in the room next door and the three of them sat on the bed together.
He chattered away, his first words were starting to form and Catherine held him tight never wanting to let go of him again. As she covered his face in little kisses the boy started to giggle and Richard grinned at the sight of the two of them reunited.
James pointed at Richard. ‘Papa,’ he said. Catherine laughed and Richard smiled at the little boy, scooping him into his arms and kissing him making him giggle more.
‘Look at us, the little family,’ said Catherine.
Richard nodded. ‘This is what I wanted, but now there is the matter of Arif to attend to. If this is your choice he will not be happy, he was convinced you would want to be with him.’
‘I did not choose to leave Ajara and I was sad my time there ended when it did the way that it did but Richard I am in love with you. Arif was a childhood dream, one that ended when the Sultan married me. I may have been with him after that but we were chasing something that never would have worked, while I grew up he stayed a child.’
‘He certainly seemed that way when I was there, he relished making me uncomfortable knowing I was your husband. Arif really did think you would choose him, said he was the love of your life. Am I really what you want Catherine, have you truly thought this through?’
She smiled, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it. ‘I know exactly what I want Richard and it is the husband I married for better or for worse. My vows were made with you and I intend to keep them. I waited for you, longing for you and then you came back, pushing me away.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Longing for me?’
‘Yes,’ she said, looking him in the eye, ‘while you were away I came to realise that I did love you but when you came back I didn’t get the chance to tell you just how much. I stayed away because I felt I had to respect your wishes, if I’d come to you sooner you would have rejected me.’
Seeing her like this made him happier than he had been for so long. By the end of his journey he had been so confused, half believing she was making a fool of him. Now he had her child on his lap, the Sultan’s son and she was there, finally able to tell him how she felt and he already knew that his feelings for her hadn’t changed. On hearing she was ill he had rushed to her side, no thought for his own health. She still set his desire on fire, looking at her now and knowing she wanted him made his heart beat faster.
‘I still love you Catherine, I can’t help it. I thought if I stayed away I would get over you but now I’m here and what I feel for you has not diminished.’ He put his hand to her face and she closed her eyes, kissing the palm of his hand. With his hand under her chin he lifted her lips to his and kissed her.
‘Richard,’ she said with a sigh. ‘I am yours my love. I have been since we married whether love came or not and it did.’
He kissed her again, longer this time and interrupted only by the boy on his lap protesting at being squeezed between the pair. Laughing he moved James over to his side where he could cuddle up to his mother and where Richard could kiss Catherine again.
The next few days were hard for Catherine and her mother. Her father had worked so hard trying to re-establish the family fortunes after their money was lost and Sarah firmly believed he had worked himself into the ground. She was bitter about the illness that had taken his life.
Richard stayed with them in the little house, sleeping beside Catherine with his arms around her at night and looking after James, Catherine and her mother. When the funeral day was upon them they all expected a small service but Mary, Beth, Clare and their husband’s all came as did the Grays and the Simpson family.
Catherine noted with some distaste the youngest Simpson girl making eyes at Richard. They had not announced their reunion yet. It was a time for mourning Peter, their good news could wait. It made her warm inside to know that her husband was back with her and soon they would start a new life together. There was no point making a fuss. She was triumphant. Her cough had all but disappeared and with the colour in her cheeks back she was more beautiful than ever.
The wake was a sombre affair, lightened only by James who was walking everywhere and who had realised all the attention was on him. Giggling and charming people wherever he went, he was passed from person to person with Catherine watching nervously.
‘He’s fine,’ said Richard, ‘he loves the attention. I think the ladies are all a little in love with him.’
‘He is as charming as his father,’ she sighed, ‘I must teach him well lest he decide to have his own harem in the middle of London.’
Richard smiled. ‘I hate to tell you this love but I did not find his father very charming.’
She laughed. ‘That does not surprise me in the slightest. Richard we need to work out where to go from here, when will James and I move back to the house?’
Lowering her voice she leaned in so only he could hear. ‘When do I return to your bed as your wife.’
‘You can move back in whenever you are ready love, I’ll do whatever you want. I know we have to think of your mother now too so I understand if you don’t want
to rush things. As for the second part, I would have you in my bed right now if I could but I think our presence would be missed.’
Turning and laughing, she kissed him on the cheek. ‘I love you Richard Black, perhaps now we can start our life together?’
‘I think so,’ he grinned.
The small group who had gathered for the wake slowly thinned out until they were alone again and the afternoon turning to dusk.
Telling Sarah was the difficult part. Catherine worried about her mother being alone, and having been so recently widowed but she took it in her stride. ‘You should be with your husband love, don’t worry about me. You are just across the park and we’ll see each other all the time. In fact, why don’t I look after James while you two have your first night together in your house?’
Richard smiled. ‘You would do that for us Mrs Stanton?’
Sarah stood and hugged the young man. ‘I would be only too pleased to. The two of you did not get off to a conventional start as it were. As you are starting anew then I will be only too happy to support you. Besides, I have grown used to my grandson being around, anytime you want me to take him for a while then please just ask.’
She kissed them both goodbye and they took turns hugging James before Richard took Catherine’s hand. ‘Shall we go home my love?’ he asked.
She grinned. ‘I would like that very much.’
Walking through the park brought back memories of other walks, none more important than this. ‘I like this,’ he said happily, ‘holding my wife’s hand while we walk on our way to creating our future together.’
She squeezed his hand. ‘I am happy too my love, more than you can imagine. I was so worried you would never accept me. I’m so sorry Richard that you had to find out about my past the way you did.’
‘It’s my own fault, you wanted to come to me, talk to me and I didn’t want to listen. I let myself go unprepared and Arif found my weakness and preyed on it. By the time I came home my head was so full of his twisted facts that I messed things up with you. Catherine, when your father died and I heard you were sick all I could think was that nothing Arif said mattered. You are my wife and the woman I love and nothing is going to keep me from you now.’
‘Then you shall be rewarded handsomely for that,’ she said with a laugh, ‘we have a lot of missing time to make up for Mr Black.’
‘That we do Mrs Black that we do.’
Chapter 32
Richard and Catherine barely made it through the door. As he turned the key in the lock in the door of the little house, he pulled her closer with his free hand and kissed her before pushing the door open and scooping her up into his arms.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked, laughing.
‘Carrying you across the threshold, I never did that the first time I brought you here but now things are different.’
His tongue found hers and he felt her move to unfasten the ties at the front of her dress. Kicking the door closed behind him he carried her upstairs to the bed where he continued to kiss her hungrily while pulling at the front of her dress.
Involved in what he was doing he didn’t notice her pulling at his pants, releasing his cock until he felt her warm hand stroking the length and groaned. ‘Catherine,’ he said breathlessly and kissed her again while pulling her dress up and over her head.
She removed his shirt before he kicked off his pants and they lay together, kissing and touching. ‘I have wanted this from the moment I first saw you,’ he said. Boldly he ran his hand down her body, gently rubbing her nipples with his thumbs
Propping herself up on her elbow she licked the tip of him and slowly ran her tongue down his length before coming back to the tip and taking him in her mouth. He felt like he wanted to explode into her and pleaded with her to stop. Ignoring him she moved her lips up and down the shaft, feeling it pulsate in her hand, responding to her ministrations and coming to life.
It did not take much, wanting her for so long took its toll and it wasn’t long before he spilled into her mouth and she swallowed his hot seed down her throat before one final lick and letting go.
‘Catherine,’ he gasped.
Looking up at him she raised her hands. ‘Come my husband, my love, take me as your own, love me, I have missed you so.’
He needed no further invitation, taking her in his arms, marvelling in the smoothness and warmth of her skin. Pushing her back onto the bed he kissed her, his tongue probing her mouth and finding hers responding with enthusiasm. His hands roamed her body touching her breasts, rubbing her nipples again, inciting a moan from her that excited him again as he felt himself stiffen.
She stroked his back, running her hand down to the base of his spine, making him shiver and as he took one nipple into his mouth and let his tongue play with it his hand reached between her legs and found the wetness his touch had inspired.
Fingers probing he felt her moving against his touch, rubbing herself against him until he could smell her sex. She shuddered and he pushed fingers into her, thrusting them in and out while she moved her hips in a rhythm that matched. The words the Sultan said rang in his ears and he felt smug all of a sudden knowing that now he was the one, the only one she would share her passion with now.
Parting her legs further he moved between then, pushing his cock into her waiting body. ‘Richard,’ she cried, feeling him fill her up.
‘My love,’ he said, ‘finally my love.’ As their hips moved in unison, she rose off the bed to meet him, her need for him being fulfilled. Reaching behind she grasped his buttocks, pulling him into her deeper, revelling in the sensation.
He ran his hands over her body, barely believing this was happening. His own previous sexual encounters had never been like this but she was different, uninhibited and wanting more.
Each thrust he filled her, and he thought of how she was his now, no other man would ever touch her. His possession of her was complete.
With a cry he came and she felt him fill her and then as he rolled off her and took her in his arms kissing and stroking her, never wanting to stop.
Then she put her head on his chest, covering it with little kisses. ‘Catherine, there’s something else I want to talk to you about,’ he whispered, his hand stroking her back.
‘What is it my love?’
He reached under the pillow and pulled out the phallus Alena had given him. She stared at it for a moment confused. ‘I was given this by a friend of yours to give to you. I just wondered what you did with it.’
He grinned and Catherine laughed. ‘Here, let me show you my love.’
Chapter 33
The morning sun streamed through the gap in the curtains and Richard gazed at his wife sleeping peacefully beside him. Events of the previous night were still going through his mind, he still could not believe she had come to love him the way he loved her.
There would be children now and a life he had thought he could only imagine with her. He grinned at the thought of Arif discovering that Catherine had chosen him and this life instead of returning to Ajara. The little brat would be furious but Richard would make her happy, he’d see to that.
Watching her sleeping made him feel so warm inside, knowing she was his now. Completely his. The thought of her and James returning to the house made him happier than he ever thought was possible but from tonight the little family would all be under the same roof.
Catherine stirred and looked up at her husband, propped up on the pillows gazing at her. ‘Good morning Mr Black,’ she said.
‘Good morning Mrs Black,’ he replied, leaning down to kiss her. He felt her touch again and responded in kind. ‘I love that you are mine,’ he whispered.
‘Always, my love,’ she replied.
Collecting James from Sarah’s house the family made their way back across the park, stopping to let James run around. ‘Everything is going to be good from now on,’ said Richard, laughing at the boy chasing the ducks again.
Soon the little house made way for a bigger house a l
ittle closer to Sarah with the pending arrival of a sibling for James. Sarah could not have been more proud. ‘I wish your father was alive to see this,’ she would say, ‘our little girl so settled and the grandbabies.’
When his daughter was born Richard was overwhelmed. He loved being James’ stepfather but his own little girl was something special. Catherine fretted over her children’s safety, thinking of her own kidnapping so long ago that had torn her own family’s lives apart but Richard would reassure her that little Irina as they had named her and James would be safe.
He asked no questions when his wife wanted to invest in property down by the markets as well. The family with the little market stand had expanded their business and Catherine was happy to help them gain more space.
Uneasy at first he accepted Catherine’s friendship with Abdul after Catherine explained the stall and what the man was selling. The parts she didn’t tell him wouldn’t hurt she thought, but she had also heard his friend’s wives had ceased their visits to the young man as they started their own families with their husbands.
Sarah kept herself busy with her grandchildren but Catherine continued to worry about her, it had been her and Peter for all the years Catherine had been missing and she wondered how her mother was really coping.
Then came the news that a ship was on its way with a supply of goods from Ajara. Arif, it seemed had not forgotten Catherine or their child and it was his way of contributing to James’ future. The shipment also had an escort who after his years of service to the former Sultan, Arif had decided to let go. He had only been too pleased to travel when he heard where the shipment was going.
Omar had never forgotten Sarah, having long ago given his heart to her and when he stepped off the boat she saw he was still as handsome as ever. Catherine smiled and ran to him, hugging him as an old friend but it was Sarah he had eyes for.
She blushed as he approached her and Catherine raised an eyebrow at her reaction. ‘Sarah,’ he murmured, ‘I had hoped to see you but did not expect you here. You have not changed at all.’
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