The Sultan's Bride (20 page)

She smiled.  ‘He has
never been James’ father, not the way you have been.  I missed you so very
much while you were away
Richard,
I even started
sleeping in your bed hoping when you returned you would join me in it.’

‘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.

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
eHe
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.’

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.’