She sighed and enjoyed the caress.
"I did not know either," she said quietly, and the look on her face made him kiss her again and move on to pleasuring her yet again, this time with his finger while they kissed.
* * * * *
Some time later, finally they knew they had to get out of bed.
"Today I have to go with Father to visit some of our tenants so I shall be out most of the day," Edward said as he dressed.
Alessandra dressed as far as she could herself and then Edward helped her to secure the back of her dress, an action he was learning to enjoy greatly each morning. As he did so, he kissed her on the back of her neck, an area she now loved him kissing while he assisted in her dressing ritual each day, and she moaned again, making him aroused once more.
He laughed softly at her. "I wonder if I shall ever get anything done, wanting to be close to you like this all the time."
She smiled at him and pulled herself away, readying herself as presentable for company finally.
"Come, then, husband, let us leave this room of privacy and go and be civil with your parents. And I shall simply look forward to tonight," she said, as if to tempt him into arousal again, before laughing with him as they headed to breakfast.
Entering the breakfast room, they greeted Edward's parents who exchanged a knowing look but refrained from chastising them for their lateness of rising from their bed.
"Eat quickly, Edward, as we have an appointment we must get to," Edward's father said with a slight tinge of sternness in his voice that told Edward that possibly from this point forward, it would be best to not indulge in quite so much pleasure early in the morning, which seemed to consistently make him this late for breakfast.
"And you and I, Alessandra, are going to spend some time today going over some household management learning," Edward's mother said, addressing Alessandra, who smiled and nodded back at her.
Chapter Twenty
Over the next week the two young lovers were both busy with assignments given to them by Edward's mother and father, and only fell into bed with each other each evening, exhausted from the day's events but still eager to please and be pleased.
On the Sunday, after church service, Edward informed his father that he would spend the rest of the day with his wife, and he and Alessandra made their way up to the summit. The weather had been too cold for such activity in recent times but this was a rare winter day when the sun was out and it was fairly warm, so they seized the moment and took the horses up. It was the first time they had been up there since their wedding.
They sat down on the blankets and held each other while they looked out over the land around them. Then they were kissing again, and Alessandra felt the same longing as she always did.
"Edward," she seemed to breathe out. "Touch me, please."
He looked at her, surprised, knowing they were in the open, but was overcome with arousal also, and did know that there was never anyone up here to see.
He discretely placed his hand on her calf, and ran his hand up her leg, inside her dress, until he could feel where she liked to be touched.
"Yes," she said, and he watched her face as she was taken away into the world of pleasure, which lasted only a few minutes before it was over for her, breathing heavily as she recovered.
She looked at him, her eyes deep with passion.
"And you?" she asked him but he held her hand and kissed it.
"Later my love," he said, wanting more than anything to be touched by her but knowing he could not be pleasured quite so discretely as she could, so making the decision to put that thought behind them. "Tonight, when we are in the privacy of our room."
She kissed him again in response, and they ended up lying down with him on top of her. It felt natural for him to be positioned so that her legs were spread and he was lying between them. Even with all of the clothing they both had on, it felt thrilling.
Alessandra felt like she could not get enough of him. She knew they both had so much work they should be doing, all day every day, but this was what she wanted to do more than anything else - just be with her husband like this.
They stopped kissing and just lay in the position, looking at each other.
"I do love you, Alessandra," Edward said, his face full of emotion.
She looked at him, still acknowledging that he had no traditional handsomeness on his face, but yet was still a man who she regarded as truly beautiful.
"And I love you, Edward."
They then started to feel cold so Edward stood and helped her up.
"My beautiful wife, we need to get home and in front of the fire. It is getting too cold to be out here," he said, kissing her again and feeling her respond with the passion that she seemed to have an unending supply of.
He laughed and pushed her away from him.
"Later!" he exclaimed, and she laughed at him before they mounted the horses and made their way back home.
Chapter Twenty One
The next morning they woke to feel a different chill in the air, and after they were dressed, looked outside to see that it had snowed in the night and they were going to be stuck at home until the weather passed.
"Could we perhaps stay in bed all day then?" Alessandra asked him, with a small suggestive smile on her face.
He laughed at her.
"No! There is still a lot to be done. At this time of year it is harder to keep fires going and the house warm, so we all have to pitch in and work to make it possible - even you and I! After breakfast I will show you where we keep extra stocks of everything we may need to get through this time if we are stuck here and unable to get outside at all," Edward responded, even though inside he did indeed like her idea of staying in bed.
Before making their way to breakfast, though, he did walk up behind her and hold her while they both looked out the window. And both considered how much their lives had changed in recent months from what each of them had individually expected.
"Come," Edward said as he pulled away from her and held out his hand for her to take as they made their way to the breakfast room.
* * * * *
Later that afternoon Alessandra felt a familiar sensation, that being of her monthly bleeding arriving. She excused herself and headed toward to the room she now shared with her husband, not sure how to handle the situation without the comfort of her mother around, and when almost there, ran into Margaret.
"Oh, Miss, are you unwell? Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked, and Alessandra looked perplexed, as if she did not know how to act now, with her 'visitor' now being here. She looked at Margaret, judging her to not be as old as her mother, but certainly possibly old enough to know a great deal about etiquette and what people did in their marriage.
She tentatively spoke.
"Could I ask you about something of a rather private nature?" she asked and the woman before her smiled softly.
"Of course. Let us step into your room for privacy, and you can ask me whatever you like."
Once inside the bedroom, Alessandra turned to Margaret.
"Margaret, I do not wish to cause any offence when I ask, but are you married?"
The woman before her smiled and laughed.
"Yes I have been married for over ten years, Miss. What is it that you wish to ask me? You will not offend, and you have my confidence."
Alessandra only hesitated a moment, realising that she would not see her mother again, and the thought of talking to Edward's mother did not appeal in this moment, so she needed to find the courage to keep speaking.
"I … today my …" Alessandra started, finding herself blushing.
Margaret was perceptive and made everything easier.
"Is today the start of your monthly cycle, Miss?" she asked and Alessandra nodded.
"I don't know what I am to do, as a married woman…" she tried to continue.
Margaret looked at her, now realising the angle the young woman before her was worried about.
"Are you
concerned about what to do during these days, with regard to your husband?"
She heard Alessandra let out a sigh of relief, as she saw her nod her head.
"Do … things … continue … during this time?" she asked, feeling her face go to its dark red tone once more.
Margaret looked kindly at her, remembering her own start of her marriage, and how timid she had also been.
"That is for you to decide, Miss. I believe some women do not wish to engage in that way with their husband during the time of bleeding, but for other women it does not bother them in the slightest. But it is something that will come to visit month after month unless you are pregnant, so it is something you can decide with the young master, if your communication is open."
"Did you talk to your husband about it, Margaret?" Alessandra asked, hoping she was not overstepping any boundaries, but the woman before her only looked happy to talk about the subject, and started to laugh quietly.
"Oh, Miss, the first bleeding I had after I married, I was so embarrassed that I made up excuses for almost a whole week about how I could not sleep beside him. After that week was over and we re-met in our marriage bed, he was so concerned about it that I ended up telling him it had been my week of bleeding, and he told me there and then that that would be no excuse for not sleeping with him ever again. He didn't mind if we did not engage in our intimacy for the week, but he would not have me sleeping in a different bed from him ever again."
Alessandra watched the older woman as she seemed to be remembering the time with fondness.
"After that conversation, I never slept apart from him again, and I found it easiest to just tell him when it was starting, and he was very patient and accepting of it, as I am sure the young master will be also."
Margaret stopped and now looked right at Alessandra.
"He is a good boy, the young master, and everything is new for both of you but I have found that the more and the sooner you can talk about everything, the quicker the relaxation about it comes."
Alessandra looked at her with gratitude.
"Thank you. I hope I have not made you uncomfortable."
Margaret smiled broadly at her.
"Miss, it takes a lot to make me feel uncomfortable. You can ask me anything, anytime. I may not always be able to answer, but I am happy to try."
* * * * *
That night as Edward climbed into bed with Alessandra, she found herself suddenly very shy around him, and not like her usual forward self at this time of day.
"You seem distant," he said to her, watching her for some sign of what was going on in her mind, as by now he knew she thought about things very deeply sometimes before doing or saying what she wanted to.
"I have my monthly bleeding today," she said quietly, avoiding looking in his eyes.
He was momentarily confused as he knew his mother had talked about such things but he noted now that he might not have listened well enough to know what he should say or do in this moment.
"Alessandra, I am not too aware of the workings of a woman's body, but am I right in thinking that you will bleed for a few days every month, and that if you do not bleed, that is a sign that you are with child?" he ventured to blurt out, feeling certain that he probably had gotten something wrong, but his words encouraged her to look up again, into his eyes.
"Yes! I thought you might not know, and I was worried about what it might mean for us and … this time of day," she said quietly and he smiled at her.
"Does it make you feel different, like you do not want us to touch each other?" he asked, now very curious about how things were.
"No, I do not feel like I don't want to touch you, but I am … a little bit …messy."
He kissed her on the lips and caressed her nipple before moving his hand down, making her feel embarrassed but also trusting of him. She felt him touch her there, with his finger, as he had done so many times before.
"Does it hurt, now that you are bleeding?" he asked and she moaned in pleasure.
"No," she breathed out at him, looking as she always did in these moments.
"Shall I keep touching you?" he asked.
"Yes, please."
Alessandra relished the feelings again, realising that the time of month did not need to equate with no pleasure for them, although she appreciated that he would not want to kiss her there, but this was enough for them both.
Chapter Twenty Two
In total, the family was snowed in and confined to the manor for three weeks, and it was near the end of this time that Edward's mother discretely veered Alessandra off so that they could talk alone.
"Alessandra, you have now been married for almost two months. Have you bled?" she asked directly, making Alessandra blush and feel guilty about the decision she had made with Edward to not yet have children. But how could she tell her mother-in-law that?
She nodded her head in response. At least in this she could be honest.
"Then you are not with child yet," Edward's mother continued, and Alessandra shook her head, not wanting to respond in any way at all. "It is of no consequence, it is still early days," she continued and then changed the subject as if it were nothing, but the memory of it having been spoken remained with Alessandra right through the day, until she was with her husband alone again.
In the privacy of their room, Edward knew immediately that something was different about her. He lay beside her in their bed, the two of them huddling together to keep warm in the cold of the night.
"What is bothering you, Alessandra?" he asked, worried that she was going to give him some kind of bad news.
"Oh Edward, your mother asked me today if I had bled," she said, revealing her concern in her voice. "She was asking in a roundabout way if I was pregnant yet."
Edward sighed. "Oh I see. But you told her you were not?"
"Yes of course, I have no desire to lie to her. But I also did not tell her that we have not tried yet. Do you think we are being selfish, wanting this time for ourselves?"
He held her tight and they looked into each other's eyes.
"No, but I equally don't want you to feel pressured by my parents."
"Edward, do you think it is the right time for us to try?" Alessandra asked and she heard him let out a deep breath.
"Do you?"
She considered for a moment their situation, and knew that she would continue to feel guilty if they continued to be so selfish and keep from his parents something that they seemed so desperate to want.
"Yes."
He kissed her then, and they pleasured each other with their hands while continuing to kiss, and after they had both climaxed, and when he became hard again, they moved naturally so that he was on top of her, between her legs.
He looked into her eyes, not wanting to hurt her.
"Are you sure?" he asked one more time, and she nodded and kissed him deeply, preparing herself for whatever feeling was about to come.
Edward moved closer to her, kissing her so much and moving with her in a way that it all happened naturally, surprising them both.
Alessandra felt him enter and while it was a strange sensation, she only felt a mild discomfort before she realised he was fully inside her.
"Oh my love, are you alright?" he asked, staying still and not moving while fully inside her.
"Yes, I can feel you. Oh Edward, I like how you feel," she said and he slowly moved out and then back into her, trying to control how he was feeling, but it only took three movements like this and he came inside of her, as she felt him convulse and slump somewhat on top of her.
He stayed there, unmoving, while looking at her face and continuing to kiss her.
Alessandra kissed him eagerly, in the wonder that this was how babies were made. Right now a life could be beginning, and it came from this wonderful act that produced so many good feelings in her.
Chapter Twenty Three
The next morning, although determined to get out of bed as early as was expected by his parents, Edward found h
imself once again late to breakfast after waking and finding his wife eager to repeat the previous evening.
As he slid inside of her, she spoke to him, asking him how it felt to him, which he realised was enough to take his mind off it for a moment, and make him be able to stay in her for a bit longer.
"Oh Alessandra, it feels warm, like a fine fur coat wrapped around me tightly. It is exquisite - you are exquisite," he said in reply to her question before staying still, deep inside of her and kissing her.
Then he felt her move slightly, and he let himself go with the feeling of physical pleasure as they started to move together, before he let go completely.
Alessandra revelled in the new feelings that came from this connection she now had with Edward. The feeling of joining took her to another level of happiness, and she found it difficult to comprehend how other women could not enjoy it.
She watched his face as she saw him recover from the moment of bliss, and he focused on her once again, giving her a shy smile.
"My parents are going to tell me off again," he laughed quietly, and she smiled back at him.
"Yes, sorry," she said, teasing him.
"I think you are not at all sorry, my beautiful wife. I think you are enjoying getting me in trouble almost every morning!" he laughed back at her as they pulled themselves from the warmth of their bed and readied themselves for the day ahead.
* * * * *
"Edward!" they both heard as they entered the breakfast room, and almost jumped at the sternness of his father's voice. "This has to stop. You have responsibilities that need to be attended to. Eat quickly as we are expected at the lawyer's office … now!"
Edward grabbed what portable food he could in a napkin and ate as he was walking out of the room, only having time to give Alessandra a quick kiss and then he and his father were both gone, leaving Alessandra at the breakfast table with Edward's mother.
Expecting a similar reprimand, Alessandra sat quietly while choosing a selection of food to eat before it was going to be cleared, but could feel the eyes of Edward's mother on her.
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