Toast of the Season

✩ Epilogue I ✩

Lizzy blushed again which made Edmund chuckle. His fingers undoing her buttons were giving her sensitive chills down her back. He seemed to be purposely touching her with gentle caresses of his fingertips as he moved farther down her back. 

She was anticipating being with Edmund this evening as much as he was with her. Over the last months they had a few stolen kissing sessions but not as many as either of them would have wanted. In the busyness of arranging all the wedding events and being social in London, they were rarely left alone together.

Edmund had released as many buttons as he could while she was sitting so he helped her stand to unfasten the rest. Lizzy felt his breath on her neck milliseconds before she felt his kisses across her shoulders. When the last button was free, his hands went under the back of the dress to help her remove it. Lizzy was glad that Rachel had insisted that her undergarments be as lovely as the dress itself. They were decorated in an intricate white floral embroidery over the all white fabric. Lizzy had felt like royalty all day while wearing them.

The dress dropped to the floor and Edmund wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back into his chest. He groaned a bit, dropped a kiss onto her bare shoulder and said into her ear, "Lizzy, I want so badly to make tonight nice for you." 

Lizzy was overcome by his sweetness, he had to be the most thoughtful man in the world. She turned in his embrace to face him, placing her hands on his upper arms and looked up into his beautiful sparkling eyes. "Do you plan to kiss me?"

His hands came up to cradle her face, his eyes were dark with arousal, "Yes, of course."

She smiled up at him, "Then there is no possible way tonight won't be wonderful."

Edmund gave a second growl and lowered his lips down onto hers. It wasn't their first kiss as a married couple but it was their first kiss in private. Edmund's hunger for her couldn't be mistaken in the passionate way he suckled at her lips. 

Lizzy felt lightheaded and breathless with the deliciousness of the adamant kisses he was giving. As he kissed on her, he started tugging at her clothes until he got irritated, "Arghhh." He gave a small frustrated grunt. "They have strapped you in too tightly, I cannot get you out."

Lizzy stepped back and laughed lightly. She turned around so her back was facing him, "Do you see the bow of the ribbon at the bottom?" She felt his hand on it. "Release that and loosen the lacing. He did as she asked and very quickly he had her in nothing at all.

Her hands naturally came up to cover herself but Edmund walked around to her front taking her wrists and holding her arms out to the side. His eyes, nearly black now, raked her from top to bottom several times before settling on her eyes. 

His voice was one of awe, "You are the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen in my life, Lizzy."

She couldn't help but blush and giggle. But then a pout settled on her face, "I am completely unclothed and you have not even removed your tie or shoes!"

Edmund laughed at her complaint. He dropped her wrists and she watched his quick movements as he removed his clothing in barely a minute. Hopping around on one foot and the other to get everything off and onto the floor. When he discarded his trousers, Lizzy's hands came up to cover her dropped jaw and smile. Her eyes were so big and Edmund couldn't help but laugh at her reaction.

When she did not remove her hands from her face or move or say anything Edmund picked her up and carried her to the bed, "I think my handsomeness has broken you!" Lizzy giggled as she was thrown onto the bed and they burrowed under the covers.

Neither had any experience in their past to prepare them for the marital bed, except for a rudimentary understanding of the process. What they did have was a passion for each other and deep-seated need to get closer. Lizzy and Edmund spent above an hour kissing and tentatively exploring each other's bodies. Edmund's kisses were slow and sensual. With every loving kiss he showed how much he cared for her and how much patience he had to just enjoy being with her.

When Edmund finally entered her, they both had said they were ready. But the tears that formed at the edges of Lizzy's eyes which spilled over and traveled down her temples into her hair, made Edmund's heart nearly break. He had heard it would be painful for her the first few times. He stilled because he couldn't bear to hurt her. "Do you want me to stop?"

Lizzy shook her head, "No." He still didn't move, he was resting his weight on an elbow with his forearm under her shoulder cradling her neck with his hand. "Will you kiss me again?" As she asked she brought her hands up to the back of his neck, her fingers stroking though the hair at the nape of his neck.

Edmund didn't give a verbal response to her request, he just lowered his lips onto hers. His hand had found one of her breasts early on in the evening and had hardly moved away since they climbed into bed. The slow and gentle relentless strokes of his thumb, along with his loving slow open mouth kisses on her lips, neck and ears helped her to relax and enjoy her husband's touches again. 

Edmund tried so hard not to move but there was an almost imperceptible rocking of his hips, one over which he had no control. This, along with his open mouth exploring kisses was making Lizzy sigh and moan. His unrelenting gentle touches made her unravel underneath him and he watched in awe as she furrowed her brow and had the first climax of her life. He thought it was the single most beautiful thing he had ever experienced in his lifetime.

Watching her shake and whimper with pleasure, little frown on her face, and feeling her body repeatedly clutching him brought him to the point of no return. With one rapid draw back and thrust forward of his hips he emptied himself into her. He was careful to bite the pillow behind her and not her shoulder after he shouted out in ecstasy.

They laid there long minutes, crawling down from their extreme highs. Both were still breathing hard when Edmund raised his forehead from her pillow to look down on her. There was so much love in his eyes. "Was that alright?"

Lizzy opened her eyes and gave a lazy satisfied smile up at him, "Who would have known we would be experts our first time?"

Edmund chuckled and lowered soft kisses filled with adoration onto her lips. "We were awfully good, weren't we?" He paused in thought, "For some strange reason though, I still feel as if we need lots of practice."

Lizzy giggled and was glad when Edmund begged her to stay and sleep with him. He was the best husband she could ever imagine and she felt completely blessed that he was hers.

As she cuddled to his side, Edmund's arms wrapped around her. "Lizzy I never did anything good enough to deserve having you as a wife. But I will spend the rest of my life trying to be worthy of you. I could never have imagined being this happy. It is like living in a fairy tale dream and I don't want to ever wake up."

Lizzy rubbed her hand down his muscular bicep, "Then we won't, we will stay in our dreamworld forever." They both sighed at the lovely thought and fell asleep in each other's arms.