Until Death Do Us Part

Chapter One

I sat absolutely still, nibbling on my lower lip. I didn't want to move lest I ruin my lover's portrait, but I found it hard to sit still enough for him to properly sketch me. He hadn't yet told me I'd moved too much, he was too focused on forming the lines of my face with a flesh coloured pastel to notice I kept shifting my feet every now and again. The late afternoon sun filtered in through the chiffon curtains in his parents' drawing room and bleached his hair a cream tinted pewter. I wanted to leave my seat and slide onto his lap, run my fingers through his hair and give him kisses, but I opted to sit still until he told me I could move.

"I'm done, darling, you can move now."

I slid off the sofa slowly, testing if my legs had fallen to sleep before leaping up and scurrying into his arms. He chuckled, a sound I couldn't help but tempt myself to coax out of him at times. It was a deep, yet sensual sound that gave one a sense of warmth. I hopped up onto his lap and let his arms coil around me. Sadly, my feet dangled above the floor quite some ways and I made up by swinging them to and fro.

"Corsy," I took hold of my face while I spoked, "You mustn't be so quiet."

He smiled under my fingertips.

"Quiet? I'm not being quiet, only observant. Did you miss me in the time you were stuck on that sofa, madam?"

His voice was innocent, playful even. He wanted me to react as if I were outraged at being called a miss by my lover. Instead, I slipped my hands beneath his sweater and rested them on his midsection and stole his lips for a short moment. He shifted under my hands. Even being gargantuan, nearly seven feet and six inches and two hundred seventy pounds, he was still very ticklish. So much in fact that everyone but me was forbidden from touching his sides.

"Madam? I'll show you madam," I gave him a devilish smile and slid my fingers over to his sides. Almost immediately, Corsy lost control of himself and began to wriggle and giggle under my hands. He made a pitched whining sound, attempting to pry my fingers free of his sides. I giggled along with him, grinning all the while.

"Oh, you!"

When he'd finally pried free my hands, he swung me to the side so that I was bent just so over his leg. I threw my arms about his neck and pulled myself back up, giggling.

"Wrestling with a young man! Not very ladylike, Emma."

I frowned as soon as Corsy's grandmother entered, and curled up in his lap so that I could tuck my head between his shoulder and neck. I highly disliked the woman, and always found myself making unladylike comments toward her.  I felt his hands tighten at my sides and tensed myself against the pain.
  "And you," She shook a finger at Corsy as she crossed over the room to tidy the drapes, "Your father ought to put you to work at the furnaces, get you out of this house." 
  "He does when he needs an extra hand," Corsy replied.
I could see a bit of his old temper flare in his Amber eyes and prayed silently that his grandmother found else to bother lest he lose his cool. As a child, Corsy had been known for his violent, vehement, and ever intensifying temper fits. He'd once tied up one of the village boys and threatened to toss him in one of his father's blast furnaces for tripping me in school. The boy had been untied seconds after Corsy had drug him to the top of the furnace and made to push him in. He'd ran off, shivering and yelling on about how Corsy was a lunatic. The town officials had had a lengthy talk with his mother on it and she'd agreed to do something about it. Now that he was older, he had a strong grip on his temper and was often able to hold it in for long periods of time. He still shook and ranted, but injuries were much less common now.  I was often able to soothe him to a simmer.
"He ought not to give you a choice, it'd teach you a lesson on being so idle with your hands. Idle hands and minds make for the Devil's delight, boy," Corsy's grandmother went on.
  "He wasn't idle, he's just finished drawing my portrait," I interjected.
Corsy's grip tightened on my sides, and I felt a small coil occurr in his body.  He pulled me closer.
  "And just how many of those has he done of you without your clothes, young miss?"
Corsy jerked upright, eyes ablaze and narrowed now. 
  "Excuse you! I've never asked Emma to remove her dress for a portrait," he retorted hotly.
  "Oh, haven't you? Couldn't simply pass it off as art? Lust is an ugly sin, Corsy Alexander. Just you keep that in mind," his grandmother continued adjusting the drapes.
  "Lust? Oh, dare tell how I've come to be and how mum came to be if it's a sin to get inside a lady's skirts?", he snickered devilishy at this and gave a wicked smile when his grandmother whirled round on him.
"Now, you stop that, Corsy Alexander! This very instant!"
"Do babes come from storks, Grandmum? I was taught much different, you see. When a lady loves a man, you see-"
He burst into devilish chuckles and muffled such with my shoulder. His grandmother flushed, eyes open wildly. Just as she went to respond there was a door slammed downstairs and Corsy's father, home early for the day, interrupted the spat from below.   
"Estelle, come down here quickly."
Estelle sighed loudly and stomped out of the room, backing in once more only to point a shaking finger at Corsy.
  "You'll get it later, young man. I'll see to it that your father gives you a whipping you won't soon forget. Being so rude in front of a lady..."

When she left he pulled me to him and kissed me until I nearly suffocated. I ran a loving hand down the length of his arm, the muscles were tensed and quivering there; firm and well developed.
  "Temper, temper, love. Keep it checked, for me?"
He shuddered, whimpering when I stole his lips again. He began to relax when my fingers traced the  wonderful lines of his shoulders appreciatively. I loved their broad build, their toned and lovely musculature. I slid my fingers down the metal buttons of his cotton long sleeved shirt and undid the first two.   "Just take it off if you'd like it off," he whispered this in my ear, chuckling afterwards. My cheeks ignited and I pressed my face to his mostly bared, smooth chest. I felt it expand and contract with his breathing.
  "Alright now?"
He nodded, nuzzling along my jawline.
"Alright, my little voodoo doll."
I moved closer on his lap, sighing with both irritation and content. While conflicting emotions, it seemed possible for me to be both. He pulled me to him and gave the top of my head a kiss, fingers rubbing at my back.  

 "She's just an old witch," I muttered into his shoulder.

  "Now, now," he chuckled and leaned down toward me "That's not nice, little one." 

 I rolled my eyes into the back of my head and felt him hold back giggles. 

  "She's not nice," I retorted. 

 "Two wrongs don't make a right," he countered with a smirk. 

 "Wouldn't you know," I gave him an innocent look and cupped his chin, "You've never been right a day in your life, Corsy Alexander." 

 He shrugged a bit. 

 "That, I haven't."