Chapter 15 #3
That was it. Thea burst out laughing, apologising to Martha with a wave of her hand but the scene had been too much.
She saw Martha’s shoulders start to shake, and then full laughter erupt from her as she joined Thea lying on her back in front of the fire.
They joined hands and it was such a relief to laugh together after all the tension of the evening.
Thea clutched at her ribs when the stays wouldn’t allow her to gasp in the breath she needed and Martha turned and propped herself on an elbow, tears of mirth streaking her face and a tender hand lying on Thea’s stomach.
‘I have missed you so much,’ said Thea, bringing a hand up to stroke Martha’s cheek. ‘How I have longed for this, for you and for everything we have together.’
‘I can’t tell you how much,’ said Martha, the elation now tinged with a tender sincerity. She twined her fingers in Thea’s. ‘Perhaps we should do this properly?’ she asked, standing and helping Thea to her feet. ‘Goodness knows we’ve waited long enough already.’
Around ten minutes later, Thea’s dress, skirts and stomacher were laid over the chair, the offending hoops stood in a corner and a variety of pins made a small pile on the side table.
She raised her arms as Martha grasped the hem of her shift and pulled it over her head.
Suddenly Thea felt self-conscious – she had given birth to three children since they had done this last, and that certainly hadn’t been without a toll on her body.
‘A little different,’ she whispered shyly as Martha took her in and then closed the distance between them.
‘Everything you are is perfection,’ murmured Martha definitely into her ear.
Thea smiled and began to unbutton Martha’s shirt.
She had kept it and the waistcoat on her for as long as possible as she liked it, but now it was time for it to go.
She slid the silk over Martha’s shoulders and threw the shirt on the chair before unlacing Martha’s stays.
‘Front fastening,’ she observed as she pulled and loosened.
‘For the voyages,’ said Martha slightly breathlessly.
‘Have to be able to… do them myself.’ Thea nodded her understanding as she pulled the garment over Martha’s head and discarded it.
Then she stepped in, relishing the silken feel as their bodies touched, the very thing she had been craving for five long years.
The way Martha nestled into her neck and pressed close told her she had too.
She felt her hot breath exhale against her as they held one another.
Thea slid a hand up Martha’s arm and felt an unfamiliar sensation at the shoulder.
She pulled back, shocked to see a violent scar radiating from where Martha’s arm met her body. She looked into Martha’s eyes, alarmed.
‘Got shot,’ said Martha dismissively. Thea gripped her tighter, astounded. ‘An accident,’ reassured Martha.
Thea felt her eyes widen again. ‘When? How?’ The horror of what could have been if that shot had been a little to the right.
Martha pulled her back in, so their bodies touched. ‘All in good time,’ she said, her voice low. ‘But not right now.’ Thea gulped and nodded.
Thea allowed Martha’s touch and the fire to lull her back into the moment.
‘I want to know later,’ she muttered as she kissed the scar, almost as if hoping to remove its mark and restore the perfection of the skin she knew so well.
Martha shifted away from her, keeping Thea’s hands in hers as she knelt on the sheepskin in front of the fire.
‘Come here,’ she murmured softly, and Thea was powerless to resist. She wrapped her legs around Martha, one either side, and sat in her lap before kissing her soundly.
Martha’s strong arms held Thea against her as they deepened the kiss, one of Thea’s hands cupping Martha’s cheek and the other exploring Martha’s breast, making her hiss in pleasure as she tweaked and squeezed.
Desire bloomed inside Thea, and she pushed herself against Martha, making them both groan in pleasure.
She felt Martha’s hand track down her body and caress her thighs, first the outside, then the inside, moving tantalisingly close to where she needed to feel her.
‘Yes,’ she muttered, pulling back from the kiss and imploring Martha with her eyes.
A delighted and awed smile tinged Martha’s lips as Thea shifted, allowing her in.
‘Oh god,’ whispered Thea, sensation swelling from her toes to her scalp.
She pushed herself harder against Martha’s hips, taking as much of her as she could, tangling the fingers of one hand into Martha’s hair and encircling her shoulders with the other.
It wasn’t long before she felt Martha curl her fingers in the way she knew Thea couldn’t resist, in time with her steady rhythm.
She felt Martha’s other arm around her back, holding her steady, and the heat and pressure flourished inside her.
She groaned loudly into Martha’s hair as pleasure overtook her completely, dimly aware of soft but insistent lips on her neck.
‘Do you have any idea how ardently I have yearned for that?’ The words filtered into Thea’s fogged brain as her breathing steadied. ‘To feel and hear your pleasure once again?’
‘Mmm,’ was all she managed, smiling against Martha’s hair while she was still held firm. Another minute, and she recovered enough to lean down and place another greedy kiss on Martha’s lips. ‘That was definitely on my list, but not all I wished for.’
One of Martha’s brows twitched upwards mischievously. ‘No?’
‘No,’ said Thea, pushing Martha backwards until her legs uncurled from between her, her hand slipped away, and Thea had her pinned on her back on the sheepskin. ‘There has been something else on my mind.’
Martha’s hand came up to Thea’s cheek, and her eyes became serious. ‘Have you thought of it? While I have been away?’
‘Almost every day,’ said Thea honestly. She craved this woman, even if she had tried not to.
‘Not always this. Sometimes just a touch, or a cuddle, or breakfast. But always you.’ Martha’s eyes closed in relief and pleasure, and her head dropped back on the rug as Thea planted soft kisses on the creamy skin of her extended neck.
Martha’s hands never stopped exploring her back, and the appreciative noises she made as Thea tracked down her body made her ever more hungry.
Thea kissed the soft skin under her breasts, the swell of her stomach and the tantalising crease at the top of her thigh, remapping it all in her head.
While she kissed the tender skin of Martha’s thighs, she hooked one of them over an arm, and Martha looked down at her, ravenously.
Thea revelled in the anticipation, in the smell of her and the feel of her skin.
She heard Martha’s long groan as she finally dipped her head and licked long and slow.
After a short while she couldn’t wait and trailed a hand up to add to the pleasure, making Martha arch backwards, grasping the pile of the rug and pressing against her.
Thea held her hips steady with her other arm and maintained her rhythm whilst Martha’s breathing heightened with every minute.
She felt her quiver and then stiffen as she muffled a desperate but satisfied cry with an arm.
Thea smiled into her, it was everything she had imagined, and everything she had waited for.
She slowed, allowing Martha to settle gently, before crawling back up her body, nestling in the crook of her neck and allowing Martha’s arms to envelop her in front of the fire.
‘I love you. God, I love you, Thea,’ muttered Martha into her hair.
‘And I you,’ murmured Thea, reaching up to claim one last kiss before she settled down and surrendered herself to a lover she thought she had lost.