Marguerite could not sleep a wink if her life depended on it. Nightmares of Chauvelin and the track through the woods outside Paris continued to haunt her mind and there was only one thing that could cure her fears, Percy. Slowly she reached for and lit the candle on her bedside table, grabbed a dressing robe to cover the little cloth that encased her figure, and quietly made her way to the hall.
Percy's chambers were never locked at night, she knew, unless he did not want to be disturbed early the next morning. The missions that he and his league carried out under the title of the Scarlet Pimpernel usually ended late into the night, and many times previously, Marguerite had always heard him bolt the doors shut and Jessup would leave him be until his lordship saw it fit to rise from his slumbers. Thus as she entered the room, Lady Blakeney walked to where her husband slept soundly with caution.
Is there ever a time when he does not look so wonderfully enticing? the lady wondered as the candlelight reflected off the man resting his back against the down mattress. The flame's rays highlighted the golden color of his beribboned blond hair, and, having seen him in such deep slumbers, Marguerite began to miss the blazing blue fire that made up his presently closed eyes. Walking around to the vacant side of the bed, she climbed in beside him, gently allowed herself to place her figure atop his own, and closed her eyes, her head resting in the curve of his neck as she explored the skin of his strong bared chest. This would have been the end, she concluded, had it not been for his arms moving around her slim waist, bringing her into his view.
Realizing the somewhat surprised expression on her face, Percy laughed clearly amused. "Sink me, madam, but are you always so flabbergasted when I do something unexpected?"
"Who would not be?" Marguerite answered, her eyes returning to their normal width. "The unordinary has a tendency to find a person dumbfounded."
His smile softened to a more gentle appearance. "I believe you are right, sweetheart, but then you usually are."
"I am your wife; 'tis my job to be right."
Once again, she was rewarded with his laughter ringing in her ears before he spoke. "Well now that that tiny matter is settled, I must ask for an explanation as to why her ladyship has graced me with her presence."
"I could not sleep," Marguerite began. "And you milord have been cursed with the miracle to make me feel better in any manner you think would help."
"Some bad dreams dared to tackle and play with your clever mind, eh little woman?"
"Yes, and I want them to go away."
His next look that appeared on his handsome features had been one that Marguerite had recognized, but not yet had it lingered on her husband's face. Of course Percy never let her go without a loving glance, but this was not just the small glitter in his eyes. It was the look of intense passion and fervor that would have made her nervous had the same feelings not have been filling her.
Sitting upright with her, Percy turned his wife's back to him, clasping her shoulders and whispering in her ear, "Nothing that displeases my Margot shall stay inside her; only that which she loves."
Closing the small distance between them, Marguerite literally fell against him, shutting her eyes. "Even you?" she breathed enticingly.
"Only if you wish…"
"Yes…"
That simple word was all it took to throw Percy's senses into oblivion. Tenderly, he moved his hands away from her shoulders to make way for his lips to touch her there instead. She lifted her own hand then to fondle his lowered head and stroke his hair in the process, causing a long strand to come loose from its ribbon.
Both the man and the woman gradually felt themselves become lost in a void of desire as the minutes passed by on end. Slowly, almost teasingly, Percy moved his fingers into the ringlets of red hair before him, untwining the gathered mass at her neck and letting it come down loose over her shoulders. His hands continued to journey down to trace every curve of her body and as he felt the corset strings that separated her from him, he regained a slight bit of realization on what was about to occur between them.
"Marguerite, are you certain that this is what you want?"
Hearing the hesitation in his lustful tone and not wanting to lose him then, Marguerite turned to face him. Sensually taking his hands in her own, she moved them around to her back, almost forcing him to feel her there. "Do not ask anymore," she murmured softly helping him loosen the strings and touching her lips to his full and hard.
The door had been bolted shut.
* * * * *
The sun beamed its rays through the simple opening in the bed curtains, waking Marguerite from her blissful sleep. Undoubtedly it was well past the late hours, she realized, and she looked to her husband to see if he would awaken any time soon.
"Percy, it's morning," she said at an audible volume…only to find herself once again on her back and locked in another of his shockingly passionate kisses that he learned in the course of one night. Pushing him away rather forcefully, she tried to speak again. "Percy, really now; it is late and we must get up. Everyone must be wondering…"
"Let them!" was his reply as he resorted to the base of her throat. "This shall teach them not to be nosy."
"Well, I want to get up, so release me, you lewd fiend!"
Percy laughed as he released her playfully and she sat up covering herself with the covers. "There is no need to hide yourself from me, Marguerite. As I somehow managed in my wild behavior to tell you last night, this is the first time I have ever seen a woman, and I shall not stop looking so easily. It was too beautiful a sight to forget."
As Marguerite grinned slightly, she leaned over and kissed him at quite a length. "A few more minutes," she whispered coquettishly, "But then we must get up."
"Fair call that!"
And keeping that word, passion once again proved to conquer over all.