Page 16 of Alessandra (Chisholm Manor #1)

Two days later, Alessandra sat in her room with people all around her, fussing over her hair and her gown, making everything look perfect.

Inside herself, all she could think about was seeing Edward again.

The strongest thought was how she would soon sleep beside him as his wife.

The idea both excited her and scared her.

Before leaving to go to the chapel, her mother requested everyone leave the room so she could have some time alone with her daughter.

"Are you worried about tonight?" she asked quietly.

Alessandra shook her head.

"No, Mother.

I know it is my duty to bear children."

Her mother looked embarrassed and like she was trying to formulate the right words in her head, before speaking.

"The ... act ... it is something that I know many women do not enjoy and do only for their husband's pleasure or to conceive a child, but Alessandra, it can be pleasurable also.

There is no shame in enjoying what you will share with your husband, and if it is not pleasurable, do not keep quiet about it.

Talk to him, and work together in that part of your marriage," she said, looking extremely flustered.

"Many would disagree with me telling you this, but I have had too many friends who have talked about it as though it was the most disagreeable thing in the world, and yet I know that it does not have to be that way. I will say no more about it as it is making you and I both uncomfortable. Edward will be good to you. I know he will."

Alessandra hugged her mother and enjoyed what she knew might be the last time she would see her for a long while.

"Mother, you have chosen well for me, and I thank you for not pressuring me, but I am happy."

Two hours later, Edward and Alessandra stood at the altar in the small chapel, both eager to get through the ceremony so they could be pronounced husband and wife at last.

Finally, it was all over and they were walking out of the chapel with dried rose petals being thrown over them by the bucketful, making them both laugh in their happiness.

With the chapel being on the estate land, it was a short walk back to the house.

Edward and Alessandra walked side by side while holding hands.

As Alessandra looked at her husband, she felt a desire and need to spend time with him alone, away from the masses of people who had watched the ceremony.

She regretted it would be hours before she and Edward would be able to be in private.

Edward felt the same inside of him.

Even holding her hand was enough to make him feel somewhat excited at the prospect of the two of them being alone and in the private confines of what would be their marriage bed.

Desperate to not let those thoughts keep taking over his mind, he had to keep talking to people about anything except his wife and upcoming marriage night.

After much feasting and festivity, the time came when the young couple would leave everyone else and be alone together.

Alessandra was taken to a new room, away from what had been her bedchamber since she'd arrived in the manor house.

There, Margaret helped her to undress from her gown and get into a nightdress.

She had become a regular support and help to Alessandra in previous weeks, and, despite their age difference, the closest person Alessandra regarded as a friend.

As Margaret stood behind the young woman and brushed out her long hair, Alessandra let her mind wander to the night ahead.

Margaret could sense everything and so remained quiet.

Finally, she helped Alessandra into the large bed in the room, said goodnight, and left the new bride alone.

Alessandra sat up in the bed with the covers pulled up over her chest, not sure what she should do.

In another room, across the hall, Edward was similarly prepared and put into a nightshirt, before being led into the marital room, and the door was silently closed behind him.

He felt vulnerable in only a nightshirt.

When he laid his eyes on Alessandra, he could see she was just as apprehensive.

After climbing into the bed and lying down beside her, he faced her as she moved downward and lay facing him also. They didn't touch. For a long while, they just looked at each other.

"My wife," Edward finally said, taking in what she looked like with her hair out.

Alessandra smiled at him meekly.

"My husband."

He returned the smile as they both thought of ways to remedy the discomfort they felt.

"You are so beautiful," he said, reaching his hand out to touch her cheek and hair.

Alessandra, feeling an overwhelming surge of emotion, leaned in slowly to kiss him on the lips, just as they had already done so many times.

They didn't move for anything more, just enjoying kissing as they lay facing each other but not touching any other part of their bodies.

Edward felt that part of him grow.

He understood it was necessary for the conception of a child, but still disliked that his body reacted so harshly when he wanted to take things slowly and find his way as they both felt comfortable with.

Kissing him more and more, Alessandra felt a strong longing to be closer to him.

She moved forward so that she could put her arms around him and hold him while they kissed.

As the gap closed between them, she felt it, rigid and hard against her stomach.

"Oh!" she said before thinking.

She saw Edward blush considerably, even in the dim light of the room.

Edward remembered that she hadn't grown up on a farm and possibly didn't know the mechanics of how mating was performed.

He then found himself wondering what to say or do, but with her inquisitive mind, he wasn't surprised to find she was completely open in her questioning and wonder.

"Are you always like that?" she asked timidly, but also with the confidence that told Edward she would view the two of them joining, just as she did learning to ride a horse or learning to run a household.

She had an amazing ability to compartmentalise learning as something to ask questions about until she understood it.

He initially found the discomfort at his embarrassment unbearable.

He then remembered how Alessandra had been when she'd first come to his home, and how hard she'd fought with herself to get over that.

"No, but always when I am kissing you," he said quietly, stroking her cheek and watching her face.

"That is what ... you will ... put into me, to make a child?" Alessandra asked, feeling her face grow even more heated, but determined to question and learn.

"Yes."

"May I ... may I look at you?" she asked, shocking Edward in the process.

After a moment, he realised he didn't want his body to always be a source of embarrassment so he should view her question as an opportunity to help things seem easier between them.

"Yes," he replied and gulped heavily.

He watched her face as she pushed back the covers that were over him.

She then raised his nightshirt enough to be able to see him.

Having read novels, Alessandra had gained some understanding from them about how the process of conception worked.

When she looked at that part of Edward, she was surprised at how it looked.

"May I touch you?" she asked, tentatively.

"Yes."

Alessandra reached down with her hand and let her fingertips run over him, until a moan escaped from him, making her pull her hand back.

"I'm sorry!" she said.

"Does that hurt?"

Edward felt awkward but surged ahead in his feigned confidence.

"No, quite the opposite, Alessandra," he said.

"When you touched me, it felt wonderful, like I have not felt before."

Alessandra placed her fingers back on him, moving them over him while watching his face and listening to him moan again.

She saw him open his eyes and look at her before he leaned in and kissed her.

She boldly closed her hand around him while she enjoyed the kissing he was indulging her in.

They didn't stay like that for long before Edward pulled away from the kiss.

"Oh ... Alessandra, I do not know what is happening, but I feel ... oh ... do not stop," he moaned at her and closed his eyes.

Alessandra continued her fondling and then, all of a sudden, heard him sound as if he was in great pain, as he moaned loudly and his body seemed to convulse.

She then realised that a considerable amount of wetness had escaped him, and was all over her hand and nightgown.

Surprised by what had happened, she watched his face, worried that she'd done something wrong and hurt him.

When he opened his eyes, she saw him look content and then smile.

"Are you alright?" she asked and saw him laugh softly.

"I have never felt anything like that," Edward said.

"I do not even know how to explain it.

It was like a volcano building to an eruption, and then a release."

Edward kissed her again, making her melt in her longing before Alessandra pulled away and brought up her hand, covered in moisture.

"This is what makes a baby?" she asked.

Edward looked at her hand, embarrassed, but nodded.

"I believe so," he said before gently wiping her hand, and then raising it to his mouth to kiss it.

"Do you think you could have the same feeling in you, as you just made me feel?" he asked, curious.

"I do not know.

Do you think it can be as nice for a woman?" Alessandra asked, remembering how her mother had told her that some women found the act distasteful and awful, while at the same time implying that it was not like that at all.

"Alessandra," Edward found the confidence to ask.

"May I see you?"

Alessandra nodded slowly at his question, then watched as he pushed the cover back on her side of the bed.

Edward slowly raised her nightgown to above her hips.

He had no idea about the female form, and wanted to explore.

"May I touch you?" he asked and saw her nod again.

He tentatively reached his fingers out and touched the top of her thigh and the hair that was visible.

It was all tucked away, he realised, so he did not know what he could touch - if anything.

He slowly caressed the area as lightly as he could, and heard her breathing change.

"You will tell me if I hurt you," he said to her.

"Yes," Alessandra answered, revelling in the new sensations that came from feeling Edward's fingertips move across her skin.

As he caressed more, Alessandra felt a natural desire to open her thighs slightly.

Edward moved his hand between them, feeling more and more, down and around where the hair was growing.

As he let his fingers move inwards of what felt like lips to him, he heard a quiet 'oh' escape from Alessandra's lips.

Edward looked at her face.

She was looking right into his eyes, with the same look he had seen on her face sometimes when they had kissed.

"There," she whispered.

He looked to see the location she seemed to want him to touch and moved his finger back and forth across the small pea-like piece of skin he could feel.

He watched her face and could see her excitement.

"Keep going," Alessandra whispered, encouraging him to continue.

As he did, Edward felt himself growing again in the excitement he was also experiencing.

"Oh, Edward ... something is ... oh!" he heard her moan as she seemed to also convulse before him.

He watched her face as she relaxed back and finally opened her eyes and looked at him.

When Alessandra suddenly started to giggle, Edward smiled even more.

"I believe that, yes, that can happen to men and women," she said between giggles.

They lay together for a while in silence before she spoke again.

"It will be expected that I will become with child, to give you an heir," she said quietly.

"Yes, my parents would expect that," Edward replied.

"But this is not how we can make a baby," she said.

"That is true."

"Edward?" she asked and saw him turn his head to look at her closely.

"Must we rush for me to become with child? Might we take some time to further get to know each other like this first? When my brother's wife conceived, I overheard my brother talking about how he then had to sleep apart from her until some time after the baby was born.

Could we perhaps not rush to that?"

Edward heard her words and pleasantly agreed with her.

"I would like to get to know you more before we bring a little person into the world," he said and kissed her again, making her melt and move closer again, to find him hard once more.

"Can I touch you again?" she asked, prompting Edward to laugh softly at her.

"I think so," he said quietly before she resumed touching him with her hand once again, making him excited until he again climaxed.

Both of them felt the effects of such a long day.

Edward pulled her into his arms and held her until he felt her drift off to sleep, after which he did the same, silently thanking his mother once again for choosing his wife.