Page 57 of Scars of a Passionate Revenge
“Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace,” Benedict uttered from behind her.
She whirled around to face him, aghast. In his hand was the vial of poison and he held it to his lips.
“Must I prove my love to you, as Romeo proved his to Juliet?” Benedict said, his voice cracking with emotion as he spoke. “And lips, O you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing Death!”
“Benedict, no!” Alice shouted, leaping forward, and knocking the vial from his hands, causing it to fall to the ground, spilling its contents on the grass. “You must not do such a stupid thing! What a waste it would be, of all that your life could be!”
She knelt down in front of him. “Promise me you will never do such a thing again?”
He nodded slowly. “I promise, but my life will be worthless without you, dear Alice.”
She stared into his eyes and saw the truth in his looks. Perhaps he did really love her after all. She felt in her heart that it was only at his side that she could truly be happy.
“Do you truly love me?”
He nodded. “Body and soul, with every ounce of me, and until I breathe my very last breath.”
She sighed softly and allowed herself to lean forward towards him, so that their bodies were close together. “I love you too, Benedict, and I do not think that I can be content in this life without you. But you must promise faithfully never to lie to me again.”
“I promise,” he said sincerely. “Then, may I hope that you will agree to be my wife?” he asked, a note of hesitancy in his voice.
She smiled slowly and saw a spark of joy igniting in his eyes. “I will be your wife, Benedict,” she said, and leaned forward to kiss him.
The heat between them began to build almost immediately, and it was not long before Benedict was pulling her to her feet and taking her hand. “Come, let us go further into the gardens, Alice,” Benedict whispered, leading her into a wooded copse that was hidden from view. “I cannot wait to make you mine again, if you will permit it.”
She giggled and nodded. The tingling between her legs was growing and the truth was that she could not wait to feel his manhood inside her again, although she knew that really, they should now wait until their wedding night. But the pleasure was so sweet, and what was life for, except for taking pleasure where you could find it?
He pushed her down onto the grass and began to kiss her more deeply now, his hands roaming across her body. She let out a moan as he pushed down the front of her dress, his fingers caressing her nipples and pinching them gently. She reached down into his breeches and wrapped her hands around his manhood, hard with want for her. The feel of it sent a thrill of excitement all through her body.
Suddenly, she wanted to be in control. She moved so that she was now on top of him, and pushed up her skirts, then pulled aside her underthings. “I want to feel you inside me, Benedict,” she whispered, reaching for him, and slowly pressing down, feeling the hardness of him slipping inside her wet center.
He looked up at her in amazement. “Alice, you really are a marvel,” he murmured, beginning to slowly thrust inside her. “You are the most wonderful woman I have ever met, and I cannot wait to make you happy every day of your life.”
As they moved together in the stillness of the wood, Alice panting out her desire and Benedict beginning to move more quickly inside her, there was no one close enough to hear their cries of delight as they reached their climax together.
Alice collapsed into his arms and let out a sigh of delight. “We shall have a happy life together, Benedict, I am sure of it.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “I think we both deserve it, Alice, after all that we have been through.
Epilogue
Three months later
It was a crisp autumn day, as Benedict stood waiting outside the church. It was perfect weather for a wedding, and he felt a flutter of excitement, that in a very short time, he and Alice would be man and wife.
He felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see the baron standing beside him. He greeted him with a smile.
The baron reached out and shook his hand rather formally. “Benedict, there is something I wanted to tell you, before you are married. I hope you will forgive me for intruding, if you were having a private moment?”
Benedict shook his head. “Not at all,” he said. He smiled at the thought of how much he had despised this man, only a few months ago. But now he felt nothing but affection for him. “What did you want to tell me?”
“Well, I went to your father’s grave last week,” the baron said softly. “I wanted to pay my respects, and to ask his forgiveness for not doing more to save his reputation, and to prevent the suffering that you both endured as a result of Dorothea’s actions, and my own inaction. I was responsible for you both, and I let you down.”
He paused and held Benedict’s gaze, his eyes a little moist around the edges. “And I wanted to ask your forgiveness, too, Benedict, and to welcome you into my family. I shall love you as a son, and I know that you will make Alice very happy.”
Benedict felt a surge of emotion at the baron’s words. “I am grateful that you went to the grave,” he said. “It feels a fitting way to recognize that everything that happened all those years ago is over now. It is finished. And I forgive you, of course I do. You have given me the greatest gift I could ever have wished for; permission to marry the most wonderful woman who ever walked the earth.”
The baron beamed at him. “Well, she has made you wait a little while to make her your wife!”
