Marianne was having a most glorious soak in the bathtub. Ellie had fallen asleep very easily after her evening feed and it would be a good while before she'd be hungry again. Christopher had not come in yet from seeing to his horses, but had promised not to be long. The ride he had had to London and back had not been hard just on the man but also for his beast, and if anything, Christopher took care of everything that was important to him – including his horses. Marianne often thought that was really a measure of a true gentleman: how he looked after and cared for those around him. So many over-indulged brats would only be polite an courteous to other people if they saw a benefit in it for themselves, but too bad if you were not socially important or fantastically rich or politically beneficial: you'd not get noticed. Or worse, you could be made fun of and jeered at behind your back. Not something you would ever catch Christopher doing. Even when he disliked someone, he would pull away and rather say nothing than badmouth the person to others.

Deep in her thoughts, leaning back in the bath, her head resting against a towel folded on the edge of the tub's backrest, Marianne did not hear the door open and her husband step in. Christopher hadn't been sure if Marianne had finished feeding Ellie and if she had, would he find one or both of them asleep on the bed. Instead he found his wife looking very dreamy in the bathtub, looking as beautiful as ever in the warm glow of the fire and the candles around the tub. Christopher smiled as he looked at her, not wanting to move deeper into the room in case he disturbed her. She looked so relaxed there, happy. How to approach her? Christopher wondered to himself. He could hardly stay here standing by the door half the night when there was a naked Marianne soaking herself in the tub. A familiar stir in the nether regions announced itself and Christopher nearly laughed at his own eagerness. He'd realized early on in their courtship that the dear woman only had to look at him to get him going, but it seemed now she didn't really even have to look at him!

As quietly as he could, Christopher took off his tunic and rolled up his shirtsleeves over his elbows. Then he moved as quietly as he could, hardly daring to breathe, beside the tub. Gently, gently he dipped his hand into the water just above her abdomen and as softly as he could he paced his flat palm on her flank, just below her right breast. Marianne let out a small gasp upon feeling his touch and her eyes flung open.

"Christopher! Gods you spooked me!" she said but it wasn't a real reprimand. Not with that joyous smile on her face. Who else would it have been, touching her there? No, it was simply a surprise that he had entered the room and she had been completely unawares.

Christopher said nothing, just allowed the most tender and loving of smiles to linger on his features while he kept his eyes on hers. With gentle rotating movements he started to stroke Marianne's skin under water. His hand came upon the sponge, which he took and started to use it softly to wash Marianne. Hardly taking his eyes off her, he rolled up one sleeve a little further and then started to rub her with the sponge, starting with her feet and legs. His touches were soft and slow and he paid no attention to his sleeves that despite all the rolling up were now getting soaked. His free hand reached up and cupped her cheek while the other one was washing its way up on the inside of her thigh.

The way he looked at her was hot and intense. He still had not said a word, but Marianne did not miss speech right this moment. As often before, her Christopher was able to say so much just by his presence. Words would not be able to do justice to how connected the two felt there, one cocooned in the warm water, the other reaching for through the barrier of the elements. The way he reached her innermost self, her very soul, when they were together.

The sponge brushed over her centre only ever so lightly on its way to her abdomen, coaxing a half-whispered moan that came out like an intense breath more than a full on moan. The silence between them was magical and full of communication. He was going to undo her slowly tonight, he was going to let her feel him with every cell and nerve in her body and he was not going to rush any of it by giving her most sensitive parts too much attention too soon. This was all said in the look they shared.

When his hand with the sponge reached her breasts she could no longer lie still but reached to grab him by his neck and pulled him to her for a searing kiss. As the kiss grew in intensity and the hand that had held her face reached behind her neck to press her lips against his even harder, his other hand started to make its way down on her body again. By the time it found her centre the sponged had been forgotten somewhere along the way and it was his hand that demanded all of her attention and commanded her existence. The moan she let escape when his fingers opened her up was nothing short of a declaration of surrender.

Christopher wanted to bring her as much pleasure and joy as he possibly could. As much as she turned him on there were still limits to how many times a man could perform in a single night. Neither of them complained, but Christopher had learned that he could enjoy his wife (and she him!) a very satisfactory number of times, but she would still be capable of having another peak. He wanted her fully satisfied and to never doubt for one moment that choosing someone older than herself was a mistake. He would never let go wanting. His own member was protesting the lack of attention inside his trousers but Christopher continued to ignore his own need. She was getting closer. Her breathing changed and her grip on hi neck was tight and solid now. The sounds she made were pure lust and pleasure and this pleased Christopher no end.

The way he had been stroking in and out, holding a gently moving pressure with his thumb on her delicate point finally unravelled her. She pulled him closer to him and he bit very softly onto the muscle on her shoulder as she let out a wail of pleasure. She had no control over the waves of beautiful heat that rolled over her so entirely she did not know which way round the world was anymore. Christopher held his hand in place as she gradually came down from her rupture, feeling the steadily pulsating spasms that gripped his fingers, still deep inside her. Marianne's first coherent thought was one of amazement at what this man could do to her. She let her hands release him from the grip they had had and he pulled back just enough to be able to look at her in the eyes and to kiss her tenderly.

"I believe it's your turn to get washed for the night," she then said softly, almost in whisper, her smile beaming at him with such brightness he once again questioned if his life now was real at all. How did he ever deserve such a beautiful companion was beyond him.

Christopher stood up and took Marianne by the hands to pull her up from the tub. He then grabbed the large towel that had been on the nearby chair, and as she stepped out from the bath he wrapped her in the towel and started to rub her dry. After a little while she felt she wasn't dripping wet anymore but saw that Christopher's shirt was probably more wet than dry and she started to unbutton it for him.

"Let me get you out of these wet clothes…" she whispered. He shivered just noticeably when the backs of her fingers brushed against his chest as she went on unbuttoning his shirt. He leaned in to kiss her and while their lips sought each other's and their tongues started to coax each other to light the couple up to even higher heats. Marianne pulled his shirt out from his trousers and in a short moment he couldn't help himself but had to lend her a hand and undid his trousers himself.

Their suddenly hurried joint fumbling while trying to maintain a kiss made them both laugh. Christopher had his hands full trying to get out of his boots when his trousers were already half way down and a gorgeous naked woman was trying to kiss and touch him at the same time. His efforts were doomed and he lost his balance, landing on the floor on his backside, Marianne following suit straddling him and leaning over him to kiss him some more. She could feel his excitement against her own heat. They were laughing even harder now and Marianne got off Christopher to pull off his boots and his trousers while the poor man was still helpless on the floor, hardly able to breath for all the laughter.

Once he was free of his boots and clothes he got up again and pulled Marianne up as well. Kissing each other on the mouth, cheek, neck shoulders – anywhere they could reach in this position - with hands searching each other's bodies as if trying to find the optimal handle, Christopher was trying to manoeuvre Marianne towards the bed. Marianne, however, had other thoughts. They were moving too fast now, and she too had decided to let her spouse a lengthy night of pleasure and joy. She dug in her heels and placed her hands on either side of his head to make the feverish kisses slowdown into a sensual, searching and continuous connection they could both feel was building up deeper excitement for both of them.

"We have all night, " she whispered into his ear as she again started to trace his jawline with her kisses.

"Yes," he whispered back. She shivered with delight as his hands stroked her firmly but slowly over her back to her buttocks and up her sides again, eventually cupping her breasts. His touch was controlled and confident. There was no fumbling around now.

She broke the contact and found the sponge from the tub and started to rub him down as he stood there. He let her, not touching her himself despite the burning desire to do so. He could tell Marianne wanted to show him how he had made her feel earlier. The sponge rubbed in circles over his chest, scratching sweetly over his very sensitive nipples, over his abdomen and visiting his flanks. She reached behind him, wrapping her arms around his torso so that she was kissing him and rubbing those delicious circles over his lower back, then buttocks with the sponge. The pressure she was putting on was the perfect level for a mixture of sensually light teasing with a touch of torment in the barely identifiable scratch of the material. His arousal pressed firmly against her soft belly and he could not help but close his eyes and moan deeply.

The hands and the sponge with them came back to his front side, lightly making promises of contact with his most sensitive parts as they circled around his member, down his thighs and even pushed in between his things, guiding him to widen his stance a little. Gods that felt rather naughty to stand there pretty much akimbo with Marianne stroking his inner thighs back up from about knee high, closer and closer to his scrotum, finally after the agonising forever reaching it. If he thought his member was already hard, he learned it was capable of being even harder. The hand with the sponge reached further behind him between his legs, then slowly, slowly she pulled it along his crack back to the front over his scrotum, his testicles and finally up the underside of his cock. His moaning was more like animalistic growling by this point.

That sponge was so strong on his sensitive skin it was almost too much to take, and Marianne seemed to sense this. She discarded the sponge and cupped his testicles with one hand while taking his member in a firm grip by its base with the other and before he could guess what the next move was, she had taken his tip into her mouth applying firm suction to it.

"Ohh good God, Marianne, my love…" he was moaning now. She felt such pleasure from simply sensing his pleasure that she moaned too. Except now she had his member in her mouth as deep as she could take it and her low moan sent tantalising vibrations up his way. He could not help himself but his hips seemed to take over and gave a gentle thrust forwards. His fingers wound themselves in to her hair and for a moment the two moved in perfect harmony: she stroking her mouth and lips up and down his shaft with her tongue teasing the tip and the little slit on it every time he was almost out of her mouth, he adjusting his need to thrust to her movements so that he could feel how he pushed into her mouth but not too deep. He didn't want to make her gag.

The pressure and the mutual desire kept building up despite the heights they had already experienced and Christopher felt he couldn't hold back much longer.

"Marianne…" he gasped. She new what he was saying. This was one part of their relationship that never seized to amaze Christopher: how they so often understood each other with hardly any words at all.

Marianne got up and took his hands, pulling him with her towards the bed, never breaking eye contact. When the edge of the bed touched the backs of her thighs they climbed on together, she scooting backwards, he climbing over her on his fours. She positioned herself so that he could enter her already, but Christopher had one more delay in mind – after all, he had not had a chance to touch her again.

He made her move further up on the bed and then suddenly dropped his mouth onto her core. She was surprised and let out an excited squeaky noise, which soon turned into a pleasure-filled purr. He licked and sucked as intensely as he could bring her closer to the edge as well. He knew he was already on the edge and wanted them to be able to come together. When her sounds and her movements changed, he knew it was time.

"Christopher, come, please… I want you in me…" she was only just able form phrases that made sense.

Christopher moved up on her again, this time capturing her lips on his and almost without warning pushed himself in. They were both so sensitive by this point neither could keep quiet, and their whispers, moans and sighs mixed together the more intense their joint movements became. Christopher felt he was practically delirious, but could still feel from Marianne's movements that she was almost there. He held on, no idea how, a little longer as he stroked her as deep and fully as he could until she slipped over the edge with a loud moan that included his name. The way her core gripped him as she came pulled him over as well and he could not keep quiet either, muffling his cry of pleasure into the pillow by her head.

Throbbing afterglow held the pair in its grip for a while and little by little their breathing started to come back to normal and Christopher pulled his softening member out of Marianne, throwing himself by her side on the bed. She turned to get as close to him as possible and he pulled her in, getting her to nest her contours exactly against his. Even this way they were a perfect match.

"You alright?" he finally asked her softly, placing a gentle kiss on her temple.

"Oh yes… better than alright," she replied and giggled a little, continuing: "Can you stay a while?"

He laughed.

"I'm not going anywhere, so you'll be stuck with me until you'll be sick of the sigh of me" he chuckled.

Marianne propped herself up on her elbow and with her free hand stroked his messed up strands of hair away from his face, looking deep into his gorgeous, brown eyes, her whole being radiating love.

"Well. In that case we're stuck together for rather a long time."

He smiled again. One of his private smiles he reserved only for her.

"Good."