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It was days like this that Benedict Bridgerton loved best. Him and his beautiful wife just spent time with one another, they didn’t even need to speak. They didn’t need anything but the mere presence of the other in the same room was enough. They had only been back at My Cottage for three weeks but it felt like forever.
He knew it was taking a lot to get Sophie used to being idle, to not having a huge list of chores and things that she had to do… but she was slowly getting there, yes she still snuck off down stairs with Mrs Crabtree and would just sit in the kitchen whilst the older woman prepared their supper, and would occasionally help peel some potatoes but otherwise she was learning.
Benedict had let her take over the accounts for the house for two reasons, it gave her something to do, and compared to Sophie he was appalling at arithmetic. She seemed to have a brain a bit like Simon and just be able to look at the paper and see mistakes. In the 2 short months since they had been back at the cottage, their few tenants were now thriving and he was making a good profit on the land around them, and despite the extra staff, and the extra costs, the money they were spending was far less than what it was when he was just occasionally here.
He was in awe of her. They had spent a rather lovely day down the lake yesterday, the weather had been so nice and so perfect. It had been a rather blistering hot day and they spent a very good afternoon by the lake, in the lake and near the lake and they had a rather lovely lie in that morning. Sophie had been the one to suggest that she spend the day in the studio with Benedict whilst he painted. He had been working on her portrait and after seeing her so free and beautiful yesterday in the summer sun, her naked body on his as they moved together in the sun and he had been hit with inspiration.
He had started this particular portrait after their first excursion down to the lake on the day they arrived back at My Cottage and it was just slowly coming along. Sophie had brought a book and she was perched on the little Sofa by the window, lost in her own little day dream. The Studio wasn’t perfect, it was a bit darker than Benedict would like, as they had lain in bed last week they had talked about their home, about what they wanted to do to make it more theirs.
When Benedict had taken over, he hadn’t changed anything, or much, he had converted one room into the makeshift studio where he now sat, and changed his bedroom around to suit his tastes but otherwise, most of it was still in the tastes of the previous owners. Sophie had asked him what he would like to do with his studio eventually and he talked about all the changes, the bigger windows he would put in and everything he would like to have in the studio.
He was struggling to think, he was struggling to concentrate as he could see his beautiful wife out the corner of his eye, though the room wasn’t really lit in the way he would like, the way the sun poured in through the window, make her look even more angelic and more ethereally beautiful than usual.
Her dark blonde hair, lighter in the sunlight almost like a halo, she turned the pages of her book. He could see the way her eyes moved over the pages of the book, though he couldn’t see the colour of her eyes, he had those vivid green orbs burned into his mind, he could imagine the way they would brighten and change with excitement as she read. She would often read aloud to them, perched between his legs, using him as a backboard as he held her close. They would do this either in their bed, in the gardens against a tree, or in a favourite place of his… the bath.
He could see the way her lips would twitch with smiles or frowns as she read. It was just too perfect a moment not to capture on canvas. He had wanted to finish his portrait or make progress with it but he was so entranced by her beauty that this needed to be captured. He knew he wouldn’t make it through a full portrait so he grabbed paper and charcoal and began sketching her.
They continued in this manner for well over 2 hours. Sophie was completely lost in her book but the prickles on her skin that she got from being in Benedict’s presence was just… too much to resist, she could sense his gaze, both hot and adoring. It was making her tingle in a way that only he could make her do.
After a while it was distracting her so much that she paused at the end of her chapter and spoke for the first time in a few hours “You know darling, you’re not being nearly as sneaky as you think you are” Sophie said looking over at her husband with a smirk, there was smudges of charcoal on his nose and chin.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about dear” he said innocently, his gaze not really moving from the paper in front of him.
“I see the way you look at me when you think I’m not looking” Sophie said as she closed her book putting in the ribbon she was using as a place marker and turned to face her husband with a radiant smile, her green eyes ablaze with the delight of the afternoon and the blush that was creeping on her face.
“And how may I ask, am I looking at you my sweet?” he grinned as he looked up having heard her book close.
“You know full well how. It’s the look that usual, lost in naughty thoughts, look” she grinned
“Sophie my darling, when I am around you, all my thoughts are naughty… but today, I was admiring my beautiful wife, who looked like an angel as she sat and read her book so serenely” he grinned at her.
“Oh” she blushed “May I see what you have been working on?” she asked curiously. Benedict nodded, she was the only person in the world he wasn't afraid of showing his work to. She had only ever encouraged him, she was his best critic and helped him see the best in himself and his art. She was his muse, his supporter and his everything.
Sophie rose to her feet and made her way to her husband’s side and sat on his lap and gasped at the drawing “Oh Benedict it is stunning” she said as she took in the delicate lines on the paper. The way that despite the picture being in black and white it just radiated the light of the sun.
“It’s stunning because my muse is stunning and beautiful” he said as he carefully brought his hand to his wife’s chin and turned it to face him. Having Sophie in his arms was his favourite place in the entire world. He could lose everything but as long as he had his Sophie then he was a very rich man and he would be very happy.
As her face turned, Benedict moved his face lower to hers, pulling her that little bit closer to him as his lips pressed to hers in a tender yet searing kiss.
They lost themselves in the moment, Benedict’s charcoaled fingers grazing her skin as he held her close to him. Their breathing became laboured and Benedict’s need for his wife grew urgent.
Carefully scooping her in his arms he carried her to the sofa she had just departed, using one hand to unfasten the buttons at the back of her dress as their lips continued to move in sync with each other. He carefully placed Sophie back on the sofa and removed her dress from her shoulders. She had taken his request not to wear a chemise or stays in the house and as her dress fell, her breasts were revealed to him.
He could never get enough of Sophie’s breasts, or any of her, the fact she was his and only his and they would never know the touch of another, for them to be together until death would they part, caused Benedict to shiver as he looked at her.
Her green eyes blazing with need and passion as she watched him take his own clothes off. The door to the studio was closed, the staff had learned if the door was shut to knock and wait for a response. It was obvious their master and mistress were very much in love and the honeymoon phase was absolutely not over for them.
Sophie often wished she herself could draw as she would love to be able to capture the beauty of her husband, she knew she could live a thousand years and it would still not be enough. It would never be enough but she vowed she would never deprive either of them, this enjoyment, this pleasure and being together… She loved the way her husband felt on top of her, below her as she would ride him.
Benedict’s hands moved up to cup her breasts as his lips found hers again “you’re so beautiful” he moaned as he kissed her, moving carefully so as to lie atop of her. They didn’t need anything more, they just needed one another at that moment. It was pure and adoring and anything else in this moment would be wrong.
“I still can’t believe you’re all mine” Benedict said softly as he positioned himself against her opening. “All mine” he said again as he moved and pushed himself into his wife.
Sophie gasped and arched her hips up to him to meet his moment. “I love you” she whispered as Benedict began to move in their practised rhythm. It was a beautiful movement of husband and wife there against the sofa in their home, just the two of them, gasping for the other, moaning the other’s name, declaring their love to one another as they moved in perfect sync. A tear trailing down each of their cheeks at the sheer perfection of the moment and their joining, their love for one another being poured into each moment, each trust, each moan and whisper into the afternoon sun.
Two halves of a whole moving and fitting together in the way that nature intended. Their climax was simultaneous, it was perfect and washed over them both in a blanket of perfection and love. As they caught their breath Benedict moved them so he was sitting on the sofa, Sophie placed between his legs and a blanket over them both, basking in the glory of each other and letting their high wash over them. He kissed her cheek in a loving caress. “My beautiful wife, I love you with all my heart” he whispered in her ear as they dozed off basking in the sunlight that had been the cause of such a perfect afternoon between husband and wife.