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You always found it rather easy to wake up before Benedict. In fact, it was quite a startling event in your household if you found him awake before you. Your husband just loved to sleep, it seemed. Maybe it was due to inspiration often striking him after supper and making him stay up later than you, or maybe it was the nightcaps he enjoyed taking part in. Either way, you were not one to complain, for his sleeping in gave you the delightful opportunity to admire him.
He had the sheets over his bare body (he'd taken to sleeping naked in the warmer months), yet his chest remained mostly uncovered. One of his arms was outstretched towards you, partly beneath your pillow, so you could lay your head atop it in sleep, and its position allowed for the morning light to shine onto it and illuminate the gentle spattering of freckles on it. You couldn't resist kissing his inner elbow. You found that any inch of his body, you wanted to grow intimately familiar with (and you already had). Over and over and over again until the very end of time.
Benedict stirred at the tender act of affection, letting out a small, questioning grunt before opening one eye. Hazel latched onto your face, and the confusion on his turned into soft-hearted happiness.
"Mm, good morrow, my love." He spoke softly, voice beautifully deepened from his dreaming.
You returned his smile, hand moving to move through his delightfully soft, chestnut hair.
"Good morning to you, my snoring husband."
He sat up immediately, properly startled awake.
"I contest that description, wife!" He said, his famous lopsided grin making its first appearance of the day all the while.
"Oh, but you truly did snore, my love. All night, like the boars you and your brothers love to hunt. Perhaps your nightcap affected you more than you expected."
"My nightcap was nothing more than the usual cup of brandy and a cigar."
"Mm, your affection for those vices blinds you."
"My affection, is it? I entertain those vices, my love. My affections are all, without question, saved only for you, and your voice, and your delightful, mm, delightful body."
You grinned, letting him move to you as he placed you on your back and he remained on his right side, bending lower so as to kiss your shoulder.
"My delightful wife, how I have dreamed of you. It is a shame I woke, made only better by the fact that you are the one who woke me."
"Lecherous man, tempting me with kisses and words in order to take advantage of me in bed." You accused him, unable to help your smile as he kissed up your neck just right.
"You claim I am the cruel one here? Not you, never you, you nymph, for dressing in these fine shifts and kissing me awake?" He asked, sucking a tender bruise onto your pulse point.
"I contest that claim, husband!" You announced, mirroring his earlier retort.
He laughed at your cleverness with fondness, resting his forehead on your upper chest.
"Ah... we have fun, my love, do we not?" He murmured, latching himself onto you and moving one leg between yours beneath the sheets.
"I doubt anyone is as clever as us so as to engage in banter first thing in the morning." You agreed, letting a playful jest slip.
"Yes, I do believe you are right. In fact..." He pushed the short sleeve of your nightgown down, "most couples use all of their energy first thing in the morning for..." He pushed it further down, enough to reveal the side of your breast before kissing it. "Mm... more base things."
“And what if a married couple wakes up and finds they are in no mood for base activities?”
“Then… they are clearly badly matched for one another.” He decided easily, pulling a face of malcontent at the idea of such a couple.
“So you claim that having untoward intentions at first waking is a sign of a flourishing marriage?”
He pressed another kiss to your breast.
“Mmm… quite, wife.”
“Well, then I must admit that I woke up wishing for food, and not for your naked skin.” You said, looking at him with a dramatic wince.
He gasped immediately, eyebrows raising in absolute disbelief.
“You want for eggs and butter, and not for your husband’s very pert bottom?”
“My interest in your bottom might just grow if the eggs you mentioned are served upon it.”
He suddenly seemed quite pleased, a lopsided grin appearing on his face as moved to lay on his stomach.
“As you decree, my most favourite and beautiful Mrs. Bridgerton.” He said, moving the sheets lower down his body so as to expose his (truly delightful) behind. “I shall stay just so until breakfast is brought before you, my lady.”
“Have you been hiding experience in the opera from me, Benedict?” You grinned, moving to press your own kiss to his delightfully warm and freckled shoulder blade.
“Not at all, my darling, it is only my natural charm coming through in the early morning light.” He retorted, getting comfortable and folding his arms onto his pillow and laying his head on them.
You laid your head on his back, unable to resist the warmth and comfort of his bare skin, and the comforting feeling of muscles you had grown accustomed to over the course of your marriage.
“I love being married to you.” You whispered against his spine, the words blowing deeper into your bedroom along with the gentle summer breeze.
His head turned to the side, towards you, a tender smile on his face.
“So do I. You are the only reason I ever married, you know. No one else could have changed my view on matrimony. Only you, my Mrs. Bridgerton.”
You smiled, pressing your nose to his briefly, before pecking his lips.
“My Mr. Bridgerton.”