#andromeda trilogy

[cecilsstorycorner]

Drew @chayscribbles’s wonderful Val for Art Fight!! You’d think the holo clothes would be a hassle but they’re honestly so much fun. I need to draw Val more often tbh, they deserve it

[kalendraashtar]

Fanfiction - A Marriage of Equals

Yooo lovely people! This story started with Andromeda and is preceded by This Man I Chose. I think this might be the end to this particular story, so I hope you guys like it! As always, I love you like Belgian chocolate, gummy bears and rainbows after heavy rain. See you on the other side! <3

Fanfiction list

A Marriage of Equals

Claire was sitting on her bed, her knees cradled against her chest, hearing the calming rain taping on her window. She couldn’t sleep – not with relentless thoughts finding their way through her mind like wild horses on a field; not on the night that marked the eve of her marriage to Jamie.

She wished she could talk to him now, tell him why she had been silent and distant those past few days. She had felt remorse watching his confused blue eyes, of course – but was too concerned and sad to share her burden with him, nonetheless. Claire wasn’t sure he would comprehend her feelings and the reasons behind them. So she had avoided supper and sent word that she wished to rest before her big day and not to be disturbed.

But she could see now the error of her ways – he was about to become her wedded husband, her lord and master in everyone’s eyes – except he had promised her a marriage of equals, a place by his side where her voice could forever be heard. Had she not believed him? Was she afraid he would disappoint her when confronted with the practicality of his vow?

A light tap on her window pulled her away from the whirl of her thoughts. Thinking that the soft cold rain could be turning into a hail storm, she got up to make sure everything was tightly locked.

A second sound coming from the window echoed in her room, making her jump. It most certainly didn’t seem like something produced by nature alone, but rather like a small stone casted against her shutters.

She opened her window and peeked to the darkness outside.

Jamie was crouched in a high branch of the big tree outside her window, looking like a half-breed between an owl and a graceful cat. He smiled when he saw her, juggling with dexterity a pebble with his left hand.

“What are you doing?” She hissed, her stomach lurching in fear at the sight of the height bellow him. “You’ll break your neck!”

“Only if ye don’t let me in.” He calmly said, maintaining an air of dignity about him in spite of being soaking wet and perched on a tree like a thief in the night. “I was afraid ye were asleep and wouldna hear me with the sound of the rain falling. I was about to throw my last pebble.”

“Get in you bloody fool.” She opened the window and moved aside to allow him to come in. He placed his feet in the branch and stretched to get a good grip on the window frame, pulling himself up and inside her room.

He was wearing simple breeches and a shirt, meant to make him more agile while climbing trees, without even a thin cloak to shelter him from the harsh weather. Claire was chilled just to watch him and thankful of the shawl that was folded across her shoulders, covering her shift with modesty.

“I’m sure my uncle would not approve of you being in my room until we’re properly wedded.” She raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“Nay.” He grabbed a linen towel that was neatly folded next to the ewer and basin and used it to dry his hair. “The real question is – are ye?” He brushed her chin with the tip of his fingers. “I couldn’t watch our wedding day arriving with something meddling between us. What is it, Claire?”

“I…” She swallowed hard. “Yes, something is bothering me, Jamie. But I’m not having second thoughts. This time tomorrow I’ll be your wife.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” His eyes seemed to lighten up. He sat her on the bed as he kneeled at her feet and held her hands between his. “Tell me, then.”

“You were talking to my uncle, telling him about Lallybroch and the plans you have for the estate.” She avoided his eyes. “And I realized that you are heir to Lallybroch.”

“I am that.” Jamie smiled, brushing a strand of her dark hair away from her temple.

“You are needed there, your place is by your father side, learning how to rule the lands.” She continued. “But I am Lady here. Beauchamp Castle is my heritage. As your wife I’m expected to follow you and that means…” She rubbed his fingers. “That I’ll have to wave away my rights and deliver my land to somebody else’s hands.”

“Claire.” Jamie interrupted her and she watched his face, fierce and serious. “My place is by yer side. Aye, we’ll have to go to Lallybroch and spend some time there but I would never ask ye to let go of yer home. I have a mind we can maybe have both worlds and divide our time between them. And when matters are more pressing I’m sure we can find suitable people to take care of things when we’re absent. I’m sure Sir Quentin will be glad to help; as will my father and Ian.”

“Do you mean it, Jamie?” She asked hopeful. “Can we really live in both places?”

“I wish ye’d talked to me sooner instead of throwing yerself in this anguish pit, mo nighean donn.” He replied with a tad of reproach, smoothened by the light caress of his fingers on her knuckles. “I ken who I’m marrying, mo graidh. Will you believe me in the future when I say I thought this through?”

“I will.” She sighed, the weight in her chest finally lifted. “I am sorry for behaving like that. I’m not used to have someone who I can trust and tell all the things in my heart. I have been alone for such a long time.”

“I ken it will take some time to get used to it. But Claire,” He framed her face with his hands. “Promise me ye’ll tell me these things. You once told me that I would always ken what’s on yer mind and I’m counting on it. That wee tongue of yers will give me a hard time and welcome.”

Claire laughed and the shawl around her shoulders slipped, showing the smooth skin of her décolletage and a bared shoulder. She could feel the disarming proximity of Jamie’s body and searched for his reaction.

His eyes were darker, glaring at her suddenly exposed skin, and for a moment she saw the shape of wild things there. He breathed deeply and his gaze travelled to her face – and she saw his unbreakable vow, the sheer force of his nature which would hold all his desire under a tight leash until she was truly his to claim.

Claire smiled, a question in her eyes. His hands found her shoulders and he slowly placed the shawl in his rightful place again.

“Tomorrow?” She asked in a whisper, caressing his stubble.

“Tomorrow.” Jamie nodded and chastely kissed her lips. “If I survive. I reckon I’ll have to get out of here the way I came, aye?” He sighed, sternly looking at the opened window where the previous rain was quickly turning into a full-blown storm.

***

“To Lady and Lord James Fraser, may they find happiness in their common life; be blessed with children to fill their home; a fire always burning strong in their hearth; food and drink to fill the bellies in their hall; and a solid bed to share every night!”

The Hall roared in agreement as the crowd raised their cups to drink in the honour of bride and groom, sitting in the superior table, with amused yet slightly mortified smiles on their faces.

“If they keep up with the toasts I don’t think we’ll be able to get up from this table.” Claire told Jamie in a low voice. “And I had plans for tonight.”

“Did ye?” He gave her a significant look and a lopsided smile. She looked utterly beautiful in her creamy gown, blazing with her cheeks flushed from the warmth of the Hall, the ingestion of sweet wine and the thought of the activities that awaited them as newlyweds. “I think perhaps we should leave now, mo nighean donn.”

Jamie raised from his seat and smiled to the familiar faces in the crowd.

“We thank ye for yer wishes of fortune and marital bliss. My bride is tired, as the hour is late and the day filled with emotions – we shall retire now.”

A choir of laughs, bold remarks and roars followed his words.

Jamie offered his hand to Claire as she raised and a knight in one of the lower tables whistled at the sight of her, making Jamie give him a dangerous look.

They marched from the Hall, swiftly followed by a knight of Claire’s household and a lady of Fraser’s lands – they were to be the witnesses of the consummation of their marriage. The knight was fat, with a neck and expression that made him resemble an angry boar; the lady was small, with thin lips and a croaked nose. Jamie gave Claire a questioning look, as he knew her well enough to know the situation couldn’t please her, in spite of being a tradition amongst nobility. She looked eerily calm and composed.

The couple entered the room and the witnesses prepared to follow them, but Claire halted.

“Will you please excuse us for just a moment? We shall call for you presently.” She said sweetly. They shared a confused look, but sat on the chairs placed near the door, which Claire swiftly closed behind her.

“So,” Jamie said, folding his arms with an amused look. “What is the plan?”

“I don’t follow you, sir.” Claire replied but a smug smile betrayed her. “I just wish to talk to my husband before we entertain our guests. Is that so strange?”

“Whatever ye’re cooking for them.” He tilted his chin to indicate the closed door. “I hope it’s not poison. I don’t think we could explain that.”

“Oh, it’s not poison.” She added cheerfully, taking her delicate shoes off. “Just regular and innocuous herbs that someone mixed with their drink. By mistake, obviously.” She made a small bow. “They shall be in deep slumber by now.”

Together they opened a crack of the door, giggling when they saw the pair snoring with their heads neatly placed in each other’s shoulder.

“They will be too ashamed to tell anyone they weren’t present in the room. I guess they’ll have to believe in our word.” Jamie closed the door again and bolted it.

They talked a little about their day, mainly about the ceremony that took place in the castle’s chapel, while sharing a soothing cup of wine. Their words slowly became more disconnected, as they grew more aware of their surroundings and the other’s presence. Jamie was sitting in a chair, while Claire had took over the bed.

Jamie wanted her and badly. His whole body was pulsing with desire. But he loved her too much; had no wish to scare her or hurt her with a precipitated gesture of passion. He had thought long about it and decided the best course of action was letting her dictate the rhythm of things – let her demonstrate she was ready and he would wait. Forever, if need be.

Last night everything seemed so simple between them. If he wanted he could have pushed her against the bed and she would have surrendered to the demands of their urges. But he had waited, knowing that she deserved to have it all – and now they were both nervous, having had too much time to think.

“Are you nervous?” She asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

“Aye.” He breathed deeply. “I am. And ye?”

“Yes.” She brushed the bedclothes with her palm. “Maybe if you come sit next to me it would be easier?”

Jamie obediently moved to six next to her on the enormous bed.

“Do ye want me to blow out the candles?” He asked softly. “If you prefer to be in the dark…”

“No.” Claire answered firmly. “I want to be able to…watch you. I want to see us. Together.”

He nodded and his hand searched for hers, entwining their fingers.

“Tell me something true.” She asked in a husky voice, tugging at the laces of her gown. Jamie placed his hands on top of hers and she let go, allowing him to begin to undo her laces. His breath was hot and moist on her neck and she shivered.

“I wanted to lie with ye from the first moment I saw ye, thundering in the Hall and speaking yer mind. Ye looked so bonny and fierce. That was the first night in my life I dinna sleep thinking of a lass, my body aching with the thought of ye.”

When he was done, she turned and faced him. Her breathing was fast and superficial, like she had been running for a long time. Her hands tentatively sought his coat and helped easing it out of his shoulders.

“My turn now. I watched you bathe in the river a couple of weeks ago.” She admitted with flushed cheeks. “I wanted to know what to expect so I wouldn’t disappoint you.”

“Ye could never disappoint me, Claire.” He kissed her temple. “Did ye…like it? What ye saw?”

“Yes.” She rubbed his fingers with hers. “I felt something awakening in me. It was like a pain and a throb in my belly that only you could quell.”

Jamie started to unlace her petticoat.

“I heard that women…ladies…usually don’t like it very much.” He gulped, as his fingers brushed her waist. “The bedding. If you dinna like it I want ye to tell me to stop, Claire. If I’m no pleasuring ye, then we mustn’t do it.”

Claire looked at him, surprise and tenderness in her eyes. She helped him with the cuffs of his shirt and eventually they managed to undress it. She gasped at the sight of his bared chest.

“Even if you are enjoying it?” She finally asked.

“Aye.” He kissed the hollow between her clavicles. “I want ye to want me, Claire. I need to feel ye there with me. If ye don’t – then we can maybe do other things.”

“Like what?”

With tremulous fingers he slowly undid the laces of her corset, finally freeing her of the tight prison. She was just in her shift and silky stockings now and he had never seen a more beautiful thing.

“Like this.” Jamie kneeled before her and his hand softly travelled across her leg, up her calf until he reached her thigh. He brushed the tender skin there for a moment and finally started to roll off the white fabric. Encouraged by the small moan she made at the contact of his fingers with her heated skin, he bent over and planted a moist kiss inside her thigh. “And this.” He brushed the side of her breast, still hidden by her shift, while he licked the curve of her neck.

“Ohhh.” She sighed. “I wanted you from the first moment I saw you too. You were so different from everything I ever expected. When we raced against each other and you admitted defeat with such grace, I wanted to lay you right there and then on the grass and kiss you until you moaned my name.”

He laughed, his voice hoarse with desire, as she touched his bared belly. Their joined hands found the fastenings of his pants. Claire tentatively touched the swell of his cock and he couldn’t contain a moan, shaped with her name. “Claire.”

Jamie brushed his lips delicately against the corner of her mouth.

Their lips finally found each other and they kissed, their mouths seeking that unexplainable connection, their tongues exploring the sanctuary of each other. It was fire and healing water; it was home outside their bodies, in another person; it was desire, screaming to be acted upon. They kissed with all the passion that had grown during the last month, during all their lives waiting for each other.

Jamie fondled her breast, quickly discovering that her reaction was everything he ever hoped it would be. Claire was hugging him close, her fingers playing with the small hairs on his nape, while his opened palms rested on her hips.

“It’s your turn.” She whispered, her body pressing against him.

“I love ye, Claire.” He whispered back, finally undoing the simple knot on the neck of her shift, making the fabric puddle at her feet. “I love ye.” He repeated, taking her in his arms and laying her down.

And that was the one truth that mattered.