Memories (2/4): Waking Up a Wife
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 17th September 2005
Characters: Carmora, Almonteo
Description: While cleaning out a box of keepsakes, Carmora remembers some of the most important moments of her life with Almonteo.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 7, day 22 of Turn 3
Feeling decidely nostalgic, Carmora folded the letter carefully and put it back in the box, smiling as she recalled her mother's excitement at hearing that her daughter had found a husband so quickly. Her father had been less thrilled... but then, he'd always been more than a little protective of his daughter. Almonteo had needed his quick wits and gift with words to talk his way into her father's good graces.
She turned her attention to a handkercheif that was knotted up, knowing what she'd find inside. She opened it carefully, smiling as she touched one of the dried flowers inside with a gentle finger. It was amazing that they hadn't fallen apart by now, but they had been some of the most beautiful flowers she'd ever seen... and not just because she'd received them the day after her wedding.
~*~
Carmora was an early rise by nature, but the sun was already high in the sky when she opened her eyes and caught sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. She snuggled back into the soft pillows with a drowsy smile and enjoyed the pleasant feeling of waking up as a wife for the first time in her life.
Almonteo was sitting at the foot of the bed. He turned to look at her over his bare shoulder. Though he had managed to pull on a pair of trousers that morning, his tunic still lay in a crumped mess on the floor where he had left it the night before. And what a night it had been! He could feel a tightening in his chest, among other places, at the sight of that lazy smile on her lips. "Good morning, husband..." Her smile only grew as she admired him, the lines of his shoulder and back and the muscles she'd gotten to shyly explore the night before. Being married was going to be _wonderful_ fun, it seemed. "Good morning, beautiful." He gave her a grin before turning back to the work that occupied him all morning.
"What have you got down there?" Curious as she was about what he might be doing, Carmora was finding it very hard to move from her warm, comfortable nest of pillows and blankets she was curled up in. She couldn't stop thinking about the previous night and smiling that terribly pleased smile. "Well," he chuckled, "I have been trying to make one of those flower crown things you girls can make so easily. It was going to be a surprise, but as you can see," he said as held up a tangle of flowings in a lose line, "it isn't turning out very well."
Carmora laughed and reached out a hand. "It's beautiful. Bring it up here and give me a good morning kiss." He crawled back up to the head of the bed, mess of flowers carefully in hand. Almonteo laughed as drapped the flower tangle across her head. "A present for you," he said before claiming her mouth in a kiss that he hoped was passionate enough to make her forget the flowers entirely.
Oh yes... Carmora was going to _love_ being married. She returned her husband's kiss with no little passion of her own, pulling back to smile up at him fondly. "I'll treasure my present always, my handsome husband." "I really thought it would turn out a little better. What can I say, I'm a harper, not a technician. I'm afraid I'm not that good with my hands except for playing an instrument."
Carmora chuckled and let her fingers trace over his shoulder and down his back. "I don't know... you weren't having any problems last night with your hands..." "Well, I could be the sappy Harper and tell you that you are like a fine instrument, but I'd much rather tell you are just a fine woman." He traced kisses down her windpipe and along her collarbone, the memory of the night before still fresh in his mind as he breathed her in.
A gasp escaped her as his lips traced sensitive skin, and she found her eyes drifting shut as she relaxed into the pleasure his soft touches offered.
"I'm very happy to be a fine woman," she said softly. "Even more happy to be _your_ fine woman." He stretched out beside her grinning from to ear, thoroughly pleased at the reaction he produced in her. "Not nearly as happy as I am. But I want you to know that I believe I am _yours_ just as much as you are mine."
The flowers slid down over one ear as she turned her head to smile at him.
"I never doubted it for a moment, husband." He reached up to pull the flowers from her hair, letting his fingers brush against her neck as he did so. "Of course, I meant to make a much better impression on you this morning," he said with a chuckle. "What a husband you have. I can't even make a flower crown. How do you do that, anyway?"
She laughed and took the crown back, letting it drape across her neck as she snuggled back down into the pillows, ignoring the fact that her hair was probably sticking out in any number of odd directions. Almonteo certainly hadn't minded the night before when he was running his hands through it...
"There. It can be a flower necklace, and it's perfect. And I'd rather you spend your time doing something more productive than learning how to make flower crowns..." "More productive?" he laughed. "I've been up since dawn gatherng flowers and trying to put that silly thing together. Isn't that being productive?"
"Maybe..." She scrunched her toes in the covers, pulling them down just enough so that he could admire the contrast of his flower crown against the pale skin of her neck and chest. "On any other day. But on _this_ day you have a newly wedded wife in your bed, wondering what other things you might be able to do with your talented fingers and creative mind." Almonteo suddenly felt like the luckiest man on Pern. The harper propped himself up on one elbow and pulled the covers that hid her body down as far as his long arm could reach. He then picked up one end of the flower chain and lifted it lightly from her neck and proceeded to trace it down between her breasts to circle her naval with it. "Are you saying that you don't like the flowers I picked for you?"
Her voice was low and throaty, and the look in her eyes warm enough to melt any man. "I _love_ the flowers you picked for me... more and more every moment, in fact." "Ah, forget the sharding flowers," he whispered hoarsely as he tossed them aside. His fingers then retraced their path as he brought his lips down to caress hers. Carmora forgot about the flowers and everything else except for how lucky she was. But candlemarks later, when they were both blisfully exhausted and Almonteo was snoring gently beside her, Carmora reached down to recuse the sad little flower chain, tucking it into the drawer in her bedside table.
Last updated on the September 17th 2005