"I now pronounce you husband and wife."
At the minister's announcement, the entire garden had erupted in cheers as Elizabeth and Jonathan shared their first kiss as a married couple. It was a long kiss, of course, but I am quite certain no one was surprised. Not Irene, the maid of honour, who stood clutching my hand discreetly by my side (I bore no bitterness at her title; Elizabeth had known her rather longer than she had known me, after all); not Maggie or Eunice or Lindy or the numerous other friends from the baths who were sprinkled throughout the crowd with their dates on their arms, amusing me greatly with the realization that it was the first time I had seen many of them fully clothed; not Elizabeth's sister Mandy, who stood on my other side smiling through her jealousy at her younger sister; not my aunt and uncle, who seemed more concerned with the guests' fondness for their estate than with anything else; not their three children, the only children present, an exception to the rule at Elizabeth's insistence (Alexandria, the eldest, had even been granted a weekend's leave from school for the joyous occasion); and certainly not Jonathan's parents, who had grown to know Elizabeth quite well. As for Elizabeth's parents, I had never met them before their arrival quite late the night before; but the looks on both their faces made it clear they would have expected nothing less of their proud, liberated daughter.
I had joined in the joyful applause as I surveyed the scene, awash in bright frocks and brighter smiles from nearly everyone we knew and many I did not. The early afternoon sun cast the perfect beam on the freshly cool spring day that we would all remember so well for years to come. A year before, that very garden had been the scene of a great heartbreak for me; now it was once again a beloved sanctuary of golden memories as I joined in the celebration of two of my dearest friends and the beginning of their life together.
Moments later, in the relative calm and cool of Uncle and Aunt's stairwell, my heart was as full as it had ever been in that crazy, wonderful year. It was equal parts full of tender affection for Elizabeth and Jonathan, and of a rather baser emotion for what awaited me at the top of the stairs. 'What awaited me' was, in fairness, actually two steps behind me on the stairs, and I was clutching his hand in mine. "You are quite certain we can get away with this, aren't you, Agnes?" he asked me.
"Who is to stop us? We're two adults, aren't we?"
"What I mean is, won't we be missed at the reception?"
Having reached the landing, I pulled James up and threw my arms around him. "Not if we are quick," I reassured him. I squeezed him tightly, and was rewarded with the sense of his growing erection against my belly.
"Good heavens, Agnes, when you suggested we nip upstairs like this, I was certain you were putting me on!" he said, returning my tight embrace. "To what do I owe this honour, anyway?"
I reached down brazenly and rubbed his hardness through his pants, knowing our wing of the mansion would be deserted for some time yet, and was rewarded with an adorably tentative stroke of his gentle hands on my breasts. "It is all really very simple, James," I confessed. "It's been a year now that I've been on my own! It was in that very garden down there that Edward broke my heart, and where I've now had the joy of seeing Elizabeth and Jonathan joined together for life, and all the wonderful displays of love and affection have got me in quite the mood for a bit of fun of my own! What better way to mark my recovery from the loss of Edward in the very place where it occurred?" On that note, I slipped my arms around him again while continuing to welcome his caresses. "And all the men in their best suits, you the most adorable of all...how could I resist?
"Well, this is a surprise!" James allowed. "Particularly after some of the rumours we hear in the men's baths about you and Irene." James was a friend of Jonathan's from the men's baths, and a law clerk with whom I had worked on occasion. When I had rather brazenly asked him to be my escort to Elizabeth's wedding some weeks before, I had hoped the date might end with us in bed. But why, I mused now, must we wait for the end?
"The rumours are true," I confessed, feeling a jolt in my insides as I realized the word was out, though Irene and I had both suspected as much. "But we do like men as well, and for the most part I prefer them!" I drew back and took both his hands in mine. "Now, if you prefer not to do it, James, I do understand, but -"
"Do I look as though I prefer not to?!" he demanded with a grin.
"Neither look nor feel," I conceded. My own nipples were hard as diamonds from his touch, and I longed for him to resume it.
"I only hope I can measure up to what Irene does for you," he said as I set off down the hall, guiding him to my bedroom.
"There are things you have to offer that she does not," I pointed out. And at that moment I could scarcely bear the wait to feel one of those things inside me.
With all the lovely commotion down in the garden, my quiet, staid bedroom felt too subdued by half as I ushered James inside. The thought had crossed my mind of adding to our adventure by taking him somewhere we shouldn't be - perhaps the wine cellar - but with a long afternoon yet ahead in my royal blue bridesmaid's dress, getting it soiled with dust would hardly do. Opening the window offered the occasional sound from the garden and the tiniest bit of risk that we would be heard outside. That only intensified the joyfully sinful tickle I was feeling under my skirt as I turned to see James gazing at me across the bed.
I opened my arms, and he seemed to float into them rather than walking. "I must say this is a most agreeable surprise," he said between kisses as I unbuttoned his pants and he resumed his welcome stroking of my breasts. "I have never had the initiative taken with me quite so boldly. Or ever for that matter. It is wonderful, Agnes, but it is not what I'd have expected of you."
"I am not the blushing flower I was when I arrived here," I admitted. "Would you expect anything less of a dear friend of Elizabeth's? She has taught me a great deal, you know." I thought of adding what Jonathan had taught me as well, but some of our secrets did stay within our circle of friends!
"I certainly might hope she has," James agreed. An uncomfortable thought occurred to me, but James addressed it immediately. "Oh, I have never been with Elizabeth," he reassured me. "I have only heard stories in the baths, from men who have."
"My word, I do hope they don't discuss that when Jonathan is around!" I exclaimed, pushing his pants down over his hips; I took his lovely hard cock in both hands and began stroking it gently with my thumbs. Only the third penis I had ever seen, it was a glory to touch and grasp in my hands; and I savoured the moment of blissful intimacy.
"They don't; there is
some
