Epilogue
Anna twisted in the uncomfortable garments. The ceremonial robes were layer upon layer of heavy material designed, she'd decided, to make it impossible for a nervous bride to make a run for it.
"Like I'd make it more than two steps running in this mess," she muttered to herself. She tried, ineffectively, to untie the laces at her back. After hours in the heavy garments she desperately wanted to be free of the weight. "No wonder ladies do not but sit on their bums, how can you last more than a moment walking in all this frippery?" When she reached her hand up and back, the whisk collar and shoulders laden in embroidery and gems kept her from actually reaching the braided ropes that held the robe in place.
With an unladylike groan she gave up, resigned to waiting for her maids to come and help her. At least the crown on her head was only supported by the intricate braided pattern of her hair and she made short work of extricating it from the nest her clever servants had made to keep it on her head throughout the day. She tried to stretch her neck but again was foiled by the stiff golden collar. She uttered one of the worst curses her soldiers had taught her and sank down onto a divan that would allow her to perch her tired body on her side—wooden frame beneath her skirts be damned. She rested her forehead on her arms while she waited for someone to help her out of her wedding clothes.
"For a queen you have a terrible mouth," Leonid's voice came from behind her. Anna smiled into her arms.
"You have never known the appalling fate of being tied into enough fabric for a year's worth of clothing all at once," she said, trying to turn her head towards him but again brought up short by her clothing. "Please help," she said piteously. He chuckled and she felt the laces of the floor-length outer robe sliding through the multitude of islets that marched down her spine.
With a sigh she stood up and he helped her remove the heavy thing with all its adornments. He raised an eyebrow at her when he felt its weight. The sleeveless outermost garb offered the most heft but by no means the most fabric. Leonid placed the jewel-encrusted coat on the divan and turned back to Anna.
She gave him a smile and turned around again, giving him her back. "They all fasten in the back to make sure the wearer can't mount an escape." Leonid laughed and got to work on the next item, a heavy golden surcote with voluminous sleeves lined in deep blue satin that hung to the floor from her elbows and the support for the stiff collar that kept her head regally high and pointed forward at all costs. "I don't know who decided to let a blacksmith design a dress, there's more metal than cloth." she said when he offered no further conversation, the tension in her mounting.
The third layer was a champagne silk undergown that was sown into pleats and embroidered with delicate birds flitting between winding vines. Anna actually thought it a pity that it had been so covered up by all the gaudiness of the outer layers. Leonid made quick work of the tiny laces, which marched all the way down the fitted sleeves to her wrists.
"Could you not just wave your hands and make it all disappear?" she said while he undid the intricate knots of silk ribbon at her wrist.
"This is so much more fun," he said with a mischievous smile, placing a small kiss on the inside of her newly exposed wrist, "Like unwrapping a present."
She blushed as he helped pull the undergown off, no easy feat given the amount of structural supports underneath. "But all the jewels are on the outside."
She stood still as he circled back around her, considering the wood and bone inlays that maintained her posture and the desired shape of the dresses. The frame for the skirts came off easily but the heavy outer corset was much trickier as it held up the ornate whisk collar that rested its weight on her shoulders before flaring up behind her in a wave of lace and pearls. She actually groaned when he lifted it off her, her shoulders loosening instantly.
"I'm sure we can find something to play with underneath it all," he whispered in her ear. She inhaled sharply, heat stirring in her belly.
Beneath the heavy frame was the biggest source of her misery and one she was most eager to be rid of—the dreaded corset, this one in deep red silk hiding the insidious boning. But Leonid's hands did not return and she twisted to look where he might have gone. She found his gaze and gave him a plaintive look. "Please," she murmured, desperate to draw a deep breath again.
"I can't decide if you begging is more attractive than the sight of you in this devious contraption," he came around to face her, his fingers tracing the lines of the delicate lace at the swell of her breasts which were pushed up and held high. Anna's breathing picked up as his clever fingers danced along the scandalous neckline, making her ribs ache against the garment.
"Unless you like your women unconscious, I dare say the corset will have to come off," she said with a small smile. "But, I promise to keep begging even once it's removed."
Leonid laughed, low and promising, "Of that I have little doubt." She twisted again, offering him the laces at her back and he complied. She moaned as the laces came undone and the constricting garment fell away. Leonid's hands came to her back and his thumbs rubbed the marked skin through her shift. "My, the things they dream up to keep you sitting like a queen." She just gave another little moan in reply and sank into his soothing hands.
"Rupi says I walk like a woodsman," she said referring to her favorite maid. She made small sounds of encouragement as he rubbed out the worst of the ache from her compressed skin. "So they bundled me up so no one would see."
He chuckled again and his arms came around her body and pulled her close, her back flush to his chest, her bottom sitting enticingly over his groin. His hands came to her lower belly, pulling her hard against him and eliciting a gasp from her. Her hands covered his and she tilted her head, giving his lips free rein over her bared neck.
"I suppose my husband won't miss me tonight," she said, waiting to gauge his response. She knew he had approved the marriage but he had been acting more possessive of late.
"Rafia is busy with Serena and won't miss you at all," Leonid said.
Anna smiled. "So you have come to make sure I don't suffer from loneliness? That's very considerate." She felt him smile as he kissed the column of her neck.
Leonid ignored her and his hands began to stroke her body over the silky shift. She arched her back as he cupped one of her breasts, pushing the sensitive mound into his hand insistently. "Eventually," she began before his fingers found her nipple making her voice catch, "there will be some duties attached to this marriage." His fingers clamped down on her nipple sending a slice of pain through her breast and into the rapidly building fire under her skin. She whimpered as her arousal grew.
"Are you trying to provoke me?" Leonid whispered, his lips against the hard shell of her ear. "Because that would seem unwise." He released the hold on her nipple and stroked the hard nub to soothe the pinch.
"To the casual observer, perhaps," Anna started again and Leonid began a coordinated attack, his lips on her neck while his hand descended across her ribs, down her flat stomach and came to cup her mound. His other hand came across her torso and pulled her against his hard body. She lost her train of thought as she melted into him, her hands clutching his as his fingers slipped between her legs, finding her heat underneath the thin fabric.
"You were saying?" he said wickedly, his nose sliding against her cheek and she turned her face towards his, waiting for his lips to claim hers. "Hmm?"
"You are teasing me," she sighed. "On my wedding night no less." The corners of her lips curled when he let out a small growl into her ear. Then his mouth found hers as she twisted her neck to meet him. His kiss was heated and demanding, she raised her hand to his neck and pulled him deeper, enjoying how his tongue tangled with her own, his hands rougher as they held her body.
He turned her around, his lips never leaving hers as he pulled her tightly against him. She brought her hands up into his hair, pulling herself up to his demanding kiss. She moaned into his mouth as his hands smoothed over the curve of her back onto her bottom and picked her up. She brought her knees up, unable to untangle her legs from the long shift, and clasped them at his waist. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pressed against him, his hand traveling up her side, dwarfing her torso in his palm.
He pulled back from the kiss, his eyes raking over her flushed face and lips swollen from his attentions. The kohl on her eyes accented their size and the sweeping line of her eyelids. The pale powder that had dusted her skin was long since brushed away and her skin was pink with arousal. She looked at him with such hunger that he found it hard not to throw her down on the bed and take her now. But they had plans tonight, ones he shouldn't rush.
