CHAPTER 449: REASONS TO CRY

The air was so kind, brushing against her skin like it hadn’t done so in a few days since the whole ordeal had begun.

"Are you sure this is alright?" eyes shut, she whispered as though speaking any louder would shatter the peace surrounding them, "With Allegra and the ball tonight...,"

"Positive," he said simply, tightening his arm around her middle, "We do not have to talk about any of that right now,"

Chance continued to gallop around in whichever direction the reins told him to. Among the small hills rounding the horse stables they went.

Leaning back against her husband, Arabella melted in his arms, pushing everything that had to happen that night to the side. All the voices she had to hear, all the faces she had to see as well...

The noises, the lights, the colors... All of it put aside in order to enjoy the few hours that time allowed for a breather.

"You have been preparing for this, haven’t you?" she murmured.

"For an entire week," he hummed, "Although I mostly relied on Ada and the others as I was fairly busy... But you already knew that,"

"Like I said," she chuckled, "They couldn’t act to save their lives,"

"I am not sure whether that is a good thing or a terrible one," he gently tugged at the reins to make Chance stop.

On top of a hill that gave a view straight towards KasselMoon they stood, watching as the birds sang their tune and fluttered around in their many colors and shapes.

"I had forgotten that life could be so... Beautiful," her head leaned onto his arm.

"There is much more beauty than one can behold," he started, looking down at her, "You taught me that,"

No memories of her doing that came to mind so, her eyebrows were already furrowed by the time she raised her gaze.

"When did I ever do that?" she quizzed.

"When you came into my life,"

With that, he stole yet another kiss from her lips which made her gasp as soon as he pulled away.

"That was quite smooth," her eyes remained narrow, but her lips drew a line to render a smile.

"I know," chin up, chest puffed he broke eye contact with her to stare ahead.

"But... I doubt this is the only thing you’ve prepared, right?" she tilted her head to the side, "I mean, it shouldn’t have taken you an entire week to prepare a horse ride so I-"

"Don’t be impatient, please," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "You will find out what it is when you find out,"

Between his lips, he took a tiny piece of her helix causing her to squirm again.

"I do enjoy seeing you like that. Have I ever told you that?" he chuckled.

"No, you have not," her eyes remained tightly shut as Silas had immediately returned to toying with her ear after his words.

"It’s okay," he whispered, "Just let it happen,"

Under her vest, his hand slid from her stomach up to her breasts before squeezing at them. Arabella’s breath hitched in her throat as she found herself helpless with no course of action but to lean back on him and let it happen as he had advised.

"We haven’t been intimate for a while now," his tongue brushed along behind her ear.

"It is no surprise... With everything go-"

She was not allowed to finish her sentence as Silas shoved his hand under her shirt so that it would fully connect with her tits.

"Well, we can remedy that, can’t we?"

He waited not a second longer and put his lips upon her neck to lick and suck on it.

"Here?" she squeaked, her heart going haywire.

"Why not?" he uttered slowly, relishing every little moan out of her.

Not for a second did he let go of her breasts, only opening his hand wider to squeeze more of them. He went from one tit to the other, giving each its own turn to be abused.

"I do prefer closed spaces for intimacy," she muttered through broken breaths.

Silas took a deep breath then his hand back, "Fair enough,"

The next thing he took was her chin to force it up without being aggressive. Their kiss, that time around, lasted longer.

They sucked at each other’s lips and tongues, taking their sweet time to enjoy every second of it.

When they finally set each other free, the smile on Arabella was followed by quiet words, "I can’t wait to see what else you’ve prepared for the day, but I am so glad you chose to include a horse ride,"

"I hope I am not pushing my luck but... You told me that the last time you had ever gotten to ride back home was on your mother’s birthday,"

Arabella’s smile faltered, allowing tears to rise and settle at the corners of her eyes, ready to spill.

"You remembered," she half asked in a whisper.

"Of course, I did," he hugged her closer, "How could I ever forget? It wouldn’t be fitting of a good husband,"

That response triggered a fit of giggles out of her. Arabella shook her head comically and declared, "No it wouldn’t be fitting at all!"

That, in turn, prompted him to squish her cheeks and place a tender kiss on her forehead.

Her smile faded again gradually, but she never broke eye contact, "I do remember the day I told you about it," her expression was still warm but meek, "We were riding on chance on that day as well. The first days of me trying to ride, I think,"

"You did really well in hindsight," his smile too dimmed, "You said you were fourteen back then," he half asked.

"I was, yes," she nodded, "It was one of the best days of my life. I don’t want to cry on my birthday but... It is hard to reel the tears in with such a topic,"

"Crying isn’t always a sign of sadness," he leaned forward to wipe at the single tear that had escaped her sockets, "People cry when they are happy as well," he then quickly added, "At least, that is what I came to learn through the years,"

"No, that is true," after a short pause during which her eyes focused on the town ahead, "I cried the first night I arrived at the manor... When I realized that I would still get to have a cozy bed, a warm room and clean meals and water,"