There had been so many people to meet, Evangaline's Son in Law, David, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, Alexander's physician and friend, another man whose full name she could not pronounce, Szabo being his first, (a boyhood friend of Alexander's who hailed from Romania but had made the journey to the Americas and then to England) to name just a few. The attempt to remember everyone's name and association, paired with the glasses of champagne Alexander kept presenting to her, proved a daunting task, but a slight window into the new world she was now a part of. It was thrilling to think of it, or perhaps that was just the alcohol, or the sudden carefree knowledge that she was now Mrs. Grayson, with all the intimacies that came with the title. The rush was nearly overwhelming.

Perhaps an hour after dinner concluded the nanny guided the children off to their beds. It seemed Alexander had once again provided for the needs of her son by assuring new nightshirts and toys to guide him to sleep, and a few fresh outfits for the days to come. Mina had followed the trio up the stairs, excusing herself for a moment from the party to see both charges settled. It was a habit she did not wish to break, kissing her son, and now it seemed, her daughter before bedtime. All the new things in the nursery threatened to derail James' peace, so eager was he to play and explore, but a promised story from the nanny set everything to rights. There would be another bedroom for James in the coming days, but for then he was pleased to sleep amongst the toys and close to his friend, finally agreeing to shut his eyes and to let his mind make pictures for the fairy tale. Once again Mina found tears rising to her eyes as she took her leave, lest more people see her crying and think her a sentimental fool.

Composing herself in the upstairs hallway she looked down over the foyer, hearing the assembled revelry in the conservatory; listening to Alexander's phonograph and clinking of glasses of whiskey. It was a different world she was to become a part of. With a deep breath she returned to their guests; feeling just a little elated at the thought of suddenly being the mistress of such a household.

It was Victoria who began the exodus, ushering her family out the front door, into a waiting hansom, others following after congratulations were again offered and accepted with embraces, handshakes, and cordial kisses. Finally even Renfield and the staff disappeared from the foyer, off to tidy and reorganize the house, leaving Mina and Alexander alone. Standing just to her right Alexander slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards him.

"Are you happy my beautiful Mina? Have I done well by you and James?"

"I can still hardly believe it is all true, I fear that someone will pinch me and I shall awake back in my little house, having fallen asleep on the settee."

"I assure you, you have not fallen asleep on your settee. But I imagine you must be tired after all that has happened this evening. It would give me great happiness if you would allow me to show you more of the house, more specifically our rooms, if will you come upstairs with me Mina?"

She nodded and allowed herself to be led, up the curling steps, past the nursery, (now very quiet), past another closed door, a guest room she was later to discover, to the very end of the hall, and a set of double doors. Alexander opened them to the master bedroom, lit by subtle electrics and the moonlight pouring in the glass balcony doors. Mina crossed the threshold first, Alexander remaining just behind her, allowing her the time to explore or retreat as was her want. Shadows crept from every corner of the large room to Mina's eyes, disguising the carpet and the artwork on the walls, and making the centerpiece, the four postered bed seem all the more grand and mysterious, and perhaps a little daunting.

"I don't have my things." She whispered, afraid to break the spell the place was weaving with a loud voice. Alexander, still behind her, seemed to understand, and kept his voice just as hushed.

"I have everything you'll need for now I hope; brushes, nightclothes, dresses for the morrow, powders and perfumes, everything I could think of. Whatever I've forgotten, we'll retrieve it." He came up behind her, and placed his hands gently on her shoulders, he felt them relax.

"You've planned for everything." Her head dropped a little with his touch, her eyes closed as she released herself into the enchantment.

"It is as much as I was able Mina. But I could not prepare for what would happen now, now that we two are here, alone, married. That decision is yours. I will do no more or no less than you ask of me. If you wish, I will retire to a another suite for the night, and leave you to your peace."

"I have had too many years of loneliness Alexander," She wrapped her arms tightly over her chest as if she feared falling apart at her seams. "I do not wish to suffer another night of it." She leaned back into his chest.

"Neither do I." He whispered slowly into her ear, bringing his arms over hers and embracing her.

"You are my husband, whatever subterfuge you have used to make that so." Mina sighed deeply, "I would have you as my lover as well, if you will have me?"

"Oh Mina," he turned her around to face him, "I have dreamed of nothing else for a great long time." He put his mouth over hers and kissed her, feeling her arms loosen their hold on her chest and wrap around his waist, her breast pressing into his. He didn't even care about breathing as he ground his lips against hers with delicate force. When her mouth opened to his, a greedy tongue dove deeply; he could almost imagine that he could feel her heart beat against his skin.

He nearly ripped off his jacket, the waistcoat following it, both discarded over a trunk at the foot of the bed. His attentions returned to Mina as he guided her to sit at the edge of his large bed; and taking a seat behind her, he reached for the pins in her hair.

"We've done this before." She noted, her hushed voice hesitant.

"But alas, circumstances betrayed us then."

He combed his fingers through the freed strands, letting them fall over her shoulders, pressing his lips against the back of her neck, feeling her tremble. Collecting the pins in his hand he reached over to the small table by the bed and deposited them there, along with his cuff links and shirt studs, removed with practiced dexterity. It seemed most reasonable to him then to simply strip off the shirt as well, and so he did, returning to embrace her against a bare chest.

He had never felt her skin against his in that way, and it made him desirous of more. Nimble fingers moved to release the mother of pearl buttons at her back. Each one slipped free causing the straps of her dress to shift and plunge just a little further downward; she, making no motion to stop its progression, he brushing it further away.

"Will you stand?" He whispered.

She did, and Alexander guided the silk downwards slowly, keeping it gathered as he revealed the slight slip beneath it, short as it was, clinging to Mina's hips and draping over the tops of her legs. He brushed a hand over the naked skin, then collected the dress, as Mina stepped free from it. Unlike his own clothing though, he hung it carefully over the dressing screen.

Mina watched him, brushing his hands over the soft fabric and her careful stitching. He was a beautiful man. The muscles of his arms were solid and strong, not surprising, but heretofore hidden beneath his tailored shirts and jackets. His shoulders tapered to a narrow waist upon which sat his grey trousers, covering over something Mina felt guilty resting her gaze upon. She dropped her eyes feeling very self-conscious all of a sudden. The return of his fingers brought her face up to his, coaxing under her chin with a careful pressure. She could feel his closeness, his maleness as he stood before her. His soft mouth brushed over hers again as his free arm wrapped her waist and pulled her against his hips with a little jerk. A slight gasp escaped those parted lips, and feeling off balance she reached for him, finding his bare skin warm and smooth under her palms. She wanted more. Even as Alexander began to run a hand upwards from her waist, gathering the silk undergarment and exposing her, her own hands began to tug at the waist of his trousers, searching for the clasps, timidly brushing over the front of his legs. Her sensitive fingers could feel him shudder as she drew closer to that most desperate part of him. She had the hook and eye slipped free of each other before raising her own arms over her head to allow him to strip the silk from her body. His trousers slid from his hips.

A moment passed with the two standing facing each other, not more than the width of a sheaf of paper between them, breaths audible above everything else in the household. Alexander was the first to bring his fingertips to her skin, and first he caressed her cheek, as he had done so many times before; not that he did not desire to touch so many other places. She would come to him though, even across such an insubstantial distance, and she did, leaning forward into his touch and to receive it. Her breasts brushed against his smooth chest, her hips crossed to his, his manhood, fully engorged for her was wrapped by their bodies, drawing forth a deep sigh of contentment, unbidden, but honest.

He could do naught but wrap her waist again, and push her so carefully backwards till the backs of her legs contacted the bedclothes. She sat, even as he leaned into that motion, swinging his legs up to the coverlet as she did, coming to hover over her as she lay backwards, desperate to have her, fired by the eyes that locked with his. Only when she closed them did he look over her body; the gentle swells of her breasts, their rosy pink centers standing at attention, the way they trembled with every racing heartbeat. Her belly was flat, her hips gently curved, the shadow between her legs revealed for him. Balancing himself on his left elbow, Alexander brushed his right hand across the length of her neck, down her chest between her breasts and across that flat skin, hardly pausing as he cupped his fingers over and around that shadow, pressing against her hot flesh.

She moaned and arched her back against his, he only pushed harder, kneading against that most sensitive spot, a knot building in his pelvis, desperate for its own relief. He bent to capture her mouth, grinding against it in the same rhythm as his hand kept. Mina opened herself to him, taking his tongue against hers even as a cupped palm gave away to exploring fingers, parting her, testing her. An even deeper moan slipped from her throat and her hands wrapped around his shoulders, holding him close to her.

Moving a knee carefully between her legs he coaxed them apart, settling himself between then, holding her eyes' gaze as he brought himself to her body, searching for any sign, any clue that she needed him to stop. Finding nothing but pleading eyes he drew himself over her and gently pushed against her, gaining entrance in a smooth, long stroke. Both voices mingled in strangled cry as he came to his hilt and held station, letting her adjust to him. Only when the clutch of her hands on his back lessened did Alexander begin to rock within her. She joined the motion after a few deep strokes, their breathing synchronizing, their bodies staying in as close a contact as they could manage.

Her skin was so soft under his hands, encircling his manhood, quivering against his chest and under his mouth. Alexander wanted to devour her, a hungry mouth tasting and suckling wherever it could reach. Her moans and cries added fuel to the fire that had begun as a low simmer and spread to a furious burn. When her body tightened around his, when the muscles in her belly tensed and when she cast her head back, exposing a perfect column of ivory he gave himself to her fully. A final, desperate thrust and Alexander's reason, his passions and his love coalesced within, meeting the flood of her body; he held her crushed to his chest and roared.

Her body was warm wrapped in his, her heartbeat audible, her breathing slow. He felt it would be easy to find sleep that night, unlike so many of the others, those now past, those from before he had found her, from before he had married her. The emptiness of sleeping on one side of a large bed, reaching out for something and finding only cold sheets under his fingers, listening for the sound of another and finding only the void; not only of the physical, but of the spiritual, the emotional. All that seemed a fleeting memory as he held her, and breathed in the scent of her.

"Tomorrow my darling, we will take some men and a wagon and go to your house. We will pack up whatever it is you wish to bring here. Then we, we all, will go to the shops and buy whatever else you and James desire."

"And what am I to do with the house?" Mina rolled over to face Alexander in the dim light of the room.

"Whatever you wish Mina, the house is yours."

"I always thought it would go to James, when he married and began his own family."

"I will see that James has everything that he will need in that respect Mina. He will be my son now as well."

"I don't know that I can bring myself to sell it Alexander."

"Then don't. It wouldn't be, I hesitate to say 'appropriate', but perhaps 'comfortable' to have ladies here at Carfax to try on dresses. Should you wish to continue in your business perhaps your home could become more of a shop for the time being. Perhaps you might even wish to rent the rooms above to another widowed mother?"

"You have such a kind soul Alexander, to suggest such a thing."

"I have learned it all from you. And this is not to suggest that I wish for you to work, you would be most welcome to simply enjoy the house and gardens and the spoils of the kitchen."

"Then I will become plump and you will not desire me any longer."

"I will always desire you Mina. I swear that to you."

"Then I will think on everything that you have said, and offered."

"Take whatever time you need and take from me whatever you shall desire Mina. I await your wishes."

"And I yours Alexander."

"I will never tire of hearing you say my name."

FIN

A sincere thank you to everyone who has come along on this little journey. I am so pleased that you have made it to the finale with me. Your kind words have meant a great deal.

Merick