-1As Clarisse stretched her legs, bringing them to rest at the other end of the sofa, she sighed contentedly. She loved these moments. No one else around. No more work to do. Just the two of them. Heavenly! Clarisse turned her head slightly, where it lay on her husband's lap, to watch him. He had been reading for the last half hour quite happily stroking her short hair as he followed the words on the page. God, how she loved him. The thought of not having him in her life scared her beyond belief. To think she had turned him down all those months ago.

"What are you thinking?" Clarisse was brought out of her thoughts. She met his eyes and smiled softly.

"Nothing really." She turned her head back around and stared at the ceiling. "How is the book coming along?"

"It's okay. A little slow at first but getting better." Joseph began to play with her hair, sliding it gently through his fingers.

Clarisse closed her eyes sinking into the blissful silence around them. She found herself being caught up in her thoughts again. They have been husband and wife for just over eight months now. She wasn't going to lie that it was all sweetness and light because at times it was bloody impossible. They had arguments, some quite silly and others ending up with one of the two sleeping on the sofa in the living room of their suite. Usually that person was Joseph. Returning from her thought she found Joseph looking down at her. There was a period not long after they married where they were finding it hard to adjust to each other. Joseph was having difficulty getting used to not being in charge of palace security and having so much free time on his hands while his wife was just as busy as ever.

"Tell me what you're thinking, darling?"

"Memories" Clarisse reached up to stroke Joseph's cheek. "Would you have left that day when I turned you down?"

Joseph took a deep breath thinking about his answer. "No."

Clarisse closed her eyes thinking back to that day in the ballroom. The hurt she had seen in his eyes had been almost unbearable.

"I had every intention to leave the palace. To leave you." Clarisse's eyes opened and she looked up at him. "But deep down, I would never have gone through with it. There was no way I would have left you. I promised you seven years ago that I would always be there for you."

"I do love you, Joseph. Please know that." Clarisse sits up slightly. "I know at times I can be irritable, selfish at times even cold but I will always love you. Never forget that."

"You are never cold, my darling. You seem to forget that I know you better than anyone, even yourself. I was your head of security for over 25 years, your personal guard for 10 years so I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into when we married."

Clarisse laughed at this. Leaning over she lightly kissed him on the lips.

"I love you." She moved closer to him and stoked his cheek tenderly.

"I love you too" Joseph wrapped his arms around Clarisse's shoulders pulling her against him and brought his lips down and kissed her. Their kiss was slow and delicate to start with before Clarisse parted her lips allowing Joseph access and permission to heat things up. When their lips finally parted, Clarisse opened her eyes to meet her husbands.

"Shall we have an early night?"

"I thought you'd never ask, my dear." With that Clarisse took Joseph's hand and lead him into the bedroom.