Siren Send-Off

“A book, what kind of book did you look for?” He went to get her robe because he did not want her to chill. They were not yet under the cover and he wanted to be sure she stayed warm.

“A book that instructs proper young ladies on behavior when they are taken to bed by their husbands.” She covered her face with her hands. “It doesn't exist and the information I have been given just doesn't go along with the way I feel.”

“What have you been told?” He sat her by the fire; he began to remove her shoes and stockings. She was busy talking so she didn't have time to be embarrassed by his intimate behavior. He sat and removed his stockings, then removed his shirt revealing a well-formed chest. He was beautiful. She was stunned into silence by his appearance. She had seen marble statues, but never a real live breathing male so beautiful and so close to her. He had listened to the load of crap she had been told. Things about how she was supposed to lay still while he pierced her with his sword, that he would hurt her and she would not like it but she just needed to be still and he would go away.

“Touch me, Ellie and listen to me.” Her first touch was so light it was like a feather. He pulled her closer. “My touch is not something you must tolerate. As best I can I'll try not to hurt you. I want you to enjoy what we share.” He held her face in his hands. “I love you, wife, you please me greatly. You are beautiful and more than I ever dreamed I could find.” He kissed her until she was breathless. “Let's get rid of the rest of these clothes and I'll show you everything you need to know.” His skin was warm and the light dusting of silky hair on his chest felt good to her fingers.

“No clothes?” she seems shocked.

“No clothes,” he smiled. “We don't need them.”

While she finished and climbed into his bed he extinguished the candles. The fire light lit the room with a dim glow. He made sure the fire screen was secure. He knew she was hiding her face under to cover and the idea tickled him. He pulled the cover back and slid in the bed beside her, pulling her close to him. “Move your feet over here, I know they are cold,” he instructed snuggling her cold toes against his leg.

She had barely glimpsed his naked body before he slipped in between the sheets next to her. She had seen statues but he was more that any statue she had ever dared to gaze upon. She was clutching the cover because she was nervous, not because she was afraid. Ian brushed light kisses over her closed eyes.

“Open your eyes,” he whispered. “Look at me.” As she gazed into his eyes she was lost to him. “Remember the night you came to me and I told you that I could show you a way for you to reach the stars?” She nodded. “We'll be able to do that and soon. But first I must hurt you just a bit. For that I am truly sorry but it is just the way of things. Do you understand?”

She nodded again. With his kisses, his touches, he coaxed her body to a very needy state. As he moved to take her for the first time the silky feel of her body was almost enough to cause him to lose what little control he managed to maintain. It was when she stiffened and grew still and silent that he knew he had hurt her. No longer was she purring against him. He tried to be as still as he could but she was reacting to him and it made him grow even larger inside her. “Ellie,” he breathlessly whispered and rested his forehead against hers. She moved her hips up to receive him deeper. They moved together and he heard her say his name over and over until they both tumbled over the edge of passion together. He held her long after they were spent; she was curled against him. “Ian,” her voice was soft.

“Yes, love,” he waited to hear what she would say.

“I want to do that again. Can we?”

He laughed softly, “We certainly can.”

Loving Ellie was easy. She was nervous and scared, but not of him. She responded to his touch, his movements. She was a willing and apt pupil. He found that the banked fires of passion burned within her and he only had to barely fan the flame to get it to burst into a blaze.

“I'd have given anything to avoid hurting you.” He spoke softly at they lay snuggled together. “But it has to happen when the female is a virgin.” She was kissing his chest and driving him crazy. He was trying to hold her still, but she

was wiggling against him. It was warm under the cover; she was very curious and it was driving him crazier. “Ellie you can't do things like that and not get a reaction from me.”

“You mean, we can do all this again, if I do this?” she moved her hand to caress him.

He jumped, but enjoyed the feel of her fingers. “Yes, I mean that. I was going to be a man about this and allow you time to recover.” He was kissing her and not thinking a bit about recovery time or being a man about the whole thing. “You're not going to be able to sit comfortably tomorrow if we keep this up,” he teased as he moved inside her again.

“Then I shall just lie in bed,” she giggled and wrapped her legs around his waist.

By the time midnight came round they were having a naked picnic by the fire. “Are you OK?” he asked as he set aside his cool mug of tea.

“I can say this ...” She moved into the circle of his arms. “This is much better than the single life I had planned for myself, and I thought that that would have been perfect. Just me and my books.” She was laughing, her beautiful hair was tumbling round her shoulders and down her back. It was a very lovely back that led to a very enticing rear end. His hand moved to cover that rear end as she snuggled close to him once more.

“You know Grandmother picked you out for me. She had you bring those brainless chits for me to meet just so I could see you. You sitting there reading Plato in my sitting room and I had to converse with those brainless females.” He brushed her hair out of her face.

“They all were not empty-headed, they were just young. They were quite impressed with you, although they said you were very old.”

“Old!” Ian could not believe it. “I'm not old.”

“To an eighteen year old female you are old,” she laughed. “But I was the one you invited to tea.”

“I love you, Ellie.” he held her close to his heart. * * *

Ian and Ellie were lucky; they lived long enough to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Ian took his place as the head of the family, serving in the House of Lords with distinction. They had four children, two boys and two girls. Ellie always believed that he planned it that way, but Ian was just happy that the children and Ellie were alive and healthy.

They were together, she was with him; even when he went to London to serve in parliament she was with him. She was his confidant, his advisor and his dearest and best friend. He was the same to her. There were many young women in London who desired to have a relationship much like Lord and Lady Jamison.

At Christmas of his eighty first year, Ian declared he was exhausted and wanted to sit by the fire and rest. Ellie snuggled next to him, Ian simply stopped breathing. Very simple. One moment he was with her, the next he was simply not there.

He was such a force in her life, the reason she woke, the reason she breathed. The young Duke, as young Ian had been, was called to take on his father's duties. Ellie sat by Julianna's angel looking at the new soil were Ian's grave was. She had cried very little in the nearly fifty-one years they had been married. It seemed that with Ian's death fiftyone years of tears were flowing forth. “Come, Mother.” Young Ian offered her his arm. He was so like his father when he was the same age.

Two long years later she sat by the fire in their room drinking a mug of tea. Ian had taught her to love tea in a large mug. She was sitting in the chair enjoying the fire. In the mist of her vision she saw Ian as he was on their wedding night, young and beautiful. Lusting for her, she, not yet knowing the years of passion they would share. The vision said, “Come and touch me, Ellie, I have missed you so.” When she stood to go to his outstretched arms she was young again, her hair falling about her shoulders in rich brown waves. His arms felt so good, she looked back at the old woman sitting in the chair who appeared to be sleeping.

“Ian?” she asked as she looked at his beautiful face.

“I love you, Ellie,” he whispered, “Follow me.”

And she did.

Mermaid Tea Party by Jim Warren

Oh, Canada! Spend a gracious weekend sipping & sampling the age of elegance in the regal beauty of Victoria, BC.

This Mythic Adventure getaway includes tea talks & tutorials, quirky excursions to a ‘castle’, croquet club and a dragon lantern walk through old Chinatown. You may even opt for a horsedrawn harbor-side carriage ride.

Whether taking tea at The Empress or taking in the natural wonder of Butchart Gardens, this glimpse of the queen's North American empire will leave you sated and serene. Join us for a Victorian GentiliTea experience.