FIC: Thou Wilt Quake For This - the DVD Extra (1/1)
Title: Thou Wilt Quake For This - the DVD Extra
Genre: Much Ado About Nothing
Rating: M
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: Benedick and Beatrice have found themselves forced to marry. While their family and friends are determined to make them fall in love, a chance emerges to expose the villains who trapped them. Can they succeed and protect Hero?
Disclaimer: I don't know who owns what where Shakespeare is concerned. However, Josie O'Rouke owns the version of MAAN I'm basing this on.
Dedication: sykira. You know why. May you have plenty of Benedick-flavored dreams after reading this. ;D
Author's Note: This was the third idea that came rather quickly when my Muse was originally prompted by THE scene in MAAN. And a huge thanks to tardis_mole for beta reading. I needed to figure out how to make this plot bunny work, and that wouldn't have happened in a timely fashion without you.
Enjoy. Am now trying very hard to kick what's left of this cold so I can teach this week.
Thou Wilt Quake For This - the DVD Extra
Started February 26, 2014
Finished October 9, 2014
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine
DVD EXTRA: BURIED IN THY EYES
Beatrice's nerves made a violent return as she was assisted out of her wedding dress and into the dressing gown of her wedding night. It was one of the few things she had been permitted to choose without alteration. Not even the wedding gown was her choice; she had tried her hardest to wear her mother's, but society would not be gainsaid. Hero had selected both gowns in the end, which spoke of her taste for the current fashions than anything else.
The teal color with the black lace of her nightgown was somewhat comforting for her now. She liked the look, and she had hoped it would give her courage.
But the exit of Maria and the other gentlewomen only increased them. Even with Maria's words of comfort. Even though she had requested a moment entirely to herself before they let Benedick in. Now she wondered if that was a wise move.
She sighed. “I chose this. From the being alone to the chemise. Now courage do not fail me. I doth not wish mine beloved to think poorly of me.”
A knock sounded.
She took a deep breath, trying to settle herself. “Come in, Benedick.”
The words lacked any confidence. Instead they came out nervous and needy, making her flush with mortification.
Benedick entered slowly, opening his mouth to speak but halting solidly at the sight of her. “Are you wishing to kill me before we begin?”
She looked down at herself. “Am I that appealing?”
He managed to close the door behind him as he swallowed. “My Lady, nothing has ever been more tempting than the sight before me.”
Her face turned scarlet. It took a few attempts to form speech. “Benedick, I know not what to do. All I know is from watching the dogs. None but Maria would speak with me of what I wished, though I could not let on how anxious it made me to please thee, and the... night before made me an hindered and ineffective.”
He held back the scowl his face wanted to form, but could not suppress a frown. “O that women could be better friends to each other: no woman should have to face her wedding night in complete ignorance or anything like it. Love, I shall be thy adoring guide: I pray thou hast no reason to fear at any time this night.”
She nodded, unable to meet his eyes.
His heart sank. She was trying to hide it, but she was scared. He took her hands gently. “What can I do to ease thy heart and thoughts, Beatrice?”
It took her a moment to collect her thoughts, and another to be able to express it. “A kiss, I think: I was unable to think of anything when we saluted with lips at the church.”
His smile lit his eyes. “It would be my honour and pleasure,” he promised as his hands cupped her face even more softly than he had before.
If the kiss in the church had had Beatrice have to exhale through her mouth afterward to catch her breath this one seemed ready to take it completely away. She had no idea how anyone could be so tender and gentle with another, especially when there had been no reason for them to be tender with anyone before her.
He made sure to be respectful. He could not frighten her. Thinking she might be overwhelmed he let her lips go.
She gasped, “Don't stop. Please.”
“As you wish.”
Now Beatrice trembled as the space between them slowly closed, giving her more reason to be nervous and yet she was not. His hands remained cupping her face, although she could feel that he was yearning to touch her elsewhere.
This was a holding back she could respect and admire. He was not assuming anything, even though by law he could simply take her whether she was ready or not. He was truly the finest, best man in the world. And he had to know that she was ready for him to go further.
But how to tell him when she hardly wanted him to stop kissing her?
It finally dawned on her that she had hands and arms. Instead of wrapping them as before she could use them to speak for her. She drew his shirt out of his trousers with one hand, seeking the buttons with the other. Even though it meant breaking some of the delicious body contact.
Benedick's breath caught in his throat. Her hands were on his skin at last! And she was ready for more than simple chaste touching. The realization had him groaning as his fingers brushed down her neck ever so slowly, aiming for the cloth covering her shoulders.
She shivered at his gentle touch that asked permission to undress her. Keeping their lips locked she waited until she had all his shirt buttons undone before she let her arms drop in consent.
His hands barely held in their eagerness to explore the skin exposed as her robe slid off her arms. He needed to know if her trembling was more from fear or excitement, and an answer was hardly forthcoming if she insisted on continuing their heady kiss - their mouths were now utterly engrossed in the act.
Beatrice was half convinced that if she kept kissing Benedick she could get through the night. The thought of being kissed by him had nearly led her to trouble the day before, and the wedding kiss had only inflamed her further. There was hardly any material now between his hands and her back, and she wanted that remaining material gone. But first the material covering him had to go.
He allowed her to divest him of his shirt, one arm at a time. That she would continue their kiss this long began to tell him that it was her way of handling her fears. It might not be best, but if that was how she wanted to do it then he would honor that wish.
Not that it was difficult when her hands decided it was the perfect time to begin removing the rest of his clothes. One hand undoing his fastens and the other exploring his rear was enough to distract him from his own exploration of her body.
Feeling him falter made her smile into the kiss. She, an unknowing, had him undone with mere touches. It gave her a confidence she had been lacking.
It was his turn to tremble when her hand found his tree, growing more rigid by the moment. He had heard tales that ladies were made uneasy by the mere presence of it and that a man was not supposed to let his wife see it at any time, but to his relief Beatrice was giving it a gentle exploration of curiosity. Although if she kept that up the night would be brought to an earlier interruption than he wanted. He did the only thing he could think of: he gripped her chemise in fistfulls and tugged it upward.
She shivered. Time was drawing near for that moment she both dreaded and looked forward to. So she led him the short distance to their bed - lips still locked.
It might have been easier to remove the chemise altogether, but she still feared she would lose her courage if she broke lip contact with him.
He carefully helped her down onto her back, feeling her unease grow despite the story her mouth was telling him. So he laid down beside her, using one arm to hold himself over her and the other to explore her body under the chemise.
She moaned as his fingers caressed her bosom with infinite tenderness. Each movement tugged her heart in strange yet delicious ways and she was slowly driven to make their kiss even more intense. And he added to the intensity.
Benedick forced himself to focus on his wife's reactions, whether she could control them or no. She was as enthralled as he in the act, but he could tell she remained tense. Tension because she hated not knowing what to do and because she knew enough to know that most ladies did not have a pleasant wedding night. He was determined that she would not be one of them, and her responses to him so far were encouraging. So much that he decided to chance lowering his hand down her body.
At first Beatrice was confused about what Benedick intended: why would he stop doing that lovely caressing of her bosom? But her breath caught as she figured out what he intended.
Benedick paused and broke the kiss, not entirely surprised that Beatrice let him. “I want thee in comfort as thou becomes a woman in my arms,” he whispered as his gentle expression met her alarmed one.
She panted as her frantic mind tried to reconcile the gentleness with her fears. This is your husband, she reminded herself. He hath been gentle and everything he promised. He can be trusted. She swallowed and nodded. “Go on,” she breathed.
His lips quirked into a soft smile as his fingers resumed their journey to their nearby destination, the heart of a woman's body.
Beatrice gasped. The unfamiliar nature of the touches combined with the sense that what they were doing was not necessarily the done thing even in marriage quickened her heartbeat. She tried to keep her breaths even, but between his loving gaze and caressing fingers she had no chance. Especially when they slipped inside her and did things she had never dared think of. Soon she lost all track of time as she felt herself driven into a frenzy and moaning as she drew him into a hot kiss.
An almost feral groan escaped Benedick's throat. His patience was straining against his own passions. He had wanted to add one more thing to pleasure her, as much as it would also shock her first, but he doubted he could last that long. It had to wait for the next round. He pulled away just enough to speak. “Please, wife,” he begged, unable to say more.
She still understood. The earlier fears tried to return, but her body was having none of them. Passion and love were winning. “I am ready, husband.”
It could not have sounded less strong to her ears. She was begging, something she never wanted to do toward a man. Yet she felt no shame. This was her equal, not her lord.
Benedick braced himself carefully with one arm to hover over her while his free hand aligned them and prepared to stroke her to make their joining more comfortable. He remembered their talk about the expectations of the wedding night, back before they even admitted their feelings to themselves, and was expecting her sudden tension. “Beatrice?”
She opened her eyes, blinking at the sound of her name.
“I love thee.”
Her eyes watered, making her hate losing even the slightest bit of the sight before her. “And I thee, Benedick.”
There was no reason to delay further. He moved his fingers to stroke her as he also breached her.
She clenched her eyes shut and hissed at the intrusion, making him pause and focus on the stroking. How one finger could cause that much pleasure she did not know, and she decided she did not want to know how he knew that. She chose to be grateful that he knew this much, and to breathe through this as best she could.
And be relieved that Maria had suggested that odd practice over the toilet. Done there until she mastered it. It did seem to make it easier for her body to let him inside.
He was surprised that her body did not resist even more, and had to exhale sharply when he was completely inside her. “How didst thou know about that?” he gasped as he held himself up with both arms.
She too was breathing heavily but managed a tiny smile. “One of the married gentlewomen imparted useful advice when I complained to her about my aunt's words on the wedding night. I doth not know how she knows it and doth not care.”
He began a slow rhythm with their bodies, making the shared tension rise equally slowly at first. Then it seemed that the pleasure was increasing faster than his thrusting could keep up. Soon both were howling at the moon. As he slowed, she howled again, urging him on, even he shivered and sucked at the air.
“I want more, my husband,” she whispered.
“I am beginning to see how long I have made you wait has been too long to make you wait,” he panted. “I should have married you at first I saw you.”
They practically shared the same air until she felt the pressure of his body on hers was a bit much. She tapped his arm hard and he carefully withdrew, making her flinch. Benedick rolled onto his back and Beatrice carefully followed.
“A man fights for days on the field of battle, but on his wedding night, he begs sleep?”
He gazed up at her and smiled. She was taunting him. As it was his body was not finished with hers, either. His wait and methods had not worked well for him, either. And to his utter astonishment, she straddled him and rode him horsewise, and he barely matched her in stamina and volume well into the night. He rolled her over and graced her virgin soil with his seed again with a roar more akin to a bear than a man. Wringing with sweat and trembling, he slipped spent from her body and flopped onto his back. With both of them panting, he curled her tightly against him.
“Woman is far nobler than any steed. For I swear, with the moon as my witness, that she may bear me aloft for hours while my horse wilts and begs rest. And she gallops to many a shining tumult while the cold waters of the little death claim me but once, and I am forfeit to slumber like a worn rag. I am vanquished.”
Beatrice smiled. “Truly?”
“Upon my oath as man and husband,” he said. “I am exhausted, but in joy. Let us drink in the afterglow of love and sleep.”
It was now dark. This was their rest as they reveled in the aftermath.
After a long silence save for their catching their respective breaths Beatrice lifted her head to look her husband in the eye. “Benedick, shall Claudio be able to redeem himself within time enough to be forgiven? I am uncertain how I feel about a man who could be led so easily astray becoming mine cousin.”
“He doth have the very bent of honour, and his guilt shall weigh heavy on him for that; he had to know that Don Pedro was suspicious of his own brother, and that the Prince could also be misled may allow him to eventually forgive himself, but only after many a year hath gone. Hero may be the making of him yet, Sweet Beatrice; if he can restore himself to her good will.”
“She is too apt to forgive him, for all her right anger now; and so his penance shall not be nearly what it should be.”
He wrapped his arm more tightly around her. “Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably, and without question too cunning to be understood by those who witness us.”
She laughed silently as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. “And shall this be the end of our merry war?”
“I pray not, for thy wit hath kept mine sharp. May we each ensure the other may be a wit combatant as our lives are long. Might we consider this a new form of battle betwixt ourselves?”
“Indeed, Senor.” She dropped her eyes for a moment before looking back at him in hope. “And I shall pray that mine fertile fields did crop this night.”
“If not this night, then one very soon, my love. I greatly wish for one of our fruits to be a daughter in thine image.”
“And not looking like thee?”
“I know thy honour and virtue. I hath no need to see a daughter have a head on her shoulders like mine, for how would that bless her? She may be blessed with all of her mother's beauty, and I shall endevour that she feels safe to be as much like her mother as it please God for her to be.”
For that she had to stop his mouth, to stop hers from releasing any words that would make her blush. The actions he drove her to were enough to do that.
He grinned into the kiss and helped her on top of him again. It proved rather useful for giving his hands the liberty to wander as much as they pleased. From her quickening breath they were about to begin the next round and he could not be happier.
Although the way her hands moved were certainly trying to make him happier on their own. He broke the kiss. “Sweet Beatrice, what hath overcome thee?”
“Thou complains, husband?”
“Nay, but I did not expect this.”
Her eyes flashed with a dark and promising gleam. “Only the need to ensure that all other womanly touches are wiped from thy mind, Benedick.”
His skin flushed before he could fully register the words, and her hands were becoming very distracting in their wandering. “Bea-”
“I know in my mind that thou wilt be the most faithful husband, but my heart needs to claim thee for life. So lay still and take this for the good of our House and future.”
He groaned loudly. Who knew his Lady would prove to be the greatest minx he had ever met? At least it was for his eyes - and body - only.
THE END