"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asked Nathan. Plans for tonight, and a honeymoon, had been in Nathan's court. So that was why she found herself bundled up in a coat, covered with a wool lap blanket, and in a horse drawn sleigh.

"Don't you trust me Mrs. Grant?"

Elizabeth's hearts swelled at Nathan calling her Mrs. Grant. She really liked her new name. Mrs. Elizabeth Grant.

"Well, Mr. Grant," Elizabeth teased, "should I trust you? I mean, you have bribed public officials…."

"With an apple!" Nathan laughed. "You never are going to let that down are you?"

"No." Elizabeth kissed Nathan's cheek. "I'm not."

Nathan pulled on the reins encouraging the horse to stop. He took Elizabeth in his arms and kissed her slowly. "I knew where I wanted to spend our first night together. Does anything look familiar?"

Elizabeth looked around. In the distance, there was a cabin. Their cabin.

"The cabin." Elizabeth spoke knowingly. "Where we had our first date."

"That day in the woods, when I thought you and Emily could have died, I had such strong feelings for you. But I wasn't going to say anything about them….and then, Mrs. Grant, you challenged me to say what was on my mind." Nathan looked deeply into Elizabeth's eyes. "I am so grateful for this cabin. Are you okay with spending the evening here?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Of course I am."

Nathan encouraged the horse to move once again. "Gabe heading back to Brookfield after the ceremony was a ruse. He put everything together for me—since I couldn't exactly leave our wedding reception."

Nathan put the sleigh and the horse into the stable. He glanced up at the sky. Clouds had rolled in; it certainly felt like snow was going to fall, even though it had been clear most of the day. But it didn't matter. Nathan had Elizabeth; there was nothing he wanted more.

He held Elizabeth's hand as they climbed the steps to the cabin door. "Wait just a minute, Mrs. Grant." In a swift motion, Nathan had Elizabeth in his arms. "I am carrying you over this threshold…but I might need you to open the door," Nathan admitted ruefully.

Elizabeth relished the feelings of being in Nathan's arms. She kissed him as they walked in; she heard Nathan, her husband, shut the door with his boot. Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked around the cabin. It had been transformed into a lover's paradise. A fire was blazing in the hearth. There was a bucket of champagne on the table along with meats and cheese and chocolate covered strawberries. There were rose petals all over the floor. A bed had been placed in the space and it was also covered with rose petals.

"It's beautiful," Elizabeth kissed Nathan.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," Nathan whispered seductively.

Elizabeth blushed. She needed to be honest with Nathan about her feelings with tonight, with being intimate. But right now, Elizabeth busied herself with taking off her coat and warming her hands by the fire. Nathan came up behind Elizabeth and wrapped his arms around Elizabeth's waist. He kissed her neck. He felt Elizabeth lean into his arms, their bodies not needing to resist attraction anymore.

"Nathan," Elizabeth sighed. "What are you doing to me?"

"Honestly, Lizabeth," Nathan replied. "I could say the same thing."

Elizabeth led Nathan towards the couch. There was a fear she needed to admit to her husband. "I don't want you to be disappointed."

Nathan's face looked shocked. He caressed Elizabeth's face. "Darling, what are you talking about?"

Elizabeth looked down at her lap, her wedding band gleamed from the firelight. "Nathan, I have not been intimate in a long time."

"And you think I have?" Nathan put a finger underneath Elizabeth's chin, encouraging her to look at him.

"I also have had a baby," Elizabeth admitted. While she was fit and had a figure, Elizabeth also had stretch marks and other reminders of her delivery. It wasn't a polished body that Nathan would be seeing.

"Elizabeth." Nathan took Elizabeth in his arms. "I love you! All of you! Do you have any idea how attracted I am to you?" He kissed Elizabeth with passion, nibbling on her bottom lip. Giving into that passion, a passion she also felt, Elizabeth's mouth opened and once again, Elizabeth's and his tongues connected. This time there was no need to stop.

"See," Nathan breathed heavily.

Elizabeth marveled at the man in front of her. With only a few words, he had managed to calm her fears. They were still there in the back of her mind but at least they were not at the front of it anymore.

"You can't exactly be comfortable," Elizabeth whispered. "You are still in your tie. You hate ties."

Nathan laughed. "How do you know I hate ties?"

"For one thing," Elizabeth moved her hands towards Nathan's tie. She remembered how to remove a tie, even though it had been a long time since she had. "You never wear them. And you also like your shirts a little unbuttoned." As she said those words, Elizabeth unbuttoned the top few buttons of Nathan's shirt, kissing his lips with each movement.

Nathan sucked in a deep breath.

Elizabeth could indeed tell that Nathan was very attracted to her. She stood up, leaving her husband on the couch. "If I am to be comfortable, I need to get these pins out of my hair."

Elizabeth walked to a small table that was nearby. She slowly ran her fingers through her hair, feeling for each and every pin. Even though her hair had been mostly down, Clara had somehow found a way to put a lot of pins in her hair. Elizabeth felt as if Nathan's eyes were on her, watching her with desire, as she did this simple task.

"Can I help?" Nathan's voice whispered in her ear.

"If you want to make sure I got all of them," Elizabeth struggled to say. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Nathan had removed his dress shirt, suit jacket and vest. His arms were bare, showing his muscles. When he stepped around Elizabeth to place a pin on the table, Elizabeth was able to see that he had rolled up the sleeves of his undershirt and his suspenders were down. A favorite look of Elizabeth's she was discovering.

Nathan ran his fingers through Elizabeth's silky brown hair and his fingers moved towards the buttons of her dress. He unbuttoned the top one and heard Elizabeth's breath quicken.

"Are we going too fast?" Nathan wrapped his arms around his wife. More than anything, he longed for her to know that he valued Elizabeth. That he didn't want to do anything without her consent, her approval, her desiring it as much as he did.

"No," Elizabeth replied. She moved Nathan's hand so that it was touching another button to be undone, sending him a message with actions rather than words.

Nathan's fingers found the next button and he kissed what was exposed. Just as Elizabeth had, he kissed Elizabeth's back, her skin, every time he unbuttoned her dress. Elizabeth leaned into him more and more as he kissed her lower and lower on her back.

Once Nathan had unbuttoned every button, Elizabeth turned to face her husband. She slowly pushed the dress away from her shoulders and it dropped to the floor.

"Lizbeth!" Nathan growled as he kissed her. He swooped his beloved wife into his arms and carried her over to the bed. He laid her down gently. "Honestly, Lizabeth, I have been wanting to show you how much I love you for a long time."

"So have I," Elizabeth sighed, leaning up into her husband's blue eyes, towards his lips. "So have I."