AN: WARNING: This chapter contains some nudity and (consensual) sexual content. Read at your own risk.
CHAPTER SONG: "My Love" by Sia
"Make love to me, William..."
Emmy's words hung in the air between the corporal and the woman he embraced in his arms. Will's lungs trembled, with-holding his breath as he processed her desire for what she wanted him to do.
He was thrilled, scared, nervous and overjoyed...
To do something so sacred and intimate with him in consummating their love... But there was the matter of honor and virtue.
Over a century of differing standards stood between them regarding the subject of sexuality  before marriage...
Will looked into her jade eyes that were silently pleading with him to give her some sort of response as her fingertips traced along his lips.
After everything she had told him about her past with other men, he felt he had to ask her.
"Emmanuelle...are you sure?" Will's voice was a cautious whisper as he gently readjusted her in his arms; rocking her against his chest as she laid her head on his shoulder and felt his racing heartbeat underneath her palm. "You truly want to do this?"
"Yes, Will. I wanna do this with you." Her scarred hand reached up from his pectoral and stroked her fingers along his jaw-line, chiseled like from carved marble. Her very own Adonis of flesh and blood... "I know you could never hurt me... I just feel you."
Her eyes went to the buttons of his shirt and her fingers pulled the top one undone. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as Emmy placed a long kiss on the side of his throat.
She pulled away and Will placed one of his large hands upon her blushing cheek to keep her attention. "My beloved... I'm not certain of we should... for your sake."
"But I am! We might not have another chance to do this before... before we're separated again." Emmy blinked back tears from her eyes as she reached around his neck, her fingers playing with his hair at the back of his head, petting his nape. "Unless... you don't want me..."
Her eyes downcast to the side and she hung her head as Erik's voice dripped venom in her subconscious.
You're used and tainted, little Emmy. I've branded you as mine already. No other man will want to even look at you let alone touch you...
A wave of crushingly low self-esteem threw Emmy for a loop as she unraveled herself from Will's arms and crawled out of his lap. She turned her head away to where she was afraid to even lay eyes on him, feeling suddenly filthy and ashamed at what she was asking of the man she loved...
She saw Will's arms reach out as he yearned to hold Emmy again, her chocolate hair falling to cover her face like a dark curtain, concealing her saddened features as tears flooded down her flushed cheeks.
"Emmy, that's not what I meant. Believe me, darling; I want you to know in all ways that I can express what I feel for you... but in truest love, not primal lust. I...I don't want to risk frightening you, or hurting you. After what you've endured..." Will trailed off as he raised his hand to remove her hair from obscuring her face, his heart shattering as he saw the whites of her eyes bloodshot with tears. "No matter what you've been told back in your era... you have been and will always be the loveliest and purest person I've ever known."
She sniffled, wiping away some tears from her cheek and both of her hands were cradled in Will's tender grasp. "I...I know that you're not as experienced as I am... but I trust you, Will. Just... just follow what you feel. I'm not afraid at all. We can just take it slow and not rush. Please..."
Will saw the black of her pupils dilate with passion as he lifted her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.... His blood burning within his body as he wanted to give her everything she desired from him. Caress and savor every inch of her, entwine his body with hers and never want to have her gone from his arms again...
He never took his eyes off her as his fingers went to the buttons of his shirt, his hands shaking with want of Emmy and anxiety of intentionally undressing in front of her for the first time. He undid slowly his shirt as she watched silently, button by button as she inched closer to him on the bed. A small smile crept to her rosy lips...
The welcome sight of his army dog tags greeting her as they hung from his neck...
Emmy saw the white sculpted flesh of his chest as he removed his arms from the shirt sleeves. He was the same as she remembered seeing him on the train in his stateroom. He had the strong build of a trained disciplined soldier, yet his musculature was more subtle to the naked eye, more akin to an agile Olympic athlete than a bodybuilder. Her fingers reached out to journey down to the centerline of his abdomen, feeling the light brown hairs peppering his skin leading a trail to his naval and then his waistline.
And the varying scars marked along his chest and back.
Her fingertips pressed their own kisses upon all the wounds imprinted on his upper body and Emmy saw his lip quiver with disbelief at her gentle touch as he held back a sob of his own.
She was a saint to not push him away in disgust...
Emmy felt along each scar along his muscled back, her arms wrapped around him as her hands moved up to stroke his brown hair. Her nose brushed his as she was in his lap again. "You're beautiful, Will Schofield. Everything you are, you're perfect."
The lance corporal looked up at his love, seeing such genuine devotion in the green of her eyes, not a hint of manipulation in her features.
She was true in her words and how badly he wanted to bend to her wishes...
"Bless you, my Emmy. I want to do everything possible to make you happy, and let you know just how loved you are by me. Alas, I cannot give you what you want... not yet...with how I was raised... I yearn to treat you with all the honor and respect that a lady such as you ought to be treated. I don't want you to awaken in the morning regretting what we had done together." His thumbs stroked along her blossom cheeks as her petal lips turned down in an understanding frown, the palms of his hands cupping both sides of her neck. "Believe me, my darling; I want more than anything to feel your skin against mine. But as a man of principle, I cannot place my baser instincts above your safety and your health."
Emmy absorbed his words as he continued cradling her to him, his elongated fingers weaving through her silken ribbons of hair. She leaned against the comforting warmth of his bare chest, her hands feeling along the solid muscles of his arms. Her fingers played with the dog tag chain around his neck.
Her soldier and protector... the strength of his arms was her shelter and his beating heart was her true home...
The tip of her thumb traced along the engraving of his name and serial number in the metal of his army tag. She brought the tag to her lips and pressed a light kiss to the etched letters of his last name.
Will recalled the words he had said to Tom about his medal that he had sold back in France. The disdain and bitterness in his voice...
It's just a bit of bloody tin. It doesn't make you special... it doesn't make a difference to anyone.
And here before him sat the woman he loved, kissing the tin of his dog tag as though it was an extension of himself...
Her cherry pink lips opened as she finally answered her love's reasoning as to why they couldn't consummate their relationship. "I understand, Will. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was pressuring you. I don't want to make you feel like you have to do this."
She leaned up and kissed his awaiting mouth, her fingers trailing down his jaw and chin. A groan welled up in her chest as their lips united in a passionate lock. As Emmy pulled away, an idea came to her mind as she thought of an alternative to lovemaking...
She only hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself by asking him. Will stared at her questioningly as she unwound herself from his arms and crawled out of his lap. Her hands messily ruffled her tangled chestnut hair and Will couldn't help but chuckle at such a chaotically magnificent visual...
She was his curly-haired angel sent from above, golden light shining from her flushed skin and her nightgown sparkling amongst the romantic incense of the room.
She inhaled a deep breath as she kept her eyes on Will, who waited for her to say or do something. Her fingers shakily went to the strings at the front of her nightdress and she began to undo the knots, untying the fastenings keeping her bosom covered...
Will immediately knew what she was about to do...yet he didn't have the voice to object to Emmy undressing in front of him. All he could do was stare in hypnotic bewilderment as she pulled her arms out of her dress sleeves, quickly keeping him shielded from view of her nudity.
Emmy's arms kept her own chest obscured, the cotton of her gown keeping her dignity intact as she gulped, feeling nervous. "Will...let me at least show you what part of me looks like. We don't have to do anything beyond that... but I want you to see what I've never shown any other man before."
Will took a shaky breath himself, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to see... the natural God-given beauty of Emmanuelle Julia Hunterson.
Ever so slowly, she removed her arms from around her bosom and presented herself to the man who would die before causing her harm...
William took in the image of her before him, perched upon the bed as she lowered her dress down to her waist, below her belly-button... Her creamy smooth skin was still riddled with yellowing bruises along her ribs and various beauty marks speckled along her stomach.
Her breasts were round and not exactly symmetrical with one another, goose-bumps riddled along her plumped flesh; the one to the left was lop-sided, a little higher than the other as they were exposed to him. Will could hear her breathing intensify as tears came to her eyes. He carefully crawled to her, wanting to comfort and worship her...
"This is what I look like... with nothing covering me up. I...I know I don't look as desirable with them being crooked... and my injuries..." Emmy found herself not able to speak anymore as she saw his brow furrow and he looked up at her with wonder and adoration in his eyes.
"Emmanuelle... I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life. I'm lost for words at how much you have amazed and entranced me in this instant." His hand went to wipe away her tears from her cheek. "My love...your body is beyond desirable. Every inch of you, I want to feel under my fingers and in my arms."
Emmy found herself smiling with relief as she took his scarred hand within both of hers, laying herself down flat on her back with her head on the pillow, her hair pooling in chocolate tendrils around her head.
Her eyes never left his as she held his hand, her body shivering with need for him. Emmy's voice was a soft, confident whisper. "Touch me... put your hands on me, Will."
The young man looked nervously at her features, reading her eyes for any sign of hesitation. God forbid, if he accidentally hurt her... he couldn't live with himself... He lay next to her on the bed, having replaced his still unbuttoned shirt, and positioned himself to where he hovered over Emmy, wanting so to satisfy her.
He gulped down non-existent saliva in his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing in anxiety as he kept looking at her face and listening to her voice. She conveyed no fear or uncertainty at all in what she wanted him to do.
While it wasn't the same as consummating their physical passion, they could at least explore one another as a man and woman who loved each other despite the one hundred years' of time separating them.
Emmy nodded her head as his fingertips went down first to her chin, and she closed her eyes in bliss, releasing a sigh of pleasure that he would give her at least a sample of what she asked and begged of him.
Her rosebud mouth opened as her tongue wetted her lips, fair delicate petals widening to bloom. Will's fingertips caressed the pink lining of her mouth that he could spend the remainder of his days kissing...
He was ever so tender and careful as his calloused skin met her smooth perfection, tracing down along her jaw-line, glancing at her face to see her fair eyelashes upon her cheeks, like the wings of a butterfly resting on a white jasmine.
Emmy's hands slowly released his from her grip and she placed them upon the pillow next to her head, lying before him completely vulnerable. Her eyes still closed, her breathing now calm as she whispered to him. "I trust you, Will."
Tears of gratitude shone in his eyes, a few of them landing in her hair as Will quickly wiped them away. Her shimmering splendor alone in that moment threatened to make him sob with internalized unworthiness.
And his fingertips continued their journeying her state of undress.
His long index finger trailed down the length of her fragile, pastel colored throat, seeing just the slightest dark spotting of her bruises now fading from the German pilot that had felt such a long time ago. This appendage of her body contained her divine voice... speaking and singing and crying and yelling and cursing...
She released another moan and he felt the vibration under the skin of her neck as her larynx emitted the heavenly sound of her expressing the enjoyment of his touching her.
"So beautiful..." Will's voice croaked roughly as waves of desire coursed through his veins. "My Emmanuelle..."
The tip of his index finger arrived to the top of her bosom, down to her collarbone. Up close, he saw every freckle and small mole and flawed faint hair... All of Will's fingers crawled down to the valley of skin between her breasts. He could feel her pulse accelerating, her breathing erratic as he removed his fingers from her bare form.
Dread flowed through his body as Will looked up to her face. "Oh, God! Emmy, have I hurt you?"
He saw her closed eyes had opened, her pupils dilated to where he could hardly see her green irises. A joyful smile graced her delectable lips as she placed her hand on his cheek to reassure him. "No...no, you didn't hurt me, Will. I'm fine. I'm just...excited. It's okay... you can keep going if you want."
The flustered man released a sigh of relief, silently thanking all the deities in the universe that he hadn't caused her any pain.
Will inhaled another trembling breath, his lungs aching. A nervous smile came to his lips as he looked again at Emmy's face, seeing that her eyes had shut again in her relaxed trance... Her soft lips were closed as well... and he couldn't resist raising his thumb to caress them once more, the magenta glistening folds of her mouth...
"Beautiful..." He whispered so softly, he barely heard the word himself.
"Will..." She sighed out his name, losing herself in his touch.
His hand found where they had left off, between her breasts. He could see her stomach rising up and down in sync with her breathing. His fingers circled around both of them, taking his time especially with the inadequate, uneven one on her chest.
"Perfection..." He dared to lower his head to her bosom, his own lips placing the gentlest of kisses on her crooked breast, right above her nipple at its center. "Every inch of you..."
Emmy's hand stroked his hair as he imprinted his loving contact with her body. As she laughed in delight and cried with happiness at his words, William hovered over her again, his nose brushing her hair as he kissed her forehead, then her tear soaked eyelids...
"Keep going... touch me more..." Emmy whimpered, her hands reaching up to grab the pillow under her head, not wanting to interfere further in Will pleasuring her so...
His fingers followed down to her stomach from her breasts, similar to how she had caressed his shirtless torso and marked his battle scars with her lips.
He aimed his head down again and kissed along the barely visible bruises above her ribs she still sustained from her injuries in France. Like the bruising on her throat, they had thankfully changed from blackened purple to pale yellow.
Emmy moaned even louder in ecstasy, grabbing tighter onto the pillow as Will continued his ministrations along her skin. His fingertips traced an invisible circle around her navel, barely grazing where the cloth of her nightdress covered the further regions where her thighs began...
And he made the same trek in reverse, traveling upwards to her chest again, kissing the top of her other breast that he had left untouched.
The tips of his fingers went up, up... to her collarbone again, then her throat, and mapping the outline of her chin and jaw like a sculptor mentally sketching his next masterpiece.
Emmy's sighs and coos of pleasures had ebbed; Will's gentle disposition seeping into her pores as she absorbed the steamy aftermath of his veneration of her.
She opened her eyes to see he had swept his thumb along her lips again, his forehead pressing to hers as he sighed out himself a deep rumbling growl as their gazes met, evergreen with ocean-blue.
Both of them panted as their heart rates slowed to their regular speeds. Will wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead as she did the same with him, swiping away a wave of his brown hair sticking to his skin.
He looked over her worriedly, coming back to his protective senses as he placed a hand on her reddening cheek. "Are you alright, my Emmy? Did I cause you any discomfort?"
She answered instantly, not wanting this moment to be ruined. "No... you didn't. You made me feel beautiful... and more loved than I have ever felt my whole life."
"I honestly didn't really know what to do... I just let my love for you lead me." Will laid next to her on the bed, both of their heads on the pillow, his large hand stroking along her cherry red cheek. "And I meant with all my heart everything I said just then. Every mark on you... everything I've explored on your body..."
He removed his hand from the side of her face and took her hand in his to kiss her scarred fingers. His other hand reached over to touch the St. Christopher resting on her naked bosom...
"Am I really the first man to see you like this?" Will felt ridiculous asking such a question, but he couldn't ignore the voice at the back of his mind, knowing there had been other men in her past.
"Yes, I promise that you are." She stroked his wavy hair atop his head, reassuring him that he was the only man she had presented her body to in such a personal and private way. A sly smile came to her face as she watched his eyes soften at her answer. "Although, if you and I met in 2020... you'd be around 130 years old, technically... So, that means from my modern day perspective, I'm dating an old man. Seriously, it's gross and I should be repulsed."
Will couldn't help but smile adoringly at her, admiring her sense of humor although he didn't quite comprehend it, sarcasm soaking her voice and the sight of her tongue sticking out at him. "I've got a long way to go if I ever live that long, my darling."
He tried to ignore the cold shiver running up his spine at his foreboding words, focusing on the lovely woman lying next to him as she leaned forward to kiss him on the lips. "You're so bloody English...and it's one of the many awesome things I've come to love about you, my Will."
She rolled over so that her back was to him and she pulled her nightgown back up to cover herself, pulling her arms into the sleeves. Will silently mourned the loss of her gorgeous nudity... He hadn't recalled hearing a word such as "awesome" before... probably one of her extraordinary expressions from the 2020 ways of American language.
"Molly and the girls will probably be back soon. I don't wanna sleep outside if we're caught in bed like this." She moved around to one side of the bed as Will sat up and straightened out the pillow, smoothing out its wrinkles as Emmy pulled the covers up into a neat fold.
Will began buttoning up his shirt, his heart having slowed to a normal pace from their exploration of sensuality. His fingers tangled into the chain of his army tag. Carefully removing the metal string, he looked over at Emmy as she was ruffling out her wild mermaid tresses of hair again.
So impossibly beautiful...
His heart overflowed with aching love as he watched her and looked down again at the thin metal chain intertwined with his fingers. An idea came to him, and he mentally scolded himself as to why he hadn't done this sooner.
He leaned over the vanity table and disconnected both ends of the metal tag string. Will broke off a small piece from one of the string's ends and wrapped it around his pinky to wind it into a neatly tight circle...
Her fingers were so much smaller than his; he hoped this would fit on her petite lovely hand...
"Emmy." Will spoke her name to get her attention as she pulled out a twisted knot from her curled locks. "I want to ask you something."
He went to her side as she looked up at him with her curious green orbs shining in the dimming candlelight. Will clutched the improvised ring in his hand, trying to keep his whole body from shaking.
"What is it, Will?" Emmy sensed his anxiety as she tenderly guided him to sit on the bed as she perched herself on the vanity seat. "Baby, you're trembling."
She placed both of her hands on his that were joined together, trying to soothe him as he looked up to her worried features.
Will took a breath to calm himself, keeping his composure for her as he chose his words to express his intention. With his scarred hand, he took ahold of hers and he opened his other hand, revealing the ring tied together from his army tag chain.
She looked down at the small metal circle, her mind deciphering what he meant in showing her this token. Silence hung between them as Will removed the metal circle from his palm and gently slid it onto her disfigured ring finger.
The coolness of the tin against her skin shocked her to alertness as she looked up to see William's stormy blue eyes gazing at her with a mixture of unabashed affection and everlasting devotion.
"Will..." She murmured, her brain racing faster than it could process any further words.
"Emmy Hunterson... before we're parted from each other, either by war or time... I want to pledge to you my unbreakable fidelity and undying love for you as the only woman who possesses my heart. I make a vow to remain faithful and true as a damaged wretch of a man and soldier who loves you infinitively... would you do me this extraordinary honor of sharing this promise with me... to love each other no matter what happens and to find one another again?"
She had tears streaming down her cheeks by the conclusion of his speech as she fell even more in love with each word he spoke. No sign of mocking or alpha male ego...
Will felt his stomach drop as he waited to see what she would say, raising his good hand to her cheek to comfort her, his scarred one cradling her hand that bore the metal "ring".
He had to know what she was thinking in that moment, to know what he had done to upset her in such a manner. "Darling, please don't cry. Did I say something wrong? Am I overstepping...?"
Emmy began shaking her head, gasping out a slow breath as she swiped away the rest of her tears and his words trailed off. She exhaled another breath to keep herself steady as she kept her eyes on his angular face shadowed by the dying candles around them...
She swallowed deeply, gaining the strength to answer him, glancing down at the piece of himself he had given intertwined on her finger.
"Yes." Emmy whispered. "Hell yes..."
She nodded her head to let him know she meant it all with just those three words. Will smiled widely, taking her hand up to his lips and kissing her scarred finger with all the tenderness in his withered soul.
Within a millisecond they were wrapped in a silently passionate embrace, Emmy's arms around his neck, her fingers entangling in his hair as his lips placed amorous kisses on her cheeks and swan-like throat.
"Emmanuelle, my eternal love." His whisper of romance caressed her ear like a cooling breeze on her burning skin.
She sobbed with a joyous smile on her face and she reached up on her tiptoes to respond. "A hundred times... a thousand times, yes!"
His strong hands had lifted her up off the floor, holding her against him with his arms around her waist. Her weight effortless to cradle close and secure...a waif-like ballerina as she was hoisted in the air, her feet dangling several inches from the ground...
Their lips met in a fiery kiss that nearly reignited the now flameless candles in the room. The metal string tied on her finger more stunning than any diamond ring she had seen in modern day jewelry stores... even surpassing the ring she had bought at the museum in London back on that fateful night of April 6th, 2020.
A "promise ring" as a symbol of their love to persevere, no matter time or distance or possible death...
No matter when or how they would be separated, they had to survive for one another... to honor their vow and never allow it to be severed.