18. A Morning Bath

CHAPTER 18

A MORNING BATH

T he following morning, Christmas Day

As the sounds of the household waking up reached her ears, Ivy stirred but didn’t open her eyes. She listened intently to the distant footfalls of servants above and below, to the house as it seemed to groan under its own weight, and to the sound and sensation of her husband’s snores.

At some point during the night, he had rested his head against the side of her breast, his nose pressed into the soft flesh. She had a thought he might suffocate if he stayed there too long.

When he took a deep breath and rolled away from her, she felt cool air where his body had been and mourned the loss. She rolled until she was pressed to his back and draped an arm over his middle. A moment later, she felt a kiss on the back of her knuckles.

“I think we’ve scandalized the servants,” she whispered.

Blinking against the sunshine that suddenly streamed into the master bedchamber, Robert held up a hand to shade his face. “Why ever would you say that?” he asked, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat.

“Salisbury just sounded the alarm that I’m not in the mistress suite.” She yawned and stretched, humming when she sensed the delicious soreness from having made love more than once the night before.

Robert started to sit up, and then paused when he realized they weren’t alone. He was about to put voice to a curse, but managed to stifle the urge.

“Good day, my lord. Do you require a valet this morning?” Graves asked from where he stood next to the window. He had obviously been the one to part the drapes.

“I can dress myself,” Robert replied, suppressing the urge to groan. “Have hot water and the tub brought up to the bathing chamber, and bring a cup... no, make that two cups of chocolate for her ladyship.”

The servant bowed. “Straight away, my lord.”

“And close those damned drapes.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The room was suddenly shrouded in darkness before the butler rushed to the door and left the bedchamber.

Ivy tittered. “Told him, you did,” she teased.

He turned over to face her and grinned, the expression making him appear years younger. “Except for a few days ago back in York, I don’t think I’ve raised my voice like that with a servant in all the years I’ve been alive,” he murmured.

“Well, now he knows never to open the drapes whilst you’re still in bed,” she chided.

“Damn right. I had plans for this morning,” Robert said, struggling to swing his legs over the edge of the bed.

“Oh?”

“I was going to make love to you.”

Ivy’s eyes rounded. “Again?” she asked in shock .

He turned to regard her with an uncertain expression. “Would you... object?”

She lifted a bare shoulder. “Although I suppose I could manage, I am a bit sore,” she replied. “Not in a bad way, though.”

“I may not be able to walk,” he countered, rising from the bed as he groaned. He staggered to the dressing room, his gait making it evident he found it difficult to walk.

Ivy tittered as she looked about for a robe of some sort. “Oh, dear. I shouldn’t want to go into the mistress suite naked. I’ve nothing to wear but my gown from last night,” she complained.

“I may be able to help,” he said, his words muffled. He emerged from the dressing room with a banyan and brought it around to her side of the bed. He held it open for her as she stepped onto the carpet.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “And thank you for ordering the chocolate and the bath, although I can’t imagine why you think I need two cups of chocolate.”

“One is for me,” he replied. “As is the bath.”

When her eyes widened and it appeared she was about to put voice to a protest, he grinned. “We can share,” he suggested.

She tittered softly. “You’re obviously not familiar with the bathtub,” she replied dryly. “But I’m willing to try.”

He chuckled as he made his way back to the dressing room. When he reappeared, he was wearing a velvet dressing robe.

“You look rather dashing in that,” she remarked. “And warm,” she added, tightening the lightweight banyan around her middle.

The sound of buckets of water being poured into a tub had him peeking into the bathing chamber. “Ah, that was quick,” he murmured.

“Cook is good about keeping cans of water warm when I’m in residence,” Ivy said, joining him at the door. Once the servants had departed the bathing chamber, she hurried in and pulled some bath linens from a shelf. When she turned around, she found her husband standing over the tub, his arms crossed and his face displaying a curious expression. “What is it?”

He glanced up. “I’m not exactly sure which direction I should sit in this one,” he remarked.

“I rather doubt it matters,” she said.

“It does if we’re both going in.”

She placed the stack of bath linens on a nearby chair and doffed the banyan, tossing it on the back of the chair. “Well, we could sit back to back,” she suggested.

“I rather doubt my knees will bend that much,” he said, arching a graying brow. “Nor will I be able to get out when I’m done.” He gingerly stepped into the water and gripped the edges so he could lower himself into the water. “It’s not too hot,” he said as he settled back. “Your turn.”

Ivy was about to defer, but she saw how he had spread his knees to make room for her to sit between them. She gripped his outstretched hand and joined him, but before she lowered herself into the water, she asked, “Do I face you, or—oh!”

He had gripped his hands around her waist and had her back pressed against the front of his chest before she had a chance to finish her query, her bottom wedged between his thighs. She giggled as the water threatened to spill over the edge.

“Do you recall the first time we ever did this?” he asked when she was finally settled and her head lay against the front of one of his shoulders. Like his, her knees were bent and poked above the water line .

“The only time, you mean?” she asked in a quiet voice. “I think we flooded the entire second floor of Gladstone Hall,” she said. “Before we could get it mopped up, the water seeped through the flooring into the room below?—”

“Charity’s bedchamber,” Robert stated before he chuckled softly, his chest vibrating. “What a mess. Left a stain on the ceiling?—”

“Which is why I arranged to have it painted by that Italian artist,” she said with a titter. “I had always wanted a room done in the Italian style,” she added wistfully. “With lots of marble and ornate trims and gilt mouldings.”

“It was quite a project,” he recalled.

“After it was finished, I remembered feeling so disappointed,” Ivy went on. “All that time—the tassels and drops took months to be made?—”

“Cost a year’s profits from the earldom,” Robert murmured.

“—the marble was delayed month after month?—”

“Which cost another year’s profit.”

“—and by the time it was all finished, Charity had been staying in the guest bedchamber so long, she didn’t even want to move back into it.” Ivy angled her head to one side so she could look at him directly. “I don’t recall you ever saying anything about it. Did you ever actually go into that room?”

“I might have peeked in a time or two,” he admitted. “Weren’t all those naked figures on the ceiling supposed to be cherubs?” he asked, glancing down to see that she had turned her head on his chest so she could glance up at him. Her coiffure from the day before, the pins no longer secure, was in danger of coming apart and spilling down the front of his chest and belly. He wouldn’t have minded if it did. She looked like a siren from a Greek tale, as if he had captured her from the ocean’s depths and brought her to the surface. He bent his head and dropped a kiss on her forehead .

She gave him a wistful grin. “Indeed. I didn’t even give the subject matter a thought until Grace and Charity had their friends over one day, and I heard them all giggling,” she said with a grin. “I think they were scandalized at the sight of all those naked men on the ceiling,” she added. “Come to think of it, I think there were some naked women and centaurs, too.”

“Still are,” he said. At the sound of her gasp, he added, “I’ve never had that ceiling redone.” He leaned down and placed another kiss on her forehead. “I recall finding Michael in there one day, lying on the floor and staring up at it.”

“Oh?” Ivy gave a start. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. He loved art, especially Italian art?—”

“He was staring at the naked women,” Robert said, chuckling softly. “But I suppose I cannot blame him.”

“The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was his favorite during his Grand Tour,” she reminded him.

“As I recall, Rome was your favorite on our wedding trip,” he murmured. “All those naked men.”

She gasped. “That is not why I liked Rome,” she said, tittering softly. “It was all so beautiful. All the sights. All the art. It’s why I had such high hopes for that damned bedchamber.”

“It was not a failure, Ivy. It’s actually quite a showpiece in an otherwise typical English manor house,” he said. “In fact...”

When he didn’t go on, Ivy furrowed a brow. “Go on,” she prompted.

“If it had been on the first floor, I would have made it into the parlor, but since it was next door to the master suite, I might have had it turned into my private salon,” he murmured. “Had a door added that leads into the master bedchamber so it’s all sort of an apartment now.”

Ivy blinked. “You’re not joking,” she said in awe .

“I am not. I rather like it. And so do the girls. They’ve both seen it since the remodel,” he said. “Although I couldn’t help but notice they still found it amusing. All that nakedness.”

Tittering, Ivy lifted a shoulder. “I don’t suppose it did any harm for the girls,” she whispered.

“Probably better prepared them for their wedding nights,” he murmured.

“Probably,” she agreed, her voice sounding breathy. When one of his hands slid up her belly and over one breast, she inhaled sharply. Both of her nipples were pebbled in the cool air over the top of the water. She could feel his manhood stiffening against her hip, and she shifted to give it more room.

“I meant what I said about you coming to York after Christmastide,” he murmured. “I don’t want us to be apart any longer, Ivy.”

She reached up and kissed him, the maneuver difficult given her position against the front of his body. “I guess a night of sleeping on it hasn’t changed your mind?” she asked, swallowing hard.

He shook his head. “I miss you terribly when you’re not with me,” he whispered.

She took a deep breath. “And the ghosts?”

Dipping his head so his nose was buried in her hair, he shook it. The last of the hairpins gave up their hold, and her flame-colored locks spilled down past her shoulders. “I think you’ve managed to chase them all away.”

Ivy relaxed into his hold and sighed contentedly. “Oh, Robert, I would make love to you right now if I thought there was enough room in this tub.”

She let out a yelp when he suddenly straightened, lifted and turned her until she was facing him, her knees coming to rest on either side of his hips. Her breasts swelled and her nipples tightened in the cool air above the water as waves of her coppery hair threatened to hide them.

“Of all the sights in the world, this is my favorite,” Robert growled. “ You are my favorite. The very best gift I could have on Christmas.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “As are you, Robert,” she whispered. “Happy Christmas.”

When he leaned back again, she guided the tip of his manhood until it was at her entrance.

As she impaled herself on it, Robert’s mouth covered one breast, his tongue laving over a taut nipple. Her gasp coincided with his first thrust. He answered with a groan and moved his mouth to her other breast, inciting frissons beneath her chilled skin, inciting heat in her core. Another thrust, and he was fully inside her, filling her with his manhood while his hands gripped her hips to guide them.

While waves of water splashed over the edge of the tub, she rode him until she felt the wash of warmth deep within and heard his growl of satisfaction.

They stayed half-emerged in the water for several moments, her head on his chest, the waves finally coming to rest.

“We’re never getting out of this tub, are we?” she asked, nearly breathless.

He chuckled as he resettled his body against the back of the tub. “Never say never, my sweet. If there’s a will, there’s a way and all that rot.”

It was a few minutes before he lifted her and she could get to her feet, another minute before she was safely out of the tub and could lend a hand to help him to stand, and another hour before they headed downstairs for a Christmas breakfast.

In the meantime, she made sure to mop up the water on the floor with as many bath linens as she could find.