Page 79 of The Lover's Eye
Isobel loved heat in all its forms.The comfort of a warm wrapper or quilt, the seeping bloom of sunlight through her clothes, the radiant welcome of a fire.But as she inserted her toes into a copper tub of scalding water, she thought she might appreciate the cleansing zing of a hot bath more than all the rest.
Betsey had cautioned her it might be too hot when she’d helped her undress a few minutes earlier, but she did not heed the warning.She had specifically requested it to be scorching, and it did not disappoint as her body slinked lower into the tub.She wanted to feel the discomfort of gooseflesh on her skin and see the ruddy glisten of it when she emerged.
No sooner than she had settled into the base of the tub than Giles knocked on their adjoining door.Isobel stilled, looking down at her naked flesh through the meagerly obscuring water.Betsey had put up a screen, at least.
“Come in,” she called.She heard the door opening, and readjusted herself in the water to raise her knees to her chest.
“Oh, my apologies,” he said from somewhere behind the screen.“I did not realize you were having a bath.I came only to tell you I will be down in the library for a while.I’ve some catching up to do.To hear Finch speak of it, you’d think we’d been gone half a year.”
Isobel smiled, though she knew her husband could not see it.“All right.Do not work too late.”
She heard him move back to the door, the handle flexing under his grasp.He seemed to hesitate.
“Is there something more?”Isobel called.
“Well, yes, but I wished to say it to your face, and I’ve chosen the least appropriate time for that.We can talk later tonight.”
She was itching to know what it was.Her eyes drifted down to the expanse of her flesh.Why was she being so prudish?He was her husband, after all, and he had gotten to know every inch of her over the last few nights.Why should it be so different for him to behold her in the light, freed from the barrier of sheets and shadow?
“Giles?”
The door eased back open.“Yes?”
“You may speak it to my face.”
“Now?”
Isobel smiled shyly, rubbing her lips together.“Yes, now.”
Slow steps padded across the carpet until Giles reached her, peering around one edge of the screen.He smiled a little bashfully before coming around it, positioning himself to face her.With what appeared to be a concentrated effort, he trained his eyes on hers.
“I only wanted to say,” he began, but paused to clear his throat.He looked as if he were about to conduct some parliamentary business with his ramrod straight posture and hands clasped behind his back.
“Yes?”Isobel asked.She found him positively adorable.
“Oh, dash it.”Giles began rolling up the cuffs of his shirtsleeves.
“What are you doing?”she laughed.
“I don’t want to lord over you.I want to look into your eyes and perhaps even steal a kiss,” he said, grinning mischievously down at her.When he had finished with his sleeves, he crouched beside the tub, resting his forearms on the edge.He stuck a forefinger into the water to test its temperature.
“Damn it Isobel!”he exclaimed, removing his hand and wiping it dry.“You’re going to burn your skin off!Who prepared this water?Do you need to step out until it cools?”
She laughed, a succession of little giggles impossible to repress.
“What?”Giles demanded, but he was now smiling, too.
“I’ve requested it this hot,” she said, finally.“I like it!”
He shook his head.“I didn’t know I’d married a madwoman.”He reached for her face, treading carefully as if to avoid the fire below, and sent Isobel into more giggles.She placed a hand, still dripping with water and even wafting with a bit of steam, to his cheek.
“Ow,” he crowed, but his smile didn’t falter.“I’ll have to provide ample punishment for that.”He pressed his cool, soft lips against her warm, wet ones.
“And how would you go about doing that?”she asked between smiling kisses.
“Do not forget that I’ve learnt your ticklish spot.”
Isobel let out a little gasp.“Oh, Giles, you wouldn’t dare!”
