The rooms and hallways of Gull Cottage were peaceful and quiet as its residents were settling in for blissful slumber. One resident, however, was still wide awake. Carolyn had temporarily banished the Captain from her presence in the Master Cabin as she primped herself for her own blissful night's slumber. Although she rather doubted there would be much sleeping. She smiled as she thought the emphasis tonight would definitely be on bliss.

Humming, Carolyn tied the bow of her new robe, completing her toilette for the evening. She idly wondered how long the bow would stay tied and giggled. This was a new adventure in evening wear for her, she was hoping to shock her beloved. On a recent trip to Boston she decided to treat herself to something decidedly feminine, knowing a certain someone had a certain admiration for her femininity. There was no special occasion for this, which, she supposed made it special in itself. If there were any parts of her mind still capable of rational thought, that is.

Instead she peeked into the full length mirror to make sure she hadn't overlooked any details. She posed coquettishly and giggled at her reflection. There she was in a pink chiffon baby doll, complete with very short pink chiffon robe. She looked down and was delighted with the marabou trimmed mules on her feet. "Scandalous!" she thought, she posed again, rather liking being naughty, "I look like one of those French post cards they used to sell on the boardwalk." Made brazen by her reflection, Carolyn contemplated how to make the most of this surprise.

Seated on the bed? A little trite.

Draped provocatively over the telescope? Not likely, how could she boost herself up high enough to actually drape?

Prone on the couch, again trite.

Carolyn thought it might be fun if she could jump out of a cake and briefly wondered if the Captain could conjure one up, then decided it would be too messy.

Turning toward the fireplace, she caught sight of the Captain's chair and smiled. Hiding behind the chair so the Captain would be surprised was definitely the course to chart. She hurried behind the chair and gently called out, "Daniel, you're no longer banished."

He appeared instantaneously, "it's about time, if..." he stopped mid sentence as he noticed her behind the chair, her arms draped too casually over the back. Who was she trying to fool with the 'oh so innocent' look on her face? Just what was she up to? He wasn't buying innocence for a second, she was downright saucy. He looked directly at her, starting from the top of the chair, to her eyes, "a little something new, my dear?" he motioned to her outfit.

She giggled, "hmm, yes, it's new and it's something and it's definitely...little," she answered as moved from behind the chair, to the side, granting her Captain the full view.

The Captain feigned shock because he thought this would be the reaction Carolyn wanted from him, "Blast it, Madame, have you forgotten half of your nightgown?" he said. He wasn't so much shocked as intrigued, his eyes now having the benefit of a full length view, they thoroughly enjoyed the vision in front of him. Carolyn was thrilled by his reaction, she did a little twirl which he seemed to enjoy very much if she could judge by the feral grin on his face.

Up until now it had always been a pleasure for him to slowly caress his way up Carolyn's leg catching whichever diaphanous nightgown she happened to be wearing at the time under his hand as he enjoyed his travels. There was something to be said for her being clothed one moment, then naked the next. (And judging from her reactions whenever he did this, she rather liked it too.) However, he was not averse to a new perspective on her legs, seeing them already naked was rather nice too.

He finally managed to draw his eyes back up to hers and they both grinned at each other, all pretense shattered. She had obviously gone to a lot of trouble for him. Somewhere during the night he would make very sure she knew how much he appreciated her efforts.

But two could play at this game, the Captain walked to Carolyn, he didn't touch her, just walked past her so he was now behind the chair. She turned to face him and rested her back against the back of the chair.

"My Dear, how can I properly seduce you when your garments have already taken care of half that battle?" he asked in mock indignation.

There was no way she could keep a straight face, so in between laughs she managed, "Funny, and here I was thinking you had me permanently seduced years ago."

He leaned in, and placed his arms on the sides of the chair, she was completely flushed and wouldn't break eye contact with him for all the Pulitzer prizes the New York Times had ever been awarded.

"Permanently seduced? I didn't know there was such a state of being."

"A well traveled man like you not knowing that? Tsk, tsk, Daniel, I'm quite shocked."

"If you are permanently seduced then you won't mind my doing this," this being his hand moving to deftly pull Carolyn's carefully tied bow into oblivion. Judging by Carolyn's whimper, she didn't mind. She also didn't mind his lips touching their way all around her neck as her wisp of a robe made its way to the floor. In fact she was getting a little light headed.

"This is quite the charming nightgown, my dear," he said as his fingers explored one of the spaghetti straps from her shoulder down to where it met the bodice. "I like it so much you may not be wearing it much longer."

Her knees buckled, "got...sit...down," he thought he heard her say. She really was already lost in ecstasy. He put his arm around her and moved to the front of the chair. He sat down then pulled her onto his lap. She nuzzled up to him, "told you...'ready...'nently...'sedu..." she never did finish her so called sentence as his arms tightened around her and he stroked her back.

"tha's...nice," she murmured. He kissed her hair, in awe of the love and joy they had found together. He kissed her earlobe, then down her neck. His intrigue with the spaghetti straps was furthered as first one, then the other was pushed off her shoulders, leaving them haphazardly draped on her arms.

This little undressing was enough to prompt Carolyn to completely switch position. Somehow she managed to move and twist herself so that she was straddling her Daniel. Facing him, she kissed him soundly, silently noting with some satisfaction that if the tautness of the Captain's pants could be believed, he liked this new nightgown very, very much. Poor man, he was far too overdressed for this occasion. Deciding to do something about this, Carolyn pulled away and proceed to unbutton his pants. He was very grateful.

But he was perhaps more grateful when Carolyn decided to save the sweet slow lovemaking for later and slipped herself over him and they enjoyed the intimacy of a man and woman together. One hand was firmly on her hip as they swayed, the other steadied her. His mouth nudged her bodice out of the way and enveloped the soft curve of her breast. She clutched his head to her, running her fingers through his hair, all the while lost in bliss.

Wishing they could stay like this forever was futile, but it never stopped Carolyn from thinking it. She wanted to stay like this, willing him to know she was his forever, but it was inevitable, they had to part once again. Though both sated, they always regretted having to pull away from each other. Carolyn threw her arms around him and held her head as tightly to his chest as she could. He put his arms around her and stroked her back, comforting her. They stayed that way for quite some time.

Finally Carolyn moved back to her original position, cuddled up on his lap. "I love you," she said as she lifted her lips up to kiss him. "I love you, too," he answered when she finally let him break the kiss. They smiled at each other, both happy and secure in their feelings for each other.

The Captain was idly stroking Carolyn's thigh when he admitted, "I concede this length of gown has its advantages."

"Oh?"

He stroked a little more deliberately causing her to giggle.

"Indeed, quite delightful, and the color is apropos also."

"The color? I really didn't think you would care about that."

"Well, of course, my dear, 'pink at night, sailor's delight'."

Carolyn rolled her eyes and groaned, "Captain, I am shocked by your breach of protocol. Sailor?"

He shrugged, "Obviously a platitude thought up by someone who had never been to sea," changing the subject to something more pleasant he stated, "I am definitely delighted by you in pink."

Carolyn smiled and blushed, delighting her Captain once again. He was always a man for thorough research so he carried her to the bed and spent the rest of the night creating enough evidence to prove the 'pink at night, sailor's delight' adage.