AN: This is about Violet and Carson walking in on Cobert in the middle of some terrific fun on the settee, dedicated to Setees Under Siege for convincing me to write this and being the absolute best Beta one could hope for! xxx
"There you are darling. Why didn't you come to see me after breakfast?" Cora placed her hand on her husband's forearm and leant down to kiss his cheek in greeting.
"I'm sorry Cora. Tom told me there were more letters on my desk waiting for me this morning; as I didn't look at the evening post yesterday and I needed to get correspondence done concerning the pigs before luncheon." Robert capped his fountain pen and moved to the settee that his wife was now sitting on. He held her hand and kissed it before looking into her eyes, jutting out his bottom lip and asking, "Can you ever forgive me?"
Cora couldn't help but laugh at her husband's boyish charm and the adorable look on his face. Her eyes traced over his built form with appreciation and admired his grey suit that made his shoulders look all the more masculine and appealing to her. There wouldn't be any visitors this early and Mary, Edith, Tom and Rose were in London for the next two days. Maybe herself and Robert could have a little fun before she started her morning? She licked her lips slowly and tilted her head, exposing her neck to him. "Oh, I don't know how I could possibly forgive you when you forget about me so easily and would prefer to write letters than be in my company."
Robert saw the corners of her mouth twitch in an effort to suppress her smile and he instantly knew that she was taunting him. When they were first married, he might not have noticed this and took her joking quite seriously instead of playing along with her. But what Robert had come to realise was that when he played along with his wife, it led to the most fantastic game, regardless of who won. He retracted his hand from hers and moved it to outline her collarbone delicately, barely stroking the skin and leant in close to whisper in her ear. "I would never forget you Cora. How can I show to you how sorry I truly am? A morning kiss perhaps?"
She felt Robert's hot breath spread down her neck and although he was scarcely touching her neckline, he was still able to send shivers all over her body, producing excited goose bumps that erupted all over her skin. She turned her head slightly causing their lips to be millimetres apart from blissful contact and murmured the word, "perhaps," just as he dived to capture her mouth with his. Her hand flew up around the base of his head to gain better access for deepening their increasingly heated kiss, and his arms instinctively wrapped around her waist in an effort to pull her closer to his body. It had been a while since they had tried anything downstairs since Rose had come to stay because one could never be too sure of when that firecracker would burst into a room. But now the Lord and Lady were trapped in a mixture of desire, lust and the exciting possibility of getting caught amidst the throes of passion on the library settee. Once Cora dipped her tongue into his mouth and raked her fingers through his perfect hair, making it a chaotic mess, there was no going back. He had already pulled her on top of his waist and was running his large palms over the warm, silky flesh of her inner thighs, eliciting soft moans and desperate kisses from her.
"I really do love you in a suit Robert," she muttered huskily when she pulled her mouth away from his and started to concentrate on kissing his neck. Sweeping her hands over his muscular chest prompted him to remove the heavy grey jacket.
"Then why are you trying to rid me of it?" he chuckled, sending vibrations through his body and Cora's lips.
"Because I love you even more with nothing on at all." That was it, the final breaking point. That one sentence sent Robert into a lust-driven frenzy. He hurriedly removed his upper body clothing with as much haste as he possibly could before giving in and plunging for his wife's beckoning, red lips. His crisp white linen shirt and braces still hung open from his body, but the couple could not care less as two mouths became one and hands wandered into territory that hadn't been touched below stairs for months.
Her hips rolled above his contained, aching arousal and he groaned as he felt her scrape her finger nails along his abdomen before her hands left a fiery trial to the silver clasps on his braces. While her attentions were focused on releasing his hold, he turned to free her brown flowing tresses by removing the hair pins as carefully as he could. Everything about Cora was like a drug. Addictive, mind altering, and distracting all at the same time. Her thrilling kisses were addictive and one soft kiss was never enough. Her tongue was mind altering and kept him in a state of elated high when he felt it against his skin. Her body and hands were so utterly distracting that if a bomb exploded he would not have heard it. But there was no bomb to be heard anyway. No, her body was so distracting that he would not have heard the slam of a car door, or even the repetitive beats of a cane being used to walk in the halls of his home.
"Good morning My Lady." The butler's booming voice greeted Violet Crawley as she walked past him, into the main foyer of her former home.
"Good morning Carson. Might you tell me where Lady Grantham is?" Her shrill voice was enough to wake any man up, if they weren't already, and the butler opened the secondary foyer door for her, walking in shorter strides to keep in time with the older woman's footsteps.
Mr Carson frowned and his large, black eyebrows creased in thought about where his employer could be at this hour. "I think Her Ladyship is getting ready to come downstairs. Would you like a cup of tea and to wait in library My Lady?"
"Yes, thank you Carson. I presume His Lordship is already in there, although if his wife is upstairs I wouldn't bet on his presence to be elsewhere." She had said that last part under her breath, through almost gritted teeth and although Carson pretended not to have heard it, he could not suppress a smirk at The Dowager's comment.
Just to be safe, Carson decided to announce her anyway in case His Lordship was in the library already. He leaned over and turned the knob of the door, stepping into the room at the same time. By the time he heard the moans, it was too late.
"The Dowag-" Mr Carson's face drained of all colour as he stepped back from the door and further into the room. It was as if he was trying to get away from the scene before him but shock had disoriented his every move and clouded the function of his body. His first reaction was disbelief and the second was fear of having to witness what The Dowager's reaction could be. But instead, all he heard was the slam of a polished cane hitting the hard wood floor and the loudest shout he never thought possible that a Lady could make. "Really Robert?!" The screech had caused the couple before them to jump in terror and stop their amorous activities abruptly.
Lord Grantham's white shirt hung shamelessly open, exposing his chest (that was rising up and down with rapid breaths) in all its glory and his jacket, waistcoat, tie and braces were all carelessly discarded on the floor. But worst of all, his hands were on Her Ladyship's behind when they first walked in. Lady Grantham's hair was let down her spine and she faced with her back to the incomers, as she was straddling her husband's waist and was doing something to his chest until they had come in and interrupted. Although Mr Carson could not see her face, he noticed that her cheeks and neck had gone bright red, possibly with embarrassment. Her hands were stoic on His Lordship's chest and the butler wasn't sure if that was for balance or if they were trailing further down before he had burst through the door.
"I cannot believe this! At this hour of the morning? Really? You know, some things it just really is too early for." The Dowager Countess looked more angry than shocked which baffled Carson, because he could barely breathe and suspected that if one more stressful thing happened today, he would most definitely have a heart attack. "I presumed this sort of thing would have ended once I moved to the Dower house and you both turned forty!" She was shouting now and throwing her hands in the hair with fury.
"Mama, please stop shouting. I'm sorry you walked in-"
"Oh no, no, you don't get to lecture me Robert Crawley! I am staring at your chest hair! This is fourth time I have walked in on something like this, in my home, and I am allowed to shout. I wasn't the one who married an American because let's face it, this wouldn't happen if she was English!"
"Just stop right there! This wouldn't happen if she was English because I would be stuck in a sad, loveless marriage if I married an Englishwoman!" Robert was shouting now as well and his temper was being let loose on his mother, but he was still fairly aroused and Cora was still sitting on his lap.
"She is still sitting on you! At least have the decency to stand up when you are both caught." Cora hastily slipped off from Robert but prayed to God he didn't stand, she was only sitting on him the whole time to try to hide his rather obvious excitement but luck just was not on their side that day.
Anger and sexual frustration raced through Robert's veins like locusts and he saw red. Before he could think he had stood up from the settee and pointed his finger at his mother, ready to defend his wife till death. The Earl had only opened his mouth to shout until he felt a rather large draft on his nether regions. Robert looked at his wife who had her head in her hands and back up to his mother who was shaking her head incredulously. He was afraid to look down and see his trousers on the floor so instead he just closed his eyes and bit his lip, unable to do anything else at the impossible situation he was just placed in.
"Oh, I can't believe it. I'll see you both for dinner tomorrow. Do try to contain yourselves when I go and not give Carson a heart attack." With one last scathing look and a swing of her hand the Dowager Countess swept out of the room followed by the loyal butler and asked him to call the car to take her home.
Robert opened his eyes to find Cora staring at him and shaking her head. "I forgot you took off my braces so I stood up and my pants fell down." He could barely believe it, showing off his chest was bad enough but flashing his mother and butler everything he had to offer, covered only by a pair of thin briefs, was on an entirely new scale of embarrassment.
"I know, I saw. You got pretty angry."
"Well she shouldn't have attacked you like that; I was partaking in this little activity too."
"Little?" Cora erupted into laughter at the look on Robert's face and moved over so he could sit down next to her after he pulled up his pants.
"How you can joke after what just happened is completely beyond me."
"I'm sorry darling but it was funny. And she didn't attack me, I'm used to her sharp comments by now, plus she was also in shock."
"You shouldn't have to be used to them though, that's the point. Anyway, should we clear out of here before Carson comes back and head upstairs?"
"Oh yes, you have a 'little' problem to fix don't you?" Cora started to giggle again when Robert gave her a look but all traces of mirth died when he dragged her body close to his and hovered his lips just slightly out of reach of hers.
"Come on, Cora. Can you honestly say that all desire for me has vanished and you would rather go back to needlepoint now?" She never replied to his question, only got up and sauntered out of the library, her half-dressed husband following behind her unabashedly.