The lovely myfoodisnotshared sent me virtual thoughts of topless Tom, for which, thanks…

It is the summer of 1916 and they are all suffering from the heat. The colonel had given all officers leave to remove their heavy wool jackets but still everyone was sweltering. Most patients had been moved out of the tents as under the heavy canvas, heat collected and there was nothing they could do about it. Kitty almost wished for the freezing temperatures of the previous winter when she had worn fingerless gloves for everything she could but had still ended up with chilblains on every finger and knuckles so swollen from doing the laundry that she had been unable to unbutton her dress each evening until someone, usually Thomas, had massaged her hands painfully into life again.

She, at least, could leave off most of the under petticoats of her uniform without anyone noticing but for the officers, it was harder.

She and Tom had arranged to spend the afternoon in a glade in the woods, hoping to catch some relief from the scorching sun under the shade of the trees and also some privacy from camp life. They didn't get much time alone really and she thought they both wanted more. She was slightly early as she arrived outside Miles and Tom's tent but she still called out to see if he was ready. She was intrigued by the muffled cursing and scuffling she heard from inside and called out again.

'Tom, it's only me, shall we go?'

'Just…' there were more curses which sounded much better in his accent than hers… 'just give me a moment, I'm not quite… ready.'

His head appeared in the opening of the tent and she noticed that he was definitely lacking a shirt, his bare shoulder was clearly visible and she swallowed. She was no stranger to the male body, her work would have seen to that had she not been married, but there was something very different about seeing the body of the man you cared about instead of the injured lads she nursed every day.

'Oh, sorry,' he apologised, noticing that she could see his state of undress and sidling awkwardly behind the tent flap so his head was practically sideways and she had to laugh.

'It was too warm in here, I'll just be a minute… you could… come in?' he asked tentatively, 'I can put on a shirt?'

It wasn't as if she was shy, it was just new to her, seeing him this way. She shrugged and followed him into the tent, quickly enough to note his unexpectedly muscular chest before he turned away and she could appreciate his broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist that was only hinted at in his uniform. He was pale and slightly freckled across his shoulders but not unpleasantly so. She almost laughed as she noticed the mark where his sunburnt neck met his shoulders in a very defined line. The back she had been appreciating disappeared as he shrugged on his shirt and buttoned it quickly, rolling up the sleeves as he turned to face her. She tried not to look too hard at his forearms but it was difficult, especially now she knew what they led to.

'Shall we go?' He raised an eyebrow at her and she realised he'd caught her staring. Well he stared at her too, she could feel his gaze sometimes, raking her back while she worked.

'Yes, let's go.'

Later, when she kissed him, she couldn't help but think of what she had seen earlier as she mapped out his torso with her hands over his shirt. It made it that much better, to know exactly what her hands were touching.

Well that was kind of fun to write... unbeta-ed so if there are glaring errors please let me know, otherwise, enjoy Kitty's (my) shameless objectification of Thomas :)