A./N.: Another continuation of 'Tonight' and 'Wine Tasting'. This has a lot of references to 'Wine Tasting' and deals with Charles plan to thank his Elsie properly.

Bathed in Love

Thinking of something he could do for his wife wasn't as easy as Charles had thought it would. Most of the scenarios he came up with were not enough in his eyes. His Elsie had shown so much courage and trust that he couldn't even begin to imagine how to repay her. He wanted to cherish her, worship her as she deserved to be … especially in light of his recent discovery.

A few days earlier Charles had started to ask himself where Elsie had gotten her last extraordinary idea from. He knew from experience that most mothers felt uncomfortable to talk openly with their daughters and prepare them for marriage. Most still used words like 'duty' and 'lie back and think of the Empire'. Then he had remembered her mention of a confiscated book from the ill-fated Edna Braithwaite. So he had waited until Elsie was out shopping and then had snuck back upstairs to look in the drawer of her bedside table. To his surprise he hadn't found the book, but instead a copy of his song. Raising his eyebrow to high heaven, he had begun to chuckle and then gently closed the drawer and returned downstairs.

"The little minx," he had happily chortled to himself. Now he knew what had given her those ideas. A twinkle in his eyes, he remembered another aspect of his years of foolishness. "Well, well, well, it's time to bring my other talents into play." An idea had formed in his mind and he couldn't wait to put it into action.

oOoOoOo

Every Thursday Elsie went to the Abbey to have tea with Mrs Patmore. Both women had installed this new routine soon after Elsie's retirement and stuck to it religiously come rain or high water. Today hadn't been different.

Charles had had a telephone call a few minutes earlier and his wife had told him that she would be driven home by one of His Lordship's chauffeurs so he wasn't to worry. It had been a nice thought, but Charles still worried. It was cold and wet outside and he knew that Elsie had begun to feel the weather the same way his old bones did. She didn't complain of stiff muscles or joints, but he had seen that her movements weren't as fluid as they had been even a year ago.

He decided to run her a bath, so that when she came home she could warm up and maybe he could even incorporate part of plan. Grinning almost wickedly, Charles moved to the bathroom and began to fill the tub with hot water. On a whim he added some of her rose-scented soap to it, filling the small room with a heady scent. It always reminded him of his wife, whether he smelled it on her or in the garden at the Abbey.

A few moments later he heard Elsie come in through the front door. Quickly he went to meet her in the hall, closing the door behind him to hide his surprise.

"Oh, the weather is dreadful," Elsie exclaimed as she removed her hat and coat. Despite the drive home her hair was slightly damp and the rain had soaked the hem of her skirt. Bending down to untie her boot laces and remove them, she unknowingly presented Charles with a perfect view of her assets. Hearing a barely suppressed groan behind her, she quickly straightened up and glanced behind her. Charles' eyes drew her to him; he had a 'come hither' stare to him that did the most delicious things to Elsie's imagination. It seemed that her husband had missed her.

"Charles," she said quietly, feeling the need to break the atmosphere, which had built around them, a little before she succumbed to her own desire.

Charles recovered instantly and went to her, brushing his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. "I'm glad you're home, Elsie," he whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver delightfully against him.

Elsie leaned into his chest and breathed deeply. She had missed him, too, if she was being honest. Beryl had teased her about her inability to focus on their conversation, but she had been too caught up in her own remembrances that she minded too much. Now she was home and surrounded by her husband's warmth. Her shoulders relaxed instantly and she didn't feel as dreadful as before … though, still rather cold.

"I'm sorry, love, but I would love to take a bath," she said after a while, but made no move to extricate herself from his arms. Charles chuckled and squeezed her a little tighter to him. He nuzzled her hair, wrinkling his nose at the damp feeling and turned away just in time as a sneeze broke free. Elsie laughed lightly. "I really should take that bath and get warmed up," she sighed before teasing him good-naturedly, "if only for your health's benefit, my love."

Charles mockingly glared at her, before swatting her behind tenderly, then said softly into her neck, "You go into our bedroom and undress, I'll wait in the bathroom for you."

Elsie raised her eyebrows at him, beaming in delight at the wonderful possibilities racing through her mind. She felt suddenly considerably warmer, but the thought of snuggling up to Charles in their tub was too tempting to ignore for long. She had imagined it time and again ever since she had once overheard Her Ladyship complimenting her own husband teasingly on the excellent service he had provided for her during her bath. A blush crept slowly up her cheeks, only intensifying when her husband added flippantly.

"I'm in desperate need of some cleaning." He winked at her before beating a hasty retreat into the bathroom, but not before she heard his quiet laughter.

She clicked her tongue at his cheek and vowed to repay him for that. Swiftly she crossed to their bedroom and undressed quickly, relieved to be out of the wet, uncomfortable clothes. Deciding to forgo her nightgown or indeed any underwear, she simply wrapped her dressing gown around her and lightly tied it.

When she entered the bathroom a few minutes later, Charles had already undressed himself and was lounging about in the tub. Spotting her standing in the door, he waggled his impressive eyebrows and reached his hand out to her. She moved towards Charles and he extended a hand to assist her with getting in the tub. She began to sit in the tub, but was stopped by a kiss to her stomach and a look from Charles. He drew the bath cloth from the steaming water around him and stood up to face Elsie, then he brought the cloth to her face and began to gently caress her eyes, her cheeks, then her lips and down to her neck – Charles' lips following the trail the cloth had taken moments before. Elsie groaned in approval and then in frustration as he sat back down and dipped down to the water to gather more water on the cloth. He kissed her abdomen, twirling his tongue in her belly button as his hands with the wash cloth splayed across her bottom to hold her close to him, giving her no room to move.

He again placed the cloth against Elsie's body, this time beginning with her shoulders moving down towards her hands again, as his lips followed the cloth. Elsie could feel the blush coming to the surface of her skin. Never had she experienced something so blatantly erotic and yet completely loving. As Charles made his way to her nipples, she sighed his name and received a little nip in return.

Elsie was finding it very difficult to remain in a standing position. Charles had worked his way down her left leg and was proceeding with her right one. By this time he was kneeling in the tub attending to her as the diligent butler he had been. Charles had placed her foot back down in the tub and said softly, "Please let me attend to you? Trust me."

Elsie nodded without any sign of hesitation on her part and was rewarded with a soft kiss to her abdomen. As his kisses moved closer to her abdomen and lower, his hands moved to the inside of her thighs and began massaging the tight leg muscles urging her to relax to his touch. She quickly grabbed onto the wall for support. With each kiss, with each caress, he moved her closer to a new, exciting, and scary experience. She wasn't scared in the normal sense of the word, for she did trust her husband explicitly; however, she couldn't quiet banish the antiquated notions about what love-making was supposed to be like, which had been instilled in her by strict Calvinist sermons.

Charles held Elsie to him as he began to work his magic against her. Just barely touching her with the tip of his tongue, his senses reeled as smell and taste combined in that one poignant moment. He heard the sharp intake of her breath when his tongue first made contact. His hands continued their gentle massage as his tongue lightly grazed across the edges of her labia. He continued the slight tasting with his tongue and the massaging until her body relaxed and then started to slightly tense.

A few moments later, Elsie felt a warm, tingling sensation course throughout her entire body. Even with the wall and Charles' loving hands, she still felt as if she were swaying. She eased a hand down to Charles' head and gently caressed his ear. Charles looked up at her and their eyes locked on each other. He then did something that Elsie had never even imagined, had never even thought possible. He spoke to her, into her the same three words that she screamed as she immediately reached her climax.

"I love you."

Nothing in life could have prepared her for what she was experiencing. Her world had gone dark … she could see nothing … she could only feel. And the only thing she could feel was Charles' voice. Elsie's world literally melted down to the reverberations of Charles' voice in her body, she could feel it caress every fibre of her being. She had never felt more loved than she did at this moment, and upon the realization that it was the one true love of her life, who had orchestrated these feelings, she blacked out as she climaxed again brought on by Charles' whisper into her very being.

oOoOoOo

Elsie awoke to the gentle sound of Charles' voice giving her words of reassurance while he gently caressed her back. She realized that she was lying atop him in their tub and that she had been crying. She sat up and Charles' hands immediately moved to her neck, his thumbs caressing her cheeks, wiping away her tears.

Charles ever so gently brought his lips to Elsie's and gave her the sweetest kiss she had ever received. He pulled back and gently asked, "Are you alright? You left me for a moment."

All Elsie could do was gently nod and lean back to him for another kiss. How could she ever explain to her husband the depths to which he had touched her tonight? Even now, she could still feel Charles' voice inside her, declaring his love. She pulled back from him and could see another question arising in his eyes.

"Just hold me," was her way of answering any question he may have had.

He granted her request and pulled her tight against his broad chest. Charles resumed his gentle caressing of Elsie's back. After several minutes she realized that the bath water was getting very cold. She must have blacked out for more than a 'moment' as Charles had said.

"Would you mind if we moved this to the bed?" she whispered. By way of an answer, she heard the tub suddenly begin to drain. She attempted to stand up, but her legs seemed too fail her.

With a smile, Charles gently extracted himself from Elsie, dried himself off with a towel, and then secured a towel for his wife. Charles carefully picked her up from the tub, wrapped her in a soft towel, and then carried her to their bed. He crawled into bed with Elsie, where she immediately draped herself across his chest.

Charles lay alongside his wife propped on his elbow. He looked at her in the half-light; she looked as beautiful to him as she had when she had first arrived at Downton.

She lay on her back, contentment drawn on her face. Her breasts lay placidly on her chest, moving up and down more deeply with her building desire. Charles' free hand searched between her spread legs, below her soft triangle. His gaze travelled from her breasts further down. She was still pretty slim for a woman of sixty-five. Her thighs retained that outward softness with the firmness underneath. How he loved to feel them. She believed that he did so to tease and excite her in their foreplay. In truth, he enjoyed the feel of them.

'How wonderful it was,' he thought to himself, 'that desire and lust hadn't entirely been snuffed by years of denial and service.' There was a tear in the corner of Charles' eye. He wiped it away, ashamed.

He forced his thoughts back to her, the beauty of her soft breasts. As her breasts heaved up and down with the movement of her breathing, the nipples stood erect. Charles bent his head down to attend to them. He ignored the nipple at first, kissing the underside of the breast. After he had savoured her softness, he moved to the pinkish peaks, licking the flesh surrounding it for a few moments, then taking it between his lips, sucking gently at first, then harder. Elsie began to moan pleasantly. The pleasure from his hand at her centre, added to his face at her breast, started her approach toward climax. Her hands surrounded his head, pressing him harder on her. He let his tongue swirl around the nipple. She was approaching her critical point quickly.

Charles withdrew his lips and skilled fingers from her. He slid lower on the bed, placing his face between the softness of her spread thighs. With his fingers he parted her lips and placed his tongue between them. He kissed her softly, but then he moved lower, using his tongue to invade her innermost canal. The intimacy of the act was overwhelming. Withdrawing a little to give her a chance to regain her breath, his tongue struck Elsie's clitoris and it danced over it in a joyous reel.

The combined sensation of the tip of his nose massaging her highly sensitized nub and his tongue mimicking the thrusting of lovemaking sent Elsie to heights that surpassed any known reality. "Oh God … Charles … ahhh …" She was rushing to orgasm.

Charles pressed in a little harder and slowed his tongue to a waltz. Elsie crested with a high-pitched sigh and Charles felt a deep satisfaction. He wiped the wetness from his face with his discarded pyjamas that he found nearby and sidled back alongside her. He held Elsie and kissed her as she slowly descended from her release.

"My love, are you alright?"

"Oh Charles, do you know what you did to me this evening?" A chuckle arose from the chest she was laying upon. She looked up into her husband's eyes. "You touched my soul." The humour fled from his gaze and was replaced by love and curiosity. Elsie continued, "I've never felt this way before in my life. I feel as though you have caressed every fibre of my being tonight. I never thought it possible to be loved in this way. I …" She was lost for words and too sated and languid to move. She sighed deeply and pressed her face into his chest, hoping to collect her scattered thoughts to let him know how much she had enjoyed tonight. She needed time also to slow her heartbeat and be able to move to thank him properly for his service.

Eventually, though, fatigue claimed her, and the last thing she heard that evening was Charles' delicate whisper, "I know. Sleep, my love. There's always tomorrow."