Cora was already sitting in bed reading her book and wondering what would have detained Robert for so long when she finally heard the soft knock on the door of his dressing room. She put the book on her lap and watched him entering, a look of satisfaction on his face, and a soft smile on his lips as their eyes met.
She watched him as he untied his dressing gown and placed it on the chaise lounge next to the bed.
"I thought you had forgotten me." She said, teasing him.
He smiled, walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. "Sorry, dear, but I ended up getting involved in a lively conversation with Tom and I lost the track of time." He kissed her hand gently, and she smiled.
"What kind of conversation?" She raised a questioning brow. "You were not arguing, were you?"
Robert looked at her with the corner of his eye as he straightened his pillows. "No," he answered. "First, we were talking about Sybbie and I told him some stories about Sybil's childhood. And then, I still don't know how, we changed the topic to Mr. Drew's situation."
"Very different subjects," she said and he simply nodded, before completing, "But no arguments." He grinned.
"It was very good of you to let Mary address this situation." She gave him a significant look, with a slight smile on her lips, and he smiled back.
"Well, that's part of her duties. So it is only fair," he told her, his eyes fixed on hers.
"In fact, I really liked the way you want to deal with Mr. Drew's case." She told him, and he grinned without hiding his own satisfaction with the theme.
"It would not be fair to give our back to him now." He added. "I hope that Mary and Tom take this into consideration."
She admired for a moment the glow in his eyes, and the expression of pure satisfaction on his face, thinking how good it was to see him happy and at peace. She suppressed a smile, thinking how she was never tired of looking into those blue eyes of his. It was so easy to get lost in them.
"I think they will agree with you on this issue." She said, struggling to focus again on their conversation. "After all, it would not be sensible to counteract you right now." She added, placing her book on the bedside table and approaching him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Robert raised his eyebrows in a silent question. "Especially now, that you're a poet." She finally said, with a grin, making him laugh. She felt her heart full of love for him at the sound his laughter.
"But it was a good thought, wasn't it?" He told her, with that irresistible boyish smile on his lips and Cora chuckled from him.
"Indeed. A very clever one." He smiled again, this time to thank her for her compliment.
"And then, Mama came up with Lord Byron, and she and Isobel began to bicker again, and spoiled the moment", he said. Cora nodded in amusement and Robert rolled up his eyes, gently pulling her closer to him. She snuggled up to him, and rested her chin on his chest to see his face.
"I thought they had finally found a way to coexist peacefully." He told her, playing with a strand of her hair.
"As if that were possible." Cora said, watching the corners of his lips twitching into a small smile, as if he was amused. But she noticed his eyes traveling over her face like a caress, which was enough to make her feel a chill in her neck.
"Robert, I was wondering if ..."
"Mm-hmm?" He made, absent mindedly, completely focused on his task of analyzing every detail of her face.
"...If there's more from where came that beautiful thought of yours."
He smiled softly, sliding his fingers gently across her face, and nodded. Cora smiled, looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to find his inspiration.
"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you... I could walk through my garden forever." He finally said to her, his eyes fixed on hers.
Cora raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Robert?" His face had mischievous look, his blue eyes shining in the dim light of the room. "This is Lord Tennyson!"
"I know," he chuckled, "but it is also beautiful and clever one, isn't it?"
Cora rolled her eyes, but despite that Robert could realize the amused glint in her eyes. He then gently reversed their positions, causing her to be lying down on the pillows as he propped up on one elbow, and with his free hand caressed her cheek, pushing a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. The intensity of his gaze and his nearness made her feel an almost overwhelming urge to kiss him. Noticing that, he licked his lips, teasing her.
"Well, poets are artists, aren't they?" He said finally, in a very low voice, his warm breath touching her face. She just nodded, without finding her voice, her eyes wavering between his eyes and his lips.
"And artists have countless ways of expressing their feelings, don't they?" She saw his own desire reflected in his eyes, darkened with desire, her body trembling slightly as she felt his hand sliding up and down her thighs.
"And I know the perfect way to express my feelings for you." He whispered in her ear, his lips brushing against her earlobe, sending waves of chills through her body. "Maybe I can be an artist too."
"A very bold one, I presume..." She managed to say, closing her eyes as his lips traveled slowly down her neck.
"Anything to please you, my lady." He whispered in her lips, kissing her passionately. And during the kiss she could feel his lips twitching into a soft smile, and she couldn't do anything but smile as well, her lips never leaving his. And while he deepened their kiss, her heart bursting with love for him, she couldn't stop thinking about the perfection of that moment.