They sat in front of the fireplace, the ivory tiles spread out before them. They had long since given up keeping score, barely even paying attention as they laid out the tiles, point and counterpoint. Julia was regaling him with anecdotes from her days with the nudists, her fascination with their ideas infectious.
"I'm telling you William. It was almost uncomfortable to dress again. Even Constable Crabtree said as much. I had no idea how freeing it would be…"
"I won't say it didn't suit you." William chuckled and Julia laughed aloud, delighted by his charming roguery. She shifted onto her hip and her foot peeked out from below her skirt. Unable to stop himself, William reach out to touch a finger to her bare toes, fascinated by the pink flesh. With a yelp, Julie dragged her foot once more beneath her skirt but it was too late. Williams face transformed from surprise to calculating.
"Julia Ogden. Are you ticklish?" His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her skirt and she tensed away from him.
"Of course not." She tried to sound imperious but there was a waver in her tone as she felt his hand brush her ankle.
"Are you telling me the truth?" He asked, his long fingers wrapping around the delicate ankle and tugging.
"Yes." She resisted the pull and the motion dragged her towards him. Her eyes widened as his hand reached higher, briefly, before descending to brush across the sole of her foot. "No."
Her yelp was bright and bloomed into riotous giggles as she struggled to move away, his fingers dancing over her foot only to pull away and land on her waist.
"William!" She gasped but it was suffused with surprised amusement. She tried to sound stern. "Stop at once."
He stilled immediately and Julia laughed again, attempting her own counter attack in his acquiescence. Realizing his mistake, he redoubled his efforts and they grappled in the firelight, dominoes completely forgotten.
They giggled like children until Julia managed the upper hand, twisting until she was above William. She felt him give in at once as she pinned his arms beside his head and sat straddling his abdomen. They were breathing hard and flushed, their clothes completely mussed.
She couldn't help herself. Just a taste, she promised, even as she nipped gently at his chin.
"Julia," He warned, low and dangerous, the teasing play of moments before evaporating in the sudden heat between them.
"I know." She sighed but placed a soft kiss over the reddened skin then moved to nip and peck again. "I just…want…"
He could imagine what she wanted. He wanted the same thing, something she would discover if she leaned back even slightly. And yet he felt no shame, no real remorse. She knew, had known for years, how he desired her. She'd spoken pragmatically of male arousal more times than he cared to remember and knew she would find it nothing to be ashamed of.
For he was not ashamed. Not of loving her, or helping her to win her divorce. He would wrestle with his conscience and his God, of course, but he knew loving Julia was not and never would be a sin.
The things she was doing with her tongue, however, were most definitely sinful and he caught her lips with his, stilling her wicked temptation.
She fell into the kiss, as she always did, abandoning his arms to thread her fingers into his hair, tunneling through the dark silk and drawing him closer and deeper into the kiss. She scratched at his scalp gently and he vibrated beneath her, his own hands reaching up to dip into her long curls.
They stayed that way for moments or maybe hours, tasting and touching, desire ratcheting between them but remaining a low simmer. Then William turned, pulling Julia beneath him, and resting himself between her thighs. Her eyes widened before slipping shut, his arousal pressed against her, hot even with the layers of cloth between.
"We should stop." Julia said at the same time Willam spoke, saying just the opposite. Julia's lids snapped open in shock and they dissolved into helpless laughter. It seemed as though they were always at cross-purposes, even when they meant not to be.
"I have," Adorably, in spite of their intimate position, he blushed through his giggles. "Prophylactics."
"Oh William," She sighed and pressed her forehead to his, desire to have him and desire to protect him locked in mortal battle. "But what about-"
"It doesn't matter." He cut her off, urgently. "I love you, Julia."
"And I love you."
"But?" He moved to put some distance between them, taking a few steadying gulps of air.
"Don't go." She whispered, holding onto the sleeve of his shirt and sitting up with him, thinking more clearly now he'd moved away. "You know I want this, William. More than anything?"
He nodded. "But we promised."
"We did." She agreed, but reached up to toy with the buttons of his shirt just the same. "But there are other ways…"
Before Julia, before so many things, William's world was stark black and white. Good and bad. Holy and sinful. But years studying people, their loves and losses and heartbreaks and motivations taught William that things were not always quite just so. Science may always be absolute, but the human heart was not. And none taught him that lesson more thoroughly than Julia, who constantly challenged him. She didn't challenge him to change, but she did expect him to open his mind and heart. The world, William realized, was no longer black and white or even shades of gray. It was filled with many shades of love and honor, loyalty and sadness.
There were many shades, too, of desire.