A/N: I didn't start out to write an M rated story...Richard and Isobel had other ideas ;-).

Hearing the sound of the door echoing in the night air, Richard watched Isobel as she turned and leaned against it. He wasn't sure what she was up to, but the charge in the air that had surrounded them from the moment they'd shut themselves off in the library at the Abbey, was there now, and stronger than it had been. "Isobel," he whispered.

Smiling, she pushed away from the door and took his hand, leading him into the sitting room. "Start the fire?" she asked.

Richard nodded and moved to do as she asked, frowning when he heard the swish of her dress as she walked away. Keeping his eyes trained on what he was doing, he kept trying to figure out what Isobel was up to by listening to the sounds coming from the corner of the room. Hearing a distinct sound, he smiled as music began to fill the air…it was the song they'd danced their first dance to. Standing up, he turned to find Isobel standing behind him, a small smile on her face.

"Dance with me the way you talked about," she whispered.

Holding her gaze, Richard tugged off his coat and jacket. Finally turning away, he draped them over a nearby chair, sighing as he pulled the ends of the bow tie that had grown much too tight around his neck, pulling the bothersome item off to join the others.

Isobel watched each move, feeling a tremble move over her as her eyes kept straying to his hands. Sure and steady, large and strong, she remembered how it felt when his hand had rested on her back as they danced. Those sorts of thoughts will get you into trouble, old girl, she heard her inner voice saying but shook her head to dismiss the thought. What sort of trouble could a woman her age get into?

"Isobel?" Richard said her name when she didn't seem to notice him standing in front of her.

Isobel shook her head and looked up at him. "Sorry," she told him with a smile. "Wool gathering."

Richard just smiled and pulled her into his arms, her body pressed to his, one hand on her waist…fingers curled over her hip…while the other hand rested against the small of her back. He'd known by the way she moved that she'd given up wearing a corset, but feeling her soft body without the unyielding stays of the undergarment made him groan. This is a good way to get yourself into all sorts of trouble, old boy, his inner voice warned as his body reacted. Ignoring the voice, he began to move slowly to the music, putting a bit of distance between their lower bodies.

Isobel moved back into the position she'd been in. "I'm not a naïve young woman, Richard, don't shield me."

"I'm sorry for my body's unruliness."

Isobel lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes dark as she looked up at him. "No need to be. We're alone, Richard. What happens, or doesn't happen, is our business."

Hearing the sincerity in her words, Richard nodded. "I just don't want to be ungentlemanly."

"I wouldn't mind if you were," she murmured as she rested her head back against his shoulder.

Pressing a kiss to her hair, Richard smiled. She was so very bold, one of the things that had enticed and incensed him in turn. Lifting his hand from her hip, he nimbly removed the pins from her hair, watching in rapt fascination as the sable locks fell about her shoulders and down her back. Putting the last pin in his pocket, he lifted trembling fingers and tenderly touched a silky tress, moving it back and forth under the pads of his fingertips, reveling in the sensation. "As soft as I'd imagined," he murmured.

"You imagined touching my hair?"

"Yes," he answered quietly.

"Richard," she murmured.

"Yes, love?"

Isobel smiled at the endearment. "What else did you imagine?"

"Isobel," he breathed.

Looking up at him, she saw the desire in his eyes and felt breathless with the knowledge of it. "Tell me."

"It isn't proper."

"We've already discussed that."

Richard closed his eyes and took a breath before opening them and looking down at her. "I've imagined us much like this. A fire…" he whispered before kissing her, his mouth moving easily over her supple lips, his body reacting to her eager response. "…your hair free of the confines of society…" he continued then kissed her again, this kiss more than the last. "…your body…" he started but took her mouth in a deeper kiss, groaning when her lips parted and her tongue met his as the kiss deepened further.

Pulling breathlessly out of their kiss, Isobel grasped his arms. "My body, what, Richard?" she managed to ask.

"Dear heaven, Isobel. This is madness. We can't continue this. I…"

"We can. Tell me," she whispered the oft repeated words.

"Your body bare and pressed to mine."

"And are you wearing clothes?"

"No," the word was barely spoken. "Isobel, I should go. I don't want to besmirch your good name."

"I'm a lady of a certain age, Richard. In some circles it's expected of us to take a lover," she whispered. "Show me, Richard."

"Here?"

"Here."

With hands that were far from the steady hands he was accustomed to, Richard slowly undressed Isobel until she was standing in front of him with nothing covering her but her hair which fell over her shoulders and covered her breasts. "Laird above," he breathed.

"Your turn." Isobel told him, no trace of nervousness evident. She had watched his eyes as he'd undressed her and any ounce of self consciousness she might have had, evaporated. All she saw in the eyes of the man she loved was desire for the body he'd slowly uncovered. Lifting her own hands, she undressed him in much the same way he'd undressed her, letting her eyes show him every thought she had as each inch of his body was bared before her.

Richard stepped out of the last of his clothes and waited for Isobel's next move. Hearing her breath stutter a bit, he ran his hands over her shoulders then pressed her body next to his, his own breath stammering in his chest. "Everything I imagined."

"What did you image after?"

Moving them slowly to the music, he held her close and rested his chin on her head. "So much more, but this is enough."

"Remember," she nudged him.

"I do, but are you sure? Once I let all control go, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop if you change your mind. I don't want to hurt you, Isobel."

"I won't change my mind. I'm standing naked in my sitting room with the man I'm going to marry, I don't think I could stop what is happening even if I wanted to…and I don't. It's been so long, Richard. I enjoyed being with my husband and I've missed that closeness. I don't have to wait until we're legally bound to enjoy it now that I'm not a young woman who has to worry over unplanned consequences."

Nodding, Richard pulled away a moment, moving to the settee to pull the piece of furniture closer to the fire. Sitting down, he held out his hand.

Isobel swallowed as she took Richard's hand, settling her legs on either side of his body as he pulled her into his lap. Looking down at him, she moaned when his hands lifted to caress her. She knew that he was learning her body as his hands moved over her and her head fell back, eyes closing as she let herself enjoy the touch and revel in the way it felt to be worshiped.

Richard moved over every inch of skin, pausing and concentrating on the places that caused her breath to hitch, a small moan to escape. He watched the firelight's shadows dance across her skin and sighed in appreciation of the beauty before him. Gently kneading the flesh of her buttocks, he repeated the action on her thighs as he moved his hands around to touch her intimately.

"Richard," she breathed as she shuddered at the touch. Opening her eyes, she looked down to watch as he touched her, bold in her movements as she reached out to grasp his shoulder with one hand, letting the other slide down to join his.

Richard felt the desire begin to boil his blood at the bold movement of his love. Leaning forward, he took a taut nipple into his mouth and suckled, feeling her head fall forward onto his as she moaned and struggled for release. "Let go, love," he whispered then suckled again.

Isobel cried out as her body gave in. It had been so long since she'd been with a man that she'd worried her body had forgotten how to react to pleasure, but as she trembled with her orgasm, she realized she'd been wrong. "Richard," she breathed when she felt him move and pull her closer, slowly sliding his length inside her until they were fully joined.

Richard held her hips, not moving until Isobel sat up and looked down at him, her hand on his face, her mouth covering his own as she moved her hips. This woman was everything a man could want, and as she moved over him, he told himself how lucky he was to have gotten a final chance to tell her how he felt. If he'd left as he'd planned to do, he'd have lost the chance to be with Isobel. Pulling from the kiss, he lifted his hands to push the hair from her face. "I love you."

Isobel's smile was brilliant. "I love you," she whispered just before she covered his mouth in a kiss once more, letting herself go and losing herself in the power of the love and desire surrounding her.

RnI

Richard pulled the throw from the back of the settee and draped it over Isobel's body as he cradled her close. He wasn't sure if seconds, minutes, or hours had passed, and found that he didn't care so long as she was pressed against him, resting in his arms. Her hair tickled his chest and he smiled at how mussed it was.

His heart was nearly overflowing with the love he felt for the woman in his arms, and he wanted to shout from the rooftops that she was his, though he was sure that would be frowned upon.

Isobel sat up and moved off his lap, moaning at the aching in her thighs. Gently pushing him back, she smiled when he laid down and made as much room for her as he could. Carefully lying beside him, she spooned her body into his, pushing against him as tightly as she could, sighing when his arms wrapped around her. "Richard?"

"Yes?"

"Is this what's going to happen every time I wear purple?"

Richard laughed and nuzzled her neck. How he loved this woman. "I would say it will be."

"Good then. I'll go out and purchase more."