A/N: And here is the promised Richard/Isobel stuff. There's also a bit of emotional Elsie. She is pregnant after all ;) . Thanks once again for the lovely reviews! And follows! And favorites! And, well all of it :D
"Richard!" Isobel moaned as she moved against him, her nails digging into his shoulders. He'd been gone for the last week and she'd missed him terribly. They hadn't even made it to the settee before he was tearing at her clothes, stripping her bare, mouth and hands busy touching and tasting her body.
"My god, I've missed ye," he whispered, his brogue thickening, the tight control he kept on his speech, slipping. He lifted his head to look down at her and smiled. "That picture ye sent me," he breathed. "Naughty lass."
Isobel gave him a sexy smile. "I wanted you to see my new outfit."
"Outfit?" Richard huffed before nipping at her neck. "There was barely enough lace to cover ye so that it could be said ye weren't completely nude."
Isobel's laugh was throaty as she began to move again, her fingers tangling in his short hair. "Did you touch yourself?" she whispered in his ear.
"Izzie." Richard hissed as he laid her back on the settee, rearranging their bodies so that he was lying over her.
"Mmm," she hummed as the pleasure overtook her, all coherent thought gone.
Richard smiled as he watched his wife become lost in the passion. He loved the sounds she made, the way her face scrunched up as she struggled for the climax building inside her, the keening whine that came from deep within her when she finds her release.
Isobel held Richard close against her, his body completely limp from release. One of her arms is hanging off the side of the settee, her fingers fidgeting with the fibers of the rug under the tips. "Hello, Love."
Richard chuckled and pushed up to look down at her. "Hello."
Caressing his face, Isobel smiled up at him. "You aren't leaving again without me."
Leaning down, he nuzzled her neck. "I won't be leaving again for quite some time."
"Elsie." Isobel guessed.
"Yes. I wouldn't have gone this time if I hadn't promised to be at the conference a year ago." Moving off her, he settled against the back of the settee, pulling her body flush with his, their legs tangled.
Isobel caressed his chest. "She's doing well. Glowing, though her feet have started swelling. And I hear from Beryl that Elsie's emotions are all over the place."
"Has Elsie told Charlie yet?"
Isobel shook her head. "You know what she told us about what happened with his ex, Jill."
"That was weeks ago."
"Yes, but the things Charles said are what's kept Elsie from telling the truth. She's afraid of what he'll think of her, and you know she can't lose him. I wish they'd realize their in love with each other. I think they're," Isobel shrugged and scrunched up her nose. "Pardon the cliché, but I think they're soul mates. It's all that explains how close they have always been."
Richard nodded. "It is cliché, but I think you're right. She's always had a need for Charles to be in her life, even taking the chance of being found out by that son of a bitch she was married to. Only Charles Carson being in her life would make Elsie take a chance such as that."
"I still remember that day we came over when Joe was beating her." Isobel shivered. "I can't help but wish some times that it had been Charles visiting them instead of us."
"I wished that on several occasions, but it would have only hurt Elsie because Charles would have been in prison for murder."
Isobel nodded. "Yes, that's true." She smiled. "You did a fine job making the man understand he was never to touch Elsie again. I never knew you had that in you until that day, but I shouldn't have been surprised. The passion you have for life, for the sanctity of it," she caressed his cheek. "You couldn't have done anything less than what you did."
Richard traced his fingers along her spine. "I've never been a violent man, but my father always told me that some things were worth violence. Protecting someone I love is one of those things."
Isobel pressed a kiss just under his jaw. "I wish I could have met your father. He sounds like an extraordinary man." Looking up at her husband, she brushed the hair from his forehead. "Much like his son is."
CnE
"Els? What is it?" Charles asked as he walked into the living room of her penthouse and found her sitting on the settee in her robe, a bottle of something in one hand while the other hand rested on her exposed abdomen. He was alarmed at the sight of her messy wet hair, blotchy face streaked with tears, and the sounds of crying.
Elsie shook her head. "Can't do it," she mumbled on a sob, her shaky hand holding out the bottle.
Charles knelt down in front of her, his eyes taking in what the bottle was before looking back up at his upset friend. "Els, what can't you do?"
"Lotion, Charlie!" she nearly wailed as she shook the bottle at him. "Lotion!"
Charles was extremely confused. He'd never in his life seen Elsie like this. He'd seen her upset, but she'd always made sense. Now, nothing made sense. "I know I'm a dolt, Lass, but what about the lotion? If you tell Charlie, he'll help you," he whispered as he caressed the hair from her face.
"I can't put it on," she did wail this time.
Charles had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Good thing Richard and James had warned him about pregnant women and emotional upheaval. "Shh, now," he soothed as he cupped her cheek. "You come along with Charlie and he'll fix you right up." Helping her stand, Charles lifted Elsie into his arms, thankful for his daily workouts because his usually slight Elsie wasn't so much anymore with Baby added into the equation. "Charlie will take you up to your room and put your lotion on then settle you into bed for the night, okay?"
Elsie nodded against Charles' shoulder as she sniffed. "Charlie always takes care of his Els," she whimpered.
"Yes, he does, and he always will." Charles told her as he gently put her down on her bed. "Now, you sit right there while I go fetch a nice cool cloth for that lovely face and those pretty eyes." Pressing a kiss to her head, he hurried to her en suite bathroom, finally letting some of his mirth at the situation escape. He'd seen Elsie in various emotional states, but this was…he shook his head. This would definitely be something he'd store away for later to laugh with her about, or to tell her little girl about when she was old enough to understand.
Elsie sniffed when Charles titled her face up and gently wiped it with the cool cloth. Letting her eyes close, she sighed at the tenderness. Opening her eyes when Charles tapped her nose, she studied him, wishing she could tell him the truth.
"Now, Els. Where do you want the lotion?"
"I can't reach my back or my legs. I used to prop my foot up on the side of the tub and put the lotion on my legs that way, but," she rubbed her stomach. "Baby is in the way now."
Charles nodded. "And what of Baby? Does she get any lotion?"
Elsie blinked. "Usually, but I got so upset," she shrugged.
"Well then we'll start with Baby and move on from there, okay?"
Elsie nodded. Watching Charles put some of the lotion into his hands and rub them together to warm it, she felt tears threaten again. He'd never touched her like this before and she braced herself to keep from reacting to his touch. He didn't know she was in love with him, didn't know that she dreamed of being with him, of his hands caressing her. She still couldn't remember the night they'd made their baby girl, and it often frustrated her. "Thank you for warming it," she whispered when Charles' hands finally began to rub the lotion into the tautly stretched skin of her abdomen.
Charles blinked in surprise and jerked his hands back. "Els? What was that?"
Elsie covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes bright with tears. "That was Baby. Evidently she was enjoying the rubbing."
Putting his hands back on Elsie's stomach, Charles began rubbing the lotion in again, laughing when he felt the same little thump against his palm. "Does it hurt you?"
Elsie shook her head. "No. Keeps me awake at night some times because she has her days and nights mixed up, but it doesn't hurt." She snarled. "At least not yet. When she gets bigger and more crowded, her kicking can hurt. Isobel told me that her son used to kick her in the ribs."
Charles snarled at that as he finished. Putting more lotion into his hand, he repeated the warming action then started working the moisturizer into Elsie's thigh and calf. "That does sound painful."
Elsie nodded even as she swallowed down the moan that threatened at the feel of his hands moving over her leg. "It will be worth it once I hold her in my arms."
Charles smiled up at Elsie. "You'll make a wonderful mother, Els."
"Thank you, Charlie." Elsie whispered.
Charles shook his head as he got more lotion and moved onto the other leg. "No thanks necessary for telling you the truth, Lass."
"But there is a reason for thanks," she argued as she watched him put more lotion into his hand then move behind her on the bed.
"Stop arguing and let me put this on your back."
Elsie rolled her eyes as she let her robe fall down off her shoulders, the terry material gathering at her waist. Dear god, this couldn't happen again, she thought as she fought to keep her body's reaction to herself. From now on, when she needed help like this, she'd have to call Beryl or Isobel or she would give herself away and possibly lose her best friend.
Charles swallowed as he felt a sudden reaction in his body to the feel of Elsie's silken skin under his fingertips. He scowled. Why now? He'd rubbed lotion into her stomach and legs with no reaction, but touching her back had him fighting to control himself. His eyes took in the curve of her spine, the perfect shoulders, the small scar just under her shoulder blade that he knew came from being caught on a nail in the fence as she tried to escape the raging bull he'd rescued her from. Elsie was his best friend, what was happening to him?
Finishing, he gently pulled her robe back up into place on her shoulders. "All done, Lass."
Elsie nodded as she pulled her robe closed. "Thank you, Charlie, and don't argue with me over the thanks."
Charles laughed as he winked at her. "Now, jimjams?"
"You don't have to, Charlie."
"I do," he told her. "I promised to tuck you in and I always keep my promises to my Els."
Elsie nodded then pointed to the drawer on her dresser that held her night things. "Any of the gowns in there will work." She scowled. "I get twisted up in pajamas."
Charles laughed as he pulled out a soft blue gown. "Here," he handed it to her and turned his back. "Slip that on then I'll tuck you in."
Elsie sighed as she stood up and took off her robe, slipping the gown over her head. "All done," she whispered.
Charles turned around and smiled as he bent to pull back her blankets, helping her settle in before tucking them around her. "Comfy?"
Elsie, eyes already closed, hummed as she nodded her head. "Mmm hmm."
"Good," he told her as he sat down on the side of the bed. "Sleep well, Lass," he whispered as he watched her. She was beautiful, even with her hair still damp and messy, something he knew would cause her trouble in the morning. As he continued to watch her, he thought about the way his body had reacted to hers and felt the same confusion he'd felt then. She was his best friend. He loved her as…
He blinked.
He loved her.
But not as a sister, as he'd always thought.
His love was that of a man for a woman.
Dear god!
I'm in love with Elsie!
