Lipstick

I

The first time was during their honeymoon. They had been awkward around each other. The wedding night had not gone as Robert had anticipated. He had been so nervous and worried about hurting her and yet so desperate to feel her body that he'd made a rather poor showing. Cora hadn't known the difference, of course, which was only slight comfort. He had set her expectations quite low, and as they travelled Europe and continued to explore the marital bed together, he then worried about overwhelming her and taking things too far. She was quite eager, he found, but that somehow made things even harder for him. She was in love with him, and he was concerned about giving her the wrong idea about his affections if he was perhaps too amorous with her.

And so, for most of the honeymoon, Robert Crawley tried very hard to restrain himself with his new bride. She was American and therefore demonstrative and emotional much of the time. But she was bright and gentle, and she was learning what he wanted and needed from her as Viscountess Downton. All in all, things were going as well as Robert might have anticipated.

Until they arrived in Paris.

Cora had been very excited to come to Paris, he knew. She had told him more than once how much she was looking forward to seeing the sights and going to museums and to do some shopping. For all that she was an intelligent woman, Robert found that his wife had a penchant for luxury. She liked getting new dresses and she adored gifts of jewelry. She was eager to try the latest fashions for clothing and for hairstyles. Her new lady's maid struggled to keep up, Robert knew.

Robert was quite uninterested in such things. He knew what he liked, aesthetically speaking, and otherwise did not bother much with his own appearance. He did not enjoy being measured by a tailor or browsing shops for new styles. Cora loved those things. And in an attempt to keep her from sulking—she would never demand anything, of course, she had better sense than that, even if she did make her disappointment known through her despondence when she did not get what she wanted—Robert agreed to take her shopping. For the most part, he allowed her free reign in any shop she wanted to visit and paid absolutely no attention to what she did until it was time to pay for everything. He'd need to teach her the value of money when they got back to Downton; she would be unhappy with the budget that he would have to impose, but this extravagance simply could not continue after the honeymoon.

There was one shop full of cosmetics. Perfumes and oils and lotions and creams and things. Robert ignored it as he'd ignored the hat shop and dress shop and all the others. He paid and had the packages sent to their hotel just as he'd done everywhere else.

He should have been more aware of what his wife was purchasing. Because if he had, he might have realized that Cora had bought something not just new to her but new to most of polite society.

As usual, he waited in the sitting room of their hotel suite while Cora dressed for dinner. She took much longer than he did. After all, his valet put him in his dinner jacket and brushed him off and Robert was ready to go. Cora had much more to contend with. Robert had gotten used to waiting, even having only been married for a few weeks. He did not mind. He had the pleasure of seeing what beautiful appearance she would have when she was finally ready.

He was wholly unprepared when she appeared. She wore a lovely dress. Pink and trimmed with delicate lace. Her jewelry was the set of diamonds he had bought for her when they were in Italy last week. Her hair was curled and pinned in an intricate fashion he was quite sure he'd seen before. But Cora smiled at him and he found that her…well, her lips were painted pink!

"What…?" he stammered, staring at her mouth. He'd not fully recognized before, what a magnificent shape her lips made. And painted pink like that, he…well, Robert found his body reacting in quite an inappropriate manner to seeing her mouth like that. Pink and plump, as though swollen from his kisses. His mind was filled immediately with the visions of when he had seen her look that way in the past, when he had kissed her breathless and they had lost themselves in passion. Not lost in passion, per se, but certainly in pleasure. He could hardly think of anything else with her looking like that.

Cora's smile grew. "It's called lipstick," she explained. "I found it at that cosmetics shop today. Apparently it's quite popular with performers so that an audience can see their mouths better. This shop has just started selling it to the public. Isn't it pretty?"

Robert's mouth went dry. "It's…ah…."

Her expression faltered. "You don't like it."

He wanted to tell her that he did like it, but he liked it a little too much. He was prevented from saying such things, however, by the lady's maid walking by and leaving the room. But thankfully they were alone after that.

"Robert, just tell me, please," she requested sadly. "I can try to wipe it off before we go down to dinner."

"No," he said quickly.

"No?"

"No, don't wipe it off. But we can't go to dinner."

"We can't?"

He crossed toward her and saw up close how sumptuous her lips looked with that lipstick. "We can have something sent up later," he said in a low voice, hardly realizing what he was saying.

Cora was confused. "But why?"

"Because I cannot look at you another minute without kissing you," he said. And then, to prove it, he kissed her.

That evening, Robert failed utterly and completely in restraining himself with his wife. Their kisses were passionate. Their fumbling as they undressed each other was full of joy and laughter. Their lovemaking was unlike anything Robert had every experienced. He was unable to control his hands and his mouth as they traveled her body. Cora was unable to control the gasps and cries of pleasure that fell from her lips. Her beautifully painted lips. That pink lipstick ended up smeared all over her face and his and then subsequently all over the rest of her body.

In the end, they called for dinner to be brought to them on trays. While they got themselves dressed sufficiently to be served their meal, Robert told Cora in no uncertain terms that he could not have her wear that lipstick in public. And when she asked him why, he merely explained that their evening would undoubtedly be repeated whenever he saw her wear lipstick. Such behavior was unacceptable for a future earl and countess.

Cora accepted that instruction from her husband, but she did teasingly threaten to wear the lipstick again sometime when they weren't out in public. It seemed she was as eager to experience a repeat of their evening as Robert. He agreed, blushing furiously as he did so.