A/N: Thank you, thank you to all who have reviewed, read, followed and favorited! This chapter is shorter than my usual because I really wanted this scene to kind of stand alone. Just a quick little romp with Cora and Robert. Some sexy time ahead.

in the stillness of the darkened room, Robert gripped the pillow under his head, staring at the wall across from him, tension drawing his shoulders toward his ears. The gentle cradle of the feather bed under him and the soft blankets covering him could not relax him to sleep. In fact, the pleasantness of his current accommodations only seemed to inexplicably heighten his anxiety. Robert moved carefully upon the mattress as he turned toward the middle. Even in the inky blackness, he could make out Cora's features. She slept as she always did, on her stomach, hugging her own pillow close, her forearm pressed under her cheek pushing her lips into a slight pout. Stray curls framed her sleeping face, and the steady puffs of her breathing created a music in the room that he had longed to hear all of these months away.

And even though he was now laying beside Cora, after an exhausting journey back, after an afternoon and night of drinking and eating and loving her body desperately and then devotedly, sleep still eluded him. When he closed his eyes, thousands of miles away from Africa, he found he could not leave that continent behind. His responses seemed even more primed in serenity as he listened for some sign of trouble or attack, unable to shake the feeling of being in danger.

Sighing, hoping to alleviate the tightness in his chest, Robert reached out, curling an arm around Cora's waist. Her lips twitched upward, her smile sleepy, as she automatically rolled over to her other side and backed into him, fitting into the curve of his body. Robert buried his nose into her hair as she intertwined her fingers through his, their joined hands resting on the rise and fall of her belly. He held her tightly, feeling some of knots in his muscles loosen. He kissed her neck softly and she murmured his name faintly, reverently. Oh how he missed her, missed the feel of her, the taste of her. Robert closed his eyes, forcefully pushing away the images that always appeared when his lids lowered, those of deserts and dust and men writhing in pain and blood. He focused on the rhythmic rise and fall of Cora's chest in the circle of his arms, of the sweet hum of her breathing and her delicate scent. Sleep came, finally.

Cora panted hard, her racing heart gradually, beat by beat, slowing to it's normal thrumming. Her limbs felt sluggish and there was a hint of the soreness to come after making love yet again to Robert, but she laid on her back, wearing a content smile and watching Robert, through heavy lidded eyes, as he hovered above her, tracing patterns over her naked belly. His fingertips glossed lightly over the hills and valleys of her ribcage, making her squirm as he tickled her.

"You've gotten thin," Robert observed, his brows drawing together, accenting the lean lines of his face.

"That's the pot calling the kettle…" Cora replied, playfully brushing his hand away but Robert would not be deterred from his exploration, now in the light of the morning, now that he wasn't so preoccupied with just feeling her around him. His hand snaked down the shallow of her belly and cupped the protrusion of her hip.

"Yes, but I am at war, we aren't exactly treated to seven courses every evening. You're downright bony, Cora." Robert lowered his face closer to hers, his blues eyes searching intensely. "You aren't ill, are you? You would tell me if there was something the matter."

"Robert," Cora huffed, pushing herself up and wrapping the the blankets around her more tightly. She shrugged her shoulders and held up her hands. "I'm not ill, darling, just...busy I suppose."

"You need to take care of yourself," Robert said, stroking her cheek. "You cannot worry yourself sick."

"And I'm not," Cora chided softly, covering his hand with her own. "I'm fine, really. I cannot deny that I am anxious for you, for the children. But I'm not going to fall apart at any moment."

"I know," Robert drew out the words, bowing down to capture her lips with his. "My brave cowboy."

Cora chuckled lowly and placed her arms around Robert's shoulders, pinning him down to her and deepening their kiss. Robert began to caress her side, his fingers roaming the expanse of her exposed flesh as he pushed away the sheets. Cora moved her legs, allowing him to settle closer to her and she felt his arousal grow once more, her own building in a steady surge. His touch was maddeningly tender this time, as though he held something incredibly fragile and she groaned in mock frustration.

"I'm not porcelain," she growled, biting down on his earlobe to demonstrate her point. Robert's hips bucked harder against her center as he teared away the barriers of bedding between them.

"No…" Robert acknowledged between the path of kisses he left on her neck, "you are flesh…." His lips moved across her clavicle, licking the hollow of her throat, "and blood." He moved lower, sucking at her nipple greedily, making her shiver with need. "And deliciously alive."

Cora's breathing grew shaky, her body more than ready for him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him closer until he sank into her. She exhaled contentedly until the grinding of his hips created a cloying friction and she began to move her own body, increasing the heat between them until her head was spinning and she could feel herself swirling close to the edge of pleasure.

"I love you Robert Crawley," Cora moaned as his thrusting grew to a fevered rate and he dove into her faster and faster, both crying out as they climaxed in unison.

"And I you. So very much." Robert mouthed into her hair, blanketing her for a moment with his full weight.