Colby looked at her like she'd gone nuts. "I'll slap seaweed on you anytime you want."
"He certainly doesn't have a problem putting his hands on you," Don cut in dryly.
Eleanor's lips twitched in amusement, "I don't know. He doesn't look strong enough to massage you." She laughed at Colby's indignant look.
Hannah giggled. "Colby's too gentle when he massages me."
Eleanor looked surprised.
"I think he's afraid of hurting me." Hannah slid an arm around his waist, hugging him affectionately.
"You want hard, I'll give you hard," Colby kept a straight face while Hannah burst into giggles again.
"Oh, please. Spare me." Don heaved a long-suffering sigh.
Since the ladies seemed eager for the spa treatments, the men went along with it. And no one at the spa dared to say no when the men insisted on accompanying the ladies.
----
Hannah laughed when Colby sniffed at her skin when they got back to the room after the spa treatment. "Stop. That tickles."
His eyes gleamed as he pulled her closer, and tilted her head back for a kiss. Gently, he sucked on her lower lip, enjoying the soft fullness of it. Her lips parted and his tongue slid in to meet hers. Whimpering softly, Hannah slid her fingers through his hair, as she tried to pull him closer.
But he resisted, pulling away slightly. He smiled at her moan. He lowered his head when she pouted and slid his tongue teasingly across her lower lip.
"Mmm." She parted her lips again, and her tongue teased his, inviting him to play. And moaned, deep in her throat when his tongue gently caressed hers, then lightly tickled the roof of her mouth with the tip. She whimpered in protest when he moved on to trail kisses along her jaw. Languidly, her head leaned back to give him access to her throat, moaning in pleasure when he nibbled on the soft skin there.
He began to undress her, pressing kisses and licking her soft fragrant skin as he removed each article of clothing. He teased her with a quick lick on each nipple, knowing it would set her on fire. And chuckled softly when she struggled with the buttons of his shirt, only managing to get the first two unbuttoned. "Let me," he murmured, and pulled it off.
"Mine," she said on a sigh of pleasure, as she ran her hands up his pecs and over his shoulders.
He grinned as he pulled off the rest of his clothing. He loved the feel of her hands on him.
"Mmmm," she murmured as she began her own trail of kisses, following his treasure trail.
He slid a hand under her chin, and gently pulled her away. "Nope, not tonight." Laughing when she pouted yet again, he picked her up and put her on the edge of the bed. He knelt at the side of the bed, and parted her legs. He nibbled along her inner thigh, enjoying her gasp of pleasure when he got to the center of her. Lightly, he flicked his tongue at the nub, holding her hips down when she jerked with the pleasure. Then he ran the rougher middle part of his tongue on the nub, drawing a guttural moan of pleasure from her. Pushing her back a little further on the bed, he pulled her legs up, hookin her knees over his shoulders, and gently began thrusting into her.
She slid her hands up his arms in a gentle caress, then back down to his hands, guiding them to her breasts. Hannah gasped at the pleasure when his slender fingers teased her nipples.
He tilted her hips slightly, groaning when the angle gave him just a little more friction and a little more depth. He began to thrust harder and faster, as he brought them up and over.
Sighing with pleasure, he slid onto the bed beside her, and rested his head on the pillow of her breasts. "Love you," he murmured, before he fell asleep.
----
After a leisurely breakfast the next morning, they checked their luggage with the bell captain, and set off for Rosslyn with their tour guide, Bonnie.
"A bonnie lass," Don murmured to Colby who agreed amiably, but well out of earshot of both their ladies.
She was warm and friendly, with a lovely Gaelic lilt to her voice. They chatted with her about the various sights they'd seen the day before on the short seven-mile ride to Roslin. "The village is spelled Roslin, the Chapel, Castle, and earldom is Rosslyn. A word derived from the Celtic words ross, a rocky promontory, and lynn, a waterfall. Both features are prominent in the glen below, where the North Esk, one of Scotland's most romantic rivers, flows."
Bonnie paused to point out a stand of trees in the distant hills. "You can't really see it from the side, but that stand of trees there was planted in the same of the eight pointed Templar cross, also known as a Maltese cross. It's said that one arm points to Rosslyn, and the other to Jerusalem."
After a few minutes of watching them crane their necks to look at the stand of trees, Bonnie went back to talking about Rosslyn. "I'm sure you know that they filmed portions of the Da Vinci Code there at Rosslyn."
When everyone nodded, she continued, "The producers were very disappointed when they showed up for filming and were faced with the huge aluminum canopy that Rosslyn Chapel has been under since 1997, for conservation purposes. And it's really amazing to see how they managed to film it to look like the canopy isn't there."
She went on to explain the need for the canopy, "A conservation initiative in the fifties began by scrubbing off the green algae from the sandstone, and in accordance with the conservation philosophy of the time, the stone was sealed with a silica fluoride of magnesium. Unfortunately, the cold weather caused the water that was sealed in to condense, and the impurities further crumbled the stone. The canopy was raised to allow the stone to gradually dry from the inside out, while the committee investigated ways to remove the coating.
"I mentioned the Templar cross earlier. There are many ties to the Freemasons in the carvings of the chapels. And the St. Clair family became hereditary Grand Master Masons of Scotland. Not even King James VI could make himself Grand Master, because the role belonged to the St. Clairs of Rosslyn."
They pulled into the parking lot and Colby saw the look in Hannah's eyes as she took in the view. "I'll take a picture, Hannah, so you don't have to sketch it."
She laughed when he said that, "Alright. I get the hint." And smacked a huge kiss on his lips. She grinned at Don, who looked indulgently amused. Hannah giggled to herself, it was only when Colby kissed her that Don made a fuss.
They made light conversation while they strolled up the walkway to the Chapel.
Don burst into laughter when he saw a wheelbarrow bearing a sign that said 'Da Vinci horse manure 25p'. "I take it some of the neighbors don't quite approve of the commercialism since the Da Vinci code was filmed here!"
Then finally, after going through a long admission line, they were in the courtyard of the Chapel.
Colby smiled at the reverent look on Hannah's face when they stepped into the Chapel. It made the entire trip to Scotland worth his while. He pressed a gentle kiss on her temple, amused that it didn't even register. The look of fascinated awe said it all. "I'm going to take as many pictures as I can," he murmured, and left her to make quick sketches of the carvings in the ceiling.
Hannah moved on and began to make sketches of the angels in various poses, amused in particular by the carving of Lucifer, the fallen angel, bound and upside down. She caught her breath at one series of figures, sixteen in all. Each figure had a skeleton next to it, known as the dance of death or the danse macabre. The danse macabre was an allegorical representation of death's supremacy over mankind. She knew that Rosslyn's danse macabre was the first to be carved in stone.
Colby came back for her, when the verger began to talk about the two pillars in the Lady Chapel.
"The pillar on your left is the Mason's Pillar, said to be the work of the Master Mason. While splendid, it is less elaborate in design than the work on the Apprentice's Pillar on your right. Each elaborately carved vine begins at the dragon's mouth at the base of the pillar and winds gracefully around the pillar all the way to the top. Legend has it that the Master Mason hesitated to carry out the design that the Founder handed to him until he had seen the original. After he left, the apprentice dreamt that finished the pillar. When he awoke, he began work on it and carried out the design to completion. When the Master Mason returned, he was so inflamed with rage, that he struck his apprentice with his mallet, and killed him. Across the chapel from the Apprentice's Pillar is a carving of the Master Mason, doomed to staring at the Apprentice's Pillar for eternity."
"The more times change, the more people remain the same," Don muttered to Colby.
Colby sighed in agreement, "The methods and the prize may change, but the motivation never changes. Jealousy and revenge, over and over again."
The verger continued, "The architrave from the Apprentice's Pillar to the south wall contains the only inscription in the Chapel. It's said to be from King Darius' trial of wisdom "'Forte est vinu. Fortior est rex. Fortiores sunt mulieres: sup om vincit veritas.' meaning 'Wine is strong. The king is stronger. Women are stronger still: but truth conquers all.'"
Eleanor looked at Don, amused by his fascination despite his protests that one monument looked like another to him. Truth is his business, she thought to herself, truth and justice. And for him, truth does conquer all.
The verger moved them on to the next architrave, "On this side of the architrave you'll see carvings of the seven virtues, and on the opposite side, the seven deadly sins. A mistake was apparently made in the carvings and there is a deadly sin on the virtues side, and vice versa. But the more fanciful among us say that the masons did it on purpose, because there is no good person without a stroke of evil and no evil person without some small redeemable virtue."
Colby smiled when Hannah settled down to sketch the seven virtues and seven deadly sins. "You're not going to listen to the rest of the tour?"
She shook her head, smiling at him, "You go ahead, I'll probably be sketching for a while. All this is really interesting, the carvings of different plants and designs that came from all over the world, all put together in one Chapel. Incredible. I think I'm going to be sketching a while."
"Alright," he kissed her again, "I'll take pictures of everything." He grinned when she nodded absently, already lost in her sketches.
"You know, this is really amazing," Don said quietly to Eleanor.
She smiled affectionately at him, "We'll pound some culture into you, yet."
He laughed and looped an arm around her shoulders.
They took their time to explore the chapel even after the verger finished the tour. Eleanor finally sat with Hannah while she sketched. It never failed to amaze her, how quickly Hannah sketched. She also noticed that Hannah didn't always sketch something exactly. Sometimes she stylized it, as though she was beginning a design for jewelry. Those fascinated Eleanor. She knew she never would have been able come up with the designs.
But finally, even Hannah was done with Rosslyn Chapel. And they went out into the fresh air to meet up with Bonnie. And with more than a little regret, they headed back to Edinburgh.