Ch 19
The feel of his body pressed against hers as he helped her to a standing position in the pond and enfolded her into a delighted hug made Rose acutely aware of her still aroused state.
She tried to work out if they could be seen by the main house and if not how easy it would be for her to get them both out of their clothes. She was a just about to put this line of thought into action when a shadow fell across them.
Stepping back, out of John's arms, Rose bit back a groan as she saw the butler, Derrick, standing next to the pond, an amused expression on his face, and holding out a picnic hamper, "you forgot this," he kept his face blank but couldn't quite keep the laughter at bay.
Rose hauled herself out of the pond with as much dignity as possible and accepted the basket solemnly, "thank you Derrick," she replied, 'that will be all."
Derrick's eyes flitted from the dripping wet Rose to the still partially submerged man in standing in the Koi Pond, a hint of a smile quirking the corners of his mouth, before bowing slightly and taking his leave.
John climbed out of the water and came squelching up next to her, lifted the lid and peered inside the hamper, "don't suppose there are any towels in there?" he asked before reaching in, plucking out a few grapes, and popping them into his mouth.
Rose unpacked the contents of the basket. No towels, but they were provided with a small blanket. They set up in a patch of sun kissed grass and hoped that their clothes would dry on their own.
She noticed John seemed to avoid the cold meats on offer, and instead concentrated on the fruits and vegetables. She had seen The Doctor eat meat, but he didn't seem to prefer it. Although in the time she was traveling with him, he really didn't eat much of anything.
John had selected an apple from the basket and was happily munching on it. He stopped mid-chew as she regarded him with a puzzled look, "what?" he prompted, "did I dribble on myself?" he glanced down.
She laughed, "no, I was just noticing you aren't eating the ham, are you a vegetarian?"
He thought about this for a bit, then shrugged, "not sure," he admitted, "guess that's something else I'll need to find out."
Rose shivered slightly as she bit into the sandwich she had assembled. John noticed this and slipped off his shirt to wrap it around her, "thanks," she laughed, "but this is still sopping too."
"Maybe we should head back to the house?" John asked.
Dipping into the basket once more Rose pulled out a bottle of wine, the cork already loosened and two glasses, "or.." she poured some for each of them, "we could have a bit of this and then create our own heat."
John took the glass and sniffed it before pulling a face, "oh no thanks," he set it down, "I don't want to give Pete any excuse to make me drink that 'miracle cure' again."
"You chugged whiskey last time," Rose laughed, "this is just a small bit of wine, I promise you it won't have the same effect." She raised her glass and held to her lips, but didn't drink it yet.
John made no move to pick his up, still eyeing the dark red liquid like it was going to leap out of the glass and attack him.
Rose's smile grew as she reached over and thrust the wine into his hand, "come on," she urged, "just taste it."
Reluctantly he took a taste, and found the wine to be fairly pleasant and quickly gulped down the rest.
"OK, we'll need to work on that a bit," Rose giggled, "I think you may need sipping lessons," she demonstrated by taking a small portion into her mouth before setting the glass down.