"Robert?" She questioned the dark quietly.
"Hmm?" His response was little more than a grunt.
"Can we go down to the kitchens?"
He startled at her strange request. "I thought you were tired?"
"I was but now I'm hungry. I didn't really eat dinner." She admitted shamefully.
"I noticed."
"So can we go?"
"Cora, I don't think I even know where the kitchen is to be honest." He sighed.
"Are you serious? This is your house!"
"But there's never a need for me to be down there."
She got up, putting on her dressing gown and house shoes, "well at least you know that it's not upstairs."
He shot her a look but took hold of her hand and slipped quietly out of bed and donning on his own robe before walking into the corridor and down the main staircase. All the lights were off apart from a candle on a table in the foyer which Robert took. "How do you know the way and I don't?"
"I asked Rosamund to show me."
"Why?" He asked incredulously.
She shrugged. "Curiosity, I suppose. Watch your step, we're going down stairs now."
The stairs went on for longer than Robert had assumed and ended in front of a room with a long table. He presumed it was the servant's hall.
"It's down this corridor. Do you want to go first?"
"Why, are you scared?" He smiled at her genuinely for the first time that night and she leaned in, kissing his lips lightly.
"No, but you have the light."
"Right, well I can't argue with that." He said bashfully. He didn't deserve her kisses.
He walked slowly towards the end of the hall with one hand around Cora's and the other holding the candle. He set the candle next to the sink and looked at his wife.
"What do you want to eat?"
She raised her eyebrow. "Do you know how to cook?"
"No, but it can't be that hard."
Her laughter filled the dark room and she sat down in a chair by the door. "Just fetch me some biscuits, please."
"And would the lovely Lady like a drink of water with her biscuits?" He teased her.
She laughed again and pointed her nose to the ceiling, adopting an English accent. "That sounds fabulous, darling."
He grinned broadly and went hunting for biscuits in cupboards and drawers. He eventually found them and put the packet on a small, plain plate he found earlier in a cupboard. He took a glass from the same place and held it under the tap. When he turned the tap on, cold water rushed out too fast spraying the counter and his clothes.
"Balls!"
He dropped the glass on the stone floor as Cora guffawed behind him. Shards of glass went everywhere and his heart-rate refused to calm down. He had forgotten she was there for a while.
"You should be more careful unless you want Evans to come running down here."
Robert ignored her and focused on getting a new glass to fill up at a slower pace. He placed the packet of biscuits on the plate and the glass of water in front of her before turning to try to clean up the shards of glass.
Cora rolled her eyes at the un-opened packet on a plate and poked her thumbnail through the flimsy packaging. She had eaten three before he joined her at the table and took a large swig of the water.
An awkward silence fell around the small table and they both avoided looking at each other's eyes. Cora's head was still hurting but the small cut was beginning to scab at least. Robert looked at the cut and felt a fresh wave of shame crash over his body. He didn't see it properly before now. I should have been there. Self hatred began to take over as the thought of Bricker clouded his vision and he sighed again, leaning his elbows on the table and shoving his thumbs into his closed eyes to ward off a headache.
"Stop it."
Her voice was a whisper but it crashed through the silence as effectively as if she had shouted. He jumped a little and sat up straighter. She still wasn't looking at him.
"Stop what?" He asked just as quietly.
Her eyes rolled to meet his and looked at him for a while before answering; "thinking."
His eyes flicked to the cut on her forehead and she saw his jaw tighten before he turned his head away from her. Cora closed her eyes momentarily before opening them with a new resolve. She would not let him do this. She pushed back the chair and walked silently around to his side of the table. His jaw was still tight and his forehead was zig-zagged with worry lines.
He never noticed that she was so close to him until her hands touched his thigh. Robert was startled out of his dark thoughts and realised that she was kneeling on the cold stone floor before him, her backside resting on her ankles. Why is she doing this? He swung his legs out from the table to stand but she grabbed his knees before he could. It wasn't a strong grip but there was a desperation in her eyes that made him sit back down instantly and look down into her face.
"Stop. It." She pleaded with wide eyes.
These wide eyes caused his jaw to unclench and his shoulders to drop. He didn't know that so much tension and anger was in him until he let it go and only shame was left. She bit her lip as the cloud of fury left his eyes and only a pitiful fog of a feeling she couldn't name remained behind. She rubbed his knee because she couldn't keep still and pleaded with him again.
"Please, stop thinking."
He gulped and took her hands in his. "But I don't know how." He whispered.
Cora dropped one of his hands and straightened her upper body so that they were eye-level. She reached up with one hand to his forehead and tried to smooth the lines there. "Then let me help you." She said and he wouldn't have heard her if the kitchen wasn't so unnaturally quiet.
He looked into her blue eyes and tightened his grip on the hand on his knee. He felt her fingers dance along his forehead and a shiver shot through his body that had nothing to do with the cold. Cold. He suddenly remembered that she was kneeling on a hard stone floor in the middle of Winter and let go of her hand to grab the backs of her thighs.
"Robert?" Cora asked, confused.
He maintained eye contact with her as he lifted her up and onto his lap in one swift move. She gasped and held onto his shoulders for support as her body sank into his warmth. He was right; she was freezing.
He felt her ragged breath flow over his face and he closed his eyes, tightly grabbing her thighs. His grip was tight and she was about to ask if he was okay before he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her with more emotion than he or any man had ever looked at her with before.
"Help me." He emplored her with that sultry deep voice that never failed to make her shiver.
Time stood still for one moment as they both looked at each other panting breathlessly. In that one moment oxygen was seemingly pulled out of the room and all that was left was poison. Breath taking, intoxicating poison.
She grabbed his face and lunged for his lips at the same time his hands wrapped around her waist, crushing her body to his chest. Their previous kisses had all been passionate but gentle. Compared to this everything they had done before was gentle. Tongues did not dance together but fought valiantly, exploring every inch of each other's mouth. Her long fingers tangled in his hair and occasionally pulled at the roots slightly. Not harshly, but enough to make him growl in his approval.
His teeth pulled on her bottom lip harder than he had ever done before and then sucked it into his mouth, tenderly lapping the slight pain away. Cora groaned and arched on his lap, pushing her breasts into his chest and his grip on her waist tightened further. Robert removed his lips from hers and frantically began to kiss, bite and suck her pale neck, as her hands wandered down between them to undo the knot which tied his robe.
When the midnight blue dressing gown fell open her cold hands eagerly ran up and down his chest on the white nightshirt he had on. The material was a heavy cotton designed to ward off the chill but Cora instantly decided that he was warm enough and ripped the fabric in her haste to rid him of it. Robert chuckled when he heard the fabric ripping and leaned away to take it off by pulling it over his head and then reached for her again, wildly kissing her.
He hissed when her cold hands landed on his chest and began to toy with his nipples and chest hairs making his erection grow all the more prominent. Without his robe or night shirt there was nothing to shield his member standing to attention proudly between the two of them, but neither noticed. Robert had one hand twined around his wife's ebony curls, tilting her head back to gain better access to her mouth while the other hand massaged her behind through her nightclothes. She moaned again and tore away from him.
"Robert, please."
He reached to undo the already half undone knot of her robe but she shook her head and brought hands to sides of his face.
"No. Now."
"How impatient." He muttered and chuckled deeply when she shivered in response and kissed him again. "Please." She whispered against his lips.
He kissed her harshly again and slid his hands under her nightclothes to find that she wasn't wearing any undergarments. He grinned to himself as the thought, "great minds think alike," wandered into his mind. His fingers lightly caressed her folds in great contrast to his rough mouth and he exhaled in delight to find her already wet. He grasped himself firmly and guided his shaft to her entrance lightly teasing her by rubbing the head up to her clitoris and back down again.
Cora groaned loudly and arched again when he touched her there. It was almost too much. To feel achingly empty one minute and then electrified without mercy for another. The head of his shaft was at her entrance again and she surprised him when she sank down on top of him, immersing him in her heat suddenly. She sighed and he let out a strangled groan, reaching for her hips to still any of her movements.
"Give me a minute." He croaked. His voice was low, raspy and metallic, she hadn't heard it so masculine since their wedding night and she was blindfolded then. She couldn't see his wild eyes and large chest. But now she could. She saw him in all his glory, under her and it gave her such a sense of power that she almost missed his nod to continue.
She had never been in this position before and didn't really know what to do but cautiously rolled her hips towards him lifting off of him slightly. She smiled when his hands tightened on her hips and his eyes rolled back momentarily. Evidently that was the right thing to do. She did it again causing him to groan aloud which sent more shivers down her spine. He was never particularly vocal during sex and everytime he moaned, groaned or sighed in pleasure, she basked in selfish delight. The smile slid of her face as he opened his eyes and fixed her with a look that was hard and unyielding. Her robe had opened fully and he pushed it off her shoulders before pulling her to his chest and kissing her throat.
"Wrap your legs around my waist and hold on." He growled in her ear.
She obeyed instantly and felt him stand up slowly, his hands grasped her thighs and backside while he was still inside her. The movement his hips made as he walked caused him to rub against her bundle of nerves and she whimpered in his arms. He lowered her onto the edge of what felt like a table while he stood in front of her and roughly pulled her satin nightgown over her head. He looked at her, threw the piece of clothing over his shoulder and, with a low sigh, started to pump in and out of her.
Cora quickly realised that they were on the counter used to prepare their food but couldn't bring herself to care. She crossed her ankles and pushed against his behind while her hands grasped his muscular shoulders.
"Harder." She demanded.
Robert grunted and placed a hand in the middle of her rising chest and lightly pushing, causing her to lay down on her back. He leaned his hands on either side of her breasts and started to push into her vigorously.
Her hands tangled in his hair and groans escaped her every time he reached that spot deep within her. "Robert."
Robert swallowed her gasps and took her lips between his own for a few seconds before wrenching himself away and straightening up again. He ran his hands over her silky thighs and down to her calves. He lifted them to rest on his shoulders causing her hips to tilt and allowed him to go faster. Her soft walls clenched around him and he knew that he wouldn't last much longer.
"Oh, Cora." He moaned and reached down to touch her stomach and thighs, ploughing into her with wild abandon. He loved to do that. Just touch her.
Her abdominal muscles clenched and she arched on the counter as her pleasure crested. Her toes that were by his ears pointed and her calves seized painfully. "Robert!"
He felt her become undone and let go inside her with her name repeatedly falling from his lips. He continued to ride out their orgasms and only stopped when she stilled below him. He panted heavily and lowered her legs to dangle off the counter. Her hands reached for him and he was too sated and unstable to resist lying on top of her. He was still inside of her and she cradled him close to her, occasionally dropping little kisses on the top of his sweaty head.
Seconds turned to minutes and soon her back was beginning to cramp, as well as his legs. Their sweat had turned cold causing them to shiver. And he had long since became soft and slipped out of her, causing their natural juices to mix and coat each other in a small but unsavory puddle. But despite this; the young couple was more content and happy than they had been in a long time.
"We should get up." He mumbled and lightly kissed the side of her right breast.
"Hmmm." She hummed in agreement, making no move to get up but continued stroking his hair.
He chuckled and reached up to kiss her lips that were slightly swollen from their activities. "Stay here, Darling." He stood up and stretched before throwing on his robe and walking over too the stove. He looked around and a clean tea towel and glanced at the kettle. There was tea cosy over it and he wondered if the water was still hot. Carson had fetched him hot water before he went to Cora's room for his own injuries.
He walked over and removed the cosy before lightly dabbing the tea towel into the water. It was luke-warm. Perfect. He soaked the tea towel and washed himself before their juices had time to crust and become uncomfortable. He wet the fabric again and rushed over to Cora. He proceeded to clean her in the same way and then helped her off the counter.
She stumbled into his arms and he chuckled, wrapping her robe around her and tying it securely. "Let's go up upstairs." His voice was quiet and relaxed as he took her hand and bent down to retrieve their clothes with the other hand. He started to stride toward the doorway when her laughter stopped him.
"What?" He asked her curiously.
"Oh, Robert." She laughed and shook her head.
"What?" He asked again.
She dropped his hand and stepped closer to him before grabbing the sides of his open robe and tying it in a tight knot. "Imagine if we met someone on the stairs." She laughed again and walked out of the room rolling her eyes.
He stared blankly after her and blinked twice before he blushed and followed her upstairs. He shook his head and smiled, watching her behind sway with each step up the servant's stairs. He just wasn't thinking it seemed.
The next morning: The Grantham Arms.
"Who was the telegram from?"
"Rhodes." Rookwood relied tersely, still looking at the piece of paper as if trying to read it and failing. Bricker rolled his eyes and took a swig of tea. Quasi-illiterate quim. He thought.
"What's it about?"
Rookwood looked as if he was going to tell Simon to shut up but then his eyes widened and he crumpled the letter with a growl.
"Damn! Of all the idiotic, stupid, mundane things to - "
"Paul!" Simon shouted, waking Alex who was sleeping on the floor.
"Shut up, Bricker!"
"No, tell me what's wrong."
Rookwood sighed and collapsed on the rickety bed in the corner of the small room. "He cancelled the ball on Saturday."
Bricker took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, "why does that matter?" He said slowly.
"Because he was going to buy from us you moron! He was going to give us thousands for the merchandise!"
"What merchandise?" Alex asked sleepily.
"Shut up!" They both shouted at him.
"You mean to tell me that we're ready to sell?" Bricker asked, amazed.
"Yes, but now he doesn't want to meet and he cancelled the whole ball!" Paul thundered.
"Why?"
"Because his stupid wife had a fucking miscarriage. This is what I get, dealing with Americans!"
Simon hummed in agreement and thought of the last American he encountered. His nose hadn't stopped bleeding for an hour and it was still bent at an awkward angle.
"So, what now?" He asked, wanting to take his mind off the feisty female.
Rookwood ran his hands over his face and groaned. "I don't know." He admitted with a growl. "But He won't be happy about this." Rookwood groaned and squirmed on the bed; his back and jaw were killing him because of the fights yesterday.
"Who won't be happy?" Bricker asked with an edge to his voice.
Rookwood closed his eyes and turned away from the other man. "I told you, no-one you need to worry about!"
AN: Sorry for the delay and short update but I hope the shameless smut makes up for it! Please R+R! Hope ye all had a great Christmas! xx