Dinner the night before had been a struggle, and I had watched as Will was forced to endure the questions of our dinner partners. They at least were kind enough to not push him about the mourning band, but they wanted to know everything about him and despite my attempts to intercede, had only spoken to him. The men had even tried to get him to come for cigars and whiskey after, but he had put them off. After everything he had been exhausted and had fallen straight asleep after giving me a kiss goodnight.

Considering how persistent our table mates had been I was dreading seeing them again. So in the morning I was fully prepared to have to avoid them with some elaborate excuse, but we were caught on our way out by a steward. The poor man was panting, his uniform disheveled. "Compliments of Captain Haddock sir, he wishes you and Mrs. Murdoch to join him for breakfast in his quarters."

The steward was obviously waiting for Will to ask for directions, but all he did was nod and take my arm. "We can see ourselves there, thank you."

"You're sure Captain Haddock isn't confused?" I teased Will as we gained the boat deck. "I thought he wanted to see us for dinner."

Will smiled a bit, "To be quite honest, I'd be glad to eat all of our meals with him."

"As would I." I chuckled, and stepped inside as Will opened the door to the officer's quarters. They had passed by in a blur when I had been in them before, but now I had a moment to take in the oak paneling and tiled floor before Will ushered me into what was clearly the captain's sitting room. It had been set for breakfast, with a spread covering every available surface, including the captain's desk.

Captain Haddock greeted us both with a smile, "What can I get for you two to drink?"

"Hot chocolate." I nodded, sitting and examining all the food that had been laid out. "Would you mind?"

"Not at all."

Will chuckled as I set to filling a plate with griddle cakes and a liberal helping of syrup, "You'll have to forgive my wife, Herbert, she's always famished when faced with a breakfast table."

"It's quite alright, better than those ladies that only eat a bit of watercress." Herbert smiled, relaying a request for hot chocolate and coffee to his steward. "Now, how exactly did you wind up marrying her?"

I flushed a bit, knowing that I had a bit of syrup on the corner of my mouth. "Oh, we met-" The end of that sentence died in my throat, and I brought my napkin up to dab at the syrup while ducking my head.

"We met onboard Titanic, and I hope you'll forgive Ana this moment." Will took my hand, squeezing it. "She lost her father in the sinking and the resemblance onboard is rather upsetting."

Herbert reached over, taking my hand from Will. "You have my deepest sympathies, Mrs. Murdoch."

"Thank you, sir." I nodded, "I'll recover in a moment, I'm sorry."

"Not a problem," Herbert smiled, clearly trying to recover the good spirits from a moment ago. "At least you came out of it with a husband, and a fine one at that."

I glanced to Will, currently about as red as the tomato he was slicing into. "He is, isn't he?"

"One of the finest officers I've ever had, and a good man beyond that." The captain seemed to enjoy teasing Will as much as I did, "And now a wealthy one!" A few more jokes were made at Will's expense, although he eventually quieted. Picking up a forkful of eggs, he sighed. "I wish I could say that I invited you two here under happier circumstances."

"Captain," Will looked up, "Is something wrong?"

Herbert set his fork down, dabbed at his mouth with a napkin and leaned back in his chair. "Unfortunately one of our stewards let it slip that we'll be passing close to the site of the sinking today. I was hoping that we could avoid any talk of it, but people seem to fasten onto events like that. Now, I know your names were printed on the passenger registers given to all the first class guests and I thought to myself last night that someone might remember your name and try to bother you about it." He looked to Will, "I don't want that happening, and so I have a request to make of the two of you."

Will glanced to me, then nodded. "That's very kind of you to think of us sir, what are you asking of us?"

"I would like for the both of you to stay away from the other passengers until tomorrow, when they won't be thinking of it anymore." Herbert cracked a smile though, and reached into his pocket. "Now, I'm not ordering you two to stay in your cabin. It just so happens that the Turkish baths have had to close today for a bit of repair work." He placed a brass key on the table, sliding it towards us with a wink. "The steward will be waiting to explain how to use the facility, and the purser has already informed the other passengers that it will be available for their use tomorrow."

I considered the key, "You're offering it for our private use?"

"It would keep you away from the other passengers, and it would be free."

Will quickly swiped the key off the table, "That's very kind of you, Herbert. I think we can manage to entertain ourselves down there." Judging by the smirk that Captain Haddock was wearing, he had planned on us taking him up on the offer and had an idea of what we would be doing. Although I wasn't sure if Will would want to be intimate, but then again, grief did strange things to people.

I did stop Will after we left Captain Haddock's quarters, "Would you mind if I took Rigel on a walk before we go down?"

"I think I'll join you," He took my hand, "I don't fancy going into all those hot rooms stuffed full of food. Have you been to a Turkish bath before?"

"No, but I am curious about what it will be like." I looked to him, "Have you?"

Will chuckled at that, "I've hardly indulged in all the luxuries that are offered to passengers, until now." He knocked on the door to the kennels, spoke briefly to the steward, and was rewarded by Rigel almost knocking him over as he barreled to me.

Rigel was whining as he pressed closer to me. I knelt down and wrapped my arms around him, "Oh, boy, I missed you too." He licked me, and I cuddled him to me. "Is it really so terrible in there?"

Will, standing over the both of us, snorted. "Hardly, the steward combined two kennels to give him even more room and he has a pile of soup bones in there. The steward even said he'll have hm bathed and ready for us when we dock." He bent over to clip the leash to Rigel's collar. "Now, shall we walk?" We drew more than a few curious glances as we promenaded up and down the deck several times, for Rigel was not the normal dog one saw onboard. He was not some sleek hound, a small spaniel or pug, he was a veritable bear. Fully grown now, Rigel came up past my knee and seemed to be made of equal parts muscle, hair and drool.

I caught him looking over the railing at the ocean below and tugged him away, "No swimming boy, it's time for you to get back." We had almost reached the kennels again, but when I pulled on his leash, he stood firm. "Rigel, come on." He whined even harder, and then sat down. I could hear Will chuckling as I tried to pull him again, "Rigel, you have to go back."

The kennel steward quickly appeared to help me chivvy Rigel along, "Oh come on, big boy, I've got a nice piece of steak in there for you." Even with a bribe it still took time to get Rigel back into the kennels, and I felt even worse leaving him in there. Those big brown eyes staring at me as I turned away, oh, it was enough to break my heart. I tried to focus on Will though when we got back to the cabin, collecting a couple of dressing gowns to take down.

I fiddled with the sash of mine as I folded it into Will's valise. "He's alright, it's a wonderful kennel and he is being well taken care of."

"And you are going to baby him when you get him back." Will placed a hand on my shoulder, "Now, I think a little distraction is needed for the both of us." I stood a little closer to him as we wound our way through the various decks, winding up deeper in the ship that I had expected. As Captain Haddock had said a steward was waiting outside of the baths, fiddling with a closed sign on the door.

Will pulled the key from his pocket, "I believe we're expected."

"Ah, so you're Haddock's favorites." The steward took the key and unlocked the door before handing it back to Will. "Well, you can make full use of everything here. I always tell people to start with the hot room, then the steam room, then the cold plunge and finally the cooling room. Usually we'd have a girl in here to give massages, but," He cast a glance at the two of us, "I think you two can handle that. Just don't leave me a mess."

"It will be just as you left it." Will stepped through, locking the door behind us. I took in the room, for it looked like we had entered some Sultan's harem and were expected to do nothing but lounge around and luxuriate in it. Beautiful painted tiles lined the walls, the cushioned chairs were in exotic dark woods and the room was noticeably warmer than the vast majority of the ship we had walked through. Will paused and looked around, "I think we're supposed to disrobe in here."

I didn't see a cupboard to place our folded clothes, but didn't complain as I turned my fingers toward my buttons. "Well, no point in wasting time."

"Allow me," Will stepped closer, replacing my fingers with his own. "I've missed this." I smiled up at him, quickly getting his jacket and waistcoat off. Soon our clothes were stacked on one of the chairs, and the dressing gowns were laid out in case we wanted them later. Will, naked and far too enticing, glanced around. "Now, to the hot room?"

"I think that sounds best." I took notice that he lingered and let me lead the way, and when I glanced back he was clearly admiring every bit of me. The hot room turned out to be contained within an even warmer room, with the steam room another small one next to it. I opened the door, taking in the plain wooden benches. "My God, it's stifling in here."

He snorted, "I believe that's the point of a hot room." Will slipped in, taking my hand and pulling me along. "We're supposed to sweat, and it's far better than being outside." He sat on the bench, patting the place next to him. "I think you should just be glad you hadn't had your hair dressed this morning." I snorted, sitting next to him and sighing at the heat. It truly did feel good, the warmth slipping into my very bones as we breathed in the hot, dry air.

I had just begun to sweat slightly when Will's hand slipped over my arm, tugging me to him. I moved over, our legs pressing together. "Better?"

"Much," He curled his arm around me, "It's always better when you're next to me." I always enjoyed being close to him as well, although it was swiftly becoming uncomfortable as we both began to sweat more and more.

Eventually I stood, my skin peeling away from his, unwilling to endure another minute. "I think it's time for steam." He followed me, although I could barely see him through the clouds of steam. The air was almost hard to breathe it was so saturated, and shortly after I had to agree with Will about it being a good thing that I hadn't called a stewardess to dress my hair. It had barely been five minutes before it was wet and lank against my head, hanging down my back and almost heavy with water.

Will coughed, a movement in the steam as he waved his hand. "How do the engineers stand this?"

"I don't think they're usually in steam like this," I moved toward him, running my hands over his slick skin. "Not unless something has gone terribly wrong."

"It's intolerable." His hands returned the favor, dropping down to gently press against my breasts. "It wasn't even this bad when I was sailing around the equator. What did he say we should do next?"

"The cold plunge, but I don't know where that is."

"Not in here, I know that." Will took my hand, pulling me behind him as we fled the steam room. It took a bit of searching, but we eventually came across the cold plunge in one of the shampooing rooms. I had been expecting a small pool, but in reality it was a nozzle over a drain. Will reached over and turned on the tap, then drew his hand back with a curse as the water came out. "Damn! They must be pumping it straight in from outside."

I could feel the cold droplets hitting my skin and shivered slightly. "How is that supposed to be pleasant?"

"I don't know, but I'm so hot I would take anything." He put his hand in the stream of water again, but shook his head and pulled away. "But I am not getting into that." I glanced around the room, seeing a towel and fetching it. Will watched as I let the water soak the towel, and then I used it to gently wipe him down. He sighed as I started at his shoulders. "Now, that is refreshing."

I chuckled as I ran the towel down his chest before rewetting it. "I'll be expecting you to return the favor."

"Of course," Will replied, although he shied away when I ran the towel down his chest, headed farther south. "Oh, you don't need to use the towel on that."

Considering I had stopped barely short of his crotch, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "But you love when I rub that."

"It, ah, it doesn't like the cold."

"What does that mean?"

"You know how you try to make yourself smaller when you're cold, put your arms around yourself? It does the same thing." Will shied away as I brought the towel closer. "Ana, I'm serious."

I rolled my eyes, "Just when I thought I understood the male body, you throw this my way."

"Do women not have anything like that?" Will took the towel from me, wrung most of the water out, and quickly scrubbed himself down. "I would have thought you had something similar."

I shook my head, "Will, I spend a week each month bleeding and in pain." I had turned around to fetch a towel for myself when I felt a sudden, brief stripe of pain across my rear. I whirled, seeing Will winding the towel back up in hands again. "For that, I'm not touching you anymore!"

"All you were touching me with was that towel," He tossed said towel aside, grabbing a fresh towel from the cupboard. "I'd much rather you touch me with your hands."

I tried not to jump as he wet the towel and brought it to my skin. "Oh, that really is cold!" Will chuckled as he set to, briskly rubbing the towel across all of me even when I shivered or squealed slightly. "You know, it's alright, I'm fine. You can stop."

Will, currently rubbing the towel over my shoulders, didn't stop. "But you're still so warm."

"It's fine." I stepped away, but he followed. "Will, I'm plenty cool now, I promise."

But he slipped his hands around me, kneading my breasts. "I'm not, not in the slightest. Now, what do you say we deal with those massages?" Considering that I was rubbing myself against him, I agreed quite quickly. But instead of a nice, warm intimate room, the massages were apparently given on the tiled table in the shampoo room. Will pursed his lips at that, "Well, that is hardly enticing."

"Not a bit." I muttered, feeling rather deflated. "What exactly are we going to do?" I tried not to whine, but I couldn't help it. "I was looking forward to that."

Will moved to the cupboard, pulling out a bottle of oil. "We take this and tend to things in our cabin." I couldn't help but giggle as he slipped it into the valise, sitting down in his robe on one of the chairs. "Now, though, I feel as if a nap is in order."

I yawned, settling down in the chair next to him. "Surprisingly all that sweating has made me tired."

"Although these chairs are not the most comfortable."

"I doubt the floor will be much better."

"No, but there is a rather soft bed in our cabin." Will clearly had an idea in mind, and I didn't need telling twice. We struggled back into our clothes, locked the door behind us, and did our best to stick to deserted hallways until we reached our sitting room. I couldn't help but laugh as he almost threw the valise aside, shrugging out of his clothes as quickly as he had donned them. I joined him in that, not even bothering to fold my pile of clothes and instead following him to the bedroom. Will held up the bottle of oil, smiling. "Lay down, Ana."

I sighed as I settled onto the bed, face down and resting my head on a pillow. "Try not to get it on the sheets, we don't need the stewards talking."

"They've seen worse." He grumbled, and the smell of Bulgarian roses pervaded the air as he poured some oil into his hands and rubbed them together. I jumped a little when his hands met my skin, sliding quickly over my back and gently pressing against my muscles. It didn't help when he softly drug his fingers along my sides, making me laugh. "Ana, this is supposed to help relax you."

I giggled as he dug his fingers in, "Then stop tickling me!" He made me squirm one more time, but returned to my back. It truly did feel nice to have him rubbing on me, and I felt the bed shift as he sat on the bed. He pressed harder, fingers digging into my shoulders. I sighed, "Ah, just like that."

"You're full of knots." Will grunted, rubbing even harder. "You need to calm down."

"I was worried about you." I tried to crane my head around to see him. "I still am."

His lips were pursed. "I'm fine Ana, we'll get there and we'll deal with it and then we'll be home."

"You know Will," I shifted myself up slightly, turning around to look at him fully. "It's alright if you're not fine. You don't have to be fine."

He sat down firmly on the bed, his head dropping. "Can we just not talk about it? I was enjoying rubbing your back. Can't we just not think about it for awhile?"

"Of course," I slid forward, kissing his cheek and wrapping my arms around him. "Although, you could reach my back from here. And I could reach yours."

"Now, that sounds pleasant." He took the opportunity to pull me a bit closer to him, and I scrambled for the bottle of oil he had left on the bed. Shortly I had my own hands covered in that rose scented oil, rubbing them up and down his back. I curled around him even more when his hands slipped down below my waist, giving a slight squeeze to my rear before slipping between my legs. His fingers, already slick with the oil, set to exploring and stroking me.

Not one to let him linger on his own, I let one of my hands wander between us and set myself to bringing him to attention. I drew back a bit to watch him, still doing my best to rub his back at the same time. "Pleasant?"

"Very much so." He sighed, leaning forward and capturing my lips in a kiss. The smell of roses was heady as he slipped his tongue into my mouth, sucking and teasing me even as his fingers began to stretch me. I was impatient though, and surged forward to try and position myself for him to enter me. Will drew away with a chuckle, "Let's take our time, love. We have all day."

"Yes, so that means we can indulge ourselves multiple times." I remarked, although I settled back down into his lap and settled for rocking my hips against his. He groaned as I started in on it, clutching me more than rubbing my back. The bed shortly became extremely messy as we rolled around in it, the scent of roses almost overwhelming as more oil was brought out. Eventually we were all oily, the sheets were stained, and Will finally bent me over and sheathed himself within me. The feeling of being filled was something that I would never tire of, nor the way his hands grasped my hips and pulled me flush to him. The oil proved a great benefit, for we were both so slick that he could begin to thrust hard and fast without any discomfort on my part. Quite the opposite actually, I was moaning loud enough that I would not be surprised to find that people could hear us out in the passageway. It felt even better when Will's hand slipped to my front, teasing me and making me thrust myself back against him.

He grunted as I did so, "Ana, good God."

"Don't stop." I begged, throwing myself back against him. "God, don't stop." He kept going, one hand even slipping up to my hair and gently pulling my head back. He seemed to like me looking over my shoulder at him, my lips parted as I panted. I felt my stomach begin to flutter, and I did my best to urge Will on to even faster movement. He thrust even harder, making me almost lose the strength in my arms. "Fuck, Will."

The hand in my hair went to my shoulder, driving me harder back against him. "Ah, Ana. I'm so close."

"So am I," I started as a wave of pleasure surged through me, a herald of what was to come. "Oh, Will." I cried as the pleasure crested, losing any ability to make words as it simply drove all the breath from my lungs and left me quivering as Will finished and collapsed over me. I was very glad we had a bathroom to ourselves, for we had made quite a mess with the oil and used several towels to clean ourselves as best we could. We fell into a contented sleep, only awoken by a light knocking from the sitting room.

Will, a dressing gown belted hastily around him, answered it. "Yes?" Curled in bed, with the sheets pulled as high as they could go, I couldn't hear the response. I could hear Will sigh though, "Very well, just put it in here. And send Captain Haddock our thanks." I only popped my head up once the door closed, and Will came back to the bed. "Haddock had the steward bring us dinner, he must be quite concerned about someone recognizing us."

I stirred slightly at the mention of food, "What did he bring?"

"Salmon, asparagus and a bottle of wine." Will yanked the sheet down, smiling. "And a bowl of ice cream will be coming up later."

"Oh my, Haddock really does want to spoil us." I sat up, stretching and giving a sigh. "Well, I suppose if we're being forced to stay in it's not too bad. Could you pass me my robe?"

He tossed it to me, "So long as you're not planning to wear anything else."

"Aren't you tired yet?" I shrugged it on, tying the sash. "We did all that sweating."

"And then we did a great deal more," He pulled out a chair for me, sitting down across from me. "And we did sleep. I'm afraid I'm all rested, and ravenous."

"Well, the salmon does smell good." I breathed it in, already cutting into my portion.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

I chuckled, sipping at my glass of wine. "Well, you'd best eat up if you're planning on devouring me later."