bath arrived, Armand complained it was a good deal too small, though it looked to be of usual proportions to Una. To her surprise, he dismissed Rose and bade her take the hiding Abelard with her, for the dog must be wanting his supper. Una was relieved to see Abelard lick Rose’s nose in a display of spontaneous affection that made the girl laugh delightfully, and she carried him off in her arms, singing under her breath.
Then Armand locked the door and set about undressing and bathing her as though it were some task for him to savor. He dragged the sponge over her neck and shoulders, then peppered kisses in its wake. He lathered the soap flakes in his hands and rubbed them over her body with his fingers and palms. It was more like an act of worship than a cleaning exercise and Una was both heated and bewildered by the time she emerged from the water and was wrapped in a drying cloth.
As he quickly stripped and climbed into the tub after her, she crouched before the fire and dried her hair. “Should I help bathe you?” she thought to ask belatedly, as she heard him splashing the water about.
“Next time,” he answered briefly. “We’ll commission a larger tub.”
Una glanced curiously over her shoulder. “I suppose you do make that one look a little small,” she admitted. “But only because you are rather large for a man.”
He grinned back at her. “I want one we can share.”
“Share?” she repeated blankly. “At the same time?”
He nodded.
“Oh.” Una turned back to face the fire. At least the flames gave her an excuse for her overheated cheeks. It suddenly struck her that he might have been covering her in kisses to show her how much she had pleased him. After all, that was what he had demanded from her the last time he had brought her pleasure. She bit the tip of her finger and ventured another quick glance at him as he rubbed a cloth over the expanse of his chest.
Remembering how she had shrieked his name a short while ago, she could only suppose he must be expecting his own reward on the morrow! When he joined her in front of the fire a few minutes later, kneeling on the rug beside her, instead of rising to go and don her shift, Una turned to him and started drying his hair with the cloth.
Armand angled his head toward her and sat passively while she moved down to rub his shoulder and neck. By degrees, he maneuvered her into his lap, until her back was pressed to his front and they sat wrapped in the same sheet, their naked skin pressed together, in companionable silence before the fire.
A knock at the door was Peter and Janet come to carry the tub away. Armand kept his arms firmly around her, so Una remained where she was, facing the fire.
Rose brought in another flagon of wine and a bucket of logs for their fire, which she placed carefully down by the hearth, whilst scrupulously avoiding looking at their seated figures. She picked up the other wet drying cloths from the floor and hesitated at the door for just a moment. “Will I keep Abelard with me for the night, my lady?” she asked.
“Is he content to remain with you?” Una asked.
“Oh yes, I let him have all the supper scraps.”
“Then by all means,” Una responded warmly. After the door closed, she murmured, “I expect she’ll let him sleep on the bed. No doubt he’ll like that.”
Armand did not respond, merely dropped a kiss to her shoulder. She shivered and he asked quietly, “Are you cold?” Una shook her head. She felt warm and safe in his arms like this. She wished she had the nerve to say so, but it was hard for her to judge if such words would even be welcome. Armand’s actions and his past words did not seem entirely in accord, just recently.
“You remember those words you said to me on that first morning,” his voice rumbled behind her.
“Which ones?” she asked cautiously.
“About being amenable to me in all things.”
How strange that he was thinking along the same lines as she had done earlier! “Yes,” she admitted, still looking at the licking flames.
“I don’t want that anymore.” Una’s breathing came a little quicker. “In truth,” he carried on after a moment, “I feel like we already replaced that agreement, with our pact to be perfect traveling companions.”
“I