As is your touch, all over my body. Especially upon my cock.
Damnation, what was the matter with him?
Helena gave him a smile that lit him up from the inside. “I was hoping you might change your mind. I missed our usual tête-à-tête this evening.”
So had he.
He cleared his throat to keep that maudlin sentiment from revealing itself. “I do believe Bennet keeps my soap and towels in the cabinet just over there, if you wish to have a look.”
In his haste to slide into the soothing waters of the bath, he had neglected to take note that the soaps laid out were not his. If he had to spend the night smelling of Helena’s soap, he would never get any bloody rest.
“Of course,” she said, turning away to retrieve his soap and a cloth.
She was back in no time, proceeding to roll up her sleeves so she would not get them wet. The intimacy of the moment—the sweet domesticity of it—was not lost upon him.
He needed to distract himself. To keep his mind from wandering to unwanted places.
“How was your Lady’s Suffrage Society meeting today?” he inquired.
There—an excellent subject for suitable distraction.
She dipped the cloth into the water and used it to wet the cake of soap. “It went well, and we are continuing to collect signatures for our petition for the second reading of the Franchise Bill. We are beginning a suffrage journal, written by us, to be distributed to like-minded ladies throughout London. Lady Jo’s husband, Mr. Decker, has volunteered to distribute it for free. Lean forward, if you please, and I shall begin with your back.”
Gabe obeyed her soft order. “That is remarkably generous of Mr. Decker.” The extension of the Parliamentary franchise to women had been argued since 1867. It was a bitterly contested subject, and one which had been met with innumerable obstacles over the years, not the least of which was a Prime Minister who was not in favor. “I support the amendment to the Franchise Bill that would give women the right to vote, as you know. However, I greatly fear Gladstone will once more squelch it.”
“I suspect you are right, much as it grieves me. Many liberal members have pledged they are in favor of women’s suffrage. However, it is unlikely they will not bow under pressure. This all just makes the work of the Lady’s Suffrage Society that much more important and imperative.” The cloth passed over his shoulders in gentle, swooping strokes. “Do lean back now, if you please.”
He did as she asked, and she began to spread the frothed cloth over his collarbone, affording him the opportunity to study her. “I admire you for your dedication to your cause, Helena.”
She paused, her gaze flying to his. “Thank you, my lord.”
Regardless of the muddle in which their marriage had begun, Helena was worthy of praise. She was intelligent, steadfast, and determined. Unfortunately, those traits had also led to her making some reckless decisions, which had in turn forced them to the situation in which they currently found themselves.
A situation which did not seem terribly unwanted at the moment, as situations went.
She passed the cloth over his chest.
He forced his mind to less-tempting matters. “Your work with the Lady’s Suffrage Society is estimable. The cause is a worthy one, and I approve of your determination. Forgive me for not saying so before now. I am an abysmal husband, I fear.”
She cast him a tentative smile. “You are not so abysmal. At least you did not abandon me whilst you ran away to Shropshire.”
He grimaced at the reminder, though her voice held a light, teasing note. “That is not saying a great deal in my favor.”
His former plan seemed as if it had been hatched a lifetime between then and now. So much had happened since. But with that thought came the steely reminder that he dared not allow himself to lower his guard with Helena. She had already crept past most of his defenses. The lesson of his parents’ ill-fated match remained, however, a pointed rebuke.
But his wife chased any traces of rebukes and reminders from his mind when she leaned closer, so near an unbound curl fell into his bath. He plucked it up, holding the sodden hair as it dripped. A mistake, for it felt like warm spun silk, and he no more wanted to release it than he did to spend the night with only his hand for accompaniment.
This was getting increasingly more perilous, his obsession with Helena.
She stilled, those verdant orbs pinning him in their thrall once more. “Gabe?”
He swallowed down a knot of rising desire. “Yes, my dear?”
This he said as mildly as possible. As if he were discussing, say, a scuffed boot. Or mayhap the improvements to Adringham Hall. He impressed himself with his ability to sound so decidedly unruffled when inwardly, he was a conflagration. Every part of him wanted to kiss her. To pull her into the tub with him, have her ride him as water sloshed all over the tiles.
“I do not wish for you to think you are anything but an excellent husband to me.” A sad smile flirted with her luscious lips. “I know our marriage was sudden, and that I am not the woman you originally chose as your countess. However, it is my hope that in time, we can find our way past these initial barriers.”
She was not wrong in her words. Helena was a woman he was never meant to have wanted, let alone married. However, as he looked upon her now, he could not fathom any other woman being in this chamber with him.
