CHAPTER 17
A CHRISTMAS EVE OF RECONCILIATION
Earlier, on the main stairs
Once he and Ivy were up a flight of stairs and out of earshot of the servants, Robert took Ivy’s hand in his. “You will come with me to my bedchamber?” he asked.
The query made it sound as if he feared she would deny him, but Ivy had no intention of turning him down. With her skirts gathered into her free hand, she was practically racing him up the stairs. “Of course, I will. Will you undo my buttons?” she countered, before she burst through the master bedchamber door.
“I’ve a mind to simply tear your gown off of you,” Robert countered, following her into the room as if he were being chased. Before she could put voice to a protest, he added, “But I won’t since I rather like seeing you in it.”
Ivy reached for his top coat and quickly undid the buttons. “That’s a relief. I shouldn’t want my new lady’s maid to have to do a repair so soon.” She pushed the coat from his shoulders and went to work on his waistcoat buttons.
“Even if I tore it off you, there are no doubt layers of underthings I still have to remove,” he complained,attempting to undo the buttons at her back while she was facing him.
“What underthings?”
His eyes widened as his fingers stilled. “The sorts you wear under your gowns?” he ventured.
A slight look of disappointment appeared at the corner of her lips. “Oh, for a moment, I was thinking of what I wore last night,” she whispered. “Or rather, didn’t. I suppose there are some stays and petticoats that must come off from under this one,” she added on a sigh.
Robert blinked before his gaze fell to her bosom. The telltale signs of hardened nipples were evident in the muslin. “Do you mean to tell me you were naked under your gown throughout our entire dinner last night?” he asked in amazement, his breathing still coming in pants from their quick trip up the stairs. He let go of a fastening at her back when she forced the waistcoat from his torso.
“Of course. Petticoats ruin the line of a satin gown, and my regular stays tend to show at the edges of the neckline,” she explained, reaching down to undo the closures on his breeches. “So I had to wear the smaller stays.”
He placed a hand over hers. “Had I known that,youwould have been last night’s dessert,” he stated.
“Robert,” she murmured, pulling her hands from beneath his to resume her work.
“I need to remove my shoes first, my sweet,” he said in a whisper. He backed up to the bed and shed the footwear before seeing to his stockings.
Meanwhile, Ivy rushed to the bed to turn down the counterpane and linens, her actions creating a wind and sending the flames in the fireplace into a frenzy. Embers danced about on the hearth.
“Careful, or you’ll start another fire,” he teased, pushing the breeches from his legs.
She stepped in front of him and went to work on untying his cravat. “I suppose I should remind you it’s been years since you’ve seen me... unclothed,” she whispered. “The last few times we did this, it was dark. I expect you’ll be a bit disappointed.”
“I rather doubt that,” he said, helping her to unwind the length of silk from around his neck. As she lifted up the hem of his shirt, he was attempting to push the sleeves of her gown down her arms. When neither could continue what they were trying to do, they stopped and chuckled softly.
“You first,” he said, giving up his hold on her gown to raise his arms over his head.
Ivy had the shirt removed from his torso a moment later, and when her gown was free of her arms, it slid down her body into a puddle of fabric on the carpet below. The petticoats, stays, and chemise soon followed.
When she caught him staring at her mostly naked body—she still wore a pair of stockings—she lifted her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to hide her breasts from his view.
He was too quick.
“Oh, no you don’t,” he said, gathering her into his arms so she was pressed hard against the front of his body.
“Oh,” she managed, before his lips took hers in a scorching kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she stood on tiptoes and was rewarded when one of his hands skimmed down the side of her body and over one of the globes of her bottom.
“Your hand is so warm,” she whispered once he had ended the kiss to take a much-needed breath.
“That’s not the only thing that’s warm,” he murmured.
Ivy was well aware of his manhood, its hardened length pressed into her soft belly. “I do believe you’re the one who is in danger of starting another fire,” she accused.
He chuckled softly before lifting her into his arms. “God,but I’ve missed you,” he said, before dumping her onto the bed.
