“And,” Brant grinned, “many of us do not have so many relatives we can fill a large ballroom by just inviting direct family and first cousins.” As the boys laughed, Brant wiped his mouth with a napkin and then stood up. “I neglected to find out exactly when Olympia intends to leave for the Postons’.”
He escaped the breakfast room before either young man could question his excuse. They were not stupid, however. Brant was fairly sure that everyone in the Warren was aware that he and Olympia had become lovers. He had missed her in his arms this last week. His body ached for her. Their affair was still new but he was certain he had never hungered for a woman as he did for Olympia. Since she would be preparing for an afternoon at a tea, he knew she would not be giving him what he ached for now but that did not slow his step at all. He just wanted to hold her, kiss her, and if she was healed enough to go to some society event, she was healed enough for that as well.
Brant nearly choked on his tongue when he stepped into her bedchamber. Olympia was standing there in nothing but a large drying cloth and carefully adding some scented oil to a large bath, the scent quickly wafting through the room along with the wisps of steam rising from the water. Her rich, black hair was pinned up in an untidy manner, long, wavy tendrils dangling down to brush over her shoulders. It might be impossible to stop at just one kiss. When she suddenly turned to look at him in surprise, his need for her became painful for the swell of her full breasts rose above the wrap and there was still the glow of color from the steam.
“I but wondered when you wished to leave,” he said as he walked closer and lightly ran his knuckles over her cheek. “And you are correct, you look healed enough to do as you please.”
The hunger she could read in his eyes made her bold. “I fear what I would be pleased to do would mean all this lovely bathwater would cool before I got to it.”
Even though her words struck him like a blow to the stomach, he grinned. “Such a bold lass. If I did not fear we would have some unwanted company in the midst of it, I would show you how much fun it can be to share a bath.” He brushed a kiss over her lips. “And you might wish to grab that little cat before it falls in.”
Olympia blinked and it took a moment before she caught the meaning of what he had said. She gasped and grabbed her cat, which was balanced precariously on the edge of the tub. As seemed its habit, it immediately curled up against her throat and began purring thunderously.
“I do not believe I have ever seen a cat be so affectionate but then I have mostly only known barn cats which are nearly feral.”
“Oh, cats can be affectionate. It is just that many of them decide when they wish to be and care little for your schedule. But,” she said, rubbing her chin against the cat’s head, “if you get them as small as this one is, they can turn into very affectionate animals as you become, well, their mother in a way.” She glanced at the big tabby cat sleeping on a blanket in the corner. “This little one may nurse off the garden cat but it still comes to me more than to the tabby.”
“Mayhap it has enough sense to understand that you saved its life.” He reached out to scratch the cat’s head and, even though the animal allowed it, it watched him carefully and growled softly. “Hmmm. Jealousy.” He glanced at the tabby, which was watching him closely as well. “Mother may not be this one’s first choice but it still watches out for its charge.”
“Come along, Lure. Settle down with Dinner.” Olympia put the kitten on the blanket with the mother cat and watched as it was subjected to a bath.
“Getting my scent of it,” Brant said as he stepped up behind and kissed her bared shoulder. “Time you wish to leave?”
“Three. Emily likes me to get there a little early so that we can talk and, I think, she likes someone to look over what she has done and approve before company begins to arrive.”
He nodded and headed for the door, certain that if he did not leave soon he would be pushing her down onto the bed, but he paused, frowned, and looked back at the cats. “Lure? Dinner?”
“Well, the kitten was a lure, was it not? A lure to pull me into that alley. As for the tabby, she lives in the garden now and shows up at the kitchen door just as dinner is being put out to be served, faithfully, every night and right on time. She lost her kittens shortly after they were born. So, Enid felt she would be able to care for this one.”
He laughed. “As good a name as any. I will be here with a carriage at three.”
Olympia sighed when he was gone. He still wanted her. She wished she was not slated to go somewhere and the house was not filled with wide-awake boys who did not always remember to knock before entering a room. She could think of nothing she would like better at the moment than to spend the rest of the day rolling around in bed with Brant.
“You have become a wanton,” she muttered, shed the cloth wrapped around her, and climbed into her bath. Duty called. Playtime would have to wait until later.