Haunted Hearts

14

Elphi jumped at his voice and clutched the sheet to her chest. Then, turning her head, she found Rufus standing in his shirt and trousers, staring at her with a quizzical expression on his face.

She blushed to her hairline as she forced her lips into a smile and shook her head. "Neither... I was simply breathing."

"Ah," He murmured with an arch of his brow. "Usually, there's a bit more," he motioned to his chest and exaggerated the action of inhaling and exhaling before continuing, "thus my confusion."

"Yes, I'm quite familiar with what breathing looks like," she mumbled at the same time, fighting against the urge to smile.

"In case I snore, wife. As promised." He murmured with a lopsided grin, tossing two small scraps of white cloth to her. "It's the best I could do under such short notice."

Elphi bit back a chuckle as she picked up the cloth. She studied it, rubbed it between her thumb and finger, then looked at him and arched a brow. "This is quality cloth... might I inquire what you sacrificed to make this offering possible?"

"All shall be revealed in due time," he said with a mischievous wink.

Her eyes narrowed, and she waited. What did he mean by that?

The corners of Rufus's lips twitched as he set his own pair of scraps on the bedside table, then tugged his shirt free of his waistband, revealing a large section torn from the hem.

Elphi fought the urge to smile. "I see we'll be visiting your tailor soon."

"May I ask you a somewhat personal question?" Rufus grinned, then sat on the edge of the bed as he said, "Of course, feel free to say no."

He tugged off his boots and set them carefully aside before bending to remove his socks and toss them across the room to a darkened corner.

Enthralled with watching him undress, Elphi tucked the two scraps of cloth into her braid and perched onto her right elbow, "Yes?"

Rufus stood and bent his head, lifting his hands to his waist before pushing his trousers free of his hips and legs.

Elphi's next breath lodged in her throat when she caught sight of his drawers, but instead of looking away or pulling the covers over her face out of maidenly propriety, she sat up cross-legged to get a better view.

"Is this at all how you envisioned your wedding night?"

An unladylike snort escaped Elphi before she could stop it, and she clapped a hand over her mouth and nose as her face bloomed with embarrassed heat.

He chuckled as he grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted it over his head, exposing his naked back to her gaze.

Her mouth suddenly went dry as a desert.

"Which part?" She choked out.

"I'll take that as a no," Rufus chuckled, folding his shirt and trousers over a brass valet stand before he doused the bedside lamp.

The room was plunged into darkness, leaving the image of him standing in nothing but his drawers forever burned within Elphi's mind, and she couldn't help but wonder whether he'd done it as an act of torture or mercy.

An hour later, Rufus rolled onto his back, cringing with every creaky groan the bed made in protest.

He counted to ten and grinned when Elphi shifted her position in what had become their strange, discordant song and dance.

Much to Rufus's dismay, she hugged the edge of the mattress as though her life depended on staying well out of his reach, and he had no one to blame but himself.