Splish Splash, Oh Faranth, she's...

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 9th May 2019
Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife

Characters: Thayde, Enamra
Description: Bathtime is a very difficult time
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 10, day 27 of Turn 9
Notes: Follows "Stressful Studies" same evening

Thayde

Enamra

The bath was steaming and ready when she returned. Thankful and
figuring that Thayde had retreated to his office, she quickly
disrobed, slipping into the water with a sigh of pleasure. The warmth seeped
into her very bones and she laid back in the wooden tub with a smile.

Thayde had slipped from their quarters to get a few extra things that
he thought Enamra might like; bath salts, fragrant oil for her hair,
and a new back scrubbing brush. These items he carried in his arms as
he opened the door to their quarters. The gentle lapping sound of
water brought him to an abrupt halt. He hadn't expected her back so
soon. "Oh, you're back," he hoped his voice sounded more casual than
he felt. He tried to avoid seeing her smooth skin, which gleamed from
the water because it brought back memories of the dream he'd been
having the night before.

She gave a gasp of surprise and quickly sat up, covering her chest as
she bent over. Her cheeks flamed bright red, as she stared at Thayde
with wide eyes. "Sorry! I...uh...I thought you were in your office!"

"I just stepped out to get you a few things for your bath." Thayde
couldn't help the glimpse of breast he'd caught before she sat up.
There was no unseeing it now. "I'll just set them here so you can
reach them," he said, approaching her with eyes adverted as he set the
tray down beside of the tub.

"Thank you." She gave an embarrassed smile and waited until he walked
away and into their bedroom. Slowly, she lowered her hands, then
examined what he'd brought. With delight, she immediately sprinkled
the bath salts into the water and sighed with pleasure at the delicate
floral scent. Feeling a bit spoiled, and liking it, she dipped her
head into the water, quickly scrubbed it clean with the available
cleansing sand, then applied the sweet smelling oil. With a sigh, she
leaned back in the tub and closed her eyes, a smile on her face.

Thayde paced in their bedroom, hands clasped behind his back, an inner
war waging within him. She was his wife and he had every right to
look. In the same token, she was young, inexperienced, and he
shouldn't gawk at her while she was trying to relax.... Maybe just a
peek? But if he had an excuse to go to the kitchen... "Don't mind me,"
he said, opening the door, shielding his eyes with a hand, "I just
need to grab something from the kitchen."

Her hands immediately moved to cover herself again, but seeing his
eyes covered, she relaxed. Unknowingly, her thoughts mirrored his.
He had every right to look at her, even if he didn't really want her.
Still, she was shy and wasn't used to being bare in front of a man,
even if he was her husband. But if he was covering his eyes, he
wasn't going to look. "It's okay." Her voice was hesitant, and she
sat up, picking up a cloth to begin to bathe. She added a bit more of
the bathing salts to add more scent to the water, then started on her
legs.

**Don't look. Look. Don't look. Look.** The battle raged as he
purposefully made noise in the kitchen area, pulling a cup down,
pouring some klah, looking for the sweetener. With each lap of the
water from the tub, he was tempted to look up until.. he did. Raising
his eyes he watched her slide the cloth along one of her arms and up
her shoulder. His fingers twitched with the memory of what her skin
felt like.

She didn't feel the eyes on her back, instead of remaining focused on the
simple pleasure of bathing in the scented water. After she finished
washing, she gave a soft sigh of contentment but was stilled at the
sudden silence. She looked over her shoulder, found Thayde looking at
her and went still. There was a tension in the air that was
unfamiliar, but she felt it crackling along her skin. She quickly
looked away, dunking herself under the water to rinse.

Thayde felt a jolt stab through him when their eyes met. He felt
guilty at being caught but determined that the best course of action
was just to act as if nothing unusual had happened. Taking his cup he
passed back through the living area to their bedroom and closed the
door again.

As the door closed, Enamra glanced at it. She wasn't sure what to
think. He looked at her, but not when she was fully exposed. She
wasn't sure what to think about that. She looked down at what she knew
wasn't exactly an overabundance of charms. She was small and not
greatly curved. Maybe he just liked girls like Hatilda and Hista, who
were lush, ripe, sultry and everything she wasn't. She sighed and
leaned back against the side of the wooden tub, just soaking. Maybe
she should be relieved, but she wasn't. Instead, it kind of hurt. But
she didn't want _that_, did she? She used a spare towel to cushion her
head against the hard rim, closing her eyes.

The cup of klah that Thayde had fetched himself remained untouched,
instead, it set cooling on his nightstand while he paced the room. He
couldn't imagine sleeping beside her that night, not when he couldn't
get his own body under control. There was no way around it, he was
going to have to go for a cold swim before he'd even be able to act
normally. **Blast it,** he dug out his swim clothes, changed, and
draped a towel over his shoulder.

"I'm just heading out for a swim," he told her as he came out of the
bedroom, tone casual as he glanced in her direction.

She opened her eyes and nodded slowly before closing them again. "I'm
almost done." Why cover herself? He wasn't going to look with interest
anyway. "I'll probably be in bed before you come home.

**That's a relief,** he thought. Perhaps if she was asleep already
when he came in, it would be easier for him to slip into the bed
beside her and fall asleep before his mind had time to think about the
tantalizing glimpses he'd been graced with that evening.

"Well, if you're already asleep before I come in, sweet dreams."
Thayde slipped out the door, shoulders drooping as soon as the portal
was shut and he was alone in the corridor. This married thing was
going to be a bit tricker than he'd thought.

Last updated on the June 15th 2019

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