My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 174: Bath (R18)

Chapter 174: Bath (R18)

The washcloth once forgotten was lifted out of the water and Desmond retrieved a pale green bar of soap from the metal dish alongside the edge of the tub.

Dutifully, he ran the soap over what he could reach of Leonor’s body.

The water started at her stomach and he only went up from there.

She wondered if he would dare wash all of her considering how shy he was when they first reconnected. She had noticed his confidence growing regarding their life behind closed doors. It terrified her as much as it excited her.

To her surprise, he pushed the bar of soap and then the cloth along her breasts, thoroughly making sure they were clean. She noticed he had a fixation. His eye followed the path his hands traveled.

As he washed his seed from her chest, his heart pounded at the thought of how careless he was being. He was telling her not to have his heir yet they were inching closer and closer to actions that implied the opposite.

Desmond knew he would have to seek a mage. There were potions for men and women that could prevent conception. He would have to go through strict means of obtaining it considering the dukedom needed to believe he was trying for an heir with Leonor.

Realizing he was lingering, he pulled himself away and kept going until her arms, armpits, and shoulders were thoroughly washed.

"Teach me how to wash your hair," he requested.

"It’s unruly," she admitted. "It takes the maids quite a long time to rinse the soap out of it."

"I haven’t had a head of hair to wash in ages," he persisted.

Leonor’s expression was skeptical but she reached for the soap that cleansed her hair and didn’t dry it out. It was faintly sweet scented and creamy. She didn’t wash her hair every day but when she did, she felt fresh for a long time after.

Once there was enough soap on Desmond’s hands, Leonor placed them on her head, starting at the front.

"The maids scrub from my forehead to my neck and rinse it off in the same pattern," she instructed.

Once Desmond’s hands were on Leonor’s hair and he began scrubbing, she was shocked at how much of her head his hands reached. They were large and deft. Her head felt unbelievably small at that moment.

She once gazed at Desmond while his eye remained on her hair but soon her eyes fluttered closed and she enjoyed the feeling of his hands on her.

The maids weren’t ever rough but Desmond was still somehow more gentle. She leaned into him as he scrubbed her hair and made sure it was covered with soap to the ends.

It was a form of bliss she didn’t know existed. A touch out of love rather than necessity was so much sweeter than she could have imagined.

He was purposefully going slow. When she was relaxed enough to shut her eyes, his gaze strayed to her.

It was a sight he never thought he would be able to see.

At once he coveted it, but then it became an impossibility. Despite all odds, she sat there on top of him, bearing her naked body for him and only him. He had the urge to cover her immediately in fear that another would be able to know the secrets he knew about her.

If anyone else laid eyes upon her body, he knew they wouldn’t be able to let go of her either.

Seeing her so vulnerable, he was unaware of how much it would change him and how completely lovesick he would be. He wanted her soft skin in his hands every second.

His eye drifted to her slightly parted lips.

Leonor felt him start to sit up. Her hands were on his stomach as she leaned into him.

To her surprise, his lips met hers and she grinned when he stopped kissing her.

"What’s gotten into you?" she asked, peeking open one eye and risking soap falling into it.

His eye drifted down and a faint smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.

Her arms pressed her breasts together as she leaned forward. He wished he could have a painting of how she looked at that moment.

"I can think of a few things," he muttered, though he changed the topic quickly or he was going to get carried away. "I’m going to rinse the soap off. Lean your head back."

She did as instructed and he was finally able to wash the soap off of every inch of her body. Her black hair was thoroughly taken care of and there wasn’t even a bubble left on Leonor.

Knowing how much it took to rinse off her hair, the maids had left another warm pitcher of water to adjust the temperature and do her hair.

However, as Desmond picked it up, Leonor stopped his hand.

"Do you think you’re going to get out of me washing you as well?" Leonor asked. "I’m going to return the favor."

She slid higher on his body.

"You’ll have to smell like me," Leonor realized. "Perhaps in the future, I’ll ask them to provide your soap here as well."

"And have them know all of our secrets?" he asked.

Leonor’s eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"They already know everything there is to know about us," she admitted. "When you started sleeping in my room, the maids started laying out thinner and more revealing nightgowns."

Desmond’s heartbeat shamefully quickened and he tried not to react. He was holding back a smile and Leonor shook her head.

Seeing that he had nothing else to say, Leonor began washing him.

Since he was taller than her, she had to kneel in the tub and his hands shamelessly slid from her legs to her backside the moment it was out of the water. She noticed him pull gently which made it so her breasts were practically against his chin as she washed his head.

She was able to sit back down as she moved lower. He was forced to relax and allow her hands and washcloth to go over him unbelievably gently. For some reason, it made a lump form in his throat.

There was a world somewhere in his memories where someone handled him so softly and carefully. It was likely before he was in Castille. In twenty years, he hadn’t received such a gentle touch and realized she was healing him from the inside out.

By the time she was finished and the last bit of clean water was used, there was something hard between the two of them. Her touch affected him in multiple ways, it seemed.

Desmond quickly escaped when he knew Leonor realized how his body was reacting to her.

"Ignore it," he urged. "Let’s dry off together."

There were plenty of fluffy towels for them to use as they helped one another get ready for the evening. They were meant to eat dinner but nothing had been set out yet upon their request.

With Leonor in a nightgown and Desmond opting to simply climb into bed and underneath the blankets, they decided to laze around for a bit and request clothing for Desmond and dinner later.

However, as they lay together, Leonor noticed something and she scooted closer to the duke.

He thought nothing of her cuddling up to him until her hand found his stomach and slid lower.

"I don’t think I can ignore it," she finally admitted.

They ate dinner much later than expected.