Tickling in the Tub

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 4th September 2019
Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife

Characters: Enamra, Thayde
Description: Thayde helps Enamra with her bath.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 13, day 1 of Turn 9

Enamra

Thayde

It had been a difficult sevenday, Enamra thought as she disrobed and stepped a foot into the steaming water of the bathing tub. She winced, waited, then slowly eased herself into the water. As the warmth seeped into her flesh, she sighed and slowly leaned back, relaxing as she placed drops of scented oil into the washer. It perfumed the air and even as it scented her skin. She closed her eyes, deciding to allow herself time to soak.

She scarcely saw Thayde. Though she continued to cook meals for him, more often they were left covered on the table for the mornings when he arrived home from the observatory. She had enough time to eat with him before she left for Harper classes and he left for his regular infirmary duty, and when she got home, he was sleeping. He'd wake, eat the breakfast she'd made, and gave to leave again. The was little time for talk, much less discuss their own relationship or make an effort to continue to heal the hurts.

Sleeping alone, she'd discovered, was even harder. Though she had ceased sleeping directly beside him, she missed the knowledge n that he was nearby, or his weight on the bed. Seeing the empty pillow at night weighed heavily on her. She hasn't realized how accustomed she'd gotten to having him there and now not having him in need was making it difficult for her to get to sleep. Even hugging his pillow to her as she attempted to sleep didn't help. The past two nights had found her on the couch in front of the fire.

Today, however, she had no classes and there was time to relax before she cooked the evening meal. Perhaps, if she had this lovely bath and pampered herself just a little, she could rest easy in their bed. She took a long breath, inhaled the soft scents of the water and dabbled her fingers in the warmth.

It had been several Turns since Thayde had worked night duties, especially as any form of punishment, and he had forgotten how exhausted they left him. Or perhaps when he'd been a teenager he'd just had more energy. His current schedule consisted of working the infirmary during the late afternoons and through the evening, and then supervising the apprentices in the observation tower through the wee hours of the night. Then he usually crept home, slid into bed, and slept during the morning hours until noon.

He had left out of the infirmary a candlemark earlier than usual, hoping to be able to spend some time with Enamra before going to his night duties. While he felt as though they had crossed a hurdle in their last conversation, there had been no time between them to continue working on their relationship and see if they could move it forward. When he pushed the door to their quarters open, he expected her to be in the kitchen, so finding her in the bathtub in front of the fireplace was a welcome surprise.

Closing the door quietly, he approached her from behind. "Need help with your back?" he offered with a sly smile.

The warmth had let her drift into a light doze so the unexpected voice caused her squawk in surprise and jerk upwards. Flailing arms splashed as she instinctively moved to cover herself, then she half turned, seeing Thayde. "Thayde! You're home!"

A sevenday ago Thayde would have left to give Enamra her privacy, but he was done with being shy around his wife. "I am. I thought I might come back and spend a little time with you before I had to go to night duty." His brown eyes gleamed in the firelight. "If you lean forward I'll get your back."

"I'm naked." She had already scrambled to try to cover her chest with her arms and bent a leg to hide her nudity but the light in his eyes gave her pause. There was heat in those dark irises, and she was becoming familiar with what it meant. She flushed at her objection. Thayde was her husband and though he'd never assisted with her bathing before, she also knew that there was no shame for him to see her without clothing. Besides, he'd seen her in the bath before, he'd just always averted his eyes or left the room. He definitely wasn't doing so now.

And she was glad to see him, even though he looked tired. Her smile trembled around her mouth. She couldn't refuse him, the fluttering in her chest a rapid patter against her ribs "Okay, sure. "

Kneeling behind the washtub, Thayde rolled the sleeves of his shirt up and picked up the cake of soap. "How has your day been?" he asked, sweeping the wet curtain of her hair over her shoulder so he could have full access to her back. Lathering the soap between his hands, he started at her shoulders and worked lower, admiring her smooth, slippery skin as he did.

His hands stroking over her back were both familiar, yet not. She knew those hands, they'd rubbed her back before, but never on bare skin. "Busy." Hey voice was soft, concentrating more on the feeling of his fingers than what she was saying. "I helped Jylanya make some cakes for dinner this morning and got a new bathing suit. The other one was getting too tight. The weaver said this one would stretch a bit better than the old one."

The fact that the other suit had gotten too tight was a good thing, in Thayde's opinion. Enamra had a small frame as it was, and the need for a new suit meant that she was putting on the healthy weight that her body needed. "I can't wait to see it then," he said, his fingers washing along the sides of her back, his long fingers just barely grazing the silky sides of her breasts.

Skin prickled at his touch, but she was relaxed enough not to stiffen. His hands felt good and gradually, she relaxed the arms covering her. "It's pretty and green. He tried to get me in something that looked like triangles on strings, but I don't like showing that much skin, so I picked another one. It's a two piece, but it doesn't show that much and I'll wear my shirt over it. He said they didn't have any one pieces until a few sevendays and I didn't want to wait. " She was silent then added softly. "And I ordered some more of the underthings you liked. But it won't be for a couple of sevendays before they're ready. "

**Mhm, lingerie.** Thayde was more than ready for that shipment to come in. "I'm glad you don't like showing that much skin," he said and then leaned down so that his lips were closer to her ear, "because I like keeping you all to myself." He rubbed his soapy hands over the tops of her shoulders.

_That_ made her shiver. His breath on her ear made her caused her hands to move to clench over her ribs and she visibly twitched beneath his palms. A breathy giggle emerged from her throat. Fingoran had been there and had looked rather interested when he'd heard the order, jotting it down as she spoke to the Master Weaver. _His_ expression had made her a little uncomfortable. She was reminded of one of the kitchen canines looking at a roast bone. The memory of what she'd said in front of him was far too embarrassing. "The lingerie shows skin. A lot of it." She hadn't meant for her voice to come out as husky as it had. "Do you mind that?"

"If anyone else sees you in your lingerie I'll kill them," he said in a playful growl, his fingers left soapy trails over her collarbones now. "I very much look forward to seeing this new lingerie, no matter how much skin it shows," because he knew she wouldn't be wearing it long if he had his way.

"Thayde!" The giggling scold was breathy. "I wouldn't wear it so anyone else could see me!" Her cheeks brightened at the very thought. She leaned back a little towards him, rinsing off her lower back in the process. As his fingers trailed over a particularly sensitive area of her collarbones, she squirmed, her giggling becoming louder. "That tickles." She swatted lightly at his fingers.

"Oh, it does, does it?" Thayde smiled. "What about here?" he tickled his fingers down the slippery ladder of her ribcage.

She squealed as his fingers found her ribs. "Thayde!" Water splashed on to the floor as she twisted to avoid the the dancing fingers, giggles reverting to outright laughter as she failed. "Stop that!" She swatted at his hands, forgetting to cover herself and far more concerned with laughing and the mess they were making on the floor.

Thayde's mouth went impossibly dry as Enamra turned around, giving him his first unhindered view of her body, which shimmered wetly in the firelight. "Ah, so you are ticklish," he said, hoping to distract her from suddenly going shy on him. Water from the tub sloshed out onto his shorts but he barely noticed as he put a hand in the water and flicked his fingers, splashing water directly at her face.

"Yes, I..." she sputtered as her face was splashed. She immediately moved to splash him right back, wiping at her eyes. "Not fair."

The dolphineer ducked his head as the front of his shirt became soaked with the bath water. "I don't play fair," he said, wrapping his arms around her so she could not escape and tickling his fingers down her sides, now that he knew that's where she was ticklish.

"Stop that!" She squealed, giggling and wiggling in his arms. "Thayde!" She poked at his ribs, smacked lightly at his shoulders, and made a general mess as her legs kicked in the water. She tipped her head back, laughing as he found a particularly ticklish spot on her lower ribs. She'd never played like this, even with her siblings, and the fun banished any troubled thoughts or any embarrassment she might have felt. Intent on trying to get revenge, she tried tickling back, fingers going for under his arms.

It was nice to have her touch him, because she rarely did so. "That's not where I'm ticklish," he grinned. "You'll have to keep trying."

"Oooh." The grunt of playful frustration sounded as she narrowed her eyes and attacked his belly, the tip of her tongue poking out of her lips with concentration. She tried where she knew she was ticklish, right around the belly button.

"Wrong again," he said, his voice a bit huskier as his searching fingers worked their way down over her hips.

Continuing to squirm and giggle, her face set in playful concentration, laughing around her words. "Darn it, where?" She kicked her feet in the water, then her eyes narrowed. With a gleam, she decided to play dirty herself. Feeling daring, she grabbed his face and kissed him. The moment he was distracted enough, she scooped up a handful of water, splashed him, then darted out of the tub. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around herself and stood, looking rather smug. "I win."

Thayde had been stunned by the kiss, and then he spluttered at the water to the face. Pushing to his feet, his clothes thoroughly drenched by this point, the dolphineer's lips curved into a roguish grin. "That's what you think," lunging for his wife, Thayde grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder. One of his hands ran up the back of her bare thigh, tickling as it went while he nudged open the door to their bedroom and tossed her down onto the bed and then covered her body with his own. "This is payback," he said into her ear before pressing his lips to her neck.

She'd been prepared to dart away from him, but hadn't moved quickly enough. Finding herself over his shoulder was too much of a surprise for her to really react with more than a leg kick and that was quickly stopped by the stroke on her thigh. Panting, she gave a startled "oof" as she fell back to their bed and felt his weight over her. "Thay.. " what she'd been about to say was forgotten with a soft gasp. The change had been so sudden that she couldn't find it in herself to object. Instead, Enamra gave a soft moan as his lips found her neck. She hadn't dreamed the skin there would be so sensitive, turning her head to offer the expanse to his lips.

All thoughts of play had quickly fled from Thayde's mind. Now that she was there, beneath him, with only a towel to separate him from her body, he could think of nothing else. "Enamra," he murmured her name against her skin, lips never leaving her neck as one of his hands ran up under the towel to stroke along at the silky soft skin along her inner thigh.

Faranth, the husky murmur so near her ear made her skin tingle. Her head tilted back, one hand lifting to lay on his nape, encouraging his lips to continue. Panting softly, she stilled at the touch of his hand. Her instinct was to clamp her legs shut, to trap that wandering hand before it could go higher. Licking her lower lip, and remembering previous pleasure, she found she wanted more of it. She wanted him, even if it hurt. Instead of closing her thighs against him, they slowly parted in unspoken acquiescence.

Thayde had not expected the invitation and had really only hoped that his hand wouldn't be completely shoved away. Drawing the smooth skin at the curve of her neck into his mouth, he suckled on it, knowing it would leave a mark she would have to hide later, but liking the thought of marking her in that way. His hand traveled up her thigh and had nearly reached the apex there when he froze.

His head snapped up and he looked at the time piece on the wall. "Damn," he looked back down at Enamra, "I'm sorry!" He leaped off of her and began shedding clothes and grabbing dry ones. "I'm going to be late for duty!"

She'd been so ready for that touch, ready to give in to him. So when he jerked away, it was shocking and brought back memories of him jerking away from her before. "What?" She whimpered and looked confused and hurt as he pulled away, then she half-sat looking at him with utter incomprehension. "But...but I'm ready. What did I do wrong?" She clutched at the towel around her and quickly recovered herself with the towel, pulling her legs up and under her. "Thayde?"

Thayde, now in dry shorts and shrugging into a dry shirt, was back at her side in a flash. "You didn't do anything wrong, Enamra." He was inwardly groaning. He had been working so hard to get her comfortable and ready and now when she finally was ready, he had to go! "I would give anything to stay here and make love to you."

Hair mussed about her face, skin still flushed from arousal, and lips slightly swollen, she stared at him with large eyes. Then her shoulders slumped and she bowed her head, nodding and clutching the towel around her a little closer.

Reaching out, Thayde captured her face between his hands and tilted her face up. "Hey, it's not rejection, okay? I am going to be thinking about you all night on duty and wishing that I was here with you."

Enamra studied his face. "Okay." She nodded again. "When are you done with these night duties? I want you home. "

"I still have another sevenday of them," he groaned and then kissed her. "I love you. You'll probably be asleep when I get in."

"Probably. " She sighed. "I love you too. You'd better go. I have to get dressed. "

"I love it when you're all wet and soapy, by the way," Thayde said with a wink and smile before heading out the door.

Her jaw dropped open and a squeak was heard as he headed out of the door when she realized that she'd been tussling around with him completely naked and he'd seen everything. She hadn't even thought about it once the tickling began! That sneaky...

Last updated on the September 11th 2019

[Prev: Drinking Spouses (2/2)] PG-17 Series: The Hallmaster's New Wife [Next: I Hope You're Right]

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Tickling in the Tub