The servants of the Winscott house watched in awe, enraptured like her children as they watched their mother sing them a story, her melodic voice ringing throughout the Manor stopping those who still had work to do before retiring for the night. It became a Winscott tradition from a time they could not remember, just before their bedtimes their mother would tell them a story through song and music
This night it was a story of a rabbit and a girl, the girl was a child of wealth and power but she did not enjoy the riches and weekly party's like her mother's and sisters, what the girl enjoyed was books and the adventures they told, since the girl was born with poor health she did not get to get out much like the rest of her siblings, but when the girl read she travelled to unimaginable places, places that not even her siblings have been to
The song ended with the girl finally finding what she was looking for and living the rest of her life with her friend, the rabbit of time
A loud squeal was heard and the Lady McGarry smiled at her clapping children, and the rest of the household their enthusiastic yells making her blush and give a little unladylike bow
"Settle down now children, it's time for bed," said Dot picking up a small yawning 3-year-old Kyle and patting the head of the young Hier of the Winscott shipping yard Elmer, as the two other boys were lifted by their nanny's but the young master did not rise and stayed seated on the soft carpeted floor, Dot frowned, a slight saddened look in her eyes and looked over at her friend Mea who smiled sadly at her in understanding, we all knew who he was waiting for.
After putting the little ones to bed she headed back to the lounging room and sat beside her oldest in front of the warm glow of the fireplace
"Does father love us mother?" The young Elmer asked making the Lady McGarry gasp in horror, thankfully the servants had left when they saw and heard the signs of a violent storm approaching, needing to finish their assigned duties and head home to their waiting family's
Dot looked at her oldest, only nine winters and looked like he had the weight of a thousand words on him, Dot could only see his side profile since he was facing away from her tilting his head in such a way that allowed her to only see little of his face but from the slight hitch of his voice and the tremble of his shoulders Dot knew that her boy, her beautiful, strong boy was beginning to doubt himself
So she did the only thing she could do as his mother, Dot took her little boy in her arms and let him soak her lovely European gown, given to her by Lady Vivian Berchtesgaden, the Queen's sister and sang to him loving words and reassuring murmurs, making sure that he knew that his father did indeed love him more than he could ever know even if he hadn't been showing it lately
Not long after Elmer fell asleep on his mother's neck, his arms clutching around her shoulders and legs wrapped around her waist, Victor suddenly burst into the room looking frazzled and searched until his eyes landed on her and the boy in her arms, then he seemed to relax
"Lady-" he started but Dot shushed him pointing at Elmer and Victor nodded in understanding, offering quietly to carry the boy to his room to which Dot declined saying that she would do it
After finally putting all her children to bed Dot heaved a tired sigh and went back to the lounge to speak with the waiting Victor but before she could reach the door, another door in front of her opened harshly, banging against the stone wall behind it and bringing harsh and cold winds with it
Just as fast as it was opened the doors closed, just as harshly and there stood her Husband, in all his tall and frightful glory, the Lord of Winscott. If Dot hadn't known the man and seen the gentleness of his eyes and smile then her heart would have been beating with fear and weariness instead of excitement and relief
Before the Lord could take out his dark top hat that protected his hair from the rain, thin but strong arms were wrapped around him ridding him of the slight chill that had once taken his body and bringing warmth to his flesh and soul "Hello Dear" murmured the Lord sweatily in his wife's ear, sending a different kind of chill throughout her body
"I missed you" Dot murmured back, pressing her self to him in a way that would not be called innocent
Over Dots shoulder the Lord Dermot looked and saw his Loyal secretary, Victor Bennet. The Lord of the mansion wasn't oblivious to Victor's feelings towards his wife, it was one of the reasons that he trusted the bloke with his family, but that didn't mean he had to like it, in fact, Dermot hated the way the boy looked at his wife, he hated that Victor looked at her the same way he did, with Love and devotion. He knew it was cruel for him to do this but he knew he needed to remind the boy of his place, that even if he has been absent from his family these past days Dot was still his, and he still owned her heart, body, and soul
So the Lord did something that made Dot gasp in pleasure and surprise, he grabbed her by her ass and ground her into him, taking her mouth sinfully into his, all while keeping firm eye contact with Victor, who felt disgusted with himself because, even if he was seeing the woman he loved, the woman who brought his once still heart back to life, even if he was watching her with another man
He still felt aroused by the sight of her flushed and vulnerable
The Lord watched the boy practically run tripping over his own feet to get away from the sight before him and smiled in satisfaction that he got his message across, pulling his eyes from the spot Victor had just been in Dermot, the Earl of Winscott mansion looked back at his wife, only to realize that his lips were no longer on hers and her eyes were sharply aimed at him with an emotion he could not decipher
"Your body may be here Dearest, but your mind, isn't," said Dot putting her soft palms to his cheek making sure that his eyes stayed on hers, not that Dermot could look away even if he wanted to "What is on your mind?" Dot asked sweetly rubbing soothing circles on his stubbled cheeks
Dermot closed his eyes in pleasure at her touch, no matter how innocent it was "I had a tiring day at the shipyard is all" he said almost purring as she ran her delicate fingers through my tangled damp hair
"Hmmm" she hummed continuing to give him knee-weakening innocent pleasure
"We had some tough customers today, wanting to dock eighteen ships by the week! And no matter how many times I told him that it was not possible to clear up eighteen spots in mere days the bloke simply wouldn't listen!" As he ranted about his day and unloaded all his pent-up frustrations to his wife he almost didn't realize that they had been walking to their room and had already entered their shared chambers
Dot arranged him on the bed instructing him to take off his damp clothes before sitting on their mattress
Dermot did as he was ordered to as he kept on talking about his day
"So you spent all day with this Mr. Rutherford, trying to convince him to wait a few more weeks?" Asked Dot as she grabbed a soft towel and started gently drying his shoulder-length locks
"Yes" Dermot replied tiredly wrapping his arms around her small waist and pressing his forehead on her flat stomach
"Why did you not just grab him by his collar and drag him out of your office? From what you told me the man sounds as polite as a pirate and it's not like you haven't done it before"
Dermot smiled at the memory of dragging, the son of a Duke who had come to his yard with bags of paper money and a hope to own this yard, all was well and good until the pompous ass decided that he also wanted to buy his wife for a quarter of a thousand. He growled at the memory, even if the boy has offered 10 full millions it wouldn't be enough to buy his precious little fairy
"I wanted to Dot, trust me but even if the man was as polite as a Pirate as you put it, he was also a paying and quite a well-known customer, so I stuck my tongue in my mouth and smiled for the whole day"
Above him, Dot froze in her task and with a pounding heart she asked the question she had wanted to ask since he arrived
"So you were there for the whole day? Entertaining the Pirate of a man" Dot waited for what seemed like minutes, her heart pounding in anticipation
"Yes, I was at the shipping yard all day with the client" Dermot answered while tilting his head up to see his wife's eyes hidden under her loose bangs.
As he usually did, he reached for them to put them back to their rightful place" Why do you ask?" He said but froze when he met Dots eyes, so full of pain and tears that were building up in her eyes but not yet falling
"Why are you lying to me Dermot?" She whispered horsley