It was somewhere between late night and early morning. Restless and unable to get back to sleep, Lilia made her careful way back down the stairs to the main rooms of the house. All the light was grey, held in that moment before dawn. She padded in her socks, dark leggings and a knee length shirt that had been beneath her dress. Empty glass in hand she felt her way along the panelled hallways, following the only sense of heat left in the house towards the kitchen
Pushing the door open, she was only half surprised to see George was already in the room. He also held an empty water glass. Shirtless, she could see how his breaches clung to the low line of his hips. His torso was bare, broad and muscular. His skin seemed to shine in the firelight cast off from the hearth. The sight of his stole
