Chapter Text
Warm.
Comfortable.
Cedar.
Cinnamon.
Butter biscuits.
Had Penelope been more awake, she might have wondered how she managed to find such a comfortable sleeping spot in the Bridgerton’s kitchen. But the warm green smell of the trees in the heat of summer called her forward, rewarding her with delicious pressure along her back and shoulders, and flower petals brushing her face.
The grass against her breasts and temple were pleasant. Nuzzling against it in contentment, she felt herself begin to wake when this caused the earth to rumble.
Through the fuzz of sleep, Penelope discerned the rumble to be pleased giggling, was it her?
Curiosity winning out, she pried her eyes open to an ambitious half-mast to the vision of very lovely and kissable lips tilted in a quirked grin. In the moment her eyes rose to meet pre-dawn blue with a half-drawn rich chestnut curtain of curls, she realized the blanket had fallen from her shoulder, allowing some chill to infiltrate her Colin-cocoon. Her immediate reaction was to burrow into the space between his neck and the pillow, heavenly warmth and softness returning as he chuckled lowly, pulling their blanket up over their heads.
Pressing an affectionate kiss to her ear, Colin murmured, “Good morning, my darling.”
Drowsily, Penelope kissed the bit of skin just in reach of her lips, mumbling, “Good morning.” Now that it also was in the warm confines of their cocoon, Penelope snaked her arms over his shoulders and around his neck, hugging him to her. She squeezed him in her embrace with all her might and with every muscle in her body pulled taught briefly before relaxing again from her stretch.
Colin didn’t mean to fall asleep again after seeing if his engagement ring fit her finger. He had spent a few minutes just watching her slumber but she exuded such peace between one long blink and the next he had drifted off.
Knowing they needed to get her back to the room his mother had the servants ready for her, Colin held her close and sat up with a groan at the pleasant stretch of his well-rested muscles. He had to smile when Penelope gave a groan of her own but hers of displeased protest.
Facing each other, sitting hip to hip, Penelope weakly shook her hair from her face, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and giving a yawn that belied her small stature. Colin couldn’t resist carding his fingers through her curls, leveraging her face up to give her a proper good morning kiss. The little more than a lazy press of lips quickly grew improper, but Colin’s grumbling stomach cooled their ardor in a moment, reminding them time was of the essence. Penelope had to huff a chuckle at his pout when she pulled back but it turned to giggling as she took in the state of Colin’s hair, flat in some places, sticking up in others, curls falling over his forehead.
Penelope allowed herself the indulgence of taming it slightly with her own fingers, but as she reached the portions towards the back of his head, it drew them into temptation’s proximity. Sitting on her knees next to his seated form, his eyes caught the light as he looked up at her, adoration fully dawned in the pools there. His grin told her her own showed much the same. Thumbs massaging at the tender spots behind his ears, Penelope leant in for another kiss, less heated than others they’d shared but with just as much fervent love.
With gentle movements, Colin extricated them from his bedsheets and took her into his arms as he stood. Sooner than either liked he had made his way back to the other side of the bed where her chemise lay discarded on the floor. As it fluttered back over her form, it occurred to Colin how sheer the fabric was.
His tone came out equal parts curious and equal parts titillated when he asked, “Did you walk all the way from your room to mine in naught but your chemise?”
Blinking up at the question, guileless, she answered whilst fighting a grin, “I only had the clothes on my back when the storm started, Colin. What was I to wear over it, a bed sheet? How exactly does one manage to be stealthy in a bedsheet twice her size?”
Shaking his head at her with a smirk, he reached over to his wardrobe for his bathing robe. Lighter and shorter than his housecoat, it’d secret away her glorious form while allowing her to hold the hem clear of her feet.
Taking the robe and throwing it on, Colin averted his eyes from devouring the vision of her in his overwear, focusing on pulling his sleep pants back on.
One leg in, he goaded, “I would think Lady Whistledown could manage such a feat handily.”
Securing the robe’s belt, Penelope leaned around to catch his eye, as she jibed, “Perhaps it was my intention to present myself to you thus scantily clad.” Distracted by her teasing smirk whilst threading his other leg into his sleep pants, Colin grunted in surprise as his lover's hand swatted across his still half-exposed behind, his reflexes cutting her escape rather short.
Tossing his soiled nightshirt atop the dirty laundry basket in the corner with his free hand, he seamlessly wove his arms around her waist, pecking her impertinent giggling lips, eating her squeal of delight as he lifted her up and walked them to his bedroom door.
He murmured, “Witty and clever, and oh so generous, my loveliest love.”
Tickling her slightly, Colin happily trapped her giggles between their lips, blindly walking them out his door.
As it happens, Colin’s stomach didn’t hasten them prematurely due to their exertions last night. The smell of butter biscuits had drifted upstairs…from the dining room…where breakfast was waiting.
Newton rose to place his forepaws on the one-with-treats’ leg, garnering the couple's attention.
Frannie had to cover both Gregory and Hyacinth’s eyes, as Eloise was useless whilst paralyzed with shock. Benedict looked ready to guffaw whilst Violet’s expression twitched between ecstatic and scandalized. Kate and Anthony stood behind them, a bemused Kate patting Anthony’s arm soothingly as the Viscount massaged his temples with his thumb and middle finger, mumbling what sounded like, "Surely it is too early in the day for this."
Colin could feel Penelope’s face hot with embarrassment against his bare chest. With as much dignity as one could manage, barefoot, bare chested, having just been caught by his family on their way to breakfast, kissing with his supposed platonic friend in naught but her chemise and his bathing robe, in the hallway of his family home, Colin cleared his throat of any want to laugh incredulously, saying, “Good morning, family. So...Pen and I are in love, isn’t that marvelous?”