Elira made no attempt to move away from him.
Instead, she kept one hand loosely around the back of Ray’s neck, her fingertips occasionally brushing the edge of his collar as she watched him with an expression that was equal parts exhaustion and lingering mischief.
Her breathing had begun to settle, although the warmth in her cheeks suggested she hadn’t quite recovered from their previous round.
"I’m being greedy again, aren’t I?" she murmured, sounding more amused than apologetic. "I did promise myself I’d behave like a respectable married woman today."
Ray glanced at the tangled sheets before looking back at her. "You’ve paid for the entire afternoon. I’d say you’ve earned the right to be a little unreasonable."
"A little?" Elira repeated, raising an eyebrow. "That’s generous of you."
She laughed when he smiled, then caught him by the collar before he could move away.
There was something different about the way she looked at him now.
Earlier, she had hesitated over every request, as though admitting what she wanted might somehow make her less deserving of it. That uncertainty hadn’t disappeared entirely, but she seemed increasingly willing to ignore it.
"There’s something else I’d like to try," she admitted.
"Then tell me."
Elira studied him for a moment, evidently deciding how much honesty she could manage without embarrassing herself. "I want you to stop treating every request as though I’m going to change my mind halfway through. If something bothers me, I’ll tell you. Otherwise, I’d rather you trusted me to know what I want."
Ray’s expression softened slightly. "Fair enough. But that works both ways. You have to actually tell me when something feels wrong."
"I know." She gave his collar a small, impatient tug. "You’re very good at turning everything into a lesson, aren’t you?"
"Someone has to be."
"Well, perhaps your student would appreciate fewer lectures."
He laughed at that, and Elira looked rather pleased with herself.
She had spent much of the afternoon discovering that she could say things aloud without the world coming apart around her, and apparently she intended to make the most of it.
Ray leaned closer, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face. "You know, if you look at your husband the way you’re looking at me right now, I suspect you’ll have his full attention."
"Oh?" Her eyes narrowed with interest. "And how exactly am I looking at you?"
"Like you’re about to cause trouble."
"Perhaps I am."
"Then he’ll have his work cut out for him."
Elira smiled, but the expression faltered when she considered his words more seriously. "I hope so. Sometimes I think we’ve spent so long being careful around each other that neither of us remembers how to stop."
Ray rested beside her, giving her a moment to gather her thoughts. "Then perhaps you should begin by telling him that."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
She considered the suggestion before giving a quiet, incredulous laugh. "You make it sound terribly simple."
"It isn’t. But avoiding the conversation hasn’t made it any easier, has it?"
"No," she admitted. "I suppose it hasn’t."
For a while, neither spoke. The room had grown pleasantly warm, and the afternoon sunlight stretched across the carpet in long golden bands.
Elira remained close to him, occasionally tracing the seam of his collar while her thoughts wandered toward the evening awaiting her at home.
Eventually, she looked up again.
"Ray?"
"Hm?"
"Do you think I’m foolish for needing help with something like this?"
He turned toward her. "Why would I?"
"Because I’m married. Because I’m old enough to know better and because I ought to be able to speak to my own husband without needing someone else to teach me how."
"Being married doesn’t mean you suddenly know how to talk about everything."
Elira stared at him for a moment before laughing under her breath. "You really do have an answer for everything."
"Not everything."
"Most things, then."
"Enough to get by."
She shook her head, smiling as she settled closer. Whatever reservations she had carried into the room seemed considerably lighter now, and Ray suspected that had as much to do with their conversations as anything else.
When the afternoon finally began slipping toward evening, Elira was the first to notice the changing light.
"The escorts will be waiting soon," she said reluctantly, glancing toward the curtains. "And I imagine my housekeeper has already begun wondering whether I’ve forgotten the existence of clocks."
"Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting."
"Good heavens, no. That woman has served my family for twenty years. I’d sooner argue with a magistrate."
Ray chuckled as Elira reached for the robe hanging over a nearby chair. She slipped it over her shoulders, then paused to examine him with a curious expression.
"When you report to Lady Seris, tell her the instruction was useful," she said. "And tell her I might request another afternoon if my first attempt at putting everything into practice doesn’t go particularly well."
"I’ll tell her."
"There’s something else."
Ray waited while she gathered the loose fabric around herself.
"Tell her the talking helped as much as anything. I didn’t expect that." Elira hesitated, then continued with a small, thoughtful smile. "I thought I wanted someone to show me what to do. It turns out I also wanted someone to listen without making me feel ridiculous."
"That’s worth remembering when you speak to your husband."
"Oh, I intend to remember it." She tilted her head. "Although I suspect he’ll be considerably more embarrassed than I was."
"Then you’ll know how he feels."
"Yes, and I intend to be absolutely insufferable about it."
Ray laughed as she disappeared behind the folding screen to wash and change.
He dressed while she was occupied, straightening his clothes and adjusting the collar around his neck before taking a final look around the room.
By the time Elira emerged again, she had changed into the soft green gown she’d worn earlier.
Her hair was loosely retied, although several strands had escaped around her temples, and she seemed far less concerned about their arrangement than she had been when he’d first arrived.
"Well?" she asked, turning slightly. "Do I look respectable?"
"Very."
"Convincing?"
"Almost."
She gave him an offended look before laughing. "You are a terrible man, Ray."
"So I’ve been told."
"Repeatedly, I imagine."
He offered no defense, which only amused her further.
Elira accompanied him into the sitting room, where the housekeeper was already waiting with the patient expression of a woman who had learned long ago not to ask unnecessary questions.
Before Ray could leave, Elira caught his sleeve.
"One last thing," she said quietly. "Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be. I asked for a result, and you gave me one. Whatever happens afterward is something my husband and I will have to work out ourselves."
Ray nodded. "Then make good use of what you’ve learned."
"I will."
Her smile was smaller this time, but there was a steadiness behind it that hadn’t been there earlier.
"He won’t know what hit him."
The housekeeper escorted Ray through the hall and toward the entrance, where the waiting carriage stood beyond the gates.
The driver opened the door without a word, and Ray settled into the cushioned seat as the horses began their journey back through the eastern district.
Outside, the elegant residences gradually gave way to busier streets, their windows catching the last golden light of the evening. Ray rested against the seat, adjusting the collar that had grown cool against his neck.
The assignment was finished, and Elira appeared satisfied with the outcome. More importantly, she seemed to have found the confidence she’d been looking for when she first approached Lady Seris.
Whether that confidence would survive her next conversation with her husband was another matter entirely.
"Ah, she probably has a few questions from me when I get back" Ray said with a chuckle.