“Ah, Lord Belmont!”  The vampire exclaimed the moment that Richter entered the chamber.  The two almost collided with one another on his way in.  “I was just leaving to fetch you.  The washbasin has been prepared.”

“About time,” he said as he wandered further into the room, stopping beside the basin.  The pleasant scent of rose oil wafted towards him.  “This is much needed after today’s excitement in the Colosseum.  I trust you were watching, my pet?”

Gwendolyna nodded in response.  “Yes, Lord Belmont.  As always, you were most impressive.”

A smirk graced Richter’s features, and he chuckled with pride as he began to strip away his clothing.  “Truly, I never tired of asserting my dominance over the foul beasts of this castle.”

She hummed at this, averting her eyes as he began to reveal more of his body.  In spite of this attempt, she caught his toned form in the corner of her eye.  Her sudden bashfulness was not lost on him.  He reveled in her demure reaction.

“Now is not the time to be shy,” Richter spoke as he dropped trousers, leaving him in nothing but his smallclothes.  “I require your assistance, pet.”

Those taunting words of his were nearly enough to bring her to her knees.  She steeled herself with a nod.  “Yes, yes.  Of course.”

Gwen hurriedly joined Richter at the basin, now feeling overdressed in comparison to him.  Though she had witnessed to him in a state of undress many times over, the sight was still so intimate.  It was a pleasure most guilty, a fruit so forbidden.

Richter paid no heed to her reluctance, well aware of what his request did to the poor creature.  He seated himself on the stool, then watched in wicked delight as her trembling hands dipped the washrag into the washbasin.  She pulled the cloth out of the water, wringing it with care.  Once she was certain she would not make a puddle on the floor, she brought it to his back before hesitating.  She admired the work of art before her— his broad, muscular shoulders, the soft waves of hair, the scars fresh and red to those that were old and faded, and bruises that had no right to be so vibrant against the fair canvas of his skin.  He permitted this, at least for a moment.  Just long enough to be certain of what she was doing.

“If you were bathing me with your eyes, I would no doubt be spotless,” teased Richter.

His voice snapped her out of her reverie.  She lowered her head, humiliated that she had been so brazen in her awe of him.

“My apologies, Lord Belmont,” she muttered before gathering his hair with one hand and bringing the cloth to his skin with the other.  She started at his neck, scrubbing the skin that still glistened with perspiration from his earlier bout.  Even through the thin fabric of the washrag, she could feel the thrum of his pulse.  This man was a temptation like no other.  She bit her cheek as she attempted to divert all thoughts to the task at hand.

Richter dipped his hands in the water as she scrubbed behind his ears, paying mind to each inch of his skin as she worked down towards his shoulders.  With his soaked hands, he rubbed his face to both cool him down from the lingering heat of battle while also wiping away the grimy feeling that clung to him, courtesy of the Colosseum’s terrain.  He did this a few times before smoothing the damp strands of his hair back and away from his forehead.

“What ails you?” he finally spoke, voice interrupting the thick silence that hung heavy in the chamber.

“Ails me?” Gwen repeated.  “Nothing ails me, my lord.”

“Are you certain?” asked Richter.  “For you are suspiciously quiet this evening.”

He was not foolish, nor was he ignorant to the reasons behind Gwen’s behavior.  The question did not need to be asked, but he enjoyed taunting her and watching her flounder.  After a brief bout of stammering, she finally mustered a response.

“Nothing ails me,” Gwendolyna insisted again.  “I am merely… concentrating on my work.”

“I can tell.”

She froze at this comment.  The implication behind his words were explicit.  She could not come up with a defense against his vulgar allegation, for it was true.  A soft huff of a laugh escaped him when he heard the cloth being dunked back in the basin.

“No retort?” he said, glancing over his shoulder back at her.  “Nothing to add?  Hmph.  You’re no fun this evening.”

She shook her head as she twisted the water out of the cloth.

“Careful,” warned Richter.  “You’ll tear the thing in half.”

Only then did Gwen realize how tightly she was wringing the rag.  She had twisted it to the point that her knuckles were even whiter than normal.  A nervous laugh left her as she eased her hold and resumed cleansing his back.

“Nothing ails you,” he mused with a chuckle.  “No, not at all…  Save for how much you are enjoying this.”

Gwen huffed at this, fist tightening around the cloth as she dropped it to her side.

“I do not know why I am bothering!” she proclaimed.  “No matter how clean I get your body, your mind and tongue will remain as filthy as a pigsty!”

This outburst was exactly the reaction Richter enjoyed coaxing out of her.  He doubled over in laughter, slapping his knee at her insult.  She crossed her arms in offense.

“Pray tell, what is so amusing?” said Gwen.

Richter shook his head as he tried to collect himself enough to answer.  He straightened up and turned to look at her.  He couldn’t help but take pleasure in the charm of that pout of hers. 

“Perhaps you are correct,” he said, rising to stand before her.  He carefully watched how her eyes flicked down at his torso before raising to meet his eyes, exactly as he expected of her.  With a wolfish smirk, he lifted a finger and wagged it before pointing at her.  “But mine is still not nearly as dirty as yours, my pet.”

There was nothing she could say in her defense, fully aware that her wandering eyes had been discovered.  So, she merely baulked and stamped her foot.  His arms coiled around her waist in an attempt to placate her, and though she wanted nothing more than to lean into it, she tried pulling away.

“You are insufferable, you know,” she mumbled as the embrace tightened.  Richter just chuckled and nodded in agreement.