The Adventure at Baskerville Hall & Other Cases

you are hinting at. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime."
    "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more cheerful."
    I could not help myself. My eyes wandered over his lean form, reclining in his chair, and I smiled faintly. In my defence it must be said that I was still in the first phase of infatuation with him, when everything turned my mind to the bedroom.
    From any other man I would have taken that as an invitation, but Holmes could still show himself to be oddly naïve in this area, for all that his knowledge of every shade of human villainy made him otherwise seem old beyond his years.
    He caught my smile and fidgeted.
    "I didn't mean that," he muttered, before visibly realising that this was perhaps not the most tactful thing to say to one's lover and correcting himself. "I mean ... that is to say ... when I'm working, I don't usually–"
    "It's fine." I cut across his stumbling, taking pity on him. "I know. You needn't explain yourself; you forget that I have seen you forgo enough meals to know of your disregard for your body's wants when engaged on a case."
    I smiled at him and his face lightened. I got up to retrieve my book from the small valise I had packed.
    "I am going to lie down with my book for a couple of hours, if we are to be awake most of the night." I paused behind his chair to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Do come and find me if you need to discuss anything, won't you?"
    He gripped my hand briefly and smiled up at me, and I went into the bedroom and half-closed the door.
    I stripped down to my trousers and shirtsleeves, placing my collar and cuffs on the dressing table and tucking my boots neatly beside it. The bed was decently-sized, and I stretched out on it with an appreciative sigh, having slept in enough rough-and-ready Army digs to appreciate good sleeping quarters when I found them.

    I was reading Moby Dick and, despite the engaging plot, I had started to drowse and had no idea of how long it had been before I became aware of Holmes leaning quietly against the doorframe.
    I half-raised myself onto one arm. "What is it? Is everything all right?"
    "Yes." His voice was hushed, and he made to withdraw. "I didn't mean to disturb you; go back to sleep."
    "No, I'm..." I shook my head; lying down had left me slightly dazed and drowsy. I held out a hand. "I wasn't asleep."
    "Oh, I beg to differ." He grinned at me and came to stretch out on the bed beside me, lying on his side, head propped up on one hand. I lay back down and rubbed a hand over my face.
    "I didn't want to disturb you," Holmes said softly. "Only look at you."
    In that moment he didn't look at all like the world's only consulting detective, but merely young and oddly innocent.
    "I have told you," I murmured, trailing my fingers through his hair and down the side of his throat, "you may disturb me whenever you like."
    Sliding my hand around to the back of his neck, I drew him down for a kiss and released him only to ask, "Do you have any idea how endearing I find it that you're so shy about this, but you think nothing of striding in to roust me out of bed when there's the prospect of case?"
    "Yes, well. I'm not sure that ... whether you..."
    I kissed him again to spare him having to explain himself. He was new at this, but rather than finding it tedious, it made me feel only fiercely protective. Not that I would ever dare to express such a sentiment aloud, for Holmes would scorn it, and I knew very well that the implication that he needed coddling or careful handling would put his back up.
    I had intended for our kiss to be merely a brief thing, not wanting to make him feel awkward, but his lips parted and clung against my own, and it turned into a second, and a third, until I felt my face heat and my trousers grow snug.
    Holmes moved away to nuzzle at my bare throat, pressing his mouth against the spot that always made my breath catch, and I pushed my fingers into his hair as I spoke.
    "I think that might be enough now." He instantly drew back, looking chastened, until I reached down to adjust the pull of my