Hey baby won't you look my way
I can be your new addiction

This whole thing had gone on far too long.

When he'd told Christobal he could stay, he'd been envisioning maybe a week or two, but if the painter had any intention of leaving soon he hadn't brought it up to Emrys. Not that he minded the man's company in a general sense, but the restrictions his presence placed on Emrys' free use of the house (or rather, the restrictions Emrys had placed on himself regarding the free use of the house while Christobal was here) were much harder to deal with. He couldn't have any parties unless they were the sort he could invite a penniless painter to, and he couldn't invite any guests over unless they were from the same friend circle — which meant, practically, that he wasn't having sex, and he was tired of it. If Christobal was going to keep living here, he was going to have to contribute something to offset the lack of company Emrys was currently experiencing.

Emrys didn't really know whether Christobal was open to that sort of thing, but he was the sort who could be — sexual preferences were only limited by one's imagination, after all, and Christobal was a man of imagination — so before giving him the formal boot, Emrys had decided to stage a little opportunity for him to prove his company was worth the inconvenience. Not that he would know that was what he was doing — at least, not if everything went well.

After telling the servants to give the entire upstairs corridor a wide berth, Emrys had drawn up a steaming hot bubble bath in the bathroom that opened onto the hall nearest Christobal's room. If he came or went, he'd have to walk right by the door, which was, of course, conveniently left ajar. With all of the bubbles it wasn't as though he would see anything, at least not right away — but he'd see enough to give him pause, Emrys thought. With his wand out of sight but within reach, Emrys stretched out in the bath tub. He could use a charm to reheat the water if it got cold — he was willing to wait this out as long as necessary, like a hunter waiting for his unsuspecting prey.

Christobal Vainart