Kissing the top of her head, he begged her to allow him the chance to take a quick shower before he crawled under the covers with her. It wasn't a difficult request to make. She understood all too well the desire to cleanse her own body when she'd been out in the world completing unpleasant tasks. Whatever kept him away from her, whether it was his anger and jealousy or his mysterious tasks to seek out more allies, he didn't want to bring that into bed with him. Sometimes she knew that they both refused to get into their marital bed without showering because they didn't want to bring the filth of their affairs with them.