by Gina Kincade
Despite all of the tense moments, the experience of being allowed public affections with the man she loved and having him openly profess to love her back, had made it all quite worth her while. If it were not for the nuisances of the constant threats of storms and ark ruffians, she would have wanted to remain in this façade forever. It was just as they had always dreamed it could be somewhere far away from anyone who knew them. She found it a bit ludicrous she had to lie to be accepted among these people. Most of their men, with a bit too much ale in them to calm their nerves, nearly defamed themselves with such bawdy frolicking as speaking too much to another man’s wife.
Edmund had gone to help some of the men with gaining water for the rooms that night when the woman he had left her speaking to took to a grayish coloring.
“I fear, Lady Dalysbury, you must excuse me. I am suddenly feeling violently ill again.” With those words, Aubrey had only time to nod and wave as the woman took off for her room. She looked around to find the lady’s husband and warn him of his wife’s illness. At that moment, she took notice of a man, who had just moments before claimed to be too ill to help, stumbling toward her.
She surveyed quickly for a way to avoid him, but found it already too late to find a clear path past him without becoming rude. So many men spent so many nights drinking far too much port. Having spent some time now with the upper class, sometimes she could fathom why they did so. However, tonight she did not feel so amused as the man used the wall behind her head to support himself.
“Good evening, my Lady,” he slurred, falling in closer to her as the sea rocked.
“Good Evening, Sir. I thought you were feeling quite ill.”
“I was, but not so ill as to find it such a feat to keep a beautiful lady company when she finds herself all alone.”
“Why, what a gentleman you are.” She knew she had not held the clip from her words, but she did not feel the man would even notice. She looked under his arm for sight of Edmund. Riding back to Ireland with Ger had stirred up such tension in Edmund. She did not want this rake to set him off again. It had taken quite a lot of talking to keep him civil toward Ger. This man, on the other hand, had nothing over them to hold Edmund back.
“Why, yes, I am quite the gentleman. Is there anything I can get or do for the lady to make her moments alone more pleasurable?”
His hand found hers. When she gasped and tried to pull her hand from his, the man fell into her, crushing her against the wall. The smell of his dinner and drink turned her stomach being crushed between his pelvic bone and the wall at the moment.
“Get off of me,” she yelled as she tried to push him away. Her failure had little to do with his size as he was but skin and bones on a tall, lanky frame. Yet, he had so little grasp on his faculties that his body, when pushed at the middle, hung onto hers to remain standing. Just as her options raced through her brain, she felt his weight give followed by a loud thump of bone against wall. She found the drunken letch seconds later to be sprawled out on the ship’s floor.
“Edmund!” She yelled his name as he took off for the unconscious man.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, having paused at the sound of her voice. He came rushing to her side, his anger interrupted.
“I am fine.”
Just then, the other men who'd followed behind him rushed the room looking for the source of the clamor. It took only a bit of explaining for the other husbands to agree to leave the man where he reclined in a drunken stupor and retire to their rooms for the night.
Relieved as Edmund circled his arm around her and began to remove her from the room, she thought to warn the sick ladies’ husband of his wife’s calamity as well.
“Damnation, when will I ever learn not to leave you even for a second?” Edmund’s growl juxtaposed the tender way he caressed her cheek once he had slammed the door shut behind them in their tiny cabin.
“You can’t be with me every second of every day. No harm was truly done. He had barrel fever, and was not by me for more than a minute before you came to my rescue.”
“Why did you remain in there alone?”
“It was not my intention. When Lady Anna took ill, I had not but a moment to look to see if you were coming before he was upon me. He must have been listening to us talk. Leave it go. You came to my rescue, once again.”
He seemed to relax a bit at her words, but still kept rubbing his hands down over her cheeks. “I am fine. No harm is going to come to me in here with you. Although, given the storms which persist, I think it would be safe to sleep in our nightclothes again lest something happen and we have to exit our room hastily.”
He agreed, and they pulled their nightclothes from the bolted down boxes they had thrown their carpetbags into. Although they had two separate bunks, they shared one, content to be in such close proximity to one another. Each time a great wave set to tossing the boat, Aubrey and Edmund had practically been thrown from the bed.
In the midst of her peels of laughter, her distress formulated her true feelings. “Tell me we will come through this safely.”
“Although I have not spent much time upon ships, I believe we will. The truly awful conditions await us on land, my love. Only for those amusements with the ton we will not be charged so dear an amount of coin to attend.”
“Many thanks, my Lord.” She laughed as she felt she must at his apurt humor, but it had calmed none of her fears.
“Having you in my arms and rolling upon you has so put me in the mind of the pleasures to be had while we are alone.”
Although she scoffed at his words, her kiss she meant to tell him she would like nothing less. His legs held hers between them as he pulled her more fully into his embrace. He kissed her as a husband would on her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, and her chin before landing on her mouth.
“Your troubled mind tortures me," he proclaimed mid-kiss. Rest easy in the knowledge I will do everything in my power to create a life for us. I feel anything can be undertaken if I am with you. We will overcome whatever trouble we have to face. Let us not dredge it up tonight when we have our bodies pressed against each others so.”
The small bit of food in her stomach churned as tears welled in her eyes. He lovingly stroked the length of her hair. His strong hand cupped over her breast. She tried to let it all go as his mouth found its way to her tiny bud. The audacious sucks pulled it to an erect tip. When he followed suit with the other one, an ache built within the walls of her cunny.
“I am as desperate for you now, as I am for our freedom to be together later. I want to have access to your body at my own whim.”
“So you have said before, my Lord.”
He began to kiss down her body, and she braced her hands against the wall at her head. When he reached just past her stomach, he pulled her legs up around him. With his back braced against another wall, he placed her feet upon either side of him. Then, he leaned into her. His hair tickled the hair of her mound. Feeling his fingers upon her outer lips sent spasms down her thighs. While a few fingers from both hands remained holding her open, his other fingers went to work teasing her with light, brief touches along her wetness. His magic sparkled along her sensitive skin, and she was surprised it was still so potent off the island.
When a strong finger positioned itself at her innermost opening, she groaned. As he let it move slowly inside of her, her eyes closed, sending her to complete darkness. Flashes of fire ripped through her body to explode behind her closed lids. His finger moved against just the appropriate spot. When another finger pushed its way inside, the combined flickers of magic made her legs tremble. With a slight tap to her engorged nub, her orgasm overwhelmed her once again. Burning waves of excitement besieged her muscles. Nothing else existed except these sensations. Then, his weight falling upon her again shocked her back into reality. The musky scent of her pleasure filled her nose.
His lips curved into a smile and took her mouth again. As always, his kiss hard and confident, also proved slow and loving. It would be d
ifficult to doubt how he felt about her. Aubrey slid her hands along the rigid muscles of his body until the back of her hand met the smooth head of his cock. A drop of his excitation wet a tiny spot of her skin. She rounded her hand to grasp him suddenly in a tight circle of fingers. He let out a shaky gasp.
Their small quarters restricted some movement. So, rather than find a way to quickly get her mouth around his erection, she whispered to him a plea to see him fully. He crawled off of her, losing his balance with one rock of the ship. Once he stood beside the bed again, he grasped the wood above him to help him remain there. She watched his erection sway with the ship in the storm, fascinated by the sight of it.
“Touch me again, Aubrey. Please, grasp me hard.” His voice hissed, deepened with his need.
As fast as she could, she braced herself in a sitting position on the bed, taking his hard member in one hand and cupping his balls with another. He rose up on his toes, groaning out his approval. With her mouth, she kneaded his erection with strong sucking motions. When the sailing vessel lurched once more, he moved one way and she another. Consequently, her hand pushed against his bollocks a bit too much. The fine line between pain and pleasure must have been crossed. With the next rock, he grabbed her shoulders and maneuvered her back to the mattress. Grasping her thighs to separate them, he thrust his hardness into her without restraint.
His movements deliberate, the storm moved them also. Their limbs struggled constantly to remain together. As her insides convulsed around him, the symbolism of their fight was not lost on her. In fact, it remained with her for the rest of their trip, even when the seas had calmed.
Chapter Fifteen
Edmund shook despite his gritted teeth and tight fists from pent-up, adult anger and the schoolboy fear one never outgrows where an over-possessive mother is concerned. He held his head up with an attempt at superiority as he pulled Aubrey along with him into his mother’s boudoir. Unable to attend to Aubrey’s hesitation without compromising his own resolve, he embraced her hand until his fingertips clung as white as the roses on the small wooden table. Why Aubrey could not seem to take her eyes off of them, he had no idea, and not time to fully speculate. They moved at a steadfast pace as one unit as his stiff and willful legs moved them through the arched doorway.
“Good day, Mother,” he said with a profound hast, before following his feet’s urge to proceed back out the door. He hoped the proper words would come to him once he started in on the woman.
“Edmund, my dear, you have finally returned…” Her words dropped off when he pulled Aubrey into full view. “What is that trollop doing in…”
“Spare me your serpent’s tongue, Mother! I warn you, say one more improper word about or to Aubrey, and I will not stay to give you any options. I will simply hand over your secrets to the scandal sheets and be gone from you forever!”
In the long pause that followed, he concentrated on relieving the pressure he'd placed like a vice upon Aubrey’s hand. She had not even moved, or, he daresay breathed, since they came into the house.
A glance her way with a wry smile was all he had to offer her at this moment. He so badly required her presence in this meeting, though he vowed to gladly make this up to her once it ended. Even with his silent thoughts diverting his attentions, his mother sat as mute as a mischievous child having just endured the scolding of a parent. This image empowered him to continue.
“Mother, I ask you to swallow your spleen until I have relayed my entire platform. Your anger is not fitting in the presence of the woman I intent to marry.”
A sound arose from his mother like the cry of an alley tom intent on fighting. He surmised she must have caught herself about to speak and stifled the words.
“Thank you for your continued attentions. I have traveled far, suffering perilous adventures thanks to you, to bring Aubrey back here. I daresay the things you said to her before she left were contemptible, to put it mildly. I will gladly give you time to relay your apologies once I am done with my say. So, let me get right to my demands, as it seems they are all you understand. First off,” he continued, wrenching his hand from Aubrey’s to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her into him. He needed a greater connection to get him through his tirade. “I speak the sober truth when I say I will not ever marry Lady Elizabeth Ward.”
When his mother glared at Aubrey, the unrelenting clench of his muscles pervaded his body. He turned Aubrey’s face to his with a gentle trembling touch to divert her attentions to his love. He emitted his best smile and ran his fingers over her hair as much to vex his mother as to soothe the woman beside him. Aubrey had stiffened at the mention of Lady Elizabeth’s name.
“Give care to your actions as much as your words, Your Ladyship. I have little patience left for you. I have already informed Aubrey of your indiscretions concerning my birth. I will gladly go on about it so around town if we do not continue to get your most proper restraint and good manners.” He watched as his mother’s face broke into a forced smile while her hands gripped the fall of her skirt. “Secondly, I have come to announce my grand alliance with Miss Aubrey Griffen. We will be married as soon as we can tie up some loose ends. I suppose it would be too fantastic a notion that we could have a grand and proper wedding. I care little about my own scandal. The speak of the ton has never stopped me before. That is your issue, not mine, I daresay.”
“I will not let you throw away your life with this woman of low birth and ungodly ways. I will never attend such a farce of a wedding nor permit such filth to reside within the walls of Dalysbury.”
He allowed his mother to spit out her words, finding himself amused by her ire. As wrong as it was to let the woman go on so, it seemed just a touch of payment for all she had put them through of late.
“Let that be your last remark, Lady Dalysbury. I warned you no more, and as my mother, I shall grant you this one last chance. Hence, my generosity is wearing thin. You can prevent nothing. Your only decision shall be whether or not you attend the affair and whether or not you live here. The land is mine, and as you said before, no one can argue against that now regardless of any conceivable contingency. It has been too many years to claim Lord Dalysbury was not my father. The law no longer cares.”
He used her more formal names, even finding pleasure in his impropriety. Such vengeful thoughts he did not usually entertain, but she had placed him in this position. To add insult to injury, the more he sensed Aubrey’s discomfort at his side, the more revenge seemed a welcome companion.
“My next request, or demand if you so require," he continued on, taking a sick delight in his mother's flushed face, "concerns the name of my true father. You see, in sending Aubrey away and forcing me to go after her, I stumbled upon a lost gift of mine…” He gave pause. He had not decided, as of yet, if he would even contact the man. Nevertheless, this could be the very last time he spoke to his mother, and he needed to take advantage of it if he should ever decide to find the man. “That gift consists of my own magical abilities. Therefore, I am now aware my paternal father must be magical himself. I wish to be kept from him no longer. You either produce for me his name, or I will head straight for an unrighteous reporter of the lowest kind. Then, surely, there should be a few low life thief-takers, such as the ones you hired to find me, who will be willing to locate my father for me.”
“How dare you!” She remained seated primly in spite of her words.
“You are not listening to me. The knowledge of my birth may not financially ruin you, but it will socially destroy you. You will become most unwelcome among the ton. Unfortunately for you, unlike me, you care about such things. As for me, I need only Aubrey’s love to live a full life.”
“You suppose that you will be believed over me. Your Bradbury tale will be too wild to be conceived as truth!”
“Bravo, Mother, on such a wonderful attempt at a believable performance. Sad how your whole life has been an act built upon lies. Do you ever say anything to anyone that is an honest word, or has each s
tatement you utter been carefully scrutinized and rehearsed as to lend to you the most social profit?” He could feel the heat burning from his neck and the bile churning within the lower regions of his stomach. “Never mind. I do not wish to know. I will start the investigation to find him, letting the world know about you if you do not give me the name. Once I have found my father, I will have him to corroborate my information against you.”
“You think that a wyrdling will be a believable witness? He will be no more admissible than this apurt little witch whose wanton body you hold against yours.”
“I have proof you do not wish for me to produce.”
He'd actually watched the spit fly from his mouth as he spoke with such venom in his tone. It may have been most unlike a gentleman, but he was not feeling mannerly at the moment. He was getting a heady high off his own banter while watching the matriarch finally squirm in her velvet covered chair.
“Come now, that is preposterous. I sufficiently buried long ago any proof to be had. The man does not even know you exist. There were few witnesses to our short time together. Who would believe you to be a dark magician’s son? Anyone with a gift for a slight of hand can perform feats of magic. You will never be believed, you and your parlor tricks.” She smoothed out the wrinkles in her gown, grinning down upon her hands as they worked the material.
“I had not thought you would prefer it, but you have left me no choice but to lay before you my proof.” He left Aubrey grappling for his hand as he stepped up to his mother.