At the sight of his hair dusted chest she reached out and touched him. She giggled.
“What?” he asked, placing his hand over hers.
She saw mischief dancing in the deep grey of his eyes as the moon was reflected in them. Mischief and the promise of much more. Her heart soared as her fantasies took flight.
“When I saw you for the first time after you pulled me from the harbor and you had no shirt on I was left speechless. I had never seen such a beautiful man. When you put your shirt on and your wet body caused the damp of your linen shirt to cling to you, all I wanted to do was touch you,” she replied.
At the time she had thought the effect Will had had on her was because she had just had a near death experience. Now standing once more in front of him and his semi naked body, she knew it was something else.
Her words of appreciation were rewarded with a hot passionate kiss from Will. He cupped her face in his hands and their tongues began a slow dance once more.
Hattie let her hands drift to the placket of Will's trousers and began to work on the buttons.
The Hattie of a month ago would have trembled at her work, but here with Will her hands were steady. She was certain of her need for this man.
As he stepped out of his trousers and threw them onto the nearby chair her mouth went dry. In the moonlight she beheld him. He was magnificent. Every inch of him.
His shoulders were like those of a Greek statute, broad and muscular. As her gaze drifted lower, she saw more than she had ever seen before on a sculpture.
English gentleman he may be, but beneath that veneer simmered a power she longed to release.
“Before we continue may I note something? This encounter is very one sided at present. I am naked while you are still half dressed,” he said.
Hattie reached for the straps of her chemise, and slowly slid it further down freeing her breasts fully to his sight. His manhood twitched and rose fully to attention. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. This was how she had envisaged the moment of truth between a man and a woman. Mutual passion and desire.
Emboldened by his response, she pushed her chemise down over her hips and stepped out of it.
He kissed her once more and whispered. “Lay down on the bed.”
She did as he asked. When Will knelt between her legs and placed butterfly kisses on the inside of her knee she shivered. He gently pushed her legs apart as he blazed a scorching trail of kisses up the inside of her leg.
When he reached the thatch of hair at the entrance to her womanhood, he pursed his lips and blew cool air onto her clitoris. When she shivered a second time, he chuckled with knowing delight.
“Close your eyes and give yourself over to me,” he said.
The instant his tongue touched her, her hips bucked. He slid his hands under her hips holding them up, opening her more fully to his attentions.
“Sweet...” was all she could manage.
The torture he brought to her body had Hattie gripping the bedclothes in fisted hands. When Will slipped a thumb inside her wet heat Hattie's eyes flew open.
Gazing up at the wooden ceiling of the cabin she gave in to the ever-increasing pleasure Will inflicted upon her. Tension rose ever higher in her body. He was a master at the sexual worship of a woman’s body.
She struggled to bring her mind back under control, this should not just be about her.
“What about you,” she stammered.
From between her legs, she heard him mutter. “All in good time.”
His tongue resumed its wicked slaving of her heat. Long skillful strokes worked around and over her sensitive bud. When the first throb of orgasm hit her, he released her legs and rose quickly over her body.
With one hard, deep thrust he filled her core, then withdrew and thrust home again. Hattie barely had time to register the change in their sexual engagement before her world fell apart in a shattering climax.
Will cupped his hand behind her head and pulled up to him, capturing her mouth. His tongue delved deep between her lips as she yielded up her mouth. He continued to ride her in an ever-increasing tempo of thrust and withdrawal. Her orgasm rolled on in waves.
“This is how it will always be,” he growled.
He slowed his strokes, but even from her limited experience of sex she knew Will had not reached his climax. Withdrawing from her body, he sat back on his haunches and stared at her. She rose up on her knees and came to him.
“Tell me how you want me, how I can pleasure you,” she purred.
She trailed hot kisses across his damp, sweat beaded chest. The heady taste of male rousing her once more to willingly give all that he could demand.
“On your knees, facing the wall,” he replied.
As soon as she had done as instructed, Will came to her. He wrapped his arms around her body, taking both her nipples in his hands. He softly squeezed them, rolling the tight buds between his fingertips. When she whimpered, a groan escaped his lips.
He gently pushed her legs apart and thrust two fingers deep into her heat. Her body was still throbbing with pleasure from climax, but he brought forth her sexual need once more with his skilled stroking of her bud.
“Will,” she said, the words a plea for him to release her from the torture.
He withdrew his fingers and her body welcomed his manhood once more. With hands gripped tightly on to her hips, he took her from behind. The position allowed a deeper penetration than before, the sound of their skin slapping against one another echoed in the quiet of the cabin.
“I want you to come a second time. I won't finish until you do,” he murmured in her ear.
Even if she had been capable, Hattie could not refuse him. Will increased the tempo of his strokes, he knew exactly how to ratchet up the urgent need within her.
On and on he plundered her body until she fractured in a sobbing desperate cry.
How long after that moment it took Will to come, she wasn't certain. She was no longer in control of her body. He possessed her completely.
Her whole existence consisted of the sound of his groans and the deep pounding of his cock inside her still throbbing passage.
Her only thought when he did finally come was to be grateful that the crews' quarters were on the other side of the ship. His roar would have done a lion proud.
They slumped in a heated pile onto the bed, arms and legs entangled.
Will woke several hours later. He and Hattie were still tangled together. Sometime in the night, he had managed to throw some blankets over their naked bodies. Hattie was warm. Her soft breathing told him she was lightly sleeping.
He leaned over and placed a tender kiss at the base of her neck. She stirred.
“Hello you,” he murmured.
Hattie rolled over and sat up. The blankets fell, revealing her breasts. His gaze was drawn to their rose peaks. In the chill air, they quickly became hard little buds. Will felt his cock twitch. He wanted her again.
He pulled her to him and kissed her. She responded naturally to him, returning his kiss in equal tenderness and hunger.
When they eventually broke the kiss, he saw the signs of slight swelling on her bottom lip. In the heat of their passionate love making earlier, he had bitten her lip.
Don’t be a rogue.
They had made love already this night, only a selfish man would ask it of an inexperienced woman to take him inside her once more so quickly. He would wait for Hattie to come to him when she desired his body once again. He lifted the blanket again and wrapped it around her.
“You don’t want to get a chill my love.”
Hattie reached out and touched his chest. Her fingers brushed across the fine black hair on his upper torso.
“What are those?” she asked.
He knew the question about his tattoos would eventually come. Tattoos were not something young unwed women were likely to have seen or even known about. Yet they were common among men of the upper social class in England.
In France, only the
wickedly daring or those living outside the law were tempted to mark their bodies with ink. Yvette had been outraged when Will showed her the tattoo on his right shoulder, thinking somehow, she had been tricked into marrying a criminal.
The tattoo on his right shoulder was of a rearing horse with a crown overhead, standing over a cluster of three four-pointed stars. He watched Hattie’s fingers as she traced the outline of the tattoo's markings.
“The Strathmore coat of arms. I got it in memory of my grandfather on my mother’s side. I would have got one for my father’s family, but being French my father threatened to disown me if I dared to put his family coat of arms in ink on my body,” he said.
She touched the small black rose tattoo on his other shoulder.
“And this one?” she said.
Will cleared his throat. He had not mentioned his marital status until now, allowing Hattie to assume he had never been married. Informing people that he was a widower, tended to lead to awkward conversations. With Hattie, it was something he could no longer hide.
“This is for my wife. Yvette. She died.”
Hattie withdrew her hand. She went to move away, but Will stopped her. Yvette was part of who he was, and Hattie needed to understand.
She would be his wife for the rest of his life, but she would have to come to terms with the fact that Yvette had held his heart first.
“What happened to her?”
He had practiced the lie of Yvette’s death for so long, that at times he almost forgot the truth.
“She became ill and the doctors could not save her,” he replied.
The lie was better than trying to explain how an operation in the streets outside the Great Arsenal in Paris had gone horribly wrong, resulting in the deaths of four British agents and two French royalist supporters. No one in polite society needed to hear how Yvette had been stabbed by an assassin and left to die on the side of the river Seine.
“I am so sorry.”
“Thank you.”
He moved to the back of the bed and sat up against the wall. He held his hand out to Hattie, smiling as she came to him. She lay back in his arms and rested her head against his chest.
There would be time enough in the future to talk of his past. To slowly reveal the truth of the life he had once led.
They sat silently together and watched out the window as the first rays of the morning sun heralded the dawn.
Chapter Fifteen
Like all good things, Hattie knew her time with Will would come to an end. She had granted herself this indulgence. Their affair had been all that she had hoped it would be, and so much more. Will was a passionate, tender, and generous lover. He had shown her pleasures beyond her imagination.
She now knew what a woman could experience with a man. If love ever did come her way, she would only ever yield her heart to another who could make her feel the way Will had done.
They were close to the end of their long journey home. The Canis Major was slowly making its way through the English Channel. Off the portside the English coastline was now clearly in sight. If everything went according to plan, they would be docking in London early the following morning.
Tonight, would be their last night together. One last day of living out her fantasy of being Will’s woman.
Once they docked, she would go back to her old life. Back to helping the people who so desperately needed her. She had tried to put thoughts of her friends to the back of her mind, knowing there was nothing she could do until she reached London. Now as the ship drew nearer to the mouth of the River Thames, she began to wonder what she would find upon her return.
“Wool gathering again?” whispered Will.
She stirred from her musings. She and Will were lying on the bed, naked in one another’s arms. A long afternoon of love making was drawing to a close.
“Just thinking of what will happen once we get back to London,” she replied.
As Will placed a warm kiss on her nape, Hattie shivered. The air on board the ship had slowly been getting colder the further north they travelled.
She climbed off the bed, suddenly needing to put physical distance between them. Picking up her clothes she began to dress. She tried to ignore the huff of disappointment which came from Will as she left him. Will clambered off the bed and began to put on his clothes.
“I was hoping we could discuss that matter today, though we could easily have stayed in bed to do so,” said Will.
Hattie worked on tying the ribbons on the front of her gown as a sense of foreboding slowly took hold. When Will came to her and took hold of her hands, she struggled to meet his gaze.
Don’t say the words.
“It should be a simple enough matter to convince your uncle of the need for us to be wed. After we have secured his permission, we shall journey to my parent’s home and inform them of our happy news. Rest assured my family will love you. My sisters will be delighted with my choice of new bride. I am certain you will become fast friends with Eve and Caroline. Francis will be like a white-haired pup, eager to do your bidding.”
Her heart sank. What would Will say when he discovered her deception? That her Uncle Felix was not in London. Not only was he not in London, he was not even in England.
“I don’t think we should be rushing into anything just yet,” she replied.
Will growled. “I think time is of the essence. You and I have been sharing a bed for the best part of two weeks. I’ve lost count of the times you have given yourself to me. You may already be with child.”
His words stopped her. She had not considered the risk of pregnancy. Surely it took longer than two weeks to fall pregnant. Her brother’s wife had not fallen pregnant in six years of marriage.
“I don’t feel pregnant. I would surely know if I was. So, as I said, we can wait,” she replied.
The look on Will’s face told her he was not happy with the direction the conversation was headed. He had mentioned marriage; and instead of throwing her arms around him and accepting his proposal, she was backing away from his offer and stalling for time.
Hattie picked up Will’s greatcoat, deciding a turn on the deck might be the wisest thing she could do at this point.
“Where are you going? We haven’t finished,” he said.
She straightened her spine and met his gaze. If she did not hold fast, he would have her doing his bidding. She put the coat on and headed for the door.
Will reached out and took hold of her arm as she opened the cabin door.
“Stay. We need to resolve this. I don’t understand why you are saying we must wait. It’s almost as if you are saying no.”
“Let me go. And I am saying no. I will not marry you Will,” she replied.
She stepped out onto the deck. Will quickly followed her.
“No! What do mean no?”
Hattie pulled the greatcoat around her and kept walking. Will caught up and grabbed her firmly by the arm. She knew he did not mean to, but his grip was harder than necessary.
“Ow! You are hurting me! Let go!”
He softened his grip, but still held onto her arm. In his eyes she saw confusion and hurt.
“Come back inside the cabin,” he pleaded.
The last place she wanted to be was alone with Will. He was a man not used to being told no, and therefore would do everything he could to bend her to his will.
“Let go,” she ground out.
His gaze lifted from her, and settled on something over her shoulder. Hattie turned and saw a good number of the Canis Major crew, working on deck. They had all stopped their tasks and were watching the unfolding argument with keen interest.
Memories of the traders at the market in Gibraltar speared into her mind. Will had played the crowd and won them over. Could she do the same?
After all he had done for her Will did not deserve what was about to come. But, he had now backed her into such a tight corner that Hattie could not see any other way out.
I’m sorry.
�
�You cannot make me marry you! I know you only want me for my dowry. You are cruel and selfish,” she cried.
A look of horror appeared on Will’s face.
“Don’t do this Hattie. These men are not simple market stall holders,” he pleaded.
“No. No, I won’t stay silent any longer. When we get to London I am going to tell my uncle exactly the sort of man that you are, you beast.”
All movement on deck came to a standstill. The crew were rivetted by the unfolding drama.
Hattie pulled out of Will’s grip. She staggered away toward the crew, doing her best to bring herself to tears. The first mate reached out and put a comforting arm around her.
“It’s alright young miss, you won’t come to harm,” he said.
Will, hands clenched in tight fists, marched over. His breath was heavy and his stance ramrod straight. The master of the illusion was being beaten at his own game and he was livid.
“Gentlemen, you are being played by this young woman. Now if you would let her go, she and I can go back to our cabin and resolve this matter privately,” he said.
Hattie leaned in closer to the first mate. She managed a sob for added effect.
“Mr. Saunders?”
As Will turned, Hattie caught sight of the ship’s captain. The goings on out on the deck had now been brought to his attention.
‘My fiancée and I are having a small disagreement. I am sorry that she has disturbed your crew and taken them from their work,” explained Will.
Will was an intelligent man, and more than capable of talking himself out of any situation. Hattie also knew the captain liked him. Over the past days, she and Will had spent time with the soon to be retired old seadog. On several occasions they had taken supper in the captain’s cabin.
As Will had judged the situation in the town, Hattie knew the stakes were high. She had to rise to the occasion.
“Disagreement? You wait until my uncle hears of the terrible things you have done to me. I will show him the bruises. He will see you for the wicked brute that you are, he will save me from you.”
She buried her face in the shoulder of the first mate and wailed loudly.
My Gentleman Spy (The Duke of Strathmore Book 5) Page 10