Keeping Cadence

by Piper J. Drake

  They tightened for him. Damn, he had her wound up and wet and needy. When his tongue flicked out against one nipple, she stifled a cry. Had he locked the door?

  "Oh no, luv, I want your attention on me." His arm around her waist tightened and he used his other hand to cradle one breast as the heat of his mouth covered her nipple. He drew on it, a gentle tug pulling desire up from deep inside her core. Suckling and teasing her nipple with his tongue, he had her focused all right, and wanting more. By the time he'd given sufficient attention to her other breast, she was clutching his shoulders.

  What door? She'd just kill anyone who interrupted them.

  "Cadence!"

  Damn. Maybe not her captain.

  She shot upright in his arms, her chin contacting his forehead with jarring force.

  "Sorry." She was in a whole lot of ways. Still, she pulled her blouse up over her breasts and her corset tight again, tying off the longer cords at her back.

  "No apologies required." He rubbed his forehead and gave her a rueful grin. "Things do seem to happen at a quicker pace around here."

  "You have no idea."

  "Cadence, you've got less than a second, then I'm coming in and I don't want to see what I think I'm going to see." A pause. "Unless he's got a nice arse. A cute arse might improve my mood."

  Cadence eyed Jonathan, who raised his arms out to the side and did a slow turn for her.

  Nice. But she wasn't sharing, not even with her captain.

  "No worries, Cap'n."

  Jonathan unlatched and opened the door to a very agitated Captain Sharp. She barely gave him a glance before she locked on to Cadence. "We're going to need a head start to send our new business associates on their way and get back to the Vulpes. Minxy's mark woke up, found his money roll gone and gathered up a few friends to get it back."

  Ah hell.

  "On it." Cadence took the lead out into the center floor, her captain grabbing Jonathan by the scruff before more questions popped out of him. His slick gentleman investor joined them as they passed by, wringing his hands and talking of his reputation in the establishment.

  Her captain waved him off. "No worries. Our reputation will most certainly stay fresher in everyone's mind."

  Patrons had moved to either side of the area, clearing a central path to the entrance hall, where the oaf stood with a dozen or so burly companions. Too many to take in one shot. Anticipation built in Cadence's chest and adrenaline began to sing through her veins. Jonathan had her all wound up and if she couldn't have him, this'd do for the time being.

  "No body count, this time, Cadence."

  Well, that increased the level of difficulty a touch. "Aye, Cap'n."

  Jonathan's concern and slick man's whining faded into background noise as her attention focused on her opponents. Warmed up as she was, she had no trouble rising to the edge, her personal zone. A light touch to her boot and her steam tech activated.

  "Bitch!"

  Ah now, name-calling wasted time.

  She took a few running steps toward the men, watching them tense as she approached, then she darted to the right just inside the entrance hall. Her feet touched the wall, taking her up the side. Even with his weapon drawn, he still wasn't fast enough.

  His shots hit the wall behind her as she launched toward him.

  She grabbed handfuls of his shirt at each shoulder, sailing over him and using the force of her momentum to yank him off his feet. As she hit the ground, he flipped over her head and into his companions. The force of impact bowled them all over and left them in a pile on the floor.

  "See you on the ship, Cap'n," she called out.

  Captain Sharp took her signal and dragged their two new clients out through the path she'd just cleared. "See that you do, Cadence."

  When the first man got to his feet, Cadence sprang back into motion. Round kicks, striking combinations, sidekicks, for her it was a dance of violence and the rhythm of it pulsed in her blood. In moments, they all lay moaning back on the floor, weapons forgotten.

  She tossed a few coins on the nearest gaming table for cleanup and exited, jogging back to the piers at an easy pace. If anything, the taste of excitement followed by a bit of a brawl picked up her spirits and put a spring in her step. Mont Blanc never disappointed her.

  "Cadence!" Damn, but that wasn't her captain. No, it was Jonathan, standing next to a hired coach, and he needed to be gone.

  A pistol shot sounded over her shoulder and she dodged off to the left as people in the street took cover.

  "Get into the coach, you idjit!" How was she supposed to have him finish what he started if he got himself killed? She didn't do dead people.

  Some did. An awful shudder ran through her.

  "Two targets are harder to hit than one. There’s innocent people everywhere!" Not far away, she could see Jonathan's brows drawn together in concern. And he should be, since the idjit was standing way out in the open.

  But he had a point. She liked him better for his ill-timed bravery and more for his concern.

  Another shot rang out. Minxy's oaf was stupid enough to open fire while running.

  Cadence sighed.

  No chance he'd hit her, but he might hit Jonathan by accident or sheer luck. Or he might hit some innocent bystander as Jonathan pointed out. Anger sparked and began a slow burn. She didn't condone spilling pain onto noncombatants.

  "Thank you. Now, you do not want me angry with you, Jonathan. Get to cover." She snapped the words out, then turned and planted her feet. She drew her pistol.

  One shot rang out. It was all she needed.

  Captain said no body count, but she didn't say Cadence couldn't draw blood. The oaf had come to a standstill, his friends with him, as he clutched his bleeding hand. She'd shot him in the knuckles, disarming him and giving him something to think about before repeating his stupidity.

  In the meantime, Jonathan was proving he truly wasn't intimidated by her and she was starting to wonder if they needed to fix that as he joined her at the edge of the pier. A quick glance over her shoulder and she spotted her captain and Minxy. They'd cast off and were sailing their way down to their airship where the Vulpes was moored hundreds of feet below, clear of the mountainside.

  "They cast off without you." He touched her shoulder as she stood at the edge looking down. "I couldn't leave you behind the way they did."

  Anger evaporated. She smiled at his sweetness. "They didn't. Cap'n knows I'll find my own way back down to the ship."

  "But how…"

  "I'll be seeing you in a week's time, Jonathan Archer. You keep in mind where we left off and maybe we'll pick up when next we meet."

  Stepping away from him, she touched her fingertips to her lips, then fell backward off the edge of the pier and off the side of the mountain.

  The wind swept away Jonathan's cry of alarm and she turned to hurtle headfirst toward the earth, her feet slightly parted to control the air's surface pressure on the length of her body. After a moment, she arched her back to level out, keeping her arms tucked tight to her sides. She pinched her feet and knees hard together to keep all her joints in place as she touched another button on her chest harness, activating more steam tech. Mechanical wings extended from her back with a whirring sound and a hiss of steam.

  She was ready for the gentle tug as her wings caught air and slowed her decent, creating lift and allowing her to move away from the cliff side. She spread her arms and legs wide then, slowing her speed as she reveled in the air currents. Gliding, she headed for the Vulpes. Her captain likely saw her coming, adjusting the ship's trajectory to make her approach easier. Judging velocity and angle, she flared her wings wide to erase her forward momentum and then touched her harness again to retract the wings with another hiss of steam.

  Tucking midair, she rolled as she hit the catch net on the aft deck, strung up for that very purpose. It absorbed the majority of her momentum, letting her find her feet on the padded mat at its base.

  "One of these days, you a
re going to miss and splatter yourself all over my deck. You are giving me grey hair before my time, Cadence." Her captain stood waiting as she hopped off the mat to the deck. Despite her words, Captain Sharp had a fierce grin plastered across her face.

  "Permission to come aboard, Cap'n."

  "Better late than never. Permission granted." She gave Cadence a quick, fierce hug. "Let's get underway."

  "Aye, Cap'n."

  Chapter 2

  Jonathan studied his plate with trepidation.

  "Eat up; I'm sure you must be quite hungry." Nicholas Dodgson set the example, stuffing a piece of greasy sausage into his mouth.

  Jonathan suppressed a grimace. For a purported gentleman, Dodgson needed to try harder to keep up appearances. It was getting difficult to pretend to believe the man. "The fare at this establishment is interesting. Do you come here often?"

  Dodgson waved his fork to indicate the common area. "We are safer here. Too many would take note if we patronized one of the establishments catering to those with finer palates. With luck, we'll book passage on an airship early in the morning and no one will be the wiser of our brief visit to Mont Blanc. Our business, especially where it concerns your particular talents, requires the utmost discretion."

  That much, at least, was truth. "Yet again, I find myself grateful for your sponsorship and your guidance in this venture."

  That would include Dodgson's funding to cover travel expenses.

  "Well, of course! The minute I saw your work, I knew you had a great future." Dodgson gestured to the barmaid for another tankard. "It would have been a tragedy to leave you in that tiny town with clankerton as the highest position you could hope to attain. No, Mister Archer, you are meant for much greater acclaim."

  Jonathan took great pride in being called a clankerton. Still, he shoved his annoyance to the back of his mind and pressed on with a smile. "If we are in such a hurry to be out of Mont Blanc, why not simply book passage with the Airship Vulpes? You obviously felt their crew was worth hiring for our purposes in New London."

  The corner of Dodgson's mouth pulled back in a leer. "Liked the strawberry tart, did you? Well, there'll be more than enough company to enjoy in New London, with better dispositions. Don't get too caught up on her. We chose that crew in particular because they are suitable for our purpose, especially because they've plenty of enemies and are easily expendable. All we need of them is confirmation of the quality of the supplies we're purchasing and their protection long enough to complete the transaction. No one will miss those unnatural females once our business is complete. We wouldn't have been able to cut such a deal without helping our business partner get to them. But no need to worry about the more complicated aspects of the plan, you focus on your designs and enhancements. They'll need to be made while we're still in New London to ensure we have all the components you require."

  Dodgson continued on, then, about several of the competitors they'd expect to see at the event in France. All information Jonathan had gathered previously, none of concern.

  Blinking his eyes repeatedly, Jonathan feigned drunken vacancy. If Dodgson thought he'd missed the omission of the flight from New London to Paris, all the better. As far as Jonathan was concerned, they'd paid for that transport and he, at least, would be aboard the airship.

  "Here now, Mister Archer." Dodgson tapped his fork against the rim of Jonathan's half-full plate. "You're asleep at your dinner. Why don't you finish with your meal and get up to your room before you start snoring face first in your food?"

  "Beg your pardon, Dodgson." How far into his cup was Dodgson that he'd left off his gentleman's diction completely? Best to play along in case Dodgson was an equally good actor. "I'll just head up to my room now. All the excitement, you see, I've not much appetite."

  Dodgson merely nodded, his attention wandering as he eyed the pretty barmaid.

  "You'll have someone wake me?" Jonathan stood.

  "Course." Dodgson didn't even look up at him. "I'll have a girl sent up with breakfast and we'll head to the docks shortly after dawn."

  Jonathan nodded and made his way up to his room. Only when he had stepped inside, checked the entire room for unwanted surprises and latched the door did he finally relax. Shrugging out of his vest, he stepped to the washstand.

  Dodgson might play the part of a gentleman, but Jonathan had been born to privilege. His mother had taken residence in their family's estate just outside the small town he claimed as his home.

  "Taking in the benefits of the country air." Jonathan snorted. Whether spoken aloud or in the privacy of his mind, the familiar words shouted a lie of omission. Oh, his mother had a delicate constitution, no doubt about that, but the sad truth hung unspoken in the room whenever she made the excuse.

  His father had many interests, not all of them financially related.

  Too tired to worry about splashing his shirt, he stripped it off completely and left it hanging on the single chair in the room. Pouring some water from the pitcher into his hand, he washed up with quick yet efficient motions. He liked to be clean, yet disliked wasting time.

  Your father says we've all the time in the world to enjoy each other's company. His mother's reassurances played through his head. He does run one of the most esteemed gaming clubs in New London, after all. Once he's seen to the business, taken it to new heights of success, then he'll come out to visit us. The club is no place for you and I.

  No, a gaming club was no place for a wife and the child his father gave her to keep her occupied. Still, the few times his father had visited, Jonathan had no reason for complaint. His father had provided him with his introduction to his true calling, after all. Tiny toys always accompanied his father, little mechanical wonders of clockworks driven by steam.

  Only the best gadgets for my bright boy. His father might not have realized he'd used the exact words every time he'd brought a new gift.

  They were inspiration, as far as Jonathan was concerned.

  He took his pocket watch from his trousers and placed it on the edge of the nightstand, where it would be safe from an accidental splash. As always, he paused for a moment to admire the intricate clockworks through the clear crystal facing. A work of art and immensely practical in application, the pocket watch represented everything that fascinated him about machinery.

  He had no interest in math applied to finances or games of chance. Accounting bored him to tears. No. It was the science of mechanical engineering that took hold of his waking moments and some of his dreams. He'd wanted to prove himself without the backing of his father's reputation, wanted the true feedback of his peers and not the pandering of those interested in his father's fortune or connections.

  "And here I am." Jonathan studied himself in the mirror above the washstand. He'd allowed a day or two’s growth of his beard to counter the youthful look of his face. In truth, he was older than his appearance. Besides, the scruff lent to the image of a middle-class engineer as opposed to a gentleman. "Be careful, old son. Be clever but don't underestimate him."

  Words of wisdom. Too bad he tended to act before he thought better of it. Taking up Dodgson's offer of sponsorship had been a great opportunity. But with each new step in Dodgson's plan, Jonathan doubted he'd live to see his inventions shown in Paris. It'd be touch-and-go timing it, but he'd have to find an opportunity to separate himself from Dodgson before there was no way out and still ensure his way to Paris. The Vulpes was his main hope, at this point, and sweet Cadence might prove the perfect bodyguard.

  And oh, what he'd very much like to do to her body…

  He shook his head. No time to get distracted, especially when there was no guarantee his plans would come to fruition. He'd have to remain flexible and act in accordance with the way circumstances played out.

  Yet as he lay down and waited for sleep to overtake him, it was her red hair and sweet lips at the forefront of his mind.

  Chapter 3

  Hours later, the Airship Vulpes was sailing clear skies with a favorable
wind at her back. Cadence set her knuckles to the heavy wood door leading to the captain's stateroom.

  "Come!"

  She opened the door to find Minxy curled up in an armchair in their captain's sitting room. Abigail had taken the opposite chair and Bella sat cross-legged on the floor by the cast-iron stove, brushing out her dark hair. Captain Sharp lay sprawled across the settee, a glass of wine in her hand.

  "About time you showed up." Her captain rose and strode to her side table, producing another glass and pouring ruby red for Cadence. "All's well?"

  "We're making good progress and the boys are all behaving for the time being." Cadence accepted the proffered glass. She took a sip, but made no move to drink more, not while she was still on watch.

  Minxy snorted. "You know, Cadence, some of those 'boys' are old, scruffy, ugly pirates. I wouldn't bed a single one of their smelly arses."

  None of the officers present would. Captain's standing orders. None of the ladies of the airship ever slept with the regular crew members, mostly male. They had a few cabin girls onboard too, but while Minxy spread around her favors pretty evenly between men and women ashore, cabin kids were too young for her tastes.

  Cadence raised an eyebrow as she studied Minxy's lazy smile. "If I recall, I recently beat a man to within an inch of his consciousness because you didn't want him to bed your arse."

  "That was different. He wanted to poke mine, not me bedding his. There's a completely different set of actions involved." Minxy waved a hand in dismissal. "You know what I'm saying."

  "Well, it has been a while for Cadence." Abigail gave her a warm smile to soften the sting.

  Cadence stuck out her tongue. It'd been a while for Abigail too but she had a husband waiting for her in New London, one of those scholarly academic types. "Easy for you to say, once we dock at New London port you've got a sure thing."

  Captain Sharp laughed. "I don't know how much longer it'll be for our lovely weapons officer either. Looked to me as if Cadence had some strong chemistry going on with the inventor boy." She lifted a glass to the idea.