The Troublesome Apprentice (The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 1)

by Liza O'Connor

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  Once Claire had Vic dressed properly, she led her downstairs and towards the door.

  “Do I not get breakfast?”

  “Gregory says no.” Claire gently pushed her out the door and towards the carriage. The moment Vic climbed in, the carriage flew down the road. Davy evidently feared Xavier would return and find the office closed and his employees missing.

  Fortunately, Davy did not hold long grudges. He told her to go upstairs and catch a few more hours sleep while he watched the office.

  She almost replied he had to be equally tired, but remembered he hadn’t been interrogated by Gregory and Claire for hours. “Thank you, Davy,” she said with a heavy yawn and headed to Xavier’s room.

  When she collapsed on the dark red satin sheets, she could smell the faint scent of Xavier on the pillow and breathed in contentedly as she fell off to sleep, wearing not only her clothes, but her shoes as well.

  Waking as someone removed her shoes with care, Vic smiled and returned to sleep when strong hands rolled her onto her back. The scent of Xavier was now much stronger, and it soothed her soul. In her sleep, her pants departed. When the constricting muslin undergarment left as well, she sighed with happy relief until it occurred to her clothes did not normally removed themselves. Curious, she opened her eyes and feasted upon the sight of Xavier’s magnificent chest.

  Her smile widened as her focus continued downward. God, he was even more impressive without his silk trousers.

  She caressed his chest before progressing south until she took hold of his jutting manhood. Before she could provide him any comfort, he gathered up her hands, kissed each one and placed them into the hollowed carvings of the wooden headboard. She felt something clamp down on her wrists. When she tried to free herself so she could touch him more, the headboard would not let her go.

  “I’ve been caught.” She laughed.

  “Yes, you have finally been caught,” he replied and shuffled farther down the bed away from her.

  “Don’t go,” she pleaded. “I like this dream.”

  “I expect you will like this even more,” he said as he parted her legs.

  When he kissed her most private area, electrical bolts coursed through her body from head to toe. She bucked and arched upward as if begging for something unknown to satiate the exquisite torture and quench her hunger. When Xavier slid his fingers inside her she groaned with delight. As they moved in and out, she realized what her body craved. She pleaded for him to enter her.

  He moved upward until his hard body pressed against her side. She longed to stroke and touch him, but the headboard would not release her hands. All she could do was twist her body towards him, pressing it against his fiery skin so it burned her with love.

  She attempted to kiss him, but he pulled away and laughed softly. “I’m not ready to end this.”

  “Please,” she begged. “I want you…all of you!”

  He eased away, and she cried out from the loss of his hot flesh pressed against her. “Xavier, don’t leave me.”

  “Hush, love, I’m here,” he assured her. A moment later, he was above her. She pushed upward, certain they would burn into a single person.

  “This may hurt for a moment,” he warned. “That is perfectly natural on the first time.”

  Vic was in such a state of pleasure she had no concept of pain. The instant she felt the answer to her body’s hunger press inside her, she thrust hard against him and screamed in delight over the rightness and perfection of their joining.

  They were one now. She had made them truly one in body, mind, and soul. She tried to kiss him again, and this time he allowed it. He began the kiss with great tenderness, but it soon turned into hot fiery passion as he slowly rocked within her.

  The pleasure growing inside her was almost incomprehensible. How could anything provide so much joy and wonderment? As his tempo increased, the insatiable desires she had experienced earlier built again, only this time at a higher level, pleasure so exquisite it almost hurt to bear. Her body burst into vibrations as new sensations overcame her.

  She was in heaven, melting like hot wax.

  Finally, the headboard released her hands, and she slid them onto his chest.

  “You’ve given me the most wonderful experience I have ever had in my life.”

  “Happy to oblige,” he teased and started to ease away.

  “Don’t go,” she begged. “I don’t want this dream to end yet.”

  He stroked her face and sighed. “No, Vic. You are not dreaming, and I will not allow you to claim it so. Our lovemaking was real. It is the start of our life together.”

  She smiled. “What a wonderful start…” She sighed in exhausted bliss and fell asleep.

  Chapter 34

  “Where the hell have you been?” Raphael demanded.

  “I had a private matter to attend to,” Xavier replied.

  Raphael breathed in. “You’ve been with a woman. You reek of sex. Could it not wait until after your mission?”

  “No, it couldn’t.” Xavier knew he could easily die on this mission. He needed to see Vic one last time. He did not want to leave this world without knowing true happiness. When he read her notes tossed in the trash and discovered she felt the same, he did not hesitate to act.

  “This is the first time I have ever seen you behave in an unprofessional manner,” Raphael complained.

  “I have done nothing unprofessional. I am here on time, and ready for duty. I find it most ironic a notorious Don Juan is lecturing me on my sexual proclivities.”

  “I don’t run off in the middle of a mission…”

  “I did not ‘run off,’ I asked for and received a two hour leave.”

  “We gave you time off because we assumed you wished to wrap up your affairs.”

  Xavier shook his head. “Your confidence overwhelms! For your information, I intend to survive my mission and thus have no need to tie up my affairs.”

  “Well, had we known what you intended to do during your two hours, you would have been refused.”

  “Glad no one asked. Now, unless you have any useful information to provide me, I suggest you leave and let me get on with it.”

  ***

  Vic reluctantly woke from the most delicious dream of her life. She sat up and stared about, stunned to find herself in Xavier’s bed. As her mind cleared, she recalled Gregory tossing her out of the house and sending her to work.

  Still, it did not explain her nakedness and the fatigue in her muscles. She frowned at her clothes tossed on the floor. Not even in her sleep would she do that. Gregory had broken such inclinations by the time she turned thirteen.

  She recalled her dream in which the headboard captured her hands so Xavier could ravish her body. Vic turned and investigated the carvings. When she placed a hand into a carved opening, a wooden lever fell down over her wrist making it impossible to extract. Glad she had not placed both wrists into the carving, she set about freeing herself. It took her fifteen minutes to figure out how to release her hand and she needed her free hand to accomplish the task.

  Her final evidence their fantastical union really happened was the strange item she found draped on the wash bowl. A long tube of vulcanized rubber. A condom. Xavier must have rinsed it out and left it to dry for future use.

  Xavier’s words returned, warning her she must not try to escape the reality of their action by declaring it a dream. She smiled. He understood her so well.

  She dressed and went downstairs, planning to complain loudly about his thoughtless tossing of her clothes, leaving her in a wrinkled state for the remainder of the day. When she knocked on his office door, he did not answer. After the third loud knock, she pulled the key from her pocket and opened the door, standing out of the way, so any flying inkwell would miss her entirely.

  No objects sailed past. With great caution, she knelt down and peeked inside to an empty room. Confused, she rose and entered. All remained as she’d left it.
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  She locked the door and returned to her own desk, now completely befuddled. She had clear evidence upstairs Xavier had been here, but he was not here now, nor were there any signs he had been in the office.

  She called out his name and when that provided no response, called for Davy. He didn’t answer either. She reached for her gun only to discover Claire had not included that particular dress accoutrement. She intended to give Claire and Gregory a firm lecture about not forgetting her gun when they took it upon themselves to pack her clothes or dress her. The lecture would have to wait, for right now she needed a weapon. She settled on a letter opener.

  Wielding the pointy blade of ivory, she verified no criminal held Davy or Xavier captive in the basement. Nor did she see signs of a struggle. Upon checking upstairs and finding it empty, she went out back and determined the carriage and horse were gone. Perhaps Xavier had a case to attend and Davy drove him.

  But what case? The only open case was Lady Anne’s. With a sickening dread, she returned to her desk and checked her trashcan. Both of her ‘last messages’ were gone. Xavier must have found and read them. She tried to recall what she had written. One message telling him she wanted to step forward and the other telling him her theory of Lady Anne’s danger.

  “Damn!” she cursed, certain Xavier had taken her lead and headed to the country to save Lady Anne and her brother David. “This was my discovery,” she declared aloud. “You cannot steal my leads. It is entirely unprofessional!”

  A knock on the front door silenced her righteous soliloquy, but did not lessen her temper. She stormed to the door and opened it. A pirate stood on the other side, smiling.

  Long, black, shiny hair coiled about his shoulders like snakes. His dark piercing eyes and several slashing scars across his high cheekbones gave him a decided air of danger. The large gold loops hanging from his ears and the multitude of gold chains about his neck only enhanced his pirate image. She glanced down to ensure he wore no saber. Her relief he didn’t was offset by the two guns resting in crossing shoulder holsters beneath his colorful vest and a knife peeking from his waistband.

  By the time she had taken in this last bit of information he had pushed her aside and entered the room. “Who were you yelling at?”

  “My employer, who is in the next room. One cry of alarm from me, and you will be dead, for he is a very fine marksman.”

  Instead of being frightened by her words, the fellow chuckled. “That he is.” He turned and pushed the outside door closed, since she had failed to do so. “He left me a message I was to assist you in your mission.”

  “What mission?”

  “I’ve no idea. Don’t you know?”

  Vic frowned at him. “Sit over there, while I speak to my boss,” she ordered and pointed him to the bench. The pirate laughed at her, but sat as instructed.

  She hurried to the office door and called out, “Sir, I need to interrupt you one moment, please don’t shoot me as I enter.”

  Instead of intimidating the pirate, it only amused him further, but he remained on the bench allowing her to escape into Xavier’s office and lock the door. Feeling a bit safer now, she took his chair and pondered what her next move should be. She decided she should describe the pirate in detail and leave Xavier a note so he could hunt down and kill the scoundrel when her body washed ashore.

  Upon unlocking his desk to obtain paper and ink, she found her two letters inside with a third note lying beneath them. Certain parts of her letters had been underlined. Given the number of angry slashes under ‘just in case I don’t return’ and ‘something terrible has happened’, she opened the third note with trepidation.

  My dear half-trained apprentice.

  If Davy did not accompany you on your two dangerous missions, I will fire him when I return. Given his past and age, this will no doubt be a death sentence for the man. I have grown very fond of Davy. I truly hope you have not killed the poor fellow.

  In an attempt to predict your next move, I am sending you the useful fellow who ensured the horses safely arrived in France. He can provide you additional security as you AND DAVY wander willy-nilly throughout the countryside on whatever mission you have in that strange head of yours.

  Your master, X

  To my impudent pup:

  Please take care, for I find our one step forward leaves me wanting many future steps with you.

  The man of your dreams and reality, Xavier.

  Her heart swelled with joy at his personal message. The threats to fire Davy didn’t concern her because he had accompanied her on both missions, and she was most pleased Xavier had not stolen her lead, rather he sent her a frightening pirate to assist.

  She wrote a reply on the bottom of his letter.

  Dear Employer and man of my dreams and reality:

  Davy will not be fired, for he was with me on both missions, the pirate is here presently and I will interrogate him to discover what skills he possesses that might be of use to me.

  On a personal note: I also look forward to many future steps.

  Your impudent pup, Victor

  Vic placed the three letters into the desk and relocked it. She left the office to discover Xavier’s driver and the pirate chatting like long lost friends.

  Davy introduced her to Jacko. “He’s the most honest and reliable fellow you’ll ever meet.”

  Vic thought it an odd introduction. Normally, people don’t introduce a person and then declare them honest and reliable, but then most people don’t dress like a pirate.

  She shook Jacko’s hand. “I’m sorry if I seemed rude before, but Xavier hadn’t mentioned you to me. I understand you moved the horses for us?”

  “Without stealing a one of them,” he replied.

  Vic smiled. He taunted her due to her first impression of him. “While I don’t need any horses to be moved, I do have a young woman and her brother I fear are in danger and need to be taken to the same place you delivered the horses.”

  Her remark removed the smile from Jacko’s face. “I am the man to do this,” he declared with intense fierceness. “I will protect the lady with my life.”

  “I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Vic said. “However, I have a few questions to determine if you possess the skills required. Do you speak any other languages beyond English?”

  “Five.”

  “Five? Excellent.”

  He listed them off and she wrote them down, happy to see one was French. “Are you accurate with your shot?”

  “Deadly accurate,” he replied, “but I will not be allowed to carry these onto a ship. I will have to rely on my derringer,” he said and pulled a small gun from his boot.

  “Well, that is…” she stopped before she called the gun ‘pretty’ and searched for a word that wouldn’t make her sound like a complete fool. “…that is a remarkably small weapon, very useful, I would imagine.”

  “It’s only good for up close fighting,” he admitted.

  Not only did Jacko prove to be properly skilled for the mission, but he also offered to arrange passage on the ship.

  She almost refused his assistance, but realized she hadn’t the vaguest idea how to handle such matters. She glanced at Davy to ensure he believed Jacko was up to the task, and Davy nodded.

  Convinced, she gave the pirate a smile. “I greatly appreciate your assistance, for in truth, I have never booked a client passage on a ship. Perhaps you could tell me how you will do it so I will know for myself if the need arises in the future.

  Jacko laughed at the request. “I will book passage at a small port ten miles away from Lady Anne’s estate. However, if you wish to purchase passage here in London, all you need do is go to the port and locate a shipping office. Tell them where you want to go and what class you wish to travel and, they will provide you with your choices and days.”

  “And what class will you book for Lady Anne?”

  “There are no steamers out of the port I will use, so I will pay a premium to book her the first mate’s cabin. I
t will be poor lodgings, but the best available, and I am certain she’ll survive it for a single night of crossing.”

  Vic hoped Jacko was correct, suddenly fearing the much-loved Lady Anne might refuse to travel in such poor conditions. Best not to tell her until she’s on the ship.

  “Excellent. Let us close up the office and begin our journey.”

  “Shouldn’t you return home and pack a bag? Davy asked.

  “No need, another day’s wear won’t harm these clothes.” She slapped at the wrinkles and dust on her sleeve, marveling at Xavier’ carelessness. A smile crossed her face as she remembered the pleasure she incurred while her clothes took a tumble.

  “Well, I need to pick up a few things,” Davy said and stared at Jacko.

  “I’ll need to pick up a few men,” Jacko added. “We shall meet at the bridge in two hours,” he said to Davy.

  Vic couldn’t believe it. Both men had completely ignored her decision to leave at once. However, since they had hurried off, fussing over the matter would only make her appear childish.

  Davy called her from the second floor so she hurried upstairs. Perhaps he wished to apologize.

  “We’ve bread, meat, and cheese in the kitchen. Could you make us sandwiches to eat before we go? I’ve grown accustomed to eating three meals a day, and we both missed breakfast.”

  Vic almost suggested they could eat lunch in the carriage, but realized Davy would be driving. “Excellent idea, we’ll do that,” she said, trying to nicely re-establish her leadership role.

  After they ate, instead of going directly to their meeting place, Davy pulled up to her house.

  “Why are you stopping here?”

  “So you can let your sister know you won’t be home until noon tomorrow,” Davy replied.

  “Oh, right!” she replied and climbed out of the carriage.

  “Might want to change clothes since you’re here,” he suggested. “Dressed like you are, Lady Anne might mistake you for a vagabond, and the tavern might refuse you a private room to sleep in tonight.”