“Stunning, yes.” He settled more comfortably into the saddle and gripping his reins with a firmer hold, he urged his mount on and they raced over the rise before tackling the next hill. An hour later the coastline shimmered into view, the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean rippling for as far as the eye could see.
“Race you to the beach.” Jamie was off, flying like the wind.
He raced in hard pursuit and whipped past the boy by a horse’s head.
Along the stretch of white sand, he slowed his mount then with a toss of one leg over his destrier’s rump, he thumped onto the soft grains. After securing his horse to a beached log, he kicked off his boots, unbelted his sword and shucked his tan tunic and blue breeches.
“What are you doing?” Jamie squeaked, still atop his horse.
“Going for a swim. Come on, race you into the water.”
“What? No!”
“Yes. Even soldiers are allowed a moment to relax and enjoy themselves.” Naked as the day he’d been born, he ran full force into the waves and dove, leaving the stunned boy in his wake.
Chapter 6
Julia fanned her hand over her heated cheeks as Harry disappeared under the waves. She hadn’t expected him to strip down to nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.
But oh my, when he’d raced away after issuing his challenge, she’d caught a mouth-watering glimpse of his heavily muscled back darkened by the sun, his body tapering to lean hips, firm buttocks and toned legs as he’d bounded into the waves. Such a heavenly view.
Of course, she’d seen her fair share of bare limbs from men being treated in the infirmary but this was quite different. No fully virile man had ever disrobed in front of her like he just had.
If only she could likewise disrobe and join him for a swim, but not a possibility, not if she wished to keep her disguise of Jamie intact.
Unfortunately, she also couldn’t swim.
It was her one great fear—the water.
Knowing she could have so easily drowned as a baby had always caused issues to arise whenever she attempted to push through the waves. Never had she managed to go beyond her waist in the water, whether it be in a river, lake, or the sea.
If she did, her heart would race abnormally. Shivers would arise and overtake her body, and her mind would cloud over with darkness. She could safely stand at the edge of the shoreline where the waves rolled in and tickled her toes, but having an escape path was essential. She needed to be within a few steps of standing once more on solid ground.
Anteros had tried to calm her fears over the years.
Her childhood friend had taught her how to wade within the shallows, but even he hadn’t been able to break the icy-cold dread which soon had black spots dancing before her eyes should she go too far from the shoreline into the water.
Which meant she’d had to accept her restrictions. She could enjoy walking along the beach where the surf rolled in, the sand wet and cool under her toes, the salty scent of the sea breeze washing over her, but no more. Sliding from her saddle, she dismounted and secured Star Blazer to the same beached log Harry had secured his horse. She’d enjoy a walk along the beach for today.
On the springy grass, she sat and unlaced her boots before rolling her breeches to mid-calf. Taking care with her step, she tiptoed across the sand and dipped her toes into the bubbly surf. Out beyond the breakers, Harry swam with sure strokes. Merciful heavens. He cut a fine figure as he glided gracefully through the water in a parallel line to the beach.
A seagull suddenly screeched overhead and she lifted her gaze. The bird circled the airwaves, its wingtips wide as it searched for a fish close to the surface. It spotted its prey and dived, wings tucked in as it plunged below the surface then it heaved back up with a fish between its beaks. Another seagull dived a little farther out and emerged with its catch, and she darted along the beach and bounded onto a rock protruding from the edge of this beautiful bay.
Waves splashed the boulder and she giggled as a spray of water dampened her tunic. She could enjoy this shallower water with no issue. Her fear of the water wasn’t completely irrational though. She had no problem boarding a ship or sailing across the sea, which she was most grateful for.
With her hand to her brow, she searched for Harry again and gasped as a familiar three-mast vessel rounded the bay. The Cobra. Anteros stood at the helm captaining his ship and she waved. She didn’t doubt he’d spied her through his telescope—the man had the eyes of a hawk.
They’d both been so young when they’d first met, her seven and Anteros three years older at ten. His grandfather had commissioned her father for a project. Father had been asked to design and engineer a pulley system on an island just off the coastline of Sicily. Father’s mission had been to successfully hoist ancient artifacts from deep within the ruins of an archaeological site up to the surface where Anteros’s grandfather could then ensure the artifacts were preserved for future generations of his family. She and Father had lived on the island for a year as Father had worked on the project.
During that time, she and Anteros had gotten into a great deal of mischief. It had all begun when Anteros had convinced her that they should explore the tunnels below the ruins. He’d loaned her a pair of his old breeches and a tunic. She’d stuck her long hair underneath a cap and been excited as she’d moved about freely as a lad. That’s when she’d first taken the façade of Jamie, the first time of many times.
The two of them had been inseparable, and she’d even joined Anteros after his lessons, both of them conversing in the languages taught to him by his tutors.
Over the years that had followed, she and Father had returned to the island for further projects. Father had been thrilled to design and build other engineering systems for Anteros’s grandfather, and she’d been as equally thrilled to spend more time with her friend. During those years, she’d confided in Anteros about her adoption, and he’d confided in her about his true heritage—and thus had been born the most splendid of friendships.
A rogue wave suddenly washed in and pounded over her boulder. She darted back and jumped onto the beach as white surf streamed around her feet. Squelching back through the wet sand, grains oozing between her toes, she searched the breakers once more for Harry while out in the bay, Anteros lowered a skiff over the side of his ship and sank his oars into the waves.
Keeping her cap in place, she yelled Harry’s name then he suddenly emerged from the waves directly in front of her, not more than twenty feet away. Water sluiced down his chest as he pushed through the surf toward shore. His lower body swept clear of the water line and heat flushed her cheeks, although she couldn’t turn her gaze away as she should, not even as embarrassment took her. No rear view this time.
She got a full frontal.
Rippled abs, strong thighs, his manhood swaying long and thick between his legs. The flared head of his cock dripped water, his balls heavy and a thick patch of golden curls surrounding his member. His entire body was packed with hard muscle and her mouth watered. She had no control over her body, not as her womanhood throbbed and her nipples stabbed into the bindings wrapped around her breasts.
“Jamie!” Anteros bellowed at her, his lips slashing down in a scowl as he rowed the breakers.
Drat. Anteros could be rather overprotective of her.
And she really needed to stop staring at Harry.
The man himself strode past her and she heaved her chin up and groaned when all she could see were white clouds bobbing across the blue expanse of the sky and not the delicious body of an Adonis.
“The water is glorious.” A rustle of clothing as her Adonis dressed. “You should have joined me.”
“The boy can’t,” Anteros barked as he beached his skiff, hauled it onto the sand and marched toward her in a white tunic open at the neck and knee-high boots encasing his feet. Curved swords were belted at both of Anteros’s hips while his pistol had been jammed down the front of his tight-fitting sapphire breeches. Anteros could be quite a formidab
le force at times, a man who suited his moniker—The Cobra. He could be both as protective and as fearsome as the snake. No one was permitted to get between him and those he held dear to his heart. He would snap and bite if they did.
At his neck, the emblem of a cobra was engraved into the heavy piece of gold coinage which they’d both discovered together deep underground within the tunnels of the archeological site. When he stepped up to her and affectionately tapped her chin, she tapped his emblem in return and grinned back at him.
“Grrr,” he muttered under his breath. “Your father would tan your hide if he saw you right now.”
“Then it’s just as well he can’t see me.” A wink.
“Upon my soul, you have always been such a mischievous imp.”
“Says the man who taught me how to be mischievous.”
“You make it impossible to argue back.” Anteros swung around in front of her, effectively blocking her view of Harry, who’d unfortunately already pulled on his dark blue breeches. She sighed with discontent, while Anteros muttered some more.
“What do you mean by the boy can’t?” Harry asked Anteros.
“What the lad has grievously forgotten to inform you about, is that he has an unusual fear of water.” Anteros planted his hands on his hips. “He can sail upon it, walk in the shallows, but don’t ask him to go in over his head or he’ll faint. Fainting means death by drowning.”
“Is that right?” Harry asked her as he peeked around Anteros before flapping his tan tunic over his wet head.
“Yes, Anteros is right.” She shuffled her feet. “My sister has the same fear as well. Neither of us can swim, and we’re rather annoyed that we can’t. We both detest it and the weakness it gives us.”
“The only way to overcome such a deep-seated fear is to meet it head on.” Harry’s footsteps crunched the leaves scattered across the grassy verge as he collected their horses’ reins. “I can teach both you and your sister how to swim if you’d like?”
“Anteros and my father have tried and failed.” She unrolled the hem of her breeches and hopped about as she pulled on her boots.
Harry handed her Star Blazer’s reins then mounted up, the leather of his saddle creaking as he glanced at Anteros. “Jamie and I are inspecting the forts along this western coastline. If you’d like to join us, please do.”
“Thank you for the invitation, but my crew are awaiting my return. I shouldn’t have left my ship as it is, only a possible crisis threatened my sanity.” Anteros stalked to his skiff with a warning glance at her. “I shall leave you both to continue on. Take all care, Jamie.”
“I shall, and you too, Anteros.” With her reins in hand, she slid one booted foot into Star Blazer’s stirrup and hoisted herself into her saddle.
With a slap of her horse’s rump, she jerked forward just as Harry kneed his destrier. The two of them galloped away from the beach and she rode across the stony hills, the grass dry and brittle in places from the strong ocean winds.
“I’d still like for you to give me the chance to teach you and your sister how to swim,” Harry yelled across the wind battering into them.
“Try with my sister first and if you succeed, then you may teach me.” She could concede that much.
“Good. I’m glad you’re open to the possibility of learning.” He nodded his approval, went to speak again, only the boom of gunfire swept across the jagged sea cliffs toward them.
Up ahead, gun emplacements were mounted in staggered intervals across the hilly rises to ensure each fort’s firing range was covered in the case of an attack. As a guardsman noted their arrival, he blew a horn and the gunfire halted.
“Follow me and keep your gaze alert,” Harry ordered as he galloped in front and took the lead.
“Yes, Major.” Following behind him as instructed, she rode and when they drew up to the first fort, she came in alongside Harry. He tossed one leg over his horse’s rump, thumped to the ground and secured his snorting animal to a hitching post. She dismounted too, looped her reins to the same post and followed Harry up the incline.
At the top of the rise, Portuguese laborers worked alongside their own Englishmen—a united team as they moved earth and finished building the retaining walls of stone which would aid them in strengthening this seaward position. Wellington’s chief engineers, Fletcher and Jones, as well Father, had been the three men to design these trenches which allowed two-hundred men to safely remain inside them, the forts themselves holding three cannons each which gave the soldiers firing the guns a bird’s eye view across the cliffs and out to sea. The French would never be able to slip through here should they attempt to take this land by way of the nearest cove.
At the top of the rise, she ducked into the cool recesses of the fort built partially into the ground. The captain welcomed Harry, the two men shaking hands while she wandered toward the three soldiers standing at each of the three lookout points behind the guns. This defensive outpost was crucial and should these soldiers spy their enemy advancing by ship, they could send word directly via the signal stations to St. Vincent’s where they could dispatch thousands of soldiers to come to their aid. Their navy could also join in the battle, Anteros too since he patrolled these waters.
None of them would ever allow the Portuguese people to lose their freedom or this great land. As she stepped up to one of the cannon slots under the fortified flat line of the stone roof, she smiled at the sight of Anteros’s warship cutting through the waves.
Harry touched her arm, the captain directly at his side. “It’s time for a full inspection of the trenches. Are you ready to aid me? I’ll need you to keep an eye out for anything you see which mightn’t look right.”
“I’m ready.” She followed Harry and the captain outside, ducking her head under the low entrance door.
They weaved through the deep-dug trenches and when she passed one section of the ditch running alongside the cliff face, the wind blew and dust flew. Stones skittered down the reinforced side and bounced off her boots. She crunched on a few loose stones scattered across the stony base, none of them embedded deep into the dirt. Recently fallen stones. A telling sign that this section of the wall mightn’t be as strong as it should. Father would never permit a weakened wall like this to remain, not when it could mean the death of their soldiers should it collapse during a battle. She called out to Harry who’d continued on with the captain, “Major Trentbury, take a look at this, if you will.”
He halted and wandered back to her. “What have you found?”
He never questioned Jamie’s expertise, no matter the young age she maintained as the boy. She certainly couldn’t pass for a fully-grown man, not when she couldn’t even grow a single whisker. Nor could she amass any solid muscle tone, so sixteen she would remain, for as long as she could possibly pull it off.
“Take a look at this.” She gripped the stony lip and more stones skittered down. “This section needs strengthening.”
“It looks like it to me too.” He grasped her shoulders, moved her out of the way then bounded up onto the ledge. He jumped up and down, up and down, again and again as he tested its strength then—
Crash.
Stones and rocks tumbled everywhere and Harry disappeared over the ridge with a bellow.
“Major!” A rock hit her shin, but she scrambled up the fallen mound and once on top of the rubble, dropped to her knees and searched for Harry down the sheer side of the craggy cliffside. Waves crashed into the rocky wall far below and sprayed high. “Major!”
“Here. I’m here.” He clung to bushes protruding from a crack in the rocks, about halfway down, his sleeve ripped and blood streaming from a nasty gash, his face covered in dust and grime.
“Don’t move.” Laborers had already amassed behind her and she yelled to them, “Someone fetch me a rope, now.”
“I’ve got one.” The captain snapped a rope looped over the top of a support pillar farther along the trench then bounded up beside her. He wrapped one coiled end around his w
aist, knotted it in place while two workmen behind him kept a grip on his legs. Once secured, he tossed the remaining rope down the slope. “Grab ahold, Major.”
Harry nabbed the snaking end as it whistled past then released the bush and hand over hand, hauled himself back up the cliff. When he reached her at the lip, he swept her with him and jumped back into the trench, the captain bounding down after them.
“You shouldn’t have been so careless,” she scolded him as she plucked twigs and bits of leaves from his hair before gripping his arm and inspecting the wound he’d taken. The cut was deep and would need stitches, which she couldn’t administer here in this trench. Instead, she ripped a strip of linen from the hem of her yellowed tunic and wrapped it around his bicep. “That’ll have to hold until we can get you to the infirmary at St. Vincent’s.”
“Don’t fuss, Jamie.” He tweaked her nose like she was a kid.
“Don’t fuss?” she screeched. “Don’t tell me not to fuss.”
She was about to scold him again when he gave her his back.
“Ignore the lad,” he told the captain as he faced the man. “I’d say that section certainly needs strengthening. Ensure your workmen make certain it can hold, then show me the remainder of these trenches.”
“Will do.” The captain coiled his rope and bellowed instructions to the laborers to get the job done, then the captain continued along with Harry.
Huffing, she followed them, her fingers itching to wring Harry’s neck.
Three hours later, they’d finally completed a full check of each of the three forts and all of the interconnecting trenches and only once assured everything was in order, did she and Harry return to their horses.
Harry flinched as he collected his reins and mounted up, while she fought the most desperate urge to demand he allow her to take another look at his wound. He seemed to sense her worry since he frowned at her and muttered, “Honestly, I’ve been injured worse than this. Let’s ride home.”
The Wartime Bride_Regency Romance Page 6