“Do you have any idea where they might go?”
Mr. Holmes paused, and then he pointed at the door. “Your husband is here.” He pushed past her and unlocked the door to let Ewan inside.
Muriel took little time in repeating what Mr. Holmes had told her about Raef Montgomery and Phee Robson-Jones.
“I was just asking if Mr. Holmes knew where they might have gone.” She glanced at her husband who shook his head very slowly. That meant, she knew, that he had information he didn’t want to share with Mr. Holmes.
“Many of the myths say that Arthur had his origins in Wales,” Mr. Holmes said. “Something tells me they might be headed in that direction.”
“But is that where he returned the sword to the Lady of the Lake?” Muriel asked. “That’s what Montgomery is after, the sword. He has a crazy idea that he can use it to overthrow the Queen.”
The shocked look on Mr. Holmes’ face said he hadn’t heard that part.
“You have to find her,” Mr. Holmes said. “If he is talking treason then she will be implicated in the situation.”
He turned and went to the shelves, running his fingers along spines until he found one and pulled it down.
“Before Arthur died, he gave the sword to Sir Bedivere to return to the lake from whence it came,” Mr. Holmes said. “Then three queens came and took Arthur to Avalon, where he died.”
“What lake?” Ewan asked.
“Who knows?” Mr. Holmes said. “People can’t agree upon whether Arthur is real, much less where he came from, although most do agree it was in Wales. I would think that is where Montgomery is headed.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go,” Ewan said.
“You’ll go,” Muriel corrected. “Connie has left the store, and I can’t leave Mr. Holmes alone.”
“I can handle things,” Mr. Holmes said. “Phee is special to me. I’ve known her all her life. Go and find her before Montgomery does something that gets her into trouble and leads her to the noose.”
“But you’ll be running the store by yourself,” she said. “I can’t let you do that.”
“You can’t?” Mr. Holmes said. “If I remember right I am the manager here. If I have to fire you to make you go that can be arranged.”
His words shocked Muriel, but after a few moments she recovered enough to smile. “As you wish.” She turned to Ewan. “I guess we are going to Wales.”
He held out his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Holmes. We will keep you informed of our progress. And, we’ll let you know if we have any questions. You seem to know a lot about Arthur.”
“Only from the novels I’ve read,” Mr. Holmes said. “And I will spend my spare time combing over the tomes to see if I figure out anything else that might help.”
They said goodbye and when they were outside Ewan hailed a cab. When they were inside she said, “Where are we going?”
“Gwynedd,” he said.
“That’s a large area,” she said. “Any specific city?”
“Bangor right now,” he said. “That’s where a man and a woman matching Raef and Phee’s descriptions bought train tickets yesterday. There are many lakes in that area. We’ll find them.”
“Or maybe we’ll find the sword first,” she said.
“Maybe,” he said. “But I thought you didn’t believe in Arthur.”
Muriel laughed. “I believe he was a strong soldier, but I don’t believe there was a King Arthur, a famed sword or a magician who helped him accomplish things.”
“It will be an interesting trip,” he said. “And the train leaves in three hours.”
Chapter 17
Muriel smoothed down her skirts and watched as Ewan glanced out the door, and then toward the corridor of the train car.
“Looking for something?” She couldn’t help but smile. “Perhaps you think Merlin will come in and give you Excalibur, and Raef will sniff it out and come crawling to us?”
“I’m edgy,” he said.
“Why is that?” Muriel looked out the door. “Should we be concerned about violence? Do you know something you haven’t told me?”
“No,” he said. He pointed to the parcels across from them. “Those are the journals. I figured if we couldn’t sleep we could read them tonight.”
“You’re worried about journals?”
“I’m worried about someone getting into the cabin with us.” He turned his attention toward her. “Of course, it might be fun having sex in front of our cabin mate.” He turned his gaze to her. “You can be on top. We’ll use your skirts to hide our skin.”
Muriel fought back a laugh as he wagged his tongue and then panted like a dog.
“An appropriate action for a dog like you,” she said. “You can wait until we get to Wales.”
“I thought you knew me, my love,” he said. “I know you, and I know how exited you were the other day when you sucked me in the park. The idea of having sex on the train will make you wetter than a July day in London.”
“What a wonderful description,” she said. “Tonight, I’ll be using my umbrella, though, so there will be no wetness.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said.
Muriel moved to the seat opposite them and took up one of the packages. She opened it and took out one of the journals. “Did you read any of these?”
“I glanced at them,” he said. “Horrid poetry about love and death and what comes in between. Open one of them and read the first page you come to.”
Muriel did as he said, sitting under the gas lamp. “The silk scarves caress my skin after my bath, and all I can think about is Martin.” She looked up. “Martin, who is Martin?”
“I think our friend Phee had more than a wandering eye,” he said. “Like I said I glanced through them. There was our friend Raef, a Martin, a Richard, a Frank and—wait for it—Angelo, the one romantic name amongst the bunch.”
“All of these in the most recent journal?”
“Yes,” he said. “Like I said, a wandering eye.”
“Or other body parts,” Muriel said. “Does she describe any liaisons?”
“As I said, I only skimmed. I saw the word kiss a few times, but she didn’t talk about thrusts, cocks, pussies, or any other words you might think she would use if she were sleeping with one of the five men she wrote about.”
“I have a feeling that a woman this romantic in nature would record her sexual encounters and be very explicit in her writings.” Muriel settled in under the lamp. The train lurched forward.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“We have a nine-hour train ride,” she said. “I’m going to read and see if I can learn things about Phee’s life.” She shook a finger at him. “I think you should choose one and see if you can do more than skim the contents.”
“Are you telling me how to do my job?” he asked.
“This is reading, which is in my purview,” she said. “Literature, remember?”
He snorted and then laughed. “I don’t think these count as literature. But I guess we will see.”
They had no sooner cracked open the journals when a porter appeared and asked if they needed anything for the evening. He brought them a tea tray, complete with a few sandwiches and some sweets.
She drank two cups of tea and was wide awake when she shut the first journal. “You’re right, there is nothing in these. She kisses many stagehands and loves to prance around her room half-naked, wrapped only in her silky shawls, but she didn’t actually describe any sexual encounters with any of them. Raef is not mentioned in these pages.”
She let the journal drop to the ground. “Have you found her magical Merlin in anything you’ve read?”
“No, but in my book, she had a little more than a wandering eye. I should have read closer this afternoon. She and Martin were lovers.”
“Who is Martin?”
“She never really says. She just says Martin.” He tapped the pages. “You were right about her waxing poetic about their sexual encounter. And, since she
doesn’t use the words pain or blood, I would guess it wasn’t the first time she’d been bent over a piano bench.”
“Piano bench?”
Ewan cleared his throat. “The soft leather of the bench bit into my mid-section as I wiggled my hips. ‘Take me, Martin,’ I said. ‘You know I need your cock deep inside me.’ He inched my skirts up over my hips. In anticipation of him taking me tonight I had not worn any undergarments, except for my lacy petticoats. When my bottom was bare he caressed it gently.”
Ewan paused and took a drink from his tea. “Martin slapped my bottom and said, ‘If you want it you have to ask for it.’ I was more than willing to give him what he wanted. “Fuck me, Martin, fuck me hard. Put your cock in me and make me yours.’”
Muriel’s mouth opened, and then she giggled. “My, Phee really got down to business, so to speak. But to do it so publicly, at the theater. Wouldn’t she worry about her parents walking in on her?”
“That could have been part of the pleasure of it,” Ewan said. “You loved it when you sucked me in the park. Admit it.” When she didn’t respond he said, “The thought of getting caught is exciting.”
“Getting caught can land us in prison,” she said.
“That’s why you have to be careful,” he said. “Quiet, like a church mouse.”
Muriel closed the diary. “You know, we’ve been talking about whether Arthur is real, but what we really need to think about is whether Merlin is real. After all, Raef thinks he’s related to the legendary magician. I’m more likely to think Arthur is real than Merlin. Not that he was king, of course, just a very brave, very good soldier.”
“Even if we don’t believe in Merlin, Raef does, which makes him dangerous,” Ewan said. “Can we stop talking about the case and go back to sex? I’m very interested in sex right now.”
“You’re always interested in sex,” she said. “Do you think he would hurt her?”
“No.” Ewan put the journal down. “For some reason he thinks he needs her, thinks she’s his good luck charm. Now, come here.”
“Ewan, it’s not even midnight.” Muriel looked toward the windows. “People are still awake and might be roaming the car. The porter might stop by to check on us once more.”
“All the better to excite you, my dear,” he said. She recognized that tone of voice. He wanted her to obey him immediately. Despite her objections of having sex on a train with numerous people around them she wanted to draw things out, play it to the limit. She always had a harder orgasm when they played longer.
Still, she didn’t want to tempt fate and risk discovery. She moved across the car and sat down next to him.
“I know my lovely wife enjoys being vocal while I’m taking my pleasure with her,” he said.
“You mean our pleasure,” she answered. “And, if I remember correctly, you’re always screaming at me to let my emotions be known. That means you want me to scream.”
“Well, tonight is going to be a little different,” he said. “You’re going to have to be quiet. Very, very quiet.”
“And if I’m not?”
“Then I’m sure the porter will come to investigate,” he said. “He’ll find me with my head between your thighs, and my tongue firmly planted between your silky walls—in other words, I’m going to eat your sweet core, and you’re going to love it.”
“Oh,” Muriel managed to say. “I don’t think—I mean—you know I’m not quiet when you’re eating me.”
“I love it when you say that,” he said. He leaned over and started to nip and lick on her neck. Muriel let her head loll back against the seat. He gently nibbled on the lobe of her ear before he whispered, “Tell me what I’m about to feast on.”
“My quim,” she whispered.
“Make it nasty, sweet one,” he said.
The seductive tone of his voice made her tingle. She’d never thought to meet a man she would spend the rest of her life with, and when she’d met Ewan McClacken she’d found him sexy and handsome, but also arrogant and unlikeable. But then she’d fallen in love with him, which shocked her. She’d been really surprised when she’d followed him down the golden road to their unique sex life, which left him in charge, and her body quaking with need every time she saw him.
Even when she was going against her better judgment, like she was doing now, she knew she could trust him to lead the way.
“My pussy,” she whispered, shivering with the very word.
“Even nastier,” he said.
“My cunny,” she said. She felt wonderfully naughty saying that word, one that would never be heard of in polite society. She loved that, despite her objections to doing things out in the open, Ewan guided her to do so.
“Good girl.” He stood and ran his fingers through his hair. “Now, lift those skirts and spread your legs.”
Now she didn’t want to object. She loved it when he used his tongue on her, and usually she was, as he said, very vocal. It would be a challenge to stay silent. But the consequences of not being quiet were high. They could be charged with indecency if they were caught, which would mean jail time for both of them.
But as she lifted her skirts to expose her quim she really didn’t care. She wanted to feel Ewan’s mouth on her.
“How easily you give in to my wants,” he said. “But they are your wants too, aren’t they? We match so well, Muriel. We’ll take a brief pause, shall we?”
Muriel shook her head furiously. She hated when he made her wait. He had all the patience in the world, but Muriel wanted things to happen immediately.
“I’m sorry,” she said. She placed her hands, palm side down, on either side of her. “I’ll behave.”
He didn’t answer her, but he did start to count, something she hated. He never told her how high he would go, he just counted until he thought she would behave herself. Sometimes he went to ten, sometimes twenty. Once he’d gone to one hundred and forty which meant she was shaking by the time he decided to proceed with the evening’s festivities.
When he got to twenty she groaned, and when he was at sixty she whimpered.
“Are you going to behave?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I will be good, I promise.”
“I hope I can count on your word,” he said. “I was rather looking forward to my evening feast. If I have to go without I will not be a happy man.”
Muriel spread her legs, making sure to keep her fingers far away from her quim. “I will behave. I will be silent, and I will wait for instructions.”
“Good.” He knelt in front of her and kissed her thighs, moving from one leg to the other. Muriel closed her eyes and pressed her lips together to keep from begging him to stop teasing her and take her. But she knew from experience if she pleaded without being told to he would more than likely stop.
Plus, she needed to be silent. Loud moans and groans would attract attention and they didn’t want that.
“Oh,” she said softly as he kissed her on her mound. His fingers parted her lips and he blew gently on her soft, wet lips. Muriel’s hips seemed to move of their own accord, thrusting up toward his mouth, which made him lift his head away from her.
“Did I say you could do that? Discipline, my love, is more than a leather strap coming down on your silky bottom.” He caressed her thighs. “Stay still and silent, as I said.”
She didn’t say anything, or even nod, because she knew from past experience that both of those things would break the rules.
Muriel squeezed her eyes shut at the same time he flicked his tongue over her clit. Pleasure shot through her, but she didn’t move, and she bit down on her lips once more to keep from uttering even a soft moan.
His tongue moved up and down her folds, around her clit and then down to her opening where he teased her, acting as if he would push it inside, and then pulling out just before she felt the fullness she loved so much.
She opened her mouth but didn’t speak as he continued his sensual assault. She wondered who was roaming up and down the corridor,
who might knock on the door, what the people in the cabins next door were doing. Sleeping? Eating? Talking? Or were they having sex, also, savoring the feel of their loved one’s body as she was doing right now.
Ewan sucked her clit into his mouth and it took every ounce of willpower to keep from shouting out in pleasure. He licked and sucked and nibbled until her body was on fire and the train cabin seemed to spin. He stopped working on her clit and moved his tongue down, licking and sucking on her folds as the urge to climax slowly disappeared.
Tears threatened as he continued to tease her, until, finally, when she thought she would die from need he sucked her clit into his mouth and bit down hard, sending her crashing over the edge. She held back as long as she could before she whimpered. What she really wanted to do was scream, something she loved to do while they were having sex.
When they’d first moved into their townhouse the neighbors knew what they were doing, and when. But Ewan had changed all that by moving their bedroom to the bottom of the house, away from where their neighbors’ rooms were located. Right now, she wished she were in that space, so she could make as much noise as she wanted.
He licked and sucked on her as she came down, finally collapsing against the seat.
“Ewan,” she said softly.
“My turn,” he answered. He stood, and she opened her eyes and watched as he undid he breeches. She didn’t wait for him to tell her what to do. The moment his cock was out she put her mouth around it, sucking him deeply, putting her hands on his balls and gently kneading them as she sucked.
He put his hands in her hair, holding it tight and pulling it loose from its pins. She loved it when she took him like this, savoring the feel of his hardness in her mouth.
It didn’t take him long to fill her mouth, and Muriel swallowed every drop, savoring the salty taste of his seed. She’d just licked the tip clean when there was a knock at the door.
“Yes?” Ewan called out. He wiggled his brows at her and pulled her mouth toward him, holding his cock out for her to suck.
Muriel’s Adventures Page 21