by Anna Macy
“Father, even if Robert expressed interest, I can’t do this. I’m not a spy.” Georgiana felt like crying, but her features were still frozen in shock at his request.
“Yes, Georgiana, you can. And you will.” Her father pinned her with his eyes, practically glowing with the thrill of his find. “You were born to play this part, daughter. Do not disappoint me.”
Georgiana continued to shake her head, a single burning tear sliding down her cheek.
“Oh, Georgie, Georgie,” Bert said, hurrying over to her. After a moment of observation, he wrapped his arms around his daughter, pulling her rigidly against his slender frame. “I know why you could be mad at me. But do this for your mother, for you brothers.”
He pulled back and looked at her, the gold in his eyes shining earnestly. “Do it for all of us.”
Georgiana gasped in the air, trying to find her equilibrium. The chance to spend more time with Robert tempted her. Shame filled her heart as she bit down on her bottom lip. “You promise no one will be hurt?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“No one will be hurt. I promise you.” Bert nodded enthusiastically. His grip on her biceps intensified.
Georgiana pressed a shaking hand to her ribs, quieting the riotous emotions that seemed to have taken flight there. “Alright. I will do it.”
Bert clapped her on the shoulders, his wide smile transforming his face into the one she remembered as a girl. She tried to smile but failed. No one would get hurt, he had promised.
Georgiana took a deep breath and captured her father’s eyes once again. “What do I do now?”
Bert grinned.
FIVE
Georgiana had walked along these docks hundreds of times as a youth, watching it come together piece by piece. She could remember the burn of the saltine air in her eyes and nose, as her hair would billow around her face. She had laughed at the crashing of the Thames river, chasing her brothers across the spray-slick planks. The thrill of the chase, the adoration of her family had filled her with purpose and joy.
Tonight, Georgiana felt none of those things. All around her, shadows moved, shifting, moving, watching her as she walked down the narrow aisle between two towering buildings. Anybody would have picked out the Wains Shipbuilding warehouse, the largest and furthermost building on this pier.
Keeping her head down, she tried to ignore the nauseating swell of fear that threatened her every step. She wished she had begged the coachman to stay with her. She had seen the worry, the concern in his eyes as he snapped the reins and left Georgiana alone at the Port.
Many years ago, Georgiana and her mother had come down to the freshly constructed Port of London to see the Conning Shipwrights building. They had only been there a few minutes before her mother rushed her back to their carriage, shouting about how the docks were “No place for a lady.” Her mother’s eyes had deliberately avoiding Georgiana’s, afraid to tell her own daughter what dangers might lurk there.
It had been far easier to agree with her father from the safety of their home than it was at this moment. For an instant, Georgiana thought about running back to the street to catch the carriage. She would beg her father for forgiveness, then tell him she never wanted to see Robert again. They would find another way to save the company and their family; they always did.
But that ship had sailed, and she knew backing out of her agreement with her father was no longer an option. Georgiana pressed onward, one slippered foot after another. Farther and farther, she wandered, until she could barely recognize the shapeless shadow of her form, cast by the midnight light.
The docks looked different tonight. No longer was she a coddled and protected child racing about. She was a grown woman, walking alone in the thick darkness of the December night. Regret tasted sour on her tongue.
Her steps were hurried, but she couldn’t escape the knowledge that the shapes that had once been dancing shadows were now very real and moving closer with every stride. Her mother had been right. This was no place for a lady.
“What do we have here, boys?” A cruel hoarse voice spoke from behind her. Georgiana’s heart pounded, but she dared not to pause to see the speaker.
“This one has saved us all the trouble of finding a girl for the night. She came to us.” Came another, deeper voice, his shadowy frame taking form as he stepped into a lantern’s bobbing light.
“Excuse me, sir,” Georgiana said, her eyes trained at her feet as she hurried on, pushing directly past him.
The men laughed, and incredibly she felt one of them grip her arm as she moved by. “Such a polite lass too,” he crooned at her, his breath stank of rot and sour whiskey.
“Let me go, I demand it,” Georgiana growled at him, her temper flashing as the fear that had been gathering was suddenly set free through her body. Yanking her arm free, she stumbled back a step to look up into her attacker’s dirty face. “My name is Georgiana Conning, no doubt you know my family. Let me pass.”
The leader, as he seemed to be, didn’t move, but a catlike grin stole across his face. She flinched as it revealing a variety of missing teeth and a tongue that clucked at her.
“Miss Conning, is it?” He cocked his head, staring at her with deep resentment in his eyes. Her body hummed with the stark heat of fear. Run, it screamed to her, but her feet were stuck, glued to the docks by an unseen force. She nodded, swallowing her panic as best she could.
The men laughed again, countless numbers of them it seemed, blurring in and out of Georgiana’s vision.
“Interesting. You see, your Papa, he owes all of us quite a sum of money.” The leader circled her, his eyes crawling over her body. “I think that maybe we take a bit of that back right now. Don’t you agree, lads?”
This time when she urged her legs to run, they sprung into action, her body careening past the first man who reached for her. But the second, the chatty one from earlier, he caught her arm in his fist, swinging her back up against his body.
Furious, she beat her hands against his chest, her body arched away in fury. He laughed, though, nuzzling into her neck as she screamed.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” the voice in the dark split the air like a whip. The group was silent. The only sound in the frost ridden air was the gasping of Georgiana as she continued to hold herself away from her attacker’s body.
One dark pant leg, then another stepped into the flickering light as it slowly revealed the newest member of their party.
Robert stood, his body coiled like a snake ready to strike. His greatcoat had been thrown on with evident abandon, and his cravat was gone altogether, displaying a thorough expanse of his broad chest as the cold air blew over them all. His face was shrouded in shadow. Robert’s shoulders seemed to roll gently as if stretching in preparation.
Gone was the congenial, smiling man who hid from matrons at the theater. This man was powerful and not afraid to use his body to prove it.
“I think it’s time you all went home. I’d hate to have to discuss this with the dockmaster.” Robert’s voice echoed across space, reverberating in Georgiana’s chest as the man holding her loosened his grip. She slid down but wasn’t yet freed.
“Why don’t you walk away dandy, this isn’t a blue-blooded business.” The leader’s voice was sure, but she could feel his body shiver slightly as he stared down at Robert. Title or no, Robert was significantly larger than most of them.
Robert moved casually to a stack of crates; the Wains family stamp was emblazoned upon the side. Nonchalantly, Robert reached through and pulled out a long, iron pole, running his hands along with it almost lovingly. His blue eyes were like fire in the darkness as he faced the group.
He swung the pole down by his side and took a step towards them. “Everything to do with her is my business.” His voice was cold, harsh, biting.
Georgiana could see some of the shadowy figures behind her slip back into the darkness. Of the three that remained, only the leader appeared confident.
“What are you going to do,
sire, poke me with that little pole? You’re no killer in your fancy clothes.”
Robert’s eyes flashed, and a dangerous smile spread across his face. “Oh, the pole is just to start. I prefer to end things with my fists. And long after you have been laid out there, broken and bleeding, I will make sure that you never work on these docks again. Is that gentleman enough for you?”
Georgiana could see the cold sweat that rose along their leaders' brow. With a curse, he hurled her towards Robert. Turning the remaining pair of cronies, he swept through them and back into the shadows from whence he’d come.
Robert caught her easily, gripping her with one arm as he drew her to the side, his eyes never leaving the backs of those he had just scared away. The pole swirled in the air thoughtfully as he waited for the area to clear entirely. After silence again fell, he turned to her.
Georgiana stared at him, her body quivering as she wrapped herself around his broad frame. His solidity gave chase to the hundreds of nightmares that had swarmed her mind.
Seemingly pleased they were finally alone, Robert gazed down at her, his face angry and confused.
“What are you doing here? Do you understand what happens on these docks after dark?” Robert’s voice was gentle, but trembled with barely controlled rage.
Georgiana shook her head, hating her weakness, hating how much she needed him right now. “My father’s books. He needed them.”
“You’re telling me that Bert Conning sent his only daughter to the docks at night to retrieve his business papers? Do you take me for a fool?”
Georgiana dropped her head, feeling ignorant and scolded. Her father’s story was unraveling before her. She should never have come. She pushed at him, suddenly angry at her weakness and inexperience. There was no way that she could make a man like Robert Wains fall in love with her. Disappointment filled her as she raised her chin.
“Clearly, you do not understand what it’s like trying to please a Father who never sees you. And I will not be scolded by you, Robert Wains. Nor do I need to explain myself to you!” Georgiana’s voice shook with emotion as she glared at Robert.
Robert shook his head, the pole dropping to the dock with a loud clatter. He pulled on hand up, gripping the edge of her jaw. For one burning moment, he stared into her eyes, and the next, he sealed his mouth over hers in a hot kiss.
His hand cradled her face to his, holding her as if at any moment she may crumble like a fine china doll. She moaned softly, entranced by the silken rush of desire that slowly spread through her body, chasing away any remaining fear. Georgiana dug her fingers into his middle, feeling the heavyweight of his strength resting against her.
As he pulled away, Georgiana almost whined, her lips following his, seeking more of his touch and his kiss.
“I wasn’t scolding you, Georgiana,” Robert looked down hurriedly, “You have no idea what it was like, seeing him holding you like that.”
Georgiana shivered, pressing her body closer to his.
“Let’s get you inside and warmed up. Then we can sort all of this out.” Robert walked back the way he had appeared, his arm tight around Georgiana’s waist.
Closing her eyes, Georgiana clenched her hand around his, letting him lead her the final way into the Wains warehouse. The immense skeleton of a future ship rose out of the darkness, briefly causing her chest to tighten in worry. Robert went first, stepping carefully, as he guided her into the small wood-paneled room.
The moment the door closed behind them, enclosing them in the warmth and safety of what looked to be a small office, Georgiana turned, her arms seeking him out. With a slight grunt, she pushed herself against him hugging him close. Just a bit longer, she promised herself. If she were only allowed to have Robert for a short time, she would savor each moment.
***
Robert’s chest heaved as he stared down at Georgiana’s thick copper hair, unbound and swirling around her shoulders as her arms wound tightly around his torso, her face pressed against his coarse greatcoat. He moved his hand to her back, where he could feel the delicate long bones as he stroked her gently, imaging her to be a flighty horse.
After a moment, her body yielded his, and he realized that he too was finally calming from their misadventure. When he had seen her in that man’s arms, he had felt nothing but white-hot fury. It had filled him with purpose and deadly intent.
It would’ve been nothing to rip those men apart. He would’ve done it gladly had they not acted wisely and released her. Part of him still longed for it, the freedom of the violence, so different from the constricting lifestyle he led.
“Are you alright?” He kept his voice low, soothing. Seeing her like this tore his heart in two. She mumbled something against him, her words muffled by the fabric. Raising one hand from her back, he gripped her chin gently, pulling her face up to his own.
Wide, tear-filled eyes stared at him in a mixture of horror and anger. Staring at those gold-flecked eyes, he could practically see the torment. She was a proud creature, even in her worst moments, and falling to him, against him, it pushed her to her limits.
He understood what it meant to give up your pride, and he wished like nothing before that he could erase all those thoughts he knew were racing in her mind. Two tears, rounded and shimmering, slipped from her eyes, stealing away down the beauty of her face, cutting into her resolve.
Without a thought in his mind, his thumb swiped one away, angry at it for ruining the perfection of her otherwise angelic face, as if he could wipe away the memory of tonight all together. The second tear, he captured with his lips.
He felt her shudder against him as his mouth brushed her face. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. At least not like this. He’d dreamed of kissing her since that first night he saw her at the Grand Theatre. Now he hovered there, tasting the salt of her tears against his lips and feeling the ache of the unknown spiraling out of his chest.
Her breath rushed out, part gasp, part curse, as she turned her face to his, her lips finding his with ease that sent hot sparks down his body. She was forceful, her mouth crashing against his as if seeking the answer to something greater.
Her slender fingers found his arms and gripped him there, feeling the muscle and bone and strength that he offered to her quietly, gently.
When her anger began to recede, Robert felt her falter, questioning herself. With a soft smile, he slid his arms around her waist, softening her to him. After a moment of rigidity, she allowed herself to be swept up, cradled against his body. Even her lips gentled, parting against his as he sighed, letting her calm.
Pulling his mouth back, Robert dropped a delicate kiss across her nose, her cheekbones, and down to the curling angle of her jaw. Then tilting her face to his, he kissed her again, sliding his tongue into her mouth to toy with her desires. When he finally pulled away, Georgiana remained where she was, merely an echo of her former fury. She stared at him with wide, suspicious eyes.
“Are you alright?” Robert echoed his earlier question, letting his fingers trace the outline of her face as he waited. He had no desire to rush her, but his body throbbed with delight at the feel of her against him.
She blinked slowly, the flush in her cheeks glowing pink in the dim light. “I think so,” she said, loosening her hold on him.
As she stepped away from the circle of his arms, he suddenly hated the way they felt without her. He stood casually, observing her as she looked about his private office. It wasn’t much in regard to creature comforts, but in a business that operated even in the darkest, coldest months of the year, Robert had found this cozy corner off the side of the pier to be of great benefit.
He would approve accounts, follow up on new shipments as well as be on-site to show off progress on ongoing projects. The office had become his anchor in the business, and some days felt more at home here than anywhere else in the world. It was no Devonshire townhouse, but here he felt a sort of peace with himself. Here he could be of use, in his element surrounded by what mattered the most.
The Devonshire townhouse library was lovely, but it didn’t grant him this kind of involvement. He would never be as smooth or as cultured as his father, so he had to be better than him in other ways.
And now this bewitching woman was here too. Walking across the room, she still appeared nervous. Her hands ran up and down her arms as honey-brown eyes took in the variety of drawings, notes, and lists strewn about the walls like wayward wallpaper. His years of engineering hadn’t done anything to make him any less untidy.
Seeing his ideas like this, demonstrated and out in the world. It brought his brain a sense of calm, seeing those ideas already in action. Watching her, he didn’t feel any shame at his ramshackle thought process. In fact, he enjoyed her curiosity.