Captain and a Corset (18 page)

More whoops followed and then several men were dancing. The violins played faster until they reached a zenith and went silent. Then drums began to beat. The violins joined again but the men left the circle. Barbara let out another throaty ripple of amusement.

“Then go dance…” She pushed Sophia away from the tree and swished her hands at her when she hesitated. “Go and tempt him. Entice him to abandon his pride.”

Tempt him?

Now that was a wicked thought. It sent heat curling through her belly like a whip uncoiling. She watched the area around the fire as women filled it, their hair unbound and flowing behind them. They swirled their skirts up, offering tempting peeks at their thighs, then weaving and dipping and turning again. Their upper bodies bent and their hips swayed as they danced. This was not the kind of dancing she’d learned in parlors.

Sophia felt the first snap of the whip inside herself. The sting traveled along her limbs, raising gooseflesh. She walked toward the fire, her hips swaying in a sultry motion. She seemed to know the motions instinctively, her heartbeat helping her keep pace with the tempo.

The women welcomed her, and once in the center of the firelight, she could no longer see Bion. But she felt him, which was better—ten times more intense than watching him. She danced for him, for his keen dark eyes. She wanted him to see her, to watch her hips moving and her body flowing. Sparks from the fire drifted up into the night sky, making her feel as if she was part of the blaze. It was primitive and likely undermining to her discipline, like all the matrons said. Even the Royal Navy warned against pagan dances, but she let her thoughts slip away until all she heard was the wild rhythm of the music. Time stretched, feeling as if a minute lasted for an hour, until the men whooped and jumped into the firelight to join the women.

Her breath caught in anticipation. She turned, her eyelashes fluttering. She lifted her chin and looked up to see if Bion had joined her.

“You doubted I would join you?” His voice was gruff with frustration.

She nodded. Maybe it was dangerous to let him see how little confidence she had in her ability to draw him to her.

“Don’t.”

He didn’t dance. Bion circled her, settling a hand onto the curve of her hip and turning her around and around. Her belly tightened like she was spinning on a ballroom floor. But the chill of the night air teased her with just how much more exciting her night might be because she was so far from the reaches of society. There were no limits to what liberties he might take.

Or she might demand from him.

The music changed tempo again, slowing down as the couples moved closer to one another. Bion brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. The touch was so simple, yet it set free a riot of sensations. His glasses were hooked into his vest pocket and she smiled when she realized they were truly comrades now. He watched her, reading her emotions as clearly as he always had. Finally, she was thankful for how perceptive he was because he captured her wrist and turned toward the caravan wagon Abraham had given them.

They left the firelight behind and Bion pinched out the candle that had been left burning inside the wagon. The aisle was narrow, but he pulled her around him and lifted her up onto the bunk. Without her Navigator vision, it would have been dark. But there were a hundred sources of light that cast a magical glow, like the single candle she often took to her bedroom at the end of the day. It would grant her a limited amount of light but the semidarkness was where she felt at liberty to dispense with clothing and hairpins and all the trappings of society.

“I am drawn to you.” He shrugged out of his clothing, letting it drop behind him. The wagon swayed as he crawled up onto the bunk with her. Poised on all fours, he was more magnificent than she had noticed before. The pinpoints of light traced the muscles and contours of his form. He tossed her skirt up and stroked her bare legs.

“So much so, the idea of not touching you is a torment…”

He stroked her, running his hands along the outside of her legs from calf to knee and then further up to her thighs. She quivered, falling back onto the bed as her clitoris began to throb. He ran his hands back down to her calves and sat for a long moment on his haunches. His cock stood up straight and swollen, promising her the pleasure she’d enjoyed before.

But he didn’t move to cover her. Instead, he moved his hands over the top of her shins until they rested on the inside of her legs.

“We didn’t get the chance to savor the moment last time.” He slowly slid his hands to her knees. “Something I plan to rectify tonight.” And on to her thighs. “By touching every part of you.” And at last to her mons.

He barely made contact with that forbidden place and she jumped, the softest pressure sending a bolt of sensation through her passage. It was so intense, she gasped and found her breathing labored. He laughed softly, the sound full of intent. He lowered his hands and pressed her thighs apart once she’d settled.

“Every part of you, Sophia,” he warned again in a tone she knew signaled his intent to bend her to his will.

“You’re trying to frighten me.”

He loomed over her, crawling up her so his face was even with hers. “I prefer to call it trying your nerve. The question is, are you woman enough to meet me on the field?” His breath teased her lips, and he pressed a kiss against her mouth. She lifted her head to kiss him back, needing some outlet for all the excitement brewing inside her. It was like sitting through a thunderstorm and waiting for the next crack of lightning.

“You know I am. I will stand steady while you do your worst.” Her voice was full of husky confidence. His chest rumbled with amusement, but she didn’t snap her thighs closed when he slid down the bed to hover over her open slit.

She’d seen this in a book, and the memory served as an aphrodisiac. Her clitoris throbbed with anticipation, the growing excitement almost too much to contain. She gripped the blanket beneath her, digging her fingernails into it as Bion’s breath teased the moist skin of her slit.

“I hope you will be moved to action…” He separated her folds and stroked the center of her slit with the tip of a finger. “Just as I hope you made it to the erotic section of the library.”

She jerked, the single touch nearly sending her into climax. He pressed her back down with a hand over her belly as he chuckled.

“I believe that means you did, Sophia.” He returned to fingering her, this time drawing his finger back and forth and never withdrawing. Sweat beaded on her forehead as her nipples began to pucker.

“Right now, you are poised on the edge of reason and all because of what you think I might do to you…” He clicked his tongue and looked up at her. “And I promise to do every wicked thing you will allow me to.”

“Oh… yes.” The response came from deep inside her, from that place where she was starving for his touch.

“Yes what?”

She was so needy, her body yearning so much for release that his question frustrated her. She bared her teeth and snarled at him. It was a primitive sound and seemed to fit the moment. Outside the music was still swirling. Lying on her back was suddenly intolerable. She didn’t feel submissive, didn’t think she could control all the impulses filling her body.

“Yes, I want to take you.”

She sat up so fast, he knocked his head on the top of the wagon as he got out of her way. Sophia didn’t care. She pushed him onto his back and climbed over him.

“Then get in the saddle,” he insisted as he pulled the fabric of her skirt out of the way. “And make sure you keep a good grip on me or I’ll toss you.”

“You’ll not find me that easy to unseat.” It only took a moment for her to gain what she wanted. He guided her onto his length, easily penetrating her as she lowered herself. Satisfaction filled her as her body stretched around his flesh. She’d never noticed how empty she felt, not until now when she was finally full.

But she needed friction. The urge was demanding and unruly. She lifted her bottom and Bion guided her back down a second later. When he pressed her down, he bucked beneath her to drive his length deeper into her body. Pleasure speared through her, returning with every thrust. All of her energy was focused on their bodies moving in unison, lifting and plunging, rising and falling in time with the violins.

Her climax caught her off guard, snapping like a corset lace. Delight went rushing through her. Bion bucked frantically, burying himself to the hilt, then flipping her over onto her back. The wagon rocked as he began to piston her. She gripped his hips, locking her legs around him as he growled, stiffening when his seed erupted inside her.

He caught himself on his elbows to keep from crushing her. Her lungs were burning for oxygen, the frantic pace of her heart demanding that she pant. He nuzzled her neck, kissing the tender skin before gently biting her. It was shocking but exciting too. The feeling of his teeth against her skin touched off some sort of trust that she’d never realized she might feel for another human, the sort of trust that meant being completely comfortable with placing her life into his keeping.

Of course, he’d already been responsible for her when she was helpless after the Root Ball had vaporized in her eyes. Now she stretched her neck out, offering the column of her throat to him. He groaned low and deep, grazing her with his teeth, then beginning to move once more.

“This time, we’ll slow down.”

He proved true to his words. The music had become mellow and slow and Bion kept his pace even. It rekindled the passion in her, building it slowly this time. By the time it became a raging need, her skin was coated with perspiration and every muscle ached from straining toward her lover.

Bion rolled off of her once he was spent, pulling her into his embrace as he had before. He smoothed the hair back from her face, toying with one lock that curled in front of her ear.

She should have fallen asleep. Instead, she found herself savoring the moment, lingering in it as she tried to memorize the way his embrace felt. She couldn’t recall ever being so secure, so certain she was safe. It was a whimsical idea, considering their circumstances, but she couldn’t seem to change her thinking—not even a tiny bit.

“Why did you doubt I would join you?” The night was quiet now; the music had died away outside.

His question accomplished what she had been unwilling to do. It forced her to acknowledge reality with all its sharp edges.

“You aren’t sleeping, Sophia, and you aren’t often a coward. Answer my question.”

“How could I not doubt? There must be many Illuminist women happy to be your lover.” It was the closest she would come to admitting her fear that he’d only taken her because she was near. In his society, that was accepted behavior. It was not an injustice if there were no promises between them.
And
there
weren’t.
She really needed to remember that before her tender feelings were bruised.

He toyed with her hair. “You have the right to take other lovers too, Sophia.”

His voice was a mere whisper, but she was certain she heard the tone of an admission. She lifted her head so that she might look into his eyes.

“I only want you.”

She was pinning her heart to her sleeve. All he had to do was shatter it now that she was offering it so openly.

“And I cannot seem to ignore you, Miss Stevenson.”

He rolled her onto her back, sealing her response beneath a kiss. He spent a long time just kissing her before rolling back over and holding her against his side once more. The camp was silent and fatigue finally took over. Later, she’d remember that he hadn’t really declared any tender feelings for her. For the moment, while the night surrounded them and the gypsy wagon offered them a hiding place, she would simply be happy.

It had been a very long time since she’d been happy.

***

Lykos felt his hold on his temper straining. He was back in an Illuminist Chamber but the information his brethren were giving him wasn’t very helpful. “What do you mean there are only a few telegraph lines?”

The Illuminist member facing him shrugged. “Winter is hard in those areas. The lines snap under the weight of the ice. It’s pointless to try and repair them until summer. Besides, the Russian government is not very appreciative of our Order. There’s talk of abandoning all the Solitary Chambers inside the country, now that Russia is getting ready to go to war over the Ottoman Question.”

“Damn those fools. Still fighting over land as their fathers did,” Lykos lamented. “They waste their lives on petty squabbles.”

“Cursing them will not change the fact that Russia is intent on scooping up as much of the crumbling Ottoman Empire as she can,” Decima remarked. “If Bion and Sophia are on Russian soil, it might be impossible to aid them.”

“Difficult, sure, but there isn’t anything I consider impossible,” Lykos informed her. “We’ll have to ride horses from here.”

They were on the edge of Russia. The country was so vast that crossing it on horses wasn’t a pleasant idea. But Bion and Sophia were likely traveling by the same means, so it was still possible to catch them.

“There is something else, sir,” the Illuminist member interrupted. “We intercepted a message last evening.”

Lykos took the page from the man as Decima joined him to read it at the same time.

From Jordon Camden stop.

Reward offered for information stop.

Two Navigators in Russian territory stop.

“Two?” Decima questioned.

“So it would seem,” Lykos answered. “Who is Jordon Camden?”

“He’s a recluse with amazing influence. He has a network of spies that he employs for anyone willing to meet his price. He has Helikeian ties but is more devoted to his own interests.”

“Do we have anyone inside his network?” Decima inquired.

“A few, which is why we have that information. But we do not know who hired him or if he has already found his prey.” The Illuminist member continued, “We do know that it is likely he will sell the information to more than one party.

“This is turning into a fox hunt,” Lykos groused.