Clockwork Heart: Clockwork Love, Book 1 (17 page)

Johann did. He kept a sliver of himself aware as guardian, so that he didn’t hurt Conny more than he could take, but other than that, he let himself go. He pulled his hair, switched them around and fucked into Conny’s mouth. He dragged him onto the bed and pushed Conny’s head off the side so he could go deeper. He never let his gaze leave Conny’s, and as the delicious darkness of the act consumed him, he gave Conny the rest of what he’d said he wanted.

“Dirty slut.” He smiled as this made Conny cry out, the sound muffled by Johann’s cock. “You still want Rodrigo, don’t you, even after I fuck your mouth like this. You want to let him use you, because you’re such a dirty, slutty man. Nothing but a whore. You’d let every man in Naples use you. Nothing is enough for you.” He pulled on Conny’s hair, making his lover’s eyes water more. “I won’t let you. I might be shy, but I’ll learn to be dirty enough for you. I’ll lick you until you beg me. The way I know you want me to.”

Conny tightened his grip on Johann’s thighs and shut his eyes, looking blissful.

Johann slowed his thrusts as he went on, all his guards down. “I’ll learn to do anything you wish. I’ll use my clockwork fingers in you. I’ll let you use your fingers in me.” He shut his eyes too, let the rest roll out. “I’ll learn to fuck you in front of other men. The crew. Strangers. Maybe even a man like Rodrigo.” Conny moaned and shivered, and Johann burrowed his cock deep. “You want that very much, don’t you? You
like
the idea of a powerful man seeing you so helpless.” Johann stroked Conny’s strained lips with his clockwork finger. “Perhaps we will do this. Perhaps we will let powerful men watch us fuck.”

He wasn’t sure he meant the words he said, but in hearing them, Conny went wild, pushing and clawing and now sucking desperately at Johann’s cock. He drove Johann over the edge, until he spilled his seed so forcefully it made Conny choke. When Johann drew back, spittle and spending dripped out of the corners of Conny’s swollen, trembling lips.

Johann kissed those lips as he pulled his lover onto the bed, turning him over and tipping his bottom into the air. “Now it is your turn, dirty boy. Tell me what you want.”

Conny’s legs trembled. “Stroke me. Fuck me. Make it slow and wicked until I can’t stand it. Until I beg you to bring me release.” He touched his cock. “But don’t. Don’t let me. Make me sob for it, Johann. Make me tell you how dirty I am.” He fumbled for Johann’s hand, holding it in a hesitant grip. “Would you truly use me like this with another man? Without thinking me terrible?”

“I would never think you terrible.” He kissed Conny’s pretty, upturned backside, his eager hole. “Yes,” he whispered to it. “If you wish, I’ll let others see you like this. Let them watch us. Perhaps, if I get brave, I’ll let them lick you too.”

It was difficult to say if this was what made Conny cry out so desperately, or if it was the way Johann pressed the flat side of his tongue against Conny’s opening. He had done this twice now, kissing and licking Conny here, and while it still made him feel indecent, it also filled him with a rush of power. Tonight, his emotions riding high from his discussion with Molly, their arguments and now their confessions, he felt crazed inside, all those feelings pouring out of him and into his lovemaking. He licked Conny until he was a mess of tears and pleadings, and only then did he add a lubricated finger from his clockwork hand. Then another. Then another.

Then, ignoring the bitter taste of the lubricant, Johann began to lick his lover again.

This is how Conny came, with a finger inside him and Johann’s tongue swirling all around that puckered entrance, Johann’s other hand stroking him vigorously to release. Afterward, they collapsed into the bed together, both of them partially dressed, the air and bedclothes reeking of sweat and sex. Johann drew Conny close, holding him as tight as his exhausted arms could allow.

I love you,
he thought as he lay in the quiet, safe in the villa from all the trouble he knew still pursued them. Molly was right, he needed to say the words aloud, to Cornelius. To let him know
why
he was so jealous—and so willing to try to overcome that feeling.

He needed to say them, soon. But not tonight, he decided as he drifted off to sleep. Not tonight.

Chapter Fourteen

A
fter the fight and deliciously wicked bedroom reconciliation with Johann, Conny’s life was essentially nothing but charm. It was a joy to work with Félix again, and the afternoons he spent in Rodrigo’s shop in
ingegnopoli
were like being escorted into a tinker’s heaven. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to lose himself in a project, to lift his head hours later and feel as if he were returning from the moon, he’d been so far away. Because of the district’s wide dining offerings, he didn’t even miss his beloved northern-French cuisine.

He learned new things every day, working at the Milani shop. While Conny had heard of wireless technology, in France it was limited to official use and severely restricted. In Italy, everyone had a transmitter, and Conny spent endless hours taking ones apart and putting them back together. Rodrigo had begun experimenting with putting transmitters
in
clockwork, which he’d said came in handy when thieves made off with his supplies. Conny couldn’t help thinking there must be countless other ways this technology could be of use.

Johann seemed happy too, in his way. He loved work, the odd man, and was content to haul and carry and lift and pull when anyone required him. Conny would admit he often saved heavy jobs for his lover he could technically do himself, but it was so pleasing to see Johann flex his muscles and efficiently manipulate his clockwork, he could not help himself. Johann accompanied Conny into town when Cornelius went to the tinker shop, still clearly quietly jealous of Rodrigo and nervous of what he might do to Conny in Johann’s absence. Rodrigo never pressed his advantage further than his lighthearted blackmail, though he flirted liberally. This suited Conny quite nicely, as those winks and innuendoes inflamed Johann so much he tended to fuck Conny in their private carriage ride home at the end of the day, and often again once they were back at the villa.

The pirates were content to fuss over the
Farthing
and imagine improvements for Conny to build. Crawley in particular was in heaven, polishing his Italian and learning Portuguese with Heng so they could find new trade and cargo opportunities. Molly and Olivia enjoyed tormenting the male staff at the villa and seducing the females into their bed, often together.

Poor Val, though.

Valentin had been initially better after his role in the escape of Calais, but now he was the member of their merry band who could never easily speak with anyone but Conny or Félix, unless they chose to speak to him in French. In the evenings Conny did his best to teach him English, and he’d seen Valentin poring over the French-German book Johann and he had used when they’d first begun their lessons, but Val had never been much of a student. Conny didn’t think having so
many
languages flying about helped either Val’s learning or his disposition.

A week into their stay at Naples, tired of seeing his friend so miserable, Conny tried once again to convince Val to let Crawley release him from his contract. “Even if you don’t go home, we can find you somewhere you’ll be happier. I hate seeing you like this.”

“You think I would abandon you?” They were enjoying cigarettes—rarities heavily taxed at home but common as mud in Italy—and wine on a patio overlooking the grounds, and Val gestured angrily at the
Farthing
in the distance. “Or is this your way of telling me you don’t need me, now that you have your brute of a lover and his pack of pirates?”

Conny tossed the cigarette into the ashtray and let his offense be illustrated by intense gesturing. “How can you think I would, or could, replace you? I’m only concerned about you.”

“Oh, I see. You think I’m so self-centered I can’t endure a little hardship.” Val waved angrily back at Conny, his cigarette painting misty circles in the air as he did so. “You think you’re the noble one and I’m the pouting one.”

“Please. I’ve watched you spend hours in the mirror
perfecting
your pout.”

“Very well. I don’t want to be the pouting one
anymore.
And I’m not leaving the ship, or abandoning our cause.” Val sighed and took a long drag of his cigarette, some of his misery seeping back in. “I don’t understand political intrigue any more than I ever have, but I’m fairly certain my family is firmly beside your father as the authors of this terror. I’ll endure humiliation and drudgery and being passed over by Crawley to help undo their schemes.”

Conny wanted to applaud his friend’s uncharacteristic sense of righteousness, and he told himself he would, but he couldn’t relinquish the opportunity to press on that bit of gossip. “What do you mean, you were passed over by Crawley?”

Val’s cheek’s stained as he smoked furiously. “He won’t take me to bed. He fucks Heng regularly, but never me. Yesterday I saw him leading two of Rodrigo’s maids into his cabin, and this morning a footman. Any man or woman is fine, clearly, so long as they aren’t me.”

That he’d overlooked his friend’s heart set on the airship captain told Conny it was
he
who’d been the self-centered one. “Darling, I’m so sorry. Clearly it’s that the man has no taste, if he’s that sloppy. Surely he’s simply afraid of someone so refined.”

Normally such a catty remark would have Val smiling, but he only slouched and gestured helplessly to himself. “What refinement? I look a mess. My clothes are in tatters, my hair is too long, and I haven’t had a decent shave in weeks.”

Conny smiled. “I think it’s well past time we both had an afternoon off, don’t you, darling? We’ll spend some time in the baths, find a hairdresser and a proper tailor. Perhaps we can find a cozy establishment like The Alison where we can have a bit of absinthe and a flirt.”

Val looked slightly mollified, though he clung to the edges of his pout a bit longer. “I suppose we must take your Johann along?”

How Conny loved hearing
your Johann
, even spoken so jealously. “Yes, but we’ll dress him up properly, and won’t we look dashing with our bodyguard?” He winked. “Come on, Val. We deserve some time away. Tell me you’ll go.”

Of course Val was nothing but eager to spend a day being spoiled in the city, and Conny immediately set out to organize the outing. Félix thought it was a brilliant idea, when Cornelius approached him. “I’ll see Rodrigo about sending one of his men with you. Do you have particular shopping in mind?”

“No, just a good airing, I think. Val always likes pretty things, and I know he’d like better clothes, but essentially anything that makes it feel like old times would do.”

“Very good. You’ll need a translator, of course. I’ll make sure Rodrigo sends a gentleman who knows French. Let me arrange that while you settle your absence with the captain. I can’t imagine he’ll object, but it will be good to make a proper request.”

To Conny’s surprise, however, Crawley
did
object, and strenuously so. “Do you have any idea how dangerous Naples is? No, I won’t have two of my crew members waltzing around the city.”

“It didn’t seem that dangerous to me,” Conny countered.

“It hasn’t seemed dangerous to you because you’ve only ever traveled with Rodrigo’s entourage and within the
ingegnopoli
. Naples is the center of Italy’s organized crime, and it’s a haven to all manner of petty thieves. You two practically have
I’m an easy mark
tattooed on your foreheads. Plus you’re the biggest pair of nancies I’ve ever seen. You’ll be mugged, killed and tossed into a canal within an hour.”

Conny’s cheeks heated. “Fine. We’d planned to take Johann anyway, in addition to Rodrigo’s man. Johann is a soldier, and he’s good in a fight.”

“Oh good. Then
three
of my crew will be wandering around Naples.” He threw up his hands with a heavy sigh. “Let me give some instructions to Heng, and I’ll go with you.”

Conny tried, with vigor, to dissuade him, but the only options Crawley would allow were to not go at all or to let him come along. And when Val found out the captain was accompanying them, he very nearly called the whole outing off.

“He’s the whole reason I want to get away, and he’s our
escort
? No.”

Conny wouldn’t relent. “We’ll ignore him and make him keep his distance. I promise.”

Val sniffed. “What about Johann? Is he still coming?”

“To be honest, if Naples is as rough as Crawley says, I wouldn’t mind having him. You’ve seen him in a tight situation. Though I don’t know how much he’ll enjoy shopping. Maybe with him along, Crawley will be less obnoxious.” He moved in for the kill before Val could execute a proper pout. “Darling, our entourage is there only to preserve our day of decadence. This shall be entirely about you and me having a brilliant, exceptional day out together.”

Valentin scuffed his toe in the dirt in a show of indifference, though he did a poor job of hiding how much he enjoyed being cajoled. “Perhaps we can get Crawley drunk enough for me to have my way with him.”

Cornelius’s smile crept slowly across his face. “That’s the spirit. He may be an English dog, not a Frenchman of refinement, but he’s not immune to the web the two of us weave, when we’re in a mood. You won’t have to lower yourself to chasing him down. We’ll make sure he comes to you.”

It took almost a week to arrange their shopping adventure. Rodrigo’s wife said the shops were better on certain days and gave them an ornate calendar peppered with official meetings, underground boss movements and political parades. For many of the open times, Johann was busy helping Heng install an ornate filigree on the balloon bracings, and Crawley was off having his meetings with tradesmen. To make matters worse, when Olivia and Molly heard there were shopping plans, they begged to come along.

“It will be fun to go along with the rest of you, and maybe we won’t get so many whistles and suggestive comments if you hold on to our arms in the streets. Much as I hate to admit that will ease our way, it will.” Olivia and Cornelius sat on the deck of the ship at the end of a leisurely day of ship improvement, sharing a bottle of wine between the two of them. She had her shirtsleeves rolled up and neckline unbuttoned in deference to the heat, and her bare feet rested on one of the rails as she leaned back on her stool against a barrel.

Cornelius refilled her glass and pulled a slim cigarette from the case in his vest pocket, offering one to her before lighting one up himself.

Olivia nodded thanks as she accepted Cornelius’s lighter. She lit, inhaled and blew the smoke out, eyes sparkling as she waggled her eyebrows at Conny. “You and Johann seem to be getting on well. Are you exclusive to each other?”

Conny toyed idly with his cigarette. “We’ve talked a bit about inviting someone in, but that’s all we’ve done. I’d thought about inviting Crawley, because he’s not terrible to look at, but it’d break Val’s heart. I wish we could find a tavern catering to our tastes so we could do a bit of shopping.”

“I heard there’s a place just outside the tinker district that might suit all of us. Perhaps after shopping we can spend an evening there.” She took a deep drink of her wine, looking thoughtful. “I’ll work on Heng. He’s always horny, and he can convince Crawley to do almost anything.”

And so the day Val and Conny finally were able to have their long-awaited afternoon of shopping and pampering, they went not alone, not with Johann and one of Rodrigo’s men, but with Johann,
two
of Rodrigo’s men, Crawley, Molly, Olivia and Heng. They traveled to the city in a small caravan of carriages, and when they walked down the streets, they were surrounded by their crew and their host’s servants, chattering and fighting with one another in three languages. In short, people embodying the very culture they’d attempted to escape.

“Forget them,” Conny insisted when Val began to turn morose. He linked their arms and dismissed their entourage with an airy gesture. “They are our servants, here to protect us and carry our things. Oh, look. What a lovely shop. Let’s find some things to make them hold for us. Something boxy and awkward, yes?”

Of course, they had to take an Italian speaker with them to do this shopping, and Val stiffened when Crawley volunteered, but Conny cajoled his friend into enjoying himself, and soon they were both laughing and having a grand time as they tried on scarves and admired waistcoats and hats. They didn’t buy anything outside of a few accessories, because Val hated ready-made clothing. Crawley came along with them when they found a tailor, and Johann went with Heng and the ladies to the dressmakers next door.

In the tailor shop, Val was in his element. He got very much in the spirit of ordering Crawley about, demanding he tell the tailor to fetch another bolt of fabric, a slightly different shade, another texture. As dismissive and almost brutal as Val became, Conny wondered if Crawley would balk. To his surprise, the captain never once complained.

They managed, in fact, to enjoy themselves despite their personal circus. It was good, too, the way having so many people about them allowed them the pleasure of forgetting to be careful. There was decidedly an unsavory element on the streets—twice Heng collared pickpockets after Conny’s purse, and Conny became glad for their large group as he spied several clusters of large, ominous-looking men lurking in alleyways. None of them approached, however, and by the end of the day, Conny was happily exhausted.

When he asked Crawley when they planned to return to the villa, however, he was shocked to find the captain had rented them a suite of rooms in the city for the evening. They were to rest, enjoy an early dinner, then attend a party at the home of one of his new merchant contacts.

“He’s an unsavory character, but in a way that suits us.” He winked at Conny and Val from his side of the carriage. “He’s more your sort than mine—I don’t mind a lady in my bed for variety, but César has no use for a pair of breasts. His parties are legendarily decorous and scandalous. I heard tell the two of you are missing your wild times at your bohemian café and might enjoy seeing what the Italian version of the same might be like.”

Conny’s gaze shifted immediately to Johann. Oh, yes, he wanted to go very much. But did Johann? This was exactly the sort of thing they teased about in bed. Would Johann want to play those moments out in real life?