16. Consent has never been sexier
We were already a round or two behind when we approached the guests. Like a middle school dance, the men were on one side and the women another. All of us waiting for Izzy and her new husband to emerge. The younger, unmarried crowd mingled along the edges of the patio. I joined the men’s party where the drinks were strong and the language stronger. I knew these men and had made them plenty of money.
“Captain, shouldn’t you be with the women ready to console young Lady Coventry? They should be back soon!” Lavigne guffawed and welcomed us into the group.
“Coventry was in a desperate hurry. If it were me, she’d be bedded and back here already!” Lord Wallington cackled around a cigar and a tumbler of brandy.
“No wonder Lady Wallington always looks so windblown with you speeding in and out of her,” I retorted, and all the men exploded with laughter. I took the opportunity to steal the lit cigar right from Wallington's open mouth.
He cackled again and poured me a drink. I drank it down, and Graham was right behind me with a refill. The distillery was right here on his property, and he never bothered to water down the drinks. This would be a raucous crowd by the end of the night. I waggled the cigar in my mouth and took a seat. Andrews sat behind me and lit a cigar for himself.
“At Wallington’s age I’m surprised he can get up at all!” Lavigne joined in the fun.
“Trick is to remember them as they were.” Wallington leered at me.
“And we’ll remember you as you are now.” I let the cigar droop sadly downward. Wallington cackled again at the blue-collar humor as did the rest of them.
“Well, Coventry has got himself a live one, heard those screams of hers from here!” Sherman jeered. “Haven’t heard noises like that since—”
“You’ve never heard noises like that, Sherman. Sit down!” I cheered the other men and threw back my drink. “I’ve seen you try to button your coat.” I walked my fingers along his big belly. “I’m guessing your finger work doesn’t improve when between a woman’s legs.”
“Control your woman, Andrews.”
“Learn to pleasure one, John,” Andrews retorted to the fat man.
“Andrews, this captain of yours, does she talk like this to you?” Talbot ventured.
“Oh no,” he spun me towards him and hugged me close, “we do very little talking. Look away, gentlemen, lest you learn something that actually pleases your wives.” He kissed me long and deep to the cheers and whistles of the gathered men. Andrews grinned that wildcat grin of his, and I brought him in for another kiss.
I was feeling the effects of the alcohol already. I was a lightweight and these drinks were strong, and I wanted nothing more than to lose myself tonight. The good-natured, if raunchy, banter continued as the drinks were poured and consumed. Andrews kept me close to him, and his face soon grew rosy and warm from the alcohol. Where the hell was the food? I was starving and half-pickled already. If Izzy didn’t return soon, I was planning a kitchen raid...or just taking Andrews to bed and never returning.
What felt like an hour later, the huzzahs and whistles announced the return of the newly-married and consummated couple. Izzy must have had a good time. She was doing an excellent Bambi impression walking into her wedding reception. Her new husband was flushed and satisfied and almost as baby-deer-like.
“She can still walk, Coventry. Go back in there!” Lavigne shouted to them and was joined by the hoots and cheers of the other men.
Izzy looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole and die, which was hilarious. She’d obviously had a good time, and if we were home, she’d have texted me a picture of herself smoking in bed to brag about her latest conquest. These buffoons and their blue humor weren’t anything she couldn’t handle.
“There he is. You look much relaxed, sir!” Davies greeted the new groom with a tumbler and a cigar.
“Couldn’t have done a good job. Those silks aren’t even wrinkled!” Maynwaring jeered.
He would notice the silks. He probably was wishing he was in those silks now. I rolled my eyes and almost fell over from the effort. His two young sons were either miracles or not related to this man at all.
“I heard the lady myself. The lieutenant commander certainly fulfilled his duties!”
“Sit down and get some new material!” I yanked Sherman back toward his chair, but he fell to the ground, merely guffawed, and continued to smoke his cigar from the supine position.
I expected Izzy to stay with her husband, but the women claimed her and took her into their dour circle. That damn young lieutenant brought his drink over to us. A man with echoes of the lieutenant’s genes hovered over him.
“He’s still stiff! The lady best prepare for a long night!” Wallington crowed over the noise to loud catcalls and whoops.
“Gentlemen, please. My wife is delicate and sensitive to your jests.” The young lieutenant was far behind us in cups.
“Right. And I’m Doris Day,” I snorted.
“Pardon me?” He looked at me oddly as if he hadn’t realized I was here.
“No.” I despised him. He stole my sister from me.
Reprieve in the form of Lady Catherine arrived, requesting my presence with the ladies. I looked around to be sure she
meant me. “Really?”
“Yes, Lady – Captain. We heard the – well, the sounds she made – it’s not polite for mixed company, but I feel sure the Lady Coventry will have need of you.” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.
The men and I exploded in lewd laughter until I saw Catherine’s terrified expression. The young wife appeared to be only just holding up to the men, the booze, and the smoke. She’d bolt at any moment.
“Enough, gentlemen!” I shouted them down. “I can imagine your own pathetic mewling the first time you paid to get between a woman’s legs.” A few of the men shared poor Catherine’s shocked and embarrassed expression with that one; many more less-ashamed spirits laughed along with me.
“So that’s what I hear from Robert’s bed every evening. Too bad there isn’t a girl in there with him. Just his own hands and a dream.” Young Henry Maynwaring dug into his brother to the cheers of this crass crowd.
“I bet dear Robert will dream of this beauty tonight, and the noises we could get out of her!” Sherman roared as he smacked Catherine on her rear. The poor girl turned to flee, but I shielded her in my arms, feeling oddly protective of this future passenger of mine. I was about to kick the balls off Sherman when Andrews placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Darling, allow me.” Andrews decked Sherman so hard the fat man stumbled ass over shoulders into the bushes beyond. The whole crowd cheered and laughed and patted Andrews on the back and refilled drinks, leaving Sherman in the dirt.
“Pay these miscreants no mind, Lady Catherine.” I spoke to everyone but her. “They do not have a very discerning scream palate. They wouldn’t know the cry of a woman’s pleasure from the gas exploding out their backsides!” The men sent up hoots of laughter as I led Catherine out of the cloud of cigar smoke. Ah yes, everyone loves a good fart joke.
I leaned on the young wife to help me cross the great divide to the women – the much quieter, much less boisterous women. I cursed my lily liver as I took my first steps. The alcohol was running thick through me already, and my head was spinning and giddy.
“So, Catie, where are we going?” I Irish-whispered to her once we were away from the men.
“Just going over here.” She pointed the way to the women, struggling a little under my weight.
“No, I hear we’re going sailing.” I tried to look at her pointedly. She just looked wide-eyed back at me. I tried again.
“You and me are getting on my boat. Right? So where are we going?”
The girl was petrified.
“Don’t worry. I don’t do the alcohol on the boat. That’s rule number two. There are five rules. I’m a good captain. Only capsized a few times. So,” I leaned on her more as my left leg forgot where it was going, “where are we going?”
She was so cute with her eyes all wide and scared. I could have picked her up and put her in my pocket.
“Anywhere but England. Maybe France or Portugal?” The little girl spoke in no more than a whisper.
“No! Not Portugal!” I whispered back. “I owe Charlie a lot of money.” And that guy was not going to let me out of my debt. “Ugh. Fine. You can have Isabelle’s bed.”
“Is the cabin big enough for three?” she asked as she straightened me up.
“Three what?”
“People.”
“I…” I locked my eyes on my darling sister, “have someone to kill. Be right back.” Although the killing might have to wait. Now it was my right foot who’d forgotten where it was going.
I didn’t know these women as well as their husbands. Lavigne’s wife was fine. But the rest merely tolerated my presence and the wealth my ship brought their homes. I’m sure they were perfectly content to have me across the way with the men. Catherine helped me to a seat. The women were consoling Izzy after the supposed death of her virginity.
The killing could definitely wait. I wished I had popcorn. This was the most amazing moment of my life. The women were attempting a 17th-century sex ed class for my sister who had voluntarily sat on faces up and down the west coast of the Americas.
“You don’t have to be brave for us, Lady Coventry,” Lady Wallington consoled Izzy, who seemed mildly confused.
“Lady Isabelle, the first time a husband has his wife is often difficult,” I elaborated, having a hunch it was Ian who probably needed the consoling, not Izzy – that young bastard likely never experienced anything like he found between my sister’s legs. “He must have been gentle with you. You are lucky.” Gentle like a battering ram.
Izzy sat down like she needed a piles cushion, and I was ready to keel over with laughter. I looked over at the young lieutenant with new respect. My brother-in-law caught me looking, and I saluted him. He frowned and went back to smoking. Ass.
The women continued educating Izzy on the mysteries of what husbands want and how they get it, and I was giddy watching her reactions of horror. It wasn’t only my lack of nobility that kept these women separated from me. Andrews and I had always enjoyed a more-physical-than-socially-appropriate relationship in public, and my responses to him were beyond foreign to their experiences. The fact that I touched him and welcomed his touches made them uncomfortable for reasons they couldn’t explain to themselves.
“Lady Isabelle,” I couldn’t help chiming in, “the male body is nothing to fear. If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them. I know you have never been bedded before.” Izzy was going to kill me, but at least I’d die happy. I took the drink from Catherine’s hand and drained it. Go big or go home.
“I do appreciate all of your kindness. My lady mother prepared me for this eventuality and...I believe I am quite fortunate with my husband,” she said.
I hoped to god that young lieutenant felt the same way. I looked over at the young lieutenant again. He had one of Izzy’s joints in his mouth. At least they had one common interest. The assface.
“You were quite fortunate with your lady mother as well,” one of the other women added.
“California is a rather foreign place,” Lady Catherine said to me as she refilled the glass I’d stolen from her. “Captain? Have you seen many male bodies?” The young wife looked at me with such innocence and sincerity – and if she had asked me this question three drinks and a male boasting session earlier, I probably would have not been as crude.
“A lot happens on the sea, Lady Catherine.” I couldn’t help it. She was too innocent. I lifted my skirt with a finger to look like a huge erection. “There be monsters.”
Lavigne’s wife shrieked and laughed and fell into me. I always liked her. I laughed into her shoulder, and we found our way back to sitting straight up together.
“Oh no, really?” Lady Catherine gasped.
“I’ll tell you a secret.” Oh, I could tell her stories of monsters. But I’d prefer kinder memories right now. I looked over at Graham, who was watching me from across the dance floor. “I like their bodies. If the bed is right, there’s no reason for fear at all.”
“Like Mr. Andrews? You don’t fear him?” The young wife looked over at him too.
“On the contrary, he terrifies me.” I kept up his gaze, and he stood up and came over.
“Nanette? May I have this dance?” He held out his hand, and I let him lead me away.
And then we danced.
Did I mention how much I loved dancing with this man? Before everything, when it was just him and me, my ship and his small crappy farm, we’d have parties out here. There was music and bonfires and food and dancing. I taught him my dances and he taught me his, and we’d somehow put the steps together. Later, at the many Wallington dinners, we’d spend the whole evening dancing away among the tapers and silks and floral arrangements. Then, as his estate grew and the parties became larger, we still danced. We moved in sync, and I let him lead and twirl me around the dance floor and ignored the wider world.
In my long and wandering life, I had become a connoisseur of last moments. There was a distinctive fear and flavor to last moments, and I was tasting that now. I wouldn’t have a whole year with Andrews. This was my last dance with him. I’d be sailing away soon, and this time I really wouldn’t be coming back.
So we danced.
The party blurred and circled around us. Beri got out her new violin and played a lively reel that Magnus and I danced to (he was getting as good as his father) while Graham swept Sofia around the dance floor. The girl’s feet barely touched the ground as they whirled about. We almost crashed twice, but I ducked low and Graham lifted his daughter high. Then Amelia and I took a spin around the floor while Graham led Josephine. Their mothers all sat to the side and enjoyed their drinks and meals as they watched us cavort. Even Yvonne’s face took a break from its usual scowl as she watched her daughter dance. Magnus and Sofia partnered up and attempted some steps together while his older sisters badgered him and noted each mistake.
Lady Wallington snagged Andrews during a brief lull between dances, and he merrily swung the older lady around the dance floor. I looked for Izzy and saw her young lieutenant pawing her over at their table. Right, it was time to get her to explain this Catherine-plus-two-mystery-passengers conundrum.
“Lady Covington,” I interrupted the young lieutenant sucking at her neck like a limpet, “I’d like to have a word with you.”
They had cake in front of them. My stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten yet as Andrews and I had started dancing before the food was served. I had only managed to grab a few bites between the music changes. I was hungry but desired time with him more than food tonight.
“I will kill you, Anne.” She moved her neck away from the suckerfish. “Cov.en.try,” she corrected me.
“Cov-en-try,” I imitated her and grabbed a fork and wondered where to start. I always did enjoy cake, and Izzy’s new husband was probably full since he’d been eating her out all night. Just a guess.
“Darling,” Izzy turned to her human-sized barnacle, “would you be so kind as to give me a few minutes with my very, very inebriated sister?”
Was I drunk? I held the fork up and tried to sight on the tines. Yes. I was drunk. I giggled and stabbed the cake. I loved wine. Shame I couldn’t drink it all the time.
“Jesus, Anne.” Izzy put another slice in front of me. She really was a generous soul. She was kind enough to mercy-fuck that lieutenant, which seemed the epitome of generosity to me at the moment. “So what’s up?”
“Three,” I answered, pointing the fork at her. “Three, Izzy.” I couldn’t focus on her too long when the calories were beckoning. I never seemed to get enough to eat on my journeys back here. “Good cake. Needs a little more sugar, though.”
“It does not!” She glared at me. It definitely did, but I wasn’t about to stop eating it. “Three what now?”
“People, Izzy. Lady Catherine plus two. Makes three. I don’t take passengers.” I counted them on my fingers for emphasis. I missed a few of my fingers on the first try and waved off the effort.
“What? Well, don’t think of them as passengers. Think of them as... survivors of the system that you are going to spirit away to safety!” It’s a good thing she made good (if unsweetened) cake because she made lousy arguments.
Spit and polish it however you want, passengers were a messy business. Cargo stayed nice and tidy in its crate and didn’t ask “Are we there yet?” and “Do you think those clouds look dangerous?”
I shook my head and found more cake. “I’ll take care of the sails, but you – you will have to take care of the spirit. Think she’ll sleep in the kitchen bunk? Who are the other two? Better not be a man. That rule isn’t changing.” Every time I relaxed that damn rule it ended badly. I’d have to tell Dom soon that he would need to stay away. His older brother was stolen, press-ganged, right off my deck. I wasn’t going to risk him too.
“The baby – male, but only a year, so I think you’ll allow it – and Bessie.”
“BABY!” I almost choked. “Oh no, no, no, no. No babies.” She must be out of her damn mind. Babies were worse than men, if slightly less needy. No. No babies.
Izzy actually shushed me and looked around like I was blabbing out national secrets. “Anne. Listen.” She grabbed my arm to keep my focus, and I stared at her hand on the velvet gown.
I was really glad she was here. Even if this was her wedding, I was happy to have her with me. Like, I was really happy. She knew me better now and wasn't running or scared. She liked me still. I was happy for that. Izzy had been talking and talking, and I’d missed some of it. I attempted to refocus.
“And they have a baby together,” she was explaining. I nodded seriously like I’d heard and committed every detail to heart. “Her husband is the commander, and there’s no way she’s going to be able to keep passing John Henry off as Bessie’s once he’s back. And he’s coming back on the same ship that’s taking Ian. So this is very, very urgent.”
“Ugh. I do hate that commander.” I’d love to stick it to that son of a bitch. He’d orchestrated the attack at Kings Bay, and I owed him some hurt. One baby on a boat was a small price to pay. “Pompous ass. Fine. I’ll do it. How quick can you pack up?”
“Pack up? What do you mean?”
“You’re going with me. Duh.” Of course she was coming. Why wouldn’t she come? She’d have to cull that wardrobe of hers, though.
She smacked my hand away from more of the cake. I sat back and waited. I could be patient. She couldn’t guard that plate forever. I kept my fork at the ready.
“I can’t go with you!” she protested. “I have business interests here! I’m running an inn – that we’re expanding – building a shipyard, not to mention a house with my new husband—”
“Not leaving this island without you.” I interrupted. I was still hungry. “You stay, I stay, Catherine stays. Baby stays. We all—” I loved playing chicken with Izzy. It was too easy.
“We all stay, I get it.” She thought for a moment while vigilantly keeping guard on the unsweetened cake.
“Are there any reputable female captains here in the Somers Isles?”
I broke into an enormous smile. “Just the one.” I waggled my eyebrows. I was the best captain, hands down, regardless of what lay between my legs. Blink, Izzy. Just give up and blink.
“She’s very concerned about sailing with men. Doesn’t trust them at all,” Izzy mused.
I watched her calculate and kept a steady line on her. She’d blink first. It wasn’t even a fair fight. Izzy felt deeply for people, and poor Catherine’s plight had clearly sung its siren song deep into my kind sister’s soul.
“How long do you think I could successfully hide them? I do have 200 acres,” she asked.
“Up to you. It’s a small island." Blink, Izzy. I grinned.
“She wants to go to Europe. You mentioned needing to be in Europe by fall…” she continued, thinking aloud.
“I’m not going without you.”
“Yeah, you said that. Can we do it?”
“Yes. We can do it,” I affirmed. Come on, blink, sister.
“How long will it take to sail there?”
“I have a few stops to make.” Greenland, France, and possibly Spain if I could squeeze it in. “Probably four months.”
“And how long would it take to sail back? Are there any seasonal patterns or anything like that that would delay a return trip?”
Sail back? I blinked. I wouldn’t be sailing back. I wouldn’t even be sailing close by enough to do a drive-by drop-off. If my sister left this island, she wouldn’t be returning with me. If Izzy didn’t leave this island, I would have to leave her despite the promise I’d made her earlier today. Your secrets have secrets. My scars tightened and twitched, and I rubbed my hands over them. Yes, Izzy, I keep things from you, dark and desperate and evil stories that I won’t dare allow creep into your dreams.
“Do you have a time you need to be back?” If her husband wasn’t here, did she need to be here?
“Maybe next summer at the latest?” She twisted her napkin and looked at her shiny new husband.
“Next summer’s not great for me. Can I interest you in a nice 1670 or 1680? I hear their Bordeaux are drinking nicely.”
I swirled my wine and took a sip in imitation of a sommelier. I was not going to be anywhere near here in 1650. Well, I would be here in 1650, but I was definitely not going to be back here in 1650. My current plans included skipping that whole year altogether and hanging out in Aruba 1996.
“You do realize I got married today, right? I’m not interested in a ten-to-twenty-year separation.” She had the nerve to look at me like I was the idiot.
“That’s not–sure. Yup.” She didn't have the concept quite right. I’d explain it to her later.
Izzy continued her mental math, and I sat back and waited. Her answer would determine how long I had left with her.
“You love sailing. Why do you need me, again?” She was an idiot sometimes. My wine glass and I agreed on that.
“Don’t be an idiot. I love you, you loser.” I laughed and forked some cake from the plate she’d left open again.
“Oh!” Izzy suddenly hugged me.
I was embarrassed to have a female in this era be openly demonstrative towards me. My needs for physical contact were typically fulfilled by Andrews and Andrews alone. Izzy’s hugs were of a different ilk, and I wasn’t prepared.
“You should have led with that.” She squeezed me tighter. “Alright. I don’t think I can tell him any of this. He wouldn’t understand.”
I looked at the young lieutenant and shrugged. What he did or didn’t understand made me no nevermind.
“Tell him whatever you want.” I absently picked up my fork and looked for more to eat. The alcohol was pounding around my head. I needed to soak some of it up before it turned on me worse than it already had.
“You’re obviously starving. What do you want?” Izzy conjured a servant from the ether, and soon the table was laid with every dish she’d spent the past few days concocting. It was all delicious.
She derided my food preferences and rolled her eyes as I attempted to recall for her every bite of every morsel I’d eaten since the ceremony ended. Most of it was alcohol. The sugar and fat revived me a little, and I found myself spouting all kinds of details I’d never otherwise reveal to her. It was a rarity that I had both slept and eaten decent amounts in the same day.
My spirit was riding high. As I talked, I watched Andrews dancing with Lady Wallington. He spared me a glance that was half incredulous and half “help me” as the older woman grazed his rear. This was a great party. I was having a blast.
“Hey, how would you like to travel east? I have a friend there. Oh! But you know. Yeah, you know.”
Izzy had met Zheng some years ago on spring break. That was a crazy trip. I shot Marco for the second time on that trip. I chuckled at the memory. If she did want to go east, I know my sister would love the bustling ports and insane goods sold there. Bet she could make a better cake than this with some of those ingredients.
“I have a boat in port in Madagascar I sometimes switch to in the Pacific. It’s a catamaran style, less in-your-face European. I can get into better ports that way.” I left that boat on loan to a contact there. He worked independently, sourcing riches off the East African coast, and provided me with a share of his haul in return for use of the ship.
“This amount of traveling would take some time,” Izzy mused some more.
“Lucky for you, I specialize in just that very commodity.” I smiled as I ate my way through the table.
“So we might even be able to send messages and plan out some kind of itinerary?”
“Well, if you want to portal, just pick a date. Boom. So long as you don’t die, you’ll be back whenever.” There was really no need for messages when you’d be back before they’d even realized you'd left.
“Well....I just want to be able to find Ian. Would we be able to go to England?!”
“I try my best to avoid that place. Too busy. Not much sun.” I shivered just thinking about the rocky shores and cliffs of that place. The people reflected the poor weather and conditions. There was no mystery in my mind as to why the inhabitants of that island set out to live anywhere and everywhere else in the world.
“Let me try this again. I want to be able to go see my husband. Can we fucking do that?” she snapped at me.
“I mean...sure. But isn’t he going to be at war awhile? We could travel the world three times over, arrive back tomorrow. He’d never know you were gone. Why sit and pine for him here, doing needlework or whatever for two years, when we could just skip to the end of the war? He probably wouldn’t be gray by then or anything. Just older.” Or dead. I stopped my alcohol-soaked brain just in time from including that tidbit. “Besides, London is way expensive.” Andrews was now deep into a branle dance with Lady Wallington, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
“We’ll talk about those details later.” Izzy mused, “So you mean to say we could leave, do our errands or whatever, and then come right back? Like almost no time had passed at all? Like you did!” She gasped.
“Well, no time will pass for him. But yeah.” Andrews narrowly avoided another bum grope. This was better than any TV show.
“Right. Like you did. Hey! Did you refill the ollas, or are all of my plants wilting?”
“What are ollas?”
“My plants in the kitchen, Anne! The ollas are a watering system, remember? You set them up for me.” I tried to focus on her. Plants in the kitchen?
I had a vague memory of her asking for some plant system when I first approached her about taking a “sisterly summer cruise.” I’d gotten it but had been in and out of the time stream for at least five years between when she’d made the request and had finally gotten on board.
“I don’t remember. But yeah, they’re probably dead.” Lady Wallington was fairly chasing Graham around the dance floor. I was dying.
Izzy patted my arm returning my attention to her. “Have you had any of the brownies?”
I loved brownies! Where had she been hiding them? “No, but they look good.”
“No. Remember, you’re not allowed to have any. Not even in 1649....probably even more not in 1649.”
“Why not? I love brownies. Got to be better than that cake.” I reached for one, and Izzy got in my way.
“No. Anne? Anne? No!” Izzy hauled me back from the plate.
She started wrestling me but I was a good brawler and I was craving chocolate. She gave me all this food and was going to refuse me a brownie? I was going to get that brownie.
“Mr. Andrews!” Izzy called out, practically sitting on my lap to keep me from her precious desserts.
Andrews gratefully detached himself from Lady Wallington and walked over to us, a bemused and curious smile on his handsome features.
“She can’t have any of those chocolatey squares,” Izzy informed him. “If you can’t control her, she’ll be your problem once the stuff kicks in.”
“Up you go, Nanette.” Andrews lifted me to my feet and held me to him tightly. “Lady Wallington is going to get the wrong idea if I keep dancing with her.”
“Good. She needs a good long, hard—” Graham’s lips found mine, and I didn’t care about brownies or babies or anything else. I returned his kiss and forgot the rest.
“Come along, Nanette.” He spoke softly in my ear and whirled me out onto the dance floor, where we began one of our favorite dances, the tango. The food and dancing finally brought a semblance of sobriety to my mind, and I focused on just taking the moment in and committing it to memory.
Andrews and I spun through a reel, dancing circles around the other guests. I toasted Izzy, I toasted Andrews, I toasted the guests. Izzy was having a grand time too in the moments between the young lieutenant dragging her off to screw and coming back to enjoy her party. I remember there was a lot of laughter. I remember there was a lot of dancing.
I managed to snap a few pictures, one of Izzy and Ian dancing, a close-up of Ian holding Izzy glowing in her dress at sunset, Izzy surrounded by the other noble ladies, and a selfish one I took of Andrews, grinning that wildcat grin, just so I’d be able to remember him just like this.
But mostly we danced.
Many of the guests had retired to their beds before Graham and I were close to finishing the evening. When the music hit a lull, Izzy and that new husband of hers came over before the next song began.
“Finally!” she exclaimed, and I turned to see her actually standing and not straddling the young lieutenant. “I’ve been waiting to say good night to you for what felt like ages.” Izzy caught me up in a huge hug that knocked the wind out of me.
Graham laughed at the sight of someone else willingly hugging me.
“You didn’t have to wait for me.” I pushed her back. “Haven’t you ‘gone to bed’ like eight times already?” The dress was now wrinkled in a distinctive “oh, mighty Ian, have your way with me” pattern. Good thing I gave it to her, or I’d have to burn it.
Izzy elbowed me, and I was thankful for the whalebone corseting protecting my spleen. “We did have to wait for you, because we’re well-mannered, and you two are our hosts.”
“I suppose we are, aren’t we?” The moniker sounded funny to my ear, but there was a certain truth to it. I had seen this house built, grown this estate beyond the bounds of any other on this island, and was intimately involved with its proprietor. I smiled at Andrews, who beamed back at me and placed his hand on my lower back.
“No need for fisticuffs tonight, Coventry?” Andrews asked the lieutenant. I’d have to find out that story later. Sounded fun.
“I should say not, Andrews.” The two men clasped hands.
“Don’t wear him out,” I told Izzy, giving her new husband a depreciating evaluation. “He looks fragile.” Izzy flicked me. “Ouch.” That kind of hurt.
“So, good night then?” she asked with her eyes on that husband of hers.
I decided to shock the crap out of her and grabbed her and kissed her on the cheek right in front of that lieutenant who thought he might have eclipsed my claim on her.
“Congratulations on your wedding,” I whispered into her ear. “I wish—” that I could have had a wedding just like this “—you all the best. Good night.” I relinquished my sister over to her new husband and retreated back to Graham.
“I imagine that you will have a pleasant night as well. Good night, Anne. I love you,” she said.
Mom should have been here. In my ledger of misdeeds, not bringing her back here for this now officially numbered in the top five.
“Love you too. Go get ’em, tiger.” I punched her on the shoulder and watched them walk up to the house.
“Nanette?” Andrews asked as he led me back to the dancing. “What’s a tiger?”
“You. You are a tiger. Just with fewer stripes,” I told my wildcat man and kissed him fiercely while I still could.
After the newlyweds went off to their bed, I helped Andrews settle the guests into the various rooms and pallets throughout the house. Soon the two of us were the only souls still moving around the place. He led me to our room and held me around the waist as he shut the door. I surveyed our bedroom, feeling for all the world that he and I were the newlyweds, not Izzy and her lieutenant. Andrews moved his hands up to cradle my face and pulled me in close for a kiss. He pressed me up against the door, slowly lifting my skirts and laying claim to my curves underneath, pulling me against him.
“Nanette,” he brushed the words against my lips, “say yes to me.”
“Give me something I can say yes to,” I pleaded.
He retreated back just far enough to look at me, his eyes burning and dilated, as mine surely were as well. A bit of the wildcat crept into his gaze, and he leaned in, overwhelming me with his presence, and whispered in my ear, “Let your hair down. Say yes.”
I smiled, only too willing to play the game. “Yes.” I pulled my fingers through my hair, undoing the braids and letting it fall free and loose. He stroked the smooth, loose waves, wrapping a lock around his finger.
“Unlace your dress. Say yes.” He stepped back to watch.
“Yes.” I pulled the laces out and let the outer garment drop and revealed myself in my stays and shift. I undid the busk without him asking and dropped it to the floor.
“Now your shift. Say yes.”
“Yes.” I pulled the drawstring at the neck and let my shift fall to the floor. Andrews walked around behind me and brushed his lips against my neck. I shivered in the chill.
“Tell me to touch you,” he breathed, his lips and tongue at the nape of my neck.
“Touch me.”
He clasped my hands around the back of his neck so that my chest was fully exposed and he had uninterrupted access to my body. “Keep your hands here. Say yes.”
“Yes.”
He began at my hips. One hand came up and massaged a breast while the other traveled between my legs, teasing me, until I was thrusting against him. My head leaned back on his shoulder and my breath came fast as he slipped his fingers deep into me. I cried out a wordless plea.
“Come to bed now.”
“Yes.”
I whimpered a little as he removed his fingers against my body’s desire. Graham lifted me in his arms and laid me in our bed. He stood over me, just looking.
“Close your eyes.”
“Yes.” I did as he asked and felt a shock of delight as his lips closed over first one breast then the other. I gripped the headboard and moaned.
Find a way to stay, I begged myself, stay. I heard his clothes fall to the floor and felt the heat of him over me as he climbed into bed. He opened my legs and knelt between them. I could live here, I could be his wife, find a way to stay!
His fingers sank into me again. He stifled my cry with his lips as he kissed me long and desperately while his fingers played within me. I had never lost control of myself so thoroughly. I shook and thrashed and held onto that headboard for dear life.
“Please, Graham. Graham, please,” I begged.
“Yes, Nan,” he said, removing his fingers and thrusting deep into me with a groan of satisfaction.
We moved in sync, thrusting, pulling away, meeting each other again. You’ve been alone long enough, find a way to stay. It felt so good not to be alone. It felt so good to be wanted and desired.
Graham held me tight against his body, not wanting any space between us where I might slip away from him. I held him just as tightly back, angling him deeper and deeper into me, knowing how much space I was about to put between us in a few short days. Find a way to stay, I begged. Stay! Stay! Stay! At last we brought each other to a final climax and collapsed.
****
The next morning I woke up hungover and naked in bed, with Andrews’ bare ass snoring next to me. “Where are my clothes?” I asked him. He kept snoring. I tried to shake him awake, but he flung his arm over me and shoved me back into the pillows.
“Shush, Nanette. Go back to sleep.”
Yeah, that was a much better choice than getting up.
****
Andrews had all our food delivered to the room, and we lay curled into each other, still naked, for the rest of the day, the night, and into the next morning. We talked about old times and new ventures. When we got tired of talking, we had sex. When we were too tired for either, we slept.
