Raised By Wolves 2 - Matelots (64 page)

I turned to Sarah and Striker. “Perhaps you should retire to the King’s House.”

Striker sighed tiredly as he perused what we could see of our men.

“Aye.”

“We will stay and keep them company,” I assured him.

“Non,” Gaston whispered in my ear. “You must go to the Damn Bride.”

Even though I had not been aroused, my cock shrank further still.

I studied him and recalled all that had occurred last night, especially my returning to find him bound by his own decision.

“Go on, I will be about shortly,” I assured Striker.

Striker and Sarah turned up an alleyway and left us.

My uncle hesitated in following them. “I will wait for you to change your attire.”

Gaston nodded and led me to the house. My uncle and Rucker followed. We left Cudro to introduce them and retreated to our room.

“My going to her will do little good,” I said as soon as the door closed behind us.

“You should make the attempt,” Gaston said resolutely.

“I do not think I should leave you… again.”

He frowned and spoke with a trace of irritation. “I shall be fine.”

“I would not return to find you bound again,” I said patiently.

“What would you have of me?” he asked with anger. “Would you rather I had done as the Horse wished and went and strangled the bitch?”

We were not discussing the same thing.

“Non… You did indeed control it admirably. Yet, I would not have you need to control it at all because of this. I would rather that “fine” be defined as a lack of distress on your part. I would rather your Horse not feel the need.”

The anger left him with a sigh, and his frown turned thoughtful. “I truly do not feel it will feel such a need tonight. Now that I… it… knows how little you favor her. Trust me, Will.”

“As you trust me,” I said.

His eyes narrowed and he studied me with suspicion.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. I am… not as I should be, even now. I will not have you hold my hand, though. Go. Do what we must have you do. I will be… here when you return.”

I shook my head. “You need not battle it alone, and I need not…”

His fingers were on my lips.

“I must, and you must,” he whispered. “And I am never alone. You are always with me.”

“As you are always in my heart,” I whispered. “I will go. It will do little good. Let us hope she is sufficiently intoxicated again to not know I use a dirk.”

Mischief warped his lips, and he closed on me. I backed to the wall and he placed hands beside my shoulders to lean towards me – without our touching – and whisper, “Would you be able to do as you must, if you felt me somewhere else other than your heart?”

“Oui,” I breathed.

His breath and then his tongue tickled my ear, and one of his hands went to my crotch.

“Oui,” I said.

He chuckled as his teeth worried the line of my jaw and his fingers brought me to life.

There was sharp rap on the door, and we started.

“Marse… Will, will…you be ready soon?” my uncle called.

I swore silently, but Gaston turned and tore the door open.

“I am not finished with him yet,” Gaston said in clipped English.

I could not see my matelot’s face; but I could see my uncle’s, and I knew he looked into the eyes of the Horse. He was, of course, quite startled.

I knew I needed to shoo him off. “I…”

Gaston’s hand snapped up between us. His gaze still held my hapless uncle’s.

“He is mine and I will send him when I wish,” Gaston said.

He slammed the door and turned back to me. His eyes did glitter with danger as I expected.

I felt no fear. I shed my tunic and weapons and dropped my breeches.

“I am yours,” I whispered huskily.

His grin was truly feral as he came to me. He spun me about without preamble and I rested my forehead and forearms on the wall as he tongued the line of my spine and kneaded my shoulders. His member was a teasing presence brushing my buttocks. My cock was straining to reach the wall before me, as if the wood would somehow provide it comfort.

“You cannot come,” he hissed as he greased himself.

I chuckled in acquiescence, but I was not sure how he would stop me. But then he took me standing, with such passion that the needs of my member were eclipsed by his, as they often were when he was within me. I held the wall, and squatted to meet him, and thought of little other than the sensations he evoked in the one place he allowed us to have contact.

He held me at last when he came, and we sagged to the floor with me still impaled upon him. Sated and shrunken, he finally slid from me.

My cock stirred anew, as it had become accustomed to being sated in the other’s wake. He touched it with gentle fingers.

“Fuck her,” he whispered. “Think of me, and fuck her as if I stood behind you driving you into her.”

I gasped as I envisioned such a thing, and both my cock and my hole throbbed.

“That might indeed do the deed,” I murmured.

“Good,” he said with a chuckle and nip on my ear.

With that he stood and tossed me my jacket and the rest of my proper attire. My member did not diminish as I dressed, and he seemed greatly pleased in this.

“You will be here, and you will be fine,” I murmured as he pushed me to the door.

“Oui.”

His eyes were once again those of the man I loved.

I left him after a long loving kiss.

I ran the haranguing gauntlet of our fellows, who thought little of my destination or purpose, and found my uncle and Rucker waiting in the street.

“Marsdale,” my uncle said firmly. He looked as if he had composed quite a speech.

“He is my matelot,” I said calmly, and walked away to lead them to the King’s House.

This served to quiet him until we reached our destination. I felt it foolish to knock: the lady residing there was now my wife, which in theory made me master of the house. So I strode in as if I did indeed own the place.

My sudden entry was greeted by Ashland lurching to his feet from his seat in the parlor. He gave me a curt nod. Nearby, the housekeeper squeaked at my unexpected presence and bustled upstairs in haste.

“Ah, my Lord,” Coswold said as he smoothly stepped between me and the base of the stairs. “We did not know when to expect you.”

“Nay, you did not,” I said pleasantly. “I assume the housekeeper has gone to tell my bride I have arrived.”

“Aye, my Lord. Lady Marsdale has recently finished dining and retired to her room.”

Hearing her referred to as Lady Marsdale was jarring. Though the title had been alien to me for much of my adult life, it was mine, and I was surprised to find I did not like her attached to it. Though I did not wish to have anyone else, Gaston perhaps, attached to it either. It was a thing of my father, and I wanted little of it.

And despite its recent thoughts of Gaston, and upon hearing her referred to at all, and knowing it would be forced to wait, my cock shriveled away to sulk.

“What is our housekeeper’s name?” I asked to distract myself.

Coswold frowned ever so little. “Henrietta, my Lord. And Lady Marsdale’s maid is known as Tessa.”

Ashland approached. “Congratulations on the marriage of your sister, my Lord. We were all quite surprised, the lady especially.”

His plain face was the epitome of nonchalance, and thus I schooled my features to blandness as well, though I wished to smile at him. I dearly wished to ask him why my wife had been upset by this news, but if he did not feel he could speak freely in front of Coswold, neither should I.

Henrietta returned down the stairs. I took a good look at her. She was plump but pleasant in appearance, with dark eyes and dull brown hair pulled tightly back into a bun.

“Um, begging your pardon, my Lord, but Mi… Lady Marsdale is indisposed at the moment. She says she will send Tessa down when she is ready to receive you.”

“That will be fine,” I assured her.

“Have you gentlemen eaten, my Lord?” she asked, her gaze going past me to my uncle and Rucker.

“Not as we might have wished,” I said. “We have had a busy day making arrangements concerning my sister’s marriage and business ventures.”

“Then I’ll fetch something, sirs,” she said and hurried off.

We all muttered our thanks and headed to the dining room. To my surprise, Ashland and Coswold followed.

“My Lord,” Ashland said. “If you would pardon me for a moment. We have heard that you are to sail. We had some questions concerning the management of things in your absence.”

“Ah…” I sighed. “Come, join us, sit, I will tell you what I know.”

I waved them to seats at the table Rucker and my uncle shared.

“I do not sit at my lord’s table,” Coswold said stiffly.

“Your loss,” I said and sat at the head of it.

Ashland barely suppressed a smile as he sat decorously several places down on the side of the table opposite my uncle and Rucker.

Coswold continued to stand with his hands clasped behind his back. I tried to ignore him.

Henrietta served us bread and a delicious soup in pewter bowls. I explained what I knew of the housing arrangements and when such things were expected to be concluded. Then to my uncle’s further dismay, I was quite frank with Ashland about the concerns over my sister’s safety.

“My Lord,” Ashland said when I finished. “Then there is a matter we must discuss. I am not in Lady Marsdale’s employ. I was hired by Lord Whitlock to bring her here and remain with her until she married. My payment included my return passage to England. However…”

My uncle seemed startled by this.

I asked, “Would you wish to stay, Mister Ashland?”

“Aye, my Lord, I have no pressing need to return to England, and as your sister must be safeguarded while you and Captain Striker sail, and as how one could presume you might wish to have Lady Marsdale safeguarded as well…”

I snorted with amusement and met his gaze. “One could presume that. However, unlike the orders I believe Lord Whitlock might have sent you with, I am not concerned about matters of decorum or reputation.

I believe I can speak for Captain Striker as well when I say that there is little concern my sister will behave in a manner unbecoming a lady –

unless one considers handling affairs of business to be unladylike. And as for my wife, I leave all choices concerning her deportment in public…

or private… to her. She is, after all, a lady born and bred, if she does not know how one should behave by now, no amount of… safeguarding…

will assure it. I would not have her attacked or set upon by drunken buccaneers or bondsmen, you understand, but I care not what company she willingly keeps.”

This unsettled Coswold no small bit, and gained me a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile from Ashland. Rucker was suppressing his amusement well enough if one did not know him. My uncle was thoughtful: not aghast or concerned, but thoughtful.

“I am sure Captain Striker will wish to meet with you as well in the morning,” I said, “since it is both of our wives we are employing you to protect. The details of your employment can be arranged then.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” he said with another thin but genuine smile.

He stood, bowed, and left us.

I looked to Coswold. “I assume you are in the pay of your mistress’

household.”

“Aye, my Lord,” he said stiffly without glancing toward me. “Even if she should not remain on Jamaica. I served her mother before her, as did Henrietta; and Tessa is a bondswoman who has served… Lady Marsdale since she left the nursery.”

“Then you should know her well,” I said with a friendly smile.

“Perhaps well enough to know better than anyone how long you will remain on this fair island.”

I had the satisfaction of seeing him wince at that.

“You may bring us a bottle of wine,” I said. “See to it that I am told at once when my wife is ready to receive me.”

“You think to put her out for unfaithfulness when you return?” my uncle asked quietly when the man was gone.

“I am considering it.” I sighed and kept my voice as low. “I am at least willing to play my cards such that it is in my hand. We will see how she behaves in my absence.”

“We know how you shall behave in your absence,” he said coldly.

I snorted. “I believe my wedding vows stated I shall take no other woman. If I had understood them to mean the other I would not have made them.”

“Truly?” he asked sincerely.

“Truly,” I said. “As I have attempted to convey, if any is being cuckolded in this endeavor, it is Gaston.”

“Oh, Mars…Wi … Marsy, do not be a fool,” he whispered irritably.

“Men of your kind often have lovers; it is accepted as long as they are not fools about it. The hell with your new traditions. He is your paramour, he should behave as one. I can respect you having a lover. I cannot countenance him behaving as… Damn it, boy, a mistress, even a wife would not take such airs.”

My ire rose to meet him and I hissed, “As you have concurred, good sir, it is very unlikely I will ever inherit. And even if I were to inherit, I do not wish to return to England. This is now my home, and by the Gods I will live here as I see fit.”

Rucker had left the table and hurried to the doorway to glance beyond. He sighed with relief at apparently finding no one lurking in the hall. My uncle and I did likewise and glared at one another.

Rucker made show of dusting his breeches free of breadcrumbs as Coswold returned with the requested wine. My uncle and I quickly schooled our faces to the bored indifference suitable for the presence of servants. When the damn man left again, my uncle resumed glaring at me. “And why do you blaspheme in such an odd manner?” he hissed.

I puzzled on his meaning.

“And which Gods would you mean?” Rucker asked with a grin.

“Oh, that,” I sighed. “The Greco-Roman deities after a fashion.” I looked to my uncle and shrugged. “You should consider me an atheist.

It will be easier to understand.”

“Oh my Lord,” Uncle Cedric moaned and poured a hearty cup of wine.

Tessa arrived and curtsied in the doorway. She was pinched and petite thing, pale in skin and dark in hair.