Chapter Twenty-Three
L ou sat in the familiar chamber she and Griff had been assigned by Cole during their previous foray on the Sweet Annie, the ship's medic kneeling at her feet as he sewed her side up, one slow, painful stitch at a time.
The temptation rose once again to punch the man, but it wasn’t exactly his fault she’d been stabbed. He just had the unfortunate duty of repairing things—mostly her.
The worst part of the complete process was that she knew she’d have to suffer a second round once he got a look at her leg wound. That one had plunged deep as well and without looking, she knew stitches would be required; the last thing she needed was to allow infection to take hold. Gangrene was a very real concern and she found it annoying that with all the steam-tech available to modern Victorian Society, nobody had come up with a better way to prevent infection or close a damn wound than piercing the flesh with a needle and thread over and over again. Something less painful.
Lou cursed again, loudly and with great color. “Bloody son of a tuppenny whore!” He must not have ever heard such curses—or so she gathered from the rather wide-eyed look the airman gave her. “Surely you have heard such curses before?”
He nodded. “Oh, I’ve heard them. Just never from a lady.”
Lou leaned toward him. “I’ll tell you a secret.” She glanced about as though revealing some great mystery. “I’m no lady.”
He chuckled. “But you must be, to mingle with the likes of Lord Melton and Captain Chapman. Those two are gentlemen through and through.”
She winked at the older man. “Perhaps they’re slumming it with me. And while I am still getting to know your Captain, I suspect he would take exception to being called a gentleman. The man seems to pride himself on being a rogue.”
The airman chuckled. “Right you are, ma’am, but I’d have to say any woman who’s associating with those two must be a lady. Perhaps not in name, but in here.” He tapped his chest.
A little stunned by the comment, Lou fell quiet. Sometimes the truest words came from the most unlikely sources.
“All righty, ma’am. Is that the only hole I need to sew up?” he asked as he tied off the suture and spread a gel of some kind over the wound that Griff had given him. Almost immediately the wound started to numb, throbbing less.
Maybe someone had created some worthwhile medicine after all.
“I think you’d best take a look at my leg. I seem to have acquired a hole there as well.” Lou waved at her leg while she still processed the man’s words.
He laughed a little. “Right you are. Quite a lot of undesired holes for anyone, but especially for such a pretty lady.”
For possibly the first time outside of her time with Griff, she felt her cheeks heat at a simple, but sweet compliment. It was the kind of response Griff elicited from her, and why she suspected she was so drawn to him. In love with him. “Thank you…”
“Frederick, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Frederick. You make a spinster like myself swoon. I dare say Lord Melton best watch out for you.” She winked.
Fred, as she instantly called him in her head, smiled and ripped her trouser leg open before busying himself with disinfecting and repairing her damaged thigh.
Griff walked in just as the last stitch was being set. “Glad to see you didn’t maim anyone while they were trying to help you.”
“There’s still time.” Lou couldn’t help but smile a little, despite the bite in her words. She was still furious with him and Holt for going to the meeting without her—as a result of their foolishness, Holt was now a captive of the maniac who wanted Griff dead. “Are the ladies all settled?”
He nodded. “They are.”
Fred smoothed over some more medical gel and stood from his labors. “All set, ma’am. If you ever need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask for old Frederick.”
“I wouldn’t find anyone else with so deft a touch, but don’t tell my maid I said that.” Lou winked again at the gruff airman.
“A proper lady I tell you,” he muttered and shuffled out the door.
Griff glanced at her, back at Fred as he left, then back at her. “I see you’ve managed to gather another for your harem of men.”
Lou scoffed. “I believe the men of the near east would object to so small a collection being referred to as a harem. And do not think for one moment that we are not going to discuss you and Holt leaving me behind, but that can wait. How are we proceeding?”
“I could not imagine you not wanting to discuss that topic as much as I wish you wouldn’t,” returned Griff with a grin. “Cole has us on course for Scotland. We should arrive within the hour. The trouble is, we don’t know Dell’s available modes of transport. He could be on the road, which would give us the advantage. Or he could be using an airship, though whether he could hire another on such short notice with the Sky Chaser confiscated, I can’t imagine.”
“I doubt Sir Francis was his only sponsor. It seems to me a man so determined to be rid of a technology would have more than one financier. Let’s assume he has arrived at his uncle’s home. What is the best approach?”
A knock at the door interrupted them. Griff opened it and welcomed Cole, Elena, Katerina, and Mary Margaret in.
“I hope I haven’t missed all the good parts,” Cole said as he offered her a jaunty grin along with a pile of clothing. “I believe these should be close to your size.”
“We were just discussing our plan of attack.” Lou eyed the dashing air-ship Captain and his offering, then reached out and took the pile. “And thank you for the clothes.”
“Of course. All of this is terribly exciting, I haven’t gotten into a good scrape in far too long. Success has its downside, primarily a lack of adventure.”
Griff scowled. “Cole, I can’t ask you to get any more involved—”
“Do shut up, Griff,” his friend said cheerfully. “I am well and truly involved, and I shall come along on this little exploit. Consider it payment for my services.”
Griff scowled again, but Lou decided to press on and accept the assistance. “Excellent. Another body in the fray will help immensely, particularly since we don’t know how many men Dell has at his disposal just now. Based on that, I think we try to slip in, find Holt, and slip out. A frontal attack is not likely in our favor considering all we have is ourselves and the ladies.” She waved a hand at the women who had come in with Cole.
Cole chuckled. “My dear, Louisa.” His endearment had Griff scowling even more. “I doubt I could stop my men from joining in a good fight. I am not the only one chafing under the shackles of success. You have a veritable army at your disposal. If a frontal assault is your desire, my men will be game.”
Lou couldn’t resist grinning at the charming rogue. He was terribly unprincipled, and she suspected he enjoyed every moment. How he and Griff were such good friends she could not fathom, but somehow it was true. “Well then, let’s devise a strategy. The one thing we are short on is time. Ladies, thank you all for joining us as well, I appreciate your support.”
Twenty minutes later, they had a plan. Cole left to organize his men, followed by the ladies, and Lou rose from the bed to change into the fresh garments. Griff stood there as though waiting for her to wobble or crumple. Despite the pain in her leg as she took a step, Lou grinned and kept moving toward the privacy screen in the room's corner.
Griff awkwardly cleared his throat. “You know, I have seen you naked a time or two.”
“Indeed, but I was not angry with you then.” She slipped behind the wood and fabric wall and worked her shirt free of her injured arm. Cogging hell, she was stiff.
“Lou, I did what I thought would keep you safe.”
She could hear him shuffling around the room aimlessly, as though he didn’t know what to do with himself. Good. “That may be, but you left me behind, Griff, and after we agreed there would be no further solo adventures.” The embers of her anger flared as though someone had applied a steam-powered bellows to them.
The random shuffling sounds stopped and Griff replied, sounding rough and raw. “Well, not that it was my intention, but now you know how it feels to be so summarily cut out of what you believed was going to happen.”
His pointed comment landed a bullseye. She winced as the coals of fury were effectively doused in cold water. She went quiet as she considered his words, the silence stretching out between them.
Needing a distraction, Lou wrestled what was left of her trousers off and stood naked, both physically and emotionally. “I…I don’t question your motives. I considered slipping away to meet Dell and confront him myself. Perhaps just killing him and ending this… But then I thought about how angry you’d be if I did that, how you would feel as though I didn’t believe you were strong enough to be my partner, not just in this matter, but in life as well. How perhaps—” She couldn’t continue. To say the words, to admit the one nagging fear that made her unsure if loving him was the right choice.
Suddenly Griff was there, behind the screen, crowding her against the bulkhead of the ship. “I shall always need you—love you. I’ve told you I can’t imagine not having you in my life.”
He crushed his lips to her and invaded her mouth. Tongues tangled, Lou barely noticed the metal beam and rivets grinding against her spine as need took over. She needed the man in her arms. Needed him to love her, and needed to love him in return—her injuries be damned!
Griff’s cock ached with desire as he pressed against Lou’s curves. Yes. She was soft, as a woman should be, but beneath all of that lay honed muscles and a heart he wasn’t sure he was worthy enough to love: but love her, he did.
And so he kissed her, tasted her, reveled in the feel of her melded into him.
Then Lou pulled free of his mouth and panted heavily, “Need—you—inside me. Hurry! We haven’t any time to waste!”
“Your thigh,” he hesitated.
“Now, Griff. I can stand on my good leg.” Lou lifted the injured leg and partially wrapped it around his own.
Steaming hells, she was incredible. “Yes,” Griff growled his agreement and reached between them to release the placket of his trousers.
Pushing down his small clothes, he pulled his aching length free. The heat of her stomach scalded him as their flesh met, but it was the best kind of burn.
Should he carry her the ten feet over to the bed on the other side of the screen? Probably, but the need was too great, and the woman had made a valid point.
This had to be quick.
Hauling her into his arms allowed Griff to shift and press her up against the bulkhead, just to the right of the beam, and then he was pushing into her, sinking deep into her heat. He hesitated, his concern for her injuries winning out over his lust as he looked at her for signs of pain.
He saw only his own desire reflected back at him. The new numbing agent he’d added to the med-gel must be working.
“Griff.” Lou’s throaty moan snapped him back to the activities at hand and drove his desire higher, made him want to love her harder, deeper.
The drive to leave an indelible reminder of his love with her had him pulling back and slamming into her, only to stop and grind himself against her pussy. Then he did it again, basking in the feel of her body clenching around his cock.
Always a vocal lover, this occasion was no different for Lou. “Faster, Griff. Please .”
It was the ragged please on the end of her demand that had him taking action. Griff withdrew then immediately shoved back inside her, ramping up his pace as they both shot straight to the precipice of climax and teetered there.
He grabbed her hair, pulling her head back against the wall and exposing her neck. “You are mine.” He thrust inside her. “Forever.” Again he thrust. “For always.” One last stroke and they both exploded in a muscle quaking, bone jarring orgasm that they did not bother to keep quiet. “For eternity.”
As the remnants of bliss pulsed through them, Griff let his head drop forward to press his forehead against hers. “I love you, Louisa Stanton. Just in case you forgot in the last thirty seconds.”
“I don’t know how I could forget when you made your point in the most delicious fashion.” The woman who’d stolen his heart squeezed herself around his softening cock, eliciting a groan from him.
“Cease woman, or you will leave me no stamina for the coming fight.” Griff eased back, letting her legs slide down to the floor to take her weight once more.
A knock at the door heralded its opening. “Hate to interrupt, but we’ve arrived.” Cole’s voice carried behind the partition where Griff stood with his buttocks exposed as he tried to cover Lou’s body.
She laughed. “Silly man. He can’t see behind the screen.” She called over to Cole, “We’ll be right with you.”
“Are you sure you don’t need any help back there, my lady?” Once more, the mischievous nature of Griff’s best friend reared its head.
“Get out you meddling goat!” Griff grumbled a few more choice epithets as he tucked himself back into his trousers and helped Lou get dressed.
A few moments later, she was braiding her hair as they walked down the passageway to disembark.
Cole led the way. “We stopped about half a league out. You have your choice of exits, you can rappel down with the crew or take the dingy.”
There was no disguising the challenge in Cole’s offer, and Griff knew what Lou’s preference would be without asking. “I’m fairly certain the lady would be offended if I suggested she take the dingy, despite her recent injuries.”
She grinned. “See, you are already getting better at this. Show me to my rope, Captain.” She pulled a pair of leather gloves out of what seemed to be thin air.
At a bit of a loss, Griff stared, but then Cole handed him a pair. “I suspected you’d both feel that way.”
In no time they were on the ground and moving swiftly through the woods of Dell’s uncle’s Scottish estate on the opposite shore from Edinburgh near Inverkeithing. As they neared the edge of the sprawling Tudor affair, they fanned out, Griff’s heart racing.
This was it.
Griff went over the plan one more time in his mind. Lou, Griff, and Elena were going in to find Holt, while Katerina, Mary Margaret, and Cole stayed in reserve with his troop of men. Their job was to hang back in case things got ugly or if Lou, Griff, and Elena hadn’t returned within a half hour.
He’d tried to convince Lou to stay back, but Holt was her close friend and she had staunchly refused. There would be no repeats of the Electric Cock where he left her behind. She wanted to be there, so he agreed—not that he fancied his chances in a debate. At least she had the numbing gel he’d made to help with her injuries.
Griff had no idea where Holt would be kept, but it seemed reasonable that the cellar would be likely and that should be near the kitchen. With that in mind, he hoped for a quick in-and-out effort barring Dell or one of his underlings appearing unexpectedly.
With a nod to Cole, he, Lou, and Elena peeled off from the group and crept closer to the house, edging to the back of the building to find the rear terrace. Fear pulsed thick and sludge-like through his veins, though he ignored the sensation. He hated Lou being there, putting herself at risk. But he knew he would protect her with his life.
Most of the glass doors were thrown open along the stone area, allowing the unseasonably warm breezes to waft through the manor house. Griff led them through the closest entrance and then down a side staircase that was plainly a servant's stairs. As they left the wide open areas into better cover, his fear tamped down and allowed him to think more clearly. How does Lou cope with this when she’s on an assignment?
The bustling kitchen was down one floor and just across from the stairs. Griff looked to the left and saw a dark hall, then to the right where the kitchen was alive with activity. They hesitated a moment before quietly slipping across the landing, down the next flight of stairs and into the darkness of the basement below. At the bottom of the steps, they found a hallway with multiple doors. They opened the first one and found storage for the kitchens; casks of oils, flour, and other dry goods. The next door across the hall revealed a number of cleaning supplies, including a few brooms.
They continued checking doors until they got to the last pair. Lou opened one and found…an empty cell.
Griff tipped his head toward the locked one he stood before he whispered to the women, “This is the one.” Pressing an ear against the wood he heard movement. “Holt, if that’s you, stand back.” He called out loud enough to be heard, but hopefully not too loud. Then he kicked at the door by the lock.
The heavy oak door didn’t budge.
Lou rolled her eyes at him and pulled a knife off of her array. “Move.” She nudged him out of the way and within moments had the door opened.
Elena chuckled at his obvious dismay. Maybe he should have considered that Lou would know how to pick a lock.
Inside they saw Holt sat on the floor, his shirt untucked and filthy, shoeless, and sporting a rather ugly black eye.
Lou crouched down, “Thank God you’re alive.”
One corner of his mouth tipped up. “Can’t kill the bait, now can you?”
She looked him over critically. “Well, it certainly didn’t stop them from roughing it up a bit, now did it?”
Holt laughed, a huff really, before dissolving into a painful groan. “I think they broke a rib…or all of them.”
Griff glanced back out in the hallway and, with no sign of anyone coming, turned back to the scene in the cell. Lou was helping Holt stand up, so he slid into the man’s other side and gave her a hand. “He may not be expecting us this soon, but I hate to bank on it. We’d best go before—”
A bit of a sinister chuckle sounded from the hallway, and Griff looked up with resignation to see Dell stepping in the cell's doorway.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.” The rogue stepped into the already tiny room, making it feel even smaller. “This worked out far better than planned. Now I have all three of you meddling nodcocks out of the way—and isn’t this brilliant? A three-penny-upright, to boot.”
Elena growled, her Spanish accent redolent with disdain. “You were such a foozler, the effort to lay down would have been wasted.”
Dell sneered at her. “Shut your mouth, church bell. I’m here to deal with this one.”
Griff considered how long they’d been down there looking around. He calculated that in another ten minutes, give or take, Katerina, Mary Margaret, and Cole, along with his men, would storm the proverbial castle. Or at least, he hoped that was the case. “I’ve told you. I am not so important that the Tinkers won’t continue without me. The Lord of Cogs is a symbol, whether I’m alive or dead.”
Dell rolled his eyes. “I agree, you aren’t so important—but you are a damned nuisance to our—my goals. I have to make electricity take off. All my money is tied up in electric research and testing. If it doesn’t win out over steam I shall be ruined. Everything I’ve built, all my money as well as my uncle’s will be lost. And how can I forget…I don’t think I’ll ever forget what steam has done to me.” Griff watched, pained, as his former friend rubbed at his chest where the scars lay under all his finery. “So you see, I don’t really have a choice here. I have to get rid of you, Griff. They’ve left me no choice.”
“But Dell—”
Their captor turned to Lou and sneered. “And you, well! You were supposed to just kill Griff, neat and tidy, but you couldn’t simply follow directions, could you? Do you know how difficult it was to intercept one of Holt’s dossiers and a coin for the Market? That took nearly a year of work. But I suppose all was not lost when you became his lover. After all, there were other ways to get rid of him.” Dell nodded toward Griff then returned his focus to Lou. “And I would have reaped the bonus of consoling you, the weeping lover right into my bed. But that obviously won’t be the case now.” He turned to present his right cheek, which had been shrouded in shadows. His face had been slashed and was now marred by a row of neatly placed black stitching. Griff had to assume that was Lou’s handiwork—the slice, not the stitches. “You’ll die right along with your lover as payback for ruining my face. It is your fault no woman will have me now.”
“My, you truly are a preening little peacock, aren’t you Dell?” Lou shook her head. “You just assume all women are as shallow as you.”
Dell sniffed. “Aren’t they?”
Elena let out an exasperated sigh. “Have we truly digressed to you whining about a little mar on your good looks? I knew you were impossible the night we met, but I had no idea you were outright unbearable.”
Dell shifted toward Elena with a growl. “I already told you to shut your gob, woman!”
Griff used Dell’s moment of distraction and shifted Holt so that he was taking more of his own weight during the idiot’s little rant, preparing to launch himself at the lunatic—but his former friend was too perceptive by half.
Dell pulled a standard pistol from his coat pocket, pointed it, and laid a finger on the trigger. “I’d hold still if I were you. It’s much harder to make your death quick and painless if you are moving. No telling where the bullet might land.”
The sounds of a scuffle breaking out from upstairs roared into the small room followed by a series of thumps, followed by a groan, then the clatter of boots on stone erupted, drawing Dell’s attention.
But before Griff could act Elena kicked out at Dell, knocking the pistol from his grip. Lou abandoned Holt to Griff’s care and launched herself at their mutual enemy, taking both of them to the floor.