“Good,” he responded, almost approvingly. “Then I shall leave you to my grandmother’s company. Farewell for now, Miss Holt.”
CHAPTER 7
Moonlit water always felt so different on the skin. Or so Stephen felt.
Holding his breath, he ducked beneath the surface and swam along the bottom of the lake. Slimy trails of waterweed tickled his bare skin as he pulled himself powerfully through the clouds of silt.
Now and then, his outstretched fingers brushed the bottom of the lake, touching the smooth, rounded curves of stone or raking through silky sand. When his lungs began to seize, he effortlessly pushed upward. He broke the surface face-first, drawing in a cool lungful of air.
The sky above, black and studded with stars, stared down at him. The round, yellowy moon bathed the ever-rippling surface of the lake in a blue-white light, casting everything into sharp shadow.
Rolling onto his back and closing his eyes, Stephen let the current take him. He wouldn’t travel far. The lake wasn’t particularly large and never got too deep.
He was lucky to have learned to swim before he was forced to go to sea. Sensible sailors didn’t bother learning how to swim. If the ship went down, it was best to get the drowning part over and done with as soon as possible. A man who could swim might survive a day, or even two or three, in the open sea, floating hopelessly, unable to let himself sink, but with no hope of ever being saved. Why prolong the pain?
It was a shame, having to look at the sea as an enemy. No matter how beautiful the water seemed, teeming with life and newness, he could never see its beauty. He only looked at the sea and thought,In the blink of an eye, this thing could swallow me whole, and I would never be found.
No, it was best to stick to ponds, lakes, and rivers, where the ground was never far away and solid land was always visible.
I’ll never go to sea again.
On impulse, Stephen rolled onto his belly and started a sharp front crawl toward shore. The water rippled over his skin, the cold tightening the long-healed scar on his back. Cold water always made his old wounds ache, but sometimes the ache was worth it. Sometimes the ache made him feel alive.
That was something that should never be taken for granted. Being alive and feeling alive did not necessarily go hand in hand.
He was preparing to dive again when he heard it. The crisp crack of a twig, a person putting their weight in the wrong place. In the still night air, the noise rang out like a gunshot. He thought he heard a sharp intake of breath.
Stephen paused, putting his feet down. The water was only waist-high here, but he didn’t stand up, preferring instead to crouch and keep the surface of the water tickling under his skin.
“Did you not hear what I said, Miss Holt?” he called out, voice ringing easily across the still surface of the water. “You were told to stay inside. Must I lock you in your chambers?”
A stream of unladylike curses rushed through Amelia’s mind. Mama was most particular about proper language for ladies, of course, but it was impossible not to hear some of the dockers’ language at their new residence. Amelia had picked up quite a few new words.
She backed away from the lake’s edge, still trying desperately to shield her lantern with her borrowed cloak. The lantern, of course, would have to be returned, along with the cloak, but now was not the time to think about this. Now, she had to think about escaping.
Sneaking out of the house had been easier than she’d expected. One of the back doors was unlocked, and from there it was easy to find her way out of the courtyard and into this little patch of wilderness bordering the lake. Once she found her way out of thegrounds and back onto the London streets, Amelia was entirely confident that she could find her way home.
She had not expected to find Stephen—Orion—of all people, swimming in the lake. The first indication that she was not alone was a pile of neatly folded clothes by the water’s edge, placed carefully on a flat rock. Then she saw him.
He can’t see me,she reassured herself.Not here in the undergrowth. It’s too dark. He only heard the crack of that twig. He can’t possibly know it’s me. If I am quiet, he’ll lose interest.
She held her breath, longing to drop into a crouch to shelter herself more but not quite daring to do so. She prayed that the lantern was properly hidden.
The moon beat down on the lake, glittering silver. The water was smooth and unbroken, except where Stephen’s head and broad, bare shoulders loomed up from beneath.
With the odd shadows and the silvery light, he reminded Amelia of something strange and otherworldly. She was sure she’d seen pictures like that once, drawings and paintings of unsettling creatures slipping through the veil between worlds, blinking as they left their shadowy world and stepped into the light.
Without warning, Stephen rose to his feet. Amelia nearly dropped her lantern.
The water, in fact, only reached his waist. It dropped around to pool around his hips, revealing that he was evenmorenaked than she’d imagined. His skin glittered silver, smooth and rippling. His shoulders somehow seemed even broader, his chest curving out to form those tight, locked muscles that Amelia had only seen on Grecian statues, the sort of artwork that proper ladies weren’t supposed to look at.
Fortunately, not being one of the ton, she could look at what she wanted in the art galleries. Provided she could enter, of course.
His waist nipped in more sharply than she would have thought possible for a man with such a broad chest. His upper arms were as thick as her thighs, or perhaps that was her imagination? A wet fuzz of dark hair littered his chest, forming a thicker line down the center of his stomach and crawling all the way down beneath the waterline, where the muscled V of his hips disappeared.
Her mouth went dry. She swallowed hard, trying to push down the baffling knot of emotions and sensations twisting in her gut. Something hooked there, tugging powerfully. Another shiver ran through her, this time darting down to burn between her legs. She reflexively pressed her thighs together, hoping to quell the sensation.
It did not help.
