Chapter15
Preparing for Travel with a Tumble
Two days later
Arrangements for travel to Memphis and beyond having been made—Will had found a captain with a luxurydhahabîyehlarge enough to accommodate their party of nine plus the captain’s daughter who would act as a nurse for Bradley—Stella completed packing her trunk and regarded her husband with a quirked brow.“I cannot decide if you are happy at the idea of traveling with Lord Bellingham and his family, or if you merely agreed to it out of some sort of sense of obligation,” she said.
Harry paused in his own packing and aimed a look of surprise in her direction.“Relievedis more like it,” he replied.“There is strength in numbers, and I will admit I am happy I won’t be draining the Everly coffers from last year’s harvest on this excursion alone,” he remarked.
Not only had Will paid the captain and crew up front, but he had located one of his quartermasters from his days in the navy.The expat had settled in Cairo soon after the wars with Napoleon had ended, using his skills to help provision ships for British diplomats and soldiers making their way to India.“I’m only having to pay for foodstuffs,” he explained, “which I have reason to believe were a bargain given Bellingham’s former quartermaster is seeing to it.I admit it is still more than I would have had to pay for only the four of us given they have three boys?—”
“Really, darling, they are young men.You must remember how Alexander eats nearly everything that’s put on the table.”
Harry chuckled.“I do, and I am glad for the company.”
Stella grinned.“Because it is mostly male company?”she countered.
He shrugged.“Can you blame me?After all the years of having Alexander to even out our numbers, I find I miss him.”About to place several folded cravats atop some waistcoats, he added, “Bradley is not yet old enough to side with me during family arguments.”
Tittering, Stella closed her trunk’s lid.“I must admit I enjoy Barbara’s company.She’s not at all like so many of the aristocratic wives I’ve come to avoid in London.”
Harry tossed a sheaf of papers onto the top of his trunk.“What about Lady Forster?”
Stella inhaled softly.“I cannot yet say,” she admitted.At seeing his look of concern, she quickly added, “She’s a lovely girl, but I cannot help but feel a bit intimidated.She’s so…knowledgable.So clever,” she claimed.
“More so than me?”he countered with a chuckle.
Unable to hide her grimace—she rarely had need to lie to her husband—Stella instead merely lifted a shoulder.“Barbara says she is possessed of the ability to remember everything she has ever read or seen in her life.Can you imagine?”
Raising his brows in fascination, Harry said, “I could have used that ability whilst in university,” he murmured.
“Sometimes I wish you had it,” she said softly.
Harry gave a start.“Why do you say it like that?”he asked, immediately on the defensive.
Stella tilted her had to one side.“There are times when I think you don’t rememberourpast,” she murmured.
“Oh, but I do,” he insisted.“But I hardly think you would wish to remember it all.”When she lifted a brow as if to encourage him to share, he added, “For example, I stepped on your toes during our first dance.”
“That you did,” she acknowledged.
“And then the next time we met, you were…” Here he swallowed.“Aphrodite.Rising out of the Aegean, wearing little more than a scrap of fabric.”He made a growling sound in his throat.“I’ll never forget that day as long as I live.”
A blush colored her face, but Stella arched an elegant brow.“I shall never forget the look on your face that day,” she whispered.
About to respond, Harry clamped his mouth shut and swallowed.He glanced at the door and then at the bed.Even before he had a chance to ask if she might join him there, Stella was up and in his arms, her fingers quickly undoing the fastening of his pantaloons.A second later, and she grasped his hardening member, brushing her thumb over the bulbous tip in a move she had done over a hundred times.
“Should I remove your gown?”he asked, breathless with excitement.
“Only the skirt,” she replied, rather enjoying his expression of lust.She used her free hand to push his pantaloons from his waist, grinning when they fell on their own as he attempted to kick off his shoes.
Meanwhile, Harry fumbled with the fastening at her waist, and before the skirt had loosened its hold on her, he had the ties to her petticoats undone.The bell skirt and its support dropped to the floor in awhoosh.“I am so glad you haven’t adopted wearing drawers,” he whispered hoarsely, his hands lifting the hem of her chemise.
“I never will,” she assured him.
He had her backed up to the bed, following her down as she lifted her knees to his thighs.
“As much as I want you right now, I think it best I pay some heed to a particular spot between your luscious thighs,” he murmured.
