“What time is it?” Ruby asked and stifled a yawn with her hand. She then brought her wrist up close to her face, trying to read the time on her delicate wristwatch. “I think it says eleven thirty…or after it.” She frowned, an adorable pucker appearing between her brows. “It’s hard to tell for sure. Judging by how utterly exhausted I feel, it definitely hasn’t been that long since I fell asleep.”
“I think an hour at most.” Penelope brushed her nose against Ruby’s and asked, “How tired are you?”
Ruby laughed. “Is that your way of asking if I’d be up for another round?” Ruby laughed again, louder, when Penelope nodded in answer. Her hand landed on Penelope’s waist, and she shook her head. “You are adorable.”
Ruby surged forwards and sealed her lips over hers. No longer caring about having a witty retort, Penelope lost herself to the kiss. She opened her mouth and grazed Ruby’s tongue with her own as her hands pawed and grabbed her skin, eagerly pulling her closer and closer.
The hunger in her veins was so insatiable that Penelope was certain they could spend all night doing this and it still wouldn’t be enough. Though, if their stamina kept up, she was more than willing to see if there was such a thing as being sated in her lust for Ruby.
Ruby’s hand moved its way into her hair, nails scraping her scalp and tugging her forwards.
There was no way they could get any closer. Their bodies were already pressed together in a long line, thighs wedged between each other’s, ankles tangled, hands gripping, lips never breaking apart for more than a brief inhale of air.
Penelope grinned and trailed her fingers in a featherlight caress over Ruby’s side, hip and thigh as they made their way to the apex of her legs.
Just when Ruby’s thighs had fallen open, she and Penelope sprang apart with startled squeals as the ship shuddered, propelling Ruby forwards and into Penelope’s arms.
Penelope just managed to brace herself to stop them both from falling out of bed. A grating sound, like long nails being drawn down a blackboard, screamed into the silence of the night, and it made her blood run cold.
Then it was suddenly over, and the silence was all-encompassing. The only sound was their ragged breathing as they lay frozen in each other’s embrace.
Penelope’s grip was like iron around Ruby’s shoulders, her knuckles white from holding her close. Her foot was pressed into the mattress, her hip aching from the force she’d had to put behind it to stop them from tumbling from the bunk to the floor.
“Penelope…?” Ruby’s voice was weak, small, and Penelope tightened her hold even further at the sound.
Her lips found purchase on Ruby’s forehead. “I’m here.”
“What… What was that?” Ruby was trembling, and it wasn’t until Penelope loosened her grip to rub Ruby’s arm in an attempt to soothe her that she realised she was too. She kept her hand on Ruby’s arm, the motion probably comforting her more than it was comforting Ruby.
“I… I’m not sure,” Penelope answered, after a long moment. She finally felt brave enough to move, just a little, tilting her head to the side and glancing over at the door.
A few of their belongings had fallen to the floor with the shudder, but that was it. Everything still seemed to be going fine…but one sensation was missing.
She frowned, closing her eyes as she concentrated, her mind muttering a mantra of please, please, please as she hoped that she was mistaken.
She didn’t know much about ships—this was her first time aboard one—yet she had quickly adjusted to the constant motion. Even as she stood still, even though the sailing was generally smooth, there was always a hum of sorts to let her know that they were speeding through the waves.
But as she lay there, eyes closed and whispering to herself, she realised that hum had faded to almost nothing.
Ruby pushed herself upright, supporting herself on her hands even as her arms trembled with the effort. The covers fell down to her lap, and Penelope hoped that no one would walk into their room at that moment because there would be no mistaking what they had been doing.
“She’s not moving as fast,” Ruby whispered into the twilight, her gaze frantically darting around the room before returning to Penelope. Her eyes were wide with worry.
Penelope had no doubt that that panic was mirrored in her own face.
“Let’s… We’ll shove on our clothes and go and investigate. Surely we weren’t the only people who felt that? The stewards must have answers,” Penelope offered as she entwined her fingers with Ruby’s, then brought their joined hands up to her lips to press a kiss to Ruby’s knuckles.
“All right. That sounds…” Ruby trailed off with several nods, so Penelope took the initiative to slide from the bed.
Penelope gave Ruby’s hand a reassuring squeeze before dropping it so that she could fish through the disarray they had caused earlier. She found her combinations and corset with no issue. But finding her stockings proved difficult, and in the end, she decided to go without. Her skirt would cover her, and she had no doubt that they’d be told everything was fine and they could return to their rooms soon anyway.
She was quick to shove on her boots, skirt, and blouse, and then pulled her coat on over the top, just in case they had to go to the deck to find someone to get answers from.
When she was ready, Penelope turned to find Ruby shakily attempting to button her blouse, so she stepped up and took over. Her own fingers were only slightly better, and it took several fumbles before the delicate buttons were completely fastened.
Ruby then reached for her hand, her grip like iron. Penelope placed her own atop it and drew Ruby close until there was only an inch between them. “We are going to be fine. I know it.”
Ruby took a deep breath in, then released it in a long gush. “I know. It was maybe just some silly little iceberg and everything is fine.”
Penelope laughed. She cupped Ruby’s cheek with her free hand and brushed her thumb over her lips. “That’s the spirit.” She shook her head. “How am I the optimistic one? Shouldn’t I be a curled-up mess on the floor and you the one talking me down?”
Her joke worked to soothe Ruby, and her grip on Penelope’s hand started to lessen. She shrugged with one shoulder. “Sneaking aboard First Class has done you good—you’re a brand-new woman.”
Penelope snorted. “I wouldn’t go that far. Now come on. I’m already cold, and I want to get back to bed to finish what we had started.” Her smile grew seductive as she leaned forwards and pressed her lips against Ruby’s.
It was a brief yet passionate kiss, and it held the promise of more in the way she teased her tongue along Ruby’s lower lip before slowly pulling away. She grinned when Ruby trailed after her, as if she didn’t want to part.
“Then we’d best get a move on,” Ruby announced breathlessly. She tugged at Penelope’s hand, leading them both from their room and out into the corridor.
Chapter Eighteen
When they stepped outside, they found several other passengers already lining the hall.
They were all still dressed for bed, only a few were in coats like Penelope and Ruby.
All of them, however, blinked blearily up and down the corridor, talking to each other and asking questions, their eyes still laden with sleep.
Most of the doors that lined their section of E Deck were still shut. And those people who were awake seemed more annoyed about being awoken than anything else.
Only a handful seemed to be concerned, including Penelope and Ruby.
“I am telling you it was nothing,” one man declared loudly, folding his arms over his chest. He wore a cotton housecoat over his silk pyjamas, and Penelope could see his wife standing behind him, peeking over his shoulder.
“Didn’t sound like nothing to me,” another man in his sleepwear retorted.
“If it were something serious, then the stewards would be wa
king us.” The first man gestured wildly with his hands, causing everyone to look around. “Do you see any stewards?”
Reluctantly, the second man pursed his lips. “No.” He turned, starting to retreat back into his room, when his eyes widened, and he gave a wordless exclamation. He raised his hand, pointing towards the staircase that another man was rushing down.
The other man had a leather folder in his hand and, whilst he turned his head at the sound of the man’s shout, he didn’t stop. He merely continued down the corridor and slipped through a door that led to the engine room.
“Who was that?” Penelope whispered as the two Second Class passengers started to bicker again. She tightened her hold on Ruby’s hand and craned her head, feeling dread sink into her stomach at the white, worried expression on her lover’s face.
“Thomas Andrews. He was the shipbuilder in charge of Titanic’s plans.” Ruby swallowed, her gaze locked on the door where Andrews had disappeared moments ago. “I doubt anyone knows this ship better than he.”
Penelope’s mind raced, trying to think of reasons why the lead shipbuilder would need to be stirred if it were nothing serious.
He could merely be heading down to inform the workers in the engine room what to do. If he needed to consult on whatever was happening down below, surely that meant it was serious?
Just as she was about to voice that to Ruby, another door opened, and she was greeted by her father’s face. He was rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, and judging from his expression, he had been awoken by the two men arguing outside his door, rather than by the sound.
Before he could snap at the men, Penelope darted towards him. “Father, is everything all right? Did you feel that?”
He seemed to take a long moment before he registered who was talking to him and what she was saying. He cleared his throat, but his voice was still weak with sleep as he replied, “Feel what? Darling, what is going on?”
Penelope swallowed. Her parents were on the other side, away from the wall of the ship. Perhaps it had just seemed so severe to her and Ruby because they had been so close to it?
“There was this loud, scraping noise, as if something struck the ship. And Mr. Andrews was just seen going down to the engines.” Penelope wrapped her arms around herself. Her father really must be half-asleep if he wasn’t even commenting on how utterly dishevelled she looked.
Her father hmmed. “We may have dropped a propeller. That can happen.” He looked over her head, down the corridor. A moment later, his gaze returned to hers, and he smiled, softly rasping his knuckles against her cheek. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Go back to your cabin and sleep. If it’s anything we need to be made aware of, the stewards will let us know in due course.”
Nodding, Penelope bade her father goodnight and made her way back to her room, where Ruby still stood on the threshold.
“Father says we should just head back inside and, if anything is amiss, the stewards will let us know,” Penelope said in a small voice, trying her hardest to drown out the other passengers beside her who were still bickering. “What do you think?”
Ruby swallowed once, twice, before jerking her head sharply backwards. The gesture was enough for Penelope to understand, so she led Ruby back inside, closing the door and heaving a sigh when the voices cut off.
She sat on the small sofa, pulling Ruby down beside her. Penelope guided Ruby’s head to her shoulder, bringing one arm around her as the other hand remained secured in hers. Her free hand started to stroke through Ruby’s long, blonde hair.
Whilst the ship had slowed—in fact, Penelope was almost certain she had stopped now—that didn’t mean anything. Perhaps that’s all that had happened. Something had gone wrong with a boiler, maybe.
“Do you know one of the coal bins aboard had been aflame for nearly a fortnight?” Ruby said. “Captain Smith told His Grace, who told Daddy. They only just managed to get it put out today. And after all that trouble with New York at Southampton… I’m beginning to think this ship has a bit of bad luck.” She snorted and then shook her head, sitting straighter. “If Mr. Andrews is going down below, it must mean there’s something wrong with a boiler. If that’s the case, there’ll be an hour or two’s delay.”
“And do you think it is something with the boilers?” Penelope asked. “Would that explain the other things? Father said something about a dropped propeller…”
Ruby nodded slowly. “Oh, yes. Both would explain her slowing down and juddering so fiercely…” She drew another shaking breath in, and even as Penelope kept stroking her fingers through Ruby’s hair, she knew that she needed to do more to take her lover’s mind off the ship and what could possibly be going wrong.
She got up and walked over to their cases, finding Ruby’s and pulling out the black book she had seen on the very first day of the voyage. She set it on Ruby’s lap and sat down beside her. “I don’t know a lot about stamps, beyond the ones I buy whenever I send letters…” She gently opened the book and pointed to the first one. “What’s so special about that one?”
As Ruby informed Penelope of the history behind the stamps—one even being the very first stamp with Queen Victoria’s profile against a black background—both of them seemed to calm. Penelope allowed Ruby’s words to wash over her, and the distraction had the desired effect on Ruby, whose entire body relaxed.
After finishing an explanation of a stamp she had received from her relatives in America, she slumped against Penelope’s side as her head drifted from shoulder to bosom.
“I think I’m more tired than anything,” Ruby eventually said, after minutes had crawled by. She closed her stamp album and shuffled slightly before she lifted her head so that she could meet Penelope’s gaze. “It all seems so silly now, to think of it being anything serious when so long has gone by and there’s still nothing… I think, should it have happened during the day, I wouldn’t even have noticed.”
“You’re probably right.” Penelope covered the yawn that broke free. She grinned sheepishly before running her fingers through her hair, starting to braid it into something more acceptable for bed. Ruby followed suit a moment later.
“At this point, I’m considering whether we should get changed into our nightclothes and get back into bed…” Penelope pursed her lips, her head cocking to the side as she studied Ruby.
“Hmm. Perhaps we should give it a few more minutes, and if we still haven’t heard anything, we can do that. It does seem rather foolish to sit about waiting for bad news that isn’t going to come.” Ruby finished braiding her hair, then stood and fished two ribbons out of her case, replacing the stamp album at the same time. She handed one ribbon to Penelope whilst she used the other to secure her own braid. She then flipped the long braid over her shoulder, placing her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room.
“It is strange, to stand here and not feel her move beneath me.” Ruby’s hands slid across her stomach until her arms were firmly around her midriff. “I have no idea what to think. One part of my brain is telling me it’s nothing. And the other part is saying it’s something so utterly serious that I can’t even come up with a solution. One part is telling me to sleep and we’ll laugh about this panic tomorrow, and the other is telling me to get to the Boat Deck because that’s where we should be.” Ruby wrenched her hands free and covered her face with them, pushing her fingertips into the hair that framed her face and giving it a solid tug.
It looked so forceful that Penelope jumped out of her seat and slowly, gently, disentangled Ruby’s fingers from her hair.
“We. Are. Going. To. Be. Fine.” Penelope spoke slowly, only grinding out another word when she was certain that the previous one had sunk into Ruby’s heart and soul. Her fingers wound through Ruby’s, and she lowered them to their sides. “I don’t make promises lightly, but I’m going to promise you that, all right? We are going to be fine.” Penelope took a deep breath in, squeezing Ruby’s hand
to encourage her to mirror it. She released it slowly, then took another deep breath.
After five or so rounds, when her own heart no longer felt as though it was going to burst through her chest, Penelope leaned forwards and pecked her lips against Ruby’s. “We will laugh about this tomorrow. Just you wait.”
Just as the words left her mouth, the door to their room burst open. They both screamed, and Penelope whirled around and pushed herself in front of Ruby.
The man standing on their threshold came into view, and Penelope realised he was a steward. She wanted to berate him for barging in like that, at such a time, but she couldn’t form any words.
Not as her eyes were drawn to his hands, noticing what he held.
Two lifebelts.
“Sorry to frighten you, miss. But please put your lifebelt on and make your way to the Boat Deck.” He threw the lifebelts onto the sofa and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Penelope called, finally finding her voice as she took a step forwards. She would bodily restrain this man if she had to in order to get answers.
He turned to her with a hint of impatience on his face, which served to fan the flames of panic in Penelope’s gut. “Yes, miss?”
“What’s going on?” Penelope asked. “Why do we need our lifebelts?”
The steward glanced over his shoulder. She noticed several other stewards walking up and down the corridor, all with lifebelts in their hands.
All the cabin doors she could see had been pushed open, and people were groggily coming to the thresholds.
When the steward turned to face her again, Penelope felt her entire body deflate. She swayed, feeling more like she was on a sailing ship than a sturdy steam cruiser.
“Miss, I assure you, this is just a precaution. We meant to run safety drills earlier, but we couldn’t manage it.” He stepped forwards with a smile, even as Penelope felt her own deepen into a frown. Surely they wouldn’t wake everyone up in the middle of the night to run a drill? The First Class passengers would never stand for that. “We experienced a minor accident, so we decided to treat it like a real emergency since we were unable to run the drill earlier. I assure you that we’ll be under way before long. But we must follow procedure.”
The Breath Between Waves Page 12
