I heard a young maid sing,
In the valley below.
Oh, don’t deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?
Susannah heard faint scuffling noises so she continued on, louder this time.
Remember the vows,
That you made to your Mary,
Remember the bow’r,
Where you vowed to be true.
Oh, don’t deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?
Tears welled. If she wasn’t mistaken, she thought she heard other voices joining in the chorus.
Oh, Gay is the garland,
And fresh are the roses,
I’ve culled from the garden,
To place upon thy brow.
Oh, don’t deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?
Thus sang the poor maiden,
Her sorrows bewailing,
Thus sang the poor maid,
In the valley below.
The sounds became closer still and the echoes of other voices were now unmistakable.
Tears flowed, beginning to rob her of her voice and when she came to the chorus for the last time, voices stronger than hers completed the lyrics.
Oh, don’t deceive me,
Oh, never leave me,
How could you use
A poor maiden so?
Yellow flashes of light were now visible on the roof of the cave.
“I see you, Susannah!”
It was Nate! Although she couldn’t see him, she moved toward the sound of his voice.
“Don’t move! For God’s sake, stop!”
Susannah saw the edge in the lamplight a split second before she would have stepped off into the swirling water below. It looked like the thickest stout ale, black with a yellowish-white froth, but deadly and menacing.
She glanced back along the way she had come. Dear God! For the last twenty yards, she had been on a narrowing ledge, feeling the rock wall on her left and completely unaware that to her right was a drop into the water below.
*
Nate looked across to the ledge where Susannah stood. The joy of finding her safe was tempered by the fact that she was not yet out of danger. Even from here, he could see her shuddering violently in her cold, wet clothing. She moved sluggishly and looked utterly exhausted. Even if she could swim, she would likely not have the energy to keep herself afloat, and only God knew what lay beneath the surface of the water here. And it was rising faster than he first feared.
“Get in the boat. We haven’t got long,” Adam warned. Nate hauled himself aboard to join Adam, who had taken the oars.
“Stay where you are, Susannah!” Nate called. “We’re coming to you!”
He turned to Adam. “I can see the end of the cave wall. The rocks over there… get us to them and I’ll climb up to the ledge from there and lower her down.”
“Make it quick,” said Adam, hauling on the oars. “You’ve seen how fast the water has come up since we’ve been here. If it keeps going at this rate, we’ll be trapped.”
Nate slowly rose to his feet, finding his balance in the rocking boat, then stepped out onto a rock protruding just a couple of inches above the water. He reached up to the ledge along which Susannah had walked and pulled himself up, feet scrabbling at the rock face for purchase.
It was an achingly slow process to shuffle along the ledge to her. A glance back at the boat showed him the water level had risen once again. The rocks he had climbed up from were now submerged.
Dear God, how had Susannah managed this in the cold and the dark?
A week, a month, a year seemed to pass before he was close enough to reach her huddled on the end of the ledge.
Tears sprung in her eyes as he reached her and took her in her arms. She was ice cold and shuddering with a combination of chill and shock. He held her close as much to impart warmth as it was to show his relief. He kissed her damp hair and blue lips.
“I knew you would come for me,” she whispered.
Nate closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment to regather himself.
“Hey, you two,” Adam called from below where he was now maneuvering the rowboat. “There’s not a moment to waste!”
Nate patted Susannah’s back to get her attention. She answered him with a nod.
On his instructions, she sat on the brink of the ledge so her legs dangled over the edge.
“Ready?” he asked, squeezing in behind her and slipping his hands under her arms.
She nodded and slid off the edge. Nate bore her weight, lowering himself until he lay prone on the ledge, eyes screwed shut with the effort.
“I’ve got her!”
He looked down to see Adam standing in the rocking boat with his arms around Susannah’s hips. He let go and saw the boat rock uncertainly as Adam took her weight and brought her down onto the center thwart. Nate waited until he had moved her safely astern and considered his own descent. There was no way he could drop down into the boat without upending the thing.
“Push away!” Nate urged Adam. “I’ll have to drop in the water.”
Adam used the oars to draw the boat away in the increasing churn of water. Nate lowered himself over the edge, his hands now so cold he could barely feel his fingers.
He dropped into the frigid waters below and was buffeted against the wall of the cave by the whirling current. He pushed himself up to the surface with a gasp to find an oar blade within an arm’s length.
He grasped it and, with a couple of powerful kicks, managed to reach the side of the dinghy. The cold from his immersion went bone deep and he didn’t protest at receiving help to haul him in over the side.
He joined Susannah huddled on the stern thwart. Adam took his place on the center thwart and rowed hard, a grim set to his jaw. The water would now be eight feet deep, Nate estimated. The roof of the cave was so close, Adam had to slump down to clear it.
“Keep going,” Nate urged, determined not to let his teeth chatter any more than necessary. “The cave entrance is three yards away.”
“How much room do we have?” said Adam.
“Three feet. Better duck!”
Adam nearly doubled himself over while Nate pushed Susannah down into the bottom boards of the dinghy. He only just managed to join her himself as the forward gunwales clashed against the rock above.
“This is a tight fit,” Adam muttered, squirming uncomfortably down onto the bottom boards up front.
“How much room have you got?” asked Nate. “Is it enough to get your feet up?”
“Just.”
“Then we’re going to have to ‘walk’ her out. Ready?”
Nate raised his legs until they touched the roof of the cave.
Adam grunted his reply which Nate accepted as an affirmative.
One foot in front of the other, the two men pushed the little boat down against the rising of the tide and forward against the incoming flow into the cave.
“I can see sky!” Adam called from his position.
Susannah muttered a prayer of thanks through chattering teeth. Nate grinned.
The relief was short lived. A surge pressed the boat against the cave entrance, its timbers groaned ominously. There was a bright cracking sound.
“We’ve just lost the oars,” said Adam.
“Push down!” Nate yelled to Adam. “Squeeze her out!”
Susannah’s voice was soft but grim. “Nate, the boat is leaking.”
He knew that already – his back was now in water.
“One more push! Come on! One more, you bastard!” Nate swore to no one in particular, legs straining against the rock above.
Then the water dropped momentarily with an outgoing surge. It was just enough to pull them out and into the open sea. Nate struggled to sit up and what his saw made his heart swell with pride and relie
f. There, riding her anchor close by was the Sprite.
Over the sound of the wind and waves, Nate heard an “Ahoy there!”. Men on the deck threw out lines. By some miracle, one landed close enough to grab and tie around the forward thwart so they could be pulled alongside the Sprite.
Susannah was hauled up first by Sir Daniel and Sam, next was Adam. By the time Nate was aboard, the dinghy – rowlocks smashed off, gunwales splintered, planking sprung from the battering in the cave mouth – was filling with water fast. He cut the line and let the little boat go. It swept back to the now submerged cave mouth, crashed once against the rock, and sank.
Waiting for him on the deck of the Sprite was Susannah, shivering in the cold night air. Nate hugged her tightly despite being freezing and wet himself, and kissed her over and over until he’d run out of breath.
“There are blankets below,” he told her. “Get changed and get warm. We’ll be back at The Queen’s Head before you know it, my love.”
He watched as Susannah allowed Sam to shepherd her below decks.
“Hey ho!” Clem called. Nate found him at the wheel. “Come and take over, Captain. I’m gettin’ a bit seasick tryin’ to hold her here!”
Nate clapped his old friend on the shoulder with thanks. Cold and as tired as he was, Nate knew of no better remedy than being the master of his destiny.
Chapter Thirty-One
Christmas Eve 1805
The howling gales and driving storm on the night of Susannah’s rescue had lasted three full days before abating to miserable bouts of rain for the next week or two. But now, sunlight leaked through the curtains and, although it was early, the day was already promising to be crisp and clear.
Susannah lightly dozed, safe in Nate’s arms.
It was supposed to be bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding on the big day.
She idly wondered what kind of additional penalty there was for seeing the bride naked.
She decided she didn’t much care for the tradition. No bad luck could touch them here beneath the warm blankets of her—their—bed.
They had endured enough misfortune and now it was over.
After the rescue, they had learned the circumstances of Lillian Doyle’s death. As detestable as the woman was, she did not deserve to die like that. And poor Agnes. Her fate was even more ignoble, if that was possible. It hadn’t taken long for details to spread in St. Sennen about the salacious circumstances of her demise. It was said the girl detested pity in life but couldn’t avoid it in death.
Nate had told her about Robert Lawnton stowing away aboard the Sprite. He said little about how the man met his death, save that he was swept overboard. His body had not been found and, by now, it would likely be unrecognizable even it did wash up somewhere along the coast.
She suspected Nate had withheld some of the telling in order to spare her. She would not press him. In time, she might ask. But now was not that time.
The Queen’s Head stirred with sounds from the kitchen of breakfast being prepared for their guests and friends – Sir Daniel and Lady Abigail, Adam and Olivia Hardacre.
Susannah didn’t feel the need to rise. The kitchen was in good hands with Peggy and Tressa, now both fully recovered from their ordeal.
Susannah had only just begun to feel fully recovered herself. The chills she’d experienced for several days had been dispensed with thanks to a dram or two of whiskey and Peggy’s special broth. But the aftereffects of Lawnton’s ill-treatment of her on the beach and the deep exhaustion from her ordeal in the cave had lingered on a while longer.
Spending days upon end in bed with Nate had been the only medicine she truly needed. After all, when one was chilled, sharing body heat with another was accepted medical wisdom, was it not?
Susannah considered that so much of her life had been about duty and responsibility. Now, she was learning that pleasure should not be overlooked. It was simply enough to enjoy a moment for what it was.
She had waited for so much in her life that now she didn’t want to wait any longer. Tonight, she would be Mrs. Nathaniel Payne, recognized by church and state. But here, just the two of them under God, they were already man and wife.
She turned in Nate’s arms to find him awake and watching her.
She wanted his touch. Wanted him. How exhilarating it was to put herself in his hands completely. The wantonness of her thoughts continued to surprise her. She smiled and impulsively leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.
His answering touch emboldened her. She offered him a coquettish smile.
Nate hauled her up to his side, his fingers spread wide across her back, while his lips found their way to her cheek and her neck.
“I love you,” he whispered.
She touched his cheek, bristles rough against her hand.
Susannah felt the weight of his expression. She knew what he was thinking. The desire on his face answered a call deep within her. She wanted him, couldn’t get enough of him, and she wanted him now.
“I love you, too,” she said running a hand down his back to his buttocks where she pressed her hand to bring him closer. She felt him stir.
Nate grinned. “Are you trying to seduce me?”
“Am I succeeding?”
She watched as he openly pondered the answer to the question. How wonderful it was to savor lovemaking with light touches, a slow tease. Her fingers brushed over his body, learning him; knowing him.
He leaned forward and she opened herself for the kiss. It was soft and languid. Susannah lay back on the sheets and gifted him a smile. He followed until he lay alongside her, propping himself on one elbow.
She watched him trace a line along her collar bone, down her arm to her hands where his work-roughened finger drew circles in her palm before returning to her collar bone. Now, he traced a finger across the top of her breast, down to her torso and waist and further, touching her hip and the top of her thigh.
He repeated his action on the other side. Susannah sighed.
“Relax,” he said. “Let me pleasure you for a while.”
Rather than relaxing, it made her aware of her own body. The gentlest of caresses brought with it a cascade of gooseflesh in its wake. Her body remembered the pleasure Nate had brought to her the night before and wanted more of it.
He palmed her breasts, then gave them lavish caresses with his mouth and tongue, the cold morning air striking them, causing even more gooseflesh to arise. Her nipples hardened and didn’t go unnoticed. He teased them with his fingers and then again with his tongue while his hand ran down the outside of her thigh.
She raised her knee. The blankets fell and his hand caressed her inner thigh above the knee, first one and then the other, his fingers stroking bare flesh unhurriedly. She ran her bare feet along the cotton sheets and squeezed her toes. She let out a sigh that was half-longing, half-contentment.
His grey eyes were mesmerizing in their intensity. The depths of his desire and his love were written large on his face. It was overwhelming. She closed her eyes.
“Please, don’t hide from me, look at me…you are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on.”
When she opened them, she blinked back tears. Nate touched her elbow gently. Susannah took a moment to compose herself.
“I want you,” she breathed. “Show me again what it’s like to be made love to.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it once, softly, before laying more raw open-mouthed kisses on her palm, up her arm, across her breasts. She held him there, the dark strands of his hair sliding through her fingers.
Then he slid lower, his hands holding her hips still as he brought his mouth to that place between her legs. She cried out although it had been only the barest touch. Then his tongue darted out, driving her to madness with the sensation of it on her, bringing waves upon waves of pleasure until she was breathless with it.
Nate pulled back, then turned them both until he lay on the bed with her on top of him.
She touched him as he had her – with reverence and care – and watched as his body reacted to her kisses and caresses. The hitch in his breathing and low moan of pleasure emboldened her as her fingers circled the hardness of his flesh.
Oh, she was ready for him now. Never had she been so aroused. She straddled his waist and rubbed herself against his erection, shocked by the pleasure of that small contact of flesh.
“Susannah…” She silenced him with a kiss and lowered herself onto him slowly, gasping as her body grew accustomed to his.
He gasped as though branded. Now they were joined. The feeling was exquisite – the cool air on her back and the heat between her legs. She began to rock, searching for the pleasure anew. Nate held her hips, encouraging her, guiding her, but allowing her to take the lead.
His face, caught up in his own pleasure, aroused her more. She touched that sensitive part of herself in time to the rhythm she set until the last moment when she closed her eyes, crying out as her vision filled with a thousand stars. Nate’s grip on her hips tightened as he thrust up into her, his own release close. She forced her eyes open to watch his face seek then find the pleasure that she herself knew.
His eyes flew open. He gasped and thrust his hips harder, bringing her another jolt of pleasure.
Then he cried out his own release.
He rolled them both over until she was beneath him and covered her with kisses.
“I love you,” he said.
Susannah repeated the vow she’d made, the one she would repeat in a few hours’ time before their friends at the church in St. Sennen.
“Nate Payne… I love you.”
Epilogue
1 January, 1806
Charteris House
Truro
Bassett wasn’t sure what had awakened him from his slumber. He opened his eyes, then lay there to listen.
There the sound was again. No mistaking it this time. There was someone in the back alley behind the shop, trying to break in.
He reached out and found his spectacles, then threw back the bed covers and sat up on the side of the bed to slip on his boots. Standing, he picked up his brocade dressing gown to go over his bed shirt.
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