“If you have the plague, I am ready to cure it,” he said. He kissed the side of her mouth, and then trailed his lips over her chin and down to her neck. Muriel couldn’t help but tilt her head to give him better access.
“I don’t want you to think of my virginity as a disease you need to rid me of,” she said.
“On the contrary, I think it would be an honor to be the first man inside you,” he said. “I know that women are expected to be virgins on their wedding night, though.”
“I don’t intend to marry,” she said. “I believe my life will be that of a spinster. As such, I don’t mind the idea of you curing my affliction.”
“I’m very happy to hear that,” he placed kisses on the tops of her breasts and, despite the very hot water, Muriel shivered. “We’ll have to talk about the spinster part, but I am happy to hear you are willing to couple with me.”
“Couple,” she said, and then she gasped as he captured one of her nipples in his mouth and sucked. He ran his tongue over the tip and she gasped, reaching out for something to hold onto and finding nothing.
The water splashed over the edges of the tub as she moved. Ewan sucked and sucked and she arched into him, savoring the feel of him taking her inside him. He gently grazed the tip of his teeth over her nipple and she put her hands in his hair.
“Ewan,” she managed to murmur, but it stopped there. She couldn’t put together any other words to make a sentence, because every part of her brain was total and complete mush. She managed to say his name one more time when his lips moved to her other nipple. The one he’d just left drew tight as the air, which seemed cold compared to the warmth of her mouth, surrounded her.
“I want to touch you,” she managed to say. She moved her hand toward his swollen shaft, but he pushed it away.
“In time, sweet Muriel,” he said as he released her nipple. “Your first time will be painful, and I want to make sure you are ready. The idea of you playing with my prick is almost more than I can handle. If you do, it will make me want to rush things. Please let me do it slowly.”
“You’re worried about me,” she whispered.
“I want you to enjoy it, despite the pain that it will bring.” He kissed her chin. “Please, Muriel, lay your head back and let me play with you.”
She giggled at his words. She had never thought of love making as playing. Her mother had told her once that when you loved someone, lovemaking was a wonderful thing. It was not just for procreation, her mother had said, although that was a result that brought about great joy.
“I had always wanted a brother or sister for you,” she’d said, “but the time was never right. I am so thankful for you, though.”
“Babies,” she mumbled as his fingers moved up and down her side. “We have to be careful.”
“Shush, let me take care of things,” he said. “How many times must I ask you to let me guide you in this?”
“At least once more, I suspect,” she said. His fingers were between her legs now, stroking up and down her slit as she undulated under his touch.
“Behave yourself or I’ll have to spank you again,” he said. He parted her lips and touched her clit.
“Oh, feels so good,” she said as he caressed the hard nub. How was it that his touch was so much different than her own? His fingers produced sensations she didn’t know existed. He rolled her clit under his thumb, moving it until she thought she would explode, then backing off so the sensation disappeared and she cried out in need.
“Why are you doing this?” she said. She tried to grab his hand so she could force him to continue doing what she loved. Instead, he put his hands on her hips and lifted her from the water. He pushed her back so that she lay on the stone, and then he parted her legs and put his lips on her quim.
“No, you can’t! It’s not rig—oh my God!” His tongue licked her outer lips and moved to her inner ones. She tried to get away from him, even though she knew this was something that had been done among lovers for decades, she had never expected it to happen to her.
She tried to keep still, but she couldn’t keep from bucking into his mouth as he continued to feast on her. She could feel her orgasm building, fire building inside her body with every lap of his tongue.
He licked her clit, and she shivered. He licked it again and then sucked it into his mouth and gently nibbled.
Muriel exploded. Ewan pulled her back into the water as the feelings took over every inch of her body. She was sitting on him, and she felt him at her entrance, and then there was a sharp burst of pain, one that made her cry out.
“Shush, shush,” he whispered as he held her close. Her insides throbbed and she could feel the length of him inside her. “Stay still for a few moments so you can become accustomed to my being inside you.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she couldn’t hold them back. “Hurts,” she said, her voice soft.
“The pain is over,” he said. He started to move. The strange sensation gave way to others, ones that made her insides quake with a mixture of pleasure and pain. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her, moving in and out of her slowly.
Muriel buried her head in his shoulder as he continued to thrust in and out. She shivered and he held her close, and then suddenly he pulled away. He put his hand between their legs and she felt him grasp his length and start to pump.
This action, she knew, would help him spill his seed, which would mean she would not become pregnant. He threw his head back and cried out.
When his cry was complete he leaned toward her and captured her mouth in a kiss that took her breath away.
The water had started to chill, and the mist in the air was dissipating. He held her close, and she put her head on his shoulder.
“We shouldn’t have done this,” she said. “At least not right now. We have things we need to figure out, a way to save your friend Victor and his wife, Sofia.”
“We have time,” he said. “They’ll wait until dark. Besides, while you were getting ready to bathe I had time to examine the room. I found another passage, not one that leads to the house, but one that leads to the gardens. We can go out that way and into the house and talk to Victor. But remember, we need to speak of him as Simon until the end of this. We don’t know who is on Philip’s side, other than Pansy.”
“We should go when it gets dark,” she said. “We can sneak into the house through the back entrance and talk to Fake Simon. Then we’ll decide what to do. Do you know which room is his?”
“I do,” he said. “Now, let’s drain this tub and refill it so we can bathe. Then we’ll eat, and then we’ll save the manor, so to speak.”
Despite the ache between her legs, Muriel couldn’t help but smile. They would be successful, she was sure of that.
But she had to wonder what would happen after this was all over.
They got out of the tub together, and Muriel watched as the water swirled down into the opening.
“I never thought I’d ever have access to something like this,” she said. “I’d like to hide in this room forever and forget about the outside world.”
“I like that idea,” he said. “But you know, as well as I do, it is only a dream. There is no way we can do that.”
Muriel looked down at the tub. Ewan was inside again. He messed with the faucets and the water started to flow. The mist, which had disappeared, started to form one more time.
Ewan held out his hand. “Let’s relax and make a plan.”
She took his hand and soon the warm water was swirling around them one more time. She settled against his chest, putting her head on his shoulder. They were silent for quite some time as she held fast to him.
“Tell me about your plans,” he said.
“Well, you said the passageway you found opened into the gardens,” she said. Before she could continue he stopped her.
“Perhaps plans was not the proper word,” he said. “Tell me about your dreams. Tell me what you want to do with your life.”
Muriel laughed softly. “I’d never really thought about a plan for my life.” She told him how her parents had thought about trying to find her a husband before they died. “I’m not sure someone would have wanted me. I’m rather opinionated, and I happen to speak before I think.”
“Do you? I hadn’t noticed.”
“You do things without thinking, too,” she said. “Remember spanking me? You shouldn’t have done that.”
“On the contrary, you needed to calm down, and the spanking focused your attentions elsewhere. Spankings are good for many different things.”
“I’m sure,” she said.
“Stop trying to avoid the question,” he said. “What are your plans for your life?”
“I have no plan,” she said. “To me, I would spend years living over a bookstore in London, reading the latest novels and greeting customers who came by to find certain books.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that,” he said. “I would have thought, after being brought up the way you were, traveling from site to site so your parents could hone their craft, that you would have wanted to be an archeologist, too.”
Muriel nestled into him. She loved the feel of his arms around her, the way she could feel his heart beat when she put her head against him.
“I had thought about it,” she said. “But my parents, I think part of their love of the job was that they did it together. They loved each other so much. You could see it in the way they looked at one another. I’ve never found that love.”
“You think you might find it in a bookstore?”
“A person never knows what they will find in a bookshop,” she said. “Books open up other worlds.”
“So does being an archeologist,” Ewan said. “I wanted to dig in the dirt since I was a child. I was lucky to have parents with money who could allow me to follow my dreams.”
“Why were you in the library in London?”
He laughed softly. “I didn’t know anything about Fortuna, except for the fact he was a famous artist. Fake Simon told me Mrs. Temple was interested in those reliefs, and she was sending a representative to do her buying for her.”
“So you did use me,” she said. “I should be angry with you, but I’m not. I think it’s a good thing that you did your research and let me be part of it.”
He moved so that he was kneeling in front of her. “I am a very stubborn man, and I usually get what I want. I want you.”
“You had me,” she said. “You took my maidenhead, and gave me a memory to last a lifetime.”
His sexy chuckle made her shiver. “If you think the first time we made love will be the last time you are sorely mistaken. What I want is you. Well, after we figure out how to get rid of Philip. After that, I will go after you like an archeologist looking for a hidden tomb.”
“Do you love me?” she asked.
“I think love comes after people actually know each other,” he said. “But I can see myself falling in love with you in the very near future. The fact you’ve given me your most perfect treasure shows you can love me, too.”
“Do you think?” she asked.
“Yes, I think a person who learns love from a couple who loved each other until the end of their days would not give of herself lightly.”
He kissed her, a sweet kiss that made her want to crawl into his arms and stay there forever.
But then a voice sounded from the doorway. “Ewan, my life is in danger and you’re playing with a new lover?”
Muriel hid behind Ewan and stared at Fake Simon in the doorway. He had his arms crossed over his chest, but there was a smile on his face.
“Just waiting for the right time,” Ewan said.
“That time has come,” Simon said. “Get up, get dressed and let’s go over the plan I made. We need to wrap this up tonight before Philip has a chance to plan my murder. I think he knows the truth, and wants to make his escape tonight.”
Part II
The Papyrus Predicament
By
Melinda Barron
Chapter 7
London.
October 1897
Cool rain beat down on Muriel Robertson’s umbrella as she rushed through the London streets. Some of it found its way past the barrier and touched her face. It was in the middle of her afternoon off, a Wednesday. The note had arrived just before noon. It wasn’t the first time her lover, Ewan McClacken, had slipped her notes during her workday. Most of the time those missives had been about how he planned to ravage her that evening.
He always made good on his promises, and Muriel always looked forward to his messages.
But today’s had been different. The letter had listed several places that she needed to visit, to pick up packages; the missive had come with a cart to help her on her errands. This adventure was different than anything else Ewan had concocted, and he’d been very creative in his designs.
Muriel giggled as she thought about some of the more inspired activities he’d proposed; well, more than proposed, put into motion. There was one thing about life with her future husband that Muriel knew—it would never be boring.
Proof of that was in the missive she had in her hand. She looked at the sheet and smiled, but then her brow furrowed as she studied the places she needed to visit. There were six places where she needed to pick up a package. None of them were shops she had ever visited. There were two dress shops, a hat shop, two antique stores, and, of all places, a green grocer. She was almost afraid to ask what she would find there that Ewan would want to use in their lovemaking.
She checked the address of the first dressmakers and knew she was close. But she stopped in the street as something hit her about the paper she held in her hands. It had been created on a typewriting machine. Ewan had never done this before. Muriel could think of two reasons for this new development. The first was that Ewan had purchased one of the new contraptions and not told her about it. That would mean he wanted to show off his new toy. The second was that Ewan did not send her the message, and she was walking into some sort of a trap. Or perhaps someone was trying to involve her in a scheme.
That idea sent chills up her spine. She had met Ewan while she was trying to recover reliefs for her employer, Mrs. Temple. It had involved a little bit of danger, but she and Ewan had been successful, and they had fallen in love. That had been months ago. During the past month, they had discussed marriage.
He had proposed, and she had said yes, but they had not yet had the banns posted, or applied for any license.
Ewan, love him as much as she did, was what many people considered a jack-of-all-trades. He took odd jobs, some that paid well and were a little dangerous, and some that paid just so-so and were, as he put it, quite boring.
But Muriel didn’t care what he did. They would find a way to make things work. Her employment at The Written Word brought her enough funds to make ends meet, and when it was added with Ewan’s money, they would be able to find nice rooms to rent, and live together in a quite comfortable lifestyle.
But she didn’t really need to be thinking in that direction right now. She glanced down at the page again. Should she go back to her apartment and wait for Ewan to come at his appointed time?
There were two problems with that idea. He would either be angry with her for following the directions, if this was some sort of a set-up, or he would be angry with her for not following his directions if they were truly from Ewan. Which meant they would be at odds with each other no matter what she did.
Which meant she planned to go to each place and collect the parcels. Since she’d be in trouble either way, Muriel decided to pick up the packages and see what was inside.
She went inside the first shop, checking her surroundings very carefully. There was nothing more than a few ready-made dresses and a few bolts of fabric in many different colors and styles.
“How may I assist you?”
Muriel turned toward the voice. A woman that looked to be in her mid-thirties stood near the curtain that led to t
he back rooms. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a fashionable do, and she wore a dress that would probably be best displayed at a ball, or the opera. Muriel decided it was probably the best way to advertise—have a beautiful woman wearing a store creation and greeting customers.
“I’m here to pick up a package for Muriel Robertson.”
“Of course,” the clerk said in a bright voice. “One moment.” She disappeared into the back room and returned moments later with a parcel, wrapped in brown paper, that was no bigger than a tin of tea. There was a small scroll of paper attached to the box with a string.
“Here you are.” She offered it to Muriel, who took it tentatively.
“This is all?”
“Yes,” the clerk said.
“Can you tell me who this is from?”
The clerk shook her head.
“What does that mean?” Muriel said. “You can’t tell me because you don’t know or because you are not allowed to tell me?”
Now the clerk looked nervous. “My employer gave it to me, and asked me to hold it for you. She said you would be by this afternoon. That is all I know.”
Muriel nodded. “May I speak with your employer, then?”
“She is not here,” the clerk said. “I don’t expect her back until tomorrow morning.”
“Convenient,” Muriel said, hoping her sarcasm was evident.
“I’m sorry, but unless you’d like to buy a dress, there is nothing else I can do for you,” the clerk said.
The woman looked nervous, and Muriel nodded. It was obvious she didn’t know what she was doing. Either that or she should be on the stage.
‘Thank you for your time,” Muriel said. She went outside and looked at the parcel. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it wasn’t the item she held in her hand. The fact that Ewan had included a cart with his little game led her to believe the packages would be much larger.
Unless he was trying to knock her off her guard.
Muriel’s Adventures Page 8
