The Blushing Bounder (An Iron Seas Short Novella) by Brook Meljean

Author:Brook, Meljean [Brook, Meljean]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Tags: Romance, steampunk, short story, science fiction romance, steampunk romance
ISBN: 9780989461139
Published: 2013-11-25T18:30:00+00:00

3

WHEN THEY REACHED the alley, the inspector said, “My family lives at Number Eight, Leicester Square, constable. Tomorrow morning, you will be there with your wife. My father will infect you both.”

Dear God, he wished it could be so. “I’m sorry, sir, but I cannot. Not unless she agrees, and I won’t do it unless she does.”

She stopped and gave him a hard look. “Do you realize that your wife is dying, Newberry?”

Just hearing the words made it impossible to breathe, as if an iron fist grabbed his heart, pulped it into nothing.

The inspector must have seen. Her face softened. “She must be infected, constable. And you as well. The black lung kills more New Worlders in London than any other cause, and it would be easily preventable if they weren’t so damned afraid of the bugs.”

“I would, sir. But she’s afraid. Terrified. I can’t force her into it. I have already forced too much.”

But he would if it came to the end, Newberry knew. If her condition continued to worsen, he’d force her to take the injection. It would be an unforgivable trespass, but if she lived, he would never regret it.

“You’ve forced too much? How so, constable?”

“She’d never have come here on her own. She’d never have married me. So I compromised her.”

Her eyes suddenly burned with anger. Her voice was flat and cold. “What does that mean, constable?”

“I kissed her.”

The inspector didn’t immediately respond, as if waiting. Then her lips pursed. “You kissed her?”

“Yes.”

“And they made her marry you.”

“Yes.”

“Incredible.” Shaking her head, she started toward the wagon again. “Bounders are simply incredible. I thought you must have shagged her, and that was stupid enough a reason, especially if she’d been forced into a bed by the man they wanted her to marry. I am glad you did not tell me that, at least. But compelled to marry for a kiss?”

Newberry had stopped in place, choking on his embarrassment and shock. He’d never heard such language from a woman—and from an earl’s daughter! Good God, be merciful on her.

The inspector glanced back, frowning…then suddenly grinned. “Oh, Newberry. After you spend more time with me on the docks, you’ll be saying it, too.”

“I would never!”

“Or the act, I suppose?” Her expression suddenly changed to alarm. “By the starry sky, Newberry—do not have an apoplexy! I see that I will have to go easy on you to begin.”

If she didn’t, Newberry feared he would not live through it. Only through rigid control had he never let such thoughts enter his mind, and she only had to say shag and he was imagining Temperance, the flex of her fingers as she sketched in her book, the feel of her lips and the taste of her heated mouth. If he was always filled with lust, how could he return home? She would see it, and that would be too much. On top of everything else, it would be too much if she hated him for that, too.

“Please go very easy, sir.”

“I will. Go on back home, then, constable.

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