Read Online Clockworks and Corsets by Regina Riley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Regina Riley
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guy. I’d hate to leave him here waiting for someone who might never return.”
Click added, “I think he seems taken with Guppy.”
“Then maybe,” Jayne said, joining the discussion, “it’s not such a good idea to bring him aboard.”
“Jealous?” Jax asked.
“No,” Jayne said. “I just think he would distract our debutante from what little work she manages to get done. Besides, I think he’s a bit off his toast. What’s with the one glove? I mean, really. Who wears just one glove?”
“Maybe,” Magpie said, “he has a grotesque scar that he doesn’t like to show.”
Jayne fell quiet at the remark.
“Everyone in favor of giving Atom a ride back to the mainland?” Rose asked.
Click, Magpie, and Jax raised their hands.
“Any against?” Rose asked, looking to Jayne.
“Mark my words,” Jayne said, “he’ll bring nothing but trouble.” She shook her head, stalking away.
“I was wrong,” Jax said.
Rose raised an eyebrow in question.
“She’s not just jealous,” Jax said. “She’s very, very jealous.”
Rose couldn’t agree more.
* * * *
Atom Loquacious was the stuff of dreams.
Erotic dreams.
Gabriella blushed as she shuddered at the racy thought. He was handsome, charming, clever, and simply wonderful. She had never met someone who made her feel both comfortable yet flustered at the same time. She wondered what had her so upset about the man. She knew it wasn’t love because her mother had been very clear on how love worked.
Love, her mother told her, was the careful arrangement of a prosperous union. It was the willingness to overlook one’s own needs in favor of her future husband’s, because, after all, he was to be a lifetime of security. Love meant putting aside childish things, including her abacus, while taking on the roles of mother, maid, and mistress. Love was the necessity of allowing the body to be ravaged by a husband’s animal lusts, then by the bearing of the children such acts were meant to bring. Love had nothing to do with affection, desires or any feelings whatsoever. Love, in a word, was work. A woman had to work at love to make it succeed.
Yet the way Gabriella felt about Atom wasn’t work. It came easy. Natural. Even though she had just met the man, she got the feeling that Atom Loquacious would simply be too easy to love.
So logic dictated that it was anything but love. She wondered what that left.
“I’m sorry about your father,” she said while she stroked Atom’s back.
She wanted to say more. Her tongue tripped her words before they left her lips. She also wanted to do more than just stand here and pat his back. That’s what scared her the most. Even a week before the wedding, she had been happy with just a nightly kiss from Thomas. Yet this man ignited something deep within her. Just his presence set her soul aflame. She knew a simple kiss wouldn’t be enough to quench it.
Atom flashed her a weak smile. Gabriella’s stomach fluttered at the sight. Her yearn burned deeper.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I supposed I should have guessed as much. I’ve been waiting here for him for five years.”
“Five years?” Gabriella repeated in surprise. “You’ve been living alone here for five years?”
Atom nodded. “He said he would return. He said to wait...” He lowered his head, the words trailed off into mumbling.
“You poor thing,” Gabriella said. She patted the back of his hand.
Atom rolled his palm upward, catching her fingers in his own. Gabriella froze, unsure of what he would do next. She shot a glance to the rest of the crew, who were raising their hands as if in vote. When she looked back at Atom, he was clutching her hand to his chest, staring up at her with a profound look of sorrow.
“Why would he just abandon me? Why would he just leave me here?” His copper eyes glistened with the threat of tears.
“Maybe he didn’t,” Gabriella said.
Atom narrowed his eyes at her.
“Maybe he intended to return, but
Click added, “I think he seems taken with Guppy.”
“Then maybe,” Jayne said, joining the discussion, “it’s not such a good idea to bring him aboard.”
“Jealous?” Jax asked.
“No,” Jayne said. “I just think he would distract our debutante from what little work she manages to get done. Besides, I think he’s a bit off his toast. What’s with the one glove? I mean, really. Who wears just one glove?”
“Maybe,” Magpie said, “he has a grotesque scar that he doesn’t like to show.”
Jayne fell quiet at the remark.
“Everyone in favor of giving Atom a ride back to the mainland?” Rose asked.
Click, Magpie, and Jax raised their hands.
“Any against?” Rose asked, looking to Jayne.
“Mark my words,” Jayne said, “he’ll bring nothing but trouble.” She shook her head, stalking away.
“I was wrong,” Jax said.
Rose raised an eyebrow in question.
“She’s not just jealous,” Jax said. “She’s very, very jealous.”
Rose couldn’t agree more.
* * * *
Atom Loquacious was the stuff of dreams.
Erotic dreams.
Gabriella blushed as she shuddered at the racy thought. He was handsome, charming, clever, and simply wonderful. She had never met someone who made her feel both comfortable yet flustered at the same time. She wondered what had her so upset about the man. She knew it wasn’t love because her mother had been very clear on how love worked.
Love, her mother told her, was the careful arrangement of a prosperous union. It was the willingness to overlook one’s own needs in favor of her future husband’s, because, after all, he was to be a lifetime of security. Love meant putting aside childish things, including her abacus, while taking on the roles of mother, maid, and mistress. Love was the necessity of allowing the body to be ravaged by a husband’s animal lusts, then by the bearing of the children such acts were meant to bring. Love had nothing to do with affection, desires or any feelings whatsoever. Love, in a word, was work. A woman had to work at love to make it succeed.
Yet the way Gabriella felt about Atom wasn’t work. It came easy. Natural. Even though she had just met the man, she got the feeling that Atom Loquacious would simply be too easy to love.
So logic dictated that it was anything but love. She wondered what that left.
“I’m sorry about your father,” she said while she stroked Atom’s back.
She wanted to say more. Her tongue tripped her words before they left her lips. She also wanted to do more than just stand here and pat his back. That’s what scared her the most. Even a week before the wedding, she had been happy with just a nightly kiss from Thomas. Yet this man ignited something deep within her. Just his presence set her soul aflame. She knew a simple kiss wouldn’t be enough to quench it.
Atom flashed her a weak smile. Gabriella’s stomach fluttered at the sight. Her yearn burned deeper.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I supposed I should have guessed as much. I’ve been waiting here for him for five years.”
“Five years?” Gabriella repeated in surprise. “You’ve been living alone here for five years?”
Atom nodded. “He said he would return. He said to wait...” He lowered his head, the words trailed off into mumbling.
“You poor thing,” Gabriella said. She patted the back of his hand.
Atom rolled his palm upward, catching her fingers in his own. Gabriella froze, unsure of what he would do next. She shot a glance to the rest of the crew, who were raising their hands as if in vote. When she looked back at Atom, he was clutching her hand to his chest, staring up at her with a profound look of sorrow.
“Why would he just abandon me? Why would he just leave me here?” His copper eyes glistened with the threat of tears.
“Maybe he didn’t,” Gabriella said.
Atom narrowed his eyes at her.
“Maybe he intended to return, but
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