Clockworks and Corsets (4 page)

Not that she would take him up on such an offer.

Well, not right away, but it would have been nice to at least have been asked.

Click was valuable, true, yet even he could only do so much for the crew without an idea of where they were headed. That idea came in the form of a map, courtesy of the Madame. Where the owner of a bordello had gotten a hold of a map to a hidden laboratory on a nameless island was a question the captain wouldn’t answer. Jayne, on the other hand, insinuated that the Madame was well known for using her bedroom based talents to get whatever she wanted. Gabriella ended up with a flushed face before she decided not to ask for details.

So, map in hand and native on their side, the women plunged into that heart of darkness in search of whatever it was they were in search of.

“We really have no idea what we are looking for?” Gabriella asked again, for what she knew had to be the fortieth time.

“No, Guppy,” the captain answered. “And if you make another sound, I’ll send you back to the ship with Dot.”

Gabriella went silent. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck guarding the ship when the rest of the crew was out adventuring.

What an adventure it was turning out to be.

The island was a tropical paradise with its white sandy beaches, beautiful waterfalls, and tranquil lagoons. Yet, at the same time, it was a veritable death trap. The jungle grew thick, almost impenetrable in places. The passable areas lay rife with hungry wildlife. To make matters worse, the parts of the island not dominated by overgrowth seemed to be composed of nothing but quicksand.

Gabriella quickly learned the key to survival in the stuff was not to struggle when sinking, despite the fact that all instincts screamed otherwise.

Even with her bloomers full of sand, she was having the time of her life.

“Captain!” Click shouted from a few feet ahead. “There’s something up here.”

The captain sighed with a glance to the heavens, as if seeking help. Gabriella couldn’t blame her. The native had repeated the same line for almost four hours. Every misshapen rock, twisted tree, or rotting animal carcass was something to him. A series of portends to his warped, heathen mind.

“I swear,” the captain said, “if that’s just another piece of indistinguishable jungle, I’m going to break him in two.”

“If the map is correct, this should be it, sir,” Magpie said, folding the worn parchment.

“Very well. Let’s see what he’s found this time.” The captain pushed past Magpie, tromping ahead to join Click with his latest discovery.

Gabriella obediently fell into line to follow her captain. Whistles and gasps echoed through the underbrush. When she slipped between the vines into the clearing beyond, she saw what all the commotion was about. A great stone wall rose from the jungle floor, reaching high into the canopy of banyan trees, running end to end as far as the eye could see. Gabriella stood in awe of the thing, amazed at the impossible size of it. Jayne, however, caressed the obstruction with pale, trembling hands. The woman pawed at the wall, occasionally pausing to put her ear to it, listening for heaven knew what.

“Wow,” Click said. His voice seemed a sudden intrusion on Jayne’s private moment. “What do you suppose is beyond?”

The captain waved her hand at the cabin boy, flashing him a dirty look, silencing him as she turned to Magpie, who already had the unfolded parchment in hand. “Is this thing on the map?”

Magpie held the parchment close to her face. “No. Must’ve been put up by someone since.

Unfortunately our goal is just on the other side. I guess somehow we either need to get around it or over it.”

“How do you suppose we get around it?” Jax asked.

Gabriella wondered the same thing.

“We’re not supposed to.” Jayne stepped back from the wall, turned to the crew with her hands parked on her hips. “Not around it. We’re supposed to get inside. It’s not just a barrier. It’s a building.”

“Oh, I see,” Magpie said. “This is the lab.” Poking at the map, she frowned. “I just assumed the little rectangle here would be, well, little.” She dipped her head in submission to the captain.

“Sorry, Cap.”

“No harm.” The captain smirked. “Jayne? How can you tell?”

“Because,” the tinker said, “barricades of this size don’t usually sport conveniently man sized doors.” Jayne hooked a thumb behind her toward the wall.

Gabriella stared at the spot the tinker pointed out. At first it looked like just another part of the impressive stonework. The more she stared, the more it changed. Soon, she saw what the tinker saw. Beyond the mossy age laid the faint outline of a large door set on wide hinges.

“Well done,” the captain commended. “Now, do me one better, Jayne. Get us inside.”

The tinker threw her hand up in salute. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

Gabriella got a sinking feeling that was easier said than done.

* * * *

Rose sat on a rotting trunk, moaning while Click worked her shoulders with his strong hands.

“So tight, my captain,” he said. “You should relax.”

“I wish I could,” Rose whispered.

“I know how to relax you.”

She shuddered when he feathered the back of her neck with soft kisses. “Not now. We need to find a way in before the sun sets, otherwise we’ll have to trek back to the Widow and the whole day will be a waste.”

Rose assumed Jayne would have the door opened in moments, but she’d been wrong. When they cleared away the wildlife, there was no handle. The hinges were not only bolted to the stone, they were welded in place. The door bore a strange carving—the open-mouthed face of some kind of demon with a square of marble mounted just below the beast. Although interesting, it was no help in getting the damnable thing open. For the last forty-five minutes, the crew poked, prodded, and pried at the door with no success. Rose was beginning to think they would return to Ruby empty handed. That wouldn’t do. Not at all.

“Relax, my captain,” Click cooed in his lilting accent. “We shall get in soon enough. You’ll see. You just have to believe we will.”

“I don’t know, Click.” Rose leaned against him, her shoulders sagging. Fear of failure left her stomach churning as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Click’s silence only enhanced her tension, forcing her to speak again to still her nerves. “I suspect it will take more than just optimism to get us past that door.” Rose glanced in the direction of the hindrance. At the door, a sweaty Jax with a large crowbar was trying her best to best the obstacle.

“She’s going to pull a muscle like that,” Click whispered.

“Jax!” Rose shouted. “Give it a rest!”

Her first mate ignored her, instead groaning while she bore down on the metal bar wedge into the doorframe. The door didn’t even have the decency to at least groan in return.

“Take a break, Jax!” Rose shouted. “That’s an order!”

“Yebat!” Jax yelled. She yanked the bar free, hurling it across the clearing.

Rose’s ears burned at the sound of the foreign curse.

“Stupid doctor and his stupid ideas!” Jax shouted. “Who makes door no one can use? I ask that!” She stomped away from the impossible task to slump against a boulder.

Rose looked to the skies.

“I told you force wouldn’t work,” Jayne said. With a smug smile on her freckled face, the tinker lay down. She stretched her legs across a patch of mossy vines.

“Then tell us what will,” Magpie said.

“I told you already—” Jayne started.

Magpie cut the tinker off in mid-sentence. “Yes, we know. It’s probably some secretive combination lock or puzzle.”

“Jayne,” Rose said. “I appreciate that you, out of all of us, understand how Doctor Loquacious’s mind worked. We have yet to see any signs of a puzzle.”

“Not true,” Jayne said. “That beast on the door is too obtrusive. It means something.”

While Rose assumed the carving was just a poor choice in décor, she trusted the clever mind of the tinker. “What does it mean?”

“I don’t know,” Jayne confessed.

Rose huffed in frustration.

“That’s the confusing part,” Jayne said. “I expected something fairly recognizable from him.

I mean the man was a genius, but so am I. Logic dictates we should think alike.”

Movement caught Rose’s eye. Gabriella stood before the huge door. The young woman craned her neck to the carving, shifting her weight from leg to leg, which she often did when she was deep in thought. Rose wondered if Gabriella could succeed where Jayne had failed. Yes, she could, because Gabriella was her clever father’s daughter.

Rose smiled at the pleasant memories of Daniel Upstairs. There was a man with class. Not much in the looks department, mind you. Still he was stable, secure, and sweet. Oh, so very sweet.

Rose could have married him. No. She should have married him. The lure of being a captain’s wife over the spouse of a brilliant mathematician was too great for the young Rose. She snuck away in the dead of night, married that bastard Bill only to live with the regret of it ever since. Now here she was, a lifetime later, where circumstances and incidents had left her in charge of Daniel’s daughter.

She hoped she could keep her promise to the first man she’d ever truly loved.

“Maybe we use explosives,” Jax said. “Boom. Door gone. Problem solved.”

Magpie snorted a small laugh. “Not everything can be solved by blowing it up.”

Jax shot the smaller woman a dark look. “Most problems can be solved by going boom. As well as most people.”

Rose frowned at Jax’s threatening tone. Were Jax and Maggie arguing again? She thought she had settled their differences eons ago. Magpie’s cut-you-to-the-bone sneer said differently. Rose didn’t have time for this. Not now. Not ever. Click’s lips against her neck broke through her worry.

“Come with me,” he whispered.

When he ran his hands across her breasts for the briefest of moments before returning them to her shoulders, she smiled. “What are you on about?”

“Come with me,” he whispered. “I’ll show you.”

The obvious offer was tempting, but this was hardly the time or place for such frivolity. She pushed his hands away. “Not now, Click. I swear that’s all you ever think about.”

“That is where you’re wrong, my captain,” he whispered. “You are all I ever think about.”

With that, he stood and walked into the thick of the jungle. Before the wildlife swallowed him whole, he turned to face her with a flash of his seductive smile.

Rose clambered to her feet in excitement. “Jax, keep working on that door. Ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I have something to discuss with our morale’s officer.”

“Oh, sure,” Magpie said. “You have a word, or two. Three if you like. No sense in limiting yourself to just oral explorations either. Might as well take on his full body of work while you’re at it.”

The women sniggered, except for Gabriella, who once again looked like a fish out of water.

Her cheeks puffed and huffed while a profound look of confusion crossed her face. Rose followed Click’s path into the jungle.

The vines closed behind her, forcing her deeper into the undergrowth. She wandered for a few minutes before she got the feeling she had lost him. “Click? Where are you? You stupid man.”

She reached a small clearing before she decided to head back, leaving Click to his ridiculous notions. The snap of a twig to her left snatched her attention. Stopping, she realized it must be him.

“Click? Are you trying to sneak up on me?”

The low, throaty growl of some wild animal was her answer.

Rose’s eyes grew wide with panic. Before she could turn to run, a hand slipped over her mouth. A strong arm wrapped about her waist.

“Shhh,” Click hissed into her ear.

Rose grunted underneath his hot palm, more terrified than she’d felt in years. The animal growled again, only this time the sound was much closer. Click held her tightly to his hard body.

She tensed under his grip, the terror melting into desire.

“Don’t speak,” he whispered. “Don’t even breathe. Understand?”

“Yes,” she mumbled under his hand.

He snapped her head back, gripping her tighter. “I said don’t speak, my captain. Unless, maybe you want to be its next meal?”

The growl rolled out across the glen. Rose shuddered with need.

“Then be silent and be still.” Click released her mouth. He ran his hand down her neck, trailing it along her throat, along her cleavage until his fingers disappeared under her blouse. He worked his hand into her corset, taking her breast into his strong grip. He flicked his fingertips across her nipple despite the tight fit. Between hot kisses down her neck, he said, “He can smell your need, my captain. He has been tracking you all day because he could smell your heat and desire. They overpower his senses in the thick of the jungle.” He traced the shell of her earlobe with his tongue before he plunged it into her ear to lick her deep. “He wants you. He wants to mount you and take you. Make you his. Like the animal he is.” Click pushed his hips into her, laying his hard cock against her.

Rose squirmed against him when the growl rose again. Her pussy quivered while her heart thumped wildly at the sound of this animal stalking her, seeking her, wanting her. She pushed back against Click with a groan. Lightening quick, he slipped his hand from her corset, snapping it back over her mouth.

“Keep quiet,” he whispered. He ground his cock against her body, dry humping her while they stood in the open afternoon. “He is close. And he wants you so badly. I don’t know if I can hold him off. How about it, my captain? Would you like to see this wild animal? This beast you have brought out?”

Rose nodded. She closed her eyes when his growl met her ears again.

Once more, Click’s hand disappeared from her mouth, this time leaving her body entirely.

Rose wondered what he was up to. She didn’t have to wonder for long. The undeniable click of buttons and familiar rustle of fabric rose from behind her. His free hand wandered to her breeches, working the closure with one-handed expertise until an impatient Rose joined him to finish the job.

When she bent to push her pants and soaked bloomers to the jungle floor, she felt the tip of his cock brush her sex. His hand landed square on her back. When she tried to stand, he held her down, bent double with her palms in the dirt and her ass in the air.