Page 38 of Across the Star-Kissed Sea (Proper Romance Regency #1)

He chuckled and rested his arm across my shoulders like he used to.

I stayed still, trying to decide whether I liked this closeness as I watched the harbor.

Fishermen we passed hardly gave us a glance.

They must have seen many British ships in the last few years.

Only a little boy stopped and pointed at the Marianne , speaking excitedly in words I couldn’t understand.

Lewis, Charlie, and I had watched the ships coming into Portsmouth in much the same way when we’d been that age, pointing out which ships we wished to captain and which had the nicest colors.

I wouldn’t have imagined someday truly getting to sail with my brother.

I leaned my head against his shoulder. “You are much more pleasant to be around after you’ve bathed,” I said.

He made a face. “Charming as ever, May.” But he squeezed my shoulder.

Lewis and I stood in comfortable silence amid the rattle of tackles and whine of rope as the crew eased the ship into port. Was it good fortune rather than ill fate that had brought us together? Lewis and I could start anew. Fresh. Our family could heal together, one small step at a time.

Regardless of the struggle, this voyage was turning out to be the best thing that had ever happened to me.

Elias

Clear afternoon sun bathed the ancient stone around us as we picked our way over the uneven floor of what had once been a Roman bath house.

Greenery sprouted from the cracks between bricks and between the mosaic tiles that decorated the floors.

An impossibly blue sky stretched above us, the barest wisps of clouds dusting its expanse.

A vision of paradise, yet the only thing I could think of was the woman walking in front of me as I lamented the presence of the third member of our party.

I smoothed back a strip of hair that had fallen forward as I followed May and étienne.

I didn’t really begrudge his presence. I wanted to act properly, even if part of me wished we could have come on our own.

After all, he’d been the one to suggest the three of us explore the ruins while the rest of the crew saw to affairs of the ship.

We’d be patrolling the Adriatic with the town of Vis as our base and, at the most, would be only a few days out of the little port, but Captain Peyton didn’t want to take chances of the Marianne being unprepared for a meeting with or having to chase the French.

There was little for the three of us to do to help.

Having a few hours of privacy, even with the extra companion, had been too tempting.

“Is Lissa very much like your home?” May asked.

The surgeon sighed. “It does remind me of Marseille, yes. None of the frigid winters we enjoy in the north.”

I’d nearly brought my greatcoat on our excursion after how chilly the wind had been the last few days at sea, but the balmy afternoon made me wish I’d worn my linen jacket rather than my black wool one.

It felt like a late English spring despite it being November.

This was practically summer weather in some parts of the United Kingdom.

“Do you miss it?” she asked.

“Sometimes. But mostly, I miss my Lina.” He paused his walking and looked back at me. “What do you make of these ruins, Mr. Doswell? You are the scholar among us.”

I hurried forward to catch up with them.

I’d been too swept up in watching the way the light glinted off a lock of May’s hair that had fallen out of the bonnet I’d given her.

Why she refused to let me replace it with something more suitable, I couldn’t tell, but the fact that she held on to it with such fierceness made my heart swell.

“I can’t say Roman history is my specialty, but they are magnificently well preserved. ”

Walls as tall as I was rose around the main chamber, where we stood. We wandered in the direction of what looked like a double entrance with grand masonry separating the two openings. The roof had long since been lost, but the size and shape of the openings made them seem like doorways.

“Can you imagine this place teeming with Romans?” I asked, looking back the way we’d come. It must have been like a gentleman’s club, with all the elite of the town mingling and vying for attention.

May laughed. “Dressed in white sheets and sandals?”

“Most likely not dressed in much at all,” the surgeon muttered wryly.

Her face instantly reddened. Mine most likely did as well. She met my eyes, then we both quickly glanced away. étienne would not have made a proper chaperone by any Society mother’s standards. I’d been in company with my fair share of the strictest of them.

étienne advanced toward the doorways. “Did you see the mosaic in the little room off to the right?” He pointed back toward a section of the ruins we’d passed. “It seemed more intricate than the rest of the floors.”

“Should we go back and observe it?” I asked as the surgeon continued on his way.

He winked at me over his shoulder but did not turn back.

He meant to leave us alone. Yes, he’d be the chaperone of any gentry parent’s nightmares.

And the companion of every young couple’s dreams. My heart did a little flip.

He was giving us that moment of privacy I’d been craving the last two weeks.

A hand slipped around my arm. “I’d love to see it,” May said sweetly and more innocently than I’d ever heard her speak.

I sighed. This bordered on improper. But there wasn’t a door to close in the entire complex, so we wouldn’t be completely alone.

And it wasn’t as if we hadn’t been in the same cabin with the door shut on multiple occasions already.

But this felt different. We’d as good as admitted our feelings about each other.

Now we simply had to decide what to do with them.

May and I walked back the way we’d come, and she glanced around me as if to see whether étienne was out of earshot.

“This is much better than the quarterdeck during first watch,” she said. “Though I wouldn’t have minded that a time or two over the last couple weeks.”

I covered her hand with mine. “If the whole crew found out about the one time, think of what they’d say if it became a habit.” A habit. I wouldn’t mind if kissing May became a habit.

She shrugged, leaning on me to steady herself over a broken-up patch of stone. “Lewis already knows. He was the one I worried about knowing, but I don’t think it will be a problem.”

“Do the Peytons know?” I asked.

She winced. “If Mrs. Peyton knows, she hasn’t mentioned it. And the captain, while very diligent and perceptive in matters of the ship and crew, clearly has much to learn about recognizing more sensitive matters. We already know one thing he’s missed.”

“She still hasn’t told him?” I asked. May had seemed to think Mrs. Peyton meant to tell him when we made land.

“I’m shocked the whole ship doesn’t know already. Her round gown will only hide it for so much longer.”

My stomach sank. I had a feeling we were both about to get stuck in a marital disaster.

We came to the threshold of the room étienne had indicated. On the floor lay four animal shapes made up of dark-gray tiles.

May released my arm and crouched to examine them. Then she looked up at me, cocking her head and grinning. “Dolphins!”

“Or some other fish.” They had long tails that ended in flat fins and oddly teardrop-shaped bodies. Animals weren’t the Romans’ strongest subject when it came to art. I’d seen copies of Roman wolf mosaics that looked more like cats than anything.

“I’m going to call them dolphins.” She straightened, and I held her elbow to help her up.

I took advantage of the close proximity to wrap her in a hug and plant a little kiss on her cheek.

She smelled of sunshine and sea breezes and stolen glances across busy upper decks, and I found I couldn’t breathe in enough of her scent to satisfy me.

She pulled back with a coy smile and turned her back to me as she drifted farther into the new chamber.

The room wasn’t as little as I’d thought.

Geometric designs crossed the length of the floor as though the poor artist who’d muddled his way through the dolphins on the threshold hadn’t had the desire to try any more creatures.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” she said.

I hurried to catch up. “What is it?”

“I was just wondering ...” She fiddled with the black ribbon of her bonnet, not looking me in the eye. This flirtatiousness was something I’d never seen from her. I had to admit I liked it. “How many other women have you kissed in your life?” she asked.

“I ...” I rubbed the back of my neck, ears heating. It was more than I wanted to admit. Not more than many young men my age, to be sure, but far more than a clergyman ought to have. “Perhaps four.”

Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in a dramatic gasp. “Elias Doswell, you rake!” she said, swatting at my arm. Then she covered a laugh with her hand, breaking her illusion of being appalled. “ Perhaps four? You don’t remember?”

I most certainly did remember. Each of them had broken my heart not long after. I brought my shoulders to my ears. “I wasn’t doing it for sport.”

She took my hand. “I am only teasing. After hearing about all of the mates’ escapades, that hardly seems like very many. And who knows what Lewis has done since he left home.”

Palm trees rustled from just beyond the walls as the mention of her brother silenced us.

Though I felt terrible for thinking it, I wished we’d never run into him that day in Malta.

He was back on the ship, and we were safe from his jeering for a moment.

No need to grant him another second of our precious time.

“I suppose that with each one, you wished to marry them,” she said, sobering.

I didn’t want to admit to that.

“Were you refused?”

I looked away, then nodded. What would she think of that?

The faces of all four women swam before me.

My first love, Miss Durant, who had fallen for the Oxford friend I’d introduced her to.

Miss Starle, who had quickly lost interest in me after a Season in London’s grandeur.

Miss Page, who had simply wished to ignite the jealousy of a gentleman too slow in proposing by giving me intense attention.

And, of course, Miss Somer, the vicar’s daughter who had seemed my perfect match.

May gave my hand a squeeze, pulling me from the memories that had once tasted so bitter. Now they dissolved into the crisp air, shadows of the past driven away by the midday sun to hide practically harmless in the recesses of my mind.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I cannot imagine having to endure such rejection, especially of someone as good and kind as you.”

“God had other plans for me.” Plans I hoped involved the woman before me, though I didn’t know if I was ready to venture too far down that path of thought just yet. I tugged on her hand. “What made you ask?”

She focused on a little lizard scurrying across the mosaics before she answered with a bashful voice. “You seemed far more experienced than I did that night.”

“Did I?” I chuckled sheepishly. How different this conversation was from our first meeting.

The May and Elias who had met in such awkward a misunderstanding would not have believed this conversation was in their future.

“And you? Have you ... ?” I inclined my head.

At the thought of her kissing someone else, I suddenly wished I hadn’t asked so I could live on in blissful ignorance.

“Only once. It was a plot hatched by Lewis and his friend. They wanted me to keep my mouth shut about why they weren’t coming to my aunt and uncle’s for dinner.

They claimed duties to their captain, but they’d already been paid off and wanted to burn their money at the tavern.

Lewis had the brilliant idea that his friend kissing me would keep me quiet.

” Her mouth twisted. “He was right. I only realized I’d been used later. ”

“What a scoundrel.” Would I ever find a redeeming quality about her brother?

“It was fortunate for me that my next kiss was far more pleasant.” She tilted her head back, an expectant look on her face.

“Was it?” I asked. étienne was nowhere to be seen in the chamber beyond, so I slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her close.

She slipped her bonnet from her head so it dangled down her back. “And the man kissing me the second time was much more handsome.” Her arms encircled my neck.

“Was he?” I placed a little kiss on her brow. I was going to enjoy our assignment to this remote location if it meant moments like this.

She rose up on her toes with an impish grin and closed her eyes, bringing her lips toward mine.

“Miss Byam! Mr. Doswell!”

She pushed away from me. I released her and turned toward the shout. It wasn’t étienne. The voice sounded younger and clearly English. The serious edge to it made my insides tighten. Had they sighted a French ship?

A lanky young man came into view around a break in the outer wall. Walter Fitz? I took May’s hand and hurried toward him as quickly as the uneven ground would allow.

“We’re here,” I called.

He bolted for us. “Byam’s done it now.”

“What do you mean?” May’s hand tightened in mine.

Fitz halted, resting his hands on his knees and panting. “Mr. Byam was belowdecks, drunk as a lord, and Mr. Hallyburton caught him lightin’ his pipe near the powder room.”

Rumor indicated it wasn’t the first time.

A chill ran down my spine. I’d seen the effects of fire too close to waiting powder on my last assignment, and that had only been extra cartridges.

Not a whole powder room that could blow the Marianne into the heavens like the French ship at the start of our voyage.

“Hallyburton tried to take the pipe, but Byam drubbed him.”

May’s face went pale.

“Broke his nose, I’d wager,” Fitz said, rubbing his own nose as if he’d been the one hit. “Now Byam’s in irons, and Mrs. Hallyburton wants him strung up for what he done to her husband. Captain’s barely holdin’ her off, but he looks near ready to let her do her worst.”

May dropped my hand and bolted toward the harbor, bonnet bumping against her back as she jumped over rock and tile.

“May, wait!” I started after her, but Fitz stopped me.

“Where’s étienne? Hallyburton needs a doctor.”

I nodded toward the doors. “He went that way.” I didn’t stay to make sure he found the Frenchman. May had nearly cleared the ruins, running like Cerberus himself was at her heels. I did my best to catch up to her. With every step, my head throbbed. This was not going to end well for anyone.