HEART OF THE DAEDALUS
Saskia Walker
Moonlight carved an eerie path through the low-lying landscape of the Romney Marshes, solidifying the patches of mist that gathered over the sodden ground. The area was riddled with inlets of water and bog, making a treacherous journey for anyone who dared go there. Nina Ashford scanned the ground ahead and soothed her mount, encouraging the horse along the narrow path. It was a familiar track to Nina for she had grown up in a nearby village, but it was dangerous nonetheless. Her mount huffed on the cold night air, picking its way carefully.
The clear sky was in her favor, which was some mercy, but her attire was not. She’d come straight from a formal supper and hadn’t had time to change out of her best gown. Word had reached her of the whereabouts of the Daedalus and she’d grasped the opportunity to view it in secret. Fetching her cloak, she’d paused only to strap her pistol to her ankle boot and her sword to her flank—wary of brigands and smugglers on the marshes—then raced out into the night lest the Daedalus be moved elsewhere. The man who had so callously stolen her designs for the machine had enormous wealth at his disposal. He could easily toy with it, then cast it aside. The knot in her chest tightened as she thought on it, but this only served to strengthen her resolve. She had to see her beloved creation, now. Pursing her lips, she pressed on determinedly.
Up ahead she spied her quarry, a smuggler’s den—a long and low shelter in a dugout pit, built from old planks covered over with slabs of peat and tufts of grass to conceal the moorings and storage space within. It was here that she’d been told the prototype had been hidden. The machine had been engineered and built elsewhere, so why was it here? The question went unanswered as the lure of the Daedalus drew her on. A steady plume of smoke rose from the rear of the shelter, making her wary. Her informant, an old friend, had told her no guards had been employed. Apparently it had been deemed unnecessary in this lonely, barren place. However she approached with caution. Dismounting, she secured her horse beneath a cluster of trees and edged closer to the ramshackle building by foot.
At the entrance she peered inside the gloomy interior. Somewhere a light shone. As she became accustomed to the limited light she realized it was coming from inside the huge metal construction. Her breath caught as her chin lifted to take in the outline of the immense machine. Mine. Her pride swelled. How she had pored over drawings of this creation, this beautiful machine. Inspired by her research on insects, she had imagined a machine that would emulate their ability to react, to leap, to track and to hunt. And here it was—part spider, part praying mantis, engineered in metal and powered by combustion engine.
The pod-like body was designed to rise from the ground on eight legs, strong but spindly, each leg made invincible by internal springs that provided enormous flexibility. She wrapped her hand around one of the legs, her emotions running high. It had been a fanciful artistic creation, but seeing it constructed in solid metal took her breath away. Awestruck, she made her way around the machine. At the side she heard the low throb of the combustion engine. She ran her hand along the underbelly and felt its heat. Smiling fondly, she felt as if she had been reunited with long-lost kin. She’d come there angry, possessive and thwarted, and yet seeing her design realized as a complete construction made her hands tremble with excitement.
At the rear she found a metal ladder that dropped from the vessel to the ground. She hitched her skirts and clambered up. Cautiously, she opened the hatch. Inside it was gloomy but toward the front of the pod an oil lamp stood on a brass surface, giving out a warm, inviting light. She paused, still wary, but heard no sound other than the low rumble of the combustion engine in dormant mode. Unable to resist, she climbed inside.
Nothing could have prepared her for the beauty of the interior. Where solid sheets of sturdy welded metal characterized the exterior, inside it was all gleaming brass dials and copper pipes. The construction was immaculate and finished to a high standard. She stepped over to the control panel and ran her fingers along the casement. She was so fascinated that she did not sense the human presence behind her until it was too late. When she did she tensed and turned on her heel.
The man rose from a seat in the darkness beyond the hatch.
Her hand went to the pommel of her sword.
“What have we here,” the man drawled, “a thief in the night who dares to touch my precious creation?”
The statement was meant to provoke, she knew that. Nevertheless her anger flared. “I am no thief.” She drew her sword, pointing it around the gleaming interior of the Daedalus. “What is this, if not theft of my design?”
He laughed softly.
She assumed an en garde position, challenging him.
He stepped into the fall of light. Built tall and large, he towered over her. She cast an eye over his greatcoat and polished knee-length boots, taking in the fitted breeches and open necked shirt beneath. His dark hair fell loosely to his shoulders and his eyes were shadowed under drawn-down brows. Stubble marked his jaw. The rugged build of his features looked starker still in the half-light. The sight of him made her will strong and her legs weak.
“Thief!” she declared.
He moved swiftly, his sword out and clashing against hers. “And you?” he responded, with amusement. “Lurking on the marshes in the midnight hours, like a common smuggler.” With consummate skill he traded thrusts and parries with her, his blade ringing against hers.
Her heart raced wildly, but gritty determination to equal him drove her on.
He nodded approvingly at her maneuvers. “I have to admit your fencing has improved somewhat since our last meeting, my dear.”
Nina smiled. She had been taking lessons. However his compliment distracted her and before she could draw breath he knocked the sword from her hand. Cursing, she glared at him. His blade flashed again, slicing the fabric of her bodice between her breasts.
Furious, she backed away and clutched her hands to the polished brass panel behind her. “Dishonorable as ever, I see, Dominic Bartleby.”
“Particularly where you are concerned, my beauty.” He ran the tip of his finely crafted blade into the torn fabric at her cleavage, as if daring her to move.
In an attempt to stifle the rise and fall of her chest, she bit into her lower lip. When the blade skimmed over the surface of her corset, a quiet moan escaped her.
Dominic raised an eyebrow, his mouth lifting in a faint smile.
“You never did play fair,” she stated. Smarting, she pushed his blade aside and covered her torn gown with her cloak. “The least you can do is allow me to experience the Daedalus now that it has been built.”
He stepped back and bowed, but his pleasured smile didn’t escape her notice. He wanted this—he wanted her to be needy and grateful for the chance to see it and touch her own creation. How infuriating it was to have been caught here. Even so, her body responded as it always did to his proximity and attitude, as if his very presence infected her blood with a fever of longing that she could neither deny nor ignore. Damn him. Bracing herself for his mockery and cheek, she took another look at the control area of the vessel, studiously avoiding the place where he stood. “Why did you do it? Why did you build it?”
He took an age before he responded. “Because it was a superlative design.”
She shot him a glance. He’d teased her about her designs, calling them impossible frippery. She’d always known that his engineering skills could make them solid and true, but he’d not taken her seriously when they’d been together. “The real reason.”
He nodded, deferring to her skepticism. “Your design was outrageous…wild, and seemingly unattainable.” His gaze roved over her. “It was perfect in every other way.”
He met her stare. She scowled at him.
“The Crimean War raised many issues,” he continued in a more serious tone. “The world is changing. Britain may be an empire and an island but our coastline is still vulnerable. I presented your design to Parliament and offered to build a prototype from my own funds. I suggested it could be used to guard shallow waters and low-lying areas such as the Romney Marshes, places that would be our frontline if invasion should threaten.” He gave a sardonic grin. “Given the problem we already have with smugglers here on the marshes, Parliament practically snatched the contract from my fingertips.”
Nina’s fury built. The way he so blatantly told her what he’d done with her design was utterly galling.
“Now that the minister of defense has seen it,” Dominic continued, “he wants more of your beautiful machines.” He paused, observing her reaction. “Imagine it, Nina, a frontline of Daedalus spiders, cunning workers observing our coastline, able to march through any terrain and confront the enemy.”
Her emotions twisted and turned. Pride flared in her chest, but at the very same moment the sense of injustice she felt bit deep into her. If she had taken the project to Parliament she would have been cast out as a foolish woman. “I suppose you expect me to be grateful that you took charge of it?”
“Of course not. You are far too contrary and stubborn to be grateful for anything.”
The tone of his comment irked her even more.
Then he licked his lips as if he was relishing his power over her. “I’ve engineered your design successfully, improved on it, made it solid and real and useful, but all you can do is glare at me.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I’m disappointed. Frankly, my dear, I expected more fire.” His handsome mouth lifted at one corner, as if he was daring her to lash out at him. He knew her rebellious spirit far too well.
“I always knew it could be done,” she retorted. “What annoys me is that you stole my designs and you ruined my reputation, and now you expect me to be pleased because you’ve sold it to Parliament, the very establishment I detest?”
“What better way to mutiny Parliament than from within?” He was quite serious, and she loved that. The suggestion was there in his eyes: bright, devilish and promising her many an adventure. Her body responded, aching for him. “Besides,” he continued, “as I recall you were quite willing to have your reputation ruined, eager in fact.” He looked her over with undisguised appraisal, as if recalling their more intimate encounters.
Nina bristled. “Heat of the moment, nothing more.”
“Is that so? And there was me thinking it was so much more than that.”
He was right of course. Studying together meant that their mutual attraction had built steadily, until it could not be denied. And how well matched they had turned out to be in matters of sexual congress. Her body throbbed with arousal as treasured memories flitted through her mind. But that was behind them now, and that’s where it had to stay.
Dominic strolled closer. He parted her cloak and gazed at her chest, then trailed the back of his knuckles along her jaw, his touch inflaming her. “In fact, being a vicar’s daughter only seemed to make you more rebellious in matters of morals.”
Fury bit into her. She slapped him.
With lightning reactions he gripped her around the upper arms and kissed her, his mouth hungry and possessive on hers.
Stunned, she froze, then melted. Her lips parted under his, her fisted hands pressed to his chest. His wicked charms always had made her weak.
“I want you,” he demanded as he drew back, “right here and now, at the heart of the Daedalus.” Bending her back over the area for map reading that was stationed next to the controls, he pinned her down to the flat surface with his hands on her shoulders.
“No!” Nina gasped, torn between fighting him and submitting. She hated the way he affected her so, but heat gathered between her thighs with startling speed. “Not until we discuss my rights.”
Dominic’s eyes glinted, as if that was the very thing he wanted her to say. He undid her cloak where it was latched at her collarbone then his hands moved to her skirt. He moved it in his hands, pausing to speak. “You have no rights whatsoever, but that is not because I took them from you.”
Oh, how she reviled that fact, and he knew it. She’d ranted about it often enough, much to his amusement. It felt far too much as if he was making her face the paltry existence her sex was fated to, something she balked against as a woman who could outthink most men.
“The patent in your name,” he offered, “in exchange for something I want.”
Her lips parted, objection hovering there, but need put its own spin on her reaction, making her moan with longing instead. Without further ado he tugged her skirts and petticoats up, handling them roughly, until the material was bunched at her waist.
Desire tugged at her will, unraveling it. “You cannot put the patent in my name,” she blurted, attempting to cling to reason. “As a woman I do not have the status to carry it.” Heated emotions flared in her. Having a female monarch made not one jot of difference. “A scholarship to Cambridge for a woman of humble background does not change the fact she is a worthless woman.”
He stroked her woolen stockings over her knees and his eyes flickered, dark and possessive, his mouth pursed as he observed her. “Don’t be bitter, Nina. It doesn’t suit you. Besides, you were more intelligent than most of the men at Cambridge.”
More intelligent than most of them, except him. If she was, she wouldn’t have been captured here and at his will, all for the sight and touch of a machine that she could never own. Her thoughts were in chaos, because the position he had put her in splayed her intimate parts against his hard erection. Fighting to stifle her response, she pressed her lips together and turned her face away, when what she really wanted to do was rub against the hard bulk of his erection. He bent to kiss her in the dip of her cleavage.
“And more desirable than all of the women I have ever known,” he added. “Why else do you think I arranged this?”
She stared down at him, her eyes widening. This was an elaborate trap? He’d used the Daedalus to bait her, knowing that she would have to see her dream made real? All the evidence suggested it was so, but she could not believe it. Dominic had the world at his feet. He did not need to toy with her, a vicar’s daughter who had ideas and intelligence above her station—a burden if ever there was one.
“Ah, you see it now. Yes, that is how much I want you. I knew that you could not resist seeing it so I secreted it in the place that the local vicar’s daughter knows so well.” He ran his fingers down her cheek, and there was longing in his eyes. “If only I could lure you as easily as this machine has.”
“You can lure me all too well,” she shot back at him, “that is why I stayed away.”
“Why did you run from me?”
His question disarmed her. Months had gone by. She didn’t even think he cared, and had for a long time assumed he’d moved on to his future bride. “I left you a note,” she muttered.
“All it told me was that our relationship was over. Why?” His fingers stroked up and down the soft skin of her inner thighs, maddening her. The way he touched her while he quizzed her made her vulnerable, her desire undermining her will to defy him.
“I heard of your impending engagement to Lady Lucy Ether-ington.” The old familiar pain uncoiled in her gut. She lashed out. “I have too much wit and will to be designated the role of secret mistress until you cast me aside!” Her body rose against his, attempting to buck him off.
He pinned her down with his hands on her hips. “And you also have too much pride to ask me if the rumors were true.” He quirked an eyebrow to emphasize his point. “The match was discussed, but it was not for me. My father has been set straight on that matter.” He shrugged off his greatcoat, casting it aside. “There’s only one woman I want in my bed.”
The fine lawn of his shirt clung to the heat of his body, drawing her attention, making her want him even more. Ducking his head, he breathed along the skin of her cleavage. His mouth on her breast stole her breath away. Meanwhile, he pushed her farther up the flat surface, so that her bottom rested on it and her legs dangled, then his fingers breached her drawers, finding their way into the gap there. He stroked her puss. “I want you, Nina Ashford.”
His demanding approach made her pulse race. The damp heat between her thighs was impossible to ignore. She felt exposed, emotionally and physically stripped to the core, her will and being made freely available to him because she craved him so. Dominic did this to her as only he could. Moaning aloud, her head rolled.
He ran his fingers into the slit in her drawers, then stroked them up and down her damp folds. “Ah, yes, but you’re lush and ready for this.”
His voice was hoarse. She cried out, because the tantalizing touch made her want to rub against him. She hated him for disarming her so thoroughly and turned her face away.
“Your absence in my bed has driven me close to madness.” He held her jaw in one hand, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I must be inside you or I will not be held accountable for what occurs.”
The provocative statement left her speechless, but he moved his hand, rolling his thumb back and forth over her seat of pleasure. The relief she felt was immense. Then he shifted and ducked. His mouth engulfed her swollen nub. He grazed her tender flesh with his teeth and release barreled through her. He pushed his tongue inside her, collecting her copious juices. She was still gasping for breath when he rose up and tugged at her bodice, making her breasts rise from the tight fabric. Nina was so shocked by his actions that she stared up at him, then his hands moved and he arranged her legs around his hips.
As he did so he looked at the pistol strapped to her ankle boot with both admiration and amusement. Again his fingers roved over her puss. “Are you ready for me?”
She turned her face away. Ready? Her body clamored for him, her center alight with expectation, her core slick with her juices. “Make haste,” she blurted, “before I change my mind.”
Dominic gave a wry laugh and then unbuttoned his breeches. When she felt the blunt head of his cock pushing at her slippery opening, she clutched at his shirt. Then he reached past her and pushed a lever. The Daedalus roared into action, the engines huffing and whirring, the pipes that ran around the pod vibrating. One of the dials to the side of her head pinged loudly, startling her. Then the entire machine jolted, lifting up onto its legs—first at the front, then at the rear where she had climbed up the ladder.
Staggered by the sense of power and the sudden movement, she tugged on his shirt. “Dominic!”
The shunt and jolt of the machine as it rose up only seemed to assist his approach, angling her body to him. His cock thrust deep into her, stretching her open and filling her. She cried out, intense sensation rolling through her when he touched her center.
The machine swayed as it leveled, making her head spin.
“Oh, dear lord, how it rolls!” Delighted laughter escaped her.
“I took the liberty of lengthening its rise.” As he spoke humor flitted through his eyes and he put his hands beneath her bottom, lifting her in order to probe her deeper. Her corset seemed tighter still, pressing down against her womb where heat built and swelled. Meanwhile the Daedalus remained poised and pumping, as if waiting instruction.
The feeling of being filled by him was too good. Her thighs locked around his waist, her body arching up to meet his. The pressure of his rod at her center sent a wild flare through her entire body, a fiery reaction akin to that of the combustion engine that stoked the Daedalus. She was back at the precipice in moments, her groin alive with sensation.
He worked his length in and out of her sensitized puss, his hands locked around her bottom while he drove himself into her, relentlessly. “There is a way,” he stated, between thrusts. “Marry me, Nina. Take my name and it will be on the patent. The Daedalus is ours and there will be many more inventions with you as designer and me as engineer…it’s not the same without you.”
Her breath caught.
“Answer me!”
Defiance still underpinned her will. “You indicated the patent was for this favor.”
He shook his head, and his expression was thoroughly wicked as he clarified his meaning. He drove his slick cock in and out of her in measured strides, working her closer to spilling while holding his own release in abeyance. “You’re here. I’m claiming my reward. I want the rest…your name on the patent.”
She could see it was taking intense concentration for him to work her while he spoke, but he did so. “Marry me, Nina, make it so.” His fingers trailed along her throat, his expression growing serious. “Please, I need you.”
She loved him so much that his plea broke her apart inside. Never before had he shown her that need, that affection. Her fingers dug deep into his powerful shoulders and her core clenched at his rod. He groaned and leaned closer still, bending her legs under him, his weight against her tender folds. Again she flooded. The release was so great that she felt dizzy even though she was flat on her back, but the hard rod of his cock inside and the pressure of his body against her sensitive, intimate parts kept her there.
The muscles in his shoulders and neck stood out, his eyes closing. His cock stiffened, stilled and jerked repeatedly. Another wave hit, her thighs shuddering as her entire body burned with the raw pleasure he’d brought about.
When he withdrew he rained kisses on her face, throat and chest, then reached out and pushed another lever. “Hold on tight,” he murmured.
Taking her hands in his, he guided them to a metal strut above her head then he rested over her. He held her steady while the engines roared and the Daedalus rose to its full height, bursting through the ramshackle covering above them.
Only then did she realize that Dominic had incorporated a glass panel above their heads, and she was bathed in moonlight. In the gloom of the old moorings, the panels were not visible. Now they were. She was in ecstasy. With her eyelids lowered she felt every swift movement the machine made, how it emulated the leap and stride of the insects that had inspired it, as it made its way across the marshland. It rose and fell as it gained the measure of the uneven landscape beneath it, the pod acting like a massive spirit level just as she had dreamed. All the while Dominic held her tightly, staring down at her face as she took in the intensity of what they were sharing and what had passed between them. Pleasure spiraled through her. From her core, where she still throbbed in the aftermath of her release, it radiated through every part of her.
She stared up into his eyes, adoring him for his brazen cheek. “I can scarcely believe this,” she whispered.
“It is magnificent. Your talent for design is like a beacon showing the way to the future.”
It wasn’t what she meant, but she went with his flow. “You made it happen.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I get to share a little of the credit?”
Humility was not something she was used to him showing, and it made her heart swell. “A little. Come now, Dominic, it’s yours as much as it is mine.”
He fixed her in a glance. “And you? Say you will be mine.”
“Perhaps.” Nina smiled and rolled her hips against his, delighted when she felt him harden again.
“Nina Ashford, you will be mine,” he stated gruffly.
He claimed her mouth, not waiting for her to reply, but Nina didn’t care, because this time she didn’t want to disagree with Dominic Bartleby. He’d built her machine to win her back, but her heart was already his.