I took her by the waist and leaned down to kiss her, her eyes wide at first, but soon she returned the kiss in earnest. Her hands gripped my upper arms as I broke the kiss and I smiled. "I have my suspicions that this sexual encounter was planned and, in the future, I would appreciate a bit of honesty regarding your motives. While I do enjoy a bit of mystery, you could have always just approached one of my men on the docks if you had wished to strike a deal. However, if your purpose was solely to bed me, then, as I said before, you could have just asked. And, please, in the future come through the front door and don't scale the walls of my house."
She didn't look surprised or startled by my accusations. "I will try to remember that." I kissed her once more before releasing her.
I turned and went back to the wardrobe to select an outfit for the day. I settled on a fancier pair of black slacks, a white button-up shirt, and a red vest. Then I proceeded to go about my daily bathing rituals and emerged about 45 minutes later.
The first item on my agenda was to find my butler and see what information he had acquired from the dockworkers. When I found him he was in the kitchens assisting the chefs with their dinner preparations. I cleared my throat as I entered the room.
The team of servants all looked up from their work and straightened themselves and their outfits. My butler stepped forward, "Good afternoon, Master Reaver. All is well underway for tonight's dinner."
I nodded curtly, "Good. Were you able to get any information about this week's ships?" I had no desire to make idle chatter with the staff.
"Ah, yes. That," he frowned, "I spoke with the dockhands and they said that about forty ships have come and gone this week. Only a few have stayed in port for more than a day."
"And what about those few?"
"Most of them are your own vessels, sir. There is one small clipper with the name, "Siren's Song," but there is no record of the captain or when it arrived. The harbormaster had the ship searched but they found no evidence of a crew or any cargo. He was planning on speaking to you regarding the matter before taking further action."
"Hm, that's curious. And no strange individuals have been seen in town?"
"Not that we are aware of. Should I tell the harbormaster to let it drift out to sea?"
"No, that won't be necessary. I believe I know who the captain is."
I turned and walked away as I pondered this information. A clipper was definitely too small to carry that amount of cargo and regardless they reported that the ship was empty.
I went ahead and had the documents prepared for the deal we had negotiated earlier and settled down in my study to read. Dinner was probably still an hour away. I had just opened a book on steam mechanics when the bell for the front door rang.
I waited a moment for a footman to open the door with the book still in hand. As expected, there was a knock on the study door and the door burst open to reveal two of my favorite ladies – Penelope and Ursula. The two were dressed up as if they were attending a ball and they both flopped into my lap before I could stand.
"Oh, Master Reaver, we are so sorry. When we arrived they told us that the party was actually yesterday! Can you forgive us?" Penelope said in her usual cheery voice as she stroked my chest.
I sighed dramatically, "It was an absolute disaster without you two there, but I will try to forgive you. You'll just have to make it up to me later."
They both laughed and they hugged onto whatever part of me they could grab hold of. "Would it be possible for us to stay for dinner since we're already here?" Ursula asked. She was always a bit too forward. This had the possibility of going very badly.
"My dears, I have a business partner coming to visit this afternoon and I fear it would bore you greatly," I lied.
"Well, surely if it is for business they will leave quickly, right? We won't be bored if you are with us!" Ursula insisted, pressing my nerves.
I finally acquiesced. If anything the situation would be interesting, so I decided to let the scene play out. I sat there with the two on my lap and they were mostly chattering away about their journey here and how they had gotten the date wrong.
Not too much later there was another knock at the door and before I could get them up in walked the red-haired woman. She had a smile on her face when she entered and she was carrying a red-tinted bottle and two glasses. She was wearing an elaborate black gown that looked like it was made out of feathers. Where there were normally panels for a corset, there was an intricate see-through design of roses that exposed her torso. Her face changed as soon as she assessed the situation.
Penelope broke the silence before it grew much more awkward, "Did you forget the date too?" Oh god, help her.
The red-haired woman smiled at Penelope, "I suppose I did. I'll go get more glasses." Then as quickly as she arrived she turned and closed the door, though I could distinctly hear the crunch of glass breaking.
Part of me really wanted to laugh, but I somehow managed. Another part was concerned for the breakable objects, the two women included, in my home. I scooted the girls from my lap and we all left the study to head to dinner.
Penelope and Ursula were both holding on to an arm as we walked to the dining room. Ursula tugged at me, "Who was that?"
"That's the business partner I was mentioning. I met her at the party yesterday."
Ursula nodded. She wasn't entirely dumb so I believe she understood what that meant. Penelope seemed rather oblivious to the situation.
When we entered the room, the red-haired woman was sitting at the far side of the table and one of the servants was bandaging her ungloved hand. She was looking at him in an adoringly shy way that I had never seen before and they were talking in hushed voices.
I walked towards the table and asked, "What happened?"
The servant was the first to speak, "I'm sorry, sir. She was trying to catch the glasses she was carrying and they shattered in her hand. I was just trying to remove the glass shards and bandage it before dinner."
I nodded at the man before turning away from him. "Are you alright?"
She was putting the long glove back on to hide the bandage. "I'm fine." Her words were like ice and she avoided my gaze as she walked towards the portion of the long table that had been set for dinner.
Servants were rushing to add two additional places at the table as she sat down in the seat next to the head of the table. Penelope and Ursula sat across from her. They were both staring at her quite intently.
"Where did you get that dress? Aren't you cold with the whole middle exposed like that?" Penelope began asking questions as I sat down at the head of the table.
"I brought it from home and I'm not cold. I'm actually quite warm," the redhead answered coolly.
"Where are you from?" Now Ursula was chiming in.
"I'm from Samarkand, but originally I lived near here," she answered flatly. I wasn't sure if this entire statement was a lie.
"OOooh, what's it like there? Reaver will you take us there?" Penelope asked, her whole face lighting up.
"Ladies, please stop bombarding my guest. She has only been in town a few days," I said, hoping they would stop harassing her. The sight reminded me of two children prodding a snake with a stick.
Finally the first course arrived – shrimp and lobster ceviche. The servers also brought out the bottle of liquor that the redhead had brought into the study earlier and poured us each a glass. We were all served and ate in silence. However, the silence didn't last long. The quite angry redhead asked the pair where they were from and how we had met.
Penelope spoke up before Ursula could even put down her fork, "I'm from the capital, but we both met Master Reaver when he held his first party here. I believe he was celebrating the purchase. That's right, isn't it, dear?" She looked at me for clarification and I nodded while taking a drink of the liquor. If this was the stuff I purchased then I was quite pleased.
Ursula added, "Yes, Penelope and I grew up together." I never understood how they managed to not kill one another as children. They were so different from one another.
The woman took a long drink from her glass and refilled it before speaking again, "That's nice. I have a friend like that, but she is still at sea."
"How did you two meet?" I asked.
She took another drink and she was slowly becoming more relaxed, "I couldn't really explain it. One day she was there and she refused to leave no matter what I said to her."
Penelope chimed in indignantly, "You should be nice to your friends. What if she left one day?"
Before I knew it, the redhead was filling her glass again. "She doesn't make that very easy. Perhaps you will meet her and then you'll understand."
"Well, if she comes into port, feel free to bring her here," I said while moving the bottle away from her, "Perhaps you should slow down?"
Her only response was attempting what I think was meant to be a glower. Her face was already a bit flushed, but she was probably just tipsy.
The main course of grilled lamb and vegetables was brought out, along with a fresh bottle of wine from my own wine cellar. This distracted her long enough for her to focus on the food in front of her.
We all ate quietly and I could tell that the girls were feeling a bit uncomfortable now. I'm sure I would look back at this and find the humor in it, but at the moment I was hoping the dinner would end quickly.
The redhead gestured to one of the servants who came towards her. She asked, "What kind of wine is this?" as he poured her a second glass from this particular bottle. He stammered, "It's just a red table wine, Miss," as I glared at him, causing him to stop pouring and return to the kitchen.
It was probably one of the weakest things I had in my cellar, but I had already lost count of how many glasses she had had. She was holding herself together fairly well, but she was rather small so I was unsure of her tolerance.
"I think I'll travel to the capital before I go home. I haven't been there in a while," she said randomly, breaking the silence.
"That sounds like a good idea. There are some good dress shops there and some nice restaurants too." Penelope responded.
"Didn't you have some business to discuss?" Ursula interrupted rather rudely.
"Oh yes, did you bring the documents?" She was looking over at me now.
"Yes, I did, but we need to discuss this in detail when you haven't had so much to drink," I took the papers out of a vest pocket and slid them across the table to her. She read over them quickly and then folded them back up.
"What do you want to discuss? How some of your men searched my ship? They weren't very thorough," she reached towards me to get the bottle of liquor, "You know what, this one is empty, so I'm going to go get another one."
She stood up and headed towards the kitchen. I sat there biting the corner of my lip while the girls stared wide-eyed.
"I don't think you should do business with someone like that," Ursula said bluntly.
"Everyone drinks Ursula, dear. She just drank a bit too much," I said calmly while watching the kitchen door.
Penelope turned to me, "Do you think she'll be alright? She drank that one bottle almost by herself."
"I'll go check on her in a moment. Let's just finish eating," I told her, patting her on the hand.
We finished eating and she had still not returned, so I finally stood up and went to go find her. I walked into the kitchen and was directed towards the wine cellar.
When I came to the bottom of the stairs I found the woman in a very unladylike position with the servant from earlier. She was sitting on top of a crate, kissing the boy. Her dress had been hiked up in the front, revealing a pair of mesh stockings that matched the rose pattern on her abdomen.
I felt my face burn as I reached for my weapon and fired a single shot aimed at the boy's head. I would have hit him, but she moved him out of the way. I hadn't predicted she would actually try to save him. Either way, he couldn't get passed me to get back upstairs.
The young man was terrified as I approached the pair, as he should be, and when I got close enough I cracked him over the skull with the butt of my gun. He fell to the ground with a thud and I wasn't quite sure if he was dead or merely unconscious. I didn't really care.
I turned to the woman who was now uncorking another bottle of wine and drinking straight from it. "What are you doing?"
"I'm simply enjoying myself. What're you doing?" She was straddling one corner of the crate and dangling her legs from the sides.
"Don't enjoy yourself with my staff," I said curtly.
"You shouldn't blame that boy. He was just afraid I wouldn't make it back upstairs."
"I don't blame him. He is young and he doesn't know any better. I saw the way you were looking at him earlier. You lured him down here just to try to make me jealous."
She took another drink, "And how did that plan go?"
"You've embarrassed yourself if you think I'm going to change my way of life and send my friends away for someone that will be out of my life in two weeks." Even if she stayed she would be gone before I knew it and then where would I be?
"Then why did you harm that boy?" I didn't have an adequate answer for that.
I was silent.
"Let me rephrase that. Why is it okay for you to have a gaggle of girls fawning over you, but I can't even kiss one boy in your home?"
"Two is hardly a gaggle. What do you want me to say? That I will commit myself to a person I met yesterday and whom I barely know? You are just a pretty, exotic face. You are nothing to me."
I didn't know if I meant those words, but they came naturally to me. I had told many girls the same thing before and would likely continue to do so. She stood up and put her shoes back on. "I'll be going then. I will come by in the morning to sign the papers and then head to the capital."
I wanted to stop her, but I didn't. This would be easier for both of us. She walked up the stairs and I waited until I was sure that she was gone. She had left the half empty bottle of wine on the crate. I took it and downed a few gulps before heading back upstairs.
When I returned to the dining room, Penelope and Ursula looked incredibly concerned. I put on a happier face, but I told them I was no longer in the mood for female company and retired to my study.