This is the final chapter. Sorry! But I'm doing a sequel. It sounds conufsing, but it's not.
Enjoy
Fourteen: The One Night of Dreams
Four days passed, Elizabeth was restless and hated to be kept abed, but the surgeon would give in to none of her pleas, threats or coercing. So, when she realised her arguments wouldn't work, she resigned herself to reading every book in the doctor's possession. She learnt of operating and diseases and cures, she read literature and poetry, she read doctor's logs and newspapers and letters. She read the certificates on his walls, and the plaques of commemoration above his fireplace. It amused Horatio to see her unending drive plied onto something as simple as reading.
"Today's the fourth day, Elizabeth. You can get up." He told her on the morning of the final day. With a yelp of delight, she sprang to her feet, dropping her book. He laughed and she joined him, adding a jittery step to express her joy. There was a knock at the door.
"Enter." She giggled breathlessly. It was the surgeon. "Ah, Mr Gray. A fine day, is it not?" Her bright eyes glittered with amusement, but Mr Gray did not return her jubilance.
"Indeed, Miss Brocklehurst." He replied. She opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it again with a snap, her brow knitting together. He had been told her name was Hermione James. Horatio froze, and stared in consternation. "You have a visitor." The surgeon stepped aside, and another man entered. He had a shock of pale blonde hair, and even paler skin that made him look somewhat ill. He had a weak chin, and pale, watery blue eyes that bulged at her accusingly. Elizabeth swallowed hard.
"Daniel." She gasped.
"Hello, Elizabeth." His voice was oily and careful.
"What… what are you doing here?"
"Your father regrets that he has business elsewhere. He required that I come to collect you." She blanched at this.
"I don't understand… How did you know I was here? And what business is so important as to require his attention on a Saturday?" Daniel grimaced, clenching his feeble jaw and avoiding her gaze. Horatio felt like some helpless onlooker.
"It is a private matter, Elizabeth, and you would do well not to ask such questions."
"Oh." She said quietly. Her father was ashamed. He was shunning her. She felt the acrid bitterness of rejection in her mouth.
"As for how he knew… well, that is for his discretion. You should not be deceiving your family like this, Elizabeth, it is disgraceful and –" He abruptly remembered there was an audience and controlled his temper with a large huff of breath. "Lizzie –"
"Don't call me that." She hissed vehemently. Her eyes were bright and sharp, but Daniel Minton ignored the warning signs.
"Lizzie, you are to come and stay with me until the wedding." He persisted. Elizabeth half-choked on her breath and was about to argue when Horatio discreetly shook his head. She had to behave herself if he could save her.
"Very well, Daniel. Take me home please." She said with as much dignity and civility as she could manage. Daniel shot him a foul look.
"Wait outside, if you will, Lizzie." Elizabeth and Mr Gray left the room, and Daniel glared at Horatio. "You, sir, are a crook and an embarrassment to His Majesty's navy. You are not to see my fiancée again, you understand me? Good day to you sir." He didn't even bow as he left. Horatio felt as if the air had been knocked from him. There was a crushing pain in his chest… Never see Elizabeth again?
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One week. That was all it took for Daniel Minton to announce his engagement and the date of his wedding in the Portsmouth Chronicle. Horatio crumpled the paper and threw it into the tavern fireplace. Never see Elizabeth again… Hell to it! He'd goddamn see her when he goddamn wanted. With that ferocious thought, he snatched the sleeve of a passer-by and demanded to know where the Minton residence was. After brief instruction, he tipped the stranger and hailed a cab.
"Weavedon Grange, please."
He paid the cab-driver and tucked himself inconspicuously in the bushes on the manor's driveway. He could see movement, and snuck closer for a look, adrenaline pounding in his veins. There she was. His heart leapt to his throat. She looked strained. She looked strong, like a weak sapling buffeted in a cruel wind, but held firm. He smiled. Her spirit had not broken. Daniel was there too, pompous and ugly. Horatio settled to watch, waiting for his opportune moment, which was sure to come. As darkness began to shroud the dusk, Elizabeth and Daniel seemed to have some sort of ruckus and the Earl stormed out of the house, shouting for his horse and trap. Horatio dug himself deeper into the shadows, and waited until the hooves had faded into the difference. He watched Elizabeth disappear through some double doors. He crept around the side of the house, watching her silhouetted against the candlelight, as she made her way to the back of the manor.
"Elizabeth." He hissed, and he saw her leap in surprise.
"Horatio?" She darted to him, not daring to believe her eyes. He smiled as she ran her fingers across his face and shoulders, as if trying to recognise him by touch.
"Yes. I'm sorry, I couldn't keep away. He warned me –"
"I know. I hoped you'd come. I hoped I could see you one last time." He frowned at the words.
"Elizabeth, you don't have to stay, you can come with me."
"No." She stepped away from him. "I can't. Horatio, I wanted you to come so that I could say goodbye properly. I can't bear the thought of not saying…" She bit her lip. The breeze played with her hair as they stood silently together. Reaching out, he took her face in his warm soft hands and tenderly turned it to his own. She looked up at him, expecting to see anger, hurt. But he seemed content just to gaze down at her, drinking in her moonlit appearance.
"You are so beautiful." He breathed the words. They were so soft, she almost thought he had never spoken and she had only imagined his voice. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, allowing herself to lean into him. He was there; she could smell wood and ocean. He was real. She could feel his warm breath on her face and feel the warmth of his body through the scant inches that separated them. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but the words did not come. They hung suspended and glimmering between them, trembling with emotion and the unspoken desire.
He wrapped one arm around her as his other hand gently cupped her chin, his thumb caressing her cheek, as his lips descended on hers. His lips were soft and his kiss was gentle. She pressed against him, wanting to absorb his heat into her. She could feel the tautness of the muscles in his chest and the solid strength of his arms as he curled his other arm around her and his lips demanded more, crushing her to him. She gave herself up fully to him, allowing herself to need him. She needed his strength the same way he needed hers. One night… just one night… that's all she needed… just one night… It was wrong; it was a crime, a sin… But she didn't care. She couldn't care…
She took his face between her hands and deepened the kiss they were sharing. He groaned deep within his chest at her boldness and tightened his embrace. Then, with his arms locked securely around her, she took a few stumbling steps in the direction of the house, awkward with desire, desperate for him to follow. He complied, knowing the implication, and yet not caring.
The only light in her room was that of the moon, and by its blue hue they removed each other's clothes slowly. Her dress slid to the floor silently, and he carefully untied her corset with reverie. She unbuttoned his shirt and it joined her dress on the floor. Gone was the frenzied need from the garden, it was instead replaced by a slow, languid, feeling. As if they were drowning, slowly sinking together into the deep sea of their passion, drowning in each other. His mouth and hands were tender yet firm as they roamed over her body, lightly skimming the skin that shone like ivory in the pale night light. A gentle breeze stirred the curtains, creating a pattern of ever-shifting light and shadow across his bare chest. Her hand traced the changing design lightly, enjoying the way goose bumps appeared on his skin from her touch. She reached up and touched the silver pendant that hung around his neck, the sapphire glinting promisingly.
His mouth found hers once again. Slowly, his tongue and lips reacquainted themselves with the taste and feel of her. Her hand snaked up to cup the back of his head, the fingers tangling within the dark curls they found there. He abandoned his breeches as he tenderly laid her on the bed. The wind outside strengthened and blew cool air on their naked bodies, contrasting with the heat of skin against skin. A strong gust of wind blew the curtains wide, exposing their entwined bodies on the bed to the jealous moon. His hand caressed the length of her moon-enhanced torso, stroking the outside curve of her chest slowly and ran down to her hip. She sighed with yearning into his open mouth before it lowered onto the delicate arch of her collarbone. Elizabeth gasped when his warm mouth trailed down to the curve of her breast. He teased the sleeping nipples into waking, using his tongue and lightly scraping teeth. With her heart thumping loudly in her ears, she tracked the length of his spine with long graceful strokes and shifted the position of her legs, provoking another one of his deep groans. She arched into him pleadingly.
Quickly sliding up the length of her body, his lips reclaimed hers as he fervently joined their bodies in the same movement, coupled by small cry from her. He paused, feeling her maidenhood pressed against him.
"I'm sorry." He murmured against their lips. He couldn't bring himself to do it, and she looked at him, realizing this. With a sudden movement downwards with her hips, and a small whimper, she broke the barrier and buried him deep inside. They froze there, suspended in time as he looked down into the eyes of his angel.
They began to move involuntarily, no longer able to prolong the pleasure. Digging her fingers in the tight muscles of his shoulders, she cried out soundlessly as he began to move over her, overcome with sensations. Elizabeth snaked her legs around Horatio, forcing him deeper inside of her, making him move deeper in her. She felt her whole body tensing, the tingling hot sensation starting to spread across her body beneath her skin, spasms starting to take over her. The feel of him in her filled her completely, took her over, pushed her over the precipice and made her plummet in whirling darkness and bliss. Her whole body taken over by the sensation, she moaned deep and guttural as she bit Horatio in the shoulder to keep herself from screaming.
Horatio felt Elizabeth tensing under him and around him, her legs forcing him deeper inside of her, and she bucked under him, her soft lovely body so hot and full of ecstasy taking him closer and closer. He felt his body tensing, filling, making him tingle all over. He held on, not wanting to fall before her, going deeper inside of her, and then feeling her peak. As he felt her teeth scraping his shoulder he could not hold it anymore, and he spilled himself deep inside of her with a long-held moan.
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Her skin felt oddly cold without him against her. She searched for him next to her in the bed, but found he had gone, leaving a small dip in the sheets. Her eyes flew open and stared around, her heart pounding fretfully. He stood at the end of the bed, buttoning his shirt. His breeches and boots were already on.
"Horatio." She whispered, making him jump. He looked at her and smiled, and she returned it languidly. She reached out to him, and he knelt on the bed, leaning over and kissing her lightly.
"I have to go." He breathed.
"No. Stay forever."
"I can't." He chuckled. She sat up as she watched him brush the creases from his shirt. He looked at her. "I can come back for you…" He began, but her eyes stopped him. She shook her head.
"You can't." She stood, letting the sheets slip from her still naked body. He felt a stirring in his groin again and swallowed hard. "Horatio." She pressed a hand on his cheek and it took all his will not to take her again. "I love you." He groaned, shutting his eyes.
"Don't say that, or I may never leave." She laughed.
"But I do. And I will always. I promise." She tripped over to her vanity table and unlocked a small jewelry box. She lifted a ribbon out, a naval button tied to it. "I'll keep it forever." She shrugged, placing it back again and picking up a mantle from a chair and draping it about herself. Suddenly, there was a noise downstairs. Voices. Elizabeth looked horrified. "It's Daniel!" She grabbed his arm, ushering him out of her room and towards a small back stairwell. "Quickly. This leads to the kitchens. Go!" He paused, one foot on the stairs, looking back up at her.
"I'll love you. Always." She kissed him quickly.
"We'll never see each other again." She predicted. "But I won't ever forget you. You were my angel."
"And you were mine." He kissed her again. There were footsteps on the front stairs.
"Go!" She snapped, and he rushed away, having an odd feeling of dèja vu, except this time, he could feel his heart break.
