Wesley pushed him across the small space of the stateroom in two easy steps and then they were tumbling down on the bed. Sebastian wasn’t on his back, though; Wesley had turned them on their sides, facing each other, his arm wonderfully heavy over Sebastian as his hand slid down the back of his open trousers.
Wesley squeezed his ass, and Sebastian had to fight back a groan. “Oh, you’re going to have to keep quieter than that,” Wesley chided. “You don’t want the other passengers to hear you, do you?”
“I can be quiet,” Sebastian promised.
“I’m sure you can.” Wesley’s hand slid up and then back down beneath the waistband of his shorts. Sebastian shifted into the warmth against his bare skin. “You had too much practice.”
“What do you mean?” Sebastian said, barely a whisper.
“In other tents, during the war. With men who didn’t deserve you.” Wesley’s hand squeezed again. “If I’d had you, I would have kissed you for hours. I would have told you how much I wished we could be loud.”
His hand slid around Sebastian’s hip, finding his cock. Sebastian’s breath left him in a rush, his eyelashes fluttering. With the new space, he reached for Wesley’s dick again, but Wesley caught his hand with his free one.
“No, duck, you’re just going to take it right now. Just going to let me enjoy myself by making you as desperate as you make me.”
Sebastian jammed his teeth into his lower lip, catching his groan before it escaped. His head fell forward so his forehead rested against Wesley’s collarbone. They were still on their sides facing each other, and it was perfect: Sebastian hemmed in cozily between Wesley and the wall, under Wesley’s arm but not trapped under his body weight where he couldn’t move.
Wesley began to stroke him leisurely, like they had all the time in the world. “I owe you the truth about our lesson on the deck, and why I was angry at the thought of arming a medic,” he whispered, as his hand slid over Sebastian’s cock. “Medics are too precious to be used as weapons. If more people had the compassion to care for others, we wouldn’t have war. I would have valuedyou, even then, and never have treated you so carelessly as to put a gun in your hands.”
“Wes,” Sebastian said, voice breaking.
“If I’d had you back then, in my company or my tent, it would have changed so much,” Wesley said quietly. “But I have you here now. And it’s changed—well. Everything.”
He kissed Sebastian then, deeply, and Sebastian returned his kiss with a desperate edge, Wesley’s words sending his thoughts tumbling over each other.
Wesley pulled back and meaningfully scooted down the bed. “Stay silent now,” he cautioned, as he kissed Sebastian’s stomach.
And then Sebastian couldn’t think anymore.
Chapter Ten
The ship made good time, with arrival in Southampton forecasted for Thursday night. Wesley had given Sebastian more trap shooting lessons on the deck and self-defense lessons in the men’s gymnasium. They’d gone swimming several times in the inside pool and practiced the English dances he’d need to know for Lord Thornton’s hunt ball, even if that led to more bickering about the purpose of the ball. They sent messages back and forth with Arthur, who confirmed Jade’s marconigram had arrived but it was only two words: no news. Given it was in Morse code, the brevity was understandable, but it didn’t tell them much.
And they hadn’t seen Lady Nora or her mysterious doctor companion again.
“Are they hiding from us?” Wesley said, after lunch on Wednesday, as they stood by the windows in the drawing room. The weather had turned colder, enough that Sebastian was bringing his overcoat even to the indoor rooms of the ship. “Or are they following us around the ship with some kind of magic, like invisibility?”
“Rory would have seen them, though,” Sebastian said.
“Not necessarily,” Wesley said. “Brodigan couldn’tscry those pills. Maybe one of the two of them is blocking his magic.”
“I have been thinking,” Sebastian said, more quietly. “About Hyde. We took a lot of precautions. Getting him out of his asylum would have been difficult.” He frowned. “But a doctor could have made it happen.”
That was an excellent point. Wesley pursed his lips. “I say we search again. They could be hiding in their staterooms, having staff bring their meals, but surely at some point they’re going to want fresh air.”
They wandered through every part of first class, eventually ending up in the verandah. It was markedly more chilled than it had been even that morning, enough that even Wesley was feeling it. There was a layer of frost on the large garden windows, and no one was out on the promenade. “A front must have come in from the north,” Wesley observed. “Is this Brodigan’s fault?”
“I don’t think so.” Sebastian pulled his overcoat closed. “But I also don’t think the ship’s heaters have caught up.” He sighed. “I guess we can see if Lady Nora or her friend are at dinner.”
But as they were heading toward the grand staircase, Wesley caught a flash of movement at the end of A-deck’s hall. “There.”
A tall man with a dark beard and a bowler hat pulled low was standing outside one of the staterooms. He was leaning on his walking stick as he opened the door and disappeared into the room.
“That’s the doctor,” Wesley said. “Come on.”
They hurried down the hall to the door. “What should we—” Sebastian started.
Wesley knocked on the door. Hard. “Dr. Wright?” he called, in a loud voice.
