Sons of Liberty by Christopher G. Nuttall Page B

as he pulled her into a tight embrace, his hands running down her back. He was inexperienced, part of her mind noted. His touch was rougher than it needed to be.

    And how far, she asked herself, does he expect to go?

    She felt ... cold. There was none of the thrill of doing something she knew would horrify her aunt, there was none of the delight of doing something that would upset society ... even the prospect of being caught by a wandering sailor didn't excite her. She could feel his excitement, pressed against her body, but ...

    Fredrick let go of her and jumped backwards. “My Lady ...”

    Raechel turned sharply, then felt a wave of Déjà Vu. Gwen was standing there, looking ... shocked.

    “ Return to your duties,” Gwen ordered, coolly. It wasn't her job to issue orders onboard ship, but Fredrick didn't look as though he wanted to dispute it with her. “Raechel, come with me.”

Chapter Nine

    Gwen fought hard to keep her anger under control, but it was difficult. She’d expected better, somehow, after Raechel had matured in Russia. She wasn't the girl Gwen had plucked from the arms of Captain Parker, her dress around her waist and his hands on her breasts, not any longer. And yet, Gwen had caught her with the First Mate! Didn’t Raechel have a lick of sense?

    “ Tell me,” she said, once they were in her cabin with the door firmly closed. “What were you thinking?”

    Raechel met her eyes. “I was thinking that I was doing as I was told!”

    Gwen blinked. “By Irene?”

    “ Yes,” Raechel said. “She wanted me to see what I could coax Fredrick into telling me.”

    “ I see,” Gwen said, finally. Unfortunately, she believed Raechel. Seducing someone to learn his secrets was precisely what Irene did, among other things. “And did she tell you the dangers?”

    “ I’m not going to get pregnant,” Raechel protested. “You warned me about that, didn't you?”

    “ Your reputation will also be dented,” Gwen pointed out. “And that could harm you in the future.”

    Raechel glared at her. “And what if I decide I don’t care?”

    “ You do not have the luxury of putting your reputation aside,” Gwen said. She could do it, if she had any ladylike reputation left after dressing as a man and doing a man’s job. Raechel, without magic and the ward of a powerful family, had far less freedom. “And what would it do to him?”

    She sighed, feeling her head start to pound. “What will you say to him when he asks you to marry him? Or when his family goes to your uncle and asks for your hand in marriage?”

    “ I will say no,” Raechel said. “Does it matter what we do together?”

    “ It might,” Gwen said. “What happens if he tells everyone what you did together?”

    She ground her teeth in irritation. A man could have a dozen lovers, if he wished; he could go to a brothel, lure the maid into bed or even keep a mistress. No one would care, even if he had a whole secret family of bastard children. But a woman? A woman had to guard her chastity - and then her virtue - with care, knowing that one slip would mean disgrace and utter ruination. Fredrick Hauser would be believed, she was sure, because Lord Standish’s enemies would want to believe him. And Raechel’s life would come to an end.

    “I don’t think he would,” Raechel said.

    “ Men have done stupid things before,” Gwen pointed out. How many problems had she had to solve, as Royal Sorceress, that started with one of her magicians doing something stupid that involved a woman? “If he wound up so angry, so hurt, he might lash out at you without thinking about the consequences to himself.”

    If indeed there were any consequences, she added, silently.

    “Captain Parker understood,” Raechel said, sullenly.

    “ Captain Parker was at least a decade older than you,” Gwen said, remembering the airship captain. She had no idea what had happened to him, after they returned from Russia. “I don’t think the First