Stand and Deliver by Leda Swann

bit of fight in my bones stil .”
     
    Jack sauntered down the line to stand in front of her, brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Pretty Miss Bess. You’re quite right. I’d rather have you than two hundred gold guineas. Come, we have a long way to ride tonight if we are to make our crossing.”
     
    Bess turned to the elderly gentleman, her heart singing with happiness. “Don’t fret. He’s no more a highwayman than you are. And I wil go with him with al my heart.”
     
    Jack swung on to the back of his horse and pul ed Bess up behind him. She clasped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder. Jack had come back for her, as he had promised. He had found her.
    She had come home.
     
    As he wheeled the horse about, Jack reached into his pocket and tossed a coin into the large lady’s basket. It gleamed gold in the moonlight. “For your generosity on behalf of your fel ow passengers.”
     
    Then, with a touch of the spurs, they cantered off into the darkness, to the ship that would take them off to the Americas to start a new life together.

Epilogue
    The warm Boston summer sun streamed through the open French doors, splashing across the rumpled bedding.
    Snuggling up to her man, Bess could scarcely believe how her life had changed over the past four years since their flight from London. Even with Jack’s savings, it hadn’t been easy starting afresh, bur how their work had been rewarded. She understood wel now why America was cal ed the land of opportunity. She gazed dreamily across the expanse of fields and wooden fences.
     
    “Just look at that, Jack. Al that is ours, earned honestly, wel , mostly. As far as we can see belongs to you and me.
    Highwayman Horsetraders has come a long way thanks to your knowledge of horses.”
     
    “And to your excel ent business sense, Bess, my beloved wife. Any why this sudden thoughtfulness?”
     
    “Wel , me Ma’s ship is due to arrive this week. I’m just trying to see our new world through her eyes. I reckon she’l scarcely recognize us in our finery when she docks. Then when she sees her little guest house, she’l faint with the shock of it al .”
     
    “No she won’t, she’s a tough old bird. Just like her daughter.” Jack did his best to duck under the covers as a large feather pil ow pummeled his head.
     
    “Who are you cal ing a tough old bird!?” Bess abandoned the pil ow as he burrowed deeper, instead choosing to half-heartedly pummel him with her fists. She squealed, abandoning her attack when he started tickling her, instead wriggling to escape when he blew a raspberry against her stomach. Then she felt him caress her mound, and al thoughts of escape fled her mind as she lay back, enjoying his touch.
     
    He caressed her slightly rounded stomach. “Our baby’s in there. In six months, we’l be parents. Who’d have thought old Jack Hal would be a father one day?”
     
    She couldn’t resist teasing him in retribution for his old bird remark. “Wel , you wil be. And you’d better get your fun now,” she urged his hand back down between her legs once more, “‘cos once the little one arrives there’l be no more of this for quite a while.”
     
    Needing no further invitation he threw back the bedclothes. As he knelt above her she enjoyed the sight of his cock, semi-rigid, swol en with his obvious desire for her.
    Lying back on the soft mattress she moaned as he knelt between her bent knees and brought his tongue to her wet slit. She clutched the sheets as he licked lightly on her clit, little flicks that caused her breath to come in short gasps.
     
    The morning breeze felt wonderful on his skin, the sounds of the fields drifting into the room. With longer licks he continued tasting her cunt, starting at the very wet entrance, teasing inside briefly before continuing up to her hard engorged clit.
     
    He was forced to stop momentarily as Bess shuffled round on the bed so her head was close to his cock. He