I held my hand out again. He clasped it and led me quietly through the sleeping house. Had someone let him in? Did he have a key? It mattered none. He had come to get me just as he’d said he would.
“Is your father with her?”
“No. I have stable duty tonight. Father is sleeping in the servants’ quarters.”
I nodded as we crossed the courtyard and made our way down the hill to the stables. All seemed quiet. I had expected her to be making more noise. Sebastian blew out the candle and took a lantern from a hook, guiding us to the stall where Miss Modesty lay in the straw. It was the same stall where I had first set eyes on him. How fitting that our final moments together should be spent here.
The mare’s breathing was only slightly laboured. She lifted her head to greet us before laying it down again. I put my hand on her belly. It surged beneath my touch. Sebastian positioned himself at her rear. Fluid trickled from between her legs. I stroked her coat, reassuring her in hushed tones. “All will be well, beautiful girl.”
There was a gush before one hoof appeared, sheathed in a white membrane.
“Ooh, here it comes. Good girl. You are doing a fine job.”
She grunted and nickered, taking a brief look behind.
A few minutes later, the second hoof and the tip of a nose appeared. Under my hand, her belly clenched and relaxed at decreasing intervals. The foal’s head came out before sliding back in several times. “Should we help her?”
“No, she’s managing.”
The smell of manure wafted into the air. “Did she soil herself?”
“Yes. That is quite normal under the circumstances.”
Oh.
The mare grunted again and her stomach clenched with a powerful force as the foal’s head and shoulders finally made an appearance. Miss Modesty’s legs jerked as if she were trying to stand, but she flopped back down. With the next contraction the rest of the foal came out. The membrane covered it from neck to hind legs. The mare sat, folding her front legs underneath her. She turned to sniff and lick at the baby as I marvelled at the majesty of it all.
“Simply amazing.”
“It is.”
“You did it, Miss Modesty. Well done.”
The horse stood, positioning herself so she could attend to the foal, ridding it of the sac in which it had grown.
“Ah, she’s a good mother. Her instincts are sound.”
The foal lay, shaking in the straw. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
Sebastian lifted its tail. “It’s a boy. He looks like his father. Admiral will be well pleased.”
“I should think he would be pleased with whatever his blessing.”
“True, Miss Emmeline. True.” Sebastian’s gaze locked onto mine, a sadness infusing the love I had grown to recognise in his eyes.
“What happens now?”
He backed out of the stall, finding his way to a cot in a room to the rear of the stables. “I’ll check on them through the night.” He dipped his hands in a bowl of water, rinsing off and indicating for me to do the same. “I would ask of you the same question.”
I hesitated in the doorway. “Whatever do you mean?”
“I am referring to your packed satchel. I know of your parents’ plans to marry you to the earl. The manor is abuzz with talk of him.”
“Oh.” He knows. Of course he knows. I crossed to the bowl and cleansed my skin. “I had hoped you would be spared of the knowledge.”
“An impossibility.”
“Indeed.”
“What are you to do?”
“He arrives tomorrow. I must leave tonight.”
His throat surged and he looked away. “Alone?”
“How could I ask you to abandon your father? Your responsibilities?”
“I would do it in a heartbeat.” Sebastian tilted his chin, eyes flitting to the corner of the tiny room.
I followed his gaze and drew in a breath upon seeing that he had packed a bag of his own. “Sebastian.” My voice was but a wisp of air. I shuffled into the room, taking a seat beside him on the cot. “You would do this for me?”
His fingers found their way into my hair, palm cupping my face as his eyes roamed my features. “How could you not understand I would do anything for you?”
I covered his hand with mine and leaned in to place my lips on his, unable to speak. Tears wet my cheeks. I blinked to clear my vision as I rested my forehead on his. His thumbs wiped away the wetness. My jaw loosened as he placed them in his mouth, sucking away my tears.
“I want all of you.”
“You have it. You’ve had it from the beginning.”
Our mouths met again, tongues tangling as I crawled into his lap, my arms wrapped around his back. My heart went from a steady beat to a riotous sprint. Nostrils flared, I fought for air. Sebastian’s greedy hands roamed underneath the layers of my clothing. There was an urgency, an underlying need to join in union immediately. He pulled my robe along my arms before discarding it on the brick floor. I tugged on his shirt and flung it behind me. The air chilled my skin as he dragged my nightgown over my head. I stood, working on the buttons of his trousers before he slid them down his thighs.
Climbing atop his lap, I lowered myself onto his erect shaft. A moan escaped my lips as I revelled in the connection, the drag of his flesh on mine. Taking him into my body was so natural to me. It was like a welcoming home of my other half. The stubble on his chin scratched at my neck as his rough hands guided my rocking motion. My breasts rubbed against his chest, his mouth, his hands. He held me tightly as
