I wound up spending Valentine's Day alone, as Will had been delayed by engine troubles on his way back. I wound up buying a fresh bouquet of roses each day, and had four of them saved up by the time he'd docked. He was full of apologies as he came into the office at the dock, his hat in his hands and his eyes on the floor. I couldn't help the smile on my face as I picked the flowers up, bringing them to him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Will."
"Ana," He shook his head, taking the flowers. "I would have been here if I could."
"I know, Will."
"The damn greasers got their shifts mixed up, I didn't think it would take so long to sort out."
"It's alright."
"Our first Valentine's and I missed it." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. It had gotten longer, and it stood up a little when he pulled his hand away. "And poor James, he barely waited until we were tied up before racing off to go get flowers for Liz."
"Well, you've already got flowers." I chuckled, reaching up to tame his hair back down. "And I have three more at home, so I think I'm good on roses." He caught my hand as I drew it back, kissing the knuckles. I let my fingers graze his cheeks, "You've got some stubble."
"Haven't had a chance to shave, everything was chaos onboard." He brought my hand down to tuck around his arm, passing the flowers back to me. "And coming in late means I'll be leaving early. Only three days this time."
I squeezed his arm, "That's alright, I'd rather have you back on time for the next round rather than make everything late for the rest of the time."
"You know my birthday is during the next trip."
"I know, I'm planning a nice dinner for when you get back." I patted my hand against my skirt, calling Rigel to follow us out. "Onion soup, steak and potatoes and a nice cake."
I could see the grin spread over his face as we started down the stairs. "That's present enough."
"Oh be quiet Will, you're already getting something." I shook my head, reaching up to brush against the short hair at the back of my neck. Louise had been aghast to see it and had insisted on me wearing hats every day until it had grown out enough to not be obvious without them. A stand of hatpins practically lived on my vanity now. The weaver Mrs. Vanderbilt had sent the hair to had already returned the lock of hair, and it was currently coiled up in a drawer in my desk. He had done wonderfully, and the shining chain was really quite beautiful. He'd even found a gold facing to secure it that suited the color of my hair.
"Ana, I swear, whatever you're getting me, you don't need to spend much." He handed me up into the carriage, standing back to allow Rigel to jump up. He had grown out of his lanky puppy phase and was getting thick with muscle. He easily took up half the bed if I allowed him up. But he still knew to stay on the floor of the carriage, and curled himself around Will's feet as he sat down. "I'd love a matchbook if it came from you."
"I still have that matchbook." I muttered, "But no, Will, I didn't spend a dime."
"Sewing something still counts."
"I didn't sew it either." I enjoyed the way he rolled his eyes and snorted a bit, settling back into the bench. I could see some shadows under his eyes, and Rigel whined as I reached over to trace them. "Will, please tell me you've been sleeping."
"I have, I have." He grunted, his eyes sliding shut. "Just not much in the past few days, not with having to fix everything. One of the greasers caught a bug in Southampton and passed it to the others, but failed to let us know. We must have been down to only three on a shift by the end, had to pull some firemen to help and it took days to get it sorted." He rubbed at his neck, "Didn't get a whole lot of sleep during it."
"We'll make it an early night then." I patted his cheek, "And you can just spend the next few days resting. It's what you need." His stubble caught against my fingers, and I found I enjoyed the prickly feeling against my hand. It took a bit of creative stepping to get around Rigel, but I was able to secure myself against his side and continue tracing the small growth of hair. Will sighed, settling against me and his breathing deepening. He leaned against me, and I brought my arms around to hold him close. "Shhh, just relax Will. Everything is fine, and dinner will be all hot and ready for us when we get home. Beef stew, and I've got chocolates for you upstairs." He grumbled at that, burrowing up against me. "And I'll make sure the bed is nice and warm."
"As long as you're in it." He mumbled, and with Rigel and I curled around him I think he actually slept on the way home. At least I did have to poke him a bit to get him to move when the carriage pulled up out front. Will blearily made his way inside, not even bothering to take off his jacket before slumping into his chair in the dining room and digging into his bowl of stew. He ate like a starved man, and actually requested a second bowl before practically collapsing back into his chair. He only glanced up when I stood, "Head on up Ana, I feel like a pipe tonight before bed. I'll smoke it in my room, I know you don't like it."
I pressed my hand to his shoulder. "I'll have the staff start up a fire in there then, can't have you catching a cold. Don't be too long Will, you need your rest more than you need a second pipe." He gave my hand a squeeze, and I started up the stairs. A maid was already tending to the fire in my sitting room, and I quickly sent her over to build one for Will. He was so exhausted I didn't expect him to come bounding up the stairs, which meant that I had plenty of time to prepare.
Louise helped me out of the dress I had worn to work, and I slipped on the nightgown she had left out. It was noticeably a plain cotton one, I had hidden the Morgan's present with the rest of the utter filth that I had seemed to accumulate. After I was dressed, and with my dressing gown one, Louise set to work on brushing out my hair. She talked as she did so. "It is good to see Mr. Murdoch back, I've come to like the spirit he brings to the house."
I let my eyes close. "I'm glad to hear that."
"Did he bring you anything for Valentine's?"
"No, he was supposed to get in before. But I gave him flowers, he gave them right back."
"Clever man, he got you a gift and didn't even have to pay for it." Louise gave the brush a few more passes through my hair. "I'm going to add a hundred strokes to your nightly brushing, it will help the hair grow back." She put the brush on the vanity. "And you'll be doing it. Cutting off such lovely hair for a watch chain, you should have just gotten him a chain with jewels on it."
I picked up the brush. "I think I can manage it without supervision." Louise waited until I had made twenty strokes before leaving. I kept it up, and my arm was aching a bit by the end of the last eighty. Not enough to keep me from my plan though, and I quickly had the plain nightgown off and draped over my dressing screen. I drew the silk one on over my head, and I would up having to shove the sleeves up to keep it from slithering down onto the floor. I did eventually let it fall so I could get the necklace on, and pulled it back up. I paused in front of the mirror to adjust the way my hair lay, and took a moment to examine myself.
The dark blue silk made my pale skin seem to glow, even the bit visible underneath the lace at the seams. The lapis lazuli pendant was cold against my skin, as was the silver lace. I pulled my hair around one of my shoulders, and waited at the door for a moment to listen. Hearing nothing, I first cracked it to look out. It was deserted, but I still almost jumped across the hall to Will's room. The handle moved easily under my hand and I slipped inside. The light was low, only the fire giving off a little. That, and Will's pipe softly glowing. I could see him, his eyes closed as he leaned back in a chair by the fire. He'd shed his jacket, and his suspenders hung down loose from his shoulders.
He must have heard the door for I saw the slight gleam of his eyes as he opened them. "Ana," He almost gasped, the brogue in his voice rising. "Lass, what is this?"
I could feel the butterflies in my stomach at his accent. "It's four days late is what it is, I was planning to do this on Valentine's Day but now will do." I crossed the rug on the floor, soft under my bare feet. Will hardly moved as I settled into his lap. "I didn't just get you flowers you know."
"You got this?" He set his pipe down, his hands tracing their way up my arms.
I shrugged, noticing how his eyes went to the neckline as it dropped with my movement. "It was a gift."
"Remind me to thank them." He brought his hand up to play with the pendant, "They even knew my favorite color on you." He pressed his lips to my neck, and I let my fingers trace their way through his hair. He pulled away for a moment, "I was going to have Reggie give me a shave and a trim tomorrow, I can stop. I don't want to mark you up."
I tugged him back to me, "I like your stubble, mark me up all you want." I felt him grin as he kissed me harder, his arm slinking around my back to crush me to him. Exhausted he may have been, but he didn't act it. Not with the way his tongue was stroking mine, his lips almost bruising with how he was kissing me. I smiled myself, settling further up into his lap and opening my legs to rest on him. I could hear him gasp a bit as I did, the arm around my back tightening. I practically collapsed onto his shoulder as he moved down from my mouth, kissing my neck as he tugged the neck of the nightgown down to reveal my breasts.
He could hardly seem to make up his mind about what he wanted to touch, but settled for grabbing my rear and setting me into a rhythm against him. I let my own hands trail through his hair, slowly growing wet as he began to sweat. I was panting myself as I felt him growing hard in his trousers, and once he felt I wasn't going to abandon the pace he had set me to, he brought his lips up to my breast. I groaned as he took a nipple into his mouth, sucking on it. "Oh God, yes." He hummed in reply, flicking his tongue against it. I curled my fingers around his head now, holding him to me as he suckled at me. "Just like that, Will."
He broke away suddenly, "Ana, God you have no idea how much I want this."
"Then take it." I leaned back, letting him see me, illuminated by the firelight. "Take me, Will."
"I want to Ana, so badly." His hands dropped to my waist, holding me still. "But every time we do this I want to go farther than we did the last time. There's only so much left, and we both promised."
"I know, I know." I kneaded his shoulders, "But we can be happy with this, right? Just for tonight?" I could see his eyes, clear blue but almost hidden by the dark look in them as he considered it.
Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Could you get up for a minute though? I probably should put out my pipe before we knock it over." I slunk back off of his lap as he stood, his trousers bulging slightly, and turned to tend to the pipe. I shivered, moving a bit closer to the fire and pulling the neckline of the nightgown back up. It was chilly without Will on me, and I greedily spread my hands before the fire. Will was so quiet I didn't even know he was behind me, not until his arm was around my waist and his lips back at my neck. He tugged at the gown as he gently herded me to the wall, "Why the devil did you pull this back up?"
"It was cold." I gasped out as he spun me, pressing my back up to the wall. His hands dropped to my rear as he stepped closer, pushing my legs apart and tugging them upward. I had one leg cocked around his hips as he settled himself between my thighs, rocking against me to relieve himself. I sighed into the kiss as he came back to my lips, sucking on his tongue when he slipped it into my mouth. Having settled my legs to his desires, he turned again to the nightgowna nd pulled my arms fully out of the sleeves. It fell to my hips, leaving my arms free to lock around him as he brought his hands up to knead my breasts.
He chuckled as I shivered at his touch. "Still cold?"
"A bit." I lied, although I could feel myself getting warmer by the minute.
He pulled me away from the wall, the nightgown falling to my feet as he drew me over. "Well, we've got a nice warm rug here. Can't have you getting sick again." We settled down onto the rug, pillowing our heads on our arms. His hand traced my waist, gilded in the firelight. I sighed into his touch, especially when he let his hand settle on me. It simply felt nice to have him here, touching me, holding me. The fact that he reached up and grabbed a pillow for me, then proceeded to kiss his way down my body was a treat. I shivered as he brushed his lips against my belly, causing him to look up. "You can't still be cold."
"No, in fact I'm rather warm." I leaned up, and when he sat up I set to work on his shirt buttons. "And you must be sweating up a storm in these." He made no objections as I removed first his collar, his shirt and eventually his trousers.
He sat for a moment, then laughed as he looked at me. "Ana, you look as if you've been into a patch of poison ivy."
"Will!" I clasped my hand to my breast as if actually affronted. "What a horrible thing to say."
"Look at you though!" He was still laughing, and pulled my hand away. He traced the red marks along my skin, "There's no way you'll be able to hide that. I'm quite sure Peggy knows what stubble will do to your skin."
"Then perhaps you should grow it out." I clapped my hands to his cheeks, pressing a kiss to his lips. "That should prevent it."
"Oh yes, a full beard and mustache would make me quite the grizzled old sea dog." He rolled his eyes, pulling me closer to him by my waist. "I'm sure your mother would love to see that for the wedding."
"Well, if she knew how we were discussing it," I let my hand wander down to his thighs, then pulling his hips to mine. "She would die of shame."
"Then perhaps it would be best for me to be clean shaven," He rocked against me, and I felt his hardness against my thigh. "Until after the wedding." He rolled so that he was on top of me, continuing to rock against me. He pressed his forehead to mine, his breath already gasping. "God, please don't leave. Not tonight."
"I won't," I promised, clasping my arms around his shoulders as his pace increased. "We can sleep in your bed." He groaned at that, his face buried in my shoulder as he continued to thrust against my thighs. I felt him shudder in his release not long after, and he almost collapsed onto me. It took him a few minutes to recover, rolling off of me. He lay gasping beside me, and then his hand wandered over to my waist. "I'm sorry, I didn't tend to you."
I caught his hand, wrapping my fingers around his. "It's alright."
"But you should enjoy it, otherwise you're about the same as my hand."
"I did enjoy it Will, I don't need to finish to enjoy it." I chuckled, bringing his hand up to kiss his knuckles. And it was true, while I may love the shattering way he could stroke and tease me, simply knowing that he found his pleasure with me and wanted to be close to me was its own kind of reward. I rose briefly to go wash in his bathroom, and he had moved to the bedroom by the time I returned.
He'd donned his pajamas, and held out the nightgown to me. "Here, last thing we need is Reggie seeing you naked. The poor boy might just go blind from the shock."
"Reggie is hardly a boy," I mumbled as I pulled it on. "And I think seeing me here is going to be enough of a shock." Will chuckled, pulling me tight to him once I had laid down. That was another pleasure, the way he clung to me as if I contained all the joys of the world. His bed was a bit different from mine, harder but it only made me press myself to him all the more. Will was already softly snoring by the time I fell asleep.
By the time I woke, the fire had burned down to ashes and Will's arm had loosened around my waist. I could feel him twitch slightly in his sleep, some dream that he was having. He murmured, his voice indistinct behind me. I pressed my head into the pillow, hoping to fall back to sleep. What drew me out of it was the sound of the sitting rom door opening, and soft footsteps headed across the floorboards. My eyes blearily focused on the figure coming towards us, Peggy with a stern face. She at least kept her voice to a whisper, "Miss Anastasia, for shame. I figured he would control himself in your bed, but to find you here."
I snorted, "Peggy, would you have preferred to find us on the rug in front of the fireplace?" Her face flushed, and I didn't give her a chance to respond. "Nothing untoward happened, he was just tired so I came to him so he wouldn't have to deal with walking across the hall." A blatant lie, and as exhausted as Will had been he would have had no problem walking the ten feet to my rooms. "He's tired, just let us sleep."
Her mouth screwed up, "I imagine he's not the only one that's tired." But she did turn around and leave, closing the door softly behind her. Throughout the whole time Will had not stirred, although his arm tightened around my waist and pulled me back to him. I sighed, relaxing back down onto the bed. It may have been four days late, but it was certainly a very pleasing time for our first Valentine's together.