tilted to one side as they made the turn. Katie leaned hard against Conrad’s arm to keep from tumbling out until the vehicle rocked back upright.
‘The bone has been buried for ages, we needn’t risk our lives rushing to see it,’ Katie chided with a half-laugh.
The wheel struck a small rut and her hand shot out to grasp his thigh.
‘I wouldn’t call it a risk.’ He flung her a teasing smile. She pulled her hand away and grasped the edge of the leather seat. ‘And if we don’t hurry, we’ll lose the daylight.’
The October sun was already low along the horizon, stretching out the shadows of trees to cover the road and fields. In the steady pulse of the horse’s hooves and the sharp scent of dry earth and grass, Conrad felt something of his old self, the one who still believed he could and would accomplish anything he set his mind to. It was as big a comfort as Katie’s unconscious decision to grasp him for support and their near kiss. It meant everything he’d been through hadn’t buried the best parts of him. It offered a glimmer of hope for his future and Katie’s.
Her willingness to come to London with him was another. He couldn’t dally here in the country much longer and hope to keep Mr Barrow’s support, assuming he still possessed it. If Mr Barrow set his mind on Conrad’s ruin, as he had with Captain Ross, then all Conrad’s influence with the Naturalist Society would vanish and with it Katie’s hopes. Conrad shifted his feet on the boards, tugging one rein to guide the horse down the right path. His decisions had broken and maimed enough men already, he hated to think they might do more damage to Katie.
The horse began to slow and Conrad snapped the reins, urging the animal on faster, feeling like a fraud for entertaining his fears while he insisted Katie fight hers. Nothing with Mr Barrow had happened yet and he refused to let his worries undermine him or her. Whatever waited for him in London, he would face it as he did all his challenges and with Katie by his side.
They crested the hill and the narrow buildings of the mine came into view. Conrad tugged on the reins and slowed the horse as it trotted over the long drive leading to the open hole in the earth. The men were leaving for the day, making their way down the short hill towards the now-quiet chimneys where the cartfuls of slate were crushed and burned to create the lime needed for construction in London.
Mr Turner and a few of his men waited beside a tall ladder leading down into the pit. They removed their hats as Conrad pulled the gig to a stop in front of them. He jumped out, but before he could help Katie down, she was already on her feet and coming to join him in front of the men. One miner raised a curious eyebrow at this blatant display of female independence, but he was deferential enough to Conrad’s position as lord of the manor and his employer to remain silent.
‘Where is it?’ Conrad asked the foreman.
‘Just down there.’ He pointed to another ladder perched along the mine wall, not too far from the main ladder. ‘The ramp for the mules is on the other side. We can go down that way.’
Across the wide pit the ramp sloped into the grey earth. It wasn’t far as the crow flies, but reaching it meant walking the wide circumference of the mine.
‘We’re already losing the light and walking will take time. The ladder will do just as well as the ramp,’ Katie insisted, making for the wood.
The man looked to Conrad, waiting to see if there would be a disagreement but Conrad merely shrugged, then moved to step between her and the ladder.
‘Let me go first.’ Before she could protest, he gripped the top pole and swung himself around to catch the rung, sliding more than climbing to the bottom. He hopped off, looking up past the layers of jagged rocks to usher Katie to follow.
While Mr Turner held the top, Conrad stayed beneath Katie as she descended, ready to catch her should she fall. She managed the ladder with the agility of an experienced rigging monkey, except no man on his crew moved with such tempting grace. Her hips shifted from side to side as she took each rung and her cotton dress swung in time to her steps. As the fabric swayed, it revealed a teasing length of black stocking and a shock of white thigh just above it.
Conrad admired the hint of flesh and the memories it conjured of another evening like this one, a week before he’d left for the Arctic, when the two of them had come here after dark, lanterns in hand, to search through the rocks. He flexed his fingers, remembering the curve of her calf beneath his palm as he’d reached up to slide his hand beneath her skirts and caress the derrière hidden beneath her dress. She’d stopped in her descent and he’d waited for her to kick him away. Instead, she’d met his bold gesture with an inviting smile, dropping down from the ladder into his arms with a kiss as searing as her flesh against his.
The length of him burned with the memory of her pressed beneath him against the wall of the mine as he’d caressed her exposed thigh resting against his hips. They’d teased each other to near desperation, eager in their desire to cling to one another and forget his coming departure. He’d been careful with her, tender but restrained, satisfying her as he denied himself, not wanting to leave her with child when the dangers of his mission lingered so close. Though he’d been cavalier back then about dying, he’d known the risks, but with her breath heavy in his ear, her body trembling against his, he’d believed there’d be many more nights to indulge in the full pleasure of her when he returned.
Conrad stepped back, attempting to shield himself from the tempting hint of her legs and the heat it sent ripping through him as she manoeuvred the last few rungs. She wouldn’t greet his touch with such enthusiasm today, no matter how much he needed the comfort of her embrace.
Humiliation as much as desire burned through him. He shouldn’t need or want her, especially if she didn’t want him, but it wasn’t simply lust driving his pursuit, but the craving for peace. The night before last, when she’d clasped his hand on the back of the horse, it had stilled the trembles which had plagued him since his rescue. In the study today, with her breasts pressed against his chest, all the glories of his past exploits and all the hurtful words of that night had faded away. There’d only been her and the glimmer of love which had carried him through so many dark, Arctic nights.
Katie hopped off the last rung with a wide, exhilarated smile Conrad could feel in his core. The brisk breeze caught a strand of her hair and whipped it across her face. Conrad reached out and tucked it behind the curve of her small ear, though he wanted to wrap the gold curl around his finger, bury his face in the softness of it and make them both forget the past and the present.
Katie’s dark lashes fluttered as she watched him draw his hand away. She bit her bottom lip, the anticipation in her expression urging Conrad forward, but he held back. He didn’t want to push her too far and break the fragile bond they were slowly repairing.
‘Hurry, I want to see the fossil before it gets too dark.’ Katie quickly moved off over the loose piles of slate and around the large outcroppings of rock dotting the mine floor.
Conrad followed, stopping to join her at the base of the second ladder. Katie peered up at the length of dark bone so distinct against the grey slate and the metal stake driven in next to it to mark its place. A nearby overhang increased the shadows in this portion of the quarry, shading the mine wall and the bone.
‘What do you think it is?’ he asked. It was difficult from where they were standing to tell.
‘I don’t believe it’s an ichthyosaur. It looks too long and thick. I must get a closer look.’
‘I’ll have the men dig it out for you tomorrow,’ Mr Turner offered as he came to stand with them.
‘No, we make for London tomorrow. I must see it tonight,’ Katie insisted.
‘Then I’ll fetch a lamp.’ Mr Turner hurried off to secure the light.
Katie crept closer to the ladder, tilting her head back and forth to try to get a better look at the bone. The curls at the back of her neck caressed her shoulders before one of them caught in the small lace of her neckline. Conrad reached up to free it and Katie jerked around to face him, then took one small step away.