Bone Idol Read Online Free PDF Page B

Laying his spoon by his bowl on the once-pristine tablecloth, now marred by the many spills made inevitable by the heaving motion of the boat, he rose to his feet. There was a susurrus of conversation, some laughter, and Arthur was looking at him with a strange, thoughtful expression. Dawlish’s face had gone puce. Henry let himself quietly from the room, hoping to soothe his agitation with a turn about the deck.
    As he allowed the door to swing closed behind him, he heard Dawlish say, in a low and confidential voice, “My dear Boundry, let me give you a word of warning…”
    They were close enough to land that seagulls still followed the boat, swooping down low to the glassy green of the choppy waves and screaming in their peculiar, primordial voices. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine that he was sailing on a prehistoric sea, with pterosaurs wheeling overhead in an orange sunset.
    He thought of Professor Cope’s illustration of his ill-fated elasmosaurus doing battle with the two-legged, carnivorous Laelaps on the shore of some primaeval sea. He thought of Monsieur de la Beche’s illustration of plesiosaurus with its long neck and icthyosaurus with its dolphin-like snout, fish tail and enormous eyes, locked in mortal combat.
    He imagined their forms, sleek and strange, whispering beneath the hull of the boat—
    weird leviathans of the sea slipping silently like shadows below the ship.
    Then, to his surprise, he realised he was not alone on the deck. A young man stood at the bows, clutching the guard rails, his head bowed. Henry could only suppose he was suffering from a mal de mer .
    He realised with a shock, as he looked at the line of the man’s spine, at the mop of golden-brown curls, that it was Albert. He hesitated, unsure whether to engage him in conversation, offer his help, or leave him to suffer in privacy. Then Albert took an unsteady step back from the rail, half pivoted, and tumbled. Henry was fast.
    Albert stirred, weakly at first, then more vigorously as he realised he was caught around the waist by a strong arm, his face pressed against a clean-smelling cotton shirt front.
    Almost lifted from the deck, he moved his feet in a stumbling, dreamlike way as his rescuer guided him to a seat.
    His eyes fluttered open and he found himself looking into a pair of concerned blue eyes that regarded him solemnly from only inches away. A bolt of pure, lustful awareness went straight to his cock and he jerked upright, narrowly avoiding breaking Henry’s nose with his brow, then clapped a hand over his mouth and moaned as the sudden movement caused a return of his nausea.
    “Sit down, Albert,” said Henry in his quiet, authoritative way, and he reached up and took Albert’s hand in his own, pulling him down to sit so close beside him that Albert could feel the warmth of his thigh through their clothes.
    Henry offered him a small metal flask, muttering in those same soothing tones, “Take a little brandy. You will find the sickness quite gone.” He smoothed a strand of damp hair tenderly from Albert’s face and held the mouth of the flask to his lips. Albert had his doubts—the smell of the brandy made his stomach roll—but Henry looked at him solemnly and nodded his encouragement, so he took a swallow.
    His stomach again flipped unpleasantly but, to his surprise, his nausea subsided almost at once. He touched his tongue to his lower lip where the taste of the brandy clung, and tried to gather his wits.
    Henry’s fingers held Albert’s around the brandy flask, and the contact seemed, somehow, unbearably intimate.
    Albert gazed into Henry’s face. Those high cheekbones. The neatly trimmed moustache that saved the plump lower lip from femininity. His blue eyes were steady, and full of quiet www.total-e-bound.com
    knowing. Albert felt sure Henry knew about the thick, heavy arousal he could feel in his trousers. Their lips were only inches apart.
    Albert parted his lips, to speak…to sigh…to…
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