Clockworks and Corsets Read Online Free PDF Page B

on the door is too obtrusive. It means something.”
    While Rose assumed the carving was just a poor choice in décor, she trusted the clever mind of the tinker. “What does it mean?”
    “I don’t know,” Jayne confessed.
    Rose huffed in frustration.
    “That’s the confusing part,” Jayne said. “I expected something fairly recognizable from him.
    I mean the man was a genius, but so am I. Logic dictates we should think alike.”
    Movement caught Rose’s eye. Gabriella stood before the huge door. The young woman craned her neck to the carving, shifting her weight from leg to leg, which she often did when she was deep in thought. Rose wondered if Gabriella could succeed where Jayne had failed. Yes, she could, because Gabriella was her clever father’s daughter.
    Rose smiled at the pleasant memories of Daniel Upstairs. There was a man with class. Not much in the looks department, mind you. Still he was stable, secure, and sweet. Oh, so very sweet.
    Rose could have married him. No. She should have married him. The lure of being a captain’s wife over the spouse of a brilliant mathematician was too great for the young Rose. She snuck away in the dead of night, married that bastard Bill only to live with the regret of it ever since. Now here she was, a lifetime later, where circumstances and incidents had left her in charge of Daniel’s daughter.
    She hoped she could keep her promise to the first man she’d ever truly loved.
    “Maybe we use explosives,” Jax said. “Boom. Door gone. Problem solved.”
    Magpie snorted a small laugh. “Not everything can be solved by blowing it up.”
    Jax shot the smaller woman a dark look. “Most problems can be solved by going boom. As well as most people.”
    Rose frowned at Jax’s threatening tone. Were Jax and Maggie arguing again? She thought she had settled their differences eons ago. Magpie’s cut-you-to-the-bone sneer said differently. Rose didn’t have time for this. Not now. Not ever. Click’s lips against her neck broke through her worry.
    “Come with me,” he whispered.
    When he ran his hands across her breasts for the briefest of moments before returning them to her shoulders, she smiled. “What are you on about?”
    “Come with me,” he whispered. “I’ll show you.”
    The obvious offer was tempting, but this was hardly the time or place for such frivolity. She pushed his hands away. “Not now, Click. I swear that’s all you ever think about.”
    “That is where you’re wrong, my captain,” he whispered. “You are all I ever think about.”
    With that, he stood and walked into the thick of the jungle. Before the wildlife swallowed him whole, he turned to face her with a flash of his seductive smile.
    Rose clambered to her feet in excitement. “Jax, keep working on that door. Ladies, if you’ll excuse me, I have something to discuss with our morale’s officer.”
    “Oh, sure,” Magpie said. “You have a word, or two. Three if you like. No sense in limiting yourself to just oral explorations either. Might as well take on his full body of work while you’re at it.”
    The women sniggered, except for Gabriella, who once again looked like a fish out of water.
    Her cheeks puffed and huffed while a profound look of confusion crossed her face. Rose followed Click’s path into the jungle.
    The vines closed behind her, forcing her deeper into the undergrowth. She wandered for a few minutes before she got the feeling she had lost him. “Click? Where are you? You stupid man.”
    She reached a small clearing before she decided to head back, leaving Click to his ridiculous notions. The snap of a twig to her left snatched her attention. Stopping, she realized it must be him.
    “Click? Are you trying to sneak up on me?”
    The low, throaty growl of some wild animal was her answer.
    Rose’s eyes grew wide with panic. Before she could turn to run, a hand slipped over her mouth. A strong arm wrapped about her waist.
    “Shhh,” Click hissed into her