Viridis - A Steampunk Romance Read Online Free PDF

thought
it best if it were kept a secret from everyone but Seth. Quite
frankly, she’d much rather not die tied to a stake and engulfed in
flames.
    Getting back to work, she paged through the
leather-bound journal, worn with age and use. It was there she kept
all her methods, her observations, her secrets. While the liquid
distilled she jotted down her numbers and measurements for that
day’s batch, knowing it was crucial to keep meticulous notes on
everything she did.
    Lost in her work, she was startled when Seth ran a
hand down her back. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you come in.” She
usually left the door ajar when she was working to help with the
fumes. Opening the windows normally created too much of a cross
breeze and chill, slowing down the process in the cold of
winter.
    “Working, I see?” He smiled at her, his eyes still
heavy with sleep. “I woke up alone. For a second I thought I was
back in the Outlands, and you had been just a dream.” Seth looked
at her, and she blushed at the thought of what she must look like,
fresh out of bed— her hair disheveled and loose, the outline of her
erect nipples embarrassingly visible through the diaphanous fabric
of her shirt— her body’s response to his mere proximity.
    “Come back to bed, Phoebe.” Leaning on her desk, he
reached out and ran his hand down her cheek, his fingers just a
little rough and calloused from his work.
    Phoebe swiveled her chair towards him. “I just
started the distillation, and can’t leave it for long. Thought I’d
take a bit of time to run some new calculations. I could have some
breakfast brought up though, if you’re hungry. I could do with a
bite myself.”
    She looked up into those turquoise eyes and had the
urge to abandon her work and take him up on his offer. His shirt
was half open and untucked, suspenders dangling neglected at his
sides. Half hidden under the cotton of his shirt was an expanse of
smooth skin over work-hardened muscles, dark hair curling its way
across his chest before trailing in a narrow line down his
abdomen.
    “Food wasn’t what I had in mind, but I reckon I’ll
take what I can get.” A smile filled with mischief tugged at his
mouth. Obviously still hoping to change her mind, he pulled her to
him when she stood. He motioned with a tilt of his head to the
tinkering in the center of the room. “How has it been working for
you? Any problems?”
    “It’s been working grand. No problems at all.”
    Standing before the massive contraption, a smile lit
her face. Indeed, if she had not searched him out to have the
tinkering built, they would have never met. Before she met Seth,
she’d struggled for months with a traditional distillery, trying in
vain to reach the high temperatures she needed, fast enough and
with the precision required to control and maintain the exact
pressure for extraction. When her efforts fell short, she sought
out a tinkerer for help. Seth had come highly recommended and was
considered one of the best, his designs and tinkerings regarded
with the utmost respect.
    He’d labored away for months, trying to get the
distillery just right. The result was a one of a kind— a Seth
Elliot original— a masterpiece without which she may not have been
able to accomplish what she had, in so little time.
    He had started courting her from the very beginning,
using the tinkering as a guise to spend more time together, though
his excuses were short lived. With many interests in common, they
not only found each other romantically but also developed a deep
friendship. He had been unlike any other man she’d met,
appreciative of her opinions and her mind, encouraging her when she
was ready to give up. Never had he tried to change her or bend her
to society’s norms.
    Not long after they met, Seth introduced her to
Gavin and he soon joined their adventures, the three of them
inseparable. Their friendship offered Phoebe a much needed escape
from the reality of her world, a glimmer of normalcy and