Dashiell stilled inside her, letting the pain pass and then he began a slow thrusting motion, sliding against the slick core of her. Her body joined his, hungry for a completion that waited just beyond the moment. Elisabeth brought her legs up, tightening them about his waist, drawing him deeper, holding him firmly.
Her breath came hard, each thrust bringing her closer to the ultimate pleasure waiting on a nearing horizon. But she was desperate for it now. She couldn’t wait a moment longer, she simply couldn’t. Above her, Dashiell trembled with the effort, sweat beading his forehead, his dark hair falling across his brow.
He gave a final thrust and she arched against him, lost to the overwhelming sensation of promise fulfilled. She had never imagined a feeling of this magnitude existed, that she could create it and recreate it. Elisabeth gave herself over to it, letting both body and mind shatter against the forces sweeping over her.
Chapter Six
Elisabeth was only aware she’d dozed off after the fact. She surfaced slowly from sleep, letting memory rouse her gently and buoy her back to the waking world. Dashiell had made love to her, Dashiell the exquisite stranger who’d found his way onto her mother’s guest list. The thought tugged a sleepy smile from her. Elisabeth reached out an arm, half searching for proof of Dashiell’s presence even though logic told her Sir Richard’s big chair wasn’t large enough for two nor was the quilt that had thoughtfully been draped over her.
Sir Richard, the observatory…languid thoughts were now replaced by a rush of thoughts. The comet! Elisabeth sat up abruptly, panic taking her. After all this, had she missed it?
The room was darker now than it had been. A few scattered lamps offered enough light to make out a form at the telescope, the white of a man’s shirt gleaming in the dimness. The sight of Dashiell, his eye bent to the telescope touched her in ways that went beyond the sex they’d shared. In her absence, he’d kept her vigil.
‘Any sign of it?’ Elisabeth wrapped the old quilt about her and padded across the floor, hoping and fearing Dashiell’s answer.
Dashiell turned towards her and gave a shake of his head. ‘No, I’m afraid not. I’m sorry.’
‘How long have you been watching?’ If he’d fallen asleep, too, there would be a span of time where they could have missed the comet.
‘A couple hours, ever since you dozed off,’ Dashiell said gently. He nodded to indicate the pocket watch he’d left open on the table beside the telescope. ‘It’s nearly the end of astronomical twilight now. You’re a good teacher, Elisabeth.’ There was a soft intimacy to his voice; he spoke just for her although there was no one around to hear.
Dashiell rose from the stool he’d pulled over to the telescope. ‘Have a peek, Elisabeth. I don’t think the skies ever cleared. Your comet’s up there but we can’t see it from here.’
Elisabeth slid onto the stool, clutching the quilt about her and looked. Dashiell was right. The sky hadn’t cleared and soon it would be too late to see the comet until nightfall.
Already, the horizon was turning grey, light starting to creep across the sky.
She lowered her head and took a deep breath, trying to mitigate her disappointment.
Dashiell’s hands were at her shoulders, massaging through the fabric of the quilt. He kissed the column of her neck. ‘I’m sorry we couldn’t find it. Another time, maybe?’
Elisabeth shook her head. He was trying to comfort her but there was no relief in the knowledge she’d missed the comet. ‘The comet is on a seventy-six-year cycle. If I don’t spot it on this pass by earth, I’ll never spot it. If its usual rotation pattern holds true, the comet won’t return until 1910.’
Dashiell’s hands slowed on her shoulders. She could nearly feel him thinking behind her. ‘How long is it visible this time? I know people have been sighting it since August.’
‘Typically it’s visible up to nine months before it leaves earth’s sightline. Of course, that all depends on your location in the world. That’s why John Hershel is in Cape Town with his enormous telescope. Astronomers believe the Southern Hemisphere has the best viewing opportunities.’ Elisabeth gave a harsh laugh. John Hershel might have the world’s largest telescope but the comet had eluded even him. He’d not been the first to sight it in August as everyone had predicted. That sighting had come from the Vatican further north. It had given her hope that she wouldn’t miss it entirely being stuck in Britain. Now that hope seemed thoroughly squashed.
Her only alternative was to risk one more night away and try again, maybe this time from another location with clearer skies, some place closer to the sea. But the enormity of that possibility was overwhelming. She had not planned for this. She had no resources for getting somewhere else.