On the rising tide chapter 13

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**Disclaimer – Though inspired in part by people who exist in reality, this story is not meant to represent them in any literal way. It’s all meant in good fun.

On the rising tide Chapter 13

“Bono, come on, we’re going to be late!” Edge grumbled as he hurried along the city street, his shoulders hunched tightly, tucked up nearly to his ears as he fought the chill air. The wool cap he donned barely helped at all, this was the kind of cold that seeped into a body like liquid and saturated it through and through.

“We’re already late.” Bono replied, strolling along behind Edge, swaying from side to side Occasionally he would kick at a stone or some such thing on the walk. He raised his hands victoriously as he landed his most recent stone in the gutter and received a loud, wet sloshing sound for the effort.

Edge bit back the harsh words which came to mind, reminding himself that his friend was nursing a broken heart. He’d also been nursing a bottle of whiskey all night. He was so drunk, in fact, that he was probably lucky it had been a stone and not Bono’s foot which landed in the gutter with the horse excrement.

“Why are we meeting the others here, again?” Bono asked, catching up to Edge on unsteady feet and draping a heavy arm around his friends shoulders. Edge grimaced as the whiskey on Bono’s breath burned his eyes.

“Because, apparently, there is some catch with some of the cargo. The stuff Adam arranged for the aingeal to haul when we were in Madrid.” Edge explained, supporting his drunken friend with his arm around Bono’s waist.

“Oh.” was Bono’s only response as he pulled a flask from his pocket and drank deeply from it.

“If ye keep at it like that, ye’re going to be of no use to anyone tonight.” Edge sighed.

“And just what do I need to be able to do tonight?” Bono slurred bitterly.

“We’ll soon know. There’s the Clayton residence.” Edge informed him, steering him toward the stairs. Somehow he managed to ascend the slender stone steps without either of them falling and breaking anything. He knocked on the door and hoped sincerely that someone was very close by. He needed shelter, and if at all possible, a fire to warm himself by.

“Yes?” an indignant little man asked as the door swung open.

“We’re guests of Lord Clayton.” Edge informed him meekly.

“How may I announce your arrival, sir?” The man asked, obviously less than thrilled at the arrival.

“You may announce us…” Bono replied in a mocking English accent, or at least the best he could muster with his liquor numbed tongue. “As Bono and The Edge.”

“Of course.” The man sighed as he turned to the side and gestured for them to enter. Stepping out of the cold and into the elegant entryway, Bono let out a low whistle.

“And here I thought Adam was just pretending to be a Lord.” Bono quipped, making Edge snicker as the butler shot him a reproachful glance.

*Ahem* The snobbish little man cleared his throat as he stepped into a cozy little library. “The rest of your company has arrived, Lord Clayton. May I announce… Bono and The Edge.” When he said their names, he made it sound as if he had lost a wager and had to say that he wore women’s undergarments or some other such distasteful thing.

“Thank you, John.” Adam replied, dismissing the butler with a nod. The tension in the room was palpable, and Edge felt very much as if he had walked into something he did not want to be a part of. Even Bono, in his inebriated state, could tell that something was amiss.

“Please, have a seat by the fire.” Adam told them, rising from the chair he had been occupying and offering it to one of them. Edge managed to free himself from Bono’s embrace and accepted the seat gratefully. He looked around the room and nodded in greeting at Larry and Carra, then turned to the person in the chair nearest him, assuming it was Finn.

His green eyes widened in confusion and disbelief; it was indeed Finn, and at the same time, it was not. While the features of the person next to him were familiar, there was also a dramatic change. Without the cap the boy had usually worn, and now wearing in a loose shirt and a pair of snug breeches, the person he had known as a young boy was gone.

The mop of blonde curls had grown considerably in the months since he had first been introduced, and now reminded Edge of an artists depiction of the angel Gabriel. The wide green eyes, prominent cheekbones and sweet, slender curve of the neck were as feminine as anything he had ever seen. There was a gentle swell at the bosom and hips which he was certain he’d never seen before.

“What?!?” He managed to murmur, looking from one set of eyes to another in search of answers.

“I suppose we might’ve been wise to wait for your arrival to explain this to Larry and Carra, so that we only had to do it once.” Adam sighed, moving to the bar and filling his glass. He turned and offered one to Edge and Bono with a silent gesture, and both men accepted with a nod.

Edge glanced again at Larry, whose face was deep red, a vein in his forehead bulging. Edge watched in silence as he gritted his teeth, his jaw thrust forward, his lips pursed together. He was obviously not pleased with this strange turn of events.

“Let’s get through this quickly so we can get to the reason we were here in the first place, shall we?” Adam said, handing each of the men their drinks. “While I have assured Larry that no harm was meant in keeping this little secret, he has yet to be convinced. Hopefully the two of you can help me.”

“Adam, let me tell it this time, will you?” Fiona asked, standing and beginning to pace. “I am sorry, first of all.” She said, directing this to Larry. “I truly meant no harm to you with my masquerade. I was afraid for my safety.” She went on to explain her situation with her father, her mothers idea for her escape, and the fear which had kept her hiding behind the fake identity of Finn.

“You should have told me. Surely, you realize I would pose no threat to you!” Larry said once she was done.

“I did not think you would harm me in the way I was afraid of some of the other men. That’s true. I feel blessed to have found myself among the people I did. There is not one person in this room I would not be honored to call my friend. But you might very well have removed me from the ship, sending me back to my fathers home. I know my presence put you in danger, if he or the men he owed are looking for me, and I was discovered aboard your ship, you would be considered a thief.”

“Aye! Which is why I deserved the chance to decide for myself whether or not to keep you aboard.” Larry complained. “I would not have sent you back to your fate, but I would certainly have been more cautious about things. And I would not have made you sleep with the men or done half the jobs I assigned you.”

“Why not?” Carra asked, her brow furrowing as she looked at her lover. “She did a fine job. You’ve said so yourself.”

“Yes, but…” Larry began, his words catching in his throat as his eyes met hers and he saw the danger in speaking his mind on this particular subject.

“But what?” Carra demanded, her eyes flashing with intensity.

“It’s not appropriate, Carra! You know it as well as I, you’re just too damned stubborn to admit it.” He finally said.

“Why is it inappropriate? She’s done nothing more than I have. I’ve worked all the jobs you’ve assigned her. Until quite recently, I slept in the same cabin as the men.” She reminded him.

“I didn’t like it then, either.” Larry retorted, “But with Fiona, unlike you, respects my role as captain. Or I thought so.”

“I do! I was in a strange new world and scared of everything. I’m sorry for being dishonest.” Fiona spoke up.

“You’ve nothing to apologize for. You did nothing different from what I would have done in your position.” Carra told her, her eyes locked with Larry’s, daring him to object.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now.” Adam said. “So can we move on?”

“Not quite.” Larry told him, “there is still the matter of the fact that you knew, somehow, and you clearly established a relationship with her. You never said anything, either.”

“I was respecting her wishes. Nothing more.” Adam told him. “And I simply saw through her false persona and told her as much, that was all the more involved I was in her decision to live this way.”

“And you’re telling me you did not take advantage of your position?”

“No!” Fiona objected, clearly offended for Adam’s sake. Larry scowled at her, remembering the lady on the docks the day they had met Adam, and how she had defended him despite his indiscretions.

“There was someone at the docks, when we first made berth in Dublin, months back. Looking for a young girl whose father claimed had been stolen away in the night.” Edge spoke up, interrupting the somber discussion of propriety. He could see the fear in Fiona’s eyes at the thought.

“I remember.” Larry admitted. “I cannot believe I did not see it then.”

“What are you going to do now?” Fiona asked meekly.

“What?”

“Am I still under your employ, or …”

“Of course you are, don’t be daft! You’ll take either Paul’s cabin or my own, for the next nights though. And you have to decide what you will do once we return to Ireland. We won’t sail again until February, at the soonest.” Larry told her seriously.

“I know. I – I don’t know what I should do though. I have no idea if they are still searching for me or not.”

“Even if they are not, you are a single woman who is alone in the world. Do you plan on returning to your mothers home, if it even still stands? You’ll need help of some sort.” Carra said, and everyone looked at her in shock. “What? Just because I am firm in the belief that women are far more capable than they are given credit for does not mean I don’t know the world is not a kind place to a woman.”

“This is what we were in the middle of discussing when you arrived.” Adam told Larry and Carra.

“Adam…” Fiona said, her voice pleading. She did not want to hear it again. It hurt too much. As if she did not already want with all of her heart that he loved her and needed her the way she did him, he was offering her his name, now?

She could not stand the thought of being displayed as some act of defiance against the society to which he was born. He would regret it, someday. Surely, if he were disowned by his family, his wealth and title stripped from him, he would hate her for it. She would not risk that.

He turned and looked at her, forcing a slight smile that did not reach his eyes, and Fiona’s heart nearly broke at the pain she saw. He was not about to tell them what he had suggested. Somehow, her reaction to his proposal had hurt him deeply. Could he have possibly genuinely wanted…?

“Would you excuse us?” Fiona asked quietly, the words directed at everyone else in the room, though her eyes were on Adam. “Adam?” She spoke his name softly, making sure he was with her as she turned to leave the room. Out in the hallway, Fiona paced the floor between the place where Adam leaned against the wall and the foot of the stairs.

“What I said… earlier…” She began, pausing and chewing on her lower lip thoughtfully.

“It was fair. It was arrogant of me to assume you would be thrilled at the prospect of marrying me.” Adam told her, his eyes following her feet along the floor, back and forth.

“It was … a shock, to say the least.” She told him with a nervous laugh. “But, Adam… you would be risking so much. Your family, your title. Why would you risk it all for me?” She asked, stopping to look at him, silently willing him to raise his head and look her in the eye again. As if he’d heard her thoughts, he did exactly that.

“You would be worth anything else I have to lose.” He told her earnestly. She felt as if her heart stopped cold, as if the world itself had stopped spinning. She was not even breathing as she stared at him in shock.

“Why? Why would I be worth so much to you?” She asked on a whisper.

“No one has ever needed me before. Desired, perhaps. Used, certainly. But needed? Never.” He told her, his eyes falling away from hers.

“And what about loved?” she asked, stepping in closer, trying to catch his gaze again.

“My mother, perhaps. Though my brother and I were kept separate from her much of our childhood. We had nannies and teachers, maids and servants to give us most of what we needed.”

“Well, Lord Clayton… you now know what it feels like to be needed. By your mates on the aingeal, and also by me. I am certain I would not be safe and whole if it weren’t for you. But the fact that I have needed you, and need you still, has nothing to do with why I have come to love you, as well.”

“Love me?” He asked, almost as if he were horrified at the prospect. Not for himself, but for her to endure such a fate.

“Aye. Love. You.” She agreed with a timid smile and a nod. “Because beneath your silver tongue, your faux confidence and your swagger you are the kindest man I have ever known. You have a soul the color of a cloudless mid-summers day sky.” She told him, gently resting the palm of her hand against his clean shaven cheek. She could smell the soap still on his skin, the gentle tickle in her nose from the tobacco smoke that clung to his clothing.

Her tongue slipped timidly out of her mouth to wet her lower lip as she tilted her face upwards to him, waiting to feel his kiss. She had dreamt many nights about the way his mouth had felt against her own, found herself thinking about it often even in the bright light of day, when her mind should have been focused elsewhere. Her heart started racing at the realization that she would soon feel it again.

“I do not deserve you.” Adam told her, his big hand stroking her hair back from her face.

“You do not need to charm me, Adam. I’m already yours.” She told him with an honest smile, and Adam let out a soft chuckle as he lowered his face toward hers. She was trembling, as he closed the distance between their lips, and when they finally met, it was as if she had been struck by lightning.

She could taste the cognac on his lips, though it did not burn the way it had when she drank it herself. His lower lip was so soft, so generous, as she brushed her own lips over it, she had the strangest urge to suck on it, to nip at it with her teeth. She resisted, certain that such bizarre behavior would result in him ending the kiss, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Adam’s hand against the small of her back coaxed her to draw closer to him, her chest pressing against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. This time, when his smooth tongue slid out to trace her lips, she did not freeze up in surprise, but let her lips open slightly. He murmured his approval, a guttural sound from deep in his throat, and when the vibrations of it reached her mouth, she could not help but shiver.

Adam’s thick tongue lapped at her lips, dipping into her mouth for a moment and then pulling away, setting every nerve in her body on fire. She mimicked his teasing move, tasting the inside of his mouth tentatively, and earned another pleasant murmur from him.

“Does this mean you’ve changed your mind about marrying me?” He asked, his sentence broken, speaking only a word or two between each kiss. A chuckle bubbled up from deep in her chest and she could not restrain it. She laughed against his mouth.

“No.” she told him playfully. “I always wanted to marry you, and I still do.”

**********************************************************************

“So.” Bono slurred, turning his glazed eyes toward Larry as soon as Adam and Fiona were out of the room. “Is there anyone under your command who is NOT there because they are hiding from someone?”

“Fuck off!” Larry exclaimed, scowling at his friend, but trying not to smirk at the man’s words. It was uncanny how the people whom he had grown closest to on this voyage all seemed to be people who had sought out the aingeal as a shelter. Looking at it that way, he could hardly remain upset at Fiona and Adam for their deception.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Edge wondered aloud, standing in front of the fire, his hands extended toward the warmth.

“They were fighting when we arrived.” Larry informed him. “I imagine they’re continuing that argument.”

“Perhaps.” Carra said with a knowing smile. “But I doubt it’s the sort of argument you’re thinking of.”

“What?”

“I was so concerned because I thought…” Carra shook her head and laughed at the memory. “Well, it doesn’t matter.” She said dismissively. “The point is, there is something between them beyond friendship.”

“Do you honestly think so?” Larry asked, frowning again.

“I’ve seen they glances they exchange, in secret, they think. The way one looks at the other when the other is not paying attention.” She replied, nodding her head as she considered the question.

“So what do we do now?” Bono asked on a yawn. “Wait for them to finish…” he gestured wildly with both hands as he searched for the right words. “whatever they’re doing?”

“I don’t think we’ve much choice.” Larry replied. “But I can fill you in on what I know about why we’re here.” He added, standing and stretching.

“That might be helpful.” Bono grinned drunkenly, and Larry frowned, turning to direct his words at Edge.

“Some of the cargo we picked up in Madrid is … illegal and uncharted. Tea and tobacco, from what Adam has told me.” He started, and Edge’s eyes widened in interest.

“You went along with this?” He asked, genuinely shocked.

“I did not know until we were well underway.” Larry replied, and Edge nodded. That was more believable. “Now we have the problem of getting it off the aingeal before tomorrow morning and getting it to … whoever the hell it belongs to. Adam has the address and contact name.”

“That’s right.” Adam said, coming back into the room with Fiona close behind him. “And we don’t have a great deal of time before we are to meet them. The sooner we’ve taken care of this, the sooner we are warm in our beds. We have a busy day ahead us, after all.”

“You have more to do?” Larry asked.

“We do. We have to find a reverend who’ll marry us before we leave London.”
 
SG I don't know how many times I have told you are a brilliant writer, but I have to tell you again anyway:wink:

If you ever decide to write a novel even if u2 are not in it, lemme know so I can go out and buy it:)
 
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