Caught Somewhere in Time

Unbridled passion

Unable to help himself, he kissed her back. How could he not? Everything felt so familiar that he easily got lost in her, pulling her closer and burying his hands in her tangled locks. How many times had he kissed her like this? And yet it always felt like the first time, ravenous and desperate, as if they'd been deprived of each other their whole lives. He felt another part of him beginning to respond to her kiss so he lowered his hands to cup her backside, pressing her against him to rub his growing member against her corset covered stomach. She suddenly pulled apart like a scalded cat.

"Bloody hell, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded and Sweeney was brought back to the present. He swiftly looked at his wife's carriage and was horrified to see her blue eyes still staring at him from the distance. She'd seen it all.

The seconds that followed were the most tension-filled of his life. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he prayed to whatever was up there that his wife did not stop the carriage and refused to leave for Bedford. Because in that case, he'd have to be more firm and he did not like treating women like that. He reckoned that even if she thought him a cheating abusive bastard, the priority was keeping her and Johanna safe. When the carriage turned the corner, he realised she was not coming back; she was on her way to her sister's with a broken heart. All because of the she-devil.

"No, what the hell do you think you're doing? Kissing me like that" he reprimanded her. He was furious. Furious at her for having the cheek to kiss him when they were nothing, furious at himself for having responded to it, for enjoying it.

"Miss Prim the prig needed to learn a lesson. How dare she accuse us of having an affair. I'm a married woman." She seemed offended and Sweeney snorted. She was unbelievable.

"A married woman who's planning on running away with someone else" he said, matter-of-factly. She smirked, not feeling remotely guilty for the hypocrisy she was displaying and it only angered him more. Because it reminded him of the old Eleanor, the teasing lying bitch whom he called his lover, who got him so worked up, so angry, until he could not think of anything other than shoving his rage in the moist heat between her thighs. But he was stronger than that. "Don't touch me again."

"Anything you say" she said dismissively but her smirk turned into a proper teasing smile when her eyes dropped to his regretfully erect penis. "But you liked it. You got stiff, you horny stringer." She winked but the look he gave her and the subtle movement of his hand was enough to shut her up. She shouldn't forget he's a recovering murderer who merely a month ago had one of his razors pressed against her neck. She should be very afraid. However, instead of cowering down, she straightened up and looked into his obsidian eyes. "Don't worry, I didn't mean anything by it and it won't happen again. I'm sorry." she spoke with such solemnity he suddenly felt like he wasn't talking with young Eleanor nor her thirty-something version he left in another timeline, but with a mature person wise enough to admit her mistakes and ask for forgiveness without her egoism or her impulsivity getting in the way. It felt foreign.

"In any case, we need to start planning how to prove Arthur's innocence. I had an idea" she informed him, returning to her usual optimistic demeanour. "That's most exciteful! I feel like the heroine in a novel, saving the poor damsel in distress!" she winked and Sweeney fought himself unable to stay mad at her. There were more important things at the moment. She grabbed his hand, with the intention of bringing him inside "C'mon, let's get inside and warm our bones. We can't free Arthur if we get grippe!"

"What about your husband?" he asked. He'd last seen the man five minutes ago, eagerly awaiting some oral pleasure from Eleanor and he'd surely blow a fuse if she came in to chat with Sweeney instead of continuing what she started. Now that he thought of it, he could not imagine how she'd managed to get out of that situation without the larger man having his release. Unless he really did not last long...