Misleading The Marquis

Thirteen - Gina Marie

"They should have the beds turned down," Bane commented thirty minutes later, as if he hadn't made an ass of himself in front of the Stanleys at dinner. Gina Marie did not respond, only waited, tight lipped as he opened the door to their compartment and reached inside to turn the gas light up. Let him pretend to be polite now, but she knew he was out for blood because of how She'd humiliated him in all of this. At least now she would know to be on her guard.

The inside of the compartment had been transformed into a sleeping car, the two cushioned benches disassembled and connected together in the middle to form a double bed.  "Just one bed?" Gina Marie squeaked, blushing to the roots of her hair. Bane didn't even spare her a glance as he shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the wall.

"it is a honeymoon suite, George," was all he said, but Gina Marie blushed harder as understanding came to her. They all thought... that she and Bane...

"Well, should not you sleep on the floor?" she asked next, was not that what all the gentlemen in Louisa's romance novels were always offering to do? To save a lady's virtue and sleep on the floor?

"George, there is no floor," Bane was looking at her now, and she saw the tiredness marking his face. He was right of course. What little space their had been in the compartment was now filled from wall to wall with the modest sized bed, leaving only enough room for the lavatory door to be opened and shut.

"Oh," was all she could think to say as she realized Bane was undoing his necktie now, "Don't you think - I - I mean - we're getting an annulment," she protested stupidly, her hands feeling a little cold at the prospect of... well... there was never supposed to be a wedding night mixed up in all of this after all.

"I promise not to touch you George," Bane heaved, then landed on the bed to begin working off his boots. Gina Marie swallowed hard. Somehow he made the space feel even smaller. Her throat feeling dry, Gina Marie shrugged out of the rose colored jacket and hobbled to sit on the opposite edge of the bed. She stared at her feet for several minutes, realizing that she would not be able to take the shoes off herself, and then wondering if Bane would notice if she slept with them on... or if she could wait until he fell asleep to pull herself into the bed, shoes and all.

"Problem?" Bane growled over his shoulder, their backs still towards one another. Gina Marie bit her lip and rubbed at her eyes... she was tired... and Bane had been more than trustworthy thus far.

"Well - uh - I -" she stammered, wishing she could melt into a puddle of wax instead of asking for his help again.

"it is just sleeping George - how else -"

"No, it 's not -" Gina Marie interrupted, "it is my shoes," she finished glumly, looking over her shoulder to meet his gaze sheepishly.

"Pardon?" Bane sputtered, brow furrowing as if She'd said something in a different language.

"I can't reach the buttons on my shoes," Gina Marie repeated, wincing to herself, "Could you help?"

She heard Bane chuckle and blushed harder as the bed groaned under his movements until he was sitting at the foot of the bed instead.

"Let's see them, then," he gestured without looking up at her or protesting even a little. It took effort and was graceless in total but Gina Marie swung her feet onto the mattress with at least a remnant of her dignity remaining. Bane's fingers moved deftly over the tiny pearl studded buttons that inched up her ankles. Gina Marie tried not to fidget too much as his warm hand closed around her calf to pull the first shoe away. Neither said anything as he began work on the second, this time maneuvering around the cast until this shoe too came free.

"Thank you," Gina Marie muttered as Bane set the boots on the rack with their luggage over head and moved back to his side of the space without comment.

Now in her stockings, Gina Marie slipped under the maroon colored coverlet, painstakingly careful not to touch her bedmate. At last her head rested against the pillow, chignon still in place and she allowed herself to relax ever so slightly. Bane moved about a little longer, and then the lights were dimmed and he was crawling under the covers beside her. Gina Marie could feel the heat coming off of him in the small enclosed space that it was, but she squeezed her eyes shut and decided to recite the Saint's Prayer instead of imagine what Bane was doing at the moment.

This was serving its purpose well enough for the first three minutes, Bane's breathing had slowed, he hadn't touched her or made any move across the invisible line between them. Gina Marie was convincing herself that she might drift off to sleep as the sound of the steam rumbling through the wall pipes lulled her - and then the ship hit a spot of turbulence. It was not much, it had been happening all day, but Gina Marie bolted upright in the darkness with a gasp.

"Bane?!" she cried involuntarily, clutching at the coverlet in the darkness as their solid ship dipped again in the empty night sky.

"You're safe, George," he muttered sleepily, not moving from his position. Gina Marie stayed still for another few seconds, trying to convince herself it was true. But her mind only raced through the possible engine failures, the ship falling from the sky and all of them dying in a fiery crash. Turbulence struck again, probably a slight storm, but Gina Marie Couldn't shake the feeling of unease as she clutched the blanket tighter to herself and waited for the airship to level out again.