Enigma (closed)

James was more exhausted than even he'd realised. He'd been running on empty since he'd heard Victoria's name mentioned five days earlier. He'd tracked some pretty slippery characters in the past, but it was sleep that had proven elusive this time.

"A little," he sighed.

It wasn't like James to let his work get to him. He'd been working long days and hours, but so had every Briton involved in the war effort.

He'd certainly never had his lover match the description of a potential German spy before. Well...not quite a match. Confirmation from Victoria's mother would put everything to rest, and hopefully he'd finally be able to get some proper sleep.

"I told you you'd think me a fool," James grinned at his own expense, caressing Victoria's fingers within his hand.

Despite everything, he was just glad to be home.

Victoria hear the tiredness in his voice and she couldn't help leaning across the small space and kissing his cheek gently. She loved this man and it hurt her to see him struggling so much. When he grinned and caressed her fingers, she gripped his hand tightly in her own, letting him know that she was there through thick and thin.

"Let's get to bed. A good night's sleep will do us both a world of good. In the morning, I'll fix us breakfast and then we can head to the country." She suggested, hoping to entice him to sleep. "And everything will be alright. You just need to relax."

Victoria stood a few moments later, walking into his bath to slip out of her clothing for bed. Looking at herself in the mirror, she wondered just what was going to happen. She couldn't believe that her name had come from the lips of a spy. How had she been mentioned? What madness had this world devolved into? It was all hard to think about and she hoped that her mother could clear up the entire mess when they got there tomorrow evening.

James had no recollection of undressing or getting into bed. The previous night had been something of a blur. The only thing he knew for sure was that he'd told Victoria enough without telling her everything.

He'd woken to the sound of cheerful chirping from some birds outside his upper level bedroom window. James had never taken much notice of birds in his youth, but their unending enthusiasm for life was enchanting. Somebody had failed to tell them there was a war happening.

He felt much more upbeat than he had for almost a week. Miss Stirling was quite the tonic.

James had no idea what the time was when he finally climbed out of bed and moved to the bathroom. Victoria was already up, but that was nothing unusual. A quick bath and a shave would do wonders for him. Then he could dress and share a meal with the love of his life.

Victoria was already down in the kitchen, making his customary breakfast of a fried egg, some bacon, and a slice of toast with tea. James had slept soundly that evening, but sleep had been elusive for her. Long after he had closed his eyes, she was still wide awake, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom and trying to figure out just what was going on. She was stunned, upset, and still worrying about the information that James had.

She let out a sigh as she looked out the window into the bright and sunny day. It would be warm that day, a good day to travel. Her parents were expecting them by dinner time. It all seemed so ideal, but it was anything but. She was jumbled inside, her guts twisted.

"Jim? Breakfast!" She called upstairs to her boyfriend, sitting at the table to try and pretend that everything was still alright between them.

Clean shaven and fresh from his bath, James felt ready to take on the world again. His moment of weakness had passed, though he knew it wouldn't truly be behind them until they talked to Victoria's parents that evening.

He dressed in a pair of pleated pants and a white shirt, with suspenders over his shoulders and sleeves rolled up. It was a more casual look for his time off but James still took care to dress well for Victoria and her parents.

He descended the stairs towards breakfast. Seeing Victoria made him smile, but that smile faltered when he saw how weary she looked.

"How did you sleep, my queen?" he asked softly, sitting at the table next to her and clasping her hand.

James felt guilty. He hadn't sought the information he'd received but he'd clearly overreacted to it, and now Victoria was visibly worried.

"I'm so sorry for all of this," he spoke sincerely, trying on a reassuring smile. "By this time tomorrow, I'm sure it will all be just a silly memory."

"I slept well enough." Victoria said as James sat down beside her, taking her hand and holding it tightly. "By this time tomorrow we'll be somewhere that we can relax in peace."

She leaned across the table and kissed his cheek, letting him know that she was alright. She had dressed in his favorite outfit, the navy blue dress with small white polka dots was cheerful and would brighten the mood between them. She hoped that he was well rested and he looked so much better than he was the night before.

"Jim, listen...you're just doing your job. I might be worried and a little upset, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop loving you. You're the only man that I ever want to be with. I understand why you have to ask the questions and I understand what they will mean if they turn out to be true." She murmured softly as she took a sip of her morning tea.

James ate slowly and nodded as Victoria tried to reassure him that all would be well. He liked that she was wearing his favourite dress - it told him that she had decided to take a stance of solidarity from the moment she got out of bed.

Together, they could get through this.

Victoria speaking of any potential truth to the information finally brought James out of his quiet reflection.

"Let's hope that isn't a bridge we need to cross."

He put down his cutlery, wiped his hands and mouth with a napkin, and then took both of Victoria's hands in his own. He leaned forward, his eyes never straying from her beautiful blues, his facial expression sincere but serious.

"But let me say now that even if it is a bridge that needs crossing, we'll do it side by side. And when this infernal war is over, I'll make an honest woman of you, and spend the rest of my peaceful existence waking up in your embrace."

He held the moment, before eventually breaking into a smile.

"But for now, there's eating and driving to be done, so let's make the most of those while we can."

A small smile broke across her face as he mentioned making her an honest woman. It was the first time she'd ever heard James talk about marriage and she realized that she really wanted to be his wife. She wanted to wake up at his side every single morning. She wanted to cook his breakfast for him before they both went off to work. She wanted to have his children and experience all that life had to offer with him at her side.

"Breakfast it is then." She said as she finally turned back towards her plate to finish what was left. "And then a nice, long drive to the country."

After they were finished and the dishes put away, she helped James to load his car with their luggage. Placing everything in the boot, she took her hand bag and her puzzles to settle in the passenger side. She gave him a small smile as he slipped behind the wheel and she leaned across the center to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"I love you, Jim." She said softly, reaching up to touch his cheek gently.

Resilience.

If there was one thing James and Victoria seemed to have in spades, that was it.

Their relationship was borne of difficulty and every pothole in the road seemed to eventually lead to their bond strengthening.

James had decided he wanted to marry Victoria about six months earlier, but he hated the idea of tying the knot before the war had ended. It almost seemed rushed, as if they were just doing it to ensure she had a war widow's benefit should the unthinkable happen during an operation.

And resilience was what pushed them onward now as they climbed into James' 1933 Rolls-Royce Roadster. It was a single material luxury amidst the rest their present life had to offer, and it gifted escapism to James and Victoria both.

"I love you too, my queen," James grinned.

Then he shifted the car into gear and sent them both out of town and onto narrow lanes framed by low rock walls as they began their journey.

Her window was rolled down as they drove, the bright sunlight lending an air of happiness to their travels. She couldn't wait to be in Cornwall with her family. The sea air and the fields of grain would do her some good. It was so much different out in the country with her family than it was in the city. They had little to worry about out there where as she and James had much to think about in their day to day lives.

She held James's hand as he drove, glancing his way from time to time just to gauge his mood. He seemed happy, relaxed, and excited to be going as well. Her parents adored him and she knew that he respected and loved her parents as well.

"You know, they're not expecting us until dinner time. We would have enough time to make a stop if we want." She said, her hand moving from his hand to his thigh, giving it a squeeze and a small smile.

James could feel the pressures of the war slide off his shoulders as they left the city behind them. The English countryside so frequently seemed so peaceful and comparatively untouched, making it the perfect destination for an escape.

The conversations and interactions between James and Victoria had quickly reverted to their usual playful nature as they enjoyed each other's company. There was nothing to be done about what James had heard until that evening, so they were making the most of the day itself.

Victoria had a certain way about her. Sometimes it was a smile, or a word, or a look.

Right now, it was a touch.

James relaxed even further into his seat as Victoria's deft movements triggered an almost instant reaction from his body. It had been more than a week, and they were both hungry.

"A lady ought to warn a man before distracting him from the road," James teased, feigning disinterest. "What did you have in mind?"

James knew full well what she wanted, and he knew just the place to make it happen.

"I believe my man enjoys surprises." Victoria said with a grin as she looked over at James. "Well, I was hoping that you might have some ideas of your own. After all, it is dreadfully boring to have to come up with everything on my own."

Her slender fingers squeezed his thigh again as she felt him relax back against his seat, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of them. She enjoyed teasing him because he was so often in control of himself and his surroundings. Sometimes, however, she could get the upper hand and demand things of him that no other woman ever had.

"Where would you like to take me, Jim?" Victoria asked innocently enough, her brown eyes watching him so closely.

James bit his bottom lip and let out a partly contented - and partly frustrated - sigh as Victoria squeezed his thigh again.

"My queen, you present me with an impossible task," he protested. "You said yourself that we are a couple of hours ahead of schedule. How could I possibly name all the places I'd like to take you - over and over again - in such a short space of time?"

He flashed a wicked grin across to his lover even as he remained under her spell.

"But if I must pick one to begin with..."

James turned the car towards the coast and soon they were facing one of the Napoleonic-era forts that once guarded the Devon coastline.

The fort never saw action, as the anticipated French invasion never eventuated, and so it had fallen into disrepair. The ruins now guarded the cliffs above Torbay without safety barriers or fences to prevent the clumsy from stepping too close.

The area lay in a plateau with the sun resting upon all manner of plant life. The sound of the waves crashing against the beaches below carried up to their open windows as James pulled the car to a stop.

"Berry Head," James added as he took hold of Victoria's hand and squeezed it tightly. "As good a place as any, don't you think?"

"Well, it has been a week." Victoria said as he grinned at her with that wicked grin of his that told her that she was in trouble. "I think I would let you take me anywhere and anyway that you like."

She was half expecting him to pull into a deserted parking lot along the way, but when he pulled up to an abandoned fort, she had to give him a smile. He was constantly surprising her, even after two years together. He had a boyish charm about him that absolutely made her melt. It was like there was a part of him that had never grown up and she adored him all the more because of it.

"I think it's lovely here, Jim." She said softly, squeezing his hand as they looked over the scenery and listened to the ocean waves crashing in the distance. "And it will be even more lovely when we get to exploring. You never know what we might find..."

James paused, soaking in the moment. For all the playfulness he and Victoria shared, there was a genuine sincerity to their affection. As much as he wanted to take her right there at Berry Head - and he desperately did - he also enjoyed showing her some of the little hideaways he'd discovered over the years.

"It wasn't built with beauty in mind, unlike some things," James grinned with a cheeky wink. "This was the paranoia caused by Napoleon. The fort never faced an actual threat, of course."

James looked at Victoria's hand in his own with a smile - playing schoolteacher with her had a certain appeal.

"Come on. I want to show you something."

James broke their shared grip and got out of the car, quickly rounding it then opening her door and holding out a hand to help her out - just as he always did.

The wind brushed against them both, cold and rough but not hostile. It merely ensured they stayed close together, for balance as much as anything else. James wrapped one arm around Victoria's waist and guided her into what was once a fort, but was now mostly a collection of low crumbling walls.

They passed a pair of long out of use cannons that had long ago proudly guarded the coast, as well as a number of ditches and piles of rubble that had once stood as supply stores and a barracks.

James eventually brought Victoria to the remains of a tower, situated at the edge of the cliff as part of the main wall, but no longer standing at its full height.

"It's a watch tower," he spoke, his voice as close to a whisper as he could manage in the windy air. "Most people just see it as another ruin, but it's actually still structurally sound. You can still go inside and get a proper view of the horizon - and nobody else can see back in."

James turned to his lover and cocked one eyebrow for half a moment, before flashing a look around them both and rushing forward to kiss her out there in the open.

"What do you think, milady?" he asked of her as he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. "Shall we take first watch?"

When James got it into his head that he was going to teach her something, there was little that she could say or do that would stop him. He was filled with boundless enthusiasm and she grinned as he hopped out of the car to open her door before leading her towards the fort. His arm around her waist gave her the opportunity to snuggle against his warm side as the wind whipped around them. These were the kind of days that she absolutely adored. Just her and him with no other distractions.

Past the cannons and piles of stone rubble, he brought her towards the tower, telling her that it was still structurally sound and secluded. She smiled, glancing up at her lover as he grinned down at her. He had that grin of a petulant boy and soon he was kissing her soundly. She sighed, her arms wrapping around his neck as she drew him close.

She loved this man beyond reason. She would be his wife one day and she would enjoy every single moment of being his bride. Until then, she was content to kiss him and love him and keep him as happy as she possibly could.

"I don't think you'll spend much time watching anything but me, Jim." She teased him as their foreheads rested against one another. "And that's just what I want."

James laughed at Victoria's insight.

She was, of course, completely right. He would be quite content to spend his days watching her and nothing else.

He hated the war and all the death and destruction it had caused, but if there was one good thing to come it, at least the Führer's megalomania had brought them together.

"As if there's anything else worth watching, anyway."

He kissed her again, their bodies pressing against one another, wind rippling against their clothes. He pushed her backwards gently, kissing her and gripping her waist as they walked, and before long her back met the outside wall of the watchtower.

Leaning against her and lightly pinning her to the stone, James planted small kisses on her cheeks and along her jawline.

"Pick your fancy, my queen: public or private?"

Victoria laughed softly before the sound was cut off with his kiss. She groaned, their bodies pressed tightly together as he walked her backwards. His hands were sure against her waist, his steps measured until she felt her back pressing against the stone wall of the tower. He had her trapped, pinning her there as he kissed over her cheeks, along her jaw until she was squirming beneath him.

"Surprise me, Jim." She murmured, letting out a little whimper as his lips trailed over her sensitive throat.

He had been gone for much too long, she decided. A week was took much to be apart, especially when she needed him so badly. She was lonely and sad when he was gone, her life empty. When he was there, she felt complete and content. This is what she needed, little moments like this with the love of her life. It didn't matter to her that there was a war going on around them as long as she had Jim at her side.

James didn't immediately reply. Not with words, anyway. He let his body do the talking, kissing her face and neck incessantly, his hands running over her front from thighs to waist to breasts.

A week of separation, stress, confusion, and more than a little panic was working its way out of their systems as they kissed; writhed; groaned.

"Then let's play out here in the sun where I can see you properly," he breathed. "As long as you don't mind an audience..."

James indicated their observers with a grin: half a dozen birds perched atop the ruins were watching curiously.

Then he stepped back and pulled Victoria with him, and turned her around so she could see through a break in the ruins and out across the ocean.

She had barely taken in the view before his arm was around her waist, his body pressing hard against her from behind, crotch against her backside, mouth on the side of her neck.

"A memorable place, don't you think?"

Victoria whimpered helplessly as he caressed over her body, his lips kissing her face and neck until she swore that she would jump out of her skin. His hands traced along her thighs, up her waist until they settled against her breasts. She was sure that he could feel her nipples through her dress, the excitement of the situation making her hopelessly wet and needy.

"James..." She murmured, gasping as he suddenly pulled her from the stone wall and had her turned around to look out at the ocean.

She frowned slightly at the interruption until he pressed against her again, his body showing her just how much he needed her as well. She groaned, her eyes fluttering close as he ground against her bottom, his mouth caressing over the sensitive skin of her throat. She couldn't speak. She had lost that ability the moment that his lips settled against her neck.

James loved Victoria's dress. She knew it was his favourite, and moments like these were precisely why. The neckline crept just low enough to hint at her cleavage - but when looking down over her shoulder from behind, he could sneak a glimpse at her perfect pale breasts as if they were a secret only they shared. The hemline rested at her knee but the dress itself was loose and flowed enough for him to catch certain other glimpses if he looked from a more creative angle. It also meant it could be lifted when required.

The salty ocean air was soon whipping around her legs as the dress climbed, the cool wind and the warm sun meeting her thighs simultaneously.

James was already breathing heavily. When it came to Victoria, it didn't take much. He was nudging her feet apart there next to the ruins at the top of the cliff as the birds watched on. His mouth was greedily feeding on her neck: kissing, licking, nibbling, gnawing.

And then something else brushed against the insides of her legs. Something hard, warm, and very familiar. The tip pressed against her still concealed entrance as his hands rediscovered her clothed breasts.

Victoria reached behind her neck, fingers lacing through James's hair as he kissed and suckled at her throat. She knew when he paused that he was looking down her dress, catching sight of her breasts in the bright sunlight. She wished that he would just unbutton her dress, letting her free for his pleasure.

Ever so carefully she felt her skirt behind pulled up her thighs. The wind whipped around her bare legs until she shivered with anticipation. His hard cock was soon brushing against her naked skin, promising her so much in the very near future as his hands closed around her breasts again.

"Undress me, Jim." She whispered to him, her brown eyes opening as she tilted her head back to stare at him. "I want to feel your hands on my bare skin."

James responded as soon as Victoria voiced her request. His movements were fluid, hands immediately shifting from cupping her breasts to exposing them. His fingers deftly - and deliberately slowly - undid each of the buttons at the back of her dress, and his lips kissed the newly exposed skin as the material parted.

He slowly pulled the dress down each shoulder, then down her torso, his thick shaft twitching both at the sight and in anticipation. Soon her dress was sitting around her ankles and James gently lifted each of her feet out of it. He placed it behind the wall of the watchtower to shield it from the wind, and quickly his shirt, pants, and underclothes joined the polka dotted material in a pile.

James stepped against Victoria's stunning body again, not saying a word as he unclipped her bra, then tugged down her panties. The cool air brushed against her lower hair as James ran his fingers through the strands against her head. His shaft stood erect, the length pressing against her pert backside.

James adored Victoria's body and he relished any opportunity to see it and experience it. The sunlight showed off every curve and feature, and he couldn't have been happier.

"Any other special requests, my queen?" he asked as his hands began to explore her.

Victoria shivered each time that he removed a piece of clothing from her body. Being nude outside in the bright sunlight was a new experience, but it seemed so right with James holding her so tightly. She had missed him and this most certainly was a celebration. To new and unusual experiences, she thought to herself as her lips curled upwards in a joyous smile.

The wind was whipping around them, a soft moan leaving her lips as James ran his fingers through her hair, combing out her blonde locks as his other hand began to roam freely. She shook her head no as he asked her if she had any special requests. Instead, she turned in his arms to look up at him, that smile still on her lips as she slowly sank to her knees.

In an instant, her lips were wrapping around his cock, her brown eyes staring up at him with an innocent look that also told him that she knew exactly what she was doing. Her fingers gripped the base of his shaft lightly as she suckled on the tip of his length. He tasted salty, earthy, completely and totally like the love of her life. No man would ever compare to him.

As far as James was concerned, Victoria Stirling was a goddess. She had a body to die for and a sexual hunger to make any man weak at the knees.

Her form was slim and irresistible. Despite being shorter than him, her legs appeared long and toned, and willingly spread open for him or wrapped around him. Her fingers were slender and had the most delightful touch, whether they were holding his hand or deftly stroking his shaft. Her breasts were perfectly shaped and weighted, her nipples firm and begging to be tugged. Her backside could set him off all on its own and her eyes spoke of a wickedness and an innocence all at once. And to kiss her lower lips and lick her soft blonde down was, he was sure, man's greatest ever accomplishment.

But right now, it was her mouth that had him at her mercy, her delicious lips that could so often show him a coquette's smile wrapped around his length, her fingers curled around his base.

James let out a loud moan as he felt her warm wetness encase his swollen tip. His hands dropped to her head, fingers running through her beautiful blonde hair, as their eyes met.

Once he saw her gaze, he couldn't look away. The head of his thick, veiny length was inside her mouth and he was her prisoner. He knew she could taste his precum and yet she continued, that fixed gaze watching him.

He gripped her hair more firmly as she continued, his moans incessantly escaping his mouth.

He was hers.