Lily inhaled, her breath caught. “Truly?”
He nodded. “Are you scared?”
“You would never hurt me, Garek.”
Without another breath, he descended, catching her lips on his. His right hand curled around her neck under her braid, his fingers gently tilting her head, angling her so he could deepen the kiss.
Every nerve exploding, Lily could not help but lean into him. Lean into this man—this rock—that had held her hand and wiped her tears late at night when she had broken, time and again, in desperation.
This man that had shown nothing but tenderness when he touched Brianna. This man that had listened to every word she had prattled on—recalling minute details that she had spoken. This man that was handsome beyond belief, strong and capable, smart.
Garek had become such a constant to her that his lips on hers were instinctive. Not to be questioned. Not to be denied.
His mouth parted, nudging her lips apart, and Lily’s legs almost buckled.
Chaste kisses she had had before from suitors, but not this. Nothing like this.
This was raw desire, not yielding, not pulling back. Raw desire demanding she react. Raw power that Garek always kept bridled—but power that vibrated underneath every step he took, every flick of his finger, every look. Raw power she had always recognized was there, waiting for the smallest crack when it could be unleashed.
Unable to move under her own will, Lily could only accept him into her mouth, tasting his power, reveling in his exploration. His hand at the small of her back pressed her body into his, her flesh hitting the hard muscles of his chest, his belly.
Sinking, her breath gone, Lily clutched his shoulders, desperate for the kiss to not end.
Garek’s lips left her.
It took long seconds for her eyes to open, and she found him looking down at her, mirth twinkling in the blue flecks in his eyes.
“I am going to let you go now, so we do not reach unseemly spectacle status,” Garek said, the usual smoothness of his voice turned to gravel. “Even with the lack of servants around here, I imagine there are eyes that should not see this, and the horse blocks very little. Are you ready? You will not fall?”
“Fall? Of course I will not—”
Garek’s hand left her back and Lily promptly stumbled forward, hands slipping from his shoulders and flailing until she awkwardly fell into his chest for balance.
“Fall?” he said, smirk curling up the left side of his face.
“Unfair.” Her cheeks flushing, she untangled herself from his body, laughing through her frown. “What did you say about not becoming a spectacle?”
“I think you can still recover.” He swept his hand in front of them. “Let us go in. I want to check on your sister directly. And then I want you to grab a cloak so you can be warm when I take you to the gardens.”
“The gardens, why? Only the evergreens give color right now. There is nothing in bloom.”
“Nothing?”
Her eyes crinkled at him. “Aah. Sly.”
He nodded once, slowly, his eyes focused on her lips.
“Should I be concerned that you look like you could eat me right now?”
Garek chuckled, his palms flying up in defense. “An innocent walk, that is all I ask. It will be a novelty to talk with you in the fresh air instead of in Brianna’s room. But I may still look at you like this.”
“Am I wanton if I do not mind your look? No—do not answer. I do not care if I am.” Her eyes went to the heavens as she shook her head at her own lack of modesty. “Tie your horse to the post, and I will round up a stable boy while you look in upon Bree.”
~~~
Muffled voices floating to her, Lily walked down the corridor that intersected with the hallway leading to Brianna’s room. She turned the corner to find Garek talking to Mr. Sneedly outside of Brianna’s room.
A heated conversation—at least on Garek’s part. Even before she could make out words, she could hear the usual pompous whine in Mr. Sneedly’s voice. Lily’s eyes flickered to her sister’s door. Thank goodness it was closed.
Three more steps, and the men finally realized she was in the hall and walking toward them.
Mr. Sneedly turned, stepping in front of Garek to intercept her first. “Lily, I understand your sister is now fully conscious. Wonderful news. Truly a delight. I was stopping by to check on her before Dr. Harrison shoved me out of the room.”
Garek glared at the back of Mr. Sneedly’s greased hair. “If I had bothered to shove you, Sneedly, you would not be standing on two feet right now.”
Lily’s eyes snapped to Garek—even though his voice was even, those were the harshest words she had ever heard him speak.
Mr. Sneedly waved his fingers over his shoulder, his nose scrunched as he dismissed Garek’s words behind him like the smell of bad fish. “As your sister has now recovered, Lily, I was just informing Dr. Harrison that his services in this house will no longer be needed.”
Lily pulled her eyes off of Garek, forcing herself to look at Mr. Sneedly. “What?”
“Dr. Harrison is not needed. His time with us is done.”
“You are wrong, Mr. Sneedly. Very wrong.” She took a step towards Sneedly, instant anger flushing her cheeks—the man had absolutely no right. “Garek is here at my request. Not yours. I am his employer and will decide when we no longer need him. Brianna is far from well, and we are still dependent upon his services.”
Mr. Sneedly’s mouth stretched into a tight line. “Be that as it may, he is staying here at Weadly Hall by the generosity of the viscount. You may still use his services, Lily, but the viscount’s generosity of room and meals will not extend another night for Dr. Harrison.”
Lily’s eyes went wide. “You are kicking Garek out of Weadly Hall?”
“I am.”
“The viscount—he himself requested that directly of you, Mr. Sneedly?”
“It does not matter.” Mr. Sneedly’s chin tilted upward. He was short, the same height as Lily, so she had to stare up his thin nose. “I make the decisions regarding the management of Weadly Hall. Do I need to remind you of that?”
“No. No you do not, Mr. Sneedly.” Lily couldn’t keep disgust from curling her lip. “But Garek—”
“Step lightly, Lily.” Sneedly’s voice slipped from a whiny wheeze into sharpness. “Lest you and your sister find yourselves also at the end of the viscount’s generosity. Do you think your sister would fare well out in the frozen land?”
Lily bowed her head, taking a step backward as she hid her fists in her skirts. She recognized very well his tone of voice. The tone and what came after it.
She swallowed a seething breath. She knew how to do it now—or at least how to try and clamp down on her rage in front of Mr. Sneedly so the back of his hand wouldn’t fly at her face.
Sometimes she was successful. Sometimes not. Damn her stubborn tongue.
But submitting to Mr. Sneedly’s temper was the price she needed to pay to keep Brianna here. Here and safe until her sister was well enough to travel—well enough to tell Lily what to do, where to go.
But this—kicking Garek out of Weadly Hall. Threatening Brianna. This went too far.
The rage in her chest swelled upward.
Mr. Sneedly was ruthlessly overstepping his bounds—going farther than he had ever dared.
Her mouth opened. She wasn’t about to let Mr. Sneedly do this to her sister, to Garek. It was time Mr. Sneedly was put properly back into the rat’s nest he had crawled from, come what may. She ventured her eyes, but not her head upward, sneaking a glance over Mr. Sneedly’s shoulder to Garek.
The second her eyes met Garek’s, he shook his head at her. A clear warning. Even though his wide shoulders swallowed the hallway behind Mr. Sneedly. Even though Garek could easily crush the man. Garek was warning her not to fight this battle.
Lily didn’t want to acknowledge it. Didn’t want to silence herself. For once, she didn’t want to have to back down from Mr. Sneedly
.
Garek’s jaw flexed into hardness, his look turning from warning, to commanding. He gave her one last simple shake of his head. Simple, but she could feel the force of it cut across her tongue, stilling her voice.
Gritting her teeth, her eyes dropped and she exhaled, the rage balling in her chest.
“Mr. Sneedly, I will be gone by nightfall,” Garek said, his voice a calm echo in the hall. “But Lily, know that I will come daily to check on Brianna and make sure she is progressing as she should.”
Mr. Sneedly whipped around to Garek, his mouth sputtering against the plan. “No, that will not—”
“Surely you cannot think to deny Brianna medical care, Mr. Sneedly? I am quite certain that would be frowned upon by your cousin, the viscount, since he was the one that extended the invitation for Lily to keep Brianna here until she was well. Have I misunderstood—is that not true?”
Mr. Sneedly’s look skittered back and forth between Garek and Lily. “That may be, but—”
“I will be happy to draft a missive to the viscount to ensure the invitation to stay here with proper medical care is still valid, Mr. Sneedly,” Lily said.
“The viscount does not want to be bothered by matters at Weadly Hall, Lily,” Mr. Sneedly said.
Lily fought down the rage in her chest and smiled her sweetest smile, forcing her voice extra light. “I am sure he will be willing to take five minutes to read my letter and answer me. I do not want you to have to worry on what the viscount thinks is proper in this situation, Mr. Sneedly.” She started to turn from him. “I will go right now to draft it, so you may take it with you to town, Garek.”
“That is—that is not necessary, Lily,” Sneedly said, his boney fingers straining as they clasped in front of him. “Of course Dr. Harrison is welcome here at Weadly Hall to see his patient.”
Lily spun back to Sneedly and Garek. “Wonderful, Mr. Sneedly. That will save me time spent writing the letter. Time that is better spent with my sister.” Lily looked to Garek. “Will you accompany me to my father’s study, Garek? There is the matter of your payment, which you will need to rent a place nearby. I have a cottage already in mind as an option, if it is still vacant.”
“Do give my regards to the viscount for his hospitality during the past weeks, Mr. Sneedly,” Garek said as he pushed past Sneedly, his wide frame making Sneedly shuffle backward and bump into the wall.
Lily ducked her eyes, hiding a smirk as she turned, leading Garek down the hall.
They walked in silence to her father’s study, and once inside, Lily paused, facing the door with her fingers gripping the knob as she clicked it closed.
She leaned forward, her forehead resting on the door.
“What is it?” Garek asked.
She shook her head, not leaving the door. “I am just saying a quick prayer that the retribution for that fuss does not come back to haunt me.” She turned to Garek, a bright smile on her face. “But it was worth it just to see his trapped little sniveling face of rat’s arse attempting to scurry.”
Garek did not answer her, the frown deepening on his face as he stood by her father’s desk.
Her eyes immediately dropped to the brown and white Persian rug filling the room, fixating on the white area by the edge, stained purple long ago when her little fingers had dropped a half-eaten wild blackberry on it. Her father had not gotten even the slightest bit peeved. He had just cleaned it up and told her he would always think of her when he saw it.
She took a deep breath. Her father had not raised her to be petty. To put others to shame.
She looked up to Garek. “I apologize, that was not a generous thing to say. You must think me a shrew.”
“I never want you to curb what you need to say to me, Lily. And no, I do not think you a shrew. But I do think you are very angry.”
She shrugged, moving past him as she went behind her father’s desk to pull open the middle left drawer.
Garek followed her, setting himself at her side, his chest just a sliver away from touching her upper arm. “What has Mr. Sneedly done to you?”
“Nothing I have not been able to suffer, Garek.”
“And nothing you should ever have been put in the position to have to suffer?” He leaned slightly toward her, his breath reaching her temple. “Every time I see you look at him, Lily, your mouth curdles—your eyes, they go dark.”
“I have lasted long enough with him that Brianna is improving. That is what is important.” She bent, fishing her hand in the back of the drawer.
“I am only imagining the worst, Lily.”
Pulling out a wide box from the drawer, she set it on top of the walnut inlaid desk. Her hands clutching the top edges of the box, she shook her head, her eyes downward. “Just words, Garek. Words. Threats. Do not bother to imagine what is in the past. The worst has been an occasional misplaced hand, an occasional slap. That is all.”
She glanced up at him. Hard jaw. Fingers curling into fists. Murder in his eyes.
“Stop, Garek, stop. This is exactly what I did not want to happen. I have survived intact, and he is not worth your anger.”
“Nor is he worth yours.”
She turned to him, grabbing his left wrist and gently wedging her fingers into his fist, loosening the ball. “True, but I do not hold my anger nearly as well as you. I let it fly out of me in sometimes nasty ways. And then it rebuilds so quickly within me. But you. I have not seen you act upon anger once since you arrived here.”
Her head tilted, contemplating. “Which makes me wonder what does happen when your anger is unleashed. I do not think I want to witness it. Witness you pummel another man, even if that man is Sneedly.”
“That he has ever dared to touch you, Lily…”
She clasped his flattened hand between hers. “Please, leave it be. You were very right to stop me earlier. Stop me from saying something I would regret. Until Brianna is well enough to be moved, I cannot chance Mr. Sneedly doing something drastic. Until we can leave I need to submit to Sneedly’s little game of power.”
Garek’s shoulders relaxed, if only slightly. “I abhor that you have been put in this position with that man. That I will have to leave you in his presence.”
Her fingers trailing off his hand, Lily turned back to the box, fiddling with the latch. “Then do not think on it. Tell me how Brianna is, how she was when you checked on her. Tell me when she will be well enough to move. And then we can leave this place and never have to think of Mr. Sneedly again.”
“You were right. Brianna does appear better. She awoke while I was with her, checking on her leg and setting fresh salve in place. She asked me who I was, which was awkward without you there. She asked for Dr. Rugbert.”
“That makes sense since he was our physician for years—but we rarely used him. I had never imagined he would do so much damage to Bree. But I told her of you this morning—I am surprised she did not remember.”
“Her mind is foggy,” Garek said. “I am sure she will have trouble distinguishing reality from whatever world she was in, for some time.”
She glanced up from the box to Garek. “Is this real? Bree waking up? Does it truly mean she will get better?”
Garek sighed.
Lily had come to hate it when he sighed after a question about Brianna. It meant he wasn’t telling her something. Hiding some truth from her. But she let the sigh slide past without question. She probably didn’t want to hear what Garek was truly thinking.
“It means Brianna is still improving.” His words were slow, careful. Not promising too much. Never promising too much.
Lily nodded, looking down at the box as the latch opened. “Papa kept his coins in here.” She lifted the cover of the box.
Empty.
“What? They were in here.” Her bottom lip jutted out as her eyes swept the study, perplexed. “I do not know what happened…” She dropped to her knees, yanking open the other drawers in the desk, rummaging quickly through the contents.
“There were more c
oins in there—I know there were. I pulled some for Dr. Rugbert and the apothecary, but not nearly all—not even half. Sneedly.” She exhaled a growl.
“And I am sure he had more in here. Bree would know. She knew where Papa kept everything. Anytime I was in the study I was reading, or working on my music, or doing needlepoint, or doing something that, apparently, did not matter at all. I was never paying attention to what Papa taught Bree.”
She slammed a drawer shut. “She knows so damn much and I know so damn little and she cannot even tell me—at least not right now.”
Garek’s hand slid onto her shoulder, his fingers tightening. “You did not know what the future held, Lily—that your world would desert you. Do not worry on the coins. I did not want to take them from you anyway. I will go into town and find a way. I have some money. And there may be other patients in the area that I can be of use to. Or other work available.”
“I just…” Her shoulders slumped. “I just do not want you to leave.”
“It will only be for the nights. I will be here during the days.”
Her fingers went to her forehead, rubbing it. “The Franklin cottage was the vacant home I was thinking of for you to rent. It is small, room for only you, but it is close to Weadly Hall. But I wish you did not have to go.” Still on her knees, she looked up to him. “I do not worry when you are here, Garek. I do not worry on Bree, and I do not worry for myself.”
He dropped a hand in front of her, waiting until she reluctantly grabbed it. He pulled her to her feet, his hands settling on her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “And I do not worry about you when I am here. But this is as it has to be right now. That does not negate the fact that I hate that you are under the same roof with Sneedly.”
Her fingers came up, wrapping around his wrists. Strength. So much strength in his arms, his hands. If only she could steal some it. “Even if Bree were well enough to move, I do not know where we would go. How I could go about moving us. I cannot even find a few coins in here. Bree would know, though.”
Marquess of Fortune: A Lords of Fate Novel Page 6