by Heather Boyd
Stunned, embarrassed, and fascinated by Giles, she watched his hands grasp the edge of the blanket and drag it up her chest to cover her exposed breasts. Ragged breathing caressed her cheek and when Lilly turned, his blue eyes hid behind ginger-lashed lids mere inches from her own.
Up close, the man was breathtaking. Giles drew his hands back slowly, stroking the side of her body boldly. When he stopped touching her, Lilly could breathe freely again.
His blue eyes flared open and they were as bright a blue as she had ever seen. “Are you going to help me out here or do I have to become a tyrant? Are you thirsty? Can you eat something? Is the light too bright? Do you need to go somewhere you would rather not name? Talk to me, Lilly. I only want to take care of you.”
She licked her lips to speak. Her mouth was as dry as parchment. Giles’ eyes followed her tongue. Lilly hastily croaked out a request for water and he fetched it. She was not hungry, but Giles returned with a plate wrapped in linen and uncovered a hunk of plain bread. He broke off a piece and handed it to her.
Lilly nibbled at it. Why had Giles returned to her again? He appeared in no hurry to leave either. Nevertheless, it would come, she was sure of that. He was only delaying the inevitable.
In a flash of vision, she remembered fighting against him and frowned, unsure of when that had happened. She dropped her eyes and turned her head to look at the floor. The boards were bare. She glanced at Giles, but he had seen the direction of her gaze.
“It was not one of my favorites, no.” Giles brushed another strand of hair back from her face. “No matter, another carpet will be found in the attics today.”
Lilly struggled with her hazy memory, then remembered that she had been sick and all over him, too. Beyond embarrassed, she buried her head in her hands.
Giles leaned close, running his hands up and down her spine. “It does not matter, Lilly. It really does not.”
The unmistakable sensation of Giles kissing her hair snapped her out of her misery, but sank her further into confusion. Giles kissed lovers. She moved her head away, catching a glimpse of that odd expression on his face again. He should not tease; that was just too cruel.
With a sigh, he brushed her hair back and placed the plate in her lap. “Eat something more and then rest. You will be better for it.” He squeezed her arm, then walked to the writing desk again with stiff movements and returned to his papers.
~ * ~
A short time later, Lilly stirred. Giles heard her feet hit the floor with a thud. Instead of turning immediately, he hesitated. He knew what he would see.
Everything he wanted. More than she should give to a man like him. He didn’t want to turn around and catch another glimpse of her breasts through the thin silk, but he also couldn’t stand not to watch over her.
Desperately Giles wished he had found a robe in his sister’s wardrobe before today, but he had never remembered to locate one. He would send Mrs. Osprey to hunt for one today or, if he could bear to leave the room, he would find one himself.
Bracing himself, Giles turned. Lilly was still holding onto the bed and exposed a great length of leg to his hungry eyes. Fighting the urge to hurry, Giles stood slowly and went to her, threading his arm around Lilly’s waist as naturally as if he had done it a hundred times before.
She resisted initially, but soon gave up when his vise like grip on her waist refused to yield. It was either that or allow his hand to roam where it wanted.
Without a word, Giles led her across the room to the screened corner, and then left the room, giving her privacy and him time to control his rampant erection. He flung open the door to his sister’s overstuffed room and searched for a robe. He found one in the third drawer and snatched it up, hurrying to return to Lilly.
At the doorway, Giles swayed back. That chemise was too damn thin. The light streaming in behind Lilly had turned it transparent. His breathing hitched as he made out the swell of her breasts beneath the silk, the curve of her tiny waist, the flare of her hips, and the near-invisible pale curls between her legs. His body’s response, which had not died away, roared out of his control and tented the front of his trousers in a very obvious way.
Giles drew the robe in front of his groin.
Teeth gritted, he crossed to Lilly’s side, moving his traitorous body behind her and out of her line of sight. He’d always heard virgins were devilishly prickly about the sight of an erection at close range. He did not want to do anything else to lower her opinion of him.
Sliding the pink silk around Lilly’s shoulders, he waited while her arms found the sleeves. Then he gathered the sides to cross them over her body before tying the sash and flattened his hands over her belly.
Lilly stiffened as he pulled her into his embrace, letting her touch arouse him further. His cock ached as he brushed against her tiny body. He couldn’t hide his desire.
Standing this close together, he could rest his chin on the top of her head but then he angled his head so he could press his lips against her hair. He swayed, drawing Lilly with him, unwilling to ignore the curious sensation of winding himself around her without either one of them moving.
They stayed like that a while and Giles wondered what she thought of him holding her. Lilly had not said a word and he was loath to be the first to pull back. He loved this too much, her warmth, her smell, her trust in him.
A touch as light as the wind brushed against his fingers and let him know that she was not appalled at his behavior. “This is like dancing, isn’t it?” Her voice wavered as she snuggled into him, tempting his desire higher than he wished.
“Yes, almost,” he returned, but that was another lie. He’d never suffered an erection while dancing. Not in all his years of wicked decadence.
“I used to like to dance, but it has been so long I’ve probably forgotten all the steps. The waltz looks divine. Do you know how to dance it?”
“I have tried it a time or two, yes,” he assured her, moving his hips against her bottom without meaning to.
“Would you teach me someday, Giles?” Lilly shook her head, brushing her blonde hair against his skin. “I’m sorry. Forget I asked that.”
Her head dipped away and she looked down at the floor. Her fingers burrowed under his, trying to get free, but Giles was having none of that. Yesterday had been a mistake, and he fully intended to make it up to Lilly as quick as he could.
He lowered his mouth to her ear. “I will teach you now. How about that?”
Despite his self-recriminations that he was moving too fast, he brushed his erection against her backside one last time and stepped back. Erection still outstanding, he turned Lilly to face him and she looked up. Her eyes were bright with confusion and pleasure, each warring for dominance.
Giles took her hands, placed one against his shoulder and took the other in his. He wrapped his arm around her back so it rested high between her shoulder blades and away from the temptation of her rear.
“This is the correct posture for dancing the waltz. The proper distance must be maintained at all times, or the woman will be censured by her peers and the man applauded by his fellows. Be sure to be the one to maintain the distance and do not rely on the man to do so, all right?”
Giles started them moving, slowly at first until Lilly got the hang of the steps. He knew the exact moment Lilly acknowledge his aroused state. Her hand flexed in his, gripping tightly, but she still watched downward. He tried not to become more aroused than he was.
A foolish wish.
He twirled her around slowly, conscious that too much spinning would not be good for her head but determined not to disappoint her. Giles persistently drew her closer, making Lilly enforce the distance between them until he gave up trying and just enjoyed dancing with her.
A knock on the door separated them. Giles gave Lilly a moment to scamper back into bed before he acknowledged the knock. Dithers opened the door, peering at him and Lilly, then opened the door wide.
A maid entered, Maisie or Daisy—he could
never tell them apart—bearing linen and then the rest of his staff followed, carrying tableware and a dinner designed to please two.
Giles heard the happy sigh Lilly uttered as if she finally understood he wouldn’t be leaving her alone again.
Chapter Fourteen
LILLY LET OUT a sigh as the last servant departed. Although she’d never given the matter serious thought before today, she preferred for only Giles to see her informally dressed. Now that they had gone, she could stop clutching her robe closed. “What do you like most about London, Giles?”
“Oh, there are so many things.” Giles took a sip of wine.
He rolled the taste around his mouth in appreciation and the way he drank wine made Lilly want to giggle. “Do you go to the theatre?”
“Yes, quite often.”
“Have you seen the actress, Camille, on stage?” Lilly smoothed out the creases in the silk robe, admiring the smooth material under her fingertips. Giles had spoiled her for a normal life.
“Yes, many times. She is a superb actress, if the role is right for her.”
Lilly shifted food around her plate. “Have you met her?”
Giles would probably have bedded her too. Poor Papa. How could Camille resist an invitation from Giles?
“Yes, we have spoken a few times.” Giles’ face held an odd expression, and then he scoffed. “She is very passionate about her craft and little else. If you are fishing for further information, I know little else about her.”
“Good,” Lilly answered and Giles laughed, the deep chuckle that vibrated up from her bare toes. “Did you know she is my papa’s mistress?”
“Are you going to eat that food, or let it go cold?” Giles pressed her fork back into her hand.
“Oh, forgive me. I like hearing you talk, Giles.” Lilly pushed another small bite between her lips and forced herself to swallow. “You didn’t answer my question, though.”
He grinned and poured himself another glass of wine. “And I’m not going to comment on something that is none of my business, either.”
“You know about her, don’t you?” Lilly persisted, enjoying watching him squirm. “Papa talks about her all the time, so I think she must be.”
Giles’ free hand squeezed the bridge of his nose, and then he shook his head. “How was your lamb?”
“Delicious, thank you? And yours?”
“Perfection. You should have another bite.”
Lilly obliged and when she glanced at Giles again, he was trying hard not to laugh.
Lilly scowled. “That was not nice, Giles. If you don’t want to talk to me, you don’t have to keep suggesting I shove food in my mouth.” Her fork fell with an unladylike clatter and she pushed her plate away.
“I’m not trying to silence you entirely. I’m simply trying to avoid the subject of mistresses. It’s not an appropriate conversation to have during dinner.”
“But my papa talks about her all the time. Why can’t I discuss her with you? I have no one else to ask.”
Giles leaned across the table and clasped her hand in his. “Mistresses are not held in great esteem in society. Most ladies would not mention them at all.”
“I’m not most women.”
“Believe me, I appreciate just how special you are.” When Giles released her hand to touch her face, Lilly snuggled into his warm palm, content to let the matter drop. For now.
~ * ~
Lilly stood into the weak sunlight and rustled her skirts about her legs. It was such a delight to be properly dressed again and able to see the world. Even though the day was cloudy, it was a better day than she had thought to have.
Giles had made it better.
He had suggested she meet him after luncheon for a stroll around the grounds, but she was only to walk as far as the small pond and wait there for him.
Lilly grimaced at the water and kept a few feet away. Atticus, however, walked through the shallow depths, chasing tadpoles. She had once liked to watch them too, but no longer. Water was too dangerous and she did not swim at all. She had enough trouble bathing and loathed water sliding over her face.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind her and she turned. Giles. He had spent the entire day with her yesterday, and dined in her room last night. He’d not left her side long enough for her to change into a proper gown.
They had talked until very late, but he had still soothed her back and shoulders, claiming he’d sleep better knowing she was comfortable. Last night her nightgown had remained on and his hands had only brushed her skin at her neck and feet.
It still had the same effect on her though. She rested more comfortably, but Lilly knew his actions had aroused both of them. When they had danced, she had seen the dark linen tenting over Giles’ groin. Knowing him as well as she did, she had not been afraid. She was embarrassed to admit that she was pleased. His obvious state disproved her fears that she was not woman enough.
Watching Giles approach, her heart gave a little flutter and her toes curled in her borrowed slippers. He could stop her heart again at any moment, yet she would still do anything to remain near him. She liked him. She liked her friend very much.
Briefly, she wondered what she would do when Giles’ healing touch was not available. Would she curl back into a bottle of laudanum and wither away in a remote manor? She did not want that.
Lilly wanted a normal life, but she was under no illusions that what she shared here with Giles was in any way normal. Giles’ smile widened as he reached her, and he offered his arm for her to take. The heat of him, the scent of his body, wove around her and made her safe. For all of his threats, she secretly thought Giles Wexham was very good for her. Beside him, she was happy for the first time in perhaps forever.
Giles swallowed hard as the smile on Lilly’s face changed. He knew that look and it did not bode well for him. Lilly was falling in love with him and he was powerless to stop her slide.
His usual tactic would be to cool things between them before moving on to another lover. But his previous attempt had been an utter disaster and the repercussions of yesterday troubled him still. Lilly needed a friend and she had foolishly chosen him to be that friend. Her one and only. Normally, the idea would terrify him, but this was Lilly. Despite her innocence, or because of it, he liked spending time in her company.
Giles didn’t know what was going to happen when her father returned to Cottingstone. Dear God, he had forgotten all about her father’s plans. How foolish? He should have written to Lord Winter to let him know she was better, but the baron had not given him a forwarding address.
He could send a servant if he had one to spare, but Lord Winter expected discretion. Giles struggled with that thought for a moment and then shrugged, unsure of what to make of his prickling dread. With Lilly tripping along beside him, so trusting and pure, he couldn’t share his worries with her.
He wove them around the now cleared garden, along the cobblestone path and out toward the orchard, but his mind tumbled with questions.
“Ah, I see why there is such an array of fruit with every meal. You are heartily spoilt for choice, Giles.”
“The gardens were my mother’s obsession, and I’m lucky they have managed to be spared damage from my neglect. Some of the trees are very old. Cook would pack up and leave without their bounty.”
“She’d never leave you. From what I can tell, Cook dotes on you.”
Giles laughed and tugged Lilly closer. “She has had a willing victim for her creations for a long time.”
They talked all the time. It was a strange occurrence for Giles. Usually conversation came second when he was with a woman. But Lilly had a lively curiosity about Cottingstone and asked her questions in such a way that embarrassed him. She was so damn earnest about it all and he was deeply flattered by her interest.
That did not mean he had accepted his annoying attraction to her. At the oddest of times, he found himself responding in a way best reserved for the bedroom or at least a private corner. She had the
unique ability to make him hard just by smelling a rose in bloom, just as she did now.
He looked away from Lilly’s face in a vain attempt at control, but who was he kidding? He had not had a moment of true control since the first time he had glimpsed her haunting a dimly lit bedchamber of Huntley House.
All of his daydreams and fantasies revolved around the little ghost beside him. He still thought of her that way, too. Lilly was his own private specter, invading his dreams, and his life in the most disruptive way possible.
In his short interval at Cottingstone, he had not responded in any positive way to the invitations sent to him. When he went back to London, he would have a blank appointment book before him. A clean slate.
He had no pressing need to return and no desire to see his mistress. Sabine would be fairly unhappy with him about that. She had been his lover for some time, but he did not dream of her, and had not replied to any of her heavily scented invitations to return to London.
Sabine had developed into a very verbally blunt woman. That was his doing; well, perhaps not all of it. But the woman saw a boundary and could not help but run across it. Sabine loved to create scandal and believed herself the perfect temptress. She was exhausting.
Unlike Lilly.
Sighing, Giles realized he didn’t regret parting ways with Sabine. When Lord Winter returned, Giles would go back to London and break with her. He couldn’t contemplate bedding her again, not when all of his thoughts involved a ghost of a girl in a white, virginal nightgown.
The sound of water interrupted Giles’ thoughts and he lifted his head, surprised at their location. He had not meant to bring Lilly this far from the house, and especially not here to the creek crossing.
Certainly not to the place where she’d almost died.
A quick glance at Lilly confirmed her anxiety. She stared ahead, holding her lower lip between her teeth. Giles ruthlessly held back the urge to comfort her. He usually avoided kissing, but her bottom lip looked so lush and soft that he was mightily tempted to break his own rule.