Lily and the Major

by Linda Lael Miller

  Lily quickly removed the offending undergarment and pulled the dress bodice up again. She felt daring and strangely free, knowing she was bare beneath the gown.

  She was just putting the finishing touches on her hair when Sandra came to collect her.

  “Oh, Lily,” the other woman said happily, “you look wonderful!”

  Lily hoped that was truly the case. Although she knew there was no future for her and Caleb, she would remember this night all her life, and for some reason she couldn’t explain, she wanted him to do the same. “Thank you,” she said shyly.

  Sandra took her hand and tugged her out into the hallway. “Come on, hurry. There’s roast chicken for supper!”

  Lily was suddenly hungry, and Sandra didn’t need to urge her anymore. The two went downstairs together, chattering like the best of friends, and burst into the dining room.

  Caleb was there, standing beside the window with the colonel. Both men were sipping brandy, and when his gaze fell on Lily, Caleb looked as though he might drop his snifter.

  In the end he set the glass aside and came toward her, taking one of her hands in his and raising it to his lips. She had no words, Lily decided, to describe how handsome he looked in his impeccably tailored dress uniform.

  He was so magnificent, in fact, and his mouth was so warm against the back of her hand that Lily thought for a moment she might have to sit down.

  His golden eyes laughed at her, but gently, and with affection. He kissed her hand once more before releasing it and took obvious delight in the little shiver she gave.

  Lily turned away so quickly that she almost caught her foot in the hem of her gown and went sliding across the dining room floor. In fact, it was Caleb’s quick grip on the sides of her waist that kept her upright.

  Like a bird resettling its ruffled feathers, she squared herself and proceeded toward Mrs. Tibbet, who was watching her with affectionate amusement.

  “You look very lovely,” the woman said to Lily.

  “Thank you,” Lily replied. “Not only for the compliment, but for sending the dress to me in Tylerville.”

  “Sending it?” Mrs. Tibbet looked bewildered, but then her eyes connected with someone standing behind Lily, and she said quickly, “Oh, yes. You’re quite welcome, my dear.”

  Lily turned her head saw Caleb just behind her. His gaze shifted from Mrs. Tibbet to Lily, but before he could speak there was a mild ruckus at the front of the house. Sandra soon entered the dining room on the arm of a nice-looking man wearing a lieutenant’s uniform.

  He glanced uncomfortably at the colonel and then at Caleb, but for Lily he spared a broad smile.

  “This is Lieutenant Costner,” Sandra told Lily, giving her beau’s arm an eloquent little shake. “Robert, I’d like to introduce you to Miss Lily Chalmers.”

  The lieutenant’s brown eyes shifted to Caleb’s face and then back to Lily’s. The smile vanished. “Hello, Miss Chalmers,” he said hoarsely.

  “Lieutenant,” Lily responded with a slight nod of her head.

  “Enough of this nonsense!” boomed the colonel, startling everyone. “It’s time we had something to eat. Everybody sit down.”

  Caleb was careful to seat Lily beside him. The colonel sat to her right, at the head of the table.

  “Don’t you think Lily looks splendid in that dress, Caleb?” Sandra chimed as her aunt reached out to take the lid off the tureen and began ladling soup into delicate china bowls.

  Although Caleb’s glance across the table at Sandra was civil enough, Lily found it had its lethal elements. “Yes,” he answered evenly.

  “Did you make it yourself, Lily?”

  Lily was surprised at Sandra’s question. Since Mrs. Tibbet had sent the dress, she’d assumed it was a gown Sandra herself had grown tired of. “No,” she answered. “It was given to me.”

  Sandra flinched as though someone had kicked her under the table. She glared at Caleb but said nothing else. She accepted the soup that had been handed to her and passed it on.

  When everyone had been served and the colonel had taken some of his soup, he turned to Lily and said, “Well, how is our lovely houseguest tonight?”

  Before said guest could open her mouth to answer, Mrs. Tibbet broke in. “Lily’s been telling me about her visit to Suds Row,” she said pointedly. “The place is an absolute shame, dear, and it shouldn’t be tolerated.”

  The colonel fixed his wife with a quelling look. “The Row is hardly a suitable dinner topic,” he pointed out.

  Mrs. Tibbet immediately subsided, and Lily was surprised. She hadn’t seen her hostess as the type to be intimidated by a husband, even one as compelling as the white-haired colonel.

  “All the same—” Lily began, but she felt Caleb’s thigh bump against hers and fell silent. Now she was sure he’d either nudged Sandra with the toe of his boot or stepped on her foot when she’d begun talking about Lily’s dress.

  “Lily’s thinking of starting up a laundry business,” Caleb announced, his spoon poised in one hand.

  Mrs. Tibbet choked on her soup and had to press a napkin to her face.

  “A strictly legitimate one, of course,” the major went on, and he gave Lily a sidelong look that said, See how crazy your idea is?

  Her expression conveyed the message that he was mistaken if he thought he’d dissuaded her. Now that she had come up with the plan of hiring a Pinkerton man, as well as earning the money for the things she’d need for her homestead, she was more determined to succeed than ever. “There must be a little house I could rent somewhere on the post,” she reasoned.

  Mrs. Tibbet was fluttering her napkin in front of her face.

  “There’s no such thing,” grumbled the colonel.

  “There is that little place the teacher lived in before they built on to the schoolhouse,” ventured Lieutenant Costner, and everyone in the room glared at him except for Lily and Sandra.

  He lowered his eyes to his soup.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Caleb said with a note of dangerous cordiality in his voice. “I’ll remember this.”

  Chapter

  6

  For that one night Lily suspended all her doubts and reservations about the major. As far as she was concerned, the buggy waiting in front of the Tibbet house was a glass coach, and Caleb was a prince. She felt truly regal as he helped her up into the seat.

  Behind them Sandra and her lieutenant were getting into another rig, and their laughter added to the festive feeling of that warm April night.

  It was a moment before Lily realized that Caleb lingered on the sidewalk, looking up at her with the light of silver stars shimmering in his eyes. Her name sounded hoarse, coming from deep in his chest.

  “Yes?”

  But Caleb only shook his head, rounded the buggy, and climbed up to settle himself beside Lily. The seat of the rig was narrow, and it put them in scandalously close proximity. Through the skirts of her dancing gown Lily could feel the hard length of Caleb’s thigh pressing against her leg.

  She squirmed slightly and was rewarded with one of Caleb’s obnoxious grins.

  “Uncomfortable?” he asked.

  Lily swallowed. She’d never been so uncomfortable, and she hoped the feeling would last a lifetime. “I’m fine.”

  He chuckled and brought the reins down lightly on the horse’s back, at the same time releasing the brake with a motion of one foot.

  The ball was to be held in the mess hall, which stood in the middle of the post, near the parade grounds. As they drew nearer, Lily saw golden light spilling into the darkness from doors and windows and heard laughter and music. She was drawn to the merriment, but at the same time she wanted to go on being alone with Caleb under the shadowy covering of the buggy’s bonnet.

  At last they reached the large log building, and Caleb brought the rig to a stop. He came around to lift Lily down from the seat, his hands encircling her waist.

  Her heart beat faster at the intimacy of his touch, and when her breasts brushed aga
inst his chest as he lowered her to the ground a tremor of elemental need went through her. “Will you dance with me?” she asked in a whisper, gazing up at him. “Will you be the first?”

  He touched her cheek with an index finger, and for once his smile did not mock her. Indeed, it was like a caress, very private and special. “I want to be the first,” he said gruffly. “Believe me.”

  Before Lily could think of a suitable response they were surrounded by eager young soldiers wanting to make her acquaintance. Clearly, enlisted men were allowed to attend the ball as well as officers.

  Lily saw a muscle tighten in Caleb’s neck, then slacken again. He cleared his throat, and the flock of privates and corporals receded as though he’d thrown hot water on them.

  But they didn’t go far.

  Lily was bewitched and would have been content to stand there facing Caleb for eternity, but he finally took her arm and ushered her toward the open door of the mess hall. Several of Lily’s new admirers followed close behind.

  The inside of the building was crowded. The vast majority of the revelers wore uniforms, but there were several women, too.

  Caleb didn’t seem to see anything or anyone but Lily, and when the small military orchestra struck up a waltz he drew her easily into his arms.

  Only then did Lily suffer a misgiving. She’d done very little dancing in her life, and she was certain she would bumble everything. “Caleb, I—”

  The light of his smile burned away her qualms as the sun would sear dew from the grass. “You’re the most beautiful woman here,” he assured her. Then the music swept them both away into a swirling river of blue uniform coats and brightly colored dresses.

  After a few missteps the art of dancing came back to Lily, and she could feel her face glowing with the joy of it.

  Caleb’s eyes were alight with laughter as he looked down at her, but there was no mockery in his expression, and Lily felt a strange tug in the region of her heart. In that moment something had been irrevocably altered within her, but she had no way of knowing what was different.

  Through dance after dance Lily whirled in Caleb’s arms, and it was only when he led her outside that she realized she was breathless and much too warm.

  He handed her the glass of punch he’d appropriated from the refreshment table on the way out. “I’ll never forget this night,” he said quietly.

  Lily held the cup in both hands and took an unladylike gulp before remembering her manners. She dropped one hand and sipped. “Neither will I,” she confessed when her thirst had been satisfied. A certain sadness possessed her. “I wish it never had to end.”

  Caleb tilted his head back to look at the starry sky for a moment before meeting her gaze directly. “It doesn’t have to end, Lily. We could be together.”

  She nearly dropped the small glass cup. Lily knew what he meant, and, for her, the magical mood of the evening had been spoiled. “We hardly know each other,” she said in a chilly voice.

  He moved a step nearer—they were almost as close as they had been when they were dancing—and took the cup from her hand. After setting it on the porch railing he curved a finger under Lily’s chin and lifted. “As naive as you are, Lily-flower,” he said gruffly, “you must know that something is happening between us.”

  She trembled at his touch. “Yes,” she admitted as his mouth drew nearer to her own.

  The kiss was inevitable, and it was powerful. It left Lily sagging against Caleb’s chest, her hands gripping the front of his uniform coat.

  “Come with me,” he said quietly, and Lily could no more have defied him than she could have reached out and snatched a star from the sky.

  He took her across the road, to the building where Colonel Tibbet’s office was. It was dark there, but Lily wasn’t afraid because a strange feeling of enchantment possessed her.

  They entered a room, and, after closing the door, Caleb left Lily to light a lamp. In the flickering glow Lily saw a desk, bookshelves, and a long leather couch.

  Caleb stood by the sofa, and when he held out a hand to Lily she went to him.

  “They’ll know we’re gone,” she protested, using the last vestiges of her willpower. She knew Caleb had bewitched her, either while they were dancing or while they were standing close beneath the stars, but she couldn’t break the spell.

  He shook his head. “We’ll be back before anyone misses us.”

  “Caleb—”

  He kissed her forehead lightly. “Shhh.” His hands came to rest on her bare shoulders, the thumbs making soft motions against her collarbone.

  Lily could feel the hard wall of his torso and his thighs against her, and she sensed the steely strength of him. “You’re—you’re going to compromise me,” she fretted, but she couldn’t bring herself to step out of his embrace.

  “Umm-hmmm.” Caleb bent his head to nibble at the sensitive flesh beneath Lily’s right ear, and she moaned softly.

  “I’ll be r-ruined for any other man—”

  “You don’t want any other man,” Caleb reasoned as he continued his tender torment, “so what does it matter?”

  Lily shivered, but she didn’t speak.

  Caleb reached around behind her and began unfastening the back of her dress. “I have to look at you, Lily. If I don’t, I’ll go crazy.”

  Lily would not have permitted any other man on earth the brazen liberty Caleb took then, but she had no power to stop him, and somehow he knew that. He drew down the bodice of her gown so that her breasts were proudly bared.

  Until that moment Lily had believed that women had breasts only so they could nurture babies. Now her horizons roadening significantly.

  Caleb touched her very lightly, circling one nipple with the tip of his finger, causing the rosebud to tighten, and Lily stiffened as a new pleasure knifed through her.

  She drew in a sharp breath as Caleb trailed his fingers across her chest to the other breast. She could not believe she was allowing such an impropriety, let alone enjoying it.

  “Caleb,” she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment.

  She felt him withdraw and opened her eyes again to see that he was unbuttoning his uniform coat. He shrugged out of the garment and tossed it aside.

  Some of Lily’s lost reason was restored, and she lifted her arms to cover herself self-consciously, but Caleb immediately reached out, clasped her wrists in gentle hands, and lowered them again. Then he wrapped his arms around Lily’s waist and bent to taste one of her nipples with a flick of his tongue.

  Lily gasped and put her hand to the back of his head, instinctively pressing him closer.

  He chuckled and rewarded her with a suckling motion that made her groan, then reached out to turn down the wick in the lamp. Although he was a man made of shadows, Lily knew the whiteness of her skin made her clearly visible.

  “You’re too short for this,” Caleb muttered, and he gripped Lily by the waist and easily lifted her high off the floor. Her dress fell away in the process, but she was only half aware of that.

  She gripped Caleb’s shoulders with her fingers as he clasped his arms together beneath her bottom and drew her nipple back into his mouth. She felt herself growing moist in quite another place, and that mysterious ache was back, fiercer than ever.

  Presently he carried her to the couch—she felt the cool grip of the leather as he laid her there—and she sought his face with her hands while he took away her petticoat and her drawers and the dainty slippers Sandra had lent her.

  “Why, Caleb?” she whispered.

  He found the nest of curls at the junction of her thighs and began to stroke her lightly. Skillfully. “There’s no other way to convince you that you belong with me,” he answered, his voice low and hoarse. “Part your legs for me, Lily.”

  Her knees separated of their own accord, and Caleb’s fingers continued their circular caresses, setting Lily’s insides afire even as she grew moister.

  “It’s not fair that you can touch me and—oooooh—I can’t touch you,”
Lily fretted as her hips began the dance Caleb was teaching them.

  He laughed softly. “That would scare you, I think,” he said, and then he couldn’t talk anymore because his mouth was occupied with her breast again.

  Lily began to thrash on the couch; the pleasure was too great, she couldn’t bear it. It was building and building inside her, threatening to erupt like Vesuvius. “Oh—Caleb—something is happening to me—I—”

  He let her nipple go briefly. “Something is happening, all right. But it’s perfectly natural, Lily. Stop worrying and let me show you hat it means to be a woman.”

  Her back arched in wild concert with his hand. “Caleb,” she gasped in delicious desperation. “Caleb.”

  “It’s all right, Lily. Your body knows what to do.”

  “Oh—my—God—”

  Suddenly he left her breast, and his fingers stopped stroking Lily to part her. She gave a primitive cry when his tongue touched the little nubbin of flesh where her womanhood had been hiding.

  Her body seemed to go wild, thrashing and flailing to escape Caleb even as it fought to encompass him. Caleb caught his hands under her bottom and held her to his mouth like a vessel, and his grasp was firm enough to still her rebellious hips. She gave a long, lusty groan, low in her throat, as her body and soul convulsed in unison.

  When the fierce spasms had subsided to a steady quiver Caleb lowered her gently to the couch and stroked her thighs with his hands.

  “Let me touch you,” she said again, and this time Caleb put her hands to the front of his shirt. She groped to unbutton it and spread her hands over his bare chest.

  He drew in his breath when Lily touched his nipples, and the realization that she had power over him, just as he had over her, was intoxicating. Emboldened, she lifted her hands to the back of his neck and pressed him into another kiss.

  After a long time he broke away. “Oh, Lily,” he said with a raspy chuckle, and his tone made the words a complete sentence in themselves.

  “Caleb,” she pleaded, rising up far enough to find one of his nipples with the tip of her tongue.

  Caleb trembled, and his hands fell to his sides. He allowed her to taste him at her leisure, then shifted so that he was sitting beside her on the couch. He pulled off his boots. “Once this happens,” he said, “things will be different for you, Lily.”