by Lorna James
She thought.
She hoped.
“And, of course, hiding the nature of your relationship with William from the child will be difficult,” Richilde said. “Your time with him would be limited and eventually it would have to cease completely.”
Lily rubbed her throbbing temples. There had to be a way she could keep them both.
“I can see you are fond of the boy, but he can’t have two fathers. You could have two lovers, but not with the child.” Richilde stood up to leave.
“I know you’ll make the right decision,” Clara said, following suit. “Please know that we will always be here for you.”
“Of course,” Richilde said.
“Thank you.” Lily stood up on shaking knees. “I don’t know what I would have done without you both to listen to my fears and offer counsel.”
The countess paused in the doorway. “There is another solution, but…” She shook her head.
“What?”
“You could leave with the boy.”
“Leave Charles and William?”
Waving her hand, she said, “Forget I said anything. Yet, if it were a matter of saving their friendship, William’s happiness, and of course, the poor child’s… I have friends in Paris who would be able to help you. Money is no object.”
Lily felt faint. She sat back down quickly before she fell down. “You are so kind,” she said with numbed lips. “But I believe that won’t be necessary.”
“Of course, it’s not.” Clara glared at Richilde.
“We’ll find a way to be together,” Lily said. All three of us, she thought, as George scampered back up next to her on the couch.
“Of course,” the countess simpered and left, Lady Penn trailing after her.
Chapter Twelve
William noticed that Lily fretted in the carriage. She stared out the window and sighed. She fiddled with her gloves. She had rushed them out of the house with just a quick kiss on Charles’s cheek, but not one for him.
Having enough of her restlessness, he tugged her onto his lap.
“William,” she gasped and then melted into him when he kissed her.
“Good thing I told the driver to take the long route,” Charles said, joining him on the bench seat.
“I missed you,” William said. She was distracted by something other than him, and he planned to change that.
Lily squirmed, but it had been too long without her sweet mouth on him, and he cupped her breast and went on tasting her sweetness. Charles lifted her legs across his lap and caressed them under her dress. Her moan of delight pleased him, and Charles chuckled.
“I missed you, too, sweetling. I’m so glad you’re feeling better.” Charles raised her skirts, dipping his head under them. When Lily shrieked into William’s mouth, he knew Charles was tonguing her honeyed entrance. He took the opportunity to loosen her corset and pop her breasts out. So beautiful.
“Charles.” She moaned when William released her lips to nibble on the pink buds of her nipples. “William.” She sighed.
Music to his ears. He should order the damn carriage to turn around and take them back to her house, but he needed satisfaction right now.
The only answer he received from her cries was the soft licking sounds between her legs and the wet tugs on her breasts. Lily bucked and writhed, her fingers tugging on his hair. He liked how desperate she was. He was hard, and it took all of his willpower not to shove Charles aside and dip into her honeyed warmth.
“Can you tell we missed you?” he asked, cupping and squeezing her soft mounds.
She bucked up wildly and William caught her, smothering her scream of release with his mouth. Charles moaned and reluctantly came up for air. “I would have liked to dine in tonight, pet. But since you wanted to go out, this is a nice compromise.”
“You naughty boys,” she said, still panting. “What am I going to do with you?”
William tossed a pillow on the floor and Charles helped her kneel in front of them. She smiled as they took themselves out of their breeches.
“I’ve missed you, too.” Her eyes were shining and bright. Taking Charles’s member in her hand, Lily leaned in and engulfed William’s cock in her mouth.
“She’s a fast learner,” Charles gritted out as Lily stroked him fast.
William had no witty words. His head was thrown back and his fist clenched at his side, lest he ruin her hair by clutching at it. Her mouth was hot and wet as she took him deep and then slid him almost out. She continued teasing him until his toes curled in his boots and his hips lifted to meet her mouth. Then the little minx switched, and it was her tight little hand rubbing him while she sucked on Charles. He watched her eager mouth glide up and down his friend. Lily’s breasts were still out and they rubbed against Charles’s legs.
“Sweet Jesus,” William gasped and clutched for a towel he had stowed for this occasion. He managed to cover his cock in time as he spilled into the cloth instead of all over his clothes. Cleaning himself up in a leisurely fashion, he enjoyed Charles’s torment before he also spasmed and went limp. What had started out as a way to send Lily to heaven had turned into an even more enjoyable trip.
“Come here, my sweet. Let’s fix you up.” Charles straightened her skirts, while William fixed her bodice.
“You two are very good at that,” she said, with a slight blush.
“Being a lady’s maid or making beautiful women come apart?”
“Both,” she said. “Probably from all that practice.” But she was smiling as she said it and William could tell that she was well pleased, if still a little distracted. He put it down to her being so ill this past week. She did look rather wan and pale, now that he could think clearly.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, running his thumb over her wrinkled brow.
“Later,” she said, sighing. “I just want to enjoy this.”
“As you wish.”
Dinner was an intimate affair. Or as intimate as being seated in a busy restaurant with half of London wandering around could be. William thought the wine was refreshing and the meal superb, but it could have been because he realized that they would be able to make their relationship work after all.
Lily was still frowning, and her nerves seemed frayed despite the pleasures in the carriage. She jumped at every little sound. While they were lingering over dessert, William couldn’t take it anymore.
“Lily, what’s wrong?”
“Countess Hainaut came to see me.”
William shared an annoyed look with Charles. “I’m sorry, love. Please don’t let her upset you.” He held Lily’s hand for a moment before letting go. He didn’t want to bring any unwanted attention to them.
“She came to see us as well,” Charles said.
Lily gaped at him. “Oh no.”
William held up a hand. “Do not let her cross your mind. She wouldn’t dare risk her own marriage by telling anyone about the three of us.”
Lily blinked. “Oh, I hadn’t considered that.” She cleared her throat. “Did she mention anything else?”
Charles lit up a cheroot. “She might have. I have to admit I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Is there something else bothering you, Lily? I will have strong words with Richilde if she’s the cause of your being so unhappy.” William leaned forward, wishing he could comfort her.
“No, she was actually lovely to me. When she spoke to you, did she mention a child?” Lily asked.
Charles snorted. “No. I believe she is barren.”
William shook his head. “Is that it? She told you she was pregnant and one of us was the father.”
“No…I…”
“It’s the oldest trick in the book, trying to tie a man down with a babe. It’s deplorable. Only desperate wretches would even consider that old lie.” Charles visibly relaxed.
Lily went ashen.
“My dear, are you sure you’re all right?”
“What if the child was illegitimate?”
C
harles gave a half shrug. “Many men take care of their bastards.”
“Would you?” Lily said. “Take care of a bastard?”
Charles barked out a laugh. “Heavens no.” He gave a mock shudder. “That’s all I would need, to hear about my indiscretions from Sebastian.”
“Perhaps, you should stop caring what Sebastian thinks,” their Tiger Lily said with enough bite in her voice that they both looked at her.
“Perhaps you’re right,” Charles said.
“What about you?” Lily focused a glare on him.
“I don’t care a fig about Sebastian.”
That didn’t help his situation any. “About raising an illegitimate child,” she said icily.
William smiled through the pang of longing he felt and lied again.
“No, I’m not father material. I don’t want the responsibility of it all. I don’t even want a legitimate one.” He would have loved to father an heir with her—and perhaps he would name one of the children she bore as his heir. It could very well be that he would put a babe in his beloved, but the babe would bear Charles’s name. It was bittersweet and yet, he would not father another child with another woman, so he pretended he didn’t want one.
“Hear, hear,” Charles said, clinking glasses with him.
“Besides, as I said, Richilde was up to her old tricks. She is not with child.” William tilted his head. “Are you?”
“What?” Lily asked, her face flushing scarlet.
“I know it’s not a topic for dinner conversation, but you do seem out of sorts.” He gave Lily a pointed look and she covered her stomach and shook her head in alarm.
“Good. I am not ready to be a father,” Charles said.
“You’d be a horrible one,” William agreed, not meaning a word of it.
“I’d probably turn into my own father. Fat, old, and boring as hell.” He grimaced.
“I daresay your reputation would never recover. You would become…” William looked around. “Honorable,” he whispered.
“Perish the thought.”
“I’m afraid, love,” William said. “You have a lot of work ahead of you to make either of us father material.”
“Aren’t you afraid of having another child?” Charles asked, grasping for tact but not coming close to it.
“Not afraid,” she said, stiffly. “I hadn’t even considered it.”
“Then don’t.” Charles clinked glasses with her. “For now, we are young and free with no obligations. When a child comes, our lives will change and I, for one, do not want to change a moment.”
William grunted and toasted his glass. “Hear, hear.”
“But what if a child came into our lives? Suddenly and unexpectedly,” she asked, her voice pitched higher than normal.
“I suppose we could hire people to help us.” Charles shrugged. “Until we were used to becoming parents, but that’s a long time off.”
“I would imagine that it would be difficult to keep our relationship secret if there was a child to think about.” William frowned.
Lily let out a slight sound of distress.
“Let’s not think of responsibilities.” Charles rushed to soothe her. “We’ll have the whole time of your confinement to mourn the loss of our youth.”
That was easy for him to say. He would be the father and husband.
Lowering his voice, Charles said, “Right now, I just want to lose myself in your body and while I recover, I want to see William take you into oblivion.” He raised her hand to his lips.
“Shut up, Charles. This is important to her, can’t you see?”
“Do not tell me how to speak to my wife.”
“She’s not your wife yet.”
“Please,” Lily said weakly.
“Just what are you implying?” Charles rounded on William and shoved him.
Both men stood up, squaring off against each other.
“I’m afraid, I must have overdone it this evening.” Lily cleared her throat. “Perhaps, I wasn’t as cured as I thought. Take me home. Now.”
“Of course,” William said.
“I’ll see her home. You take care of the bill.” Charles took her elbow and walked her out to the carriage.
A muscle jumped in his cheek as William clenched his jaw.
…
A few days later, William was still seething over Charles’s behavior when he received a letter from Lily.
My dearest Dukes,
I apologize for my sudden departure, but I learned that I am the guardian of a child. He’s not mine. He is George’s through scandalous means, and he has no other family. The boy was dropped off to me after being held by nefarious people who used him as a pawn to get George to do what they wanted. I cannot deposit the boy into yet another stranger’s home. He could have been my lost child and looking at him, I cannot see the difference between him and my own son, even though others might.
To make matters worse, I’m afraid that Society will not believe the little boy is not my son, and instead believe that I had hidden him away to better my chances of snatching you in marriage. I cannot let you face the gossip and Sebastian’s machinations over this, knowing that you both don’t want to be burdened with a child.
I know this changes everything but I couldn’t bear it if I brought you a moment of unhappiness. I see how being with me has changed your friendship, and I couldn’t bear it if I were the one to destroy that. After the altercation the other night, the addition of a child would be the final nail in that coffin.
You both have given me hope, pleasure, and have been everything I ever dreamed of and things I have never imagined. I have a duty to this young boy to raise him and give him the opportunities that were taken from him. Please know that you will always be in my mind and my heart. Perhaps when little George is grown and he no longer needs me, we can be together again. Of course, that is if I haven’t destroyed your regard for me by choosing him over the two of you. I love you. I love you both so much. The happiest moments of my life have been with the two of you. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.
All my love - Lily
Charles arrived shortly after the letter.
“You bastard.” William launched himself at him with a wild haymaker. Dodging, Charles pummeled him in the stomach but William was too grief-stricken to care. “How could you do this?”
“Me? You’re the one snarling and glaring at us. Your jealousy did this.”
The burning sensation in his gut was more from the truth of his words than his punch. “What happened to us, Charles?”
“We made the mistake of thinking being with our Lily would just be like the others.”
“It wasn’t.” Grimacing, William rubbed his stomach. “You might as well come in and see if we can fix this mess. Do you know where she is?”
“I have men on it. We’ll find her.”
“And then what?” William sank dejectedly onto his settee, fumbling for the brandy.
“And then we never let her go again.”
William snorted. “Easy for you to say. She’ll be your wife.”
“I would never take her from you.” Except Charles didn’t meet his eyes.
“I would, if I were in your position,” William admitted.
“And that’s why we lost her. Again.”
William shot to his feet. “What if she marries someone else?”
“Don’t you think I’ve thought of that?” Charles paced around the room. “It’s unlikely. Not with the child. Not this soon.”
“We need to speak to Richilde.”
“I have men on that also,” Charles said darkly. “I don’t think she’s innocent in this.”
William handed him a glass of brandy. “We’re getting Lily back.”
“Of course we will,” Charles said. “But we’ll just lose her again if we don’t fix us.”
“I have no legal right to her.”
“What if you had legal right to the child?”
William cocked his head. “I’m liste
ning.”
“She left us for his benefit. So it stands to reason that she loves this boy. I will marry her, but when we bring the boy back, you claim him as your bastard. I tie her to me through marriage. You tie her to you through the child.”
“And, of course, she does love us both.” William felt the awful jealousy and the black despair he had been wearing like a cloak slide off his shoulders.
“Lord knows why,” Charles said.
“We will share her as often as we can,” William said. “And when we can’t, we won’t begrudge the other the time he has with her.”
“It’s better when we’re all together. You know that.”
William nodded. “I had forgotten.”
“Well, then, we’ll have to find her and remind the both of you of that little fact.” Charles rubbed his hands together. “I can make this work.”
“We will make this work.”
Chapter Thirteen
Three months later
Paris wasn’t what Lily had expected. She had had to ask Countess Hainault to discreetly help get her settled, but she had managed to leave without tipping off Charles and William as to where she was going.
Wiping away a tear, she refused to think about them during the day. She had all night to torture herself with dreams of things that would never be again. She could only hope that her dukes were rebuilding their friendship. Lily was too busy with bookkeeping jobs that she was able to obtain through the countess’s many connections and supervising little George to pay any attention to Society and parties. With the money she borrowed from Richilde, she was able to set herself up in a small home with a few servants. Miraculously, George was a wonderful child, happy and healthy, even after everything he had been through. She could easily forget he wasn’t hers.
What she couldn’t forget were her two lovers. It was worse at night when everyone had gone to sleep. She would pace her bedroom and stare out the window at the cobblestone streets below. Had she made the right decision? She missed them so much.