Chapter 24

Lilly openedher eyes in the dimly lit room and was instantly awake. The sheets were tight against her neck and she wriggled out from under them, content and wonderfully relaxed.

She was still in Giles’ bed, and when she turned her head, she could see that he was sleeping beside her, tangled in the edges of the blankets, his torso half bared to her eyes. His face was beneath a pillow and she looked her fill of the smooth lines of his chest and the light ginger hair that covered the parts of his chest she could see.

She wanted to touch him.

Last night had been so amazingly tender and as she thought about holding the length of him in her hand again, a throb began between her legs. She loved touching him.

Looking about the room, she spied a covered tray near the fire and a still-full bathtub. She could remember parts of yesterday. Unpleasant parts. She remembered casting up her accounts now and wrinkled her nose in embarrassment.

Poor Giles. She was a burden to him. Not one of his other lovers would have caused him this much trouble.

Lilly paused and thought about being counted among Giles’ many lovers, and decided she did not like to be included with them. If he had not entered her body, did that still make her one of his lovers? She thought so. She loved what he did to her. He made her body sing as she had never thought possible.

Feeling the urgent need for the convenience, she carefully extracted herself from the soft sheets. Giles grumbled, but she managed to ease out of bed without waking him to stand on wobbly legs.

Unfortunately, Lilly did not know where a chamber pot might be. She looked around and spied a doorway, but no screened corner to the room. Lilly decided to investigate the doorway and found Giles’ dressing room.

Row upon row of clothing graced one wall of a fair-sized room, and a low screen covered a far corner. She headed there first and happily found what she needed.

When she was comfortable again, she examined Giles’ clothing, trailing her fingers along the sleeves of expensive jackets in silk, wool, and brocade. There were rows of somber waistcoats, and quite a few gaudy ones she hoped Giles did not actually wear. The sight would be hideous.

Gleaming Hessians and evening slippers marched together in a neat row and she marveled at the luxury of having so many clothes to choose from. Her own wardrobe consisted of unflattering nightgowns and a heavy cloak. All the clothes she had worn in the past weeks had been borrowed from the forbidding Katarina.

Lilly prowled around Giles’ private rooms, fascinated by the small curios she found. The distinctly masculine chamber was filled to overflowing with items of a kind she had never noticed before. Little girls, for instance, should have nothing to do with pipes.

Giles’ collection graced one small curio cabinet attached to the wall. Some of them were ornate and some were very crude and old. She wondered why there were spaces, and then she remembered the half-finished butterfly collection in the nursery from years ago. Did Giles never finish a collection?

She moved to the tray and uncovered a meal of bread, fruit, and cheese. She picked up a bread roll and took a bite, strolling around the room and peeking at everything Giles owned.

He had several nice landscape paintings and Lilly liked the look of them. She knew nothing about art or important painters, but she liked what she saw as these places looked peaceful.

She found Giles’ discarded clothes strewn over one chair and, noticing her skin had chilled, she slipped on his shirt. It fell below her knees, swamping her in linen. Holding the bread roll between her teeth, she fought to get her hands free. She tried rolling the sleeves up and out of the way but made a messy job of it. Obviously, she was not meant to escape their soft clutches.

She read the spines of Giles’ small collection of books. Udulpho, The Monk, and Dangers Through Life. Lilly had never heard of them and wondered what they might be about.

There was one small book set to the side. She picked it up and opened the cover.

A gasp escaped her as she recognized her own handwriting. It was her book. The one she had started before the accident and forgotten. She stroked her finger over her writing in fondness. She had always kept a journal up until her accident.

Mama had disapproved of many things Lilly had enjoyed doing, often taking her pleasures away as a means to get her way.

Lilly held the book close to her chest, suddenly light-headed. Needing to sit down, she sank into a window seat thick with cushions. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms about them.

Mama was not safe to be around. Regardless of what Barty suggested, she would never agree to go back to Dumas. She would refuse. She would run away and find somewhere else to live.

Lilly flipped the book open, reading over the words of her younger self, whose only pleasure in life was pleasing her papa. It seemed such a long time ago and now she was older she’d begun to doubt whether he really had her best interests at heart. She did not agree with his suggestion that she marry. It wouldn’t be fair to the man.

“Now there is a sight to wake up to.”

Lilly looked up to find Giles propped on his elbow watching, a devilish smile playing over his lips. His eyes dipped and he tilted his head to the side as he viewed her legs flashing him beneath the shirt she wore.

“Good morning.” She leaned her head back on the wall and smiled at him, stretching her legs out, suddenly restless under the heat of his gaze. Giles tossed the covers, swung his legs out, and got to his feet. He was completely bare and utterly perfect.

Lilly gulped at the sight of his lean, muscled body. How could he walk so confidently toward her when her hands had begun to shake in earnest at the sight of his blue eyes? The unveiling of the rest of him fairly took her breath away.

She tried not to stare, but failed abysmally. She examined everything about him and found nothing lacking.

When Giles reached her, he stood still, allowing her a closer inspection of his anatomy. Then he leaned down to press a light kiss to Lilly’s lips. The kiss changed when she touched his thigh, moving from gentle greeting to flaming passion in a single heartbeat. Giles remained bent over her as their tongues tangled, but his hands caressed her neck and shoulders, making her body flush and tremble with need for him. He clasped Lilly’s waist and drew her to her knees, then pressed their bodies together.

Lilly tangled her fingers into his tousled hair and held their lips together, lost in the wonder of his kisses and unwilling to stop. His hands slid down her back to cup her bottom and he pressed his stiff length against her belly.

She wanted to explore him in the light, to let her fingers slip across his skin and learn why he was so different. When she ran her fingers down his neck and shoulders, covered his silky chest hair and found his nipples again, he groaned out her name. She brushed her thumbs over the hard peaks and he chuckled before picking her up to carry her back to bed.

“More pleasure for you, my wicked ghost?”

“Yes please, Giles.”

Giles kept her close as he crawled over the messy sheets and deposited her against the pillows. His gentleness still surprised her. He teased his shirt from her shoulders and bared her breasts. This morning, he only gave them cursory attention, and she dug her fingers into his scalp when he went to leave them.

“My, my, I think I have created a monster. You’re very demanding this morning,” Giles chuckled, but he did not return to them.

“I don’t know any other way to be,” she replied, wriggling as his lips pressed against her belly. She knew she was greedy. In her limited experience of pleasure, his focused attentions were a drug to her starved senses.

“Never fear, I like it very much.”

Giles licked her stomach then moved lower. With horrified fascination, she realized where he was headed. At his first light touch, her hips bucked upwards into his face and he dug his tongue deeper. Yet it was not close enough. He spread her legs, pushing at her knees insistently.

Giles’ hot breath fanned over her thighs and her exposed flesh as he pressed his lips to her skin, flicking his tongue against her. Lilly moaned at the warmth of his mouth, but shrieked when his tongue returned to that small spot of intense pleasure and flicked it with light, soft strokes. Fearing for her sanity, she threaded her fingers into his hair and held on as he tongued her cleft.

When he sucked, Lilly labored to breathe. He shifted and settled in to wrench yet more tremors from her. This was by far more intense than what they had done before. If this was not making love, Lilly feared she’d not survive that event.

Another sensation, pressure lower down from where Giles kissed, distracted her. She wriggled her hips. When Giles raised his face from tormenting her, she could see his fist curled next to her entrance, and feel the slide of his finger enter her body. He looked down and worked his finger into her gently then lowered his mouth to suck her hard.

Sensations built rapidly and when he pressed deeper inside her, fist pressed against skin, the waves of release rocked her body.

“Giles, Giles, Giles.”

It took a while, but when Lilly opened her eyes, she found him lain out beside her. She blushed, but he just grinned wickedly, and then kissed her.

As his erection rubbed against her body, reminding Lilly that he remained unsatisfied, she rolled closer. She wouldn’t lie idle in his arms again. That wasn’t at all fair. When their lips parted, Lilly pushed Giles to the mattress and looked him over. Giles flexed and pushed his hips out to her and she could not help but smile.

She let her fingers walk over his skin lightly, and he shuddered from the touch. She swept her hand over his flat stomach and he sucked in a breath, showing her the bones of his hips in more detail. Her hand slipped down into his hair and her fingers closed around his shaft.

Giles gasped and pushed his hips into her hand, showing her how anxious he was for more. The first stroke up his length fascinated her. Giles guided her to increase the pace of her stroking, and when he took his hand away, she saw a small drop of moisture at the tip. Lilly leaned forward to lick it up with her tongue.

He tasted salty, and when she licked her lips again, she finally noticed the way Giles’ breath labored. Still looking down, she wondered if she should do what other lovers had done for him. She shrugged away her nervousness to press a kiss to his head. The groan that wrenched from Giles’ lungs rattled the bed. She pressed another kiss to him, then flicked her tongue out and swirled it around the smooth head.

Five fingers dug into her upper back. She licked her way down his length and back up, feeling the ridges of his shaft, the baby-fine softness of his skin over the hard, hot core beneath.

When Lilly reached the head, she hesitated then opened her mouth to take him in.

“Mother of God,” Giles muttered, and fought to get away from her.

Lilly wrapped her hand around his base, pried him upwards, then took him in her mouth again. Deeper. She thought to cover her teeth, slid him back out and in a time or two, wetting his skin further. Giles swept her hair over her shoulders and rose up to watch.

The wet slurping noises excited her as much as she thought they did him. She wet her lips again and experimented on how far he could go inside her mouth. When she found a comfortable depth, he moved her head in an up-and-down motion and she understood that what she could do with her hand, she could do with her mouth.

She closed around his shaft and Giles groaned. His fingers rubbed her spine and down to her bottom. She shifted so she knelt more comfortably and increased the pace of her movements and the strength of her jaw.

“Dear God, you have a talent for this, but if you don’t lift your head, Ghost, you’re going to get quite a mouthful,” Giles growled.

But she wanted everything he could give. His breath became frantic. He arched to fill her mouth and warmth gushed over her tongue, forcing Lilly to swallow quickly.

* * *

“Do you know that you hog the blankets?” Giles asked a while later as he massaged a particularly tender spot into submission.

“Sorry. I did not realize.”

Giles pressed a kiss to her spine. “I’ll have to learn to be more aggressive in my sleep if I want to stay warm.”

“Ah, in a little while you won’t have to worry.” Lilly smiled despite her sadness. She was determined to enjoy everything that Giles Wexham had to offer. Including the bad part of saying goodbye.

“What if I want to worry? I like taking care of you, Ghost.”

Lilly stilled, wondering what he was suggesting. It wouldn’t be marriage. It couldn’t be. “Then I think you should lie back down until the sensation passes.”

“If you married me, you could be very comfortable.”

“I’m comfortable now,” Lilly squeaked.

“But this interlude cannot last, darling.” He brushed his hands more lightly over her skin as he was finished. Lilly was afraid to turn over. Giles must be drunk. Sober, he wouldn’t contemplate such a change in his life.

“That is not a very good reason.”

“Marriage to me would protect you, and give you every comfort you might desire. If you haven’t noticed, we are very compatible in bed.”

“I could be comfortable in Wales, too. I have considered Papa’s original plan and have decided it has some merit. If I live my life carefully, and rest often, there is no reason a country house wouldn’t be acceptable.”

“Did you change your mind about letting someone else touch you?” Giles didn’t sound happy and, reluctantly, Lilly rolled over. His jaw was clenched into a stubborn line Lilly wasn’t familiar with.

“No,” Lilly confessed. “No one else will ever touch me as you do.”

That seemed to appease him for a moment. “I’ve compromise you, Lilly. I’ve already done it many times since you came to stay, but by now the whole staff knows where you spent last night. They will send him here. It is only a matter of time before your father comes knocking on that door.”

Lilly hadn’t counted on that. She had assumed Giles had been as discreet as before. “Are you sure you want to do this, Giles?”

“It’s the only way I can look after you.”

Giles rolled off the bed and strode to his dressing room. He must be unhappy she had resisted his plan, simply because he wasn’t ready for their affair to end. She was a bit stunned that he thought to marry her to keep her in his bed, though.

Giles had told her that he would not marry, and she had believed him. Lilly had accepted that condition. She had allowed him to tempt her in order to satisfy her own growing curiosity, but had no belief that anything further would come after the pleasure she expected.

But yesterday Giles had stolen her, deposited Lilly in his own room, locking them in while she recovered. What had come after in his bed had been wonderful. He did appear to care for her. Perhaps it would be enough to keep him by her side at least for a little while. Lilly doubted she had the ability to keep him satisfied for long, though.

When she slipped into the dressing room, she found him partially dressed, so she ran her hands across his bare back, marveling at the hard muscles under his skin, and slipped her fingers down toward his backside.

“Are you trying to tempt me back to bed?”

“Is that a possibility?” Lilly grinned. She would miss their scandalous conversations too.

“I could promise it was. But we will have company soon, and I would prefer to be at least partially dressed for the occasion of asking your father for your hand in marriage.”

Lilly glanced down at her forgotten nakedness. “I would prefer that, myself.”

“But you look so lovely, just as you are,” Giles teased, glancing her over with appreciation and lust brightening his eyes. “If you open that wardrobe door, you will find Mrs. Osprey provided some fresh clothing for you. You are going to have to at least agree to a betrothal, you know. There is no other way.”

Frustrated, Lilly turned her back. But Giles captured her in his arms and kissed her neck. She gasped and forgot all about dressing and marriage in favor of feeling pleasure again.