Chapter 29

“You are a fool, Giles.”

He sat by the window looking out at the night, holding Lilly’s old diary loosely in his hands. “You should not be here, Lilly,” he warned her, his voice grim.

Lilly moved toward him. “What if I want to be?”

“That, of course, would require a wedding ceremony you don’t want.”

Lilly clutched the skirts of her borrowed gown in her sweaty palms and asked the fatal question. “What if I changed my mind?”

Giles spun around to face her and Lilly saw the glitter of tears on his cheeks. Lilly crossed the room to him and cupped his face between her hands. Such a dear, wicked, and sinful face. One she loved so very much. “You deserve more than a broken thing like me but I cannot live without you.”

He gaped at her a long time but then wet his lips. “And you deserve better than a degenerate for a husband.”

Lilly shook his head from side to side and smiled. “You are not a degenerate. You’re wonderful. I love you.”

He smiled as she denied his faults, but then scowled fiercely. “You are not broken. I have never known a stronger woman than you,” Giles said, firmly clasping her hips.

“People will think you took pity on me or that I tricked you into marriage. Whenever you leave me, they will say I was too needy. They will say that I drove you away with my demands.”

“I like that you need me, Lilly. I want you to.” Giles turned his face and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand, letting his lips caress her as she liked him to. “I won’t ever leave you. You were going to leave me for the delights of a small village in Wales, remember?”

“I guess that makes me foolish too.” She brushed her fingers through his hair. “So what do we do now? We were betrothed once. The way I understand matters of marriage when the couple is wildly in love, someone needs to go down on bended knee. I warn you that if you expect me to do it, you might have to help me to my feet again afterward.”

“It will be my pleasure to do the truly hazardous tasks in this marriage,” Giles promised.

Lilly grinned. “So?”

Giles sank to his knees and clasped both Lilly’s hands in his. “Marry me, Lilly. Stay with me and share my life. Let me give you every pleasure I can, and some we invent together.”

When Lilly nodded, Giles swept her into his arms and carried her to his bed.

“Stay with me from now on. I have the worst trouble sleeping without you beside me, darling.”

Lilly laughed. “Do you know I have the same difficulty?”

“A perfect match then.”

She kissed him into silence and tangled her fingers in his hair, holding him close to express how much she desired him. How could she have given him up?

Giles broke the kiss, rolled her over, and then went to work on the buttons of her gown. As each patch of flesh became exposed, Giles dug his fingers deep into Lilly’s muscles, alternating with his lips until she was breathless with want. He touched her skin lavishly and made her crave him in ways she did not believe possible.

As Lilly melted into the mattress, she prayed that this time Giles would not be a gentleman. That he would not be proper. She liked the wicked man as he had always been. She knew exactly what she was getting herself into. A lifetime of pleasure at his hands.

She helped raise herself, and her gown and chemise were stripped from her in a moment. His fingers pushed under her stockings and he massaged her out of them with long, languid strokes, pausing to rub the arch of her foot and out to her toes. Lips pressed to her foot and she flexed in response.

This was what she wanted from him. This drugging pleasure bound by trust, warmth, and friendship.

From there, he kissed up the back of her leg, kissing every inch of her skin until he reached the source of her most recent pain.

“You’ll have a bruise,” he told her before pressing his lips gently to the tender spot. She shuddered as pleasure washed over her.

Reaching behind her back, she struggled to touch any part of him she could find. He pressed his lips into the crease of her thigh, and her hips arched upwards to meet him.

He kissed her back, buried his lips into her neck, and suckled hard. Cloth scraped against her bottom and she wriggled into Giles. He settled beside her and pulled the pins from her hair, smoothing out the strands along her back and tickling her skin with the ends.

Lilly shuddered and turned over. “How much longer are you going to make me wait before you steal my virtue?”

* * *

“Tonight,” he promised.

Lilly move on top of Giles and he was utterly breathless at the look in her eye. She was every bit as aroused as he. Dear God, the shudder that went through her when he had kissed her bottom defied description. As she attacked his clothing, he let himself be lulled by her movements, attempting to regain some control. As her lips settled on his neck, he started counting the number of plain women he had danced with in the past.

When his shirt was gone, he had moved on to the number of grim-looking men in parliament. That certainly cooled him. But when she had his trousers at his knees and took him in her hand, he lost all the benefits of those disturbing images. He rolled her over to her back and removed her hand from his cock. “If you kept that up, I will leave you disappointed,” he warned.

The bounce of her breasts distracted him, and he took a hard nipple into his mouth and drew on it, shaping her breasts with his hands. He switched to her other breast and ran his tongue around the nipple as she pressed her chest upwards. He took in the hard peak with less finesse than he liked. Her painful grip on his hair assured him she welcomed his rougher play.

He raised himself to kiss her again, watching her as they rubbed together, seeing her gray eyes glowing in the candlelight. He kissed down the length of her body, settled between her bent knees and ran his hand over her thigh, upward into her blonde curls. He liked that she did not flinch from his close scrutiny, because he found himself fascinated by her pale curls and the pink lips beneath.

As his fingertips teased and parted her lower lips, they became slick with her moisture and his pulse raced, hungry for her around him. He lowered his mouth and tasted her, careful to keep his cock from touching anything. He did not want to come on the sheets tonight.

A low moan from her told him that she would be ready when the time came. Giles removed his mouth and pushed a finger inside her, pressing until his knuckles touched her springy curls and could go no farther. Lilly’s back arched and she thrashed upon the bed as he worked inside her, feeling the soft passage tighten around his finger.

When he thought her ready, he added another, pushing in slowly, preparing her as much as he could. He wanted as little pain for her as possible.

Lilly gasped at the thicker intrusion and, as her juices coated his fingers, he sped up his movements. The sounds her body made were unbearable, and so erotic his legs started to quake.

When her hips were rising to meet his thrusts, he removed his fingers and rose to his knees to look down upon her. Her eyes were wild. She was breathing in rough pants, breasts jiggling deliciously in the candlelight. He wanted to slow things down, and tried to let her calm a bit before he went further, fearful that his entry was going to hurt if he rushed.

But when she gripped his hips, he had no choice but to obey her silent command. He fitted himself to her entrance, keeping his body weight from crushing her, and pressed in all the way, unable to stop until he was fully embedded within her.

Lilly shuddered violently and screamed out a release so great he thought her father would have heard her at the other end of the house.

Giles held perfectly still, counting sheep, mucky stables, and slimy green frogs as he resisted the urge to pump within her immediately. He could not believe she’d come that fast. The heat of her, the thrilling scream, and her clutching fingers had pushed his own arousal up a notch further than he needed right now.

He waited for her thighs to relax their hold on his hips, her hands to give up some of his flesh and slide down his sides before he dared move. He watched her face, flushed and sweat-stained, and felt extraordinarily proud. This woman’s passion matched his. He’d never be able to leave her alone.

Lilly opened her eyes slowly, and smiled such a welcome that he could not help but thrust. Dear God, she destroyed him without trying. Her eyes misted with happiness and he kissed her, fully in control of their lovemaking at last.

Lilly glanced down to where they joined and her eyes widened. He pushed in to her limit and heard a little pant of air leave her lungs as his possession stirred her senses.

He loved that she was so fearless. She had been watching him for so long, but it was better to be with her like this at last. She was his, now and forever, and he belonged to her too.

A primal need rose to possess her completely.

As he thrust and withdrew, he checked for signs of pain on her face, but he could sense no discomfort from their joining or pain from her position.

Thrilling to every stroke, hearing every sound, drowning in the thick scent of arousal, Giles knew he had at last found what was missing from his life. Chills raced down his sweat-damp back as he held his body above Lilly, and he found a rhythm he could maintain until he lost himself to the pleasure.

When Lilly’s hips rose to meet his thrusts, Giles sped his movements to give her more pleasure. Her breaths changed to gasps, and he grinned because she was with him again. Her legs wrapped high around his back, her feet brushed his bottom, and he could not hold back.

With excruciating care, he lowered himself onto her.

Lilly’s hands gripped his sides and her nails bit deep, telling him without words that she was close to another release.

“I love you Lilly,” he whispered, then repeated it over and over into her ear.

They cried out in unison.

Giles cuddled Lilly close for as long as he felt she could bear his weight and then lifted up.

Lilly’s eyes were closed, and a small smile played around her mouth, so he assumed all was well with her. He gripped her hips and rolled them, keeping her close, laying her over him while remaining buried inside.

As he landed on his back, he slid her hair out of the way when it would have smothered him and pressed her head to his chest. He found his way under the counterpane, covered their sweat-damp bodies from the threat of getting chilled, and wrapped his arms tight around her, vowing never to let her go.

* * *

Lilly stirred and flexed under the sheets as the sun rose, a discontented grumble emerging from her lips. Giles twirled a pale lock around his finger and waited patiently for her to wake fully. He’d never felt so satisfied and content.

Although his mind raced with plans for his future with Lilly, Giles closed his eyes again. He could not rush Lilly. The pace of his life had to slow to accommodate her needs and comfort from now on.

When she moved against him, he cracked his lids open wide enough to see what she was doing. She shifted again, drawing her knees together, curling onto her side. It had become a habit to keep watch over his little ghost, and now he could do it for the rest of his lifetime.

Giles turned toward her. She always appeared so so happy in her sleep.

Lilly’s eyes fluttered open, and after a moment, a grin twisted her lips. She brushed her finger over his bottom lip and he twitched away. Lilly did it twice more, until he captured her fingertip and sucked it deep into his mouth. Her eyes widened, her lips parted to drag in a deep breath.

“I take it you want to wake me,” Giles murmured when he released her finger. “Wretched woman. A man about to marry needs all the rest he can get. He needs to keep up his strength to meet the demands of his adorable wife.”

Lilly’s smile touched that part of him long dormant. His heart, his soul, the very essence of his existence depended on that smile. Giles tucked her against his chest, her back to his front, keeping her clever little fingers trapped beneath his. With his lips, he worshiped her neck as he rubbed his thickening cock into her soft bottom, making her moan in delight and him press harder still.

He captured her breast and would have continued onwards to further pleasures if his eyes were not drawn to the opening door, and the very unwelcome face peering inside his room.

Lord Winter.

The door crashed open to reveal a houseful of servants crowded behind him, including Lord Carrington.

Lilly squeaked and attempted to hide. Giles flipped the covers up over her head to protect her modesty. “Can we be of assistance?”

Carrington covered his eyes as he turned away. “Can I expect you back in London for my wedding?”

“Of course,” he promised.

Lord Winter glared at him. “You will be wed my daughter within the month, or sooner if a special license can be obtained.” Lord Winter bellowed loud enough to make all the servants flinch at his fate, but not Giles. He’d always known he’d marry a very special lady.

He peeked briefly under the covers and met Lilly’s cheeky smile. He loved Lilly with all his heart. She was the center of his world now. “You will never hear me complain that we’d never be married too soon. Lilly was the one who compromised me and I demand she make an honest man of me.”

Lilly suddenly pulled him under the sheets with her and proceeded to kiss him witless despite the audience still gathered at the door.

The End