Then came you, by lisa kleypas.txt Read online

  "No!" Lily cried, jerking around to face them. Alex kept his arm around her front. "No, you f-frigging butchers! Why don't you throw yourselves into the pit? I'm certain the dogs wouldn't stand a chance!" She turned back to Alex, gripping his shirt. "I-I bought the bear. He's mine! When I saw what they were going to do—the poor beast looks so pathetic—I couldn't help myself. Don't let them take him away, he'll be torn to pieces—"

  "Lily." Gently he cupped her face in his hands.

  "Calm down. Listen to me. This happens all the time."

  "It's cruel and barbaric!"

  "I agree. But if we manage to rescue this animal, they'll only find another to take its place."

  Her eyes began to water. "His name is Pokey." she said thickly. She knew her behavior was irrational. She'd never been so emotional, clinging to a man for comfort and help. But after the shock of seeing her daughter, and the bewildering events of

  the past days, she seemed to have temporarily lost her sanity. "I won't let them have him," she said desperately. "I want him

  as a wedding present, Alex."

  "A wedding present?" Blankly he stared at the battered wooden wagon. The moth-eaten, rheumy-eyed old bear nosed against

  the unevenly spaced bars. The damn thing didn't have long to live, baiting or no baiting.

  "Please," Lily whispered into the folds of his shirt.

  With a low curse, Alex pushed Lily aside. "Go to Greaves and get on one of the horses," he muttered. "I'll take care of this."

  "But-"

  "Do it," he said with quiet finality. Averting her eyes from his hard, uncompromising stare, Lily obeyed. She walked slowly to

  the corner. Alex approached the two men. "The animal is ours," he said calmly.

  One of them stepped forward, squaring his shoulders. "We needs 'im for the baiting."

  "You'll have to find another bear. My wife wants this one." He smiled slightly, his eyes cold and dangerous. "Do you care to

  take issue?"

  The men looked apprehensively at Rooters's prone body and at Alex's threatening stance. It was clear that neither of them

  wished to surfer the same fate as their crony. "What the bloomin' 'ell should we give to the dogs, then?" one of them

  demanded plaintively.

  "I have a number of suggestions," Alex replied, staring at them steadily. "But none that you'd like."

  Faced with his ominous gaze, they backed away uneasily. "I s'pose we could make do with more rats 'n badgers," one of

  them murmured to the other.

  The other frowned unhappily. "But we promised 'em a bear ..."

  Unconcerned with their dilemma, Alex gestured to Greaves.

  The driver came quickly. "Yes, milord?"

  "I want you to drive the wagon home," Alex said matter-of-factly. "Lady Raiford and I will return on the horses."

  Greaves looked far from happy about the prospect of driving the ursine passenger to Swans' Court. To his credit, he offered no protest. "Yes, milord," he said in a subdued voice. He approached the garish wagon gingerly, made a great show of spreading a handkerchief over the wooden seat, and sat with great care to avoid getting dirt on his fine livery. The bear watched the proceedings with a mild expression of interest. Alex smothered a grin and strode to the corner where Lily was waiting.

  Her face creased with a worried frown. "Alex, do you think we might be able to fashion a pen or cage for him at Raiford

  Park? Or perhaps set him free in some forest—"

  "He's too tame to be set free. I have a friend who keeps exotic animals on his estate." Alex gave the bear, who hardly came

  under the category of "exotic," a dubious glance. He sighed tautly. "With any luck, I might be able to persuade him to give

  Pinky a home."

  "Pokey."

  With a speaking look, he swung up on his mount. "Do you have another escapade planned for tomorrow night?" he asked.

  "Or is it possible we might have just one quiet evening at home?"

  Lily lowered her head meekly and didn't reply, although she was tempted to point out that she had warned him she wouldn't be

  the usual sort of wife. Glancing sideways at his dark, disheveled form, she tried to suppress the waves of giddy nervousness

  that swept over her. She wanted very much to thank him for all he had done, but she was strangely tongue-tied.

  "Let's go," he said curtly.

  She paused, biting her lip. "Alex, I suppose you must already regret having married me." There was an anxious lilt in her voice.

  "I regret that you disobeyed me and placed yourself in danger."

  At any other time, the concept of wifely obedience was something she would have debated hotly. But with the memory of his rescue so fresh in her mind, she answered with uncustomary mildness. "It couldn't be helped. I had to resolve matters on my own."

  "You didn't owe the money to Craven," he said flatly. "You gave the five thousand to someone else." At her slight nod, his

  mouth tightened. "What are you involved in, Lily?"

  "I wish you wouldn't ask," she whispered miserably. "I don't want to lie to you."

  His voice was low and grating. "Why not confide in me?"

  She wrapped the leather reins around and around her hand, keeping her face turned away.

  * * *

  Alex paused with his hand on the brandy bottle, staring through the semidarkness of the library. Lily was upstairs, preparing

  for bed. It was obvious she was afraid of something that no amount of time or patience would make her reveal. He didn't

  know how to make her trust him. Each time he looked into her eyes he sensed a shortening of time, a danger that was

  drawing her deeper into a coil. He knew the problem wasn't money. He'd made it clear that she could have any part of his extensive resources, and yet that hadn't helped. Foolishly he'd hoped that after clearing her debt, the panic that surfaced so often in her gaze would magically disappear. But it was still there. What had happened tonight was not to be dismissed as a charming scrape—it was a wild rebellion against some burden that was dragging her down like a millstone. He knew all the signs of someone trying to escape from grief. He'd spent two years doing the same.

  He set the bottle down without pouring a drink, and rubbed his eyes. Suddenly he was still, knowing she was there. His

  senses burned in immediate awareness. The soft sound of his name on her lips made his body hard with a ravening appetite.

  He turned to face her. She was dressed in thin layers of white cambric nightclothes, her hair an unruly mass of sable curls.

  She looked hesitant and small, utterly beguiling. Her dark eyes flickered to the liquor bottles behind him. ''You're having

  a drink?"

  "No." He raked his hand through his hair, his voice threaded with tired impatience. "What do you want?"

  Her breath caught in the prelude to a laugh. "It's our wedding night."

  The statement diverted him, dispelled all thoughts except the need to have her again. He knew the shape of her beneath the delicate cambric, the feel of her body beneath his, the soft clasp of her flesh around him. Excitement shimmered along his

  nerves, but he forced himself to stand there with an appearance of indifference. He wanted the words from her, wanted her

  to admit why she had sought him out. "So it is," he said neutrally.

  She fidgeted a little, raising a hand to her neck, toying with a curl in a gesture that held an innocent, maddening allure.

  "Are you tired, my lord?"

  "No."

  Gamely she persisted, though her voice was shadowed with increasing embarrassment. "Do you intend to retire soon?"

  He pushed away from the table and approached her. "Do you want me to?"

  She lowered her eyes. "I wouldn't mind if you decided to—"

  "Do you want me in bed with you?" He took hold of her, his hands sliding beneath her arms.

  Lily felt herself fl
ush. "Yes," she managed to whisper in the second before his mouth closed over hers. She gasped softly and relaxed against him, linking her arms around his waist. The yielding promise of her body inflamed him; he wanted to hold her

  close, close, until he crushed her. Instead he carried her upstairs and undressed her carefully, and allowed her to help him with

  his own clothes. Unfamiliar with a man's garments, Lily had difficulty in locating the flat, invisible buttons on the inside of his trousers. Gently he showed her how to unfasten them, his breath whisked away as the back of her hand brushed intimately

  against him.

  Pressing her back to the bed, he covered her body with slow, hot kisses, nudging his face against her downy skin, loving the

  pale softness of her breasts and waist and stomach. Lily was more abandoned than she had been the other nights they'd been together, her hands wandering over him more freely, her limbs twining around his. Her cool fingers threaded through his hair, toying languidly in the golden locks, stroking his nape.

  The lithe, slender body arching beneath him caused a groan to escape his lips. Breathing hard, he sealed his mouth over hers.

  His hand reached down and cupped over her, trapping her damp heat against his palm, momentarily flattening the soft thatch

  of curls. Shivering, she parted her knees and pushed upward, craving more of the delicious pressure. His fingers rubbed slowly, and then entered her in a gentle, flexing thrust.

  With a helpless moan, Lily hugged herself closer to him, writhing in time to the compelling movement of his fingers. He kissed

  her neck and shoulders and withdrew his hand, using his palms to push her thighs apart. "Open your eyes," he whispered fiercely, staring into her face, holding her knees wide. "Look at me."

  Her dark lashes lifted, and she held his intense gaze. Deliberately he pushed forward. Her eyes dilated as she felt the heavy, stimulating force of him within her. Grasping her hips, he wedged himself deeper, moving in an insistent rhythm. Lily stroked

  the smooth surface of his back, and as her pleasure mounted, her fingers dug into the hard plane of muscle. Her face turned against the shaven scrape of his cheek. She heard him whisper to her then, in broken phrases he couldn't seem to hold back—

  how beautiful she was to him, how much he wanted her . . . that he loved her. Confused, disbelieving, she felt the silken

  pleasure explode within her, around her, and she was drowning in feelings she could never have found words for. He drew in

  his breath and held it at the moment of climax, his body taut and shaking against hers.

  The most pressing silence she had ever known settled over them. Lily kept her eyes closed, though her mind was spinning with questions. I love you . . . He couldn't have really said it, she thought. And if he had, he certainly couldn't have meant it. Her

  Aunt Sally had once warned her never to pay heed to the things a man said in passion. At the time, she hadn't understood the

  full significance of the advice.

  After a minute, she felt Alex move slightly, as if he intended to roll away from her. Pretending to have fallen asleep, she kept

  her arms locked around his neck, her limbs heavily entangled with his. When he attempted to disengage her, she affected a drowsy murmur and wrapped herself tighter. To her relief, he settled back, his chest rising and falling rapidly beneath her head. She wondered at the reason for his disturbed breathing. He must know what he had said. He must regret it.

  But dear Lord . . . she wanted it to be true.

  Alarmed by her own thoughts, she somehow managed to stay relaxed against him. He deserved someone far better than her, someone pure, innocent, untarnished. If he did care for her, it was only because he still didn't know what she truly was. Once

  he knew about her bastard child, he would leave her. And if she allowed herself to fall in love with him, her heart would shatter into a thousand jagged pieces.

  * * *

  "You don't need me to remark on what a hopelessly vulgar mess this is," Lady Lyon said sternly, regarding the newlywed pair

  in the manner of a governess having caught her charge kissing in the corner with an ill-bred peasant. An elegant woman with gleaming silver-white hair and direct blue eyes, she possessed a strong, flawless bone structure that had made her a renowned beauty in her youth.

  Alex shrugged apologetically. "But Aunt, the truth is—"

  "Don't attempt to tell me the truth, you impetuous boy! I've heard the rumors, and that is quite enough."

  "Yes, Aunt Mildred," Alex replied humbly for the tenth time, sliding a sideways glance at his wife. They were in the gold and green parlor of Lord Hampton Lyon's mansion on Brook Street. Lily was huddled in a nearby chair, her gaze fixed on her

  folded hands. He struggled to suppress a grin, never having seen her look so chastened. He had warned her what to expect.

  True to his predictions, his elderly aunt had lectured them in her imperious way for at least a quarter-hour.

  "Gambling, nudity, promiscuity, and the merciful Lord knows what else," Lady Lyon continued sharply, "all carried out in the

  public forum, which places the two of you quite beyond redemption. I hold you just as accountable as your wife, Alexander.

  Your part in this is no less reprehensible. In fact, it is more so. How dare you wantonly cast aside your sterling reputation and

  sully the family name in such a manner?" She shook her head and regarded them severely. "The only wise step you have taken

  is to come to me with this. Although I can't help but think it is too late to pluck the two of you from the jaws of social ruin. It

  will be the greatest challenge of my life, gaining you entree."

  "We have absolute faith in you, Aunt Mildred," Alex said in a penitent murmur. "If anyone can accomplish it, you can."

  "Indeed," Lady Lyon replied sourly.

  Lily raised a hand to her lips, wiping away the twitch of a smile. She relished the picture of her husband being scolded like a troublesome schoolboy. In spite of the old lady's enthusiastic dressing-down, it was clear she adored Alex.

  Lady Lyon regarded her suspiciously. "I fail to understand why my nephew married you," she announced. "He should have wedded that well-behaved sister of yours, and made you his paramour."

  "I couldn't agree more," Lily said, speaking up for the first time. "I was perfectly willing to be his mistress. It would have been

  a far more sensible arrangement." Smiling sweetly at Alex, she ignored his sardonic stare. "I believe he compelled me to marry him out of some mistaken idea that it was possible to reform me." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Heaven knows where he

  got that notion."

  Lady Lyon regarded her with new interest. "Hmm. Now I begin to understand the attraction. You're a spirited chit. And I

  don't doubt you've a quick wit. But all the same—"

  "Thank you," Lily said demurely, interrupting before another round of scolding began. "Lady Lyon, I appreciate your willingness

  to exert your influence on our behalf. But gaining us admittance into respectable circles ..." She shook her head decisively.

  "It can't be done."

  "Indeed," the elderly woman said frostily. "Then let me inform you, my impertinent miss, that it can and will be done. Provided

  you manage to keep from making any further scandalous exhibitions of yourself!"

  "She won't," Alex said hastily. "And neither will I, Aunt Mildred."

  "Very well." Lady Lyon gestured for a housemaid to bring her lap desk. "I shall begin my campaign," she said, in a tone that

  must have resembled Wellington's at Waterloo. "And you, of course, will follow my instructions to the letter."

  Alex strode to his aunt and kissed her wrinkled brow. "I knew I could depend on you, Aunt Mildred."

  "Fustian," she replied rudely, gesturing for Lily to approach her. "You may kiss me, child."

  Obediently Lily pressed her lips to the ol
d woman's proffered cheek.

  "Now that I've had a look at you," Lady Lyon continued, "I am assured that all of the rumors about you can't be true. Decadent living always shows in the face, and you look far less degenerate than I expected." Her blue eyes narrowed. "In the right clothes,

  I suppose we could pass you off as a woman of reasonably good character."

  Lily gave her a small curtsey. "Thank you," she said with a meekness that bordered on burlesque.

  "We'll have a problem with the eyes," Lady Lyon said disapprovingly. "Dark, heathenish, full of mischief. Perhaps you could

  find some way to restrain the expression in them—"

  Alex interrupted with a protest, sliding his arm around Lily's waist. "No more talk about her eyes, Aunt. They're her best

  feature." He glanced down at his wife caressingly. "I'm rather partial to them."

  Lily's silent amusement faded as her gaze was imprisoned by his. She felt a peculiar warmth blossom inside of her, making her warm and unsteady, her heart beating swiftly. Suddenly the hard support of his arm seemed to be all that kept her standing. Conscious of the interested regard of Lady Lyon, Lily tried to look away, but she was unable to do anything except wait