Her chin draped over his shoulder, she turned her lips to his ear. “My boots didn’t come off.”
He chuckled, breathless. “No.”
“And we did not make it to the bed.”
“We are here now.” His arms tightened around her, and Lily could feel his skin still twitching from the spasms rolling through his body. “And we have all night, my love.”
Lily snuggled downward, setting herself so she could rest her head in the crook of his chest. Hear his heartbeat.
For an hour, for a lifetime, they stayed motionless waiting for breath to become normal, hearts to steady.
“Garek.”
“Hmmm?”
Happy he wasn’t asleep, Lily shifted her head on his chest so she could see his face. “There is something I have to confess.”
His head came up slightly, voice alarmed. “What?”
She chuckled. “Nothing that warrants panic.” Her fingers went to his chin, pushing his head downward back to relaxation. “I wanted to tell you before, but I was afraid.”
“Tell me what?”
She looked down, watching her fingers trail circles on his chest. “Holding the Fallow babe—I have never held a child that young before.”
“And?”
“It felt perfectly normal. I felt normal. For those few minutes, I felt at peace holding that babe.” Her hand flattened on his chest, her palm pressing against the beating of his heart. “Just as I am right now in your arms.”
“To love and to be loved?”
She looked up to his hazel eyes, the green flecks that always shone brightest indoors alive and dancing. “Can it really be as simple as that?”
“It just may be, Lils.” He kissed her forehead.
She nodded, her head nuzzling under his chin. “We have taken a long time to get here.”
He chuckled, the warmth of the sound in his chest echoing under her ear. His hand wrapped along her bare back, tightening her body to his.
“Too damn long, Lils. Too damn long.”
{ Chapter 20 }
Lily bit the leather tip of the forefinger of her gloves, trying to spy through the glass window at the front of the three-story inn. They had crossed the Scotland border and arrived in Coldstream by the time the sun had reached its peak, and Garek had wanted to rent them a room at the coaching inn before doing anything else—a bed ready for them immediately after they married.
She smirked at her reflection in the sunlit glass.
After Garek waking her up twice more throughout the night, she would have guessed that he would have been sated enough to last through the proper daylight hours. Especially after she had done her own exploring of his body this morning.
She looked at her lips in the glass. Still slightly swollen, bruised. The smile returned. If he wanted to lock them in a room for the afternoon, she was not going to complain. Not in the slightest.
Lily turned from the glass, her eyes sweeping along the main road of the village to watch the midday bustle. At the corner opposite her, a coal porter passed in front of the cheap-jack shining a carving knife from his box of wares. Three buildings away, the chandler chatted with a woman preceding him from his shop as he set a block of cheese on the stand outside the door. The woman’s daughter tugged at her mama’s skirt, pointing at the pies in front of the pie man. A horse and cart went by. Lily followed it, her eyes scanning the buildings along the street, pausing for a moment on the tall church down the way. A smile edged along her mouth as she started to search the faces in the road, looking for Brianna.
“Good news.” The door swung shut behind Garek as he walked from the inn, stopping in front of Lily. “First, is that the clergyman can marry us at any time. The innkeeper sent someone to gather him. They have a wedding room inside or we can do it at the church. Second, is that Brianna and her earl are already here. They rented a suite of rooms days ago.”
“So they are inside?”
“No. They left a few hours ago for a ride. They did tell the innkeeper they would be back in early afternoon.”
“So any moment?”
“Hopefully.” He captured her face, kissing her quickly. Much too short. A smile spread across his face as he pulled away. “I must admit I do like that you are entirely anxious to marry me. And I am the same—I want you to be mine—officially—so I can get you into the room I rented without any wayward glances. We can go over to the blacksmith shop to hurry it along. There is an anvil priest there. But I know you wanted Brianna to be present.”
“I do want to wait for her.” Lily went to her toes, giving his lower lip a slight nip. “Even if it is not soon enough for me.”
Garek chuckled, turning and tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow as he walked to the inn door. “Do you want to freshen up in your sister’s rooms—maybe see if she brought any dresses other than riding habits with? That way, we will be ready the moment they appear.”
“That sounds perfect.”
A half hour later, Lily stepped out onto the small balcony from Brianna and Sebastian’s third-floor sitting room.
She watched the street below for her sister, her palm smoothing the front of the yellow dress she had found. Foot tapping, she leaned over the wrought iron railing, her eyes trailing the road.
Far off along rolling green hills, she could see two riders. Brianna and Sebastian? She squinted. Impossible to tell. Although the riders were fast on their horses, and that probably meant it was her sister and brother-in-law.
Her stomach fluttered. She was almost married to Garek. Minutes away. Finally.
“The yellow suits you much better than the black.”
The words floated from the room out onto the balcony, and Lily turned to face the sitting room, not sure she heard them correctly. Not sure that she heard the voice correctly.
A voice from long in the past.
Before her eyes landed on the figure in the room, Lily recognized the voice. Recognized it, but could not believe it.
Her jaw dropped, her fingers clutching the frame of the balcony doorway. “Mr. Sneedly?”
He stepped into the room, away from the closed door. “I almost did not recognize you, Lily. Not in the yellow. But I have been watching. Waiting. And then you appeared on the balcony.”
Shivers spiked along her spine. What the hell was Mr. Sneedly doing in Coldstream—in Brianna’s room?
Lily’s eyes darted to the closed door. Sneedly was between her and escape. She forced her voice light, hiding her rising panic. “Mr. Sneedly, it is delightful to see you again after all this time, but whatever are you doing here in Coldstream? In Lord and Lady Luhaunt’s room?”
“Do not play the fool with pleasantries, Lily. You are not happy to see me. But you will be, eventually.” He took two steps toward her. “They would not let me see you at Notlund, and I know you left the castle to elope. So I followed your sister here. You and that bitch thought you could just destroy my life and be done? Never have to think on me again? You and your sister. You a whore. Your sister a vengeful wench.”
Lily shuffled her feet into the room, sliding herself to the right along the wall. She only had to clear the large wardrobe, and then she could skirt past him and get to the door. “Come, now, Mr. Sneedly, my sister is very dear to me, and I cannot have you speaking so ill of her. Whatever you may think has happened—”
“Know that has happened.” He took a step to his left. “Then I will just speak ill of you, Lily.”
Now he blocked her line to the door, but she could still get past him if she was fast.
“What are you here for, Mr. Sneedly?”
“Even as a whore, Lily, I will still take you.” His hands stretched, the fingertips of his black leather gloves collapsing together. “You will be payment enough for what I have suffered since your sister ruined my life—you and your dowry.”
Lily ran, spinning sideways to make herself skinny as she edged past him.
One more step.
But then his hand jammed into her sh
oulder and she flew backward.
She hit a small rectangular table, upending it and sending the chairs clattering to the floor. Landing with her limbs tangled in the legs of the table, she tried to free herself and get her feet back on the ground.
Mr. Sneedly moved toward her, stopping only a step away, lording over her.
She could fight him. She could still fight and get away. To her feet first, though.
It wasn’t until she had managed to her knees, her hands crawling up the wall for balance, that she looked to Mr. Sneedly.
Her movements froze.
A pistol.
Aimed at her.
A gleaming silver, long-barreled pistol with the hammer cocked.
“Sneedly…no…”
“You will come with me quietly, Lily. You will walk out of this place, and we will move to the blacksmith’s shop. You will marry me without hesitation, and then we will leave this place.”
Her eyes flew wide, her heart pounding. Lunacy. Mr. Sneedly was speaking complete lunacy. She opened her mouth to tell him that very fact, but then her eyes flickered down to the gun.
Battling all instinct, her voice went silent.
Now was not the moment to fight.
“Lily.” The door swung open. “Lily, I heard a crash from below.”
Garek stepped into the room, his foot stopping in midair. His instant growl filled the room. “Sneedly.”
Mr. Sneedly jumped backward into the middle of the room, distancing himself from Lily as he swung the pistol toward Garek.
“Stop, Harrison.”
Garek hesitated for one short second, glancing to Lily. Murder in his eyes, he started to charge Sneedly.
The barrel of the pistol flew back at Lily. “I said stop, Harrison.”
Garek froze, his hands slowly rising, reasoning. “Put the pistol down, Sneedly.”
“No. No, I do not think it would be in my best interest right now to drop this pistol.” Mr. Sneedly ran his free hand across the front of his hair, smoothing the dark greasy strands from his forehead. “Nor to aim it anywhere other than at your slut.”
Garek took another step.
“One more step and she is dead, Harrison.”
“I am the one that is going to kill you, Sneedly,” Garek said, murder lacing every word. “So you had best point that gun at me.”
“Garek. No.” Lily shuffled forward from the wall, moving around the upended table and chairs. “Mr. Sneedly, it is me you want. I am the one that you hate. The one you want to punish. I am the one that refused you. Did not want you because you resemble nothing near a man. A quivering coward, Sneedly, that is what you are.” She moved another step forward.
“Shut your mouth, Lily.” Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Garek’s entire body clench, coiling, his hands curling into fists.
“Yes, shut your mouth, whore, unless you would like to hasten your own demise.” Mr. Sneedly sneered the words out the corner of his mouth, but his eyes stayed focused on Garek.
“You pull that trigger and it will be the last thing you do on this earth, Sneedly.”
Mr. Sneedly shrugged. “My life is not worth much at this juncture. So that threat has very little weight to it, Harrison.”
Lily edged another step forward, trying to force Mr. Sneedly to look at her and not Garek. “Garek, you need to leave the room. It is me Mr. Sneedly wants, so let us finish this without interference. Mr. Sneedly would like to marry me and I am considering it.”
“Utter madness, Lily,” Garek hissed.
Mr. Sneedly’s eyes shifted to Lily.
“Look at me, Sneedly.” Garek’s voice thundered. “I am the only thing you need to worry about. I am the only thing that is going to crush you.”
Mr. Sneedly’s eyes flickered between the two of them. “Is this not the sweetest moment? Both of you, attempting to save the other. It would seem that no matter who I kill, both will suffer. It is more than I could have asked for. Other than to have Lily clear to the blacksmith’s, of course.”
Garek started to move. “Sneedly—”
“Too late, I have already made my choice.”
The loudest bang filled her ears, filled her head. And then Lily was falling, flying through the air, Garek on top of her.
Thud.
She hit the floor hard, her head knocking against the wood planks, all of Garek’s weight landing, uncurbed, onto her body. Smothering her.
In an instant Garek was off her, up to his feet, charging across the room at Sneedly.
Trapped far from the door, Mr. Sneedly started blubbering, his feet scampering backward, as his hands blocked his face. “No, no, no. I didn’t mean to fire.” The pistol dropped out of his hands, clanking to the floor. “I did not mean it, Harrison.”
Lily sat up, her mouth opening, but no words could form. Her hand landed on her side, hit hard by Garek’s weight.
She felt it immediately, the warmth, the stickiness spreading along her fingers. Slow, in a trance, she looked down.
Blood. Bright red. Spreading along her dress. Her wedding dress. Her beautiful, yellow wedding dress. Blood.
Lily ran her hand along her side, searching for the tear in the fabric. Searching for the pain of a bullet.
She looked up the very instant the balcony railing hit the back of Sneedly’s thighs, and he tipped, arms spinning. A second before Garek reach the balcony, Sneedly dropped out of view.
Garek slowed, taking another step forward to peer down over the edge of the balcony.
He turned from the railing, shaking his head at her as he moved back into the room. “Dead. He is dead.”
Lily’s eyelids squeezed shut, relief shaking her shoulders.
Garek’s footsteps into the room slowed to a stop. Lily’s eyes opened, looking up at him.
His face had gone pale.
Lily looked down at her side, then up to Garek, desperate.
She wasn’t shot.
He was.
{ Chapter 21 }
Everything in her body stopped. Frozen. Mud swallowing her.
She couldn’t get to her feet, couldn’t make her legs work, so she scrambled, hands dragging, feet slipping, across the floor.
She wasn’t fast enough. Garek dropped to his knees, heavy. He collapsed before she could get a hand under him, an arm to soften the blow. He hit the floor hard, his forehead cracking the wood.
The sound twisted her stomach, ravaged her chest, but it also released her from the sludge holding her captive. To Garek’s side in the next breath, her hands ran over his body, over the dark cloth of his jacket and trousers until she found the wetness. The blood.
Ripping his jacket and waistcoat off, she rolled him onto his back, pushing his linen shirt up his torso and over his head.
“Lils—” Clear of the shirt, Garek’s hand came up, trying to reach her face.
She snatched his wrist out of the air, setting it on the floor. “Do not move. Do not speak, Garek. The damn bullet hit you.”
“Good.”
“No. That bullet was to be mine, not yours.” Lily grabbed her skirt, wiping away the blood that had smeared all over his belly. Most of the blood cleared, she found the hole tearing into Garek’s side, just below his ribcage.
Blood sputtered from the hole, seeping down his skin to pool on the floor.
Her hand slammed onto the floor. “Damn you.”
“Me?”
She looked up to his face. “Yes, you. Damn you. Damn you for saving me. It could have missed me. Or if it did hit, you could have saved me. You could have done that. You. But now you think to leave me.”
“No. I will not leave you, Lils.” His chest rose in a shaky breath, setting a gurgle to his words.
More blood oozed from the wound. Lily balled up her skirt, pressing it against the hole. Wetness soaked through, squeezing between her fingers.
Dammit to hell.
She needed her sister. She needed Sebastian. She pushed Garek’s shirt in front of the wound and ran to the balcony,
searching the street below, the crowd gathering around Sneedly’s body and pointing up at her.
“Lily—Lily.”
The scream rose above the crowd, and Lily looked up the slight hill to her left. Their horses in full gallop, Brianna screamed her name.
Brianna and Sebastian pulled up their horses just before tramping into the crowd.
Lily raised her bloody hand. “Surgeon. Get a surgeon,” she screamed as loud as she could.
Brianna and Sebastian nodded, and Lily ran back to Garek’s side.
They would be up here soon enough.
~~~
“No. Absolutely not.” On his side, Garek gasped a cough, his body curling.
Lily lifted the linen shirt she had bunched against the wound to see blood still seeping. Her free palm went flat on the bed next to Garek’s chest as she leaned down to put herself in front of his face. “Garek, he is the only surgeon nearby.”
Garek lifted his hand from the bed, pointing past Lily at the skinny boy, sixteen at best, standing against the wall next to the door. “How many bullets have you taken out, boy?”
“None, sir.” The gangly boy fiddled with the black satchel he held in both hands. “My father was the main surgeon. He just died two months past. I only watched him.”
Garek looked up at Lily. “So, no, he will not touch me.”
Lily looked over Garek to Brianna and Sebastian, standing on the opposite side of the bed. Her face drawn in worry, Brianna shook her head, shrugging. No help there.
Lily looked down to Garek. “Garek, we have to get the bullet out. You said yourself we do. He has to save you. Please just let him.”
“No, Lils. He won’t save me. Leave, boy.”
The boy scurried from the room.
Lily growled, standing straight from the bedside and turning to go after him.
Garek grabbed her wrist. “He won’t. But you will. You will save me, Lils.”
She looked down at her fingers clutching the bloody shirt. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Look again, Lily, just to make certain.” Garek sucked in a wheezing breath, his body clenching. “It did not go out, the bullet?”
Marquess of Fortune: A Lords of Fate Novel Page 23
