Michael cleared his throat. “To win the competition and secure the title of Champion of the Cold Springs Academic Games, who said, ‘With Love’s light wings I did o’erperch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out. And what love can do, that dares love attempt’ and in what context was it said?”
Christian flopped back in his chair. “Damn, Michael,” he whispered. His friend was about as devious as they came. Judging by the enigmatic grin on the man’s face, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Isabella and Red Sun Boy stared at each other, silent. The audience held its breath. Even the chairs didn’t dare to creak. Lily turned her head so subtly that Christian might not have noticed, until her eyes met his with all the force of a thunderstorm. ‘For stony limits cannot hold love out’. Damn right they couldn’t.
The silent tableau of boy and girl on the stage stretched on. Red Sun Boy and Isabella seemed to vibrate with unspoken soliloquies. Christian shifted, glancing from one to the other. They were working it out amongst themselves, deciding which team should win. Clearly they both knew the answer. Of course, they did.
Alicia had her fists clenched, so tense her eyes were about ready to pop out of her head. Samuel had gone purple as he held his breath, focused on his daughter. They both knew that she knew the answer, too.
After what felt like an eternity, Red Sun Boy let out a breath. He nodded, barely perceptible, and with a twist of guilt in his eyes, raised his hand.
“Red Sun Boy.” Michael nodded to him.
He hesitated.
“It was Romeo, in William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, when he climbed up to Juliet’s balcony to meet with her against their parents’ wishes.”
Michael gave the pair a wicked grin. “Correct.”
Chapter Nine
Lily went dizzy with relief as the ballroom erupted into furious applause. The tension that she’d held so close to her core all evening burst through her, leaving her weak and shaking. The children were safe.
“Miss Singer’s team wins!” Michael announced.
Her team whooped and roared in victory. They hugged each other and her, jumping up and down and taking her with them. Red Sun Boy rushed back to join them, their entire group celebrating as one. The moment was theirs. They had won together.
At the far end of the stage, Samuel was shouting something at Isabella that couldn’t be heard over the cheers of the crowd. His face was red. Though he didn’t look at her, he jabbed his finger toward Lily and her team. Isabella’s face was as flushed as her father’s and wet with tears. She shook her head and held her arms out in a helpless, imploring gesture.
Red Sun Boy noticed as well. He attempted to break away from the group.
“No.” Lily stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll deal with it.”
She left her celebrating students and marched across the stage.
“I couldn’t remember!” Isabella was pleading with her father. “It just left my head. All the people, all the pressure, I couldn’t remember a thing!”
“You stupid girl! You know Romeo and Juliet like you know your name!” Alicia snapped.
“I went blank,” Isabella insisted, tears pouring. “I’m so embarrassed.” She caught Lily approaching out of the corner of her eyes and turned to her with a gasp.
“Well done, Isabella.” Lily congratulated her. “You did marvelously through the whole competition. I’m proud of you.”
“This is all your fault!” Samuel raged. “You and your conniving Indian ways! You put my girl up to this somehow, I know you did.”
“No, Papa!” Isabella protested.
“Isabella knows her own mind,” Lily stood up for the girl.
“This is a trick! A sneaky, savage trick! I’ll have your job for it, Miss Singer. I’ll have your head!”
“If I hear you speak to Miss Singer like that one more time I’ll break half your teeth!” Christian threatened from behind her.
His sudden appearance on the dais tipped Lily’s unsettled nerves over the edge.
“I’ll thank you to keep your fists to yourself, Mr. Avery!” she shouted.
Christian blinked and stumbled back a step, surprise in every line of his face.
He regrouped with a scowl. “I was only trying to help.”
“And I was only trying to congratulate one of my students on a game well played.” She turned back to Isabella, fighting to keep her composure, chest heaving. “Well done,” she repeated. “And I will see you back in my classroom on Monday.”
She finished with a pointed glance to Samuel. Let the bully try to oust her from the school now. His best effort had been a failure.
She turned on her heel, sending Christian one more challenging look, then marched across the stage.
As soon as she stepped off of the dais and joined a cluster of Flathead and a few other parents, her bravado faltered. That had been close, too close. Her victory had deepened animosities.
“What a wonderful show!” Hattie Wright met her with a hug.
The unexpected embrace against anxiety that still bubbled near the surface shot Lily’s eyes wide.
“You have done very well for us all,” River Woman hugged her when Hattie was done.
“I…have.” There was nothing else to say. Her worry rippled into an impotent puddle. “It is the students that should be congratulated.”
“Not just the students.”
Again, Christian’s voice directly behind her was like a burst of cold air. Her anxiety crackled to anger as he came to stand beside her. All this risk had been his fault. If he hadn’t been so…so provocative….
“Coaching a team is hard work,” Christian told the others, oblivious to Lily’s change in mood, “but I believe the best coach won.”
“She certainly did,” Hattie agreed. “And I’m saying that as one of the coaches!”
She wore a glittering grin as she glanced between Lily and Christian, one that matched the knowing expressions on River Woman and Snow In Her Hair’s faces.
“Well, I am ready to pay my forfeit,” Christian said, arms spread wide. “And at this point I’m glad to do it.”
“What was your forfeit?” Snow In Her Hair asked.
“I agreed to teach Miss Singer’s class a few civics lessons as Justice of the Peace.”
“Oh?”
The ring of smiles and grins around her left Lily feeling suffocated. Every one of the women facing her believed they knew something. Something that was too close to the truth. Any second now they would laugh at her. She’d won the academic games, but Christian was well on his way to winning the war.
“I think we can dismiss our bet, Mr. Avery.” She stepped away from him.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He took a step closer.
“Has anyone heard from Two Feathers?” She shifted the conversation.
“He has not come back,” River Woman said.
“We should go look for him,” Snow In Her Hair added too quickly.
“And I should be getting Moses and the children home after such a stimulating event,” Hattie added. Her grin danced between Lily and Christian. “Good evening.” She nodded to Sturdy Oak and his family then hurried off.
“Come.” Snow In Her Hair gathered her children close. “We should be going too.”
Lily stood frozen, watching them go, her last defense against the force that was Christian. The entire room was emptying as victorious and defeated students alike left with their families. She sent a sidelong glance to Christian. He stayed where he was, smiling at her.
“Looks like it’s just you and me now,” he said.
“It’s late and the games are over. Good evening, Mr. Avery.”
She nodded formally and attempted to walk away.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He took a step after her, catching her by the arm and holding her.
She shook out of his grip. “Like everyone else, I am going home. Not that it’s any of your business.”
�
�What if I want it to be my business?” he asked.
Color flooded Lily’s cheeks and fire lit her eyes. Temptation fused her feet to the floor. If she stayed, maybe he would kiss her again.
The thought sent her sensible side into a fury. She was a teacher, not a plaything for arrogant bullies. This had to end.
She glanced around, checking to be sure no one was close enough to notice them. Then she nodded toward the partially opened door to the storeroom and marched past him to slip inside.
As predictable as clockwork, Christian jumped after her. When he stepped into the storeroom, she shut the door behind them.
“What do you—”
“How dare you make a fool of me like that!” she hissed.
He reeled, shaking his head in confusion.
“What do you mean, make a fool of you?”
Lily swayed on her spot, sucking in a quick breath before firing back. “You saw the way that Hattie and River Woman and Snow In Her Hair were looking at me. Like I am a reckless fool.”
He arched an eyebrow. “They were happy for your win. That’s all.”
“They suspect that there is something between us.”
“So?” A grin crept across his lips.
A dangerous tremor of longing rippled through her. She ached to feel his arms around her again. It was madness. She fought the ache with indignation.
“You are on my heels every move I make! I can’t finish a sentence without you tacking your piece on the end!” Her voice rose, but she reined it in with a sharp glance to the closed door. “You’ve invaded my school, my classroom, and my life!” she continued in a whisper. “Will you please stop?”
“No!” Christian planted his hands on his hips, unconcerned with keeping his voice down. “I will not stop! You’re the most exciting thing that has happened to this town since I moved here!”
“Really!” she scoffed.
“Yes, really!” He huffed out a breath and rubbed a hand over his smooth chin. “You were right and I was wrong, all right?”
“No, it is not all right,” she fired back. “I am a teacher. I set out to prove to you that all children have a right to receive the finest education possible, that children of all races can work together, but what lesson have you taken away from it? That I am exciting!”
“You are!” he answered with a frustrated laugh. He threw his arms out. “You win! I’m sold! Let Sturdy Oak’s grandkids come to school here. We’ll all be better off for it. The whole town is better off for having you here, and don’t I know it!”
Every word he spoke was exactly what she thought she wanted to hear. Every word stung like bittersweet fire. Her thundering heart refused to be calm and the prickles of desire refused to leave her skin.
“I can’t teach people to treat others with respect if I am not respected myself. And I will not have my reputation ruined because you’re excited!”
She pushed past him, reaching for the door. He caught her and spun her into his arms. She fit so naturally, so completely. His hands spread across her back and her stomach pressed against his before she could blink.
“I am excited,” he growled. “You are too, teacher or not.”
Each heaving, shallow breath she took pressed them closer.
“Let me go!” she demanded, just above a whisper. Her will to resist was crumbling so fast it hurt.
“Not until you settle down.”
They stood chest-to-chest, eyes locked. She jerked, but he refused to loosen his grip. Muscle by muscle, heartbeat by heartbeat, she lost the battle of wills. It felt too good to be right where she was.
She took a breath that turned into a longing moan. “I have worked too hard for too long to have you waltz in and destroy everything I’ve built.”
He frowned. “Who’s destroying anything? I think you do marvelous things with the kids. You just won an important competition in front of the whole town!”
She clenched her jaw and braced her fists against his arms.
“Do you honestly believe that that is what people will remember about tonight? You saw how they looked at us. I know what comes next.”
“What comes next?” he asked, so tender her chest ached.
“They will laugh at me.”
“Why?”
“For breaking the rules. For aiming too high. I had enough of being laughed at growing up.”
She lowered her head to the side, bracing against him, desperate to get away but powerless to break free.
He took a deep breath. “No one is laughing, Lily. They respect you too much.”
“Do they?” She faced him once more, lips pressed in a bitter line. “What do you think people out there see when they look at me? What do they think? Do they think ‘Ah, now there is a respectable woman! There is a fine teacher that I trust with my children!’?”
“If they’ve—”
“No!” She cut him off. Her body went weak against his. “No, they see an Indian dressed up like a white woman. A curiosity. They wonder what she’s doing teaching their children, wonder how a savage can possibly be qualified.”
“They’re a bunch of idiots.” Christian shrugged.
“And what do you think Snow In Her Hair and her people see when they look at me?” She swallowed, tears burning. “They see a white woman who has dark skin and no soul.”
“I doubt it.”
Anger flared through her again. “And now? After tonight? After the way you have behaved toward me this past week? They see a distraction, a corrupting influence, a cunning savage who manipulates important men to win. They see someone who has blinded justice with feminine wiles she should not possess.”
“All right, then,” he spoke softly, shifting his weight and lowering his hands to the small of her back. “What do you see? What do you see when you look in the mirror?”
She stared up at him as though he’d hurled an insult. Then, slowly—painfully slowly—her last boundaries crumbled.
“I see someone who is not,” she whispered, lowering her eyes to stare at his chin without seeing it. “I see someone who is not an Indian, not white. I see someone who doesn’t belong anywhere but in a classroom. I see someone who is only accepted by those too young to have been tainted by the prejudices of the world. I see someone with no friends, no….”
She stopped, the words too painful for her to go on. She should hate him for breaking her like this.
“You do have friends,” he murmured, rubbing her back in a circle. “I’m your friend.”
She laughed, as hopeless as laughter could be. “You certainly are not!”
“I am!” he argued.
“No.” She shook her head, wrenching out of his grip. “You are not my friend. Because in spite of your arrogance and your bullying, in spite of the fact that you undermine everything I stand for, I still want to kiss you.”
She snapped her mouth shut and turned away. A moment later her face pinched with tears that wouldn’t be held back. She covered her face with her hands.
She heard him step towards her a moment before he closed his arms around her. He turned her to face him once more, though she kept her eyes squeezed shut. He kissed her forehead and rested his cheek against the side of her head.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he whispered.
“Yes, yes, there is,” she said on a shuddering breath.
“What? What could possibly be wrong with this?” He leaned back and lay a hand on the side of her face.
“I’m a teacher,” she said. “It’s all I know.”
“But it’s not all you are. You need to take a deep breath and let it go for a while.”
She opened her eyes. “I can’t. There’s nothing else.”
“How about this?”
He traced his fingers along her jaw and tilted her chin up to kiss her. It was just a kiss, light and wholesome, but it sent Lily’s world spiraling.
“There,” he said. “Now if you—”
Before he could say more, she surged into him, cl
asping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling his lips toward hers. She needed him, and not as a shoulder to cry on. His touch was a beacon of hope, safety in the storm. Reason screamed that she was barreling toward disaster, but that weak, fragile part of her needed him.
She broke the kiss when the shame of it bubbled to the surface.
“All right, that’s one way to let it go,” he panted.
He tightened his arms around her. She could feel the spike in his energy as he studied her face, her lips.
“I shouldn’t—”
He silenced her with a kiss so passionate it drove all thought from her mind. He lowered his hands as far down her back as the layers of her clothes would allow. His fingers pressed into her sides as though he would tear her corset free. The full force of his longing poured into parting her lips, twining his tongue with hers. Yes, this was what she wanted. Freedom.
“Don’t stop,” she panted when he took a breath. She gripped the front of his jacket, then thought better of it and slid her hands under his lapels and along his vest to his back. Her gaze lifted to meet his.
She wanted him. She wanted his arms around her, his mouth against hers, and more. She didn’t want to fight for respect or equality with him or anyone else. She just wanted to feel alive, on fire with him. She wanted to feel loved.
He lifted her off her feet and clutched her close. Her breath came in ragged gasps as he walked with her to the side of the room where several velvet-upholstered chaises were stored. Her heart pounding and her body pulsed with expectation as he laid her across one of them. He planted a knee in the skirts between her legs and struggled for balance above her. It was clumsy, vulgar, and wildly inappropriate, but she was beyond caring.
He shrugged off his coat—hands tangling in the sleeves—wrestled free, and tossed it aside before relaxing over top of her. His mouth met hers again, claiming her with a force that felt more right than anything had for years. He swiveled his hips into hers and she could feel the stiff swell of his masculinity through layers of fabric.
His hands stroked up over the taut lines of her corset, caressing her breasts. She sucked in a breath and did nothing to discourage his exploration. He squeezed her through the barrier of her clothes, but it wasn’t enough. His fingers worked their way up to the fine row of buttons starting at her high collar.
In Your Arms (Montana Romance) Page 11
