by Gigi Moore
When Wyatt brought his gaze back to her, his expression had changed, softened. He cupped her face with one hand. “I’d do anything for you. I’d do anything to make you happy.”
She nodded, too choked up to speak.
Wyatt glanced at Dakota again and Lily couldn’t help herself this time. She glanced back to see Dakota standing almost as still as a statue, his hands fisted at his sides as his jaw muscles furiously worked.
He looked like he was champing at the bit and Lily wondered what it would feel like to have all the fervor she saw blazing out of his eyes turned on her in the throes of passion. Would he be as gentle and quiet as was his usual manner, or would he be as unbridled and wild as his kind was, wrongly, reputed to be?
Wyatt caught her by the chin and turned her to face him. Lily met his gaze and thought his look could melt steel. “Do you want this, Lilybelle? Do you want…the two of us, me and…me and Dakota?”
How was she supposed to answer that without sounding like she was dishonoring her wedding vows? How could she be true to her heart without violating Wyatt’s faith, his love?
How did Maia handle this situation without hurting anyone’s feelings? Lily wondered and vowed to ask the other woman this very question the next time she saw her. Maybe she was overdue for some neighboring, indeed.
In the meantime, she had two aroused men to deal with.
“Lily…”
She took a deep breath and got to her feet, holding out her hand to Wyatt.
Wyatt smiled, if grimly, and put his hand in hers to let her help him up. Once he was on his feet, however, she didn’t release his hand. She held on tight and led him over to Dakota, who didn’t take his gaze off her the entire time.
“This is something different and new to all of us.” She looked at each man and both nodded their agreement. “I don’t know how either of you feel about the three of us moving forward, but I know how I feel about you both.” She searched each of their faces and when neither man answered, Lily pushed forward, feeling like she was addressing her students in the classroom and introducing some new theorem to them. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid and confused by all this.”
“Lily, we do not want to pressure you into doing something that you do not want to do.”
She looked from Dakota to Wyatt and back again. “That’s just it. I want to do it. I’m just…nervous. And I don’t want to hurt either of you.”
“We’re made of sturdy stock. We can take a little revolution,” Wyatt said.
Lily thought “revolution” was certainly a good word to describe what was going on between the three of them. “Scandalous” and “unconventional” were others.
She knew her husband. He had a big heart and was generous to a fault. His earlier declaration, however, stuck in her mind and only confirmed her husband’s possessive nature and what they would all be dealing with.
When Lily didn’t respond to his assurance, Wyatt continued. “Besides, my papa used to say courage ain’t the absence of fear. Courage is taking action in the face of fear.”
“Your papa was a wise man,” Lily whispered, still not convinced.
Wyatt raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her wrist. “I can’t guarantee how I’ll feel about this once we…once we get started, but I’m willing to try. I want to make you happy, Lilybelle, whatever it takes.” He moved his gaze to encompass Dakota.
Dakota firmly nodded.
They were really going to do this then, weren’t they?
Lily’s chest tightened at the idea of the sacrifice the men would be making for her, putting their egos aside to make her happy.
She wondered if it would be worth it, to any of them, in the end.
Chapter 10
Wyatt couldn’t believe that he had agreed to this, but here they all were, walking up the stairs to his and Lily’s bedroom to do…this.
He felt like a man on his way to the gallows instead of one about to engage in a romantic tryst with the woman he loved. Of course, he wouldn’t be the only man in the room and he wasn’t the only one who loved Lily.
Wyatt couldn’t quite decide whether Dakota’s loving Lily made this easier or harder for himself to do.
At the thought he glanced at Dakota walking beside him. His profile was determined, seeming to be chiseled from granite. A muscle visibly ticked in his jaw and Wyatt reckoned he was gritting his teeth. Besides his obvious desire to be with Lily, Wyatt wondered what the Indian thought of all this. Was he as nervous as Wyatt felt right now? What were his expectations once they did this?
Come to think of it, Wyatt wasn’t quite sure what his own expectations were. He wasn’t at all sure how he was supposed to handle the aftermath. Once they did this did it mean Dakota would become a permanent fixture in their house, on the farm, in their lives? What would his function in their household be? Would he even want to stick around afterward, or was this just a one-time occurrence, the Indian taking advantage of the opportunity that Lily and Wyatt had presented to him, a way to scratch a savage itch?
One step at a time, Wyatt.
He shook his head at all the thoughts going around in his brain and tried to focus on the important facts.
Despite his feelings about the Indian, Dakota didn’t strike him as particularly opportunistic, or even savage. No, Wyatt didn’t sense selfishness in him, which was something he couldn’t rightly say about a lot of other men he knew. The Indian’s feelings for Lily were decent and pure. This made Dakota more of a threat than if all he wanted was sex with Wyatt’s wife.
In addition to Dakota’s love for Lily, Wyatt grudgingly admitted that the Indian was an intelligent and capable protector who brought out the best in Lily. It was a job that used to belong exclusively to Wyatt, and if he weren’t already married to Lily, he would have said that Dakota was the perfect man for her.
Over my dead body.
Trying to check his jealousy, Wyatt comforted himself in the idea that the Indian’s heart was involved. This encounter wouldn’t just be a physical transaction for him. It wasn’t something he could or would easily walk away from. Lily wasn’t someone he could easily walk away from. But then, what did Wyatt know? If someone had told him a couple of weeks ago that he could ever entertain the idea of sharing his wife with another man, an Indian, he would have called them plumb crazy, if he didn’t outright punch them silly.
They reached the bedroom, Lily leading the way. She paused at the closed door and took a deep breath.
Wyatt watched her back muscles ripple beneath the material of her nightgown as her lungs expanded and deflated with the effort as if she was gathering her courage.
He guessed she was just as nervous as he was, maybe more so. He wondered what was going through her mind and thought the only one who didn’t seem to be nervous, the only one who seemed certain about his course in all this, was Dakota.
Wyatt turned to look at him, the Indian poised at the door’s jamb, staring straight ahead at Lily, before he felt Wyatt’s gaze on him.
Dakota turned to face him, nodding his head in acknowledgement.
Wyatt felt as if they had just sealed a secret pact, something outside of the agreement the three of them had silently come to in the great room downstairs.
When his stomach started to heave a second later, it took Wyatt totally off-guard. Heat rushed to his face as fast as the bile rushed from his gut up to his gullet.
“Wyatt, are you well?”
Lily turned at Dakota’s words, her eyes widening when she got a look at Wyatt and a gasp escaped her throat.
He could only imagine the sight he made since he felt like complete hell.
Wyatt backed away from them, shaking his head, covering his mouth with one hand and his rebelling belly with the other. He practically sprinted down the hall to the water closet, Dakota’s and Lily’s urgent calls of concern trailing behind him as he barely made it to the toilet before throwing up.
* * * *
He knew if he wanted anything
done right he had to do it himself. He’d done his part, as much as he could to get Wyatt good and soaked after the other man had practically poured his soul out about his problems with Lily. It didn’t surprise him how vulnerable Wyatt had made himself, how willing to put pride aside for a woman.
He sneered now, telling himself the farmer had always been soft and ripe for the picking, too soft by far, not like the smart and strong man he was.
Lily needed a real man to show her the way, to guide her to her rightful place as obedient helpmate. If she were with him, there was no way he would allow her to look at another man, much less covet a savage.
“Come here, sugar. Let me wipe that frown right off your face.”
He focused his sights on the woman splayed across the frilly ruffled bed before him. He watched her pat the mattress between her legs and plastered a smile on his face. If he wanted to catch flies, he had to use a little honey, as much as it galled him to do so. He reckoned he might as well get it over with, though.
He closed and locked the door, strutting across the floor to stand at the foot of the bed. He folded his muscular arms over his chest, canting one hip to the side in a pose that he knew flattered him. Not that he needed to impress this woman. She was already bought and paid for—nothing but a common whore.
The people of the town had all other sorts of fancy names for her sort—painted ladies, sporting women, dance-hall girls—but he wasn’t fooled by all their colorful finery.
They were nothing like his Lilybelle.
“What happened between you and Wyatt?” he asked and watched her frown at the name. Hell, the woman had been with so many men that night she couldn’t remember one sloshed farmer who couldn’t hold his liquor?
“Which one was that, sugar? You’re going to have to give me a hint. I’m new here.”
“The last one of the night before me. Tall, blond hair, blue eyes…”
“Oh that one! I remember him. Real cutie-pie. You could have saved yourself the trouble of asking if you had come up with him. Would have been extra, but I’m sure we could have come to some sort of arrangement.”
Was she suggesting what he thought she was suggesting? Was such depravity as ménage a trois acceptable now? Surely, he’d heard all manner of rumors about the town doctor and his wife and brother, but he didn’t expect different from those fancy, persnickety greenhorns from back East. No common decency at all, almost as bad as those Europeans who thought they were better than everyone else. Not to mention the doctor and his brother had the nerve to flaunt and share their Negro girl as if it was all right.
He glared at the whore, attempting to wipe the flirtatious smile off her face, but his ire had no effect on this one. If he weren’t so shocked and angry, he might have admired her spunk, but he didn’t have time for admiring anyone, especially not a two-bit whore.
He closed the space between them, easily sitting beside her on the large four-poster bed.
She shifted onto her side, turning her body into him, eager and ready to play.
He stared at her coquettish smile, unaffected by her womanly wiles, wanting one thing from her and one thing only. He leaned toward her, sliding his hand up her shoulder around to the nape of her neck where he fisted a handful of her blonde curls and jerked her head back, hard.
She gasped, shiny, red lips parting and eyes widening in alarm. “What bee got in your bonnet, sugar?”
She was certainly a professional, he’d give her that. She didn’t miss her mark with the whole seductive act despite her fear, and he knew she was afraid, as she should be.
He bent his head even closer, pressing his lips to her ear, so close the scent of her cheap perfume choked him. He felt the heat of her bosoms as they heaved against his chest when she panted. Behind the zipper of his trousers, he throbbed, hot and hard. He was a man after all. If he took this harlot, though, it would only be to relieve the frustration, a means to an end. He wanted Lily, only Lily, and he would have her as soon as he got rid of Wyatt and the Indian.
“I’m going to ask you again, sugar, and I want you to give me a straight answer. No games. What happened between you and Wyatt?”He gave her hair a sharp jerk for good measure, just to make sure she understood he meant business.
She gritted her teeth, tears flooding her eyes at the pain as he knuckled her scalp. “Nothing happened!”
“Don’t play with me.”
“I’m not. He didn’t…he didn’t want me. He…he just wanted to talk about his Lilybelle and how they kept hurting each other and how he wanted to stop the hurting and…”
He released her, barely hearing the rest of her blathering.
So Wyatt wanted to make amends to his Lilybelle?
Did he know it was too late, that he had staked an emotional claim and she as much as belonged to him now? There would be no going back for either Lilybelle or Wyatt, no reconciliation, no redemption, not for them and not for that damn interfering Indian.
He was going to take what belonged to him, soon, very soon, and God help anyone who got in his way.
* * * *
Lily heard the horse and wagon pull up outside the house and wondered who was coming to visit. They hadn’t had anyone come out to these parts in recent months except Doctor Malloy. She and Wyatt had always kept to themselves, but since her return, it was as if the people in Elk Creek, indeed, her friends and neighbors, thought her and Wyatt’s troubles and grief were contagious and wanted no part of them. She couldn’t really blame them. If she were them, she’d probably stay away from her and Wyatt, too. Unhappiness like theirs couldn’t be good to be around for anyone. She didn’t want to be around it herself, but she had no choice.
Lily crossed the bedroom to go to the window and pulled the curtains back. She took a peek outside, surprised at the sight of Dakota greeting Thayne, Cade, and Maia Malloy. She was even more surprised that Cade sat astride Wyatt’s horse, Gambit, while Maia sat at the helm of a horse and wagon with her husband beside her.
She had assumed Wyatt had gotten home under his own steam last night, but evidently not. The Malloys must have brought him home in their wagon and were now returning the horse he had been forced to leave in town last night.
Lily watched as Dakota turned his head toward the house, tilting his head up at the bedroom window. She guiltily jerked back just as the trio followed his motion, feeling exposed, like an interloper in her own house.
She didn’t know what was worse, the shame she had felt last night at Wyatt’s violent reaction to what she’d been about to do with him and Dakota, or the alien malaise that had been gradually growing inside her since her abduction. Certainly there had been brief instances of comfort and enjoyment—the birth of her and Wyatt’s son, being reunited with Wyatt after such a long absence—but by and large she hadn’t felt deserving of the life that had been bestowed upon her, not in a long time.
Lily closed her eyes now at the memory of Wyatt’s face, the disgust she’d seen right before he had run off to retch in the water closet. He had been so revolted by her, by the idea that she could think to share her love, share herself with a man other than her husband that he couldn’t stand to look at her without heaving.
She guessed she couldn’t blame him really. What man wouldn’t be sickened by the idea of having such a sinful Jezebel for a wife?
A knock sounded on the door, dragging Lily from the wallowing stupor into which she had slipped. She shook her head, sniffed, and patted the tears from her eyes with a hanky before clearing her throat. “Yes?”
“It’s me, Lily. Maia. Is it okay if I come in?”
Lily couldn’t for the life of her think of a thing to say to make the woman go away without sounding unneighborly and downright rude, but she didn’t want her to stay either.
As if sensing her quandary, Maia opened the door, a smile as bright as the sun plastered on her beautiful caramel face as she entered the room and closed the door behind her, taking the decision out of Lily’s hands. “I won’t take but a minute of y
our time, really.”
Lily didn’t trust herself to speak, so remained silent. What could she say, what excuse could she use that Maia would believe enough to go?
Maia seemed to discern her mood, moving into the room with a cautious gait, stepping toward Lily as if approaching a wounded animal and she knew wounded animals were the most dangerous kind. Wounded animals were unpredictable.
“All right if I take a seat?”
Lily almost laughed as Maia sat in the rocker before Lily could even respond. She’d always liked the other woman’s spirit, admired her gumption.
“Come, sit. Let’s talk.” Maia patted the bed adjacent the rocker.
Lily’s throat tightened as she closed the space between herself and the other woman, slowly, guardedly. She sat down where Maia indicated, that feeling of not belonging in her own home overwhelming her again. She didn’t look at Maia. She looked everywhere else but, hands resting in her lap like a penitent in church.
“Sabrina and I were wondering if you still wanted to work at the shop.”
Lily finally rested her gaze on Maia. “That’s not really why you came out here, is it?”
She hated that she sounded so accusatory, but she couldn’t help it, not that it seemed to bother Maia none. The other woman just grinned and sat back in Lily’s rocker as if it was her own and she was settling in for a spell.
“Okay, you got me. That was only part of the reason I came out. The other part is I wanted to see how you’re doing.”
“See how I’m doing?” Lily echoed.
“That’s right.” Maia sat forward and covered Lily’s folded hands with her own. “Since your trip to town last week, I’ve been worried about you. Actually, I’m worried about you both.”
