“In the dark?” She indicated her gown. “I don’t have even a chemise…Michael, I’m in my nightgown.”
He merely shook his head mockingly. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, I thought this was an adventure!” He let go of her and sat to remove his boots. Then his stockings. He’d removed his waistcoat and cravat much earlier that evening, and so when he stood back up, he wore only his breeches and shirt. He proceeded to untuck the shirt, and in one easy move, pulled it over his head.
Lilly’s breathing became shallow. The naked skin on Michael’s chest was nearly as tanned as the skin on his arms and hands. Watching him fold his shirt and carefully place it on a handy log, Lilly had no qualms watching his muscles ripple and stretch. There was a tantalizing V of black curling hair forming a trail into his breeches.
“The water isn’t as cold as you think,” he reassured her. “A hot spring empties into it beneath the falls.” He then took a couple of steps, hopped onto a boulder, and dove cleanly into the darkness.
Sensing magic in the night, she searched the moonlit reflections on the water until Michael’s head appeared. Like a seal, his black hair slicked back and glistened. He treaded water, looking up at her.
“It’s dark enough, Lilly. No need to be modest.” And then floating backward he added, “I promise I won’t look, love. Swim with me.”
In his eyes, Lilly saw the tiniest hint of uncertainty. He hadn’t been certain she would swim with him, but he had hoped…
She would not disappoint! Lilly looked about and agreed that it really was too dark for anyone to see much of anything.
“You won’t peek?” she asked.
“I won’t peek. Go ahead. Just give me a holler when I’m allowed over there again.”
Lilly considered where she was. At an enchanted waterfall, on Michael’s property, in the middle of the night, alone.
With Michael.
She unbuttoned her dressing gown and laid it upon the blankets. She could not swim in her nightgown. It wouldn’t dry by morning, and how would she explain that to her mother? She looked back at the water to make sure Michael was not watching, and then pulled her nightgown over her head. Wearing nothing, she held it in front of herself and crept back toward the water.
It had been ages since she had swum. When Rose had been at home, before marrying, she would take Lilly to a small lake near their father’s property. There was a private cove where, if so inclined, one could cool off in the summers. Her sister had taught her how to push air out her nostrils while under the water in order to keep the water from going in. She had taught her if she kicked and waved her arms, she could stay afloat, and she had eventually excelled at crossing back and forth across the pond from one end to the other.
It had been a very long time ago, and it had always been only the two girls. Even then, they’d swum wearing some underclothes, a chemise and a pair of drawers. This was utter madness!
“The water is deep enough to dive?” she called out to Michael, clutching her gown modestly in front of her nakedness.
“It drops off quickly. You can jump or dive,” he called back.
As though quite literally walking off a cliff, Lilly tossed her gown aside, climbed onto the boulder, took a deep breath, and dove in.
He was right. The water wasn’t icy cold as she’d expected. In fact, it was lovely.
She twisted her body underwater and then kicked herself to the surface. “Oh, Michael, this is heavenly!” she shouted. She didn’t hear him but felt his presence when he surfaced only a few feet away.
She playfully splashed him and then ducked away when he retaliated. After several minutes more horseplay, they each floated on their backs, gazing at the stars.
“My brave angel.” Michael spoke softly into the night air.
Lilly trailed her fingers along his arm just below the surface of the water. “I don’t have to be brave when I’m with you.” She smiled over at him.
Pure love shone from the eyes looking back at her. “Follow me?” he asked.
“Of course.” In that moment, she would have followed him to the ends of the earth.
Michael dropped his feet and used his arms to tread water. “We are going to swim under the falls. The water from the falls will seem as though it is pushing you down, but don’t let that scare you. Simply duck under the surface, and swim to the other side. Can you do that?” There was a twinkle in his eyes. This was a special place to him.
“Under the falls?” Lilly asked skeptically.
Michael laughed. “Follow me.”
He kicked off and moved his arms in strong even strokes away from her. Unwilling to be left behind, Lilly let her body remember the motions and followed him, her feet kicking out behind her.
She was glad he had warned her of the pounding water. It was so powerful that it did, in fact, push her downwards. Responding to an instant of panic, she kicked her legs harder and eventually surfaced on the other side, coughing and sputtering. She hadn’t been able to take a full breath before going under.
“Good girl.” Michael’s hands encircled her waist, and he pulled her up next to him.
She could only see darkness, but the water was warmer here.
“The hot spring?” Her feet found a ledge of stone to grip, but it was Michael who kept her from slipping away.
He moved the hair out of her eyes and massaged her shoulders under the water. “Right below us.” His voice sounded gravelly in the warm, humid air. Her naked body was pressed against his by the force of the water.
Nothing in life had prepared her for the sensation of her skin rubbing against all the male hardness that was Michael. Her feet stood firmly on the rock surface of the ledge, but in truth, she felt like she was floating.
Michael slid one hand down her spine and cupped her bottom. Her face tilted up toward his, and intuitively, his lips found hers. “Lilly,” he whispered into her mouth, kneading her flesh gently.
Her hands wound around his neck, and her feet floated up to cinch around his waist.
She felt him.
There.
And it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
Her mother had been right about her. She was a wanton! Good heavens! She liked this. No, she loved this!
And she was not sorry. She would soon be his wife. She knew in her heart their love was pure. She would surrender to him and not be ashamed.
When Lilly wrapped her legs around Michael’s waist, a shudder ran through him. As he held her, touched her, and kissed her, he trembled. Together, they were the only two people who existed in the world…in the universe even.
Like a blind man, he moved his hands to her face, touching her with his fingertips and then his lips. As he trailed a path to the sensitive skin of her earlobe, Lilly’s bones turned to liquid. Her head fell backward, and she barely realized she was floating on the water, clutching Michaels arms to support herself. He continued trailing kisses down her shoulders, her chest, and eventually to one of her breasts.
Carnal sensations unfurled within her.
The pulling of his mouth invoked a throbbing between her legs. It was an ache that promised intense pleasure. All that separated her from his desire was the wet fabric of his breeches. “Tell me to stop, Lilly,” he gasped.
His ragged voice could barely be heard above the roar of the waterfall. She was aware of her hair, like strands of silk, flowing in the water over her body and his hands.
Lilly released his arms and pulled his face down. “No, Michael.” She panted between her words. “Don’t stop. It’s too right…too perfect.” She implored him with her kisses. She savored him with unfettered abandon.
“I want to love you forever.” He spoke into her seeking mouth.
She nibbled at him, exploring the skin inside his lips and along his teeth. “Then love me now,” she demanded.
A low growl escaped his throat, and his hands became bolder still. He reached down between them, tentatively brushing the soft skin of her thighs until he found the fold
s between her legs. He fondled her softly, lightly, and then applied a more subtle pressure.
The ache inside of Lilly intensified. “Michael?” This pleasure nearly brought her to tears. She was so very close to something; what it was she did not know. She reached for it, pressing herself into his hand. The world no longer existed. There was only the two of them, only this place.
She clung to him as though he were her lifeline.
Supporting her back with his other arm, Michael reassured her. “I’ve got you, love. Let go.”
And then she felt one of his fingers slip inside of her, nudging her in a sensual rhythm. Lilly shifted along with him, chasing something, so close. She found herself chanting his name with each breath. He did something else with his hand, widening her further, and then…
The world shattered.
Instead of the black nothingness of the cave, flashes of white burst behind her eyelids. She jerked her head and shuddered, again, again, again. Gradually, her muscles relaxed, and she slumped against him.
Michael spoke as though in awe. “I wish I could see your face right now.” He held her head tenderly against his chest. He’d not removed his hand.
Lilly’s answer was to search for his mouth in the dark. She knew he’d not found his own pleasure. “I want you. I want all of you.” Her words echoed in the cave.
Sensing his hesitation, Lilly dropped her legs and reached forward to unfasten Michael’s breeches.
Her gesture eliminated any further reluctance on his part.
Impatiently, he pushed her hands away to undo them himself. He was considerably more efficient at the task than she would have been. But when they were loosened, she reached forward again. This time she wrapped her hand around him.
He groaned, and together they placed the tip of his staff where his hand had just been.
“You are sure? You are quite, quite sure?” Michael’s voice sounded hoarse and gravelly.
In answer, Lilly wriggled forward. “I am,” she said. “I am yours, Michael. I will always be yours.”
Her words freed him.
Michael began slowly, almost leisurely sliding along her entrance, as he had earlier with his fingers. But this was different. His member was larger, fuller, and yet it was made to fill her completely.
He paused a moment and then, taking a ragged breath, thrust hard.
Lilly gasped out loud, almost a sob.
“I’m so sorry. Lilly, I’m so sorry.” He froze, as though any further movement would cause her more discomfort.
Lilly inhaled slowly to regain her bearings. She enjoyed this closeness, but that last part had most definitely not been pleasant. With Michael still inside, she waited as the pain receded. Finally, she spoke. “Was that it?” she asked. “Are we done?”
She felt Michael begin to shake, and then could have slapped him when she realized he was trying not to laugh.
“We’re just beginning, sweetheart.” She heard the smile in his voice.
And then he was moving again.
He started slowly, testing her. “So sweet,” he whispered. He seemed to be in tune with her needs, listening carefully for any sounds of pain or resistance she might be experiencing.
Right here. Right now. This was meant to be.
Relaxing into the water and into Michael’s hands, Lilly began moving with him as that promising ache began to build again. Small waves sloshing around them grew to larger surges, as Michael held her against the smooth rock of the cave and pressed into her deeper, deeper.
The fullness increased.
Sensing only her core, where she and Michael joined, Lilly moved with him to find completeness.
The world became smaller still.
And then Michael reached down, past her belly, and touched her lightly. It was all she required for those crashing sensations to wash over her again.
Like a wave hitting the sand, Lilly broke into a million pieces.
But Michael’s pace increased. He thrust twice more and then one last time, into her very center, and cried out as though in pain. His seed, he was releasing his seed inside of her.
How can such closeness be possible?
Shaking, her lover wrapped his arms around her.
If this was her last night on earth, she could never ask for more; surely it was enough. For she would always know that for one enchanted night, she had, in truth lived.
Chapter Eleven
Regret
1824
They rode the next mile or two in complete silence, neither really knowing what to say now.
What’s done was done.
Lilly watched outside as trees and pastures flew by the window, disappearing frame by frame. She had no idea how far they had travelled since Michael’s revelation. It was almost as though she were in shock.
“When I was twelve”—Lilly finally broke the silence—“my father took our family for a holiday. We were to stay with his sister who lived in a village near the sea.
“I remember as we rolled into the village thinking it looked like a painting. The homes were surrounded by perfect whitewashed fences, and flowers were lined up neatly beside them. A garden bloomed in front of every cottage.
“In the center of the village, the stores were built very closely together, and there were wooden sidewalks so one could visit the shops without having to step in the mud. It was the prettiest village. I decided it was where I wanted to live when I grew up.”
Michael had turned on the bench. He watched her closely as she spoke.
“It was the most beautiful place in the world, I had decided.” She grimaced. “Our first night there, we were awakened in the night. Father threw on his clothing and boots and ran out the door, my mother imploring him to be careful. Outside of the window, not very far away at all, the village was engulfed in flames.”
She fell silent for a moment, remembering.
“Father didn’t return until very early the next morning. He was covered in soot. The air smelled of smoke even though the fire had burnt itself out.
“We stayed at my aunt’s home for a few days after that, my mother and father helping his sister’s friends, comforting some who had lost their businesses or homes. Finally, my father allowed me to walk with him, back out into the streets of what had once been the village.
“There was nothing there. What had once been white and pure had become filthy charcoal and black mud. All that was left was the view by the sea.
“I remember asking my father where the people would live. They had no homes, no clothing, no businesses left to earn their living. Their very existence had burnt to the ground.”
Michael tilted his head, encouraging her to continue.
Lilly took a deep breath and said, “I feel rather the same today as I did then…Something that was once beautiful has been destroyed, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.”
She felt Michael’s eyes upon her as she looked back toward the passing scenery and wondered if he felt the same. They’d lived nearly a decade apart from one another. She had had a husband. Another man had taken the privileges Michael had thought were to be exclusively his.
And now she was a widow.
“Did the village rebuild?” he asked, “or did they begin new lives somewhere else?”
Lilly remembered watching the remains of the village grow smaller and finally disappearing when they drove away. “I don’t know. Some of both I imagine.”
“What was the name of the village?” Michael asked.
Searching her mind, she pondered aloud, “I think it was Pelican Point, or Pelican Perch, something like that. We never returned. My aunt moved to live with a dear friend farther north shortly after.”
They rode in silence again. And then he surprised her.
“I thought about torching Summers Park,” Michael volunteered. “After the fever,” he clarified. “I wanted to burn everything the disease had touched.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“It’s a magnificent struct
ure, actually. It’s endured for hundreds of years. Who was I to destroy it?” He paused. “Too much history there. It is a beautiful place—structurally sound, very well built. No reason to demolish it because of a few bad memories.”
Bad memories.
He’d experienced tragedy and horror in that time.
Glenda startled them both by speaking up just then. Apparently, she had been listening. “I had this dress once—most beautiful dress in the world. Pearls along the bodice, lace trim around the hemline, and I had embroidered tiny white stars throughout the entire skirt. Then that Nathan Plumery spilt wine down the front of it at the harvest celebration. Do you remember that, Lilly? Mary never could get that stain out. Had to give the thing to Mary’s sister. Now that,” she finished grandly with a sigh, “was a tragedy.”
Ironically, Michael and Lilly both looked at each and smiled faintly. Lilly resisted the urge to lean into him and take comfort in his arms.
They traveled until it was nearly dark, and everyone was relieved when they pulled into a coaching inn for the night. Lilly wished she could find somewhere to be alone but would not, of course.
They had made very good time, however, and if tomorrow went accordingly, they should arrive in London on schedule, just before dusk. And then she could say goodbye to Michael once and for all.
****
A less than enthusiastic quartet climbed wearily into the travelling coach early the following morning. The previous night they’d taken their meals upstairs and then gone right to bed.
Which had been fine with Lilly.
She’d spent too much time in his company already. His fine eyes, his strong presence, and his charismatic laughter served only to mock her now. Mock her cowardice. Mock her stupidity.
Mock her life.
As they pulled onto the road, Lilly drew out a book and donned her spectacles. She couldn’t afford to dwell on the revelations of yesterday. If she did that, she’d be swallowed up by bouts of self-pity in no time. She had already done enough of that in her life.
After reading several pages, however, and not comprehending any of it, Lilly surrendered to her traitorous mind.
What was Michael thinking today? Did he have any leftover feelings for her?
Nobody's Lady Page 11
