“I won’t stay here and be eaten by a wolf,” Iris insisted. She twisted her hands together and backed away. Lily pushed Sebastian back, but her mother hurried to the door and left, closing it behind her.
She was about to follow, but Matthew said, “Let her be. It might upset her more.”
Lily paused, but then nodded. “I suppose. I will check on her in a few minutes.”
“Go on and open the parcels,” he suggested. “See if they are what you wanted.”
“I didn’t need any gifts,” Lily said, but she went to unwrap them. She touched the brown paper and guessed, “Are they books?”
When he did not answer, she tore the first one open. It was a copy ofFrom Farriery to Veterinary Medicine. He waited to hear a response from her, but she had gone utterly silent. Her back was turned to him, and he could not gauge her reaction.
Lily was holding the book with both hands, and her expression held tears. “You followed me to the college, didn’t you?”
“I came to pay a call and saw you leaving. I was curious,” he admitted.
“They refused to even speak with me,” she confessed. “That arrogant man told me I should go home and tend to myembroidery. Or perhaps I should put my time to better use in finding a husband.”
She turned to face him, and Matthew could not quite read her reaction to the gift. Had he offended her somehow? “Was I wrong to ask for the books? Are they not what you wanted?”
She shook her head and clutched the volume to her chest. “They are everything I wanted.” A brilliant smile spread across her face, and she set the book down. “Help me open the others.”
It was like Christmas morning, watching her unwrap the books and pamphlets. When she found one on the care of hunting dogs, she threw her arms around him. “Matthew, this is perfect!”
Her reaction warmed him, and he drew his arms around her waist, holding her a moment, before she could turn back to the books. She rested her palms upon his heart, her face shining with happiness. “Thank you.”
“There’s more,” he murmured, framing her face with his hands.
“What else?” There was a note of excitement in her voice.
Matthew was not going to waste this chance, and he bent in to rest his forehead against hers. Her hands moved to his shoulders, and he murmured, “A correspondence course. If you want to complete the written assignments under my name, that is. They would not allow you to take the lessons in person, but you could learn whatever you wanted to, in this manner.”
Her eyes widened, and she drew her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “I do want to try.”
He remained close to her, drinking in the comfort of her touch. And when she raised her mouth to his, he kissed her back.
The moment she kissed him, Lily felt the heat pouring through her skin. She could not resist the urge, and Matthew’s gift had touched her deeply. No other man would have done this for her.
His kiss was coaxing, reminding her of the way he had tempted her last night. She lost herself to the man she once loved, and when his tongue slid inside her mouth, her fingers dug into his shoulders. Though he did nothing more than kiss her, she could feel herself rising to his call, needing more from him.
He drew back, staring at her. His eyes were dark with desire, his mouth firm. “I missed this. I missed you, Lily.”
She rose up on tiptoe, kissing him again. “I feel the same way.”
Matthew broke the kiss and went to lock the door. Then he lifted her up, bringing her to a wingback chair where he sat down and kept her upon his lap. Then he kissed her again, and she felt the ridge of his erection straining at his trousers. The memory drew her back to the night he had first made love to her. Lily remembered how it had felt with their bodies joined together, and a moan escaped her as he kissed her over and over.
“I will stop any time you want me to,” he swore. His voice was husky with restrained need, and she knew he meant it.
“I don’t want you stop,” she whispered. “Not just yet.”
For now, she wanted to touch this man, to remember what it had been like between them. She wanted to erase the years of loneliness and fear, returning to a time when she had loved him. Her own needs pushed away any doubts she might have had.
He kissed her roughly, and she felt the need to be closer. She changed her position so that she was kneeling astride him, her skirts cascading over the chair. It was scandalous, utterly improper, but she hardly cared. He gripped her hips and sat forward in the chair, bringing them even closer.
This is sinful and wrong,she told herself.Someone could walk in on us.
But she silenced the voice of reason and loosened his cravat and his shirt, sliding her hand against his bare chest. His skin was hot to the touch, and his heart was beating as wildly as her own.
“Lily,” he breathed, drawing his palms beneath her skirts. “What I wouldn’t give to touch you right now.” He spoke against her mouth softly, tasting her lips. “If you were naked in my bed, I would lean down to your breasts and take a nipple into my mouth. I would swirl my tongue over your flesh and watch you unravel.”
