She shrugged and smiled at him over her shoulder. "I think I heard your mother say she had a day full of events planned for everyone." Her eyes twinkled with mirth.
"Even my mother isn't tenacious enough to keep me from you now that you're mine." He brushed a loose curl from her shoulder and kissed it quickly. He couldn't wait to get her to his room so he could remove the pins from her hair and run his fingers through it.
"Yours?" she asked quietly.
"All mine," he said, his voice rough with emotion.
"Not yet, Simon," his mother broke in. "You will endure a celebratory breakfast before you cart her away."
Simon simply sighed when Lily followed his mother into the breakfast room. All he could do was follow like a faithful puppy chasing her skirts.
The sway of her hips had his total attention until Will clapped him on the shoulder. "Congratulations, Simon. I hope the two of you will be very happy together."
"If I can ever get her alone, I'm sure we will be," Simon growled. Will simply laughed. Simon was caught in a lustful hell, and Will could only tease him. Oliver glared at him from across the room.
"What's wrong with Maberley? Do you know?" Simon asked.
"He's still worried about Lily," Will said, coloring slightly.
There was no reason for him to worry. Simon would never harm her. He'd sever his own arm first. "Damn you for giving him those books!"#p#分页标题#e#
Will shrugged. "There's a lot of information in them that he should know."
"But not about the claiming, you fool." Simon hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. "That's what's wrong with him. He thinks I'll devour her on sight."
Just the thought of claiming Lily made his blood run hot. He watched her as she talked with his mother. She lifted a spoon to her mouth, and her full, pink lips slid off the end of it. He wished it was him. That her lips were on him at that moment.
"I'll talk to Oliver again," Will sighed.
"I'll never be able to claim Lily, so you can assure the boy she's safe."
Will's eyes narrowed. "Never claim her?"
"Oh, I'll have her. But never when the moon is full. Never when I might be out of control. Never when there's a chance I could hurt her." Simon fought a bit of melancholy at the thought of it. But then the spoon slid from between her lips again. She smiled at him.
Simon had to adjust his trousers. One more look from her, and he would cross the room, pick her up, and carry her upstairs. Then she pressed her fingertips against her lips, kissed them, and blew a soft kiss to him. He was immediately lost.
Twenty-Six
Lily had no idea what made her do that, what made her blow a kiss to him from across the table. But he looked so serious as he sat there with Will. His forehead was marred by lines of worry, and his body was tense, his movements terse and choppy.
She simply wanted to soothe him. But what she didn't expect was for him to slide his chair back with a scrape against the hardwood floors, the noise of which was loud enough to make every head turn. He strode quickly across the room and stopped at her side.
"Lily," he said softly, as though something pained him. He took her hand in his and pulled her to her feet. And before she knew it, he'd scooped her up and was striding out of the breakfast room.
"Simon, put me down," she squealed as he started up the steps, taking them two at a time. "This is highly improper."
"Then I get to be your improper husband, and you'll just have to be my improper wife, won't you?" He smiled wolfishly at her, his eyebrows wagging at his own joke.
He strode through the door of his bedchamber, and she expected him to place her on her feet. But he didn't. He unceremoniously tossed her into the middle of the bed, where she hit so hard that she bounced.
"Simon!" she shrieked a she reached out to steady herself. But he was lost in his chores. He closed the curtains, nearly drenching the room in total darkness. Then he turned and lit a candle, which cast soft shadows about the room.
The bed dipped under his weight as he sat down and began to remove his boots.
"What are you doing, Simon?" she asked.
He finally turned toward her. "I have every intention of making love to my wife," he said slowly, his eyes dancing from the top of her head to the soles of her slippers. "Unless you have an objection?"
"None," she squeaked, cringing when she heard the sound of her own voice. "None," she repeated with more conviction. "But you'll have to show me what to do. Because I fear I may be really bad at it." She swallowed hard.