My Fair Lily(31)

“I’m not—” Lily was trying to tell them that she wasn’t Ewan’s wife, but they mistook her protestations.

“Now, don’t ye deny it,” one of the men said, holding up a large, callused hand. “Just glad yer husband got here in time to prevent something worse. Now ye just forget this bit of nastiness and let him take care of ye.”

She sighed. “Of course.” And burrowed against Ewan so that he had no choice but to put his arm around her. Oh, he felt good. Warm and solid and good. But that wasn’t her true purpose in burying her body against his... crumpets, she had to concentrate on anything but that animal heat radiating off his body. Right, concentrate on her true purpose, which was to keep him from doing permanent bodily harm to this villainous stranger.

At first, she didn’t think her plan was working, for Ewan’s body grew tenser the closer she burrowed against him. However, when he finally spoke, he managed to speak calmly. First he thanked the Bow Street runners, and then he turned to the young couple. “Stop crying, Evangeline. I won’t kill your brother. Not this time.”

Evangeline? He knew this beautiful young woman? Not that she cared. Not that it was her business. But Evangeline’s brother had attacked her. Well, that made it her business.

Ewan turned to stare at the young man who was shakily rising to his feet. “Desmond, you bloody bastard. Set a hand on Lily again, and I’ll kill you. Come near Meggie, and I’ll kill you.”

Evangeline glowered at him. “Who are you to speak that way to my brother? You’re not good enough to polish his boots. Do you think you can come here and turn Grandfather away from us? You disgusting heathen. We all know you’re only after his wealth and title. You’re nothing but a filthy, Highlands pig. Grandfather couldn’t stand the sight of your mother and he can’t stand the sight of you, so go back to your Scottish hovel before you humiliate yourself. You have no place here among your betters.”

Lily’s fingers dug into Ewan’s hand with enough force to leave the imprint of her nails on his flesh. She was bracing herself to hold him back, for Evangeline was goading him. Especially the remark about his mother. She’d felt Ewan’s heart leap into his throat at that cruel snipe, but he’d surprised her by controlling his anger. He turned to the Bow Street runners. “Take them away.”

“With pleasure, m’lord,” they replied in unison and promptly did as ordered.

No one moved until the shop door closed, and then it seemed everyone was moving and speaking at once. Madame de Bressard was going on in an agitated mix of English and French about those horrid people, and how that well-dressed brute wearing an exquisite blue silk foulard (she was in the fashion trade, after all) had struck Lily, and how Lily had been so brave.

“I wonder how they knew Meggie was here,” Lily mused.

“Desmond must have bribed someone at Lotheil to keep track of my sister’s whereabouts,” Ewan said. “No doubt my whereabouts as well. Where’s Meggie?” His gaze never left Lily as he made sure she wasn’t hurt worse than she was letting on.

“She’s in the dressing room. I’ll fetch her.”

“I’ll go,” Madame de Bressard insisted and hurried off.

Lily knew that she was the one who should have gone, for Meggie was certainly hiding in a corner, shivering in her undergarments. But her legs suddenly seemed wobbly, and the room began to spin. Ewan’s arms folded around her. “I’m not going to faint,” she assured, though it might have been a lie. She was cold and suddenly shaking. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Just give me a moment.”

“Take all the time you need, lass.” He ran his thumb across her cheek in a gentle, easy motion. Oh, that felt good! Scary, how good.

“I could have defended myself,” she began to ramble because she didn’t trust herself at the moment. She wanted to reach up and kiss him on the mouth. His warm, nicely shaped mouth. “I was about to grab a hat pin and press it to his throat. It was the only weapon I could think of. Handy things they are, too. But I wasn’t trying to draw blood or pierce his jugular vein. Do you know where the jugular vein is located? It’s the line that runs right here along the neck.” She was about to reach up and stroke his neck, then thought better of it. She eased out of his arms, not far, just a step or two away, and tilted her head to better expose her skin while she slowly ran her fingers down her own neck. “There. See? If you look closely, you can see it throbbing.”

He suddenly looked as though he’d stopped breathing. He was doing that a lot around her lately. No doubt the musty London air, which was nowhere near as pure as the clean mountain air he was used to breathing in. His emerald eyes turned hot and dark. “Lily... lass…” His voice was little more than a whispered groan as he dipped his head and— “Ewan! Thank goodness!” Meggie tore out of the dressing room and threw herself into her brother’s arms, her red curls bobbing frantically as she hugged him. “I don’t know what we would have done without you. You saved the day. Oh, Ewan! I hate it here. Not Lily, of course. I adore her. She’s perfect. I want to go home. Scotland is where we belong. Evangeline is right. We don’t fit in here.”