My Fair Lily(74)
“You worried needlessly. I was never the sweet, innocent sort. I can prove it to you now, if you’ll let me.”
He arched an eyebrow, not particularly eager to indulge in the sexual pleasures she was offering. “This isn’t the time or place to speak of such matters.”
“Join me in the garden and I’ll show you what you’ve been missing.” Her hand still felt like a clamp about his forearm, not soft or caressing as Lily’s had been. She leaned close and brushed her breasts against his tense body. Her nipples were hard, and her skin lightly pink with arousal. “I know how to please a man. I’m wet for you, Ewan. So hot and wet, aching to take you inside of me.” She gazed at his crotch as she ran her tongue slowly across her lips. “I’ll make you forget the Sassenach virgin. Wait a few minutes and then follow me into the garden. I’ll meet you beside the lilac trees.”
She licked her lips again. Looked at his crotch again. Then was gone.
All he felt was relief. However, no sooner had Callie left his side than his grandfather approached. “You brought Evangeline.” That was it, just three words, but they were laden with menace.
He wanted to curl his hands into fists and pummel the old man. “It seemed the right thing to do.”
“She ought to have known better than to accept a ride from you.”
“Why? You weren’t going to offer. She’s your granddaughter, yet you treat her worse than a pair of old boots. All she wants is for you to love her. She has only you and Desmond. She’d give you her heart if you opened up yours just a crack, but you’ll never do it. Your only desire is to control and manipulate. You treat her worse than the old rag that’s used to clean your old boots.”
“Don’t you talk to me that way. I’m still your grandfather.”
“As well as Evie’s and Desmond’s. Start acting like it. They’re your family, not some marionettes to be pulled by your strings.”
His grandfather’s eyes were now blazing and his hands, like Ewan’s, were flexing at his sides to fight the temptation to curl them into fists. “You’re quick to defend them, yet you haven’t any notion of their true natures. You’ve been here less than a month. What do you know about them? You haven’t experienced firsthand the extent of their greed.”
“What have they done to make you think they only covet your wealth?” He didn’t necessarily disagree with the statement, for he didn’t know his cousins at all, but the little he’d seen of them and of their home did not give him that impression.
He’d seen desolation, not avarice, in Evie’s eyes. Not that he was an expert with women. Quite the opposite, they confounded him at every turn. Lily especially. He still didn’t understand why his heart leapt into his throat and his blood turned fiery whenever he saw her. It just did.
He missed her, even though they’d only been apart a short while.
“You’ll find out for yourself,” his grandfather said, answering his question after a long moment’s pause. “They’ll pretend to like you, but don’t be fooled. They’ll hate you as they hate me. They blame me for the death of their father.”
“Do they have reason?”
“No. Damn you, Ewan. I loved my sons, both of them. I’m no monster.”
He’d humiliated Evie and banned Lily from the thing she loved most. If he wasn’t a monster, he came fairly close. But this wasn’t a discussion to be pursued amid a party. Though he and his grandfather were on their own in a corner, they were drawing notice. Ewan resolved to renew their conversation later at Lotheil Court.
Right now, he was eager to see Lily again. He’d find her with Evie and Meggie, no doubt putting both of them at ease, because it was her nature to calm and comfort. Not that he was ever comfortable around Lily. He wasn’t. But it was a good discomfort. A hot, melt-the-butter-on-your-biscuits desire that he always felt around her.
He noticed Callie walking in from the garden and felt her presence like a splash of cold water. Bollix. He’d forgotten about her, kept her waiting by the damned lilacs. He had no intention of taking her up on her offer of sex. She wasn’t remotely tempting.
Still, he shouldn’t have dismissed her from his thoughts the moment she’d walked away. An angry, ignored woman was always trouble.
To his surprise, instead of casting daggers at him, she tossed him a look of smug triumph. Like a cat who had swallowed a bird.
What had she done?
Suddenly concerned that she might have said something to hurt Lily, Ewan made his way to the dining room. He spotted George, Meggie, and Evie. All three were smiling and engaged in lively conversation. He interrupted them. “Where’s Lily?”