Page 243 of Storm of Bells
Without any hesitation, she grabbed me by theshoulders and stared fiercely into my eyes. ‘I wanted to say thatyou should kiss me again!’
I nodded in satisfaction. ‘Adequate.’
And I wasted no time in showing her exactlyhow ‘adequate’ it was. Only when the carriage rolled to a stop infront of my manor did I once again break our kiss.
The reason?
My manor. With my bedroom inside.
It was just then that my lady wife caughtsight of the house outside, and the meaning of my earlier words,the meaning of us being here, began to sink in. Her eyes went wide,and she whipped her head around to stare up at me.
I answered her wide-eyed gaze with a coolglance of my own.
With a final crunch of gravel, the coach cameto a halt. Eyes still wide, my dear wife retreated away from thecarriage door, farther into the interior. I leaned towards her,narrowing my eyes infinitesimally, yet this time not in irritation,but with the intense focus of a predator.
‘Lillian?’
I couldseeher chest starting to riseand fall rapidly at my mention of her name. I couldhearherbreathing hitch.
My lips nearly, very nearly, twitched intriumph.
A basic principle of business: if you find amethod that works, don’t just stop after one time.
‘Lillian.’
Once again, that one word was enough to rockher. The panic faded from her widened eyes and, instinctively, sheleaned into me.
Adequate.
But…I could still feel her tremble ever soslightly. I felt a tug in my chest. Was she…afraid?
I was a hard man. I would not hesitate to tryand command her. I would not hesitate to try and make her do what Ithought was best for her. But make her be afraid of me?
Never.
Ever.
‘What is it?’ I demanded in a low voice,stroking a thumb down her cheek.
For a moment, she said nothing. For a moment,she did not move. Then, she slowly raised her head, and her fieryeyes burned into me. Only then did I realize: she was trembling notwith apprehension, not with fear, but with desire.
Licking her lips, she swallowed.
‘Let’s go home.’
Those three words were all I needed. In ablink I was on my feet and had lifted her up in my arms. Kickingthe door open, I stepped out of the carriage into the fiery sunset.Light as red as rubies flooded over the countryside, paintingeverything crimson. At any other time, it would have annoyed me,naturally preferring diamonds to less valuable rubies. But rightnow?
Right now I couldn’t see anything but theface of the woman in my arms.
Mywoman.
Mywife.
Lillian.
With one long stride, I stepped out of thecarriage, straight towards the mansion door. In my arms, my ladywife simply stared up at me, not even uttering a single syllable ofprotest at being carried like a damsel in distress. That alone wasenough to tell me that, tonight, the usual rules were forgotten.Tonight, things were different. Tonight, it was just us.
But that was just it. It was she and I. And Iknew her. I could just bring her inside. But…
