Rebellious Bride (32 page)

Rolfe looked to his brother for verification.

“We should not bore the ladies with talk of business,” Evan said pleasantly, though Lil detected irritation in his voice.

“Forgive my rudeness, ladies,” Cedric apologized with a cordial nod to each. “This land has a tendency to make one forget one’s manners.”

Holly and Lil exchanged curious glances, both women feeling as though they had just been politely insulted.

Jonathan interrupted in his usual proper fashion and announced, “Tea and cakes await the ladies in the parlor.”

Lil and Holly locked glances.

Sam smiled and leaned back in his chair, waiting for his daughter’s reaction.

Rolfe stood and came around to his wife’s chair to assist her to stand. He leaned over the back of the chair to whisper in her ear, “Indulge me during this one night of English custom.”

His voice was so soft, his breath so warm and faint with the scent of wine that Lil found herself stepping out of character for him. “Holly, let us take our tea in the parlor.”

Holly rose, placing her white linen napkin on the table. “I would be delighted to.”

The two women made a playful show of curtsying to the men; then they locked arms and exited the room, their laughter trailing behind them.

Evan’s smile held an unmistakable hint of teasing when he said, “I daresay, brother, you have met your match.”

“More than you know,” Rolfe mumbled and closed the door on the departed females.

~~~

Lil sat in the center of the bed wearing Rolfe’s black silk robe and nothing else. A book on the cultivation and medicinal uses of herbs sat open in her lap, her concentration on the subject long since faded. Her thoughts were now focused on her husband, and she wondered when he intended to retire.

It was close to midnight. Holly and Sam had left hours ago, and Cedric had retired shortly thereafter. Rolfe was alone with his brother. She had no right to be jealous of the time Rolfe spent with Evan. It had been some time since they’d seen each other, and there was much for them to catch up on. Yet she found herself wanting Rolfe there with her right this very moment.

She snapped the book shut and tossed it to the floor.

“In disagreement with the author again, darling?” Rolfe asked, his footsteps so light they made his entrance undetectable.

Lil sighed at the sight of him. He was minus his vest and coat. His white linen shirt was free of his trousers and lay open, exposing the expanse of his muscled chest. Lil thoroughly enjoyed the luscious view. “I have grown weary of reading about herbs. My mind is elsewhere.”

Rolfe negligently cast his shirt onto a nearby chair. His fingers worked at his trousers. “Where?”

Even his voice tempted her tonight. The one word alone sounded sultry and sinful. She decided quite simply that she wanted him. “On you.”

His trousers and remaining garments joined his discarded shirt. He stood gloriously naked,  his thick arousal exciting her. He walked over to her while she inched toward the edge of the bed to meet him. She went up on her knees, and his hands dipped beneath her robe cupping her heavy breasts.

“Are you certain you are well enough? Not too tired or worn out from the day’s strange events?” he asked, one hand tenderly tempting her nipple while the other slipped down to cup her bare buttocks.

She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m fine.” And to prove her healthy condition she licked the warm flesh of his midriff, her small but determined tongue enjoying every delicious stroke.

Rolfe groaned in sweet misery. “You’re playing in dangerous territory, Lillian.”

With deliberate slowness she dragged the tip of her tongue up the length of him to his throat, where she kissed his maddeningly pulsating vein. “I don’t think I’ve tasted enough danger today,” she challenged.

Rolfe’s hand rushed to the back of her head, and with rough gentleness he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back away from him to look down at her. “You want to taste more?”

“Much more,” she whispered and with slow licks descended along the length of him until her tongue found its mark.

Rolfe groaned in agonizing pleasure, the shock of her unexpected actions making his desire soar. “Lillian.” His voice was a gasp.

She didn’t answer and understandably so. She was quite enjoying herself.

“Lillian,” he said once more, and when no answer was forthcoming he reached down, drew her off him, and in a gentle rush spread her out on the bed.

Her cry of disappointment amused and titillated him all at once. He knew that time was of the essence since her mouth had more than adequately prepared him, and he eased into her in soft haste.

Lil released a shriek of delight and wrapped her legs around her husband as he moved in a slow and steady rhythm within her. She reached up to lock her arms around his neck while her tongue licked her lips like a satisfied cat.

“I like the taste of you.”

“I like the feel of you,” he returned and added momentum to his motion.

Lil moaned and panted and ached with each stroke. No more words were necessary, and neither could have spoken if they’d wanted to, so intense was their need for each other.

Together they rapidly climbed, their bodies damp, their movements urgent, their kisses soul-reaching, until Rolfe cried out like a mighty beast spent in battle and Lillian followed with her cry of surrender.

The words each wished to hear from the other at that moment remained safely guarded and locked away in their hearts.

I love you.

Lil walked with Evan along the hay-strewn path that wound its way through her herb garden. Pride shone in her green eyes, her cheeks were flushed with enthusiasm, and her hands motioned endlessly as she pointed out each herb and explained its properties.

“I just began cultivating sage this year,” Lil said, pointing out a shrubby plant with oblong leaves and two-lipped purple flowers. “It isn’t indigenous to the area, and I’ve been receiving packaged dried leaves from an herbalist back east for two years. The medicinal results have been encouraging, especially in helping to eliminate chest congestion. It also works quite well on insect bites, but overuse can bring on symptoms of poisoning.”

Evan listened intently, his interest sparked.

Lil proceeded. “Another new cultivation is that plant with the gray-green leaves. That’s lavender, and I love the scent of it in my soap and oils, but it also has medicinal value. I’ve been successfully treating headaches and dizziness with it.”

“I am impressed,” Evan said, glancing over the large, well-tended garden. “I had no idea that your knowledge was so extensive.”

“My interest began at a young age. I was lucky enough to have been taught by a woman who had lived a good many years in this area. Doc Talbert introduced me to her once he discovered he couldn’t discourage my interest in medicine.”

Evan offered his arm as they continued to stroll among the rows of plants.

Lil accepted his assistance gratefully, finding his quiet demeanor soothing. “Her name was Wynne. She took me up into the hills and into the woods, teaching me about the various plants that help heal.”

“So while other young ladies were taught the fine art of embroidery, you were out digging up plants,” Evan said, not in jest but with respect.

“And I enjoyed every minute of it,” Lil added. “But I was also taught embroidery. Wynne insisted that if I was going to stitch up the flesh of a man or a woman, I would have to make it a mighty fine piece of work.”

A smile creased Evan’s usually solemn expression. “I envy you your childhood years, Lillian. They sound remarkable and full of humor and fun as well.”

“From what Rolfe has told me, your childhood and his also had many memorable moments.”

Evan’s smile broadened, and his sharp features reminded Lil of Rolfe. She wondered as to her husband’s whereabouts and wished him near.

“Rolfe and I had favorable and unfavorable childhood adventures together. Then...” He shrugged his shoulders as if saddened.

Sensing his need to confide in her, Lil urged him on. “You grew up?”

“Don’t we all?” Evan said despondently. “Duty calls and must be answered.”

“But life goes on,” Lil insisted. “There’s always time to laugh and enjoy life. Didn’t you and Rolfe continue to have good times?”

Evan stopped and stared out across the far-reaching expanse of the ranch, the crease of his brow betraying his heavy thoughts. “My family responsibility was much more pressing than anyone could have imagined. I did not wish Rolfe to suffer for it, and I therefore sought an excellent marriage contract for him immediately.”

Lil found it impossible to hold her tongue. “Perhaps you should have asked for his help instead.”

Evan glared down at her. “Rolfe said your tongue was impetuous.”

“Impetuously honest,” Lil corrected with a quick smile.

Evan couldn’t help but return her smile, so sincere was it. “Are you suggesting that I acted unwisely in arranging a marriage for Rolfe?”

“No, I’m not questioning the marriage. What I do question is the reason behind it.”

“You speak in riddles, Lillian,” Evan said, his smile fading.

Lil liked Evan. She had liked him upon their very first meeting, and that fondness had grown between them in the last two weeks. She saw no reason not to speak to him as a loving sister would. “Allow me to explain.”

“Are you requesting permission?”

Lil teasingly swatted him on the arm. “Good heavens, you know me better than that.”

“Then I can safely assume that you plan to give me your opinion on this matter whether I care to hear it or not.”

Anyone other than Lil would have been affronted by Evan’s sharp tone.

“Precisely,” she said, her tone far sweeter than Evan’s, but just as meaningful. She reached out to take his arm. “But first would you be as kind as to lead me to that bench by my mint patch? I find my back protesting the amount of time I spend on my feet lately.”

Evan immediately assisted her over to the old wooden bench that he feared would never hold the two of them.

She read his misgivings and assured him of its sturdiness. “It’s scarred but solid.”

“Perhaps I should locate Rolfe for you?” he suggested and remained standing.

“No,” Lil informed him and slapped the spot beside her.

“Sit down. You’re not getting out of the lecture I have planned for you that easily.”

Evan smiled in spite of attempting to hide it. He gladly took the seat next to her. “I thought little sisters always listened to big brothers.”

“On occasion big brothers need little sisters’ advice.”

“Very well, I shall dutifully listen to you.” He paused “If you are certain you are all right?”

Lil appreciated his concern. “I’m fine, really.”

“Good,” he said and stretched his feet out in front of him. “I’m ready to listen.”

Lil cleared her throat and began. “I’ve considered all the things Rolfe has told me about you and his family, and I have reached the conclusion—feel free to tell me if I’m correct—that you arranged his marriage rather hastily after your father’s death because you discovered the family was in severe debt and you didn’t wish to see your brother suffer, or possibly fail to make a good marriage contract.”

Silence answered her. She pushed on. “Because you were the elder brother, and the responsible one, you didn’t feel it appropriate to burden Rolfe with this information, though actually that would have been the wiser choice.”

“How did you ever reach this conclusion?” Evan asked.

Lil shrugged as though she considered it easily understandable. “Simple. I recalled a time when my father toyed with the idea of shipping me off to his sister in Nebraska. I couldn’t understand why he wanted me to go. We were close, and it didn’t make sense to me. So naturally I came right out and asked him why. He told me that money was tight and he might lose his job and have to look for work elsewhere, perhaps in undesirable places for a young girl to grow up in. He wanted to spare me that. I told him I wouldn’t go and he couldn’t make me.”

“And he didn’t insist?” Evan asked surprised.

Lil shook her head. “I’m obstinate. He knew if he shipped me off, I’d ship myself right back. During rough times a family should stick together and work things out.”

“The marriage was good for Rolfe,” Evan said as if to justify his decision.

‘‘Yes, it would appear so, but his support of you would also have been good for him as well as for you.”

“I cannot undo the past,” he said sadly.

“But you can arrange a better future.”

“That I can,” Evan agreed most heartily.

“Good. Now that that is settled, I have dozens more questions concerning Rolfe.”

Evan held up his hand. “You have already wrung out of me every boyhood tale and then some.”

“We haven’t touched on the years just before his first marriage, and then there are those years—”

Evan prevented her from continuing by waving his finger frantically in her face. “Believe me, Lillian, you do not wish to hear tales of the years just before his first marriage. Actually, I couldn’t comfortably report them to you. That marriage was like most. Beatrice was a dutiful wife.” Evan stopped and smiled broadly over that remark. “She obeyed his every word and served him, as was proper.”

“You English do love propriety, don’t you?”

“I’m beginning to see it has its drawbacks.” Evan laughed, and Lil was surprised by the sound. It was full and rich. She decided he should laugh more often.

Lil unconsciously rubbed at the ache in her back.

“You are uncomfortable?” he said, standing up and offering her his hand.

“Not really. I expected some bothersome moments and have not been disappointed,” she said and took his hand as he assisted her to stand. “I actually find the whole experience educational. It will be so much easier to understand the birth process after I go through it myself. I’m looking forward to it.”

Evan, who was unaccustomed to discussing such delicate matters with a woman, just nodded in agreement and walked along the path with her.

Lil stopped abruptly and grabbed her stomach.