Chapter 27
Sebastien considered how to explain the ugly world of court politics to the unspoiled Lily.
Though she’d suffered in her life—far more than he or anyone he knew—she also possessed an almost pristine innocence about the darker motivations of other people.
Perhaps she persisted in believing that Jada embodied all the evil in the world.
She didn’t seem to fully understand the extent of Clotaire’s crimes against them, but he probably hadn’t explained it well and that would best come from Rose.
“I should get us refreshments,” she said into the long pause, gathering the blanket around her so she could stand.
“No, you don’t need to serve me,” he said, then realized he’d said it too strongly.
She physically flinched, apologies tumbling to her lips.
He took her hands, to keep her there and so she’d feel the sincerity of his mind and heart.
“You’re done being a servant. That’s all I’m saying.
And this is difficult for me to talk about, so I need you to be still and quiet a moment. ”
“I’m sorry.” She flushed, not meeting his eyes.
He restrained himself from telling her not to apologize. Instead, he held her hands and her gaze. “We’re still new, still learning to talk with one another. We’ll sort things out.”
Her luminous dark eyes met his at last and she nodded, chewing on her lip in that endearing way.
He wanted to go back to kissing those sweet lips, plumbing that delicious mouth, until she was senseless and melting in his arms. It must be part and parcel of her artlessness, but he’d never known a woman to give herself over as utterly and without reserve or calculation as Lily.
But they needed to have this conversation.
“My one story for the day and then you’ll tell me yours.
Then we can decide if we want to continue making love or have a snack, all right? ”
Her stomach rumbled audibly at the mention and he raised his brows at her. “Maybe we should have a snack now, while we talk?”
Biting her lower lip in embarrassment, she nodded. “I am a little hungry.”
“I do love a snack,” he teased her. “All right, but I’ll help.”
Together they fetched an array of food from the incredible feast she’d laid out in the kitchen.
Hard to believe she’d made all of that. Sebastien insisted on carrying the platter back to the rug in the library despite her protests.
Sitting across from him, she regarded him with an oddly rapt expression.
He cocked his head at her, spreading blackberry jam on a scone. “What are you thinking?”
She blushed and averted her eyes. “Just how much I like you.”
“I like you, too,” he replied with a smile, and popped the scone in his mouth. The pastry melted like butter and the jam exploded with flavor, bursting with the juices of a hot summer afternoon. “And this might be the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”
She flushed bright red and laughed. “I doubt my scones compete with those at the palace.”
He thought ruefully of the food made for hundreds of people at once, even the diligent castle kitchen staff strained to cook in such quantities.
“You’ll see. All right, no more delaying.
I need to tell you this story.” He took a deep breath.
“So, yes, I did have many lovers at court, from the time I was about fourteen.” He said that in a rush.
Rose knew some of this, but mostly he hadn’t had to explain to her.
She knew how things worked and had simply given him sympathy and understanding.
He wasn’t at all sure how Lily would take this.
“Isn’t that very young?” she asked tentatively.
Tempted to laugh, knowing it would come out bitter, he held it back. “My first lover was a duchess from an allied kingdom. When she invited me to her bed, I had no idea what to do—or really even what was about to happen.”
She frowned. “Is that … normal?”
He couldn’t help laughing a little, raking his hair back from his forehead. “What is normal? Court life is predicated on power, which allows you to take what you want. The duchess wanted me and she plucked me like a choice partridge from the platter before anyone else could.”
“That sounds unsavory.”
“Well, if it hadn’t been her, it would have been someone else.
” The old pain, the look of sympathy on Lily’s face, the intimacy of sitting on the rug with her in the firelight all combined to make him surprisingly emotional about it all.
“The duchess was generous with me, which is another way of exerting and sharing power. I didn’t have any, so that was my one avenue to get what I needed, for me and for my sisters, who took care of me. ”
“But you’re a prince, and a sorcerer!”
A glossy strand of black hair had fallen into her face and he tucked it behind her ear, taking the opportunity to stroke the velvet softness of her cheek.
He couldn’t seem to get enough of touching her.
“I’m not much of a sorcerer, sweet—nothing like you are, even untutored—and power is relative.
If someone, or many someones, have more power than you do, then they can give or take away.
” He was in danger of becoming maudlin, which he didn’t want for their first night together.
“Anyway, after the duchess came a countess, then a diplomat’s wife, then a foreign princess …
The list goes on. Some were kinder than others, but I’ve lost count of how many there were.
So that’s my long answer to your question. That’s why I’ve had so many lovers.”
“I’m sorry, Sebastien.”
He believed she was, with her earnest compassion and heartfelt empathy. “Thank you,” he replied gravely. “Ready to tell me your one story—why your room is so bare?”
The image of that tiny, almost sterile room stuck with him as Lily told him about her attempt to break through the wards and how Jada had mocked her romantic longings and burned her journals, ripping every supposed “privilege” from her charge.
He did his best to keep a calm demeanor, but he thought that if Jada walked into the room at that moment, he might tear out her throat with his bare hands.
Lily wept quietly as she told the tale and he held her hands, wishing he could go back in time and take her away.
If it was true that Moriah had manipulated circumstances so that he and Lily met, then it was inexcusable she didn’t help Lily sooner.
The cat didn’t know then, Bunny said. And the world had not yet turned so that the pieces fell into place.
Eavesdropping on my thoughts?
You think very loudly.
Sebastien decided to ignore that remark. What does that mean—the pieces of what hadn’t fallen into place?
The plan thing.
The plan thing?
Yes. The plan thing.
Sebastien struggled with impatient exasperation. What is the plan thing?
I don’t know! the scáthcú answered cheerfully. It’s Moriah’s plan thing. Well, along with She Who Eats Bears.
So curious, since Adsila was the avatar of that vengeful goddess. But who or what was She Who Eats Bears avenging?
“Sebastien?” Lily asked. “Are the animals all right?” At his questioning look, she explained, “I can feel it when you talk to them. And you get this listening look on your face.”
“I apologize. That was rude of me.”
“I don’t mind. I just realized they might be getting wet in this rain.”
“No, they’ve all crowded into Nessie’s shed and are having a delightful time. Apparently the gossip is quite good and not entirely about horses,” he added with a grin.
She laughed, then clapped a hand over her mouth. “The chickens! I clean forgot to put them in.”
Before she could finish leaping up, he tugged her back down. “Bunny and Nonna herded them in. Everybody is safe and dry.”
“Oh.” She sagged with relief. “I’m not normally so negligent.”
“I distracted you.” He grinned at her endearing blush. “I’d like to distract you some more.”
Her full lips parted, dark eyes glistening. “I would like that, too, Sebastien.”
Uncertain what good he’d ever done to deserve the miracle of her, he leaned in to kiss her, drowning in her sweet scent that owed itself entirely to her and no perfumes or expensive oils.
She yielded eagerly, returning his caresses now with growing boldness, his skin sparking to the peculiar tingle of her fingertips.
He wanted her to read everything in him, how he felt about her, about even his darkness, because he knew she would never condemn him, any more than he’d ever judge her for what she’d done, on purpose or by accident.
He bore her back to the rug, baring her again like a feast for his eyes and hands.
She didn’t protest when he slipped the rest of the gown off her body, tossing it aside, so he could explore every curve, each sweet gasp and exhalation a music of its own.
She grew increasingly frantic, making adorable pleading mews of need, then a shocked cry when he applied his mouth to the salt of her pink sex, so tender and swollen.
He brought her to climax that way, then again.
On the third build to completion, he positioned himself over her and at last gave in to his own howling craving, thrusting into her tight sheath, their cries mingling at the exquisite sensation.
He couldn’t hold himself back for very long—a disappointment to him as he longed to make it last forever, this intense and intimate joining of their bodies, the pleasure they shared back and forth unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
Yes, he’d had plenty of sex, but never before had he made love—and he felt as if his heart might explode with the sheer wonder of it.
He poured himself into her, the convulsion of the climax almost painful, belatedly remembering that Lily had no enchantment to prevent pregnancy.
But they would be married soon and hopefully she would welcome their first child as eagerly as he would.
Still, he’d been careless and they’d have to talk about their plans.
At the moment, however, with her delicious body curled against him as she drowsily laid her head on his shoulder and draped a languid arm around his waist, nuzzling him like a kitten, he couldn’t muster the will to ruin the moment.
In the morning, they would talk about it.
As it was, the accumulated exhaustion of the last few sleepless nights caught up with him, and he crashed into sleep.
Sebastien awoke alone on the rug, the fire cold, the blanket he’d wrapped around Lily draped over him, and morning sunlight streaming in the windows. He had only a moment to wonder where she’d gone before three things happened in quick succession.
He heard Lily singing from the kitchen, along with the whistle of a teakettle.
His stomach reminded him how much he liked breakfast.
And Bunny abruptly bounced into his head with a warning, which he belatedly realized was what had awakened him.
Clotaire is on his way here, Bunny cheerfully informed him. You probably don’t want to be here when he arrives.
Love you! Let’s go look for Nina, Nonna said.
If we’re going to stay here often, Kismet put in, I need more room. And proper grain.
I’m hungry too, Bunny agreed.
Meee toooo! Nonna yelped, her audible baying rising from outside.
“Crap,” Sebastien said, scrabbling for his clothes and yanking them on.
It wouldn’t be his first hasty departure from a woman’s bed ahead of the arrival of someone else, but usually it had been a spouse, not a parent.
And definitely not a father who needed to be fooled into thinking Sebastien was an ignorant pawn in his schemes and not the other way around.
Still fastening his garments—and mentally reassuring Bunny and Kismet, while telling Nonna to keep her mouth shut—he stumbled into the kitchen.
Lily, fresh and lovely as her namesake, turned to smile at him, looking irresistibly gorgeous and sexy in her apron with a smear of flour across one cheek.
Maybe they should run away to some cozy place where no one knew them, especially if they could have nights and mornings like this.
He wanted nothing more than to sweep her up, kiss her senseless, then set her on that kitchen counter and—
And you really don’t have time for that kind of delay, Bunny advised.
I know, Sebastien answered with a mental growl.
Lily’s smile dropped like a rock. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He scooped her close and kissed her lovely lips. She tasted of butter and lemon, an enticing combination on top of everything else about her. Then he firmly set her down. “Everything. I can’t stay. Your father is coming.”
“My fath—” She managed to look dismayed, horrified, surprised, and elated all in one. “I’m going to meet my father.”
“Don’t trust anything he says,” Sebastien advised. “I’m sorry to rush out. Last night was incredible. That sounds like a line, but it’s absolute truth.”
“A line?” she repeated, a wrinkle of confusion between her brows.
“Never mind.” Charmed by her, he couldn’t resist kissing her soundly again. “He can’t find me here. Just play dumb and go along with whatever he says.”
“That will be easy,” she said drily.
He tapped her on the nose. “Stop that. I’ll find you. I love you.”
Her brow cleared. “I love you, Sebastien.”
“Hide the ring for now. Until I see you again.”
She smiled wistfully. “Until I see you again.”