In Daniel’s chamber, a small feast awaited them again at the table in the sitting window. “What is that glorious smell?” Lily asked, inhaling.

“I’ll show you in a minute. First…”

He turned her toward the wall facing the bed. In place of St. Praxedis hung Lily’s two watercolors, framed in dark cherry.

“Oh!”

“Thank you for the paintings, Lily.” He kissed the top of her head. “I hope you meant for me to keep them, because I’m going to anyway.”

“Yes, of course, I want you to have them,” Lily said. “But where is the Vermeer, Daniel?”

“I took it down.”

“You can’t possibly replace Vermeer with my work.”

“It’s my bedchamber. I’ll do as I please. Now I’ll think of you whenever I look up.”

Lily turned around and kissed his cheek. “You are sweet. How on earth did you get them framed so quickly?”

“We keep a carpenter on the estate. When I returned from our ride and found the watercolors, I summoned him and asked if he could frame them by this evening, and he assured me he could. And there they are.”

“But the Vermeer…”

“Don’t worry about the Vermeer, Lily. It will be well enjoyed.”

“Where are you going to put it?”

“I haven’t quite decided yet.” His eyes sparkled. “But you’ll be the first to know, I promise.” He touched her cheek and smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I wanted to thank you for the paintings when I saw you at dinner, but you went into a tirade about the seating, and then it slipped my mind. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that. You’ve thanked me more than enough by displaying them in such a touching way. But now that you mention it, what was going on with the seating?”

“I don’t know. As I said, I told Aunt Lucy to keep the seating the same as it was last night.”

“It’s that Amelia Gregory.” Lily seethed, her pulse jumping. “She wanted to sit next to Thomas so she changed her place card with Emma’s. But when did she do it?”

“I don’t know. Could we drop the subject now, Lily? I promise you it won’t happen again, and I really don’t want to talk about Lady Gregory and her—”

“I spoke to Emma,” Lily interrupted. “She said Ludley did brush her thigh more often than she thought necessary.”

“I’ll see that he leaves on the morrow.”

“No, you needn’t. She said she was fine, and she didn’t want him forced to leave. He is a lech, though.

“So you’ve told me.” Daniel placed his hands on her shoulders. “Lily, if he so much as comes within ten feet of you, I want you to tell me.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can handle Ludley. I’m rather good at it, as I’ve had lots of practice.”

“I’m serious. I want to know.”

“Of course. My, do I have another protector now? As if my father and Thomas aren’t enough.”

“Your father and Thomas haven’t been doing their job, if Ludley touched you when you were a child of fourteen.”

“Good Lord, Daniel, I never told them, and neither did Rose. It’s not something one talks about.”

“You told me.”

“Well, yes.” Lily fidgeting with her skirt. Why had she told him? “I-I wanted you to understand the position Emma was in. She’s an innocent girl.”

“So were you, especially at fourteen. I really would like to strangle that man.”

Lily smiled up at him, lacing her fingers through his gorgeous locks. “I can’t say I wouldn’t like to see him strangled myself. But I’m fine, really. He never got anywhere, I promise. No one ever touched me beneath my clothes…until you, that is. Besides, I don’t want to see one little bruise on your beautiful body.”

“I assure you, he would be the one bloodied and bruised.”

“I don’t doubt it.” She pushed his velvet topcoat over his shoulders until it fell to the ground and slid her hands over his muscled arms. “I wouldn’t want to be on your bad side.”

“You never could be, love. But he is. He’ll never get another invitation to Laurel Ridge as long as I’m the duke.”

“Hush, now.” Lily untied his cravat and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. She leaned up to kiss his throat. “Forget about Ludley. Everything is fine. Now, are you going to tell me what that magnificent aroma on the table is?”

Daniel led her to the table, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap. Two small pots on the table were heated by candles underneath them. A platter of cubed bread and a platter of fresh fruit accompanied them, along with two glasses of red wine.

“This is fondue. Have you ever had it?”

“No, actually, though I’ve heard of it. It’s Swiss.”

“Yes.” He gestured to the pot nearer to them. “This one is made with Gruyère cheese and dry white wine, with just a touch of cherry brandy. You take a piece of bread, put it on the fondue fork, dip it in the cheese to coat it, and eat it off the fork. Go ahead.”

Lily dipped the bread in the cheese mixture and swirled it around a bit, but when she pulled out the fork, the bread was gone. “I lost my bread.”

“Poor angel,” he said. “Now you have to pay the price. Anyone who loses his bread in the fondue pot has to kiss someone else at the table.”

“But you’re the only other person at the table,” Lily said, giggling.

“I guess you’ll have to kiss me then.” His eyes gleamed at her. “I don’t know how I shall tolerate it.”

“I think you’ll live.” Lily bent her head to kiss his mouth lightly.

“That was no punishment.” Daniel caught her lips with his, coaxing them open and devouring her mouth. “There,” he said. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson. Now try again.”

Lily placed another piece of bread on her fondue fork and swirled it in the cheese carefully.

“It’s hot, so blow on it a bit first,” Daniel said.

She obliged and then put it in her mouth. The tart creaminess of the cheese and the dry fruitiness of the wine exploded on her tongue. “My, that’s wonderful.” She put another cube of bread on her fork and dipped it in the cheese. “This one’s for you.” She blew on it and fed it to Daniel. “Good?”

“Excellent.” He reached for a glass of wine. “Now take a sip of this. It’s the same wine we drank last night.”

Lily took a drink, letting the berry flavors of the wine join the lingering tanginess of the cheese. “Oh, that’s good.”

Daniel took a sip. “I agree. Most culinary experts claim that one should drink a white wine with a cheese dish such as this, but I prefer red with just about everything.”

“How dare you defy the conventions like that?” Lily said, smiling as she speared another chunk of bread and immersed it in the creamy mixture. “I’m going to be two stone heavier by the time I leave Laurel Ridge.”

---

The thought of Lily leaving Laurel Ridge jarred Daniel. He took her fork from her before she could eat, grabbed her cheeks, and drew her to his mouth, feasting. She tasted of the cheese and the wine, but mostly of the earthy, sensual flavor that he had come to know as her own. Intoxicating. They were both gasping when he ended the kiss.

“Don’t you want any more to eat?” Lily rasped.

“No, I don’t believe I do.” He stood up with her in his arms and devoured her lips again. “I want to take you to bed. Now.”

“But we haven’t tried the fruit yet. Or the other pot—”

He silenced her with another ravening kiss, as he worked the fasteners on the back of her gown, his heart thundering so hard he thought it must be audible.

“Yet you make a very strong argument…” Lily sighed softly as he kissed her cheeks, her ears, her neck.

“I’m going to love you until dawn, Lily,” he said huskily. “You’re not going to get a wink of sleep tonight.”

“Who needs sleep?” she replied in a low voice. “Take me to bed, Daniel.”

He set her on the bed and removed his own clothing quickly. His arousal sprang from his trousers. Lily’s gazed burned into him.

“See something you like?” he asked.

She flushed, the redness meandering across her creamy skin. God, she was beautiful.

“Take me quickly, Daniel. I want you inside me.”

“Anything you wish.” He lay down beside her on the bed. He gently lowered his hand to stroke her. “You’re already wet. My God, I can’t get enough of you.”

He entered her gently, finding a rhythm as she arched her hips to take in more of him. Sweet heaven, she fit him perfectly.

“Harder, Daniel. Faster!”

Daniel pulled himself up on his knees, lifting her bottom to meet him, and plunged into her. “You like it when I pound you, don’t you, Lily? You like my cock deep inside your pussy.” With one thumb, he massaged her peak in a counter rhythm to his thrusts.

“Daniel!” She shuddered in orgasm.

Her pleasure saturated every cell of his body, every recess of his soul, as if it were his own. He exploded with one last rush. “Lily!” A flood of emotion overtook him and his entire body shook with his release.

Gasping, he fell atop her, careful not to let his full weight crush her. “Lily, Lily,” he whispered.

She rubbed his back in soothing patterns. When his breathing returned to normal, he moved to the side, his limp sex sliding out of her.

“Daniel, that was amazing,” Lily said. “But I’m not done with you yet. You promised me a full night of love.”

“You shall have it. I just need a few minutes.” He sighed and laid one arm across his forehead.

“Very well.” Lily sat up, left the bed, and came back with the platter of fruit. She pushed a grape between his lips. “You require sustenance. You’ll need lots of energy for what I have in mind.”

“God help me,” Daniel said, swallowing the grape. “You drive me mad, do you know that?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It’s the highest compliment I’ve ever given.” He smiled, and then sat up next to her and fed her a strawberry.

Lily left the bed again and came back with a glass of wine. She was so beautiful. He should have had flowers brought in for her. Lilies, of course.

“Where did your name come from?” he asked

“Oh,” Lily groaned. “Don’t get me started. My mother’s name is Flora, which is a Latin form of flower, and her sister’s name is Iris. Mummy decided all of her daughters would have flower names also, hence Lily and Rose. Thank God Auntie Iris decided to forego the horrid tradition.”

“So I suppose you won’t be naming any daughters Begonia? Or Creeping Charlie?”

“Creeping Charlie isn’t a flower, you silly.” She laughed. “But no. I prefer more classic names.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Caroline. Or Hilary. Or your mother’s name, Morgana. It’s a derivative of Morgaine, who was King Arthur’s half sister, the sorceress. Her exotic beauty reminds me of a sorceress. It fits her.”

“I think your name fits you.”

“How so?”

“Well, calla lilies symbolize beauty, and yellow lilies symbolize gaiety, both of which you possess in abundance.” He smiled, winking. “Of course, there are also white lilies.”

“What do they symbolize?”

He pulled her to him and cupped her full breasts in his hands. “Virginity,” he whispered in her ear, and then plunged his tongue into its depth.

Lily gave him a punch in the arm. “You are such a rogue! I’m afraid I’m not living up to my name.” She pushed him back until he was lying on the bed and fell on top of him, straddling him. “Then again, what fun would that be?” She wiggled her hips, teased his cock with her wetness, and then moved aside.

“You’re leaving now?”

“I’ll be right back,” she said, and she was, carrying a small plate on which she had placed several spoonfuls of the contents of the other fondue pot. “This looks amazingly like chocolate.”

“It is. I had the cook melt some of the Belgian truffles with a little fresh cream. It’s decadent.”

“Is it now?” She swirled her finger into the creamy mass and licked it seductively.

God. His cock ached.

“Oh yes. Decadent. You must try it, Daniel.”

He sat up, ready to dip his own finger into the chocolate, but she pushed him away.

“I think you’ll try it another way.” She circled her fingers in the dark mixture again. Slowly she spread the warm chocolate onto her erect nipples.

Daniel’s arousal throbbed. “Dear Lord.” He lowered his lips to her breasts and licked the sweet confection from her hard nubs, gently sucking.

She threaded her fingers through his hair. “Oh my. The warmth of the chocolate, and then your tongue. Sucking. Yes, suck my nipple. Just like that. More. More.”

Daniel’s cock was ready to explode. He spread more chocolate onto her nipples and ravished them again, biting and nipping, twirling his tongue in intricate patterns around her rosy circles. The creaminess of the melted chocolate and the silky texture of her areolas combined in a sweet, fiery frenzy.

“Oh, Daniel. I feel that all the way down in my…”

He looked up and met her blazing cognac gaze. “In your pussy, love?”

“Yes, but I can’t say that word.” She blushed a rosy pink.

“What do you prefer, then? Cunny? Quim? Boite aux lettres?”

“None of—” She jerked her head. “Boite aux lettres?”

Daniel smiled. “It’s French, for letterbox.”

“I know what it means. Goodness, I’ve studied French. It’s just— Why in the world would anyone call it a letterbox?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea. I prefer pussy. Your pussy.” He stroked her folds. “The tastiest, reddest, most beautiful pussy ever created.”

“Perhaps I can make it even tastier.” She swirled her fingers in the chocolate again and then liberally covered her cunt with chocolate.

“Oh my God.” She was something, his Lily. So saucy and irreverent, yet so caring and lovely at the same time. Daniel lowered his head between her legs. “I’m going to eat you up, love. I swear I could live on your nectar alone.” He savored the taste of her, the smell of her, growing harder by the second as he probed her moist pussy with his tongue.

She moaned and shuddered against his lips and cheeks. Before he could being again, she pulled him forward and kissed him.

“I never imagined feeling the way I do with you,” she said.

“I know. I feel it too,” Daniel said hoarsely.

He kissed her again. Their tongues tangled deeply and intimately as they slowly made love with their mouths.

Lily broke the kiss, panting. “I want you to do something for me.”

“Anything.”

“Show me how to love a man.”

“What?”

“I want to know how to please you. You’ve made love to me, given me pleasure. I want to do the same for you.”

“You’ve already given me more pleasure than I’ve ever known.”

She swatted his arm lightly. “I’m serious. I want to learn how to pleasure a man, and I want you to teach me.”

“You don’t need any teaching.” Daniel smiled into her eyes. “But I will tell you one little secret.”

“What’s that?” she asked, lowering her head to his.

“Whatever I do to you, I would like you to do to me.” He winked at her.

“But how could I—” Her eyes widened. “Oh…”

Daniel sensed her unease. “I don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, love.”

“Don’t be silly. I want to give you pleasure, and if you want…that, I shall do it.” She smiled, her eyes so full of promise and desire that he thought his heart might burst open. “But I’m going to kiss every inch of your scrumptious body first.”

“Sweet Lord,” he groaned.

She spread tiny kisses along his jawline, rubbing her face against his. She kissed his neck and swirled her tongue in the hollow of his throat. She raised his arms over his head and brushed her fingers through the tufts of hair underneath. She kissed his shoulders and upper arms, tracing the lines of his muscles with her tongue. Sparks sizzled everywhere in her wake. Lord, he wouldn’t survive this.

“You have the strongest arms, Daniel.” She smoothed her fingers over his muscle. “I feel so safe when you hold me.”

“You are safe in my arms, Lily.” And he meant it.

Lily ran her fingers through the coarse curls on his chest and lightly touched his nipples. “How did you get this?” She touched a six inch scar below his right nipple.

“Fencing at school. I was trying to show off, but my opponent had more skill.”

“Poor darling.” Lily lowered her head and traced the scar with her tongue. She covered his chest with kisses, swirling her tongue through his hair, licking down to his navel and pushing her tongue inside it.

“Your touch, your kisses,” he said. “I can’t get enough.”

She gave his cock a chaste kiss on the head. It jerked of its own accord.

She smiled up at him. “I’ll be back,” she said, and she ran her hands down the length of his legs, exploring every line of muscle. She kissed his thighs, his knees, his calves, his feet, and made her way back up, running her tongue along his inner thighs.

He shivered. “God, Lily, I feel like a lad.”

“Is that good?”

“Yes, love, it’s very good.”

He closed his eyes as she came to his cock. She kissed the tip of it again and ran her tongue down its length.

“Tell me what to do, Daniel. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Lord,” he groaned. “You won’t hurt me. Just do whatever feels right.”

Slowly she ran her tongue over and around his balls and in the creases between them and his thighs. She moved upward, licking his swollen shaft, pressing her lips to it in tiny kisses. When she came to the head, she enfolded her mouth around it and sucked gently.

He gasped. Had anything ever felt so good? So right? Carefully she took more of it into her mouth, and then eased back. She licked down to his balls again, cupped them in her hand, and returned to his cock, sucking gently but firmly. Then she slid her mouth down as far as she could once again. He quivered, his whole body awash with sensation. Sweet Lord, he was going to come. His cock began to pulsate.

“Lily,” he gasped. “Oh God!”

She looked up at his face, her dark eyes wide and her lips still enfolding him as he shuddered and spilled into her mouth.

Lily raised her head, and the viscous liquid slid down his shaft. She touched it, rubbing it between her fingers.

Daniel closed his eyes, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry.” What was wrong with him? He had never spent himself in a woman’s mouth before. Most prostitutes didn’t allow it, and while some of his other lovers might have, he had always considered it too intimate for a casual sexual encounter.

“I don’t know what happened. I just… It felt so good.”

“It’s all right. I don’t mind.” She cleared her throat. “At least I know I was doing an adequate job.”

“Adequate? Sweet Jesus. Come here.”

She climbed over him and lay on his chest. “I guess I don’t need to worry about getting with child doing it that way.”

With child.

Daniel’s heart nearly stopped. He had promised Lily that he wouldn’t impregnate her. He was supposed to pull out, or use a French letter, or do something. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t at all. Ever. She could very well be breeding. Although the thought of her lush body swelling with his child filled him with a primal joy, his stomach churned with guilt and remorse. It was a new feeling for someone who was used to thinking only of himself. He had completely violated her trust.

“Oh no,” he said aloud.

“What is it?”

How could he tell her that he had been so blinded by desire for her that he hadn’t bothered to take care of the one thing she had asked of him? She would hate him.

“Nothing, love. It’s just that, I want to please you now.”

“You don’t have to.”

He silenced her with his mouth, and then turned her over onto her back. He kissed her breasts and her belly, lifted her knees and dove into her, feasting on her taste, her scent, the feel of her. Soon she was shivering, moaning, as his fingers and tongue brought her to orgasm. He continued to lick her, plunder her, driving her to another climax, and then another, the sound of his name from her ruby lips fueling him to greater and greater passion. He pushed farther, even as the pleasure became too intense for her and she pleaded for him to stop. He forced her to the pinnacle again and again, until she was screaming in joyful agony.

When he finally released her, looking into her beautiful face tormented with ecstasy, savoring her spicy aroma, her sweet milky taste, a decision came to him quickly.

He could not let her go.

He would not let her go.

No other man would know her as he did. He would possess her body and mind. Her heart. Her soul. He would do whatever necessary to keep Lily at Laurel Ridge. With him. Forever.

He crawled atop her and thrust himself into her body, making her his the only way he knew how.