One Naughty Night2 (35 page)

She wanted to tell him all of that. Everything she had pushed down and concealed so tightly for so long was straining to burst free. She wanted to be free at last, and she knew that only Aidan could give her that.

Yet something held her back. He was so very quiet, so watchful as he studied her with those summer-blue eyes she loved so much. She couldn’t read his thoughts
there; he was always damnably good at that stillness that seemed to shut out everything else. Perhaps he was trying to decipher how best to tell her good-bye.

The silence stretched out, enveloping the whole room. At last, Lily couldn’t stand it any longer. She whirled around and marched over to sit down on the edge of his bed again. If he was going to say good-bye, then she would let him get it over with.

Then she could creep away and nurse her broken heart.

“You gave us all quite a fright,” she said. “I know you are no stranger to brawls, Aidan, but that was quite beyond the pale.”

He reached out his hand and just touched the edge of her skirt with his fingertips. His knuckles were scraped and bruised. “What if I promised to be very, very careful from now on?”

“I hope that you will. I don’t think I could bear…” Her voice broke, and she squeezed her eyes shut to try and compose herself. But when she took a deep breath, all she could smell was Aidan, his spicy soap, the sweet darkness of him. “I thought you were dead, and I couldn’t go on.”

Suddenly she felt his warm hand seize hers, and he pressed her palm to his lips. Lily’s eyes flew open to see that his own eyes were closed as he kissed her. He inhaled at the pulse point of her wrist. She laid her other hand behind his head, threading her fingers through the rough silk of his hair as she cradled him against her.
So precious.

“Marry me,” he said urgently.

“What did you say?” she gasped. Whatever she had imagined or hoped Aidan might say to her when he woke up, that was beyond her hopes.

“I said—no, I am begging you—please marry me. I don’t ever want to be without you, and I know that the only way to keep you from running away from me is to make you my wife.” He held her hand against his cheek, his eyes piercing into her as he looked up at her.

Lily could only stare at him in shock. “I… you can’t marry me. What if you have to be the duke someday?”

“Lily. I know that everything that’s happened in our time together hasn’t exactly shown you that I could be a good husband. I’ve dragged you through barrooms and brothels. I’ve gotten us both wounded. Your family hates me…”

“You saved me!” Lily cried. “You killed Tom, you saved me and Isabel too. We never have to fear him again because of you. Surely even two blockheads like Dominic and Brendan can see that.”

“But why would they want me for a brother-in-law? A Huntington, a lazy aristocrat?”

She shook her head and curled her fingers around his hand as if by holding him she could make him see all that he was to her. “Aidan, you are so, so much more than all of that. You are so intelligent and creative. You are the best friend anyone could have, as I’m sure Nick and Freddy and Marie and dozens of others would agree. You understand things other people can’t, and you are strong and…”

“And a god in bed?” he said teasingly.

She gave a choked laugh. “Well… you are that, too, though I hesitate to feed your monstrous ego even further. And you are rich and have a title on top of everything else. You are a worthy husband to any woman. To Lady Henrietta Lindley, as your parents wish for you. You shouldn’t propose to me.”

“Lily St. Claire, you are the only woman I would propose to,” Aidan said fiercely. “You’re the only woman for me in the world, and you would make an excellent duchess. I love you. And if you say no, I warn you I will not go away. I will haunt the theater. I will send flowers to your house every hour. I will write you terrible poetry. Freddy’s letters will be nothing compared to mine. I will not stop until—”

Lily suddenly leaned forward and kissed him, stopping his words with her lips. He tasted of wine and medicine, and of his own delicious self that had intoxicated her since their first kiss behind the theater so long ago. She knew now that it had been him ever since then. With him, she was truly free.

His arm closed around her waist and he fell onto his back, carrying her with him. He twisted his hand into her hair and held her still as his tongue tangled with hers, and they kissed as if it were the first time all over again.

Lily drew back at last and rested her cheek on his chest, the smooth, warm skin bare between the lacing of his nightshirt. She could hear the steady, reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat. “I can see I’ll have to marry you, then, if only to keep you from becoming a public nuisance. And because I love you, too, of course.”

She felt him raise his head to look down at her, his hand going still in her hair. “Do you really mean that, Lily?”

“Yes. Yes, Aidan, I love you, and I will marry you. I’ve never known anyone like you in all my life. If you are mad enough to propose to me, then I am mad enough to say yes.”

“Lily, Lily my darling, I promise you won’t be sorry,” Aidan said, kissing the top of her head. “I will spend the rest of my life making you happy.”

“You make me happy just by being here.” She turned
her head to kiss the pulse that beat so steadily and reassuringly at the base of his throat. “Just by being you.”

“Then we should have a very easygoing marriage.”

“Unlike our courtship?”

He chuckled against her hair. “When will you marry me? Next week? I can get a special license.”

“Not until the doctor says you can get out of bed.” Lily propped her chin on his chest and smiled up at him. “I want you to be quite hale and hearty for the wedding night.”

He tilted his head to one side and gave a roguish grin that made her heart beat faster. “Will you get out your riding crop again?”

“If you ask me nicely.”

“Oh, I can ask very nicely indeed.” He slid down on the pillows and kissed her neck lightly, making her giggle. “Very, very nicely.”

“Not until your wound is healed.”

“You are no fun today, Lily,” Aidan groaned. He fell back to the bed as she scrambled to sit up beside him. “But soon enough you will be Lady Aidan Huntington, and we will have fun all night long.”

“Lady Aidan?” she said. “That sounds so strange.”

“Then we’ll go to France, and you can be Madame Huntington. Or Italy, and be Signora Huntington. Wherever you want, whoever you want to be.”

“I have always wanted to see Italy.” Lily sat up against the carved headboard, her hands folded in her lap. “But what will your parents think of it all?”

Aidan gave an impolite snort. “I don’t give a damn what they think. But I do care what your family thinks. I will call on them tomorrow.”

Lily sighed as she imagined what might happen when
Aidan Huntington faced the whole St. Claire clan. “Are you sure you want to do that? Dominic has begun to come around, but Brendan and my father…”

“They are your family, Lily. You love them, and therefore I want them to love me. Or at least tolerate me and not skewer me in the street like Romeo did to Tybalt,” he said stubbornly. “I will call on them properly.”

“Then I think that will be the first proper thing you ever did in your life.”

“You like me as improper as possible, Lady Aidan, admit it.”

Lily laughed. “I do quite like it when you’re naughty, Lord Aidan. But not in my family’s drawing room. The St. Claires might be one of the most scandalous families in London, but they do have their limits. And you can call on them when the doctor says you can get up and not before.”

“If you insist.” Aidan’s hand crept to the hem of her skirt and slowly drew it up until he could softly caress her stockinged ankle. “But if I must stay in bed, I’ll need a diversion.”

Lily shivered at the sensation of his hand sliding over her thin stocking. Oh, how she had missed this! How she had longed for his touch when they were apart. But now it would be hers—
he
would be hers—every night for the rest of her life. She thought her heart might burst with too much happiness.

She gasped as his fingertips traced over that sensitive spot just behind her knee, but she pushed his hand away and shook her skirts back into place. “Not until the wedding night.”

Aidan groaned. “You are a cruel, cruel woman.”

“I know.” Lily leaned over him and smiled as she gently kissed his lips. “But you like it.”

“Y
ou are quite sure this is what you want? A Huntington?” Lily heard Dominic say.

She turned to smile at him amid the chaos backstage at the Majestic. It was the second opening night of
Much Ado About Nothing
, and the sensation of the notorious criminal Tom Beaumont being killed at the theater meant they were even more crowded than usual. Every seat was sold out, and excitement buzzed through the boxes and stalls as everyone waited for the curtain to rise.

And she felt so much excitement of her own that she could hardly stand still. Tomorrow was her wedding day.

“Of course it’s what I want,” she said.

Dominic nodded and leaned his hand on the scenery flat behind them as he studied her. He wore his black velvet costume, his blond hair brushed back severely from his face. He looked suitably villainous to be Don John, but he finally smiled. It had taken some time, but after seeing what Aidan did to save Lily and Isabel, he had come around somewhat.

But only to Aidan. The rest of the Huntington family were still an object of deepest hatred.

Lily smoothed the braid-trimmed collar of his doublet. “He makes me happier than I ever thought it was possible to be. I’m so lucky to have him.”

“Not half as lucky as he is to have you,” Dominic said. “Father certainly made him work to win permission to marry you.”

She laughed as she remembered. “I don’t think sending Aidan to open a new theater was much of a punishment in the end. He can’t wait to take on such a project.” And she hoped to one day persuade him to produce his own plays there. But that was for the future.

“Even though the theater is in Edinburgh?”

“Scotland might be interesting. And it’s not forever.” Only until the Huntingtons came to accept their marriage. Lily didn’t say that aloud, though. Dominic seemed to be in a good mood at last, and she didn’t want to spoil it. “We won’t go there until after the honeymoon in Italy anyway. Once I return, I expect you might be the next to hear wedding bells.”

He gave a harsh laugh, and she saw something harden in his eyes. “Not me, sister dear. I’m not made for marriage.”

“One day some extraordinary lady will come along, Dominic, and change your mind. I am quite sure of it,” Lily said. “After all, it happened to me. And I never expected it at all.”

“Five minutes, Mr. St. Claire!” the stage manager called.

Dominic nodded to him. “Lily, I think your wedding plans have addled your mind. You’ll have to turn your new matchmaking urges onto Isabel and forget me.”

“Isabel is young yet. And we shall see what happens
to you. Now go, you’ll miss your cue.” Lily gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and watched him hurry toward the wings where the other actors waited.

She could hear the orchestra launch into the prelude, muffled through the thick velvet curtains, and she tiptoed over to peek out at the audience. All the silks and jewels seemed to sparkle in the lights, excitement humming in the air. She smiled and glanced up at the box to the left where Aidan’s mother sat. The duke was not there, of course. After a blazing row where he threw a vase at Aidan and tried to run him over with his wheeled chair, he hadn’t been seen. But the duchess sat there in her brown velvet and diamonds, studying the gathering through her opera glasses, a silent, stalwart presence.

Next to her sat a woman Lily had never seen before, a petite lady in lilac silk and spangled net, her white-blond hair twisted atop her head. She nodded at something the duchess whispered in her ear, but otherwise she was as still and pale as a statue.

Lily heard a sound from the walkway above her head, and she nearly jumped. The fear and chaos of that terrible day had faded, pushed aside by happier days with Aidan and wedding plans, but sometimes nightmares still haunted her. She looked up to see Brendan leaning his palms on the railing, his black evening clothes and dark hair making him a part of the shadows. He stared at the duchess’s box from his spot above, a hard glare in his eyes that seemed to be directed to the lady in lilac.

Then his stare shifted to Lily, and he nodded but didn’t smile. Dominic and their parents had come to accept the marriage, but Brendan had not. From the way he looked at the duchess’s companion, the raw fury and pain that had
flickered over his face for the merest instant, she feared it would be a long time until he did.

Brendan turned and disappeared into the scenery. Lily studied the audience again and waved to Isabel as her sister took her place onstage. Isabel looked beautiful in her Hero costume, her face radiant in her happiness to be onstage again. She had left that day behind as well, throwing herself into the play and into helping Lily choose wedding clothes. But Isabel seemed older now somehow, not as girlish or exuberant as before.

An arm suddenly slid around Lily’s waist and drew her farther back into the wings. For an instant, she grew tense, ready to fight, but then she smelled Aidan’s wonderfully familiar scent of spicy soap and warm skin, fine wool, and starched linen, and she laughed.

“Having a good evening?” he asked as he spun her around in his arms.

“Better now,” she said. She went up on her toes in her satin slippers to tangle her fingers in the soft hair at his nape. She pressed her lips to his and breathed in the scent and heat of him, marveling again that he was hers. That tomorrow he would be her husband. “What have you been doing?”

“I got my mother settled in her box with my cousin Elizabeth, and then I helped your father with a last-minute scenery adjustment,” he answered. “But I have to agree—the night just got much, much better.”

He bent his head to kiss her neck, his lips sliding lightly over her skin until she shivered. “Come to the dressing room with me now. No one is there.”