He led them to the other side of the house, where it was quiet and dark. When they reached the east wall, he stopped and pulled them into the shadows, against the house. “I told them the church is God’s house and if they dishonored it again, they would shovel the cattle manure every day fer a month.”
“A month!”
He nodded. “Aye.”
“They are not fool enough to disobey,” she remarked, and then giggled when he coiled his arm around her and dipped his mouth to her throat as he drew her in.
“I have been thinkin’ aboot ye since I woke up alone in our bed.”
“It was the middle of the day, sir,” she told him with teasing indignation. “Was I supposed to lie around in bed all day with you?”
“Aye. I would like that.” He dove for her throat and raked his teeth over her pulsebeat. “Send everyone away.”
“And the children?”
He left her neck and breathed against her face. She couldn’t see him, but she could hear him.
“I thought they were stayin’ with Terrick?”
“They want to come home, remember?”
He shrugged his shoulders beneath her palms. “We will be silent.”
He covered her giggle with his mouth. He drank her in. He tasted her, and explored her, and she showed him what she liked. Just a slight parting of her lips, enough to slip in and out of her mouth, soft strokes across her tongue. If she wanted more, she could suck him in deeper.
She thought about lifting her skirts and letting him take her here, but it was disrespectful to their friends who had cooked all day for them, after they’d buried Brother Simon.
He must have been thinking the same, for he withdrew from their kiss as well.
“Forgive me fer my peach-faced eagerness to be with ye?” he asked her with his head bent.
She smiled and took his head in her hands to turn his face up. “I am eager for you as well, Elias,” she assured him.
“We must wait,” he groaned.
“Aye,” she agreed miserably.
They walked back to the western side of the house, and spent more time with their friends and their children, and each other. She told him what happened with Bertram in West Wickham just before the bishop’s men had arrived, and she told him what the bishop meant to do to little Eddie. As she suspected, Elias was angry and swore to kill the bishop for trying to kill his wee babe.
Oh, how could her heart be so deeply, so madly in love with him in a fortnight? After a while of anxious fidgeting, Lily managed to gracefully announce that it was late and time for bed. She thanked everyone for all they had done and embraced each one as they began to leave.
She caught Elias’ furtive wink and blushed.
She wanted to be with him again, but her passions ran high. Perhaps too high. He would surely bring her to the edge of the precipice again. What would happen if she fell?
They tucked Annabelle into bed with little Eddie. Charlie slept beside them on the floor, in a cozy nest of blankets and cushions. They sat with the children for a while talking softly about things until little Eddie and Annabelle, and even Charlie fell asleep. Then they stepped through the curtained doorway and Lily let the curtain fall loose, cutting off their rooms and giving them privacy. Still, Elias vowed to build a wall separating their rooms within the sennight.
She wanted to clean up a little in the kitchen. She kissed Elias and promised to come to bed in a short bit.
She felt on edge, like she had earlier today. She’d had all day to think about things. She couldn’t relax or think right. She didn’t want to know what tomorrow would bring. It wasn’t over. Brother Simon was proof.
Finally, she climbed the stairs and entered their room without looking at him. She began tidying things up, stalling for time.
Her life had never been secure from the age of twelve on. Every day could have been her last. But it had been nothing like this. This involved others. People she loved. The man she’d fallen in love with. She was afraid of teetering on the edge of madness. If she’d lost him…if she’d lost him to this…
He was quiet watching her then reached out for her from the bed. “Come, let us lay together. There is somethin’ I wish to tell ye.”
Chapter Twenty-Three