Stands a Calder Man (Calder Saga 2)

The clatter of dishes broke the lengthening silence as Lilli began gathering them off the table. Webb got up from his chair and walked to the stove where his outer clothes were drying.

“I’d better put my boots on,” he said, feeling the need for words, “before the leather dries stiff and hard.”

His own socks were a little damp, but not enough to be uncomfortable. Webb took off her husband’s pair and put on his own, then forced his feet into the slant-heeled boots. He heard the slosh of water as Lilli added some from the bucket to the heated water in the dish basin. He reached for his coat and hat and began putting them on.

Out of the comer of her eye, Lilli saw what he was doing and turned to frown at him. “Where are you going?”

“Outside.” With the scarf tied over his hat to protect his ears, Webb pulled on his gloves. “I thought I’d get a couple pails of snow and bring them inside so we’ll have a supply of water come morning.”

Lilli turned back to her dishes, aware of him taking the two empty pails and walking to the door. When the door was opened for the brief moment it took for Webb to step outside, the wind roared louder. Its whipping cold rushed over her face, then was gone. The room felt strangely more empty without Webb.

It was all so different than when Stefan was here. With all his quietness, she almost regarded him as a piece of furniture at times, forgetting he was even there. It was impossible to do that with Webb. He filled the room with a kind of vitality that unsettled the quiet tenor of her existence. It was a difference that was rooted in personality rather than the attraction she felt toward him. Webb stimulated, mentally and physically, while Stefan soothed. Lilli closed her eyes against the confusion of emotions as the door opened and Webb returned, stamping at the cold and snow.

“It’s bitter out there.” He shook off the snow like a great dog and took off his outer clothes to move vigorously toward the stove.

“How long do you think it will last?” The dishes were nearly done, leaving no more tasks to occupy the time.

“The worst of it will pass in about twelve hours. Then it will just be blowing snow and cold.” He held his hands over the stove, warming them. “Do you need any help?”

“No, I’m finished.” Lilli wiped the last dish and put it on the shelf.

“I’ll add some more coals to the fire and get it stoked for the night.” As he reached for the coal bucket, Webb was aware of the tension his remark had created. His side glance noticed her wary expression that she didn’t fully conceal. “I’ll bed down here by the stove, if that’s all right.”

“I’ll get you a quilt.” She walked across the room to the trunk and knelt down to open it. The folded spare quilt made an awkward bundle as she lifted it out and stood up. A pulse was hammering in her throat when she turned to carry it to Webb. He met her halfway to take it from her.

Lilli surrendered it to him without meeting his gaze, without looking at his strong, chiseled features. She was on guard against the stirrings inside herself; yet, at the same time, she was unsettled by his failure to make any amorous advances toward her as he’d done in past encounters. Lilli was aware of the contradicting feelings that both wanted him to and didn’t want him to try something. Tempering her silence was the desire not to be guilty of inviting anything.

When she’d given the quilt to him, she turned and walked to the foot of the bed, listening to the sound of his footsteps going toward the stove. She reached behind her and pulled the heavy sweater over her head. Under the circumstances, Lilli deemed it best to sleep in the blouse and long skirt she was wearing.

So far, Webb felt he was winning the struggle with his low urges as he laid the quilt on the floor in front of the stove. Its width would allow him to sleep on half of it and cover himself with the other. The wide pool of light from the lantern was showing him too much of the other side of the room where Lilli was standing by the lone bed.

“I’ll turn the lantern out.” He announced his intention before moving to the center of the room.

Webb started to take her silence for assent, but as he reached up to turn down the wick, he glanced at Lilli to make certain she had no objection. Her back was turned to him and her hands were above her head, pulling the pins from her hair. The dark red mass tumbled down her back. A raw tightness gripped his chest, catching his breath.

“Your hair is beautiful.” Somehow he’d known she’d make a stirring picture with her long hair all loose about her shoulders. As she turned with the sound of his voice, Webb moved toward her, drawn by a compulsion stronger than his control. He stopped short of her, still staring and searching for anything that would reveal her thoughts at this moment, but she wasn’t letting him see anything.

“Are you happy, Lilli?” He needed to know. Maybe if she could convince him she was, he’d find the decency to walk back to the other side of the room.

“I was—” Lilli cut her answer short, stunned to hear herself speak in the past tense, because it revealed something she hadn’t meant Webb to know. She tried to turn away, but his hands were on her shoulders to keep her facing him.

“Does he make you happy?” This time it was a demand, not a question.

“I don’t know. I’m so confused anymore that I—” She looked at him and knew it was a mistake. His hair gleamed black and thick, as dark as his eyes gleaming down on her. His features were handsome and rugged. Her gaze lingered on his mouth.

“Don’t look at me like that, Lilli, unless you want me to kiss you,” he warned thickly, his voice a deep well of emotion.

“Don’t you see? That’s just it. I do want you to kiss me.” The admission tumbled from her in an emotional protest at her own confusion.

But Webb didn’t hear the protest within the admission as he gathered her into an embrace that they both had fought against and lost. The long, urgent kiss they shared was drugging in its force. Her arms were around him, pressing him ever more tightly against her, while his fingers combed into the thick tangle of her hair and held its weight against the back of her neck. The blood was pounding through her veins, making her feel light-headed and giddy, weak at the knees and in need of his body to support her.

His roaming hand was alternately caressing and arching her spine to press her more fully to his male form. When his mouth slid off her lips to roll moist kisses over her cheek and temple, she could hear the labored rhythm of his breathing that sounded as disturbed as her own. His moist breath warmed skin that already felt feverishly hot. Passion and desire were new s

ensations for her, and Lilli wasn’t comfortable with them.

“I knew this would happen if you ever came back,” she murmured in a choked voice. His hard chin was near the corner of her mouth, the smell of him exciting her senses.

“Haven’t you realized yet that you can’t keep me away?” Webb asked, resting his forehead against her so their mouths could nearly touch and their breaths mingle. “God knows I’ve tried, but I can’t stay away from you.”