The women in the audience sighed. The men nudged and winked as they cried, “Lady Ravenscroft!”
Fabian swallowed a mouthful of wine and dropped into his seat.
“Thank you,” Lillian whispered. “You didn’t have to say such nice things.”
He forced himself to look at her, despite knowing that the sight of her watery eyes would be like a knife to his heart.
“I meant every word.”
“What we all want is to see you kiss your bride,” Freddie shouted.
Lillian inhaled sharply at the brash comment.
“Curb your tongue,” Fabian bellowed from his throne seat. Failing to possess an ounce of sophistication or good breeding, his men would goad him until he surrendered. “You must learn to mind your manners when in the company of my wife.”
“I mean no disrespect, my lord, but tis a custom.”
Fabian raised a brow. “Next you’ll tell me it’s a custom for the bride to kiss all the men present.” The comment received a few chuckles.
Nancy Hill stood. “A kiss in front of witnesses is a token of your troth. A kiss is more than a sign of affection. It's a sharing of souls. Of a promise made.”
All eyes fixed on him. The women would doubt his integrity if he did not do as they asked.
Fabian captured Lillian’s hand and pressed a kiss on her knuckles. “There, will that not suffice?”
“You’ve kissed your horse with more passion, my lord.”
He cast Lillian a sidelong glance. “Mackenzie’s ale has bolstered their courage. They won’t settle until we've done the deed.”
The calls for them to show some display of affection escalated. Drumming his fingers on the table, Isaac beat out an annoying rhythm, and others soon joined him.
“They mean no harm.” Fabian had grown used to their wild ways. “They like to taunt and tease. As their lord and master, I can throw them all out if it pleases you.” One growl would send the mischievous pups running for their basket.
Lillian searched his face, her gaze falling to his lips. “Do you think they will accept a kiss on the cheek?”
“I’m afraid not. Sailors are a suspicious lot.”
“Then you should kiss me before they raise the roof.”
Fabian swallowed. Heaven help him, he felt like a boy fresh from the schoolroom. He bent his head until he was so close her breath breezed across his lips.
He cradled her soft cheeks and touched his lips to hers, a chaste press of the mouth that he expected to last mere seconds. But something happened in that uncomfortable moment. A sudden spark of energy. A shift in the earth’s axis. A change of temperature, as if a Divine force sought to bless their union?
Lillian opened her mouth slightly as her hand came to rest on his shoulder. Fabian stilled. Every nerve in his body sprang to life. The urge to devour her, to sate the clawing hunger in his belly came upon him from nowhere.
It was as if no one else in the world existed.
His hand slipped from her cheek to cup her neck as he coaxed her lips apart with the tip of his tongue. Good God, she tasted sweeter than honey. Her soft hum of appreciation sent a rush of blood to his cock. The floral scent of her skin assaulted his senses. Her beguiling essence surrounded him, pulling him deeper into the depths of his desire. He was so damn hard he couldn’t think. A fierce need to push into her body took hold. He wanted her in his bed, beneath him, on top of him.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard Mackenzie’s voice. “Happen that’s our cue to leave.”
Fabian ignored the scrape of benches on the flagstones. He ignored the receding footsteps and the bang of the old oak doors. How could he focus on anything else when he’d been snared by a siren?
Chapter Eight
For the first time in her life, Lillian knew what it was like to kiss a man and mean it. When she’d kissed Lord Martin, she experienced something akin to a weak flutter in her chest. But all expectations fell hopelessly short when compared to kissing Fabian. No amount of daydreaming had prepared her for the wild rush as her blood raced through her veins. Never had she imagined feeling a fire burning hot between her thighs, nor the strange pulsing that suggested she needed something more satisfying.
Intrigued by the flurry of strange sensations, she met Fabian’s mouth with equal enthusiasm and swept her tongue against his. A growl rumbled in the back of his throat, and despite angling his head, he couldn’t seem to kiss her deeply enough.