“I shall take that as a compliment.”
“It was intended to be,” Heath said, pressing a light kiss on her temple.
He did indeed mean his comment as praise, Heath thought, watching Lily blush at his intimate gesture. He wouldn’t change a thing about her, most certainly not her passionate nature. She would face villains with fists swinging, but she would be standing at his side. And she would love him with a fierce loyalty, he had no doubt.
He felt the same way about her. The love he felt for Lily was inte
nse, ungovernable, while desire echoed fiercely in his heart.
Winifred happened to notice Lily’s flushed cheeks and boldly called the company’s attention to the fact that it was Lord and Lady Claybourne’s wedding day. “I believe we should take our leave and allow the lovebirds some privacy,” her ladyship said in her own blunt style.
Heath agreed wholeheartedly, yet it was nearly half an hour later before the wedding party broke up for good. By then his servants had finished packing up the remains of the celebration and loading the tables and chairs into wagons.
One by one the guests said their farewells to the bridal couple. Arabella and Roslyn were the last to go. Rather surprisingly, tears shone in Lily’s eyes as her sisters embraced her.
“Please don’t cry, dearest,” Roslyn implored, “or you will have me doing the same.”
“Nonsense,” Arabella said fondly. “Neither of you has any reason for tears. Lily, it isn’t as if we are abandoning you. We will see you in less than a fortnight in Brittany.”
Arabella and Marcus were planning a voyage to Brittany as well, so that the three sisters could hold a reunion with their mother. Both Roslyn and Lily had wed since Victoria and her French husband had visited England earlier this summer and attended Arabella’s nuptials.
“I know,” Lily replied, dashing the moisture from her eyes.
She let her sisters go eventually but stood watching as their husbands escorted them safely down the gangway to the quay to settle in their waiting carriages.
“Are you still sad about losing your sisters to matrimony?” Heath asked curiously.
Slipping her arm through his, Lily managed a bright smile. “No, not now. It is just that we are all beginning new lives apart from each other. But I cannot be sad when I have you.”
She stood at the railing another moment, watching as the carriages pulled away. Heath, however, watched her. He had frequently imagined Lily at the bow of this ship, sunlight burnishing her dark chestnut hair as it streamed out behind her in the wind. There was little wind just now, but the sun brought out the shimmering copper and gold in the strands.
When Heath dropped a kiss onto the crown of her head, Lily turned to look at him with an adoring glance. “You needn’t worry about my happiness, Heath. I could not be any happier. And I have no doubt that our wedding voyage will be the first of many wonderful adventures together.”
“It will be if I have any say in the matter.”
Reaching up, Lily entwined her arms around his neck. “Do you know what I think?”
“No, sweetheart, what do you think?”
“That love will be the grandest adventure of all.”
“I could easily be persuaded to agree.”
He captured her enchanting smile with a kiss and drew her close. It had been far too long since he’d last held her this way.
“Shall we go below to our cabin, my lady?” Heath murmured when he eventually broke off.
Lily raised a teasing eyebrow. “Oh? What did you have in mind?”
“I mean to seduce my bride. I promised you a memorable seduction on our wedding night, did I not?”
She felt a surge of heat at the desire she saw shimmering in his eyes. “Indeed you did. So why are we tarrying here?”
Of one accord, they turned to cross the deck. Her blood pulsing with anticipation and excitement, Lily allowed Heath to lead her below. By the time they reached their cabin, her heart was thudding against her ribs.
And the moment he shut the door behind them, they were in each other’s arms.
“At last,” Heath rasped before taking her mouth with the same fervency Lily was feeling. She responded fiercely to his every touch, his every kiss, his demanding lips, his masterful arms. With every breath she took, she wanted him more.