Deception (27 page)

“The serpent is poison. It defiles, strangles, and ruins what was once pure.”

* * * *

Lillian stood by Dorian’s side throughout the funeral the next morning. Hundreds of people spilled through St. Andrews Church to pay their respects to her ladyship’s sons.

She was out of place in such a setting. These people were above her station. On several occasions she stepped away, hoping to find a quiet place to wait, but each time Dorian caught hold of her hand or wrist and guided her back to his side.

She had to check twice to confirm Angus Fletcher was indeed walking past the casket at the front of the church. He did not stop and speak to Dorian or Brice. He knelt in front of her ladyship and bowed his head. Then he got up and blended into the crowd.

Dorian drew her attention away. He introduced her to the clergyman as his fiancée.

The short, round man looked her up and down, and grinned, baring yellowed teeth. If it had been any other occasion, she was sure he’d have dug for information. As it was, he promised to read the announcement in the banns starting the following Sunday.

Her heart tripped. This was really happening. She was going to marry Dorian.

As the casket came through, she wondered what his mother thought of her son’s choice of bride. Would she have approved, as Dorian seemed to think? Brice had congratulated her and told her how happy he was she’d soon be his sister.

A low carriage drew the casket. Dorian, Brice, and Lillian walked slowly behind, and a procession of over a hundred people followed. A light drizzle echoed the somberness of the day and left the streets muddy.

She’d cut a slit in her skirts so she could access the short sword she’d strapped to her boot. The fact that the master was weak from their last encounter gave her hope he’d not disrupt the day.

At the graveside, Dorian gripped her hand while his mother’s casket was lowered into the ground. Brice stood on her other side.
I have a family.
Her chest tightened with grief for the mother she would never know and joy for the husband and brother she found. It was too much. Tears rolled down her face.

Brice pressed a handkerchief into her hand. She met his gaze and saw admiration in his dark eyes.

Maybe it would be all right.

While the diggers filled the grave, the crowd dwindled. Dorian insisted upon staying until the ground covered his mother. In the end, it was only she and Brice who remained with him.

The men who’d shoveled soil walked off and out of sight. Continual drizzle further marred the terrible day.

Finally, they turned and walked to the carriage waiting outside the cemetery.

Dorian and she sat on one side with Brice facing them. “You can come and stay with us at my house, Brice.”

Brice shook his head. “If it is the same to you, I will stay at mother’s. I think the staff looked quite lost today.”

“What will happen to them?” Lillian couldn’t imagine he might keep both townhouses in Edinburgh.

“I will reopen the house in London. Most of my mother’s staff came from there. If only she had stayed there, we might not have buried her today.”

Lillian gripped his hand. “You cannot second guess decisions made years ago.”

“Besides, you did not make the decision, Dorian. Mother chose to be in Edinburgh. She knew the risk and she was proud of what we were doing.”

“If we had been a few minutes earlier, we might have saved her.”

Lillian bristled. “If we had not gone to speak with Abigail that morning, we might have waited until after luncheon to see her ladyship. We would have been messaged by the butler of the events and the results the same, or we might have arrived too late to injure the master.”

“I cannot help replaying the events over in my mind.”

Brice said, “Good. Then at some point you will see that you did all you could. This is not your fault, Dorian. You and I made choices that put us in harm’s way. Mother could have chosen to stay in London, but she did not. That fact will not change. That the master tried to use her is something we will both have to live with. Do not ruin your life for the sake of hers. I promise you, it is not what she would have wanted.”

The brothers locked gazes.

Lillian was intruding on a private moment. She stared at her hands, out the window, anywhere but at them.

Dorian’s grip tightened, and Brice took hold of her other hand. “We will get through this together. We will have revenge for our mother and you two will marry. The master will not ruin this family.”

Brice sounded so certain it would all work out as it should. But that was typical of the teacher. He was optimistic, hopeful, and inspiring.

Once they dropped Brice off, she and Dorian continued to his townhouse. Lillian was glad to be back. She didn’t know when she’d begun to think of his house as her home, nor could she remember considering any residence home since she was seventeen years old.

That place where her mother had raised her had been torn away. A ripple of terror shook her.
Nothing this good can last. Do not get too comfortable.
She pushed away the doubt surrounding her.

Exhaustion rolled over her as if the ocean had let loose and covered the earth, yet Dorian’s arms around her infused her with hope for the future. It was a new notion and she had yet to get used to it.

The entire day weighed down on her. It was not very late when they tromped up the stairs and fell into bed.

“Do you think it is odd that my name and the symbol of the master are so similar?”

“If you mean it is a strange coincidence, then yes. If you are trying to infer something else, you will have to elaborate.”

“I am Lilly and he is the lily defiled.”

“But you are all that is good in the world,
mon trésor
.”

“You know that is not true, and calling me that will not change who I am.”

He grabbed her by the hips and manhandled her onto her back. Trapping her under his thighs and leaning his weight on her shoulders, he stared down into her eyes. His mouth was set in a firm line, and fire burned in his expression. “I know it is true. You are good through and through.”

“I am far from the purity my name implies, Dorian. Look at where I am at this second.”

“You are exactly where you should be, in my arms. It is where I intend for you to be for the rest of our lives. Purity of body is irrelevant, my love. Your heart is pure and your soul is the most beautiful I have known. You are unblemished and cannot be sullied.”

“Your faith in me is very touching. I am far from perfect, though. If you place me too high on the pedestal you are building, you will not be able to reach me.”

He grinned and pressed his lips to hers for a brief kiss. “I will climb higher.”

She shook her head, but joy bubbled inside her. “If you are up to it, I think we should talk about what was in Shafton’s account of the gate opening.”

“I would rather make love to you.”

His eyes were haunted, and she understood his need to forget if only for a little while. She ran her hand along his cheek to his jaw. “I am yours.”

He turned his mouth into her palm and his kiss sent a jolt of desire between her thighs. Languid strokes of his tongue around hers and she was unable to process thoughts other than to give and receive pleasure. She wrapped her leg around his, wanting to be closer as her desire pushed her to grip him.

Dorian trailed kisses along her shoulder to her breast. His mouth delighted with tenderness. He slipped his fingers between her folds, and sparks of delight sent her quaking.

Lillian wanted to tell him, tell him how she felt, but no words came, only gasps and moans passed her lips. She took his face between her hands and guided it back up to hers. She could not form a coherent sentence, but she could show him the emotion coursing through her.

She kissed him with every bit of passion rolling through her body and soul. Sparks rumbled between them as if a tinderbox had gone mad.

She quaked under his fingers and mouth. Reaching down she found his hard shaft and massaged until he broke the kiss and panted into the pillow beside her head.

She’d caused him to lose control. Pure joy bloomed in her chest.

He pulled away from her hand and settled between her thighs. Leaning on his elbows, his fingers cupped her head. His eyes filled with passion and love as he brushed hair away from her face. He kissed her lips, her nose, and her cheek and pressed inside her inch by glorious inch.

Both their voices mingled together in a low cry that filled the room.

His gaze remained locked with hers and with every slide forward, the passion within his dark eyes increased.

Lillian’s heart expanded and broke all at once. How would she ever compete with the woman he believed her to be? A wave of ecstasy that shook her from head to toes washed away her fear.

He stilled but his focus remained on her eyes. “That is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“My orgasm?” Where their bodies touched, her skin was on fire and she craved more.

“When you come, your eyes darken, and the constant worry drifts away for a moment.”

She lifted her hips. “You talk too much.”

His smile spread, and even that small thing rekindled desire between her legs. She gripped his shoulders and tightened her legs around his waist.

His languid strokes transformed her until she could only think about the rapture building deep inside her. He pumped faster and deeper.

Lillian clawed his skin, needing more. She wanted to tell him how close she was to a second orgasm, but again her words faltered.

Dorian stiffened and thrust hard again and again, pushing her over the edge. His lips muffled her screams, and she quivered beneath him until the rapture past.

“I love you, Lilly. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be.” He rolled to her side, pulling her with him.

She kissed the glistening skin on his shoulder. She never thought she’d hear herself say it. “I love you too.”

He released her and stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I have something for you.”

She reached for him. “I have everything I need.”

He smiled and went to his bureau. Gloriously naked, he returned and reclined on his side facing her. “I wonder if you might do me the honor of wearing this.”

A sapphire gleamed in a stunning gold setting. “This was your mother’s, Dorian. I saw her wearing it. I cannot accept such a gift.”

He took her hand and slid the ring onto the second finger of her left hand. “This is the ring my father gave my mother when he declared his love and now it is yours, Lilly.”

She stared at her finger. His mother was smaller than Lillian. He must have had the ring sized to fit her. Her chest ached with emotions she had never before experienced. “But…Brice.”

“Is the person who reminded me this should be yours before our wedding.”

“I do not know what to say.”

“Say you will wear the ring from time to time.”

She touched his cheek. “We are going to be all right, are we not?”

Wonder filled his voice. “I think we are, Lilly. Somehow you have healed my world.”

“And you have mended wounds I have lived with for years. Wounds I thought long forgotten.” She wrapped her arms around him.

Dorian pulled the covers up over them, and the cocoon of safety returned. Even if it was an illusion, she relished it.

* * * *

Lillian stepped into the foyer as the butler was admitting Brice and Drake. It was late morning, but Drake had sent a note indicating they should meet away from the castle.

“I think Dorian is in the study,” she said by way of greeting. Perhaps she should have tried some simpering and politeness. She could pretend to be the lady of the house. The fact remained she was no lady. She was a demon hunter.

“I have always admired how direct you are, Miss Dellacourt.”

“Refreshing, is it not,” Brice added and offered his arm as they turned toward the hallway.

She smiled and accepted his gentlemanly gesture.

Dorian stared down at the map of Edinburgh spread out across his desk. Brice joined him. The Lambert brothers had very similar mannerisms and looks, though Dorian was taller and Brice broader. Both stood with their knuckles pressed to the map and leaned forward, but they were different in many ways. Dorian carried the world on his shoulders, the curse of being the eldest perhaps.

Dorian pointed to the entrance to the gate location. “We will have to take as many hunters as we can and paint the symbols. Lillian will do the incantation Mrs. Higginbotham devises. Then we will get out quickly.”

“Do you think they are going to let you waltz in there and defile their gate?” Brice’s voice rose.

In contrast, Dorian’s voice remained even. “I expect we will meet with resistance.”

“It will be a slaughter. It might be worth it if we could be certain we will have enough time to close the gate before they cut us down like rats.”

“I do not think I have ever seen you so negative, Brice.” Dorian continued in his calm voice.

“The idea that in the span of three days the master will have wiped out our entire family might be to blame.”

“I agree with Brice. I think this is too dangerous.” All eyes turned to Lillian.

“What do you suggest?” Dorian crossed his arms over his chest.

Brice pointed at the place on the map where the gate was located within the cave. “There is only one way out unless you want to leap to your death into the sea. We can be easily trapped before we accomplish the goal.”

“Then give me another option.”

Lillian stood at the opposite side of the map with Drake Cullum. “What about Mr. Fletcher?”

“What about him?” Dorian asked.

“Who is Mr. Fletcher?” Brice asked.

Drake said. “Angus Fletcher, he is a local reprobate.”

Lillian said. “He helped us before and he has a large organization. If we can have his men guard the cave, our odds of success and survival go considerably higher.”

Dorian’s eyes flashed and narrowed. “I like Fletch, but he is not going to do this out of some sense of duty. He will demand payment. He does nothing for free.”