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It was scandalous! And as I gazed upon my pink-tinged bottom, a tumult of naughty sensations coursed through me. I remembered the touch of his palm on my flesh and the way it had made my tummy tighten up. Pulses formed in my womanly parts.
"I see you are admiring my handiwork."
I startled at Keane's voice and dropped my skirts, spinning away from the mirror. I noticed his hands were empty. I had a sick feeling Mr. Richard Garner had taken my drawers for his own depraved reasons. But, at the moment, that was the least of my concerns.
"Oh no, you don't. Let's take a peek at that sweet bottom of yours." Keane spun me back around and lifted my skirts, pushing aside my drawers so my entire backside was framed in the looking glass.
"Keane!" I whined. "Please."
He took hold of my chin and tipped my face up to look at him. "You belong to me. To Rye. We belong to you. And let me assure you, Miss Lily Snow, that once you are legally ours, we shall do much more than simply gaze at your lovely backside in the mirror. So, I would suggest you get used to it. Besides"—he winked at me—"I think you enjoy it."
I opened my mouth to protest, but the heated longing I felt could not be denied.
"Let me find the answer myself." Keane gave me a devilish smile and reached between my legs, his fingers stroking over the folds of my sex.
I whimpered.
His fingers slipped through the opening of my core; all the while his eyes were locked on mine. I ought to have looked away, but I couldn't. A heated blush tore through me. Then he touched on that nub of nerves. The one I'd been abusing when Mrs. Richard Garner caught me. I cried out and grasped his arm for support. Keane's fingertips moved expertly, and soon I rose up on tiptoe, yearning for more. Needy whimpers escaped my lips. I felt an explosion building in me, but before I got there, Keane withdrew his hand, held up his fingers glistening with my essence. "Well, I guess I got my answer." As he continued peering into my eyes, he held his fingers to his lips and licked them clean.
I nearly fainted, and the quivers between my thighs began anew.
"We have so much to look forward to, sweet Lily," he said, replacing my skirts and then kissing me. The taste of my own arousal on his lips.
RYE
* * *
The summer sun was setting as I returned to the Hotel Imperial, Justice of the Peace Walter Kinney in tow. He had been enjoying an after-dinner cigar when I knocked upon his door, and he'd been reluctant to leave the comfort of his front porch in order to perform a spur-of-the-moment marriage. However, Mr. Kinney spoke the universal language of cash and, with a few bills across his palm, he had donned his coat and returned with me to our suite.
Despite my words, spoken in earnest, about not hiding from any man, I did keep my wits about me as I traveled in and out of the hotel as well as about the town collecting Mr. Kinney. I would not hide, but I would not be so foolish as not to watch my back. If Lily's former employer was the sort of lowlife rat that I suspected, I did not wish to give him an opportunity to upset our sweet Lily.
"Do you happen to know a gentleman by the name of Mr. Richard Garner?" I asked Mr. Kinney as we walked down the hall past the room where the aforementioned Mr. Garner had attempted to take liberties with our bride.
Mr. Kinney halted in his tracks, his face going pale, though he quickly donned a benign expression. "I am. Is he an acquaintance of yours?"
In my mind I pictured Keane giving him a knee in the nuts. "My friend is more familiar with him. What sort of gentleman is he?"
Mr. Kinney paused. I could see the conflict on his face. Finally, he said, "He is not someone I would seek out."
"I see." I nodded.
"Nor would I wish to be on his bad side."
"Fair enough. Thank you, Mr. Kinney."
I knocked and then entered the suite.
Keane and Lily were standing close to each other next to the bed. The air was heavy with the scent of feminine arousal. If Mr. Kinney noticed anything amiss, he kept it to himself.
"Well," the justice of the peace cleared his throat, "if you are ready, we can get started."
We had agreed that I, being the son of an earl, ought to be the one to legally marry Lily. Much as my family disdained my chosen path in life, the family name and estate still carried weight and influence, as well as wealth, which would provide an additional layer of protection for Lily and any children we had.
"Oh," Mr. Kinney said. "We need another witness. Not a legal marriage without two witnesses." He glanced at Keane. "I assume you'll be staying to observe the wedding?"
"Yes," Keane replied, then looked at me.
"I will be right back with a witness." I headed for the door and out into the hallway. I saw a gentleman standing near Lily's former room and called out to him. He turned and glared at me for an instant and then ducked into a room without responding. Strange, I thought, but no time to wonder about that. I hurried down the stairs and to the front desk where I prevailed upon one of the clerks to fulfill the role of witness.
