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No matter, Lily was happily settled in front of me, riding sideways and resting her head against my shoulder. With each breath I inhaled the sweet aroma of her hair. Her face was mere inches from mine and, in the bright morning sun, we made our way to Bridgewater.
"Tell me more about Bridgewater."
"Imagine the most beautiful piece of land in all of Montana, in fact, in all of the West. Then multiply that by ten, and you’ll have Bridgewater," I said.
She laughed. "It sounds wonderful."
"It is." I sighed. Certainly I was glib, but I was not known to share my inner feelings with many. Rye was my closest confidant, but it was not as though we sat around our cabin sharing our deepest thoughts with one another. Something about Lily inspired me to share more with her. "I have traveled the world over, and no place means as much to me as Bridgewater. And the people there, they are my family." I kissed the top of her head. "Though you and Rye are my real family."
She sighed happily. "It has been a long time since I had a family."
"You are an orphan?" My heart hurt thinking she might have been left all alone in the world, though that would explain how she’d ended up in the employ of someone as vile as Mr. Garner.
"I suppose you could say that. My mother died when I was twelve. My father a couple of years later." She blinked back tears, and I wrapped an arm around her and held her close. We were moving at a slow pace and my horse, Cherry Blossom, probably knew the way even without my guidance, though after a few days in the city livery, I could feel her eagerness to let loose and gallop across the prairie.
Lily had petted her nose hesitantly before mounting. "Nice horsey," she’d whispered. Cherry Blossom must have sensed Lily’s sweet soul—how could anyone not notice it?—and had nudged her. I suspected we were getting a more gentle ride than usual for the benefit of my new bride. I made a mental note to give Cherry Blossom an extra ration of oats and carrots when we got home.
"I’m sorry about your parents." I felt a pang for my own absent family. "Do you have brothers and sisters?" I felt obliged to learn everything I could. She was suddenly the most interesting person I had ever met, and I needed to know all about her. I’d certainly become familiar with her body, but, with Lily, there was more I wanted to know. Her deepest thoughts. The yearnings of her heart.
"Thank you," she said. "No siblings." She stared off into the distance as though rememberi
ng something. A cloud of sadness flitted over her face.
"Do you mind me asking how you ended up working as a governess?" I queried gently.
She shifted a bit. Fortunately, she was slim, and we easily managed on my saddle. She might have been uncomfortable, but I suspected she was simply thinking about what to say.
"My family was rather well-to-do. When my father passed away, all of his estate was entrusted to my uncle, my mother’s brother, to be held in trust for me until I was of age." She paused and looked off into the distance again. I managed to stay silent and allowed her to gather her thoughts. "There was money for me to attend a finishing school and for private tutors," she said, almost ruefully. "I had been promised by my father to the son of one of his business associates."
Woah. That was unexpected, though I supposed it ought not to have been. She was stunning and graceful. Finishing school and tutors would explain her genteel manner and prim ways. But it hardly explained why she was working as a governess and worried about the loss of a set of drawers.
We’d be sending off for a whole new wardrobe for our bride as soon as we got home. Of course, my preference would be for her to spend her days naked in our cabin, but she’d have to go outside at some point, and I didn’t want her wearing anything associated with her old life.
"And what happened?" I prodded carefully, though it hurt my heart to ask. No doubt it would be a tale of sadness, but it was also the set of events that led her to us.
"It turns out my uncle gambled away all of my trust fund. Every cent." She drew in a ragged breath. "As soon as he found out, the man to whom I’d been promised, as well as his father, called off the wedding. The best my uncle could do was secure a governess position with his friend, Mr. Richard Garner." She shook her head. "He didn’t even apologize."
I saw red and swore to myself if I ever met this uncle I would give him the same treatment I’d given Mr. Garner. And more.
She sighed and glanced up at me with a shy smile. "I thought my life was over, but now I can see it was all for the best. My life is just beginning. With you and Rye. At Bridgewater."
8
RYE
* * *
"We really are in the wilds of Montana. I’ve never traveled this far from the city or at least not this deep into the unsettled part of the territory. The scenery is breathtaking." Lily gazed into the distance, and I enjoyed seeing things anew from her perspective.
We’d stopped midway along our journey for food and to rest briefly, and Lily had switched to riding with me for the final leg of our trip to Bridgewater.
"I am glad to have time alone, to get to know you," she said to me. "What was it like growing up and being a lord?"
She blushed a bit, I assumed because she thought it was a personal question. That struck me as ironic considering the many and varied physical intimacies we’d shared. Had I not knelt before her and suckled at her clit until she came in a shattering orgasm on my mouth?
But it was her prim and proper ways that made me determined to corrupt her even more, though I hoped she’d always retain a bit of her polished manner. It made her screaming, out of control, orgasms even more pleasurable.
I gazed down at her and smiled. I did not have Keane’s glib way about me, but I found I smiled more readily and easily in Lily’s company.
