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"You know what I mean. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the girl in the park. The one with hair the color of a fawn and eyes to match, with flecks of gold around the irises." I shook my head. "She’s making me sound like a fucking poet."
"Lily Snow. Could a name be any more fitting for the bride we’ll train to please us? Love and cherish for the rest of our lives? See? I can be just as poetic."
We had a corner suite on the second floor. We made our way down the long corridor, each lost in his own thoughts.
"No! Stop this instant!" a female cried out from behind a room door.
We halted in our tracks and exchanged a glance. The sound of broken glass and more shouts. A woman in trouble. Nothing got our attention faster than that. A man’s voice could be heard from behind the door, too. Menacing. I had no tolerance for a man who threatened females.
We had no time to waste.
Keane put a shoulder to the door, and it opened with a bang, startling the two occupants: Lily Snow and her husband. I’d never expected to see her again and was stunned to find her in a room at the hotel.
I didn’t hold with interfering in a couple’s private affairs, particularly since I was considering entering into a marriage considered taboo in most of the world. But a marriage license didn’t give a man the right to frighten his wife. Lily held a vase, raised high and ready to use in her defense. Her clothes were disheveled, the hem of her white blouse was untucked from the waistband of her skirt. The top buttons were open, revealing the base of her throat where a pulse hammered. Her eyes were large and frightened, though she stood her ground. Wisps of hair had fallen loose and framed her delicate face.
Her husband, his jacket removed and wearing only his shirt and pants, had his hand in midair. A knife glinted in the last of the day’s sun coming through the window. He glared at her, a combination of lust and loathing in his gaze.
I stepped forward and took her by the arm. "Come with me, Lily." I gave a gentle tug to get her attention. She turned and gazed at me, recognition dawning slowly on her face, bringing a small smile. "You!" she exclaimed and stepped my way.
"Hey, she's with me," the man sneered, waving the knife at me, like that would deter me. His forehead carried a gash, and the remains of another vase littered the floor. He snarled, and his eyes narrowed with fury. Apparently he was not accustomed to being told no, by his wife or anyone.
He lunged clumsily in my direction. I stepped in front of Lily to shield her and stopped his progress with a right jab to the nose.
"Not anymore," I said, turning back to Lily. I slipped my arm around her slender waist, and my heart lifted with elation at having her next to me. It felt right. Perfect.
"Jesus Christ, why’d you do that?" Mr. Snow shouted. Blood trickled down onto his upper lip, and he searched his pockets, pulling out a pristine linen handkerchief that instantly turned scarlet.
My gaze met Keane's. "I'll take her; you take care of him."
Keane nodded and looked to the door with a scowl. "You'd best hurry before anyone else gets here."
"Come with me, little dove." I took the vase from her and set it down. She gaped at me and nodded.
She gave a bit of resistance to my efforts.
"You'll come to no harm at my hands, Lily," I said and finally she nodded.
There were numerous things my hands ached to do with her— touch her everywhere, caress her curves, bring her to a shattering climax. But harm? Never. Over my dead body. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but she was ours now.
3
LILY
* * *
His eyes were mesmerizing. Exactly as I remembered from our encounter in the park. Piercing blue against weather-darkened skin. I stared into them and nodded. Where I had been scared to my bones in the company of Mr. Garner, this stranger's presence filled me with a sense of safety. "You'll come to no harm at my hands, Lily." His words echoed in my mind like a balm to my soul.
Rye. I had thought about him, and Keane, often in the past few days. I blushed recalling the lusty fantasy I’d had about them, the one that led to my termination as governess for the Garner children. Seeing the two of them barge into the hotel room had been like a miracle. Perhaps I was fantasizing again.
When he gave a gentle tug on my wrist I went to him. He wrapped an arm around my waist and escorted me from the room. As I glanced back one last time, Keane had Mr. Garner by the collar of his shirt and had applied his knee to the man's groin. "You want someone to touch your filthy dick? Well, how about this?"
I winced at Mr. Garner's groans of pain, though a part of me reveled in his punishment. Enjoyed seeing him humiliated, since that was his preferred method of treating others. Had I been a man, and had the courage and strength to do so, I would have done the same thing. Many times before now.
But such was not my lot in life.
My rescuer hurried me down the hall into an opulent corner suite and shut the door behind us.
When the door clicked closed, an ominous silence fell over the room, and realization set in. I was with a stranger in his hotel room.
