Lords of Honor (28 page)

They
also
briefly
discussed Lyon Ravenscroft, the Duke of Amesbury’s situation
.
Newt would give them more details the next morning
.
Though they were all disappointed, they hoped Lyon could pull through the darkness of his addictions and come out his old self
.
He was a friend to each
man
present
.

Harry
set
some of
Micah’s
staff
on watch outside
before he left to meet them
on the road from Salisbury
.
After dinner, Newt, Wyldhurst and Harry would start the watch inside the house
, along with three of the servants
.
The rest would take their turns
.

Micah
received
a reprieve for
the
night
watch
, since he’d been watching over Libby
since coming to her rescue in Andover
.
He was
eager
to spend the entire evening with
his Lady
.
The next morning
after their meeting,
he would visit the V
icar at St.
Mary’s and arrange
their
wedding
, which he hoped
would
be soon
!

The dinner was informal
for Rowena
was uncertain
what time the
party
would
arrive
.

The entirety
of their company
was
tired
.
The
y spent only a short amount of time
in the drawing room after dinner
.
They
all
agreed
retiring early and
get
ting
a good night’s sleep
to be
wise
;
for if this turned out
to be
like Glastonbury
there was no certainty what tomorrow would bring
.

Owen walked up the stairs
alongside
Micah and Libby.

“You’ll be fine, Libby
.
Micah is on that side of you, and I’m on this side.” Owen kissed his little sister on her cheek and entered his chamber.

Micah took Libby’s hand in his and led her into her chamber
.
“I want to brush your hair
.
After your maid leaves, I’ll come in
.”
He bent his head to give her a quick kiss.

“I would like that, Micah
.”
Libby smiled after him.
She watched a
s he entered his chamber through the connecting door
.
She could not help but wonder would Micah
continue to
sleep with her now that they were at Horethorne Hall
?
She hoped so
.

Micah came in immediately after Martha left her
.
He left the connecting door open
.
Libby cou
ld see his room
was
dark
.

D
ressed in one of her new nightgowns,
Libby sat upon her bed,
hair down
and her
brush in hand
.
He
wore
his trousers and shirt only. He sat upon the bed
and situated himself behind her
.
He wrapped his hands in her glorious silken hair
.
With a smile he
accepted
the brush
from her
.
He b
rushed her hair until it gleamed
.

Micah heard Libby yawn
.
“You’re sleepy
.
Why didn’t you tell me, sweetheart?”

“It feels
so
good when you brush my hair
, Micah
.”

“M
mm
.”
Micah’s arms came aro
und her
from behind
.
He hugged her
tightly
, kissed her temple
and
eased back
.
His hands rubbed
up and down
her
upper
arms
.
“
To bed with you
, Libby
.”
Micah lifted the covers
.
He h
elped her slip between the soft sheets
.
He removed his shirt
, wishing he could also remove his trousers and
her nightdress, but
he
didn’t dare.

“Are you uncomfortable sleeping in your trousers
?”

“When we are married
I shall not sleep in anything for
that is h
ow I am most comfortable
.
A
m I uncomf
ortable sleeping in my trousers
?
Yes
.
But
that is the only way I can sleep with you until we are married, Libby
.
And I want to sleep with you very much.”

“I do not mind if you take them off
.
I hate to think of you being uncomfortable, Micah.”

“
I’m not that uncomfortable, Libby
.
I promised Owen your virtue would remain intact until we married,
sweetheart
.
I promised
myself that
.
It’s becoming more difficult for me to, ah, just hold you and not do more
.
My trousers must stay on.
”

Micah slid into the bed beside her
.
He p
ulled her against him
and smiled
into her
glorious
hair
when her firm little bottom snuggled against him
.
She smelled of lavender tonight
.
No doubt Rowen
a selected the soap for Libby,
for
l
avender was Lady Glaston’s scent
.
“When I first held you Libby, you smelled of lilacs
.
Is that your favorite scent?” Micah asked curiously.

“Yes
.
I love the smell of lilacs
.
Sometimes I use other soaps,
but my favorite is lilac
.
Why
?
D
id you like the lilac scent
?”
Libby turned in his arms to face him.

“Yes
.”
Micah reached out and pulled her fully against him
.
“Though roses and lavender smell wonderful on you too
.”
He inhaled of her
scent
deeply
.

“I like the way you smell too,” Libby whispered in his ear.

“Oh, and what do I smell like, Libby?”

“Like Micah
.
Clean and fresh like the
wind, or the
outdoors
, a
nd s
andalwood
as well
.”
She smiled as she snuggled against him
.
She raised her head to place a k
iss to his chin
.
Her lips
moved upward to
ward
his
.
He bent his head and met her, kiss
ing
her passionately
.
His hands moved to her bottom
.
He pulled her tight against him.

“You’re hard again.”

“Yes. Very.
Hard.
S
weetheart
.”
He said in between kisses.

“But, I’m not naked.”

“Do you want to be?”
He flashed a devilish grin
at her
.

She giggled
.
“Y
ou said last time
seeing me
naked
in the tub
made you hard.”

“I brushed your
hair
.
And
well,
tonight it’s your bottom
that made me hard
.
I love your bottom
and
there is the fact that you are currently
pressed tight against my,” he whispered the word in her ear,
“
and it feels so good, Libby
.
Too good.”

“Oh
.
Since you will keep your trousers on, I shall keep my nightdress on
.”
Her hand moved to rest upon his arm
.
“
When
do you think we can be married?
”

“I shall
call on the vicar at
St. Mary’s tomorrow after our meeting, Libby
.
Newt obtained the special license for me in London
.
Owen agreed that we can be married as soon as
can be
.
Ther
e’s a small chapel here at
Horethorne
Hall
.
I am hoping the day after tomorrow shall work
.
It may have to be another week
.
W
e’ll see what the
Reverend Davies’
schedule is like
.
I would prefer the wedding be here
, at Horethorne Hall’s chapel
.
I’m afraid until we get rid of our Brown Coated intruders
,
we, none of us, can be getting out much
.
I so wanted to take you to
my favorite haunts here in Templecombe
.
Have you been to Cadbury hill fort?”

“No
.
Will you take me there when it is safe
?
I’ve always wanted to see it
.
Do you believe
Cadbury to be the true site of
Arthur’s castle?
”

“
Yes,
I believe it is a definite possibility that the castle
, or fortress
that
stood
there could have been Arthur’s
.
When there is time I will show you some of the things I’ve found while digging around Cadbury
.
And
yes, Libby, y
ou can count on
me taking you to Cadbury when it is safe
.
It’s one of my favorite places to be
.
I spend a great deal of time there
.”
He would definitely make love to her there
in the tall grass dotted with wildflowers
when
this
Brown Coat
threat
was over
.

“Micah, why do you suppose those men followed us
?
Are they still after me
?
Is there something else they want
?”

“I don’t know, Libby
.
We all must be careful
.
Either they want you or they know I have some of the scrolls
.
There are twenty
Brown Coats
in Cornwall too
.
Trevan has the other
scrolls,” Micah rubbed her arm
.
He
moved his hand to
glide down
her back
.
He saw concern fill her eyes
.
“Don’t worry, Libby
.
I’ll not allow anything to happen to you
.”
Micah bent to kiss her again
.
His hands moved to
wrap
in her silken hair as the
ir
kiss grew passionate again
.
Libby’s hands explored his bare chest
.
Micah’s hands moved to her
derri
è
re
.
He held her tight against him
.
They kissed one another, and caressed one another for a very long time
.
Until Micah thought he might explode from his
want of
her.