Lords of Honor (14 page)

She nodded
.
Libby f
elt a little disoriented as he helped her up, but not
nauseated
, t
hough she still felt weak.

“Take a sip.” Micah brought the cup to her lips
.

“I must get dressed, I suppose.”

“Yes
.
Let me put the cape around you
.
I’ll take you outside to do the necessary
first
.”

He
carried h
er
to the side of the house
and w
aited
at arm
’
s length
for her to finish
.
He c
arried
her back inside
.

He
quickly
dressed
her
, and she allowed it
.
S
he braided her hair
while he
went to the lean to and saddled the horse.

“Do you feel well enough to travel, Libby
?”
Micah asked her with concern
.
It was obvious to him she
was
not feel
ing
any better, for she
remained
pale a
nd seemed
far too
weak
.

“Yes
.”
She nodded
.
“We need to go while we can
, Micah
.”

He
placed his
folded
cape
in
her
hands
, placed his shirt she
wore
and his comb back in his bag.
Wiped his knife off and
slid
it back in his boot.

Before Micah closed the door
, Libby
glanced
back
inside
the cottage
.
She wanted to remember the place where Micah proposed to her
.
She
turned her face
up
ward to regard
him
.

Micah
smil
ed
down at her
.
He lowered his
face toward hers
and
placed
a
quick
kiss
to her forehead
.
He did not trust himself to kiss those red lips at the moment
.
“
Shall we make our way to Salisbury
, Libby
?”

“
Yes, Micah
.”

T
hey made it to S
alisbury without incident or more rain
.
The road was muddy, but not dangerously so
.
He
a
lready decided he would not l
eave Libby in a room by herself
for her safety.
T
hey were checked into the Rose and Crown as Mr. and Mrs. Wychcombe
.
H
e also paid the innkeep
er
to send someone to purchase
several
new chemise
s
and
pairs of
silk stockings first thing the next morning for Libby
.
They were fortunate t
heir room
provided
the benefit of
a private
parlour
.

He ordered dinner to be brought up,
along with
extra
bread
,
clear broth
and water
for Libby
.
Libby
sipped
her broth and ended up taking
about half of
it
.
She ate
one
small
piece of bread
.
She
drank
water
.
Micah temp
t
ed her to take
two sips of his tea and
a
nibble
of cheese
.
He ordered a bath to be br
ought up for her after
their
dinner.

After the
maids brought the tub
in
to
the private sitting room
and prepared her bath
, Micah dismissed the
m
.
Libby
remained off balance
.
As there were no
clean clothes of any sort
for
her
to change into
, Micah
didn’t want to bring attention to their odd circumstances
.
He would have to help her bathe
.

Micah
stood near with his back turned while
she
removed her chemise and
got herself into the tub
.
He
walked
in
to
the bedchamber
and waited
while Libby bathed
.
He heard her softly curse a couple of times
.
He smiled
in amusement
.
“Is something
the matter
, Libby
?
Do you need help?”
he called out to her.

“I can’t lift the pail to rinse my hair
.
My arms are
still
so weak.
”

Oh dear
!
Micah exhaled and willed himself to be strong and not give in to his baser instincts
.
“I’ll help
.”

His Libby
wore nothing but the blush staining her cheeks
.
She
sat in the
small
tub with her
knees up and her
arms crossed over her bosom
.
Trying not to
notice
her
naked and
exquisite
form
whilst he lifted the pail
proved to be
difficult
.
Standing behind her as he was, he could not miss the sight of her shapely derri
è
re
which was
quite visible through the water in the tub
below him, nor
the view of
her beautiful
slender
back
.
Her long legs were well exposed in the small tub
for she sat with her knees up
.

He
wet
her hair
and turned while she soaped it
.
He rinsed it twice.

He wrapped a towel about her heavy wet tresses
.
“I will close my eyes, Libby
.
Stand up, I’ll wrap the other towel around you and help you from the tub
.”
Micah should have closed his eyes
, but he didn’t or couldn’t, he wasn’t certain which one it was
.

She reminded him of a wood nymph
, t
all and willowy
with gorgeous long legs
, and her stunning body all naked and wet
.
He
realized he
stud
ied
Libby’s backside
quite
intently
while
wrapping the towel around her
.
He was careful not to allow his fingers to contact her skin
.

His
retrieved his
bag on the table near him
.
He
fumbled slightly trying to
open it
but he recovered and quickly
produced his comb
.
His shirt she
wore
last night and this morning was already in the chair for her
.
He turned his back while she
dried off and
slipped into it
.
She picked up the comb and sat in the chair before the fire
.
In nothing but his shirt
!

He couldn’t help but look longingly at
those
legs and imagine how it would feel to have them wrapped around him as
s
he
lay beneath him
.
She
did not wish to
put her dirty chemise back on since
a clean one
would be brought
the next
morning
.
He could not deny her, nor force her to wear her
dirty
garments
she’d worn since
Monday
.
He
would have to make the effort to
not
look at
her
legs
.
Difficult
!
More like impossible.

“Would you like me to go into the bedroom while you bathe, Micah
?”

“It’s up to you, Libby
.
If you’d rather stay in here where the
re is a fire and
it is warmer you can
.
I realize
summer is
nearly
upon us
.
I
asked
them
to
lay the fire for you
to
keep you from taking a chill
while you bathed and to better dry your hair
.
You do whatever makes you more comfortable
.
I
won’t
be
but a minute.”

“I’ll turn my back
.
It
is
warm here.”

“Very well
.
I shall hurry and comb your hair for you
after
.”

Libby
heard him splashing around, and true to his word,
in
less than ten minutes
he came to join her by the fire
dressed in his trousers and shirt
.
His dark brown hair
was wet
, his face
clean
shave
n
.
Her
e
yes lingered on his lips
.
She
realized she
wanted him to kiss her again
.

C
urious,
Libby
had been
tempted
to turn and see if she could
get
a glimpse of her future husband’s naked body
while he bathed
.
She never saw
a naked man before
.
In the end, she proved to be
too shy to attempt it for fear he
would be
watching
and catch her
.
What would she say
if he caught her
?
I just wanted to see you
naked
?

Micah
never felt so tortured in all his life
.
He
gaze
d
upon almost
every inch of Libby’s beautiful body
this night
.
He knew he would marry he
r and
hoped it w
ould be
very soon
.
H
e
c
ould not
conceive of
seduc
ing
her
in her present condition
nor
would he
allow himself to
have her until they were married
.
He
never want
ed
it said that he took advantage of her
.
He would not tarnish their union for either of them
.
Lord
,
ho
w
he
wanted her
!