Lords of Honor (18 page)

“I’m feeling much better today, Micah
.
Please, I’m certain I will be fine
.
Don’t let
my
being
with you
hold you back
.”
Libby moved to stand next to Micah
.
Her hand rested
up
on his arm
.

Her sapphire eyes were filled with concern
.
Without thinking,
for he
was
so familiar with his L
ad
y,
Micah
slipped his arm about her waist and pulled her against him
.
He realized by the
questioning
look Jack gave him, that he noticed the
obvious
familiarity
.
Libby
did
not notice anything
amiss
, thank goodness
.
He would never want her to be embarrassed or shamed because of his actions
.

Micah did
not realize until that moment just how familiar
his actions with Libby were
.
E
verything about h
is relationship with
her
just c
a
me so naturally
.
He
removed
his
arm from her
waist
.
“You are not
holding us back
, Libby
.
It’s far too dangerous there only being three of us and six
, possibly more,
of them
.
I’ll go
get Harry’s and Owen’s letters from the Innkeep
er
.
We need to let them know what kind of situation we have here
.
Trevan’s
and Simmond
s
’
can go on as
they are
.
I may even send one to Shevington Chase, for Lyon
is
the closest to us
.
Although,
I fear he
remains
in London.”

“No, Micah
.
Allow
me
to speak with
Mr. Banfield
.
I’ll get the letters
.
You stay with Lady Elizabeth
.
Write your new letters to Owen and Harry
.
We must remain here today
.
I’ll
need to
take one of the rooms next to yours and Lady Elizabeth’s.”

“I’ll just step outside the
door with you, Jack
.
Excuse me
, Libby.
Sit down
,
sweetheart
. I’ll be back in a moment
.
”

Jack and Micah stepped out into the hall.

“I have already p
ropos
ed to Libby,” Micah
informed
his friend
immediately.

Jack nodded
.
“I
expected
as much from you, Micah
.”

“She was
very
ill
.
I am more familiar with her than I should be, I know
.
Her virtue is intact
.
I swear it.”

“I believe you, Micah
.
Do not wor
ry about
what I think
.
You must remember
I
did see
her condition at the White Hart
.
She could not stand on her own
.
Besides, I know you well enough
, Micah,
to know that you always
behave as
a gentleman
.
Y
ou have proposed to her and will make your offer for her to Owen
.
Until Owen arrives, you may continue as you are.”

“Thank you, Jack.”

Jack winked
.
“I’m happy for you, Micah
.
She’s a sweet young woman
, a
nd very lovely.”

Micah grinned
.
“She is
both
;
and much more
to me
.”

Libby
seemed quite
worried upon his return
.
“If I
was
not here, would the two of you go on?” she asked.

Her chin raised in a defiant gesture
.
He wanted to kiss that chin
.
He also wished to banish the frown upon her rosy lips
.
“No
.
T
here are
at least
six of them, Libby
.
We’ve dealt with their kind before in Glastonbury
.
The
se men are
dangerous
.
I was shot, Lyon was shot and Harry’s sister, Lady Caroline
,
was shot
.
Most of them
are
hired thugs fro
m London
.
Jack and I
would stay
here in Salisbury
until reinforcements arrived, just as we
three
are
now
going to do
.
Come here
.
We’ve a few minutes before Jack gets back
.”
He opened his arms to her.

Libby
h
appily
stepped into his
embrace
.
“You were shot
?
Where?”
She
gazed up
at him
with curiosity
.

“In the thigh
.
I’ll tell you about it later
.
We did not get to finish what we started at breakfast, sweetheart
.
We won’t have too many
more
opportunities to be private for awhile
,   u
ntil we are married
.
If anyone
arrives this evening, we shall not be able to sleep together until
after
we are
wed
.
I very much enjoy
ed
our kiss earlier
at breakfast
.” His voice deepened.
”N
ow let’s see, where were we?
”

H
is
mouth
cover
ed
hers
.
H
e
kissed her deeply
.
He drank form her honeyed mouth like a starving man
.
It might be the last
bit of
privacy they
would share
befo
re they were married
.
The wedding ceremony
might not be as soon as Micah would like
.
Everything
now
depended on how
Owen viewed their situation
.

His hands moved gently
down
her lovely back
, smoothed over the indentation of her waist and s
topped
to rest
upon
her hips
.
He
pulled her
tighter
against him
.
He held her there
while he
contin
u
ed to kiss
her
.
H
e w
anted to
thread his fingers
through
her thick braid and loosen her magnificent hair
, but there was
n’t
time
.
He p
ull
ed
her closer
still
.
He realized he might go mad not having Libby in his
arms while he slept
.
I
t amazed
him
that
in two days time he
gre
w so
accustomed
to having
Libby
near
.
His lips left her mouth to trail down her neck
.
He nipped
lightly
at the sensitive skin where her
slender
neck
dipped to her
collarbone
.

He shivered
with delight
as Libby placed soft little kisses along his neck
.
When his cock began to harden, Micah knew he
had
best stop
. He could not allow the
desire
he felt for Libby to overrule his common sense
.
Jack would be back
shortly
and he might walk in to find them in a situation that would embarrass his lady
.
Micah
would not do that to Libby
.

He pulled away from their kiss reluctantly
.
He drew his head up
and looked
his fill of
her
.
Her sapphire eyes were dark
with passion and
her lovely lips were
red
, s
lightly swollen
and
still
parted
.
“Jack will
return
any minute, sweetheart
.
And I’ve letters to write.
”
H
e noted the deep and husky tone in his voice
.

Libby
gazed
into Micah’s silvery gr
a
y eyes
.
She s
aw the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile
.
Her hand rested o
n his chest
.
She could feel the
pounding
of his heart beneath her hand
.
The rhythm seemed to match the wild beating of her
s
.
“Oh, Micah
, w
hen you
kiss
me
I tingle
all over
,” she whispered
.
She felt
her cheeks
grow hot
.
Perhaps she should not have
mentioned it
.

H
is
smile
turned into a grin
.
“Why the blush,
Libby
?
”

“I –I probably shouldn’t have mentioned such a thing.”

“I told you yesterday, I love your honesty
.
Say whatever you desire to me as long as it’s what you truly feel
.”
His hands moved to her nape
.
“I am so happy you feel that way when we are kissing
,
Li
bby
.
And just so you know, when you touch me and kiss me,
sweetheart,
I burn
.
I burn for you
.”
He kissed her deeply
once more
.
Th
is
kiss was demanding, not gentle
.
He sighed
with
frustrated
longing
when he pulled away.

“Come sit with me, sweetheart, while I write these letters
.”
Micah was
very keen to write his letters
.
He
knew
Newton Lambrick, Lord Alloway, to be presently in London
.
He would ask him to procure a special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury for him
to marry Libby
and
b
id
him
to
meet them at Templecombe
.
He also
would request he
fetch Lyon if he were still in
Town
.
That would add two more to their party at
Horethorne Hall
.
If this turned out to be like Glastonbury, they needed every able man
.