Authors: K. R. Richards

Lords of Honor (16 page)

She
took a small bite
,
chewed
it
then licked her lips
.
“It is very good
.”
Libby
smiled
sweetly
at him
.

Micah nearly choked on his
bite of cinnamon bun
as
he
watched
her
tongue run over her
full
bottom lip
.
“
Care for a
nother bite?”
he offered
after swallowing
his mouthful
.

Nodding, she
t
ook another
small
bite
.

A
tiny blob of cinnamon
was
left at the corner of her mouth
when he
drew his cinnamon bun away from
those
rosy lips
.
Desire, raw and unbridled rushed through him
.
Micah could not stop himself
.
He leaned over
,
licked the cinnamon away
and proceeded to kiss her
.
His
cinnamon bun fell
forgotten
to his trencher
.
His arms wound about Libby
.

She responded to his kiss,
matched the
movements of his tongue
.
The kiss deepened
.
Her arms moved upward around his neck
, her fingers
curling
in his dark hair
.
Libby
pressed
herself
against him
.
Micah
pulled her closer
, needing to feel her warm
th
and soft
ness
.
They were both half out of their chairs
.
His lips left her sweet mouth and moved along her neck
.
When she moaned softly, it was nearly his undoing
.
He knew he should stop
.
Instead, he covered her lips with his
again
and
drank deeply of her sweetness
.

Libby felt as
if
she was
on fire
.
The warm and tingly feeling intensified
to a burning
.
There was a curious heat consuming her
.
It started down low
then began to spread
.
It r
ose
higher
. The sensations she was experiencing were almost overwhelming
.

Micah felt her fingers tangl
e
in
his hair
.
Libby molded her lovely body against him and pressed herself
tighter
against
his chest
.
She moaned
again, as soft as a whisper
,
as his lips caressed the
tender
place behind her ear.
H
e nibbled on her lobe.
Micah’s
self
control was gone
.
He k
new he should not be doing this.
H
e
feared he might
now
be powerless to summon his
self
control
.
He wanted this
.
He wanted Libby
.

Micah’s hand smoothed
across
her shoulder to her arm
.
His
questing
fingers just
covered
her breast when a knock sounded on the door
.

C
hapt
er Four

Micah
pulled away
from Libby
.
“It’s probably the maid with your chemise and stockings
.”
Micah called
toward
the door, “Just a moment
.”
He
led
Libby
, still dressed in only his shirt,
to the bedchamber
. After she
sat
upon the bed
and
before he
closed the door
, he whispered,
“
I’ll
be back
in a moment
, sweetheart
.
”

Micah
quickly crossed the room and
opened the door.

It was the innkeep
er, Mr. Banfield
.

“My Lord, you told me to let you know if there were any interested parties asking after you and the lady
.
Two different men have come within fifteen minutes of one another
.
The first did not give your name
.
He
sought
a man and lady of your description
.
I told him
there was
no one like that here
.
He left
.
The second
man
is waiting in the public room
.
He is a gentleman, sir
.
He asked for
Lord Wincanton and
your Lady
.
He said to tell you Lord Elveston is here for you
.
He gave me this to give to you.”

Micah opened
the missive
.

Wincanton, do not come down, for
I think the inn is being watched
.
I saw your horse in the stable
.
Let me come up
.
I’ll get you out of here.”

Jack

“What
can you tell me of his appearance
?”

“
He is
as
t
all
as you are
;
with
d
ark hair and eyes
.
A w
ell dressed
man
,
he
is
, sir
.
He said if you
were not
convinced to tell you he doesn’t
anticipate
having his ribs bruised again.”

“Send him up
.
It is him
.”
E
lveston
’s
ribs
were
severely bruised by the Brown Coats
during the
Glastonbury
incident
.
“
I need you to send
some
letters
for me
, Mr. Banfield
.
I’ll write them
posthaste
.
If you could come back up in say ten minutes, I’d like to place them in your hands and your hands alone.”

“
Aye
, sir
.
And here
are
the
missus’
clothing items you requested, my Lord
.”
He handed a wrapped bundle to Micah
.
“
Shall I have the phaeton readied?”

“Thank you
for the
clothing for my L
ady
.
When you come up in ten minutes, I’ll let you know about the phaeton
.
I need to speak with Lord Elveston first
.
Send him up, if you please
.”
Micah
removed several
coin
s from his pouch and placed them
in the innkeep
er
’s hand.

“Aye, my Lord
, a
nd thank you,
”
the innkeeper smiled and nodded.

Micah took the package to the bedchamber
and offered it to his Lady
.
“Libby, Elveston is here
.
He’s coming up
.
Can you
get one of your new
chemise
s
and stockings on
?
I’ll come in momentarily to lace your stays and help you into your gown
.
I need to write a note to Owen and have it delivered once
Jack
and I figure out where we are going.”

“I thought we w
ere going to Templecombe, Micah?
”

“Sweetheart, we may need to go to Glastonbury
instead
.
Someone else ask
ed
after
us this morning
.”
Her saw her eyes widen
.
“
Don’t
concern yourself
, Libby
.
I will not
allow
any harm come to you.”

A knock sounded on the door
.

“I’ll hurry.” Libby assured him with a smile
.
Micah
closed the bed chamber door
.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s the pretty face you’ve spent the last three weeks with, and two before that in Glastonbury
.”

Micah grinned and opened the door
.
“I am happy to see
you
!
Sorry we
left
you
behind
in Andover.
”

Jack Drayton, Lord Elveston
nodded,
came into the room
.
He looked about the small parlour
.
“
I would have done the same
.
Where is Lady Elizabeth?”

“She’s in the bed
cham
ber
.
She is feeling
slightly
better
this morning
, but has been very ill since I left you
at the White Hart
.
In fact, I must excuse myself for a moment
.
I need to lace her stays.”

“Ah
.”
Jack lifted a dark eyebrow
.
He whispered, “What have you d
one
?
Owen is going to kill you!
”

“It’s not what you’re thinking, Jack
.
Lady Elizabeth’s virtue remains intact.
She has until today been unable to do much
on her own
due to
the
overdose of laudanum
forced down her
by her kidnappers
.
Her stomach was affected
.
She is very weak still
.
It seems she went from Monday morning until last evening without nourishment of any sort
.
Spending an entire day in an abandoned cottage without food
after we left Andover
did not help
her situation
.
It
matters not
.
I will offer for her.
”