Читать книгу Always - Krystle Triplett - Страница 8

2

Tristan

She was magnificent. As they continued to stare at each other, everything faded away till it seemed as if they were the only two people in the ballroom. He became lost in her eyes. Eyes that appeared to be blue from this distance, but he couldn’t be sure until he got much closer to her. As he stared, her skin started to flush. First, staring on her chest then slowly spreading up over her neck till it finally covered her cheeks with a rosy glow. The longer they gazed at each other, the deeper and more becoming her blush got.

Suddenly he noticed her brother lean over and whisper something in her ear. Her expression changed immediately. The color drained from her face, and her eyes, her entire body, looked as if it froze over. She broke the stare and turned resolutely away from him. Now that their eye contact was broken, Tristan looked over at William. His best friend was regarding him with narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw. Apparently, William was not very happy with the way Tristan had fixated on his younger sister. He felt he was correct in keeping them apart. He probably was because Tristan was determined to talk to her now.

“By Jove, she sure is something,” said Douglas, awe in his voice.

Tristan looked around to see that he wasn’t the only one staring at her. Something that he found he didn’t care for at all. “Wipe up the drool boys,” he forced out through clenched teeth. “And, Hale, you look as if you are about to start spouting poetry. Get it together, man!”

“Unfortunately,” said Douglas, with his eyes still following the night’s newest arrival, “my cousin James always had the artistic ability in our family. I’m afraid my poetry wouldn’t be any good, but with her looks, by god I’d try.” They all laughed and turned back around toward each other, forming their loose circle again. The conversation then drifted toward musical abilities and who would have the best voice of the group. Tristan made sure he still faced the girl. He just couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“What’s her name?” he said, not even caring that he interrupted some joke Harold was making. His focus was completely on her.

“I don’t recall,” said David, a thoughtful look on his face. “I think it has to do with flowers or some such thing. Rose, or Violet. No, it was Lily. Yes, that was it. Lily.”

“Lily,” breathed Tristan, making it sound almost like a prayer. At that moment, she looked over at him again. Her eyes narrowed when she saw that he was still watching her. He gave her a slow smile; one he knew would make most young ladies blush. It was a knowing smile, one filled with the promise of all kinds of wicked things. She took a deep breath, he could see that from here, then she forcibly turned her head.

So, it was obvious William had said something to her about him. Whatever he had told her, it obviously didn’t reflect well on him, judging by her cold attitude. Well, he wasn’t going to let that stop him. Somehow, someway, she was going to be his.

As he started to take a step toward her, a small form blocked his way. He looked down into the furious eyes of Lady Dashwood. He was surprised by her sudden appearance; he had actually completely forgotten she even existed. “Ah, my dear, if you will excuse me, I see a friend with whom I must speak.” He started to walk past her, but she stayed in his path.

“Do you think me a fool,” said Sabrina, anger in her voice. “I can see the way you are staring at that girl…like some bitch in heat. If you think I’m going to allow you to go over there and—”

“Allow me?” growled Tristan. “Madam, if you think you can dictate with whom I talk and when, then you are sadly mistaken. Now as I said, if you would be so kind as to step aside, I see someone else I need to converse with.”

“If you leave me standing here, Tristan, then I will never forgive you,” she said, her face getting red. “We will be over!”

“Alas, my dear,” said Tristan with a bow, “if that is what you desire, then so shall it be.” With that he swept around her and his slack jawed group of friends, heading toward the edge of the ballroom where Lily and William were standing. Already there was a group of admirers hanging around them. As Tristan made his way across the room, he tried to catch her eye again. She seemed to be making it a point to look anywhere but at him. Finally, he reached their group, but before he could break into it, William stepped into his path.

“What do you think you are doing?” asked William, a hand raised up to push Tristan back slightly so that the two of them didn’t run into each other. “What are you even doing here? I didn’t honestly think you would bring a woman like Lady Dashwood to a place like this.” As he talked, he slowly walked forward, forcing Tristan to step back.

“Good to see you too, my friend,” replied Tristan, a forced smile on his lips. “How did you know that Lady Dashwood would be in my company?” Seeing the slight look of guilt on the other man’s face, he realized what his friend had done. “Ah. So you sent my mistress over to my house, hoping it would keep me home all night. My, my, you really didn’t want me to come tonight.” He tilted his head to the left, and with a slight narrowing of his eyes he asked, “Why ever would you not want me to be here? Did you not want to introduce me to your lovely sister?”

Tristan could see William grinding his teeth. After a considerable pause, in which he was sure the other man was trying to rein in his temper, William said, “I saw the way you were staring at her. She isn’t another one of your doxies. She is my baby sister and I will not have you—”

“William? Is everything all right?” As the two men had squared off against each other, Lily had moved closer to them. She grabbed ahold of William’s arm, concern in her expression. Then she faced Tristan, her face taking on a look of contempt. “Sir, I think you are upsetting my brother.”

Now that her eyes were on him, Tristan could see they were a lovely shade of violet with a dark blue ring around the iris. Witches’ eyes. Very fitting for someone who had so enchanted him. Her eyelashes were a darker color than her hair, so dark that they appeared as if she had used kohl to line her eyes. He could tell there was nothing artificial about her looks though; she was a one-hundred-percent natural beauty. Her lips were pulled into a straight, disapproving line, but he could tell that when she stopped frowning, they would be pleasantly plump. Her chest was also of a pleasing size, spilling over her dresses top in a much more delicate way than Sabrina’s had. Lily’s breasts were the perfect size for him; everything about her seemed to be perfect to him.

All of his perusal took place in a matter of seconds, but by the time his eyes returned to hers, she was even more upset with him, if her narrowed eyes were an indication. Apparently, her brother didn’t much like Tristan’s lingering glance either. He started to move forward again, but Lily held her brother back with her gloved hand.

With a formal bow, Tristan made his introduction, since it seemed obvious that William wasn’t about to. “I don’t believe we have been properly introduced. Tristan Bradley, Miss. You must be Will’s sister. I have heard so much about you. Well, not really, since I didn’t know of your existence until about fifteen minutes ago.” At that he glanced at William. “For some reason he was trying to keep you away from me.” He looked back at her and reached for her hand, intending to give her a kiss on the top of it.

As soon as his hand touched hers it felt like sparks shot straight from her body into his. His eyes widened and he gave a slight jerk, barley noticing she twitched also. When he looked back into her eyes, he saw that they were no longer narrowed in ager but wide with shock. She felt the sparks too. Once he found his voice, he said rather gruffly, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

*****

Lily

She couldn’t catch her breath. Lily struggled to form a coherent thought. All she could focus on was the look in his crystal blue eyes and the feel of his warm hand in hers. His eyes were so blue that she felt she could drown in them, and his hand was so warm that she could feel the heat start to spread into her body.

As he bent forward, he kept his eyes on hers. His lips finally touched the back of her hand, lingering a tad longer than was necessary. Lily wished that she hadn’t worn gloves tonight so that she could feel his skin on hers. “L-Lily St. James,” she said rather breathlessly. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“All right, that’s enough of that,” said William as he forced himself between Lily and Tristan, causing them to sever all contact. She blinked rapidly, just realizing that she had been staring at him far longer than was proper. Now that William was between the two of them, she sucked in a huge lung full of air, feeling a little lightheaded. How long had she held her breath? “Introductions have been made,” said William, still not realizing what he was interrupting. “You can return to your cronies and Lady Dashwood. We have some people we came to talk to tonight.” He started to lead her away.

“Wait,” said Tristan, a note of desperation in his voice. Lily looked around her brother. She could practically see the wheels turning in the other man’s face. Suddenly she saw a look of triumph enter his eyes. “I was just about to ask this beautiful lady for a place on her dance card.” He glanced back at Lily, holding out his hand expectantly. She started to hand him her card when her brother stopped her arm. She looked up into his face, a question in her eyes.

“You don’t have to dance with him, Lily,” said William. She could see out of the corner of her eyes that Tristan did not like the interruption, and he really didn’t like what his friend was saying. His jaw was clenched, but he kept his mouth shut. “No one would blame you if you turned him away. Remember what I said about your reputation.” This last part was said in a low tone next to her ear so that others couldn’t hear it. Judging by the look on Tristan’s face however, he had no problem picking up what William was saying.

“Thank you for the advice, William,” she said to her brother. “But I know what I’m doing.” She faced Tristan, handing him her dance card. They watched as he penciled his name down, then she felt her lips twitch as he wrote his name down again.

When it looked as if he was going to write it down a third time, William stopped him. “All right, you have made your point. If you try to dance with her three times in one night, then you might as well throw her dress up right here.”

“william!” exclaimed Lily, nervously glancing around. Many eyes were on them, but thankfully no one was close enough to have heard that last statement. “I can’t believe you would say such a thing.”

“I believe you owe the lady an apology,” said Tristan, an angry look on his face. “If I hadn’t already made a promise to Tilden that I wouldn’t cause trouble, I would punch you in the jaw right this second.”

“Oh yeah,” said William, facing off against the other man. By now the crowd around them had grown, everyone eager for the possibility of a fight.

Lily thought fast, there had to be some way to stop this situation from getting any worse. Then it came to her. As much as she didn’t want to, she knew what she had to do. “Calm. Down,” she said, her voice quiet yet powerful. Immediately both men’s postures relaxed.

Compulsion was very strong in their family. She absolutely hated using it, especially considering she had argued with her brother about it not even half an hour ago, but right now it was the only thing she could think to do. Besides, it wasn’t as if they were humans. Both were immortals who were much older than her, so it didn’t work as well as it would have if they’d been mortal. Using compulsion in a room full of people was risky, but everyone seemed to be more focused on the two aggressive men.

Both men turned to her. Tristan looked impressed while her brother had an incredulous look on his face. “What about your moral high ground?” he asked. Then his expression changed. “Lily, I apologize for what I said. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” He turned to Tristan. “I also apologize to you too, my friend. I know you are too smart to do something like ruin my baby sister.” He smiled, a look that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You know it would be the last thing you did.” He extended his hand toward the other man.

Tristan stared at her brother’s face for a few seconds, and then he glanced at her. Whatever he saw on her face must have persuaded him to take William’s hand. “Apology accepted,” he murmured. “I do understand your reservations about me, but you should know I would never do anything to jeopardize our friendship.” The two shook hands for a second, then William pulled him in for a side hug. “I do believe that you are too protective of her,” he said with a contemplative look directed at her. “She can obviously take care of herself.”

By this time, most people had dispersed, realizing there wasn’t going to be a fight after all. Lily glanced around at the faces of the people closest to them. Some still looked like they expected a fight, most just seemed like they wanted to enjoy the party. A few men tried to catch her eye. She turned back to Tristan. “I apologize for doing that, sir. But you left me no choice. I can’t very well let my brother get thrown out of here for giving you a thrashing.” The last was said with a slight grin on her face.

Her brother started laughing, clearly more at ease than he had been all night. Tristan’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “You think he would beat me in a fight?” He looked at William. “You must not have told her what I did a few years back. Either that, or you’ve pulled the wool over her eyes by boasting about yourself,” he teased.

William laughed. He then told Lily, “About five years ago, on a night when we had both partook of a little too much wine—”

“You were completely smashed.” Tristan laughed. Lily laughed at that, having only seen her brother drink very lightly, she knew he didn’t hold his alcohol well.

“It doesn’t matter,” continued William, clearly enjoying telling this story. “We had been discussing some political act or another at one of our clubs; I honestly couldn’t tell you what we were even talking about. Whatever it was, it caused an argument to break out between the two of us.” He wasn’t talking very loudly, but a few of the men around came closer to listen to the story, several were nodding along like they were there. “I don’t know who threw the first punch, but somehow we ended up outside, rolling around on the ground, blood pouring from both of our noses. By the time we were done, it was pretty obvious no one was getting anywhere, we are very closely matched.”

“I think I must have hit you in the head too hard that night, clearly you don’t remember that I wiped the floor with you,” teased Tristan.

Lily worried that this line of conversation would bring about another argument, so she decided to change the subject. “I hate to break up this fascinating exchange, but I see Jane over by the garden doors, looking absolutely enchanting. She keeps looking over here, William. You had better go and sign her dance card before she doesn’t have any spots left.”

William glanced toward in the direction she had mentioned. She could tell by his face that he spotted Jane. He really was smitten with her. “Right you are, Lil,” he said as he turned back toward her. “If you will excuse me, I really must go and see her. Tristan, if I leave her with you, do you promise to be on your best behavior?” This last was said as he shook the other man’s hand, and judging by the whitening of their hands, it wasn’t a light handshake.

Tristan took the threat for what it was; he smiled at her brother and said, “I swear I will protect her with my life. As long as I have air left in my lungs no harm will come to her. There is nothing in the world that will—”

“All right, all right, I get your point.” William laughed. With a shake of his head he walked off toward Jane, leaving Lily and Tristan alone on the edge of the ballroom.