Chapter 274: The Quiet Vow X
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His gaze stayed on her face. Serious at first. Then softer. Then something darker and warmer moved into it, something that made her pulse jump all over again.
"You are very demanding for a new wife."
Lily’s cheeks warmed, but she did not look away. "And you are very difficult for a new husband."
"That sounds like blame."
"It is admiration."
That made him smile.
He lowered his head and brushed his mouth against her forehead first. A smaller kiss. Slower. Intimate in a way that sent a different kind of warmth through her than the deeper kisses before had. It was not less intense. It was more dangerous because of how gentle it was.
Lily’s fingers curled lightly against his chest.
Sekhmet felt it.
Of course he did.
He always felt everything where she was concerned now. The shifts in her breathing. The tiny pauses before she answered. The way her body moved closer even when her mind was still trying to pretend dignity mattered.
"You are shaking," he said quietly.
Lily frowned faintly. "No, I am not."
He looked at her.
Then one corner of his mouth moved in that infuriating way that meant he had noticed more than she wanted him to.
"You are."
She lifted her chin. "Maybe a little."
"From fear?"
That question was too serious to answer carelessly.
Lily thought for a moment. "Not exactly."
"Then what."
She looked at him, at the man who had held her through the long, impossible day, who had stood before Elena and Seraphiel without wavering, who had married her in a hidden room under candlelight and then kissed her like he had every right in the world to do so.
Yet he is teasing her, shaking. He knew exactly what this shaking meant. But yet he asked. He wanted to hear it from her mouth.
"From this," she said softly. "From lust."
Something changed in his face. His face became smug. As if some guarded part of him had heard the answer and decided it was allowed to be pleased. He didn’t imagine Lily would say it out loud.
Both of their clothes fall on the ground.
He drew her in again, slower this time, until there was no distance left between them. The skin touches the skin. Her breath caught. His hand spread at her waist. The room seemed to draw inward around that one point of closeness.
Lily lifted her hands from his chest to his shoulders, then higher, fingertips brushing the side of his neck with a caution that only made the touch feel more intimate. She had not touched him like this before. Not fully. Not with the right to linger. Not with the knowledge that if she stayed close, he would not move away.
Sekhmet’s eyes lowered for one second at the feel of her hands on him.
Then he looked back at her and said, "You should know that restraint is becoming less enjoyable."
That made her heart leap.
"You say things like that very calmly."
"I am not calm."
"You look calm."
"That is years of practice."
Lily almost laughed, but the sound vanished when he kissed her again.
This kiss was unhurried. It was not meant to take her by surprise this time. It was meant to keep her there. To hold her attention completely. To let her feel the intent in him rather than only the heat. His hand moved from her waist to the small of her back and stayed there, firm enough that she could feel the strength in him even through the cloth between them.
Lily answered him without hesitation now.
Not perfectly.
Not with practiced confidence.
Better than that.
Honestly.
The way she leaned into him, the way her breath changed, the way her fingers slowly lost their careful uncertainty and began to trust where they rested against him, all of it told him more than words would have.
When they parted again, she stayed close enough that their breath still mixed.
This time it was Sekhmet who watched her first.
Her lips were warm and a little unsteady. Her face carried color deeper than before. Her eyes had that bright, slightly dazed look he was beginning to realize he liked far too much.
He touched her cheek with the back of his fingers.
Lily closed her eyes for half a second at the touch.
That almost undid him.
"You make that face," he said quietly.
Her eyes opened again. "What face?"
"That one."
"That is not helpful."
His thumb moved once, barely, near the line of her jaw. "The one where I start forgetting why I am trying to be careful."
Lily’s breath caught in a softer way than before.
Then, because she was still Lily even while flustered, she asked, "And why are you trying to be careful."
Sekhmet stared at her for one long moment. Then answered with too much honesty to be safe.
"Because if I stop, I will stop all at once."
That sent heat through her so fast she almost stepped back.
He did not let her.
Not roughly.
Just enough to keep the truth of the moment from fleeing into embarrassment.
Lily lowered her gaze for a second, then forced it back up. "You do enjoy making me blush."
"No," he said. "I enjoy that I can."
"That is worse."
"Yes."
He kissed the corner of her mouth then, deliberately lighter, and the tenderness of it made her fingers tighten at his shoulders again.
Outside the room, the house remained quiet. Somewhere far away, a door shut softly. A lamp probably changed hands. A servant might have crossed a distant hall. But in here, time has changed shape. It no longer moved by the rhythms of the house. It moved by breath and touch and the deliberate slow discovery of being allowed to stay close.
A few hours later... Lily rested her forehead against him once more.
"I still cannot believe we actually did it."
Sekhmet’s hand moved through her hair, careful not to ruin what remained of Elena’s work more than necessary. "You were very determined."
"That sounds like blame again."
"It is not."
This time she smiled before she could stop herself.
He felt the smile against his chest and let the quiet stretch around it.
After a while, he guided her with him to the edge of the bed. They sat, not apart, not fully facing each other either, just close enough that her leg brushed his and stayed there.
The nearness changed again in that smaller position. Less charged with immediate urgency. More dangerous in its own way because now they could simply look at each other without needing movement to hide behind.