Page 33 of Lily of the Valley

Lily pouted. "You're staying at an inn?"

Scout smirked. "Only to get cleaned up proper to greet my queen. If I'd come directly here not only would I have looked like some sort of swamp monster, it wouldn't have been a surprise, and Josiah and I worked too hard to ruin everything at the last moment."

"I should have known he was involved in this," Lily muttered. "I can't believe you're finally here."

Scout didn't reply as they went into a series of spins that made speaking impossible, but her hand was heavy and warm when it returned to Lily's hip, not quite sliding around to rest boldly at the small of her back. "I'm sorry it took so long."

"Not at all, no reason to apologize for that. How is your pack?"

"Good, that's one of the things we need to speak of," Scout said, then fell silent again as the dance came to an end, bowing over Lily's hand, not quite close enough to kiss the back of it. Bold, so marvelously bold.

All night she'd taken care not to show any sort of favoritism, and now she was showing it in spades, letting Scout be so familiar, so brazen. The gossips would be positively a tizzy the moment she left.

Scout rose and offered her arm before escorting Lily off the dance floor, back to the dais where her throne was located, and Leigh and Josiah were already waiting. "Were you a conspirator as well?"

Leigh grinned. "Only at the end, I didn't know until a couple of days ago. Shall I take over here for you?"

"Of course, thank you." Lily hugged her and then Josiah. "Scamp."

He grinned, a hint of fang appearing. "I try."

Lily bid the gathering at large a proper goodnight, then all but dragged Scout away, through the palace up to her own chambers. Let the gossips tizzy over that. There would be no mistaking her intentions now, and she didn't care how much her counsel bothered her about suitable matches and political power and whatever else.

"Scout—" The words were lost to a deep, hungry kiss, Scout holding the sides of her face in a firm but gentle grip, like she was determined Lily not slip her grasp again.

"Missed you," Scout gasped out before kissing her again. "Was starting to go insane not being home."

Lily's eyes stung. "I half thought you'd realize how much you missed the Highlands and decide to stay there."

"No," Scout said fiercely. "They never felt like home, not really. I was perfectly content to go wherever fate took me until that fate decided to drop a stubborn little princess at my feet." Another kiss, soft and sweet, before she drew away. "We should talk, much as I would love to continue vastly more interesting activities."

"Let's get more comfortable, then," Lily replied. "I don't know about you, but if I can avoid wearing a hundred pounds of fabric and twenty pounds of jewelry while having a serious discussion, I do so."

Scout laughed. "Of course."

"Are your things here already? Do I need to have them brought?"

"Leigh said she'd attend it, so—ah, yes, there are all my things." Scout nodded to a tidy pile of bags and trunks at the foot of the bed.

"I guess the servants didn't have time to put everything away."

Scout cast her an amused look. "Oh, no, I'll have to put my own clothes away, whatever will I do. Are you sure you want me in here with you already? I can—"

"You are staying here," Lily cut in firmly, "unless that's not what you want."

"I never had any problem sharing space with you, my queen."

Lily snorted a soft laugh. "That's not true."

"Well it would have helped if you hadn't started off wearing little to nothing and prancing about in bare legs."

"Your clothes were too big for me!"

"That doesn't mean you had to go around dressed like a tart!"

Lily burst into giggles. "A tart! How dare you call your queen a tart!"

Scout swept her up and kissed her—brow, cheeks, nose, and finally her mouth. She smelled like the wind through the trees, and tasted like coming home. "Get changed, brat."

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