Lily's Secrets [Elk Creek 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Online Free Page B

plotting to leave you after all.”
    “Whoa!” Wyatt jerked on the reins and brought the buggy to an abrupt stop right on the edge of town. He turned in his seat to face Lily full. “Where did that come from?”
    “Nowhere.” Lily shrugged, turning to face front, her cheeks reddening even more.
    Was that guilt?
    “Lily?” Wyatt dropped the reins and put his pointer under her cleft chin to turn her face back to him. “Are you thinking of leaving me?”
    “Of course not! I just…I need…”
    Tell me, woman. Tell me what you need!
    He couldn’t get the words past his lips, however. He didn’t want to force her. He didn’t want to put her through any more after all that she had already been through. “You need?”
    “I need to be needed again. I need you to…”
    His heart pounded as she paused. He wondered what all she held back, what all she wouldn’t allow herself to say.
    They used to be able to talk to each other. At least he had thought so. Not that he had ever been all that chatty back then. Lily was the one who did all the talking between them and he was the one who liked listening to her musical voice as she discussed her days at the school and how she loved shaping the future and learning from her students as she taught them. He’d liked basking in the glow of her cheerfulness. No one could brighten up a room like his Lilybelle. That light, however, had been extinguished by those savages, a mere flicker of her shine remaining.
    “I need you to treat me like you used to,” Lily murmured.
    Wyatt arched a brow. He thought he was treating her better than he used to. He was certainly paying closer attention to her, pampering her when he could, and not allowing her to lift a finger around the farm.
    She cleared her throat and stared at him. “I need you to treat me like a wife, Wyatt.”
    As opposed to what? A whore?
    Suddenly it hit him what she meant. His eyes widened. “Lily—”
    “Never mind. Just forget I said anything.” She reached for the reins. “Let’s go.”
    He closed his hand over hers. “Not yet.”
    “It’s not important. You’re a good husband, Wyatt, a decent man. Don’t think I meant any different by what I said.”
    “I reckon if you’re unhappy, I can’t be all that good.” He stared at her, and when she didn’t say anything he added, “I’m not good with words, Lily, but you must know I love you.”
    “I know.”
    “I didn’t think you’d want to…you know…” He felt his own cheeks heating at the idea of their marriage bed and how he’d been avoiding it since Lily had returned.
    Was Lily suggesting she was ready for them to take up their conjugal activities again?
    “I’m not dead.”
    “I know that, Lily.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “You’re my wife.” Wyatt gently took the reins from her hands and clucked at the horse again to get him going.
    The rest of the ride to their homestead went by in edgy silence.
    Several times, Wyatt wanted to break it, to assure Lily that he understood what she was going through, but he knew he’d be lying if he did. He didn’t understand what she was going through or how she was feeling. How could he? He’d never been at the mercy of a bunch of hostiles, beholden to them for his survival. And then having to return home only to discover that both her parents were dead? Despite having lost both his own parents years ago to a cholera outbreak, how could he know how Lily felt at all?
    For some reason it had never occurred to him before this moment that they were all each other had in the world. He didn’t want her to be with him, however, because she had to be. He wanted her to be with him because she wanted to be. He’d love it if she wanted to be with him because she couldn’t imagine being with anyone else in the world but him. He certainly couldn’t imagine loving another woman as much as he loved Lily. Neither could he imagine starting a family with another woman other than Lily.
    Before the attack, they’d often