Always. Krystle Triplett
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.
3
Tristan
Finally. She was all his. Her eyes were still following her brother, a slight frown on her face. She must have felt Tristan’s eyes on her though because she slowly turned her face toward him. Her eyes really were remarkable. “Alone at last,” he murmured, a smile on his face. He could see her swallow. Ah, she was nervous. Poor thing, she had no idea that what he had told her brother was the absolute truth. He would never hurt her. The spark he felt earlier could only mean one thing, and he doubted she knew what it