His Lily of The Valley

Let Me Hold You

That night when Anne and Daniel were asleep Toby knelt in front of the hearth. Lily was sitting in the only chair in the room doing some mending. "I'll build up the fire and check on it in the night." Toby said as he laid a log on the small fire. "Thank you. Would you like to sit here?" Lily ask as she started to get up. Toby put his hand on her shoulder. "That's alright." He sat back down on the hearth. "I should have thought to make another chair sooner. I'll get one done for you soon." After a few moments went by as they sat in silence. The sound of the fire crackling and the wind blowing was relaxing.

"I guess I'll get on to bed. Good night Miss Lily." Toby said as he went out of the room. Lily decided that she was going to work on the mending a little longer. Soon though, Lily was sound asleep. The nightmare started. It was the first time she had had the nightmare since Toby had come to stay. And it came in full clarity to Lily as though it were really happening again.Toby heard a whimpering sound in the middle of the night. He climbed down out of the loft to see where the sound was coming from. He was surprised to see Lily still in the chair. Her legs were tucked up under her. She was wearing a dressing gown that slipped off of her shoulder. Toby stepped closer and reached out to pull the dressing gown back up her arm.

Toby realized that the whimpering he heard had come from Lily. When Toby touched her bare shoulder, Lily cried out startled and started to push him away. Eyes wide look all around like a trapped animal knowing it was being stalked. Toby knelt next to the chair and gently took Lily into his arms. "It's alright now. I won't let anything happen to you." He said quietly. Lily continued to cry, but didn't push him anymore. Carefully Toby lifted Lily into his arms then sat in the chair himself. He held her in his lap, rubbing her back gently and talking to her calmly. "You're fine now sweetheart. I'm here. It's going to be alright."

Toby sat with her in his arms while she cried. He hated that anyone would hurt her. Soon Lily stopped crying and became still. Toby looked down into her face. She is so beautiful, he thought to himself. Lily had fallen back to sleep. She had cried so much that his shirt front was soaked through. Toby carefully took his shirt off while still holding on to Lily. Then he pulled the blanket off from the back of the chair and wrapped it around Lily and himself as best he could. He kissed the top of her head, and held her tightly. He told himself that he would carry her to bed as soon as he was sure she was going to stay asleep. He knew better though. He just wanted to hold her close. To feel her body pressed against his. To smell her sweet scent and taste those lovely lips. Though he didn't kiss her lips, he was still satisfied he was able to hold her for a while. Soon he fell asleep himself.

Lily woke the next morning before the sun came up as she usually did. Only today she woke in the arms of a wonderful man. Lily was sitting in Toby's lap with her head resting on his bare chest! He had an arm around her shoulders holding her firm against him. His other arm was beneath the blanket that was covering them both. Lily shifted slightly and Toby's hold tightened. His hand gently caressed her thigh, then Toby moaned and stilled. Lily sat very still for a few minutes, as not to wake Toby. She slowly lifted her hand to his chest. The hair tickled her palm as she slowly moved her hand from one side of his chest to the other.

Lily closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of Toby. She lowered her hand so that she could feel his tight stomach muscles. Her own stomach was full of butterflies and her heart was beating so fast she was sure that alone was going to wake him. Then Toby shifted. He tightened his hold on her for a moment. Then all at once his hand ran down her back and came to her waist. At the same time his other hand ran up her thigh to her hip, gripping her slightly and pressing her to him more firmly. Lily held her breath. She could fell his arousal pressing against her bottom. Then Toby cleared his throat. "Um....I....I think....um," He swallowed hard and looked down to Lily. She slowly looked up to meet his eyes.

Lily's hand had not moved away from where it rested on his stomach. Toby could feel every part of her that was touching him and he wanted to feel more. When she looked up at him he lost himself. He needed to taste her. He lowered his head without his eyes leaving hers. Slowly, he told himself. He lightly brushed his lips across hers. When she didn't move away he kissed her. The kisses deepened when Lily moved her hand up his arm and around his neck. Her other hand never leaving its place on Toby's stomach. She sighed when he licked her lower lip, giving him the opportunity to slide his tongue into her mouth. He began caressing her hip, moving his other hand up to just under her breast.

Lily sank into him. Her dressing gown had fallen open sometime in the night so that all that was between their skins was a thin layer of cotton from her shift. Toby's moved his hand from her hip to cradle her face. He lowly began to lower his hand down her neck, then on to her collar bone. As he began to lower his hand even more Lily pulled away from him. They were both breathing heavy. Toby spoke first. "I'm...I'm sorry sweat heart. I would never do anything to hurt you or upset you in anyway." He looked into her eyes pleadingly. "I will never do that again if you don't want me to." Lily couldn't think clearly enough to respond.

Slowly Lily stood up. The blanket dropped to the floor. As it was still dark out, and the only light came from the fireplace. Lily took a deep breath the looked down at Toby. That was a mistake for he took her breath away again. His hair was a mess; his eyes looked at her with desire unlike anything she had ever seen before. His beautiful upper body was on display and his breathing was still uneven. Then Lily saw that he was very much aroused. Lily flushed, turning her head away. Only then did she realize that her dressing gown was open to the waist, and hanging off of one shoulder. This gave Toby full view of her breasts that were easily seen through her night gown. She quickly covered herself and walked to the bedroom. She stopped at the door and looked back. Toby hadn't taken his eyes off of her.

Lily leaned against the door once she was inside the bedroom. How could you let things go this far? She scolded herself. Oh, but it was amazing. He was amazing. His touch was so gentle, his kiss so sweet. It seemed as though he wanted to show her that he could be very gentle with her. Robert had never been gentle with her. She never thought that she would want a man to touch her. The feelings Toby stirred in her she had never felt before. She wasn't sure how things would be after that unbelievable kiss. He said that he wouldn't do it again if she didn't want him to. That was the problem though, she did want him to.

Lily knew that she was falling in love with Toby. Yet she didn't know how he felt about her. He desired her that she knew. But what were his feelings beyond that? She continued to think about what to do or say to Toby as she dressed then went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. As Lily was setting up a tray for Anne Toby came in with a pail of milk. "I checked on the animals. They seem to be fine, but if you need anything let me know. The snow is pretty deep. Most of it should melt by midday." He said. "Thank you. As long as we have wood we should be fine. I was going to do some mending. So if there is anything you need stitched could you get it after breakfast?" She asked.

Things seemed to be going well. They went about the day as if nothing ever happened. Lily thought that maybe Toby didn't really have any other feelings for her. Later that evening after dinner Toby went out again to check the animals. Lily decided to finish the last of the mending while Anne and Daniel played a game in front of the hearth. When Toby came back in Lily had already set the children to bed. She was sitting in the chair in front of the hearth finishing the last stitch. Toby added more wood to the fire then stood next to the chair holding out his hand for Lily. She had just folded the shirt and sat it on the basket. She looked up at Toby questioningly. When he still didn't say anything she put her hand in his and stood. Toby tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he studied her face. "Would you let me hold you? Just for a little while." He asked.

Lily was speechless; all she could do was nod. Slowly Toby ran his hands up and down her arms. Taking hold of her hands he brought them to his lips. He placed a kiss on the one then the other and put her hands around his neck. Wrapping his arms around her Toby rested his check on the top of Lily's head for a moment. Then putting an arm behind her knees he lifted Lily and sat in the chair like they had the night before. Lily's heart was racing. Would he kiss her again? Would he touch her again like he had before? After a few minutes of sitting in silence Toby kissed Lily's forehead. He leaned back and looked at her and said, "Thank you for letting me hold you. We should get to bed; I need to go hunting in the morning." He then placed a tender kiss on her lips, stood and put Lily on her feet. "Goodnight." He said then turned to leave the room. "Goodnight Toby." Lily said. Toby turned back to Lily and smiled then continued up to the loft. "You can hold me anytime like that." Lily said quietly. Then she went to bed herself.