Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
For several long, unsteady seconds, Isabella could not breathe. Her legs felt as if they would not work, and her muscles continued to tremble.
The earth spun around her, and if it had not been for Cassian holding her thighs, she would have fallen.
She leaned back against the cold terrace wall, her gloved fingers gripping the stone for balance as her entire body trembled, although not from the night air but from the scorching intensity of what had just happened.
Her knees threatened to give way, her pulse fluttered wildly against her throat, and she drew a sharp, shaking breath that did nothing to steady her.
Kissing a path down the tender flesh of her thighs, Cassian moved away from her, leaving her feelings empty and cold where his tongue had pleased her.
It took her several moments to be able to open her eyes again, but when she did, the sight of him took her breath away.
Cassian stood before her, chest rising and falling in a rhythm that betrayed just how undone he was as well. The night wind tugged at his hair, and the moon carved the sharp planes of his face in silver and shadow.
His gaze remained locked on her, dark and hungry, and Isabella felt heat curl low in her belly once more. His lips were swollen and glistening as if he had been kissing her for a very long time.
“I cannot believe you did that,” she whispered, her voice trembling with outrage, disbelief, and something she could not name.
What exactly had just occurred between them? She could barely gather her thoughts coherently for long enough to decipher the matter.
“I can.” Cassian’s lips curved, slow, wicked, and devastating.
“And it was,” he continued, stepping closer until she felt the warmth of him even through the cold air, “the easiest and sweetest thing I have ever done.” He placed one arm above her head again, leaning in as he dragged the pad of her thumb over her lower lip.
He finished with a swipe of his tongue across his lips, and a flush burned across Isabella’s cheeks, blooming down her throat. She hated that he saw it, hated even more how his eyes darkened when he did.
He reached out and gently pulled her skirt back into place, his fingers brushing her hips with care. Isabella tried, but failed, to steady her breathing as he smoothed the fabric down, his touch tender in a way that made her heart twist.
“Cassian—” she began, her breath still shaky.
But he leaned forward, capturing her mouth in one final, lingering kiss, slow, deep, and nearly undoing her again.
Isabella’s hands caught his coat, pulling him closer, desperate for something she didn’t even understand, but he broke away first, his forehead resting briefly against hers as he tried to gather himself.
“I like the way you whisper my name. It is by far the sweetest sound I have ever heard.” He growled against her lips, dragging his hand up her side until he gently cupped her breast.
Was he going to do more to her?
Her legs began to tremble again at the mere thought of him touching her until she collapsed.
“Let’s head back in,” he told her, drawing back.
The coldness that engulfed her body was almost too much for her to bear.
Why is he like this?
She felt too frozen to voice her question. He had left her burning and eager in one moment, and then cold and alone in the next. Did he love her? What did it mean that he had kissed the most intimate parts of her being? Was it love?
The question left her reeling as she nodded and quickly pushed herself off the wall. She had known that people in love could be intimate with one another, but what did it mean for them?
She fell into step behind him, her mind a tangled mess of questions.
However, before they could take a step forward, a voice halted them in their tracks.
“Cassian?” Lady Kendrick’s voice cut through the night like a blade.
Cassian stepped back so quickly that Isabella almost collided with him. Had it not been for her quick step back, they would have ended up in a heap on the floor.
Instinctively, they both straightened, though Isabella’s legs still felt weak beneath her, and they’d tidied themselves.
Lady Kendrick swept onto the terrace, her eyes sharp as polished steel, and for one horrifying moment, Isabella truly believed the older woman had witnessed everything.
I will be ruined.
She could feel her heart thrumming violently in her chest as Lady Kendrick’s eye swept over her.
“There you both are,” she whispered harshly. “Do you both realize that people have been whispering about how you vanished together?” She looked irritably from one to the other.
Isabella’s stomach dropped. Gossip like this could ruin a woman, even if she had not acquired so much as a mark against her name in the past.
Cassian, to his credit, recovered instantly, folding his hands behind his back with the air of a duke mildly inconvenienced. “And what of it? Are we to indulge every single snippet of gossip perpetuated by the ton?”
But Lady Kendrick’s eyes narrowed. “This is not the time to be stubborn, Cassian. This is a serious matter.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
Multiple footsteps and a cluster of women’s voices drifted toward the terrace.
Isabella’s eyes widened along with Lady Kendrick’s as they stared at each other in horror.
“Isabella, come with me.” Lady Kendrick’s spine straightened as she quickly stepped forward.
The older woman grabbed Isabella by the wrist and whisked her inside the house, heading to a small storage room with surprising agility. They reached their destination in a matter of minutes, and the door was quickly shut behind them, bathing them both in darkness.
Lady Kendrick leaned against the door, and even in the darkness, Isabella could see that the older woman was pressing her ear against the door. Her heart beat so furiously that it almost drowned out the distant noises of the ball.
Through the door, however, Isabella could hear them. The eager voices of gossip-hungry ladies.
“Your Grace? There you are!” The simpering tones of two ladies drifted into the night air. At least, there were two that Isabella could easily discern.
Joining Lady Kendrick at her side, Isabella pressed a hand over her mouth, her heart battering her ribs as she listened.
Lady Kendrick placed a firm hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to be as quiet as possible.
“Ladies,” Cassian said in his familiar cool, irritable tone, “Was there something that I could assist you with?”
Isabella pictured his eyebrows raising and the subtle setting of his jaw as he clenched it in irritation.
“Oh, we noticed your absence,” tittered one of the women. “The ball is hardly complete without our host.”
“I dislike crowds,” he said curtly. “I needed air.”
“And Lady Isabella?” another asked, seemingly innocently.
Isabella nearly choked, and had it not been for the hand that had already been placed against her mouth, she would have gasped.
“What about her?” He asked briskly and almost too sharply.
Keep your cool, Cassian, please, for both our sakes.
“She has also disappeared,” one of the ladies continued.
“We simply thought that perhaps—”
“No,” Cassian interrupted smoothly, annoyance sharpening his words like ice. “I have not seen her. And I do not care for wanton accusations under my own roof.”
The ladies hesitated. Isabella could practically hear their suspicious frowns.
“Are you certain, Your Grace?” The first lady spoke up again.
Cassian’s voice dropped to a dangerously low register. “I open my doors to you, despite having reasons why I shouldn’t, and yet you make such presumptions? Questioning me and my authority as a duke?” His voice dripped with disdain, emphasizing every word that he spoke.
“Oh no, forgive us, Your Grace. It wasn’t our intention to disrespect you. We simply asked out of concern for her,” the woman faltered.
There were more footsteps, more whispers, then silence.
Lady Kendrick exhaled, shoulders slumping with visible relief.
“Good Lord,” she muttered while shaking her head.
Isabella’s hand moved to the door, her heart still hammering madly. She turned the handle as slowly as she dared and eased it open.
Cassian stood mere steps away in the corridor. He turned instantly toward her, and the expression in his eyes worried her.
What is he thinking?
His dark, burning, and unreadable eyes locked onto hers, and Isabella felt her breath cease as though he had reached into her chest and stolen it.
Lady Kendrick cleared her throat sharply behind her, but Cassian didn’t seem to hear. Instead, he took one deliberate step towards Isabella.
Then another until he stood directly before her. “Marry me.”
Lady Kendrick froze directly behind her, and Isabella could feel her eyes widening even if she was not looking at her. “Finally,” she whispered under her breath.
Isabella’s lips parted soundlessly. “I beg your pardon?” she breathed, her body stiffening from shock.
Cassian’s jaw flexed. “You heard me.”
She stared at him, stunned. “You cannot be serious.”
“I am.” His voice was calm and steady.
“But—but why—?” She stammered.
He cut her off. “People are whispering already. According to my grandmother, half the ballroom has noted our absence. Then I had to tell those meddling harpies I hadn’t seen you.” He took a slow breath, his voice deepening. “They did not believe me.”
Isabella felt her pulse spike.
“And because of that,” Cassian continued, eyes locked on hers, “I will not let our encounter ruin your reputation.”
His voice dropped to something low and fierce.
“You deserve better than gossip. Better than scandal.”
He stepped closer, close enough that she felt the heat radiating from him.
“If there is even a whisper about you,” he said, “I will silence it.”
Her stomach plunged.
He reached out, brushing a stray curl that had fallen against her cheek, his fingers warm, unbearably gentle.
“Marry me, Isabella.” He repeated the offer from earlier.
She could barely breathe.