Chapter Twenty #2
‘If it should rain, and the roads become muddy, it could take even longer. We could be stranded for a whole week.’
Her voice was like the purr of one of the leopards in the menagerie. It reminded him of how the rough tongue of a cat would feel, licking his body.
He groaned. ‘Cassandra. What did I just tell you about not teasing me. There are autonomic reactions that are awkward in public.’
‘Days and days where I have no hope of rescue,’ she said, her lips hot against his ear. ‘I shall be all alone. Unchaperoned in the clutches of a scoundrel. Anything could happen to me.’
‘Cassie.’
‘Lurid acts that I cannot imagine. Debauchery. Depravity. Licentiousness,’ she said in a breathy voice. ‘I will be helpless to stop you as you fulfill your every wicked fantasy upon my unresisting body.’
Now he gripped her shoulders, holding her in front of him. ‘Gods, woman. Show mercy.’
‘Westbridge!’ Julian was looking around him, probably hoping to retrieve his pistol.
‘Julian, go home,’ she said with a voice that brooked no nonsense. Then, she turned the same tone on Sebastian. ‘Walk with me towards the carriage, and no harm will come to you.’
Keeping her in front of him, he edged to the side, working his way in the direction she indicated.
‘Release my sister, you degenerate!’ Julian yelled.
‘She is the one who has me,’ he said, his voice sounded high and nervous as if he was about to laugh or cry.
‘I will not let him,’ Cassie yelled. ‘Not for a lifetime.’
‘Cassandra, this is…is…not wise,’ Julian said helplessly.
‘I have been wise,’ she called to him with a laugh. ‘But now, more than anything, I want to be happy.’
‘Happy?’ Sebastian said, shocked to hear the word.
‘Happy,’ she repeated. ‘Now, stay behind me. I don’t think he will shoot you if you do so.’
‘You don’t think?’ he said, shocked again. But he did as she suggested and she continued to work her way towards the carriage. When they reached it, he opened the door, hopped inside it and pulled her up after him.
‘Drive!’ he shouted, as she sprawled in his lap scrabbling for a grip on the upholstery to keep from being bounced off him to the floor.
Then he threw his arms around her, pulling her close so he could kiss her. He was no less comfortable, but the prospect of relief was as near as full daylight.
When they had to stop for breath, he stared at her, amazed. ‘You came for me.’
‘I would have the first time, as well,’ she said. ‘If I had known you as I do now.’
‘I was not worthy of you,’ he said. ‘I still am not…’
She put a finger to his lips. ‘I refuse to hear another word of such nonsense. You are the only man who showed the slightest interest in what might make me happy.’
He reached to take her hand, pulling it away from his mouth only to bring it back for a kiss. ‘You shall have everything you want, if you will only be mine.’
‘Then, I do not want to live in London,’ she said.
‘We must be there for the Season,’ he said. ‘But the rest of the year will be spent at my home in Leicestershire.’
‘I thought you did not like the place,’ she said.
‘If you are there, it will be paradise,’ he replied, kissing her again. ‘You shall have a beehive as a wedding gift.’
‘Tempting,’ she said, smiling. ‘And I will allow no more nonsense from you. No foolish self-destruction, no dueling, no scandal.’
‘I shall be as boring as your brother is now,’ he said, placing her hand on his heart. ‘You will even sleep unmolested until we are properly married.’
‘Do not take your reformation too far,’ she said. ‘We are on our way to Scotland. And I meant every word of what I said earlier,’ she said, settling more comfortably onto his lap. ‘Do as you will with me, you horrible man.’
It was a dream come true. Then, he remembered how he’d expected the day to end and moaned in frustration. ‘My darling. My sweet, sweet love. We cannot simply go to Gretna.’
‘Hmm?’ she said, running a hand down his chest to the buttons on his vest.
‘We have no clothes. I did not bring my purse. I was going to my death, this morning. I am totally unprepared.’
‘Do you have the ring?’ she said, patting his pockets.
‘I have carried it everywhere since the day you left me,’ he said.
‘Then we have everything we need. Thanks to Banks my reticule is full and a hamper had already been packed in the carriage.’ She pointed to a wicker basket on the floor. ‘He would probably claim it was for my trip home, but there are two glasses for the wine.’
‘Good old Banks,’ Sebastian said.
‘Also bread and cheese. And I believe there are strawberries.’
‘I love strawberries,’ he said. ‘And you, of course.’ He sighed and kissed her again. ‘I love you. Have done from the first.’ He looked past her to the hamper on the floor of the carriage, rummaged around a bit and produced a berry, dangling it in front of her mouth.
She pulled her lips back and tipped her head up so she could grab it with her teeth, sucking for a moment before taking a bite.
He growled. ‘For a vicar’s daughter, you are surprisingly skilled at seduction.’
‘You would know,’ she said, narrowing her eyes. ‘You have far too much experience on the subject.’
‘Only because I wished to be ready when the right woman came along,’ he said. ‘I wanted to be worthy of her.’
‘And am I the right woman?’ she said, finishing the berry and licking her lips.
‘The one and only,’ he assured her.
‘Good. Because I might have been infatuated with you a year ago. But now, I have fallen in love. It does not matter that I know you are wicked. I am yours.’
‘All that is over.’ He laid his hand on his heart. ‘Now that I have you, I will live a life of good works, sobriety and fidelity. And I will give up the lease on the Soho apartment, the minute we return to London.’
She kissed him again, tasting of strawberries, and undid a few more buttons on his waistcoat.
‘Oh no, you terrible man. You are keeping the apartment. Or should I say, I am. I expect the keys for a wedding gift. If you promise to be very good… Or perhaps, if you are very, very bad, I will let you visit me there.’
‘An interesting proposition,’ he said, nuzzling her ear. ‘Tell me more.’ Then, he reached out to pull the shades on the carriage windows and shut out the world.