Cassie shivered and reached out her arms to draw his warm body to her. Her hands closed about a soft featherdown pillow and she opened her eyes. She drew herself upright and gazed about the cabin. He was gone. She looked at the clock atop his desk and started in surprise. She had slept only briefly, for it was but a few minutes after eleven o’clock.
She pushed her hair back from her forehead and swung her legs over the side of the bed. For a long moment, she simply stared down at her body, unable to weave her thoughts together.
She looked at the rumpled bed and saw herself writhing beneath him, her hips surging upward, her hands urgently kneading the hard muscles of his back. The memory sent a sudden tingling down her back. She pictured herself as he must have seen her. Her virulent anger had turned quickly to passion. She had become a quivering woman begging for his man’s body. How very pleased he must have been to see her fall asleep like a sated young animal, replete with the pleasure he had given her.
Cassie rose shakily and rushed to the commode. She scrubbed herself viciously until she felt raw. She dropped the damp cloth and shook herself. “Oh, God,” she whispered into the stillness of the cabin, “what is happening to me?”
Unbidden, the memory of the afternoon she had been with Edward in the cave, but two days before their wedding, rose in her mind to taunt her. Had it not been for Becky’s interference, Edward would have taken her virginity. She had felt passion then, to be sure innocent, tentative desire, but nonetheless it had been she who had encouraged him.
She sobbed aloud and buried her face in her hands. Could any man touch her and set her body on fire? Was she a willing, loose little slut who would part her thighs at a man’s touch, at a man’s mouth closing over hers?
She gazed listlessly toward the port windows and a word formed on her lips.
“Gibraltar.” An English military outpost. There were Englishmen there who would help her, soldiers who could send a message to Eliott and to Edward.
Cassie sped to the portholes and pressed her cheek to the glass. The huge rock was now well behind the yacht, but she could make out a sandy expanse of beach. She moved swiftly, and within minutes, she was dressed in the breeches and white shirt the earl had allowed her to wear during the storm in the Channel. She pulled on her boots, jerked her hair back from her face and knotted a ribbon about it.
She rushed to the earl’s desk and pulled open one drawer after another. Papers, charts, ledgers; there appeared to be everything but the money she needed. She jerked at the bottom drawer and found to her surprise that it was locked.
She grabbed a hairpin from atop the dresser and thrust it into the small lock. She muttered a frustrated oath, for she could feel the yacht moving swiftly eastward, before the lock sprang loose and the drawer slid open. Her fingers curled about a leather pouch; she pulled it open and saw to her delight that it was filled with louis d’or. She quickly fastened the pouch to her waist. She was on the point of rising when she saw an elegant English dueling pistol, half covered with a velvet cloth. Uncertainly, she touched its shining silver handle and drew it out. Her jaw tightened. If someone tried to stop her, she would use it.
Cassie was not much familiar with guns, but from the little she knew, she could tell that it was primed. She laid it on top of the desk and shoved the desk drawers back into place.
She felt a light draft touch her face and looked up to see the earl standing in the open doorway, the remnants of the smile on his face turning into a cold question.
“Just what the devil are you doing?”
Cassie straightened to face him, her fingers curling about the pistol. She said curtly, “I am leaving, my lord.”
“I hardly think so, Cassandra.” He leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest. “Indeed, I believe it more likely that you will take off those ridiculous breeches and put on one of your gowns. We will have lunch shortly.” He added, “How fortunate that I opened the door so quietly. I had thought you still asleep, you know.”