“Gentlemen, there is a sleeping woman and baby upstairs. Keep your voices down.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, just having a little fun with Mack.”
“And how’s that?”
“I’ll tell you later. He looks like he will burst if you don’t tell him how his wife is.”
“She’s restless, but she managed to drift off a few minutes ago. That poor girl,” Mikala said, shaking her head.
“Listen, I need to find us a new place to live. I hate to ask this.”
“Then don’t,” Mikala said.
“You don’t know the whole story, sister dear.”
“Cassie told me a lot. She feels responsible for her father’s death. She’s worried that something is going to happen to us because she is staying here. Mack, our family is made of sterner stuff. Remember that. You all will stay here as long as you need. No argument,” she held up her hand and stopped Mack before he spoke. “Now, I am going to go check on the baby and get ready for bed.” Mikala turned to leave the room, but spun around and came back, throwing her arms around Mack. “I’m glad you are both all right.”
“Me, too,” he said squeezing her back.
“Can I give you some advice?”
“What is it?” Mack asked while at the same time Gabe said her name warningly.
“I know that the two of you have not had much time together. I also know that the two of you had not planned on spending a lifetime together, but now that you are bound to one another, don’t throw away this opportunity. Cassie is a very special woman. She is strong and independent, but underneath all that is a certain amount of fragility. Take care of her and don’t throw away this relationship.”
The men watched Mikala leave the room. Both men remained silent for a few minutes.
“I’m sorry about Mikala, Mack. Sometimes she oversteps her bounds.”
“Don’t apologize for her. She spoke her mind, and I appreciate that more than you know. I will find a house for us to rent as soon as possible. I don’t want Mikala or the baby to be put in jeopardy.”
“I appreciate that, but I can protect my family and that includes you and Cassie.”
“Let’s remember who the older brother is, ken?” Mack queried.
“But which is a duke?”
“And I make decisions in regards to the war.”
“I have a suggestion,” Gabe held up his hand in surrender.
“And that would be?”
“We agree that regardless of our backgrounds, we are and will always be brothers and look out for one another and one another’s families.”
“Agreed,” Mack said. The two men gripped one another’s arms and gave each other a bruising hug.
“I have another suggestion,” Gabe said.
“And that would be?”
“I believe you should seriously consider Grandmother’s gift.” He held up his hand when Mack looked to argue. “It is just sitting there empty. Grandmother wants you to have it. You merely need to stock it with a few servants.”
“I will think on it.”
“That is all I ask. Now, let us join our wives.”
“That, Brother, is the best idea yet,” Mack agreed.
The two men walked upstairs together. Gabe dropped Mack off at his door and continued on down the hallway. Mack slipped into his room. Cassie looked so small curled up in the bed beneath the coverlet. Not wanting to disturb her, Mack carried a chair over next to the bed and sat. He studied her as she slept. Her forehead wrinkled in sleep. Mack leaned forward in the chair and brushed a thumb along the wrinkles until they smoothed.
He took her hand in both of his and brushed a kiss on her knuckles. He thought back through the events of the day. So much had happened in such a short period of time. First, he had received the news that Sir Graham had been murdered and had to impart that news to Cassie. Then, as she told him that they should terminate their union, lightning had struck, literally, throwing them into turmoil. Mack’s heart skipped a beat when he recalled how he had raced through the burning house, unable to find her. Then he had waited a lifetime to see her appear in that window, and all at once his heart had begun galloping in his chest. And then he had her in his arms…
“When did you become such an intricate part of my life?” he asked the sleeping form. “I didn’t expect this, didn’t want this. I never needed someone in my life to care about. It’s too dangerous. What if some day your life is in danger because of me? I don’t know that I can stand to take that risk.” He kissed her hand once more then linked their fingers together. Mack leaned back in the chair beside her until he finally drifted off to sleep as well.
***
She could see him from here. She had done this to him. It was all her fault. Cassie ran to him and fell to her knees, grabbing the lapels of his bloody superfine. She shook him with all her might as if that would bring him back to her.
“Mack!” She yelled his name over and over.
“Shhh. Everything will be all right,” she heard a soothing voice in her ear, a gentle touch about her shoulders.
“No, it won’t! He’s gone! Don’t you see? I’ve lost everyone I love, everyone! Can’t you see?” She threw herself on Mack’s lifeless body. “I should have told him when I had the chance. I should have told him I loved him. Now it’s too late. How could I have been so stupid? Mack,” she kept repeating his name over and over like a litany.
“Cassie,” a deep, soothing voice called to her. “Cassie, wake up. Cassie!”
Her eyes snapped open, and she blinked owlishly at the man sitting on the side of the bed. “You’re alive.”
“Aye,” Mack said warily.
Her hands flew to her mouth as the nightmare came back to her in vivid clarity and all that she had said while in its throes. “What did I say?”
“All I could hear was you screaming and then my name.”
“It was just a nightmare.” Then she remembered something else. “Papa?”
“I’m sorry.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “And the fire?”
“Everything’s gone.” He cupped her face and gently swiped away the tear that rolled down her cheek.
“Mack?”
“What is it?”
“I want to forget all this madness, if only for a short while.”
“In time it will become easier.”
“No, you don’t understand. I want to forget now. I want, no, I need you to help me forget. I need you to help me remember that we can find just a bit of happiness in this world gone mad.”
“How do you want me to do that?”
“Make love to me.” She could hear the desperation in her voice. She saw how he recoiled at the word love. “Forget it,” she whispered. “I’m just being silly. I’ll be fine momentarily.” She rolled over and pulled the covers over her shoulders.
“Cassie,” he whispered.
“Just leave me alone, Mack. I’ll be fine by myself, as always,” she cursed herself for the little hitch that sounded in her voice. She heard him cross the room, and then the door opened and shut. Cassie bit her lip until she tasted blood, but nothing could hold back the tears that slipped rapidly down her cheeks. She turned her face into the pillow so that her sobs could not be heard by anyone else. Why did she care so much what he thought? Because you love him, you silly idiot! she told herself, and that revelation made her cry all the harder, because he had definitely made it clear that he felt nothing for her.
“Drink this,” her husband’s Scottish brogue penetrated through her sobs.
“What are you doing in here? I told you to leave me alone.” She sat up and swiped at the tears to remove all traces of them, but she could still feel them falling. Her face felt hot to the touch, and she could only imagine how blotchy it must look.
“Drink this,” he ordered her again.
She took the glass from his hand, threw back its contents, and slammed the glass down on the side table. “There. You’ve done your duty, now go away and leave me in peac
e.” Cassie flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling until her vision blurred. She bit her lip to keep from calling him back. She refused to show any weakness. A soft snick sound reached her ears. He’s gone, she thought, feeling alone and depressed. Cassie shut her eyes and stopped fighting the tears that leaked out the corners and ran down her temples into her hair.
She jumped and her eyes flew open when she felt the bed dip. “What are you still doing here?” she demanded.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t feel beholden to me. As I said, I’ll manage on my own. I always have.”
“If only it were that simple,” Mack said.
“It is.”
“Dammit, quit being so stubborn. Have you any idea…” he broke off and rubbed his face with his hands.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She sat up and really looked at him for the first time since he sat down beside her. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. “You’re not wearing any clothes!”
“Aye.”
“Why?”
“It’s difficult to make love with our clothes still on. Aye, I know, we’ve done it before, but it is better this way, don’t you think?”
“You’re wrong, Mack. We’ve had sex before. We have engaged in intercourse, we have copulated, and we have consummated our marriage. But we have never, never, made love before.”
“Perhaps that is something we should remedy right now.”
Cassie lay still as Mack leaned in and softly kissed away her tears. She closed her eyes, and felt the soft caress of his lips on each lid. She kept them closed as she savored how he kissed each cheek, her nose, her chin before finally reaching her lips. He played with her lips, dropping dewy kisses on them.
“Open for me, Cassie darlin’.”
She did and he began a slow, but thorough discovery of the moist cavern of her mouth. He coaxed her to join with him in the exploration. When Mack broke the kiss, Cassie found herself breathless, panting for air. He began to nibble at her ears, first one, then the other before he followed her neck down to her chest. She felt him tug gently on the string that held the neck of the nightdress together. It gaped open, exposing her breasts to his view. When he moved towards her, she put up a hand to halt his progress. “Wait,” she commanded. Cassie lifted her hips and worked the gown up her body until it momentarily impeded her vision. Then the gown floated through the air and landed silently on the floor.
“You’re so beautiful, but I like you better in my shirts,” Mack said, his voice raspy. “And to think I came so close to—”
“Shhh,” she covered his lips with her hand, stopping his words. “No past, no future. I can’t. There is only this moment.”
“Aye,” he agreed before plundering her mouth once more.
Cassie whimpered when he pulled away, she couldn’t help herself, but then his lips were back, only they were paying homage to her breasts. She felt as if Mack were worshipping her body with his. His touch was tender and thorough. Cassie felt as if every nerve ending in her body were on fire. When he captured the tip of her breast in his mouth and suckled firmly, her back arched off the bed, giving more of herself to him.
After paying both breasts equal attention, Mack moved down her body and moved back and forth across her tummy. He placed kisses along her ribs down to where her tummy felt femininely soft compared to his. Then she felt the sheet slide down her legs, revealing herself wholly to her husband’s eyes. Cassie allowed her legs to fall open, making room for Mack’s big body between her thighs.
“Mack, please.” She felt him drop a string of kisses from one hipbone to the other. Then he kissed her lower, and her hands shot to his hair, pulling him up. “No, you can’t.”
“I can, but only if you’ll let me. I don’t want to do anything you aren’t ready for.” He took one of her hands and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “Trust me, Cassie?”
“Yes,” she answered and laid back, not sure what to expect next. She felt Mack take a foot in his hand and massage it. When he was done with her foot, he moved up to her calf and thigh, dropping kisses here and there. Then he showed the other leg equal attention.
“Roll over,” he said.
She felt languorous and did so without argument. Soon his hands were on her back, working at the knots that had formed in her muscles years ago and had only worsened. Every once in a while he would brush her breasts, making sure that spark of desire never faded. Eventually she felt herself rolled back over, her eyes half-closed when they flew open at his touch. He was there, as he had promised, and Cassie’s pulse began to race, her blood pounded in her ears. She thought she might be standing on a summit ready to soar, but she did not want to do so without Mack.
“Stop!”
“What?” Mack asked, looking confused.
“Not without you. I don’t want to fly without you.”
“You mean cli—”
“No scientific terms tonight, Mack. Please.”
“Yes, Mrs. McKenzie. Close your eyes.”
She did and found all her other senses were heightened. She could smell their musk in the air, which was erotic. And she could feel him, everywhere. Cassie felt surrounded by him. Then he was there, slowly and steadily, taking her breath away with every subtle movement. After fully entering her, he stayed there a moment, and she felt him nibble at her lips.
“All right?” he asked.
“Yes,” she whispered. Then he began to move, slowly, sensuously. “Hurry,” she commanded.
“No, this is so much better, ken?”
“This is excruciating.”
“Aye,” he said, and even with her eyes closed, she could hear the smile in his voice.
She felt his fingers link with hers. Cassie squeezed them tightly as she felt something building within her. Something that only Mack created in her. He continued moving slowly, remaining steady, which only added to the feelings building within her. Cassie contracted her inner muscles around his length and smiled bewitchingly when she heard him groan. She did it again and felt pleased when he quickened his pace. She opened her eyes to see the concentration and desire etched on his face.
His hands slipped free of hers and one slipped low to where they were joined. She felt him manipulate that area that could send her soaring so quickly. Then he began suckling her sensitized breasts, alternating between them, all the while pounding into her until they both flew over the precipice, staring into one another’s eyes and seeing everything neither could bring themselves to say.
Chapter 25
Cassie awoke the next morning to sun streaming through the windows. The place beside her on the bed was cold and empty, as if no one had been there. The slight soreness she felt screamed otherwise. Where was he? Why had he not stayed with her?
“He has wars to run, you ninny,” she chastised herself aloud. Regardless of the reason, she still felt…alone. A knock sounded on the door. “Just a moment,” she called and slipped from the bed to pull on her borrowed nightgown and robe. “Who is it?” she asked.
“Mikala.”
“I’m sorry to make you wait,” Cassie said after rushing over and throwing open the door.
“Think nothing of it. Mack said you were exhausted and to let you sleep as long as possible.”
“I just woke.”
“It looks like you need my miracle treatment for puffy eyes.”
Cassie rushed over to the mirror and studied herself. Her eyes were indeed puffy as was her face. It looked like she had spent most of the night crying, which she had. “It was all real, wasn’t it?” she asked as she moved to a chair, and fell into it.
“Yes, it was.”
“Papa’s dead. Mack’s house is gone. I’m a walking curse.”
“You’re not.
“I am. I have to get out of here before something horrible befalls your family.”
“You’re talking nonsense.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Cassie, li
sten to me,” Mikala waited until she was certain she had her full attention. “At the beginning of my marriage, I ran from Gabe. I thought I was doing everyone a favor, including him, but in the end, it had tragic consequences. Running is never the answer.”
Cassie sat quietly and took in what the other woman had to say. “Perhaps you’re right.”
“I know I am. Now, Mack has entrusted me to get clothes for you. I would let you borrow mine, but you are much more well-endowed than I am in the bosom, even when I’m pregnant. So, I have sent word around to the seamstress that made your gown for our party and asked her to make you an entire wardrobe.”
“But that’s not necessary.”
“It is unless you plan on walking about nude.”
“No,” Cassie muttered. “But I should be wearing black in memory of my father.”
“Mack said otherwise, and that’s that.”
“Mack does not know what’s best for me. I say I will wear black, and I will.”
“All right. I will send word over.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Do you feel up to eating?”
“Yes,” Cassie replied, feeling bad for taking her anger towards Mack out on Mikala. Mikala sat with her for a while, but then had matters to attend to. Cassie sat alone in the bedchamber she had shared last night with Mack. She knew she had been unable to hold back her feelings for him. The love she had felt showed through in her touch and the looks she had given him, even though she had not spoken the words. She thought she had seen something flicker in his eyes as well, but then he had quickly shuttered them. “Is that why he told me to shut my eyes? Did he not want to see what I felt for him?” The thought devastated her. He had held her afterwards, but his arms and body had felt stiff and unyielding, until she had finally pretended in sleep to roll away from him. She had stared dry-eyed at the wall, unable to call forth any more tears.
Cassie could not blame him for hating her. Because of her, he had almost been run down by a carriage. Papa was dead. Papa had been one of their secret weapons in these two wars England found itself engaged in. Then the lightning had struck the house and destroyed it. Some might say the last was just bad luck, but Cassie knew better. The lightning had killed her mother all those years ago, and now it wanted to destroy Cassie, had almost succeeded if not for Mack risking his life, searching for her. And now his life could very well be in danger, as could Chang’s.
Seducing the Ruthless Rogue Page 28