“You are.” His voice came from somewhere above her. She couldn’t see him without lifting her head, but she could feel him there. “You’re doing perfectly.”
Truly, it was unlike anything she could ever read in her novels. Such freedom was a paradise all on its own—one she might never have known had she not, in a moment of tipsy folly, pressed her lips to this strange, elusive, and irresistibly charming man.
They stayed like that for a long while, until her fingers began to prune and the sun dipped lower. Finally, Cassian towed her back to the boat and helped her climb in. She collapsed on the bench, dripping and breathless and grinning like a fool.
Hauling himself up after her, he asked, “Still angry with me?”
“Furious,” she said, but she was smiling.
By the time they reached the small island off the shores of Crete, late afternoon had softened into early evening. Cassian secured the boat and helped Cecilia onto the rocky shore, where she stood wringing water from her chemise while he gathered a lantern and flint from the supplies he’d stashed in the bow.
“This way,” he said, offering his hand.
She took it, letting him lead her up a narrow path between wind-twisted trees. The ground was rough beneath her bare feet, still-damp chemise clinging uncomfortably, but she didn’t complain. There was something in the set of his shoulders, the careful way he guided her around loose stones, that suggested this mattered to him.
The cave mouth appeared suddenly, a dark split in the rock face half-hidden behind wild rosemary. Cecilia hesitated, and Cassian squeezed her hand.
“It’s safe,” he kissed her temples. “I promise.”
“It’s getting dark…”
“I know. That’s the point, sweetheart. You’ll see.”
Lighting the lantern, he led her inside.
The cave swallowed them immediately. The walls pressed close, the ceiling low enough that Cassian had to duck. The air smelled of stone and salt and something green, like growing things in darkness. Cecilia’s free hand found the wall, steadying herself as they descended.
Just when she was beginning to wonder how much farther they had to go, the passage opened up.
She stopped, breath catching.
The cave had transformed into a cathedral. The walls soared upward, disappearing into shadow, and directly above them, the ceiling simply wasn’t there anymore. A massive opening framed the sky, now deepening from blue to indigo as the first stars emerged. And below that opening, impossibly, a patch of grass grew where sunlight must reach during the day. Wildflowers dotted the green, closed for the night but still visible in the lantern light.
Moonlight poured through the opening like something liquid, silvering the grass, turning the whole space ethereal.
“Cassian…” she whispered.
He was watching her, not the cave. “Do you like it?”
“It’s… magical.”
Setting the lantern aside, he tugged her down to the grass. It was soft beneath them, slightly damp with dew. Cecilia lay back and stared up at the opening, at the stars beginning to prick through the darkening sky.
Cassian settled beside her, close enough that their shoulders touched. For a while, neither of them spoke.
Finally, his voice quiet, he murmured, “I found this place sixteen years ago. I was eighteen, freshly out of Oxford, and desperate to get as far from England as possible. Hired onto a merchant ship and worked my passage.”
She turned her head to look at him. His profile was stark in the moonlight, all angles and shadows.
“We stopped here for fresh water,” he continued. “I wandered off while the crew was filling barrels. I should have been helping, really, but I found this cave and went exploring. I was almost left behind as I stayed here for hours, just lying in this spot, looking up at the sky.” He paused. “It was the first time I’d felt peace since my mother died.”
Cecilia’s throat tightened. She reached for his hand and laced their fingers together.
“I’ve been back three times over the years,” Cassian went on. “Always alone. I never brought anyone here. Never spoke a word of it to a soul.” He turned to meet her eyes. “I wanted you to be the first person to see it with me.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He held her gaze for a long moment, then reached into the bag he’d brought from the boat. He pulled out the bookCecilia.
