The words sizzled in his blood, and his head filled with possibilities.
He took a breath and removed his hand from her ribs. ‘That is…very flattering, Miss Fisk.’ He cleared his throat. ‘But, if you continue teasing me in this manner, things will not end well for me.’
‘Whyever for?’ she said.
Because he was as stiff as the mast of theVictory.
He cleared his throat again, trying to think of a way to explain. ‘I am indisposed. If you could, perhaps, give me a little space…’ But if she did, it would reveal his unfortunate condition to Julian who would shoot him in cold blood for assaulting his sister.
‘Cassandra, leave the man alone. We can discuss your future at home, over breakfast.’
She raised her head and gave her brother a foul look. ‘We have nothing to discuss.’ Then, she leaned back to whisper again. ‘He will have to shoot through me. I have no intention of moving.’
She looked back to her brother. ‘I would rather die alone than live a single day without him, Julian.’
Her brother handed his gun to his second and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if rejecting the idea. ‘Be reasonable.’
She jerked her head to the side, to the place where her carriage waited. ‘There is a post-chaise waiting by the tree. The driver will take us to Gretna.’
‘It will take days to get there,’ he reminded her.
‘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.
