Page 55 of The Earl's Secret
“I can be when I have something exciting to look forward to,” he said, tugging her even closer.
“Like a treasure?”
“If that is what you choose to call yourself.”
He took her lips again, though the truth was, had he not, she would have initiated the kiss herself, for she didn’t think she could take another moment without his lips against hers.
He was intoxicating, and she wasn’t sure that she would ever get enough of him. Maybe it was time for them to speak to Gideon after all.
Devon had just worked his hand into her bodice, Cassandra arching up into him with a moan, when a voice cut through the passionate haze that had surrounded them.
“Unhand my sister!”
Cassandra gasped again, but for altogether different reasons, as Devon backed away abruptly, leaving her standing there with both her mouth and her bodice gaping open. At the very least, Devon had moved to stand in front of her, shielding her, but she wasn’t sure if he had done so purposefully or if it was simply a fortunate position.
“This is not what it looks like,” Devon said, and Cassandra frowned at his back. It was exactly what it looked like. She knew she had been the one to ask Devon not to speak to Gideon yet, and she realized belatedly that he had been right – that a conversation would have been far preferable than their current situation – but what were they to do now?
“Gideon,” she began, trying to step around Devon now that she had put her clothing to rights, but Devon held an arm out to keep her back.
“Cassandra and I were solving the mystery, that is all,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Was the mystery what was beneath her nightgown?” Gideon said, the ire in his tone obvious. “Did you really think you could take advantage of her just because she… well, because she has been known for such liaisons?”
“Gideon!” Cassandra said, her fury at both her brother and Devon growing with each word they spoke. “How can you, of all people, say such a thing?”
“It’s not like that,” Devon said, holding out a placating hand before Gideon could respond, and Cassandra waited for him to defend her, to admit that, this entire time, it had been him, and only him, that she had ever been found with – but he just stammered his own defense of the two of them, as though nothing had happened. “I would never—well, Cassandra and I are friends, you know that—”
“Do I?” Gideon said, Cassandra’s normally mild-mannered brother was anything but mild now. “I always thought that the two of you were at odds with one another, and yet here you are, in my library –as I slepton the sofa– cavorting with her.”
“Gideon, I would never do anything to purposefully hurt your family,” Devon said, clearly more concerned with what her brother would consider a betrayal than Cassandra’s own feelings. “Cassandra and I have been working on this riddle together since you left, and we came to a similar conclusion at once.”
“You know what this means, do you not?” Gideon said, his voice hard, and Devon stepped forward to try to placate him.
“It doesn’t have to be like this,” he said calmly, but Cassandra’d had enough of this. It was her past coming back to haunt her, this far too similar to the situation five years ago. Last time, Devon had run away. He might not be doing so now, but he was currently acting as much of a coward as he had then.
“Do not despair, Gideon, your friend has been faithful to you,” she said, sweeping by Devon with a swish of her wrapper. “It was me – as it always is – acting the wanton and throwing myself at him.”
“Of course you weren’t,” Devon said, shaking his head. “Why do we not sit down and speak—”
“I think enough has been said – or not said – already,” Cassandra said, blinking away the tears that were threatening. “I am going to bed. Goodnight.”
She stormed from the room, but when she entered the corridor, she stopped, standing next to the entrance. She was waiting for Devon to defend the two of them, to request her hand, to hear what he might have to say to her brother that might demonstrate that he truly cared, that this was all more than a liaison between the two of them, that she meant as much to him as he told her that she did, that she hadn’t fabricated all of this within her own mind.
“Is what she said true?” Gideon said in a low voice. “Or was this all part of your elaborate scheme to win the contest?”
Contest?
Before Devon could respond, Gideon continued. “I told all of you not to include my family in your plots – especially my sister. We have our games, have our fun, but she is off limits. How could you not understand that? I know we said the wager was who could create the greatest scandal but this—”
“Gideon,” Devon began, but Cassandra had heard enough. If all Devon had wanted was to win a contest, then congratulations, he had done so.
But in the process, he had lost whatever had been building between them.
If it had even been true to start with.
CHAPTER22
“It is not what you think,” Devon said to his friend, who stood staring at him with glowering eyes, made more furious by the fire in the grate behind him that seemed to frame his head. That was not what most upset Devon, however. Instead, it was the betrayal lurking deep within Gideon’s gaze.
