Page 48 of Earl for the Summer
“Heaven indeed.” He smiled against her silky hair and placed a kiss there, stroking her back gently as she caught her breath.
“We should go back,” she said quietly, but with her arms wrapped around his middle, she didn’t make a single move to pull away. “I need you to know…”
“Know what?” Cassian felt a moment of trepidation, a flicker of guilt.
“That I won’t regret any of this in the morning.” She tipped her head up, her chin on his chest. “Will you?”
Cassian stroked his fingers along the warm, soft curve of her flushed cheek. “How could I?”
CHAPTER 11
Cassian dreamed of his father for the first time in years.
He woke near dawn in a cold sweat of confusion and terror.
He was at Hillcrest, and that realization alone made bile rise in this throat. But as the nightmare receded and reason took its place, he breathed deeply, reminding himself that he was no longer a child. And their unpredictable tormentor was buried miles away in the family plot.
As he scrubbed a hand over his face, the previous night came back to him. The misery of his dream was nothing to the pleasure of those moments with Daphne.
I won’t regret any of this in the morning.
Her words rang in his head, and he clenched the blanket in his hands.
Of course, he didn’t regret a single moment spent with her since the day they’d met, and certainly not last night. Even now, he wanted nothing as much as he wanted to find her and kiss her senseless.
But now, in the dawning light of morning, after just seeing his father’s rage-filled face in his dreams, he could not deny who he was.
Once, in his quarters in the belly of theResolute, he’d startled so violently from a nightmare that he’d struck the wall with his hand, and ship’s surgeon had been called on to ensure he hadn’t broken it.
Could he risk sleeping next to Daphne when his night terrors might disturb her too? What if he struck out and harmed her?
As he washed and dressed, he wrestled with himself—his desire for her against his need to see her happy, well, safe.
Someone rapped on his door, and he opened it to find one of the footmen, Griggs, on the other side.
“Lord Windham requests you join him in his chamber, Captain.”
“Now?”
“Yes, Captain.”
Cassian made his way down the hall to the earl’s suite and strode inside to find Julian in a wingback, his leg elevated on a chair.
“Close the door,” he told him.
Cassian did, noting the unusually serious set of his brother’s features.
“What’s wrong?” Cassian crossed the room to sit on the wingback across from Julian’s.
Despite the weighty look in his brother’s eyes, Julian’s mouth edged up in a grin. “Tell me about your evening.”
Cassian narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I wake every couple of hours from the pain. I heard you striding down the hall long after everyone else was abed.” Julian’s smile widened. “Or at least after Ithoughteveryone else was abed. Though I heard another set of footsteps with yours.”
Cassian stared at the fireplace, watching the flames flickering there and considering what to admit. Above all else, he wanted to protect Daphne, but he also wanted to be done with lies.
“I know you never planned to marry…” Julian’s voice was tentative, quiet. “But you’d not yet met Miss Bridewell either.”
