“No,” Cate admitted. “I’ll have to use my fists.”
“Just as well, because I have no intention of letting you—”
John leaned in and kissed Cate’s forehead before lowering his mouth and claiming her lips. It was an all-consuming and devastating kiss. Cate realized that he was saying goodbye. He was going to die trying to stop the smugglers.
“I have to go. It is my responsibility.”
“No,” Cate cried. She stopped John in his tracks before he was two feet away from her. “You cannot leave me.” He could not abandon her, not without knowing the truth. “I love you too.”
Chapter Five
Her declaration hungbetween them. Against all of his training, John stopped and moved closer to his wife. Despite the rushing of the sea nearby and the fading footsteps of the smugglers, he could hear her breath and see her clear eyes watching him.
She had not admitted any affection earlier. Then again, he hadn’t given her time to do so.
“This is not a trick?” he asked. He wondered if perhaps she had simply said as much to stop him from leaving.
Cate shook her head as she wrapped her arms around his middle and slid underneath the folds of his coat, seeking both warmth and contact. “Why would I lie to you?” Her mouth sought the underside of his neck. She kissed his skin and made it hard for him to focus on anything but the feel of her lips. He could hardly muster a reply.
“Please,” she whispered shakily. John understood she did not want him to leave. He wanted nothing more than to continue what they had started when they’d slipped away from the ball. Her physical response had been magnificent and captivating. There was so much more they still had yet to discover.
Leaning down so their faces were level, John whispered, “How will you be able to stand having a coward for a husband?”
“Better I should have one alive than dead.” Cate stared back at him, her stubbornness clear. “I will happily explain how outnumbered you were…”
“I must hide behind my wife’s coattails,” John groaned, knowing all too well how his fellow officers would react. He detested the idea of their judgment.
Cate’s arms dropped as she shook her head in annoyance. “You are being a greater fool than I ever imagined possible.” She was blunt. In his heart of hearts, John knew she was right. Besides, if he were to follow the smugglers, he would be leaving Cate to fend for herself on her journey home. “You would see me returned to my father’s care, for even as a widow, might I be reliant on his tender mercies? After everything I risked to escape him, and—” She trembled. At that moment, John knew his best course of action. He might’ve believed that his first duty was to the navy, but now it was to his wife.
“Come,” he said, “We’re going back to the hotel.”
“Together?”
“Aye.” He took hold of her fingers. When Cate tightened her grip, John knew he had made the right decision.
*
The Dower RoyalHotel was quiet and seemingly empty when the pair slipped inside. Everyone had gone to the assembly rooms. Or so John thought, as he grimly approached one of the bays, eagle-eyed for an approaching shipment. His thoughts cut through the water, anticipating any messages between the enemies he failed to apprehend.
Cate stood by his side, entirely focused on reaching their chamber. Her head was bent forward. She had silently accepted his coat as it draped over her shoulders during their journey back to the hotel. He knew he should be focused on what would have been his mission. Instead, his traitorous mind kept flickingback to more amorous activities, especially when they crossed into their bedchamber.
“Make a note,” Cate said, as she placed his coat neatly into the case and drew off her gloves. “Copy down every last thing you heard and remember from tonight.”
Unable to help himself, John chuckled sadly. “I am not sure my commanding officers would wish to hear all of it. They will be rightly furious with me.”
Cate’s cheeks pinkened. With a playful thwack, she hit his arm and drew out a sheet of paper from the nearby desk, laying it flat. “I will go and find us some provisions while you work. When I return, I will recount everything I overheard in the assembly rooms. That way, we will have an account.”
Following her logic, John set about recording what he remembered, trying to omit any more romantic elements or illusions of what the two of them had been doing together.
“I fear half the town is involved.” John paused as he peered down into the street below. Thick, all-encompassing darkness hid most of the surrounding buildings, but an edge of unease crept through the place. It was as if a whisper had been uttered for secrecy and treason, and everyone was listening to it. “I have recorded all that we heard and what you have recounted.” This investigation wasn’t off to a bad start.
“I do not know if I believe quite half,” Cate continued, “from what I overheard, though it is far more common than many would like, or they think it harmless. Just some of them wishing for brandy and the women for a new silk dress…”
“It will cover their sins of treason with such statements.”
“I did not say I believed them,” Cate replied soothingly. She came to stand by his side and glanced over his shoulder at all he had written. As she leaned over the page, he breathed in her sweet scent of rosewater, noticing that she had slipped her evening dress off and stood now only in her chemise. He shouldhave been used to the sight. After all, they slept side by side. Having now won her heart, John did not think straight.
“What are you doing?” She gasped as his hands snaked around her waist, pulling her onto his lap.
