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“Who undressed me?” Cad asked, lifting the bedclothes and studying his own—presumably naked—body with interest.
I shrugged. “I expect you did it yourself during the night. I wouldn’t know, having spent the rest of the night on the sofa in the dressing room.”
“Ah, no wonder you are as cross as a stranded crab this morning.” He nodded sagely, shuffling the pillows behind him so that he could sit up. “I must have been very drunk,” he observed.
“You were,” I assured him.
He continued as if I had not spoken. “To have passed up an opportunity to reenact our Parisian idyll.”
“Perhaps you remembered that I am going to marry your brother?” I said coldly.
He appeared to give the matter some thought. “No, I didn’t remember that, and I don’t think it would have stopped me if I had,” he said.
”It might have stopped me, however!” I exclaimed.
Without warning, his hand snaked out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me down so that I lay diagonally across his chest. I stayed still, breathing in stale brandy fumes and cigar smoke and the achingly, adorably familiar scent of his body. I could see amber fire dancing in the depths of his eyes, and the slight chip in the front of one of his otherwise perfect teeth. One strong hand gripped my chin, bringing my face closer to his, while the long fingers of the other slid just inside the lace at the neckline of my dress. His mouth followed the trail of his fingertips and lightly brushed the delicate flesh where the swell of my breast met the cloth of my gown. The infinite tenderness of his mouth contrasted wonderfully with the maddening rasp of stubble. I shuddered violently.
“Would it, now?” he asked, holding my gaze. Hating myself, I shook my head. There was no hiding from the truth. I had been utterly captivated by Cad from the first minute I saw him. And I knew that nothing in my life would ever match the depth of the emotion I felt for him. False loyalty to his brother could not even scratch the surface. Even the menacing threat of Sandor could not keep me from the truth. Cad Jago had turned me into a sorry, quivering mess of a girl, and the only cure would be to get away from him and away from Tenebris.
Cad laughed. “That’s better, bouche. Honesty is an underrated, and much underused, quality. Particularly, in my experience, by those of your sex,” he said. “Now I suggest that, if you wish to preserve your pretence of maidenly modesty, you avert your eyes.” And without further warning, he slid from beneath the covers. With an outraged squeal, I turned my back.
“Another girl has gone missing,” I informed him. I sensed his movements become still. “Your father has been asked to help set up a search party.”
“What does she look like?” he asked, and it was such an odd question that I swung back to face him. Thankfully, he had already donned his trousers.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“I would offer you a prediction, but I don’t have time,” he said cryptically. Gathering up the rest of his clothing, he dropped an impertinent kiss on my cheek and was gone. I stared at the closed door for a long time. My whole body thrummed with suppressed longing, and my thoughts were in turmoil.
Chapter Eight
The servants, as always, were full of the story and keen to share it. The missing girl was called Nellie Smith and she worked as a lady’s maid in the house of a wealthy landowner whose home was situated half a mile from Port Isaac. She had every Wednesday afternoon off, and her routine during that time never varied. She walked into the town to visit her family. Her mother was a widow and Nellie was the oldest of six children. Mother and daughter would spend the afternoon shopping and baking, and Nellie would set off for her employer’s house again after they had eaten their evening meal together. Both Nellie’s mother and her employer were adamant. You could set your clock by her.
But Nellie had not arrived at her mother’s house on this particular Wednesday afternoon. After waiting an hour, Mrs Smith had gathered up the younger members of her brood and marched up to the smart mansion where Nellie worked.
“She’ll have met her friends on the way and gone off with them,” the housekeeper said soothingly, when it emerged that Nellie had set out as usual. She had even told one of the footmen she was “off to her ma’s.”
