Page 86 of Ruthless, But for Her

“Thank you.”

He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

“You sent word that you were well,” he said, suspecting she was anything but. He had gotten to know the tone of her voice, and this was a Cassia he had not seen for a long time. Powerless, without hope.

The woman he had met.

“My needs were met. I had food and shelter. That is more than some can say.”

“But?”

She felt too good in his arms.

“But I worry for my father. And in truth, for myself too.”

Ashton considered his words carefully. The plan was nearly finished. He could tell her that too, that her father need not worry much longer, that soon this would all resolve itself. But his plan meant he’d be living in a future without her. So he said only what was safe to say.

“On the morrow, I will speak to the rider myself. He should have returned from Alnwick by then.”

“Do you think my father will return home?” she whispered, her voice delicate and uncertain. Something caught in Ashton's chest, quick and unnamed, but it was gone before he could inspect it further.

“You know him better than I. But if he does not, one of us will travel there ourselves to ensure he receives the message.”

“One of who?”

“Either I or Ryker or Sorren.”

“Ahh, of course.” She hesitated. “I would have you here, with me.”

He said nothing to that. Depending on how quickly matters moved, she would no longer require Ashton's presence because Cassia would be safely tucked away somewhere far from Mere's End.

“Go to sleep. There is nothing to be done for it now. We are safe. And your father is, at worst, in a secured English holding. None will touch him there, and he is wanted for nothing.”

“He uses coin he does not have to find me.”

Ashton knew what it was like to use coin he didn't have as well. Sorren thought it an easy decision for him, to give up half of what they'd spent most of their lifetime saving. It was anything but. Ashton was just more easily able to separate his heart from his head. He knew what needed to be done now to preserve what they could have later. For his size, Sorren was surprisingly the most sentimental of all of them.

“I worry for you, too,” she admitted quietly.

He allowed his hand to move for the first time, stroking her arm gently up and down, her linen shift gathering with each movement.

No one but his brothers, and maybe Margot, worried for him.

His touch was his only response. Ashton feared that if he answered, it would not be with words, but with deeds, that he’d give in to the impulse to turn toward her and learn whether her lips were as soft as he remembered. He yearned to remind himself how good she tasted, as if Cassia was a feast made for him alone.

What harm would one small kiss do?

He didn't know…and didn’t dare find out right now. Instead, he pushed the hair from her neck and kissed the spot just beneath her ear. But he stopped there.

Cassia deserved better. And he would give it to her.

But not tonight.

This eve was for comforting them both.

CHAPTER 49

Cassia