65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Cassandra hurried out of the drawing room and up the stairs, not stopping until she reached the safety of her bedchamber.

She closed the door, and leaning against it, she sunk to the floor.

How could she have been so mistaken? She must have imagined the love she’d seen in his eyes when she kissed him. Because when she told him she loved him, he had just sat there, staring at her, not saying a word.

And then he’d told her he didn’t know what to say. If he loved her, he would have known. Which could only mean one thing—he did not return her feelings.

She should have kept her embarrassing declaration of love to herself. Cassandra wanted to cry, but the tears would not fall. She had used them all up weeping when she thought he was dead.

There was a knock at the door, but she ignored it. She couldn’t face him yet. She needed time to get her emotions under control.

It came again. “Cassandra? Can I come in?”

She picked herself off the floor and sat on the bed. “If you wish.”

The door between their rooms opened and Jethro’s head appeared.

“I do wish—but I’d rather you did too.”

Jethro crept through the door and sat down on the bed next to her.

Cassandra decided she had better get her apology over with fast.

“I’m sorry,” she said, almost choking on her words. “I shouldn’t have sprung it on you like that, kissing you, and telling you I loved you. Especially not after such a traumatic day. It came as a surprise to me too, but I should have kept it to myself. I was unfairly pressuring you to—”

Jethro interrupted her by putting a finger to her lips. “I have something to say.”

The intimacy of his touch sent her pulse racing, but reason told her it was unintentional. Bombarded with doubts, she dreaded what he was going to say.

“What is it, Jethro? Tell me quickly. I’m sorry I embarrassed you with an outpouring of my feelings. It won’t happen again—”

“That would be a shame.”

His words deprived her of breath. “It would?”

Jethro nodded slowly, his gaze flitting to her mouth and then back to her eyes.

Her lower lip trembled in anticipation. “What was it you wished to say?”

“I want to kiss you.”

Heat rushed to Cassandra’s cheeks, flustered by his confession—a confession that only intensified the tumultuous racing of her pulse.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time, but I was afraid you wouldn’t welcome my advances. It wasn’t what we’d agreed, and my mother had taught me many years ago that I should never press unwanted attentions on any woman.”

“I don’t think she meant you not to kiss your wife.”

“No, but I still need to be sure my kisses are welcome.”

“And if they are?” she asked, moving closer to him.

“Then I will tell you how much I love you—”

“But you said nothing! I told you what was in my heart, and you just sat there.”

“Because I was swept away by how blessed I was. Not only had I fallen in love with the woman I married, but miracle of miracles, she had fallen in love with me as well.”

“How long have you known?”

“Since your brother accused me of not having the capacity to love. It caused me to examine my heart, and I found you there. You can’t imagine the agony I endured when I believed you loved Mr Barnes—”

“I thought you were trying to control me—zealously guarding your own. It didn’t occur to me you were jealous because you loved me.”

“And you—when did you realise you were in love with me?”

Cassandra blushed. “I only knew for sure today. I didn’t dare examine my heart too closely before, afraid of finding feelings there that I feared you would never return. But when I could see you hurting last night, I wished to comfort you, and when I thought I’d lost you, I couldn’t ignore my emotions any longer. It hurt so badly, I wanted to die—”

“Shh,” he said, drawing her close and brushing his forefinger over her lips, making them tingle with pleasure. “It’s over now.”

As he cupped the back of her head with his hand, she lifted her face to his and closed her eyes in anticipation. His lips pressed against hers, his kiss firm and sweet—but oh, so brief.

Bewildered he had pulled away so soon, she opened her eyes to find Jethro staring down at her, such tenderness in his expression that she could not doubt the love in his heart.

“That was the kiss I should have given you on our wedding day. To seal my promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my life. This is my love letter to you.”

Jethro brushed a strand of hair away from her brow and pressed kisses on her forehead and over her cheeks before claiming her lips once more.

This time, his kiss was deeper, more urgent, possessive. As if he intended to leave her in no doubt that he wanted her. That he loved her. And that she was his, and his alone.

Cassandra put her arms around his neck and clung to him. Her cup was full. Theirs was no longer a marriage of convenience. A mere business arrangement. Her husband loved her, and she loved him back, with every fibre of her being.

At length they broke apart, both somewhat breathless, but Jethro didn’t lessen his hold on her.

“I think it’s a good thing I answered your advertisement,” he mumbled, making her skin tingle as he planted kisses all the way down her neck. “I knew then you were the answer to my prayers—I just hadn’t voiced the deepest prayer of my heart.”

“And what was that?”

“To possess the heart of the woman who had vowed to love me, and to love her with all my heart in return.”

Jethro cupped her face with his hands. “I love you, my darling wife.”

“I love you too,” Cassandra said, before losing herself once more in his kiss.