“Take your hands off my daughter.”
She and Ethan turned. Her father was advancing on them, his eyes iced with fury. Ethan stepped in front of her, but she moved to stand next to him, feeling strong with him near and her anger further fueling her courage.
Her father stopped an arm’s length away. He didn’t even spare her a glance, instead fixing his glare on Ethan. “This is your final warning. Get out of my house.”
“No.” The word erupted from Cassandra. She was so angry she was shaking. “I heard what you said in the library, Father. That you ordered Ethan away ten years ago. That you caused the injury to his face.” Her voice vibrated with disgust. “You’re a cold, evil man, and I’m ashamed to be your daughter.”
He whipped up his hand, clearly intending to strike her, but in the blink of an eye Ethan deflected the blow, then lifted him up by the front of his shirt. In two long strides he thumped her father’s back against the wall. Her father gasped, but before he could utter a word, Ethan shoved his forearm against his throat.
“This is your final warning,” Ethan said, his voice low and deadly calm. “First, if I ever see you raise a hand to her again, I’ll break your damn arm. For starters. Second, I’m going to talk to Cassie, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Not with a knife, not with a pistol, not with a battalion of your servants, or anything else you might think of. I’m not the same green youth I was ten years ago, and believe me, if you try to interfere again, I won’t hesitate to carve up your face to match mine.”
Her father’s face resembled a beet, and a combination of fury and fear blazed from his eyes. He tried to jerk out of Ethan’s grasp, but he might as well have been attempting to move a granite boulder.
“Someday you’ll rot in hell,” her father spewed in a strangled voice.
“Maybe. But if you attempt to hurt her in any way or interfere again, I’ll make certain you get there first.” Ethan released her father, so abruptly he crumpled to the floor, clutching his throat and breathing hard. Ethan moved to stand before her. “Are you all right?”
“Y-yes.” This time she grabbed his hand, anxious to get away. They exited the house, and when she hesitated, not sure which way to go, Ethan led her to a beautiful chestnut mare tethered to a gatepost. After he mounted, he reached down and plucked her off her feet as if she weighed no more than a daisy, and settled her across his lap, wrapping his strong arms around her. She leaned back against his chest, and his warmth and strength surrounded her. She didn’t ask where they were going as his heels set the horse in motion at a brisk pace. It didn’t matter. She was with him, and that was enough.
He said nothing, and she had to press her lips together to keep from asking him the plethora of questions racing through her mind. A quarter hour later he slowed the horse when they arrived at the stretch of beach on the estate’s grounds, a place where they’d spent many hours together. He swung down from the saddle, then reached up for her, clasping her waist. With her hands braced on his shoulders, he lowered her, her body dragging slowly along his. When he set her on her feet, he continued to hold her, for which she was grateful, as her legs felt less than steady.
She looked up at him, and a swell of love washed through her. His hair was wildly windblown, his skin browned from the sun…except for the slash of white on his left cheek. She reached out with unsteady fingers and brushed them over the marred, puckered skin.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered.
“It happened a long time ago.”
A fresh spate of anger arrowed through her. “I’ll never forgive him for how he treated you.”
“I’ll never forgive him for how he treated you.”
“The way you stood up to him, the way you defended me…you were magnificent. No one has ever taken up my cause like that. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m only sorry I wasn’t around to do so for the past ten years.”
Dear God, so was she.
“The way you defended me was also quite magnificent,” he said, his voice solemn. “Thank you.” He clasped her hands, entwining their fingers, then regarded her through very serious dark eyes. “Before I arrived…did he hurt you in any way?”
“Not physically.” She quickly told him of her father’s plan to marry her off to the Duke of Atterly.
His expression tightened, and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “What did you say?”
“That I refuse to marry again.”
Something flickered in his eyes. “I…see.” He gently squeezed her hands. “He was wrong when he said you don’t have a choice, Cassie. You do. Come with me. Come back to the Blue Seas Inn.”
The relief and love that swamped her snatched her breath. “I’m so glad you said that, Ethan, because I was planning to return to the Blue Seas Inn today.”
His brows shot up, and he seemed momentarily at a loss for words. “Because of your disagreement with your father?”
“No, although in the end that proved the spark which fired my decision, so perhaps I should thank him.” She drew a bracing breath, then plunged ahead, “I was returning to the Blue Seas to tell you that I love you, Ethan. But not just that I love you-I’ve known that for years-but that I’m in love with you. Painfully so.” The words came faster, spilling out of her like water pouring from a widemouthed pitcher, afraid that if she so much as paused for breath, she’d lose her courage. “In the course of one magical day and night you erased ten years of empty loneliness. And you made me realize not only things that I want, but things that I don’t want. I don’t want to live at Gateshead Manor without you. I don’t want to live anywhere without you. As for what I do want-I want you. Every day. Every night. For as long as you want me.”
She paused for breath, but found she could barely draw air into her lungs as she searched his stunned gaze, waiting for his reply. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Good God, what did that mean? The silence dragged on until she wanted to shake him. Why didn’t he say something?
Finally he opened his eyes, and the heat flaring in them instantly gave her hope. “For as long as you want me,” he murmured, repeating her words. “Cassie, you realize that’s forever.”
Relief nearly buckled her knees. “Dear God, I hope so. But Ethan, I must remind you that I have nothing. No money. And I’m barren. You’d make a wonderful father-”
He cut off her words by laying a single fingertip over her lips. “The one benefit of not being titled is not having to produce heirs.”
“It would only be you and me.”
He yanked her against him and touched his forehead to hers. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”
She framed his face in her hands and leaned back in the circle of his arms until their eyes met. Joy rushed through her, so swift it threatened to sweep her off her feet. “Ethan, will you marry me?”
Again he squeezed his eyes shut, and then his mouth was on hers in a hard, hot, passionate kiss that stole her breath. When he finally lifted his head, she felt utterly and deliciously dazed. “Is that a yes?” she whispered.
He kept one strong arm wrapped around her and lifted his other hand to brush back her disheveled hair. “Before I answer you, don’t you want to know what I came here to tell you?”
“If you still wish to tell me.”
“Oh, I do. I came here to tell you that I love you. I’ve always loved you. Only you. You’ve held my heart in your hand since that first day when you asked me to be your friend. I always believed there could never be anything between me and a countess, but after seeing you again, hearing about your marriage, I realized I couldn’t let you go without at least telling you how much I love you. And letting you decide if the very little I have to offer is enough. I’ll never be able to afford the sort of luxury you’ve always known, but I’ll make sure you’re always warm and well-fed. I don’t have much, Cassie, but all I have I offer to you.”