Devil's Embrace (Devil 1)

Cassie felt a swaying motion beneath her when she awoke, and tried to pull her body upright.

“Hold still, cara.” The earl’s strong arms tightened about her. In the next moment, she was feeling inordinately foolish.

“Oh, it is the carriage.”

“Yes. We shall soon be back to the villa.” His soothing tone gave way to an amused one. “I had no idea that you were the kind of woman who succumbs to the vapors.”

“I am hungry, and it is unkind of you to tease me.”

The earl hugged her against his chest, and allowed himself to become serious. “What did the man say precisely, Cassandra?”

She shuddered. “‘May he rot in hell.’ Almost the same words he said that night. I could not tell which of the men it was, and the words were so quietly spoken—with such pleasure.”

“Then it was the fifth man you heard.”

She nodded her head against his shoulder.

“Francesco and his men are scouring the area, Cassandra. I will question whomever they bring to me.”

“I think even if you find him, he is too smart to give himself away.”

“We will see.”

They were silent for some moments. “You know,” she said finally, “I do not think that Joseph would have particularly cared for that priest. He was terribly filled with his own importance, and so fat.”

The earl’s chest shook briefly with laughter.

“Yes,” he said soberly, “you are quite right.”

Chapter 20

Cassie peeled an orange and chewed thoughtfully on the succulent fruit. “It is odd, my lord,” she said, “to be eating fresh fruit in autumn.”

“I know,” the earl said with a quick smile. “There are few fresh oranges in England in the fall. My name is Anthony, you know,” he added.

“Yes, I know. It is just that you are more often a lord or lordship to me.”

“Am I so remote then? It is not my intention to be.”

She smiled and shook her head at him. “No, you are not in the least remote.”

Indeed, she thought, in the past three weeks he had been unflaggingly kind and solicitous to her. He still teased her companionably, and berated her if he thought she was over-taxing herself, but he asked nothing of her save her company. He made it easy for her to be content simply to be with him, to allow him to care for her and keep the outside world at bay. He seemed to sense her desire not to confront anything for the present, what had happened to her or the future, but merely to exist and to mend in the comfort he provided for her.

The earl sat back in his chair, chewing on a roasted chestnut, and looked at her. They had spent the afternoon aboard her sailboat, and the trout they had enjoyed for dinner were Cassie’s catch. It had brought a mischievous smile to her lips that he had caught but one small trout, a fish unworthy of the great earl’s dinner, and she had teased him. Although she was still too thin, the outing had added color to her cheeks. And her eyes were sparkling at him more frequently, the haunted look they had worn slowly fading. Her nightmare had come to her but once in the last week, and although she had trembled violently in his arms, her fear had not held her long in its sway. He watched her savor a final slice of orange and sit back in her chair with a contented sigh.

“If you will wipe your hands, Cassandra,” he said, “I will let you try your skill against mine in another pastime besides fishing.”

She looked up, quirking an arched brow at him. She cleaned the sticky orange from her fingers as she spoke. “Another joust, my lord? Surely you have no desire to be brought low twice in one day.”

“The lady grows cocky. We shall soon see if your luck is still with you.”

“Luck, ha! Come, my lord, what have you in mind?”

He tossed his napkin on the table. “If you would join me upstairs, madam, you shall see.” He helped her rise, careful of her still bruised ribs, and escorted her to their bedchamber.

A small fire he had had prepared burned in the grate, casting wispy shadows on the white stucco walls. The earl helped Cassie into a chair before the fire and handed her a soft wool shawl, already warmed by the flames.

“You make me feel like an old invalid, decrepit and useless.”