Page 45 of Intolerable
A squeak from the stairs above them prompted them both to glance up. Then she pulled Ruark into the cupboard and closed the door, plunging them into darkness. The space was small—more narrow than the cupboard at the Phoenix Club, with a pitched ceiling, which he’d seen before the light was gone, since they were under the stairs.
“Well, this is familiar.” It was also the stuff of which dreams were made. He could feel her heat and smell her intoxicating scent.
“There’s another door behind you,” she whispered. “It leads to the servants’ closet, which is attached to the backstairs.”
“You know your brother’s houseverywell.”
“Con moved here when I was twelve. I tried to get him and Lucien to play hide and seek with me, but they always said no. Haddock and a few of the other servants played with me, though. I know all the nooks and crannies. It’s likely that Con or Sabrina will have to tell Evie to look here. She won’t know it exists.”
Hell, that made it the perfect place for them to be. Until they were found. “I should move into the servants’ closet.” That could still look suspicious—them hiding in such close proximity.
“Yes, I suppose you should.”
Neither of them moved.
The air shifted, and he realized shehadmoved. Just a hair closer to him than she’d been before.
“Before you go, can I ask you something?” she asked so softly he had to strain to hear.
“Anything.” The word leapt from his mouth without thought, but he meant it.
“Lucien said you have a rule about not marrying until you’re thirty. Is that true or just something you say to your friends?”
He nearly laughed but stopped himself. Still, he smiled. “That is something I might say to my family to get them to stop nagging me about marriage.”
“Do they?”
“My mother does, but I am fortunate that she has four daughters with which to concern herself.” He had to work to keep his hands at his sides rather than reach for her. “But to answer your question, yes, that is my rule.”
“Why?”
He should have expected the further inquiry and just responded as he normally did. Instead, he hesitated. He’d never told anyone the real truth. “You’ll think it’s silly.”
“I won’t. You didn’t laugh at my reaction to…well, you know.”
No, he hadn’t. He knew she wouldn’t make light of him either. “The rule is so I’ll be sure that I’m marrying the right person,” he said, wondering if she was the right person and he’d just met her too early. But he’d considered that before, and so far, he’d staunchly clung to his vow.
“It’s more than that,” he admitted, wanting to share this with her the way she’d revealed her fear to him.
A shriek from the direction of the dining room pitched Cassandra into his arms. She clung to him as silence followed. He pressed his hands to her back, both eager to hold her close and reluctant to encourage what they should not want.
He dropped his head so he could smell her hair, closing his eyes as he basked in this moment, knowing it would be fleeting. It had to be.
She pulled back. “Sorry. That startled me.”
“It did me, as well.”
Letting go of him, she exhaled. “You were saying?”
He should go into the closet now, get away from her as soon as possible. But he wanted to tell her this. “My father died when I was six. He fell from his horse and broke his leg. It didn’t set correctly and there was an infection. He knew he wasn’t going to survive and wanted me to promise him that I would wait to wed until I was mature enough to know that I was marrying for love instead of lust. That was the mistake he’d made. He married my mother when he was young—just twenty-one—and didn’t want me to do the same.”
“He regretted marrying your mother?”
“I don’t recall him saying that exactly, but that’s the impression I have now, particularly since the only thing I remember about them together is that they usually argued. He told me I would need time and wisdom to know my heart. I promised him I would wait until I was thirty at least. He died a few days later.”
She was quiet a moment then put her hand on his chest. “This promise is very important to you.”
His breath halted. “It’s all I have of my father.”
