“He has a very strange way of showing his affection.”

  She struggled with an errant curl, trying to pin it back into the chignon.

  “He is afraid he’s lost you. You’ve remained unattached, and he may have made assumptions that you still care.” Sebastian hoped that Ella saw what a weak and dishonorable cad Malden had been. What man preyed upon a young woman’s innocence and then abandoned her? Her father didn’t stand in protection of Ella. She had no male to defend her against the older and worldly viscount.

  “Algy hasn’t contacted me in three years. And now, because I appear with you, he’s had a change of heart. Not because he cares about me or my feelings but out of some primitive sense of male ownership.”

  “He said he’s stayed away as if he had no choice. Is it possible that the earl wouldn’t allow a match?” Sebastian could almost feel bad for Malden if he had truly loved Ella and had been prohibited from marrying her. To be loved by a woman like Ella but denied her would be a crushing blow for any man.

  “I can believe it after hearing the earl today. I never realized how unworthy the earl considered me. If he had congratulated me one more time on ‘catching’ you, I would have run down the steps screaming. How do you catch a man? Do you use the same size net as trout or salmon fishing? I’m not sure who should be more insulted—the fish or me?”

  Sebastian laughed out loud. “I think I should be insulted. I’ve never been compared to a salmon before.”

  “Why wouldn’t Algy tell me that the earl disapproved of the match?”

  “Male pride.” Sebastian bit back the words that Malden was a cowardly bastard and possibly a traitor. “It would have damaged his ego to admit to a woman that he was under his father’s thumb.” Malden should have stood up to the earl to do the honorable thing if he really cared about Ella. The earl wouldn’t have disinherited his only heir.

  “You’re an unusual gentleman. I wouldn’t expected you to be so reasonable.”

  “Reasonable? High praise.” Sebastian laughed. He never laughed. His work didn’t induce bouts of mirth.

  “Be careful, Miss Evans, of making assumptions about men. We’ve been known to be occasionally reasonable.”

  The slow curling of her lips in amusement heated his blood and called to every primitive male instinct. Her eyes sparkled like the crystalline North Sea on this sunny day.

  All he could think about was kissing her. But if he did, he’d be as despicable as Malden. She didn’t need another man lusting after her without concern for her feelings or sensibilities.

  “It’s obvious that you cared about Malden. But I cannot promise to be reasonable if he utters another word against you.” He’d kill Malden if his assignment didn’t constrain him. Ash had stepped in as protector of Ella in London when he recognized that she had no male family to protect her. And Sebastian would do the same during their time together.

  “Thank you for your concern. But you needn’t worry. I can handle Algy.”

  Sebastian had the good sense learned from his sisters to remain silent. He didn’t plan to allow Malden near her.

  The sound of the waves and the smell of the salt water soothed Sebastian, or possibly it was the presence of the spirited woman walking next to him. Unbothered by her appearance, voicing no objections to the uneven path or the high wind, she embraced the walk, taking deep breaths, savoring the crisp fresh air.

  “This is exactly what I needed after the long carriage ride. Don’t you find that nature eases all your worries? ‘As when, ere while, the tuneful morn of spring, joyous awoke amid your blooming vales…’”

  Sebastian joined her in the verse, their voices blending into harmonious resonance. “‘And filled with fragrance every breathing plain.’”

  Ella halted to search his face, her eyes wide in appreciation. “You’re familiar with William Lisle Bowles’s work?”

  He couldn’t draw air into his lungs with the sudden intimacy of this flawless moment. He was captivated by this dazzling woman who recited poetry, relished nature, and took delight in the wind and fresh, salty air. This sea/sun goddess had captured him. Sebastian wanted to explore every sun kiss blossoming on her cheeks.

  Ella walked to the edge of the cliff above the sea, seemingly unaffected. Whereas he felt unsteady, as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning in a summer storm. He was unable to form a reasonable thought or control all the urges soaring through his body as he watched her rounded bottom sway with each purposeful step.

  “Can you tell me what you’re looking for down here? I might be able to help you.”

  Ella pointed to a narrow path that led down to the beach. Local children raced down the wet sand, jumping in and out of the waves, enjoying the spring day.

  To the south, the waterline curved against the overhanging cliffs, carving out an extensive system of caves over the years. The enormity of the caves would make it easy to obscure the nefarious activities of the spy ring.

  “The difficulty will be discerning the difference between the smugglers bringing French brandy and lace to the London gentry and the smugglers who are abetting the French spies.”

  “How will you discern the difference?” Ella covered her eyes from the sun to scan the caves.

  “I’m hoping to find a place for my surveillance where I can position myself to avoid detection. I’ll come back tonight under the cover of darkness and watch the activity.”

  “It will be dangerous.” She turned to look at him. “What if the French find you?”

  “I’ll say that I was out for a midnight stroll.” Sebastian shrugged. He shouldn’t have told her about coming back tonight. She wasn’t involved in this aspect of the mission.

  “You’ve done this dangerous surveillance before, haven’t you?” Ella fixed her eyes on him with a probing stare.

  “A few times.” More times than he’d like to recount. But she didn’t need to know of the risks he took. “I’m very good at this business. You don’t need to worry.”

  “But I will worry. I should come with you. We can pretend we’re meeting for a tryst.”

  “What?” Sebastian didn’t mean to shout.

  “Well, the French won’t think that there is anything suspicious about a couple in love meeting at night on the beach.”

  “Who makes assignations on the beach?”

  “I’d assumed by your vast experience that you’ve been more than creative in your meeting places.”

  Sebastian ground his teeth. This was exactly like talking to his sisters. Somehow the conversation always veered onto a totally different topic, and he would find himself in the wrong. “My experience has nothing to do with our mission.”

  “I was trying to point out that it wouldn’t be out of character for you to sneak out to meet a woman. You’ve been doing it for years. And it would give you a plausible explanation.”

  “And how do you know what I’ve been doing for years?” Why did he feel a need to defend himself when he had carefully orchestrated his rakish reputation.

  “You hear things in society.” She widened her bright eyes and raised her eyebrows.

  “If we were to believe everything we hear, you’ve had five marriage proposals.”

  “How do you know of my marriage proposals?” Her body stiffened.

  She had received multiple offers that she had refused. She was a beautiful woman with a handsome dowry. Of course, men wanted to marry her, but she hadn’t found anyone suitable, probably because she believed herself in love with Malden.

  “You hear things in society.” He raised his eyebrows, mocking her gesture.

  Her hands fisted the material of her pelisse while she kept her gaze straight out toward the sea.

  Now he felt like a cad. He shouldn’t bring up a painful subject to prove his point that society rumors were often false.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not sure how we got off the topic. None of this is relevant.” Except, he knew it was. He was angry at her for waiting for Malden and for putting him in the same category as that spineless coward. They both deserved so much better.

  “You can’t be seen slipping out for midnight trysts. I refuse to risk your reputation or possibly put you in harm’s way.”

  “But you’re risking your life. And I committed to help you.”

  “Of all the harebrained ideas.” Sebastian glared at her. “You’ve done your work splendidly helping me achieve my status as an accepted guest. That is all you are to do. Nothing else.”

  “I think my idea is solid. And I could slip out without anyone noticing.”

  Sebastian gave his best severe look, mastered over years with his younger sisters.

  Ella shrugged her shoulders, mocking Sebastian, and started her descent to the beach. And, as with his younger sisters, his warning was futile.

  Chapter Six

  Ella lifted her dress above her boots and hurried down the path, not waiting for Sebastian to assist. She looked over her shoulder. “We must hurry if we hope to explore the caves before the tide changes.”

  Sebastian followed down the steep incline. He watched her confidently navigate the path. The feisty woman was offended by his refusal to accompany him in his nighttime reconnaissance. Sometimes a woman could be too independent, leaving a gentleman unsettled, unsure of his role.

  Her blond curls, now released from her hairpins, unfurled into the wind, reminding him of a mermaid on the mast of a sailing ship. Need swirled through him in bursts of white heat. He wanted to capture this woman and breathe in her vitality. To merge with her in a way he couldn’t understand, as if she held all the secrets of the universe. As if she could cleanse all the violence and blood on his hands from fighting this war.

  Ella waited for him on the beach when she should have allowed him to descend first and offer her assistance.

  “You’re as surefooted as a mountain goat.”

  Ella burst into a fit of laughter. “Exactly what every lady wishes to hear, my lord.”

  Sebastian was known for his smooth and polished ways with women, but his frustration and lust had overtaken his brain.

  “I meant it as a compliment…” He didn’t like how tongue-tied he had become. This one woman had the ability to spin his world upside down.

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “I’m not used to ladies not requiring a gentleman’s assistance. And I’ve not met ladies who are comfortable out of doors without regard for their appearance.”

  “I’m sorry, my lord, that I disappoint you in your expectations of a lady. I’m country born and raised. I spent my childhood out of doors with my father, exploring every hill and field on our extensive estate.”

  “Your childhood sounds idyllic, having your father devote his time to you.” Sebastian resisted the urge to finger the hair that whipped across her cheek.

  “My father didn’t know what else to do with his only child after my mother died.”

  How lonely and isolated childhood would be with no siblings and no mother. His siblings did drive him a bit crazy at times, but he couldn’t imagine not having a family.

  “It must have been very difficult to grow up without the guidance of your mother—without a nurturing and loving figure.”

  Ella nodded as she tried futilely to pin her hair back into its tight knot, but the wind was picking up with the tide change. In the heavy wind, the curls couldn’t be contained. Like her wild hair, this woman was a force of nature.

  “And my unconfined hair confirms that I’ve not the sensibility of how a lady behaves.”

  “Please believe me. I meant no criticism. You’re a special woman and nothing like I expected when Lord Rathbourne approached me. Please don’t restrain your hair; it is beautiful. You can restore it to a ladylike style once we’re out of the wind. I can hold your pins in my pocket.”

  Ella pulled the remaining pins out of her chignon. The intimacy of this moment heightened Sebastian’s desire. It became difficult to breathe and even more difficult to not hold this woman and run his hands through her silky, sensuous tresses.

  Ella’s eyes widened in response to the hunger she must have seen in his and the way his breathing turned choppy.

  He needed all of his self-control to not reach for her. “We better hurry if we’re to find the entrance to the caves.”

  “There are many entrances,” Ella added.

  While Ella walked beside him, gusts of wind pressed her dress against her soft round thighs. Sebastian had never had a more erotic and scintillating “innocent” experience—ingenuous Ella, her hair blowing in the wind and her dress tight against her desirable body.

  Neither spoke of the tension between them, but they increased their speed as if they were trying to outrun the burgeoning passion between them.

  After ten minutes at a rapid pace across the beach, they neared the caves. He searched the cliffs above. This might be a good spot for tonight’s reconnaissance. But smugglers often had their own lookouts positioned on the cliffs.

  As they neared the first cave, two men stood farther down the beach. Their sudden appearance meant they must have come from a different cave entrance not visible from this angle.

  Ella stiffened at the emergence of the rough men in typical fishermen dress of dark shirts and trousers with knitted hats pulled down over their brows.

  Sebastian swept her into his arms and changed their route to avoid coming face to face with the men. He walked toward the water. “I’ve a mind to drop you in the water, you sassy girl.” He spoke loudly, hoping his voice carried over the crashing waves and wind.

  Ella held herself tight and away from him. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m trying to prevent them from seeing our faces. Wrap your arms around my neck and tuck your head into my shoulder. Act as if you’re infatuated.”

  Now he felt all of Ella’s curves soften against him. “But you can’t keep walking into the water.”

  Her warm breath whispered against his neck, inciting his body into arousal.

  From the corner of his eye, he could see that with the fast pace of smugglers, they would soon be upon them. Sebastian kept his back to the men. Ella was correct; he couldn’t keep walking into the surf with the tide changing and the undertow.

  Ella laughed loudly. “You’re such a tease. I know you’ll never drop me.” She rubbed her chest against him.

  What Sebastian endured for his king!

  “You’re doing great. When they get closer, I’m warning you, I’m going to take liberties.”

  “Are you able to observe the men?” She ran her hand through his hair.

  “I can’t see them, but when they pass, I’ll be able to get a better view.”

  Her fingertips, light and sensual, made it hard for Sebastian to concentrate. Her inviting warm weight in his arms had his body hard and taut with need despite the smugglers.

  “I can only see them partially. I wouldn’t have expected them to walk blatantly out of their cave during the daytime.” Sebastian cursed silently. He hadn’t anticipated a possible confrontation and had placed Ella at risk by this afternoon’s investigation.

  “The local men probably wouldn’t feel threatened. It seems if they were the French spies, they would be more circumspect.” Her soft lips were pressed against the side of his neck.

  Sebastian struggled to remain focused when all he wanted was to kiss this woman. Forget the smugglers and his mission. “You’re right. But smugglers aren’t a group of men that I want you to come in contact with.”

  Watching the men’s advance down the beach from his peripheral vision, he pressed his lips to the top of her head. “They are close.”

  Her eyes were dewy when she finally lifted her head. Taken by surprise, Sebastian hesitated for a second until she slid her tongue along the crease of his lips. It was his undoing. Her calm and pragmatic response to the sudden appearance of the men had helped him remain in control until now. But her bright eyes, softened with need, pushed him right to the edge of sanity. He’d wanted to kiss her from the moment he had first seen her blushing in embarrassment in Rathbourne’s study.

  He captured her soft lips in a deep, searing kiss. The keening sound of need coming from the back of her throat spurred him on for more wild kisses. He delved deep, sliding his tongue over hers. Blinding need built between them, erasing time and thought.

  She intertwined her fingers in his hair as she opened to him. The urgency in the way she responded to him propelled his desire. Scorching white heat exploded between them. She moaned and tightened her hands in his hair to the point of pain.

  Surprised and shaken by Ella’s enthusiastic response, he lost all sense of the purpose of this charade. He was drugged by passion, aroused with desperate need. Only years of working for the Crown helped him regain control of the situation.

  “Ella, are they past us?”

  He felt the subtle shift in her body, but she kept her hands in his hair. “Yes, one was most likely a local man by his clothing. But the other, although dressed roughly, had on gentleman’s boots.”

  “You observed that, too?”

  He had been spot on. Ella was a remarkable woman.

  Sebastian turned toward the shore to guide them both through the incoming tide. His boots were filled with water. Both were silent, but Ella had to be aware of his erection pressing against her round derriere. And the way his breath came in bursts.

  “Is this how spying is done, my lord? I think I’m very good at it.”

  “No, damn it. You weren’t supposed to be involved. I put your life and your reputation at risk, and we’ve only just arrived.” Frustration and unsated desire rode him hard.

  He slowly lowered her to the sand and released her, immediately missing how well she fit in his arms and in his heart.

  “How can local smugglers seeing my face put my life at risk?”

  Sebastian had chosen the right course by using her as a cover with the earl and the guests to survey the area. But he hadn’t imagined that smugglers would be out in the open. And, although the risk was small to Ella, he wanted her far away from the danger.

 

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