Page 16

The traitor.

But how could she consider that now? Not while he was so ravenously kissing her.

With a sudden, ragged gasp, Cassian broke the kiss and dropped his forehead to hers. His breathing was as labored as she suspected hers was, and when he straightened to study her, her lips parted instinctively, tipping her head back, offering him more.

Cassian’s eyes were bright and intense, filled with a hunger that matched her own.

He didn't let her go, instead keeping her close, his hands stroking her back as if to calm her.

“Ye taste like sunshine and possibility,” he murmured, his voice rough with desire.

“And ye ken how long it's been since I had either?”

Gabby's heart fluttered at the raw honesty in his voice. She could feel the truth of his words, the longing and the hope, and it resonated within her.

Deep within.

“I want…” she breathed.

“What, lass?” His voice was a rasp. “What do ye want.”

“ More .” Gabby pressed up on her toes, reaching for his lips. “Please.”

For a moment, the muscles of his jaw and around his eyes tightened. “More of what?”

“ You ,” she breathed.

His breath burst from him in a harsh bark of laughter, then his lips brushed against her temple, a tender, almost reverent touch. “Ye're a dangerous woman, Gabby. Dangerous to my resolve. To my future.”

Oh God .

He was right.

She’d come here to take away his future, had she not ?

Suddenly the desire in Gabby’s core seemed false. Cruel. Swallowing, she settled back on her heels and studied his jaw, unable to look him in the eyes. “How am I dangerous?”

His hand moved from her nape to her jaw, his fingertips tracing her skin. “Ye make me want things…”

You were sent here to learn the truth. Here he is, opening up to you. You like him—you are attracted to a traitor and a murderer, which is a whole other thing that you will examine at a later date—but he treats you as if you are an equal, and you like him! Use that, for goodness’ sake!

Her resolved strengthened—mostly—Gabby lifted her chin. “I want those things too, Cassian. I thought I had made that quite clear.”

His grin was a little crooked. “Aye, and I’ve never turned down a willing and eager lass. But yer brother?—”

“Is not in charge of me.” Or this mission. “I am a grown woman, with no father to worry about my innocence and no interest in marriage. What is the problem in sharing some pleasure with a man?”

A man I am very attracted to. A man who makes my body feel as if I am flying. A man who might be a traitor.

A good man. A man who loved his son.

Gabby was beginning to suspect these arguments would give her a headache before long.

On the other hand, Cassian’s expression had turned speculative, and he hadn’t ceased touching her. His feather-light caresses had moved from her jaw to her throat, almost absent-mindedly as he studied her .

“Ye really feel that way, lass? Ye’re just looking for some fun—nae future, just fun?”

Fun ? Yes, that kiss had been fun. And Gabby suspected anything else she did with Cassian would be fun as well.

He seemed to be a good man, one she needed to investigate further, and this was a prime opportunity. So she lifted her chin, met his eyes, and instead of the carefully constructed lies that had got her here…told him the truth.

“Yes, Cassian. I…I liked the way your kiss made me feel. I would like to see how you could make me feel . ”

He growled a low curse under his breath and lowered his mouth to hers once more. Eagerly, Gabby pushed herself to meet him.

But the moment he would have claimed her, Cassian froze. He straightened, his gaze twisting to fall upon the large double doors across the barn.

With her pulse pounding in her ears, Gabby couldn’t hear anything beyond their breathing, but he had.

Between one moment and the next, he was flying across the aisle to the llama enclosure, where she’d stood with Gus, with her unprotesting body in his arms. Before .

Before that kiss. Before her world had changed.

Gabby didn’t understand what was happening.

He swiftly draped her there over the top railing, then stepped away and turned to Jerald the llama, reaching out to scratch the fussy animal behind his ear.

Right where Gabby had taught Gus all animals enjoyed being touched .

Lord knows she had liked it when Cassian touched her behind her ear, even if he hadn’t been scratching her…

“Ye are a handsome lad,” crooned Cassian to the llama. “Steve’s a fool for no’ noticing ye.”

Gabby gaped.

There was no other word for it.

A heartbeat ago—three, tops!—she’d been in his arms, blissfully preparing for another kiss that was going to shatter her defenses, arouse her further, and teach her things she hadn’t imagined possible. Or at the very least, hadn’t been in The Harlot’s Guide .

And now she was draped over a railing watching him—a respectable distance away—compliment a llama.

He must have heard your full conversation with Gus .

Yes, well, that much was obvious, was it not?

He’d been listening, and heard her full conversation with Gus, and…

And he’d paid attention .

He was scratching Jerry where the animal liked, and was being kind, even if the llama didn’t understand. Gabby thought of Lefty, the three-legged dog his wife had not recognized as having value, even if Cassian did.

He was a good man.

She swallowed, and finally sucked in a breath—the first full one since that kiss. Since she asked him to debauch her.

And now? Seeing this, understanding him? She couldn’t regret it .

“You know, if you asked Suzanne for tips, Steve might find ye both quite interesting,” Cassian was saying. “I used to work with a fellow, a good man, who preferred—och, hello, Gus.”

This last was said perfectly innocently, as if he hadn’t known the lad was behind him. Since Gabby hadn’t know the lad was behind him— them —she nearly fell over as she twisted to see not only Gus, but Hunter and a jovial Sir Richard approaching.

“There you are, there you are!” boomed the older man, hurrying toward them. “We’ve been looking for you both.”

Cassian’s smile appeared perfectly natural. “Miss Butcombe has been introducing me to the animals, and Jerry is clearly taken with me.”

“That’s because he knows a soft heart,” Sir Richard assured with a wink. “I have heard you’ve been quite indispensable with the lesser animals this week, Miss Butcombe. You know about our current llama dilemma?”

Gabby, who was still struggling to catch up with the conversation and catch her breath after being so thoroughly kissed, glanced between Cassian and her brother, trying to figure out how to respond.

Cassian wasn’t helping; his smile was casual and his body language relaxed, as if they hadn’t been kissing—rubbing their bodies against one another—just moments before.

Well, the man is a very good spy .

A good liar. A good traitor.

Oh, fiddlesticks ? —

Since Hunter’s sick expression wasn’t helping, she tried her best to figure out what Sir Richard was looking for.

“Um…I think Jerald and Steve and Suzanne have nothing to be concerned about, Sir Richard. They will work things out between them, and I imagine you will have a baby llama in the spring.”

“And since you are of the female persuasion, my dear, I would be delighted to allow you to see to her confinement. And remember, I insist you call me Dickie.”

Suddenly alert, Gabby nodded eagerly. Responsibility? With animals? “I would like that very much, Sir Dickie. I really am quite experienced when it comes to mammalian births—alongside my brother, of course?—”

Sir Dickie cut her off with a laugh, waggling his finger at her. “I’m still not going to let you muck about with Elizabeth, my girl. Just because you’ve got a pair of ovaries doesn’t mean you know enough about elephants for me to entrust her to you!”

Oh Lord.

Gabby didn’t know if she should roll her eyes or huff angrily.

She exchanged glances with her twin, whose grin turned even more sickly. “Today’s the day for the exam, Gabs,” he announced, as if that would mean something to her. When she continued to stare, he mugged. “You know. The exam ? Of the elephant’s…um…lady bits?”

“A vaginal exam?” she burst out. “You have not done one—that is,” she hurried to say, trying to erase her incredulity, “usually you perform one right away on a pregnant mammal, do you not? ”

“Um…” Hunter tried to smile at Sir Dickie. “Usually, yes, but Elizabeth just seemed so offended. Ahem. Perhaps she’d prefer a female doctor?”

Gabby saw Cassian’s brows go up, saw him mouth the word offended ? And she had to press her own lips together to hide her amusement.

Gus, meanwhile, was bouncing eagerly. “That’s why you have to come today, Gabby! Please? Doctor Hunter says he’ll only do the exam if you’re there with us.”

Discretely, Gabby sighed in relief.

She’d been here at Inverlochy Castle for a week. A full week, getting to know the myriad of animals in Sir Dickie’s menagerie…but not the elephant she’d been brought here in the first place to examine.

Each evening, she met in the suite of rooms Hunter had been given, and they went over his notes. Or, since he took notes as well as an inebriated penguin, she asked him questions and he did his best to answer.

Has she been nesting or showing any maternal behaviors—restlessness, moving hay, that sort of thing?

Is she producing any fluid or showing changes in her mammary glands?

How regular are her droppings? Any straining, dryness, or odd odor?

According to Hunter, the answers were Maybe; I’m no’ investigating her titties, Gabby; and How the hell would I ken what her shite normally is supposed to look like ?

And so, despite having been here a week, and despite poor Elizabeth apparently becoming more and more lethargic, Gabby still didn’t have any idea what the problem was. How could she diagnose the poor thing if she couldn’t examine her?

So was it any wonder that her heart had sped right up at the possibility?

Forget investigating Cassian; forget traitors and the Crown and explosives and all the things men decide to entertain themselves with. This was why she was here. This was what she’d been meant to do.

“Hunter?” she squeaked hopefully.

Her brother, unfortunately, winced. “Ye’ll be…present, Gabs.”

That didn’t bode well.

“For…a vaginal exam?” she prompted.

Her brother was clearly trying not to wince again.

“Ye ken, for humans, those are the sorts of things that happen under the covers. I mean, under a blanket. A modesty blanket.” Oh dear Lord, was Hunter blushing ?

He was ! “We don’t have a modesty blanket big enough for an elephant—“ Because her vaginal canal is the size of your torso —“but having another female present would surely calm her mind. Poor thing.”

That made zero sense, and the way Gabby was staring surely told her brother that.

It was Sir Dickie who explained. “Doctor Butcombe is concerned about Elizabeth’s delicate sensibilities. As a female, you’ll be present to assure that nothing untoward happens.”

What was it that Bull always said ?

Oh, for fook’s sake .

The way her twin sighed and shrugged told Gabby that he’d done the best he could, and this was the only way he could get her to see the elephant.

“However, I am going to have to insist you stay in the back, my dear,” Sir Dickie announced sternly. “I’ve given Augustus permission to join us, and his father is welcome as well, of course— if you think Elizabeth won’t mind?” he asked Hunter politely.

Before her brother could speak, Gus blurted, “Oh, I’ll be as quiet as a mouse. Only, not a big mouse, I know elephants don’t like mice! My father and Gabby and I will stay in the back of the room and not make a peep!”

And really, when Sir Dickie nodded, there really wasn’t anything left to say, was there?

Except that with her standing in the back of the elephant stall, Gabby wouldn’t be able to pass her brother notes, even if she had thought to bring a paper and a pen.

Oh well. She stifled a sigh.

Hunter has had his hand up enough vaginas in the last decade. He will just have to pretend he knows what he is doing .

As Sir Dickie turned to ask Gus and Cassian a question, she mouthed, Good luck , to her brother, and his wince told her all she needed to know.

He was going to need it.