As far as he was aware, she was engaged to her cousin, and there had been no whispers about the wedding being called off. He had no right to be in her bedchamber, no right to assist her in resolving a personal situation.
Still though, it felt fitting to extend the offer. It generated a perception that their relationship was headed in a positive direction, that they wouldn’t part forever once he fled Grey’s Corner.
Did he want that? Did he want to continue on with her? If urged to voice an opinion, he’d have said no, he didn’t want a relationship with her—or any woman—but he was being pelted by the overwhelming sensation that he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
She peered up at him and asked, “Was your father a good father? I don’t remember my own, so I used yours as a substitute. I pictured him as being perfect. Was he? If he wasn’t, please lie to me, so you don’t spoil my fantasy.”
Her expression was so sincere that he wouldn’t have dared burst any of her bubbles.
His father—the exalted Captain Miles Ralston—had been a complicated fellow whom Caleb loved and loathed in equal measure. The man had been a decorated navy sailor, renowned for his bravery and wild exploits, the most notorious one being his stumbling on the Lost Girls.
But he’d also had two wives and two families, which had come as quite a surprise to Caleb and Blake when they’d learned about it as orphaned boys. They’d assumed they were his only sons, but they hadn’t been.
Over the years, they’d debated endlessly as to whether their mother had been apprised of Miles’s bigamy. Caleb and Blake certainly hadn’t been.
They’d been five and ten when they’d been confronted by the humiliating quagmire, and by then, their parents had been deceased. A vicar had sent them to their English kin, and their mother’s maid, Sybil Jones, had traveled with them to get them settled.
Once they’d arrived, they’d been greeted by Miles’s stunned other family. It had included the woman, Esther Ralston, he’d married before their own mother—as well as several of his children. The oldest, their half-brother, Jacob, had recently been trying to become friendly with Caleb. Caleb kept putting him off, not able to decide how he felt about Jacob’s overtures.
Sybil had intervened with Esther, had taken charge of the situation and fought on their behalf. She’d shamed Esther into providing assistance—by pestering the navy. She’d threatened to publicly disseminate the lurid story unless Caleb and Blake were supported as was commensurate with their position as Miles’s sons. Naval authorities had prevailed on Esther, the first and real Mrs. Ralston, to help them.
They’d been enrolled in boarding school, then they’d had commissions purchased for them after they’d finished their educations. But it hadn’t been easy, and it definitely hadn’t been any fun. If Sybil hadn’t acted as their champion, he couldn’t guess what would have occurred.
They’d likely have starved on the streets of London.
As with Caro never talking about her ordeal, he and Blake never talked about theirs. Part of the agreement the navy had brokered with Esther Ralston was that Blake and Caleb would never mention their father or his secret, scandalous life.
They hadn’t, and they didn’t. Who would reveal such a hideous parentage?
He wouldn’t confess any of it to Caro either. She appeared to idolize Miles, and Caleb couldn’t bear to tarnish the halo she’d placed on Miles’s head.
“Will it hurt you if I confide that I hardly knew my father?” he asked.
“Why didn’t you know him?”
“Well, he was in the navy, so he was never home.”
“When he was there, was it grand? Were you happy and contented? Did he adore your mother? Did he dote on you and your brother?”
“Yes, he adored my mother, but I wouldn’t claim he doted on Blake and me. He was a gruff sailor, so he wasn’t exactly warm and cuddly.”
“He must have raised you to be manly men. Is that why you and your brother are so dashing?”
He grinned. “I’m dashing? Really?”
“I’ll only admit it in this room. I won’t stroke your vanity outside it. Now then, would you go? You had an imperative need to speak with me immediately, but you can’t dawdle.”
She tried to wiggle away, but he wasn’t about to let her. Her bed was a few feet away, and without giving her a hint as to his intentions, he lifted her and tossed her onto the mattress. She was light as a feather, so it was simple to manhandle her. Before she could escape, he followed her down and stretched out atop her.
They were touching from chin to toes, and his entire body rejoiced, but she yanked him to his senses swiftly enough.
“What are you thinking?” she asked, looking startled and aghast.
“I’m thinking I’d like to kiss you again, and I’m not about to do it standing up.”
“I have been much too polite with you, and you have to leave. At once! If you don’t, I’ll scream. I mean it. I will!”
“You will not scream. People might come running. Imagine the trouble you’d be in.”
She frowned ferociously. “I might scream.”
He wasn’t about to argue the point, not when he finally had them both where they were destined to be. He dipped down and kissed her, as he’d been dying to do since he’d kissed her previously.
For some reason, he couldn’t stay away from her. He wanted to spend every minute in her charming company. He wanted to do things to her he didn’t dare do. He wanted her to give him things she should never relinquish.
It was insane, but he was attracted beyond any rational level. Where would it lead? Where would it end?
Nowhere good, he was sure of that.
She struggled not to join in, but it wasn’t possible to ignore the fire that ignited between them. She was very moralistic though, and she was betrothed. He hadn’t heard that she’d cried off,
