Though never had she appeared so poignantly desirable. He wanted to seize her in his arms, 138 smother her with kisses, bury his face in her hair. And swiftly upon this desire came the thought that if she appealed to him so strongly, might she not appeal quite as strongly to the rogue? He laid the spoon on the rim of the cup again and teetered it.
“Go to bed,” he repeated.
“An order?”
“An order. I’ll go along with you to the cabin. Come!” He got up.
“Can you tell me you’re not excited?”
“I am honestly terrified. I’d give ten years of my life if you were safely out of this. For seven long years I have been knocking about this world, and among other things I have learned that plans like Cunningham’s never get through per order. I don’t know what the game is, but it’s bound to fail. So I’m going to ask you, in God’s name, not to let any romantical ideas get into your head. This is bad business for all of us.”
There was something in his voice, aside from the genuine seriousness, that subdued her.
“I’ll go to bed. Shall we have breakfast together?”
“Better that way.”
To reach the port passage they had to come out into the main salon. Cleigh was in his corner reading. 139