of his rigid cock, he settled her more comfortably against his chest. She turned toward him and the brim of her bonnet poked him in the eye.
“Oh dear!” she exclaimed, sounding adorably befuddled. “I did not mean for that to happen.”
He gave her a wry grin, rubbing at his watering eye. “I’ll live to see another day. At least, I think I will.”
He was teasing her, but she frowned.
And as their gazes clashed and held, a flash of memory seemed to crash through his skull. The memory of a fist crashing into his eye, of it swelling shut. He knew what the blow felt like. Recalled not being able to see from the eye until the swelling had subsided.
She must have felt him tense beneath her, or read the expression on his face, because her hand was on his jaw, stroking as if to soothe. “What is the matter?”
He blinked, clearing the tears from his eye, and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm. “Nothing. I think I may have remembered something…someone hitting me in the eye.”
“Who was it? Do you remember a face?” she asked, still gently stroking his jaw.
He searched the abyss of his mind for more details, but there were none to be reclaimed. “That is all I can recall, the force of the blow, my eye swelling shut. It was the same eye. Your bonnet reminded me.”
“It is a handsome bonnet but I hardly expected it to have such power,” she teased. “This is wonderful news, however. If some details return to you, surely others will follow.”
“I hope so.” He settled a hand on her waist and tapped on the brim of her bonnet with the other. The weight of her in his lap was delicious. “Do you think you might remove this until we reach the apothecary? I’d prefer to keep my eye.”
She smiled, untied the ribbon beneath her chin, and then plucked the millinery from her head. “I would not wish to cause you harm. Not ever.”
There was a sadness in her voice today, and he couldn’t help but to suspect something was amiss. “No one discovered my visit to you, did they?”
By no one, he meant her brother Jasper in particular, who seemed to be the leader of the family. He had seen some of the other Sutton brothers in passing, and at least one sister—Pen. But Caro had told him there were seven siblings in all. There had been an eighth once, but she spoke of that brother with heartache, always referencing the past. He believed that brother was dead, but he hadn’t wished to upset her by asking too many questions.
She shook her head, and this time, his eye was blessedly spared another altercation with her hat. “No. But we must not make a habit of such visits.”
Pity, that. He wanted to spend every night in her chamber. All night long. To make her his wife and spend the rest of his life worshiping her as she deserved.
“I will try to stay away, but it isn’t easy, Caro.” His other hand settled on her waist at just the right moment, for the carriage hit a rut and swayed violently.
She clutched his shoulders, eyes going wide, clinging to him. “Bloody ballocks, that was a bump.”
The moment the words left her lips, she went scarlet.
“So the angel has a sinner’s tongue,” he quipped, smiling as he drew her nearer.
Would it be too much to ask for another splendidly timed run over the old hasty pudding that resulted in her wrapping her arms around his neck?
“I’ve spent most of my life in a gaming hell,” she said, still flushing. “I suppose it shows.”
“I don’t know where the devil I spent most of my life, but I do know where I want to spend what remains of it.”
“Where?” she breathed.
“With you, Caro.” He was sure he should not be making a declaration now, that it was too soon, that he didn’t know enough about the man he had been before he had awoken in The Sinner’s Palace. That everything could change if his memory returned. But the way he felt for her…it was strong and deep and true. “I’ve fallen in love with you, and I want to make you my wife.”
The moment he said the words, he realized how foolish they sounded. He did not even have a name. Nor a ha’penny. What could a nameless man without a past offer to her?
“You’ve fallen in love with me,” she repeated, her countenance