Flight of the Hawk, page 14
Her hair, long and luxurious. It was thick and full, framing her face with gentle, wayward wisps where it escaped its pins. Full lips that he had missed so much trembled as she gazed upon him.
Her eyes were full of surprise as they lingered over his face before moving all over his body. He could see her shivering, trembling even as he stared at her, an embodiment of perfection.
Trace didn’t even notice when Ciara came up and quietly took Falcon by the hand and led him away. The entire building could have been set on fire and he still would not have been able to take his eyes off her.
These years had been wonderful to her. She was a beautiful woman. His woman.
That thought made him start, she wasn’t his yet.
“Leona.” His words came out tortured.
“Colonel Morgan.” Despite her trembling in his presence, her eyes grew sharp, wary. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.” His hand reached out involuntarily toward her face. The low growl of a dog made him pull it back.
“Why do you want to see me?” Her voice stayed shrewd, as if she had the belief he was setting a trap for her.
“Please, little one.” She trembled at that phrase. “You know me. Please.”
Her wrap fell to the ground from nerveless fingers and she took a step toward him. The dogs lay down and watched him but made no other movements.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me your real name? Why say your name was Elle?”
“It seemed safer.” Her eyes filled with crystalline tears as she spoke.
“Didn’t you trust me? Don’t you trust me?” His voice came out barely above a whisper.
“I don’t know you anymore.”
Even as she said that she took another step closer to him, drawn by an invisible cord, the pull was same on him. The undetectable cord that had tied the two of them together the day they met all those years ago. He forced himself not to move. She had to come to him of her own volition.
“Yes, you do. You know me, you’ve always known me, kitten.”
Her lower lip trembled. “Why are you here? What do you want?”
“You. I want you. I’ve never wanted anyone but you. You know that, I have never lied to you about that.” His words, strong and sure, fell from his mouth without quaver or hesitation, simmered with barely restrained passion.
“You have a wife. A son.”
“A son, yes. A wife, no.”
“I won’t go back, you know. I will die first.”
His heart broke. “Kitten, I would never make you go back there. Ever. Can I touch you?” Now his voice contained a slight tremor, betraying the truth that he was scared of rejection from her.
Her answer was to walk right up to him. Her eyes spoke volumes about how she too craved his touch, but there also lingered a look of apprehension in those tawny depths. As if she were unsure about him.
He reached out one hand and caressed her cheek. Leona’s eyes fell closed as she leaned into his callused hand. Finally, after all these years, they could look into each other’s eyes as they touched. No more dreams, no more memories. Real flesh and blood. Skin on skin. She reopened her golden orbs to stare into the windows of his soul.
A slight smile turned up her lips at the corners. “You can see. You got your sight back.”
“Thanks to you.” His other hand joined his first and he cupped her face like she was a dewdrop that must not be destroyed as he stepped closer to minimize the already diminutive distance between them.
Trace tipped her face up toward his and his thumbs followed along her full lips. His eyes held hers as he leaned down. “You are even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”
Their lips brushed. The lightest of touches. Brief, but everything inside him flared to life. To soon, she pulled back. Trace followed—he would not be denied. Would not be refused what he had dreamed about for over fifteen years. Not now. Not after all this time.
Leona’s insides melted. How she loved this man. This man. Who was a slave owner. A splash of cold water fell upon her, and she retreated for a second time. Also, as before, he followed.
He put his perfect lips—the ones she had dreamed about—back on hers for a second time. This time the kiss wasn’t gentle. It was possessive, it demanded, and she gave everything that it expected and more.
She clutched his shirt as she leaned into him, into his comforting strength. As his tongue sought—and gained—entrance to her warm, waiting mouth, she remembered where she was. Just two more seconds, she told herself, unable or unwilling to drag herself away from his intoxicating mouth.
It was more than that when he pulled away, his eyes like melted chocolate that begged to be eaten. There was so much desire in his gaze, it burned her straight through to her core. Until she remembered who he was and what he owned. It was amazing how quickly the thought of being with someone was dashed when you recalled that they owned people who looked like you.
She stepped back, needing to put some distance between them. her heart rate going a mile a minute. At his step forward she held up her hand to stop him. “No. That’s close enough.”
“It will never be close enough. I want you in my arms, little one.”
“I’m fine over here.”
Trace paused, tilting his head to the left. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know you anymore.”
He narrowed his gaze, disputing her comment with a single, firm shake of his head. “Yes, you do. You know me.”
“No. I don’t. We have changed over the years, both of us.” She took another step backward, away from him.
“Perhaps we could discuss this in private.”
She touched her lips, running her fingers over them, reliving his kiss. “No, we have nothing to discuss. It… It was good to see you, Trace. I have to go to bed, I have an engagement…a meeting with someone in the morning.”
Before she could reach the stairs he was back in her face, his alive with emotions, mostly jealousy. If that wasn’t enough, she could feel it within her in their link.
“You can run, little one, but know this. I will not rest until I have you. We belong together, I have not given up on that, and I will not give up on you. Your body cries out for mine. You crave my touch, just as I crave yours. We need each other to be complete.”
His voice dropped to barely above a whisper, but she not only heard him perfectly, but also felt him. “So I will let you run this time. Just one thing to leave you with before you go to bed. It will be me in your dreams tonight, little one. I will be the one who carries you to the plains of passion. No one else, not who you were with tonight, nor whoever you will be with tomorrow.” That was a command and there was no doubt in her mind that she would be following that mandate.
His eyes narrowed on her face. “For over fifteen years I wondered what happened to you. Were you all right, did you ever once think of me? I have you again and I will be damned if I let you go now. Good night, kitten. We will see each other again, soon. For you are wrong, we have much to discuss.”
His arm snaked out like lightning and he hauled her up against him for another bruising kiss, branding her, reclaiming her as his. Leona still leaned flush against him when he pulled away, and as she struggled to stand up on her own, his smirk came back, for he well knew the effect he had on her. “Remember that when you are out with your ‘friend’ tomorrow.”
He executed a perfect military spin and walked out of the door, joined by his son, who was silent and clearly unsure of what was going on. Leona watched as he walked away, her fingers having gone back to her lips before she stumbled up the stairs to her room and fell on the bed as her body was just too weak to support her anymore.
He was here. How had he found her? What was going to happen now? She rose and put on her buckskins along with a large old shirt and headed up to the studio.
Once there she lit the fire and curled up on the chaise while she waited for the chill to get banished from the air. Her dogs were with her as usual as she ran through her options.
After a while of sitting motionless, she rose and began to pace. As she walked, she spoke to the dogs, or maybe it was to the empty room. Either way, she had to work through her thoughts piece by piece.
“What should I do? Maybe I should go back to the island. You two would like it there. The mountains would be a good place for you to run free.”
Walk. Stop. Turn. Walk.
“Or maybe go back to the coast. He doesn’t know where the cottage is. Maybe Jackson could take me to Ireland.”
Walk. Stop. Turn. Walk.
“Maybe a whole new country. I heard that Italy was nice, or maybe Egypt.”
Walk. Stop. Turn. Stop.
“Why don’t you give me some advice? Neptune? Jupiter? Any advice?”
Leona dropped to her knees and opened her arms and the dogs entered willingly. As she hugged them, tears began to fall.
“It has been so long, I just don’t know. Part of me wants to just open my arms and take him in them and never let him go. On the other hand, what if it’s just a trick and he wants to take me back to Hawk’s Cove? I can’t go back there. I just can’t. I still wake up at night in a cold sweat going over what happened down there.
“Oh, God. What am I going to do? I need to run. I should hide somewhere he can’t find me.
“No.” A little louder she said it again. “No! Hell no. I will not spend the rest of my life running. I have my own life now. I can do this on my own.”
She rose with tears streaming down her face before she crumpled back down on the chaise.
“I don’t want to be alone. I want to share my life with someone. I want…I want what Ciara has with Lucien. With someone. Anyone.” Neptune and Jupiter both snuffed like they disbelieved what she was saying. She nodded at them and amended her sentence. “I want to share it with him. With Trace. Only with Trace. As always, it’s only with Trace.”
Leona fell asleep on the lounge completely spent and exhausted. Lucky for her Morpheus had no disturbing dreams in store for her that night. But as Trace had commanded, he was the one in her dreams. Luckily they were memories of happier times.
Chapter Fifteen
Sleeping on the lounge was Keely found her in the morning. Leona woke to a small hand shaking her. Opening her eyes, she saw Keely standing there with a sad look on her face.
“What’s the matter, sweetie?”
Keely’s lower lip stuck out as she scuffed her toe on the floor. “I don’t want you to be mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad at you?” It was just too early to play mind games with the child.
“Because, Auntie Lea, I did something bad. I thought that was why you left, because of me. Then I thought maybe you were up here so I came and here you are, but now I’m scared again that you’ll be mad at me and still leave.”
“Keely, just tell me what’s wrong.” She struggled to sit up, and after that was accomplished, patted the seat next to her. Leona looked over at the narrow bed in the room and mentally scolded herself for not sleeping on that last night.
Climbing up, Keely sat beside her. “Okay.” It was the tortured sound of a child about to admit to something horrific. “I looked at your pictures. I came up here and saw your pictures on the tables and looked at them. I know Mama said I wasn’t supposed to come in here, but I just had to see them. And Mama really only said that at home in the country. I wanted to know what they were of, if there were any more of me. Then I told Mr. Trace that you had pictures of him. I’m so sorry, Auntie Lea, don’t leave because of me.” Tears rolled down her golden skin.
“Oh, sweetie. Why do you think I would leave?” Just because I was thinking that myself last night… “I’m not going anywhere. I am spending the holidays with you and your family. Thank you for telling me what you did.”
“So you aren’t mad at me?”
“No, sweetie. Not mad. But you know you weren’t supposed to be up here. That cannot happen again. Now, we have a full day ahead of us and I should get up now.”
“I was wondering… Will you teach me how to paint?”
Leona was amazed. “You want to paint?”
Kelly beamed at her. “Yes. Then maybe we could be together and paint in here. I like spending time with you, Auntie Lea. Mama says you love it because it makes you happy and it’s quiet when you do. I can learn to paint and learn to be quiet as well, promise.”
“I kind of like spending time with you too. I am happy to teach you, but later. Right now I have to get ready to go to the park for a ride.”
“Who are you going with?”
“The Earl of Danbury.”
“Oh. Don’t you like Mr. Trace?” She fell into step beside Leona as they walked down the stairs. “I do. He stood up for me and Bryn when Lucy wanted to hurt me again. When I fell down, he picked me up, dried off my face and wrapped me in his jacket. He didn’t even know me. He was so nice.”
Yes. He was so nice. “Yes, I like Colonel Morgan.”
With a child’s innocence her next question came. “Then why would you go with the Earl of Danbury?”
“Because I told him I would accompany him on a ride today. That’s why.”
“Would you go with Mr. Trace if he said for you to?”
‘Said for you to.’ Just like he would order a slave. In seconds Leona had gone from being happy to shaking with painful memories.
“You mean if he asked me to go?”
Keely nodded. “Yes, that.”
“I suppose, if I didn’t already have a previous engagement. Why all the questions, sweetie?”
“Just wondering. Can we paint later today?”
“We’ll see. I still have to work on the painting for your Auntie Dev and Uncle Rafe.”
“Oh. I guess so. Well, until you can help me, I will practice on my own. See you later, Auntie Lea.” She ran off down the hall toward her brother’s room.
“Bye, sweetie.”
* * * *
The Earl of Danbury had just entered the house as Leona began her descent from her room to the main floor of the house.
He was a decent-looking man. Okay, better than decent. Tall and fit, he sported light brown hair and had startling green eyes. He had a pleasant enough voice that made her insides feel a little funny. All in all, she enjoyed the time she spent in his company, for he was witty and made her laugh. Also, he didn’t look down upon her for her painting.
“Good morning, Miss O’Neill.”
“Good morning, Lord Danbury.” She felt a little flustered as she gazed upon the man who waited for her at the bottom of the stairs. Waited for her. It was most definitely a heady feeling.
As she approached, he bent and pressed a quick kiss on her gloved hand. “My dear, as always, you are a vision.”
With a blush, Leona ducked her head. She wore a dark blue dress with gold accents.
“You really should get used to hearing compliments like that. You deserve them.” She shook her head and he stopped. “Very well, I will stop. For now. Shall we go?”
“Yes. I would like that.”
“Well, even though it is snowing, I know how you value your walks, so would you like to walk?”
“Really, you wouldn’t mind?”
“Keep smiling at me like that and I would never mind. We can also take your dogs. Each of us walks one. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful!” Thoughtful. As Weeks held her coat for her, another maid brought out her leashes for Neptune and Jupiter.
When all was ready, they stepped out into a morning of gently falling snow. The weather was crisp, just how Leona liked it.
Side by side she and her escort walked down the street, with the dogs out front, stepping easily. They chatted about little things as they headed for the park. Their chaperones followed an acceptable distance behind.
One moment Leona felt a stab of anger on her link with Trace, but it only lasted a moment before it was gone, so she didn’t focus on it at all. Well, not too much anyway.
Trace and his son were walking up from the other way as he saw his woman—he refused to think of her in any other terms—leave the house with another man and those same two very large dogs. Fury surfaced before he tapped it down.
He may have figured out what he wanted, but he did understand her hesitancy. After all, she did have a horrible childhood, he knew that. What he didn’t understand was why she didn’t trust him.
Who was he kidding? He knew that answer as well. He’d never gotten a chance to tell her where he had been that fateful night. He was counting on the fact that her feelings hadn’t changed for fifteen years. Maybe she didn’t find him attractive anymore.
No, that couldn’t be it. She had definitely responded to his kiss last night. And the kisses they’d shared at her home, before he had regained his sight. Also, Keely had said that she had lots of pictures of him up in her studio. They needed to talk. Alone. Just the two of them.
“Why don’t you just call on her, Papa?”
“What did you say, son?”
“Why don’t you just call on her like all the other men?”
Children made things seem so easy. No muss, no fuss. Just plain and simple solutions.
“You’re right. I should. I’ll leave a note for her when I drop you off.”
“About time,” his son muttered, so low that Trace almost didn’t hear it.
Almost.
Falcon was right. It was time to begin wooing his woman. Time to make her realize that he wasn’t after her for anything less than forever. His love was true and would remain so for the rest of their days. It wasn’t often that someone met their soul mates at the age they had been, but they had, he just had to remind her that what they had surpassed anything from their past. They could face it, move on and be together.
After Trace dropped off his son and left a note for Leona, he headed off back to his hotel room. He had work to do.
