Chapter 22
Silence ensued, and Burke admired Storm’s courage. After sharing the heart-wrenching story of how she lost her husband, she had the courage to admit that she cared for another man.
Cared enough that she would not see him suffer the same fate.
“I have given thought to us, Mr. Longton,” she said calmly.
He had done the same, but he hadn’t admitted that he cared for her as well, or that his caring might go deeper than he had expected. A strange thought but one that plagued him lately.
“What about us?”
She pushed the spoon around in her bowl. “I am an outlaw. I have no future to offer a man. There can be no future for us since you will return to America and I will remain in Scotland and fight for the rights of the less fortunate.”
“Which means?”
“We have a brief moment in time to enjoy each other. I propose that we do just that until it is time for you to leave.”
“What if I want more?” he asked, finding himself annoyed that she would think that a quick roll in the hay was all he wanted from her. But hadn’t he? At first, possibly, but now? He wasn’t certain what he wanted from her, and that irritated him even more.
She gave a soft laugh and shook her head. “There is no more for us. There is only now and good-byes.”
“And I am to accept this?” Why he suddenly thought her idea ludicrous astounded him since he had thought the same as she. They would share a brief interlude and then he’d be gone. Now, however, the idea disturbed him.
“It is all we have.”
Her sadness showed in her deep blue eyes that normally stormed like a raging sea but now appeared serene and ever so beautiful.
“Not so,” Burke said, tossing down his napkin and pushing away the bowl of stew that he had barely touched. “We have what we choose to have.”
“We have what life has dealt us,” she corrected. “We were brought together for a brief time and then we will part. Do we share this time provided us or do we waste it and always regret the opportunity?”
Her remark caused his heart to ache like hell. How did he love her and leave her? And did he love? Had he suddenly discovered he had feelings for the wisp of a woman who had entered his life in a flash and planned to leave the same way?
“I will never love as I did my Daniel, but I must admit, Mr. Longton, that I have feelings for you, else I would never propose such an interlude.”
“I daresay I feel the same,” he admitted, perturbed at his own questionable feelings.
“Then we have nothing to lose, do we?”
Burke feared they had more to lose than they bargained for, but then how would he discover that if he didn’t pursue his interest in her? Then and only then would he know for sure if he could truly walk away from her.
“Are you willing to find that out?” he asked.
“I have my answer. There is nothing for me to discover, only to enjoy.”
“Why do you refuse to allow yourself to love again?”
She placed her spoon to the side, not having tasted a mouthful. “I don’t refuse. I just know that I could never love as strongly as I did Daniel.”
“As I mentioned once before, first love can never be replaced, but love can still flourish and be even stronger than before.”
“Oh no,” Storm said adamantly. “I’d never love with the strength that I loved Daniel.”
“Then you aren’t being fair to Daniel.”
Storm looked affronted. “Why do you say that?”
“If your husband loved you, truly loved you, then he wouldn’t want to see you alone. He’d want you to love again, and with the same if not more courage and strength than you did him. Would you not want that for Daniel, if it were you who had died?”
Storm didn’t hesitate. “I would want Daniel to be happy.”
“Then what makes you think he wouldn’t want the same for you?”
Storm placed her napkin on the table. “It doesn’t really matter what Daniel would want for me.
My fate was sealed the day I rescued him from the Earl of Balford’s prison.
The man is determined to see me caught and paid to suffer for the humiliation I caused him.
I’ve stayed several steps ahead of him but he will catch up sooner or later. It is inevitable.”
Burke stood, walked around the table to her, and yanked her out of her seat by her arms. “There is no way in hell I would let you be captured and imprisoned.”
“You will not decide my fate, Mr. Longton.”
He pulled her up against his chest. “I am your fate, Mrs. Longton.”
He claimed her mouth with a feverish kiss that had their passion soaring in seconds.
He held her close, running his hand up to her hair and freeing it of the combs that held it in place so that he could run his fingers through the silky black strands. He wrapped his hand in the long waves and tugged her head back to expose her neck to his lips, and he feasted on her smooth flesh.
She moaned her pleasure and it stirred his own. With quick fingers he opened her blouse and moved his lips to her hard nipples and continued to feast. She tasted exquisite, and he couldn’t get enough of her, nor she him, since her hand cupped the back of his head.
He took a moment to free her completely of her blouse and himself of his shirt and once again pulled her up against him.
She gasped as their naked bodies made contact, and he swallowed the staggering moan that rose in his throat.
Lord, but she felt good against him. She was warm and soft and fit perfectly to his chest, as if they were made for each other. Her hard nipples dug into him and the full mounds of her breasts snuggled against him as if they had come home and were content.
She belonged there, melded with him as if they were one, and the thought startled and excited him as he leaned down and took her lips once again.
He kept his arms firmly around her as he walked her over to the bed and lowered them down on it, continuing to kiss her as they descended into the soft bedding.
He near shivered when her hand explored his chest, her fingers playing with his nipples before they slipped down to rub the hard length of him through his trousers.
He wanted to feast his eyes over every inch of her, become familiar with every little detail until he knew her as no one had ever known her before him.
He whispered in her ear, “I want to kiss every part of you, claim every nook and cranny and make you mine.”
He moved his lips to her mouth, and the palm of her hand greeted him.
He didn’t like the sadness he saw in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought I made it clear that I could never be yours. This is but a brief interlude, no more.”
Why did the idea disturb him? He had had interludes before, and it had never bothered him to say good-bye to the women. Why did the thought of bidding Storm farewell weigh so heavily on his mind?
He could tell her he had meant just for this night, for this time they would spend together, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“I can’t give you more, Burke.”
He thought, or perhaps he imagined it because he wanted to, that she sounded regretful, almost as if she were on the verge of tears. Did she want more herself but know it wasn’t possible? Did it hurt her to believe so?
“Nothing has to be decided tonight,” he assured her, leaving possibilities open to them both.
“Yes, yes it does,” she said, pushing him gently off her.
He reluctantly moved away and she reached for a pillow to shield her naked breasts as she sat up.
“Why?” he demanded a bit more forcefully than he had intended.
“Because it is the way of things, and nothing will change that. You will return to America and I will remain in Scotland.”
“What if we fell in love?”
Storm’s blue eyes widened considerably. “We cannot.”
“What if we did?” he asked, the force of his query remaining adamant.
“It’s not a possibility. We barely know each other.”
“If I remember correctly, you and Daniel hadn’t known each other long before you fell in love.”
“That was different,” she said.
“Why?”
She looked puzzled, as if the answer hadn’t come as easily as she had expected.
“No answer, Storm? That’s because there is no answer. Love is love, and it comes in its own good time to unsuspecting people.”
She bounced off the bed holding the pillow to her chest. “Are you claiming to love me?”
“No,” he said, though the thought plagued him. Why fight her on this if he wasn’t in love? “I just feel we should leave fate to deal with it, not throw obstacles in its path.”
“I know my fate and I know my feelings. I will not love again.”
“You are a stubborn one,” he said on a laugh and shook his head.
“Much like you,” Storm said with a toss of her chin.
He folded his arms across his chest. “So where does this leave us?”
Storm sighed softly, and Burke could see her shoulders droop along with her guard.
“You look for something I cannot give.”
Burke raked his fingers through his hair and came close to muttering an oath. “I don’t know what I look for, but…” He paused and stepped closer to her. “I’d like to find out.”
“I don’t know, perhaps…”
He pressed a finger to her lips, preventing her from objecting. “We owe it to ourselves.”
She gently pushed his finger aside. “Why?”
“We’re attracted to each other and have a small time frame of opportunity here, which”—he emphasized—“if we ignore, we will live to regret.”
“You can’t be sure of that.”
“You can’t be sure we won’t, so why take the chance? Why not see what awaits us? Why not delve into the unknown and let fate deal with us? But then you know your fate,” he said. “So what have you got to lose?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead he walked over to the chest near the chair and pulled out a white silk nightgown and handed it to Storm.
“Here, for you. Tonight I want nothing more than to hold you in my arms as we sleep. Can you give me that much?”
She looked bewildered and took a moment to answer him. “I would like to sleep in your arms tonight.”
“Good, then change while I disrobe and join me beneath the blankets.” He turned his back to give her privacy, and then shed his clothes and climbed beneath the covers naked.
It took only a few minutes for Storm to join him. He held back the blankets for her to slip beneath, and when she did, he took her in his arms and rested her body against his.
She cushioned her head on his chest and rested her arm across his midriff.
He rested his chin on top of her head and held her snugly against him and whispered, “Good night, Mrs. Longton.”