Wildstar

by Linda Ladd

  Elizabeth turned to Amanda, her cup suspended in her hand. “But how would he know it is my favorite?”

  Amanda shrugged, and Elizabeth contemplated Logan's thoughtfulness as Amanda tied the heavy damask drapes aside to reveal a breathtaking view of the lake as it glittered like millions of diamonds under the morning sunshine.

  “This is the day of the picnic,” Amanda reminded her, opening the double doors of the cherrywood armoire. “What will you wear?”

  “The white gown with the pink ribbons, I suppose. It's cool.”

  Amanda pulled out the dress and hung it upon the door, then reached for the matching hat, while Elizabeth dreamed out the window, remembering how warm Logan's blue eyes became when he looked at her. She had found in the last week that he was not the cruel and heartless monster she'd first thought. In fact, he could be most charming at times. She smiled and swung slim legs over the side of the bed. She lifted her gown and examined her ankle, pleased that the swelling was gone. She stepped down, gingerly trying her weight. It was no longer painful to walk, and perhaps now Logan would not be so inclined to sweep her into his arms at the least provocation.

  She moved to the dressing table, bathing her face in the basin of water, then raised her brush, absently pulling it through her tousled hair. Her mind was elsewhere, on strong arms that held her on a warm, masculine lap and blue eyes that darkened and lightened according to mood. A small smile curved her lips, and she nearly dropped her brush when her gaze collided with the blue eyes in question. He had come up silently behind her, and she could not move as he lifted a silvery strand of her hair and smoothed it carefully over her shoulder with a touch so gentle it took her breath. His slow smile caressed her face, then moved to her low-cut gown.

  “Good morning, my love,” he said, and the endearment sent a warm blush into her cheeks. He moved to a chair behind her, and she saw that he wore snug black breeches and a white linen shirt. He'd left it unbuttoned partway, and her eyes touched on the crisp blond fur covering hard, sunbrowned flesh, and her heart quickened alarmingly. She jerked her eyes away, nerves on edge as she fingered one crystal bottle of perfume, then another on the mirrored tray before her.

  She wished he'd speak; his interest in her every movement disconcerted her completely. For something to do, she chose a bottle, touching the fragrance to the hollow of her throat. Logan's eyes followed her slender finger, his breath catching as it trailed downward toward her soft and mounding cleavage. Elizabeth replaced the perfume, but Logan's eyes lingered upon her swelling breasts. Her own pulse reacted, and she stood, uncomfortable in the sheerness of her gown.

  “Your foot seems much better,” he noted as she drew on a diaphanous dressing gown.

  “Yes,” Elizabeth answered, pulling the sash about her waist. “There is very little pain now.”

  A silence followed as his attention was drawn to her body so tantalizingly veiled from him.

  “Is there something you wish from me?” Elizabeth said finally, hoping to alleviate the uncomfortable quiet.

  Logan laughed. “There are many things I wish from you, my love, but you continue to refuse them to me.”

  Elizabeth's mouth went dry, and she moistened her lips nervously, bringing Logan's gaze to them.

  “I only wish for time to know you better.”

  “And do you know me better now?”

  “I am beginning to, I think.”

  “Then I am content to wait.”

  His hot eyes said differently, and Elizabeth walked to the window.

  “I came to tell you that we've decided to picnic in the high meadows...”

  Logan's voice stilled as the bright sunlight created a halo around her, revealing every delectable curve of her body. It wasn't until she moved toward the bed that he could find his voice again.

  “Maria fixed a lunch, and Lily and the girls are going.”

  “That sounds very pleasant,” she said truthfully. “It shouldn't take me long to dress.”

  She waited for him to take his leave, but when Logan only smiled, Elizabeth realized he could very easily remain during her toilette. He looked into her wide eyes, as if aware of her thoughts, then stood.

  “Hurry then, sweet, and I'll wait for you downstairs.” He strode from the room, chuckling, his mood lightened.

  The pleasure she felt in anticipation of the day with him disturbed her enough to crease a frown between her brows, and she puzzled over her feelings as she slipped on the lace-trimmed white dress of the softest lawn. Pink ribbons were sewn across the midriff, leaving her shoulders soft and bare above a wide eyelet ruffle. She fashioned her hair in loose curls atop her head, then picked up the widebrimmed hat designed to protect her creamy skin from the sun. A long pink plume decorated the low crown, and she set it in place, tilting her head for the effect. Satisfied, she tied the ribbons beneath her chin and went to meet Logan. When she entered the great room, Logan's slow and thorough admiration sent a becoming rosiness into her cheeks. He came forward and extended his arm.

  “Come, they're waiting outside for us.”

  Elizabeth returned his smile shyly. She put her hand upon his arm as he led her outside. Lily and Michael sat upon the wagon seat with the girls in the back alongside two gigantic wicker hampers. The three boys were mounted, their rifles in sheaths upon the saddle, and Logan had to grin at their openmouthed appreciation of the pink-and-white vision that barely reached his shoulder.

  Elizabeth started toward the wagon, but Logan's hand detained her.

  “No, I would like you to ride beside me.”

  Elizabeth stared in dismay as Jacob stopped in front of them with Logan's black stallion and a lovely bay mare.

  “But I have never been upon a horse,” she protested quickly, and Logan looked down at her. Fleeting memories of Starfire racing like the wind upon a wild palomino filled him.

  His laugh brought puzzled violet eyes to him, and he smiled down at her. “Something tells me you'll catch on quick enough.”

  Elizabeth looked at the flaring nostrils and twitching tail of the mare and wasn't convinced.

  “Lady is very gentle,” Logan said, stroking the mare's velvety nose. He looked at Elizabeth when she stepped back, realizing she was truly afraid.

  “Then come ride on Zeus with me,” he offered. “And I'll show you how to handle the reins.”

  The idea of sitting atop the huge black stallion with Logan was even more disquieting, but she did not protest when Logan lifted her onto his saddle, then settled behind her as he took up the reins.

  Elizabeth felt very small within the circle of Logan's strong arms, but the way he held her caused faint nibblings at the far edges of her mind, as if she'd experienced it before. The disturbing sensation took flight quickly as Logan's warm breath fanned her cheek.

  “Don't be afraid, sweet, you're safe with me.”

  Elizabeth felt anything but safe with the steel wall of his chest so close behind her that the heat of his body penetrated her thin dress. Her pulse sped dangerously as Logan spurred his mount, one large hand securing her to him, the other controlling the spirited stallion.

  The little caravan began to move, and Logan led the wagon, the lake glistening beside them as a brisk wind ruffled sparkling whitecaps across the water. The day was beautiful and warm for late April, the air fresh and invigorating. They traversed the mountain-rimmed pastures toward the far side of the valley.

  Halfway through the meadows, Logan galloped ahead, and Elizabeth clung desperately to her hat as the wind tore the ribbons from beneath her chin, but never once did she experience alarm while in her husband's firm grip. She felt exhilarated and free during the fast ride, and when a sudden gust of wind whipped her hat out of her grasp, she laughed as it rode the air currents like a graceful white bird, then settled upon the tall green grass as if it were nesting there. Logan reined up, and Zeus reared slightly and pranced sideways.

  “Do you want it?” Logan asked her, and Elizabeth turned in the saddle to look up at him, s
urprising him with a dimpled smile.

  “No, I do not. I've often wished to toss it into the wind myself!”

  Logan laughed, pleased by the happiness upon her face.

  “Then there it will stay. And you might as well get rid of these as well.”

  His fingers went to her hair, carelessly discarding pins and combs until the heavy silver tresses tumbled across his arms.

  “Now I can touch it.” His words had been husky, his lips teasing the sensitive spot behind her ear, and gooseflesh rippled down both her arms.

  He urged Zeus on, and she fought for control of her own pleasure as they flew ahead. Elizabeth's hair blew in the wind like silver silk, the sweet fragrance intoxicating the man behind her.

  The fields rose gradually to dense forests of gigantic spruce, and Logan took them into the coolness of the sundappled shade. Elizabeth smiled, happier and more carefree than she'd ever dreamed possible in her husband's company. When the wooded ridge leveled into a rocky terrain spotted with great rust-red boulders, Logan halted Zeus, then turned the stallion to give Elizabeth a breathtaking view of the sprawling valley.

  Woodstone was but an insignificant dot against the rolling hills, and far below, the wagon left parallel tracks in the tall meadow grass, waving and rippling in the breeze.

  “Will they be able to find us?” Elizabeth asked breathlessly, looking around the dark and quiet trees.

  “Not for a time,” Logan answered, then added under his breath, “If we're lucky.” He was determined to have some time alone with Elizabeth for a change. And what better place than in the mountains she loved?

  Elizabeth twisted and peered over her husband's wide shoulder at her friends far below, but the steep incline soon forced her to relax back into the cradle of Logan's arms. But she found that she did not really mind it, and leaned her head intimately against his chest.

  “Surely a wagon cannot come this way,” she said, as Logan nosed the horse through a narrow path between tall trees.

  “No, but Zack knows another way. This is quicker.”

  A swift-running brook materialized before them, the clear water rippling softly over smooth, emerald-crusted rocks.

  “Do you like it?” Logan asked; and Elizabeth's answer was awed.

  “Oh, yes.”

  Logan smiled. “I thought you might.”

  He walked the horse across the sandbar, then urged him up a small slope. He dismounted in a grassy clearing surrounded by thick-boughed spruce trees, then looked up at Elizabeth through eyes as clear and blue as the summer sky. Memories stirred anew behind the velvet curtains that held her prisoner, and she strained to remember.

  “What is it?” Logan asked in concern, but Elizabeth shook her head as he lifted her down, holding her for the briefest of moments, and Elizabeth did not even think to protest. He spread a blanket upon the ground for her, and Elizabeth sat watching as he unsaddled Zeus. Powerful muscles ridged in his arms as he swung the heavy saddle to the ground with no show of effort.

  He smiled down at her, and her smile came easily.

  “Come, I want to show you something.”

  He extended his hand to her, then laced her small fingers in his as he led her to an opening in the trees. She waited as he held back a branch to reveal graduating rock cliffs in the distance, where the river cascaded in roaring, rushing waterfalls.

  “It's lovely,” Elizabeth breathed, pleasure lighting her face, and Logan watched intently, hoping the falls would trigger memories of their time together in the cave.

  “Have you ever seen a waterfall, Elizabeth?”

  “Oh yes, but it was much bigger—” She stopped abruptly, turning astonished violet eyes upon him. Logan smiled and encouraged her gently.

  “Tell me about it. What do you remember?”

  Elizabeth shut her eyes and saw it very clearly. “It was very loud with a great roaring, and there was a river far below with angry, twisting rapids.” Her brows came together as she tried to concentrate. “And I was afraid....”

  Logan waited with bated breath, daring to hope she would remember the rest of it. He was tired of waiting, tired of holding himself in iron restraint when he was near her.

  “Think, Elizabeth. Why were you afraid?”

  The image of the falls slowly disintegrated as sharp pain pierced into her temples, and Elizabeth let it go.

  “You must try to remember. Concentrate very hard.”

  “I cannot!” she cried, stepping away from him, her face dark with frustration. “It hurts when I try.”

  She pressed her fingers over her eyes as pain throbbed behind them, and Logan frowned, putting his arm about her slender shoulders.

  “I'm sorry. Let's go back.”

  He led her back, then lounged down on the blanket, watching as she sat, arranging her skirts modestly. His hand trembled with the desire to touch her, and his voice was unsteady when at last he spoke, but he was struggling to understand the strange memory loss which kept her from him.

  “Is it often that things come back like that?”

  “A headache usually drives them away,” she admitted.

  “It must be very frightening at times.”

  “It is terrible,” she murmured. “And I have awful dreams I don't understand.”

  “What is the first thing you can remember?”

  “Waking up in the doctor's office with Dr. Petaire and Brent.”

  Logan's jaw tightened, enraged at the thought of Brent's enjoying her company during the long months he had searched for her in vain.

  “And you didn't remember Thomas at all?”

  “No.” She smiled wistfully. “It was as if I had no life before that moment.”

  She shuddered, remembering the first days and nights when she'd felt so alone and afraid. Logan watched her put her fingers against her temples and press.

  “Does your head still hurt?”

  She nodded, and Logan sat up. “Turn around and lean against me,” he ordered. “So I can rub it for you.”

  She looked at him, a little wary, but as another streak of pain stabbed into her temple, she moved in front of him, sighing as his long fingers slid up beneath the silkiness of her hair. The gentle circular motion he worked upon her temples relieved the pain almost at once, and the tension in her body began to ebb away. His lean fingers moved to her shoulders, and Elizabeth laid her head against his shoulder, letting the rippling water and twittering birds soothe her until she floated in dreamy contentment. It took her several minutes to realize that his lips had replaced his fingertips upon her temples, and she sat forward. His words were husky, uttered close beside her ear.

  “Is a kiss so much to ask, when I've denied myself everything I desire?”

  Elizabeth was intensely aware of their isolation in the leafy bower, and when Logan leaned closer, her heart accelerated wildly.

  “A kiss, Elizabeth, that's all I want. I'll take no more than you're willing to give. I swear it.”

  She looked into his handsome face, thinking a kiss was little for a husband to ask, and she could take comfort from the fact that he'd held her close in the privacy of her bedchamber without violating his word. Brent's face flickered for a guilty moment, then was banished from her mind as she leaned toward him. The lightest of kisses would not endanger her. Perhaps she would even find it pleasant.

  But her good intentions were swept away like smoke in the wind from the instant his firm lips pressed warmly against her soft red ones. Fingers of fire shot into the deepest core of Elizabeth's soul as Logan's arm folded around her waist, pressing her backward upon the blanket. His mouth slanted across hers, hot and demanding, and she could not move, could not protest as his warm lips took total possession of her thoughts, swirling them into a boiling, leaping maelstrom of sensation.

  His lips worked upon hers, twisting, burning, subjugating her until she had no will of her own. His tongue touched hers, and the shock that coursed through her sent her world spiraling. She barely heard the groan wrenched from Logan
as her silken arms slid around his neck. His breathing became ragged as she offered him the parted sweetness of her lips, and like a man starving, he traced the satiny cheekbone, one hand knotted in the silky mane of silver, the other molding gently the full swell of her breast.

  Elizabeth's body flamed higher, gasping as his mouth found and explored the fragile cord of her throat, then dropped a molten trail along her smooth, bare shoulder. His mouth muffled her murmured protest as his hand quit the silkiness of her hair to ease along the back of her bodice, releasing buttons until her swelling bosom fell free.

  “No...” she whispered, but her breathless murmur lacked the conviction needed to give Logan pause in his thundering passion. His hand intruded beneath the soft layers of her skirt, and she moaned beneath his mouth as his fingers touched bare skin, then moved slowly up her naked thigh.

  “Starfire, Starfire, surrender, my love....”

  His kisses robbed her of reason, and she could no longer resist, as his caresses grew bolder, drawing her hips against him until Elizabeth could not deny his masculine need.

  “Logan! Are you up there?”

  It took several seconds for the voice to carve a path into the swirling mists of their passion, but when it did, Logan froze, groaning like a man near death. He held Elizabeth's trembling body for as long as he dared, then rose to his knees, his shaking fingers working to fasten the gaping bodice.

  Elizabeth stared at him helplessly as he straightened her skirts and pulled her to her feet. Every inch of her burned with unfulfilled desire. He crushed her limp body against him.

  “I'm sorry, sweet, so sorry.”

  Michael called again, and Logan muttered an oath under his breath.

  “Up here,” he yelled, still unable to bring himself to release her. He cupped her face between his palms, his eyes searching hers.

  “Elizabeth, please, listen to me. I couldn't stop myself. When you began to respond, I...”

  Elizabeth did not give him time to finish, but pulled away. Logan watched her go, helpless to stop his relief. A great burden had been lifted from his heart, for even if Elizabeth's mind did not remember him, her body did. He'd won Starfire's love long ago in the darkness of a cave, and given the time, he would win Elizabeth's as well. He knew he would. Smiling, he quickly saddled the horse and followed Elizabeth's hasty scramble down the hill.