Her brow furrowed as she seemed to consider his words, but then she shook her head and walked away from him, her thoughts turned inward. “I’ll take the chance that this is an empty threat. Haven’t you ever heard the idiom ‘let sleeping dogs lie’?”
Of course he’d heard it, he simply didn’t think it was particularly applicable to this situation. He’d rather be prepared than wait for this unknown snake to strike. “You take that chance and you’re prey. Let me know who he is and I can find him.”
She gave a soft, humorless laugh. “You’ll find him? Find him and what then?” she asked, turning back to face him.
“I’ll find him and put an end to this.” He came to a stop in front of her, aching to touch her but keeping his hands firmly in his pockets so that he wouldn’t.
“I don’t need you to fight my battles for me, Mr. Pierce.” She tilted her head up to meet his gaze and he noticed the tiny little sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose. They were hidden under the layer of powder she wore. He’d never been close enough to notice them, but seeing them now immediately made him wonder if she had freckles anywhere else.
“Hey, you asked me for help. I’m trying to help you, but I need you to cooperate.”
“You’re right. I hired you to help find the person who sent the letter, and to make sure that I’m safe in my home. That’s all.”
“So you’re fine with the fact that he could show up here any day and catch you by surprise?” He knew it was a low blow, but he needed her to understand how dangerous her situation was.
“Fine? Am I fine with it? No, it’s a fear that I live with every day, but so far it hasn’t happened. I won’t have you going all the way to South Carolina to find him, when it’s entirely possible that he has no idea where I am.” Her voice finally rose on that sentence, breaking the reins she’d held on her control. Even in her anger, she was beautiful. Fiery and strong. Breathtaking.
He realized that they were standing nearly toe-to-toe, so he took a step back, trying to control his emotions. “I know that you do.”
Still angry, she pulled herself up to her full height which wouldn’t have reached his shoulders had her hair not been pulled up on her head. “Why do you care so much? This isn’t what I hired you for.”
“I don’t want you hurt. I don’t like the idea of him out there...waiting to hurt you again.”
The rest of his anger drained away when her eyes widened in shock. She only just now seemed to realize that he was asking her these questions because he cared about her. “Why?” He watched her soft lips form the word, but he barely heard the sound.
“Isn’t it obvious?” He swallowed, suddenly prepared to be more honest with her than he had ever been before. “I care about you, Glory. I want to know you’re safe.” He didn’t want to care about her, but he did. Christine’s image flashed in his mind, a reminder of what had happened the last time he’d let his guard down. This was different, he wouldn’t let it go so far as it had with Christine. He could care for Glory without falling in love with her, but that didn’t explain why his heart was pounding against his ribs.
She sucked in a breath and his gaze met hers. Her hazel eyes were darker now, swirling with emotion and heat. To his surprise, her pupils were dilated, nearly obliterating any sign of green.
“And I think you care about me,” he whispered, knowing that he shouldn’t be so honest with her. Her rose scent tickled his nostrils, making his stomach churn with equal parts need and premonition.
She gasped. The sound of her breath scraped pleasantly over him, causing him to imagine her making that sound because he was inside her. One night wouldn’t change things. He could have her and still keep his distance. The thought of having her beneath him made his gut clench pleasurably.
“And I think you want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss you,” he whispered. Her soft lips parted and her eyes widened. Her pink tongue darted out to stroke her bottom lip, making it moist for him. The need to taste her was a magnet, drawing him in, making his lips tingle in anticipation. He bent his head down, moving closer inch by inch, giving her time to move away, but she stayed, her breath coming faster, fanning across his lips. Sensing her hesitance, he paused an inch away, allowing her time to pull back or to tell him to stop.
She didn’t. She let out a ragged breath and fisted the skirt of her dress, but she didn’t back away. His palms itched to touch her, but he sensed that it would be a step too far. The heated air between them was thick with tension. “Say yes to me,” he whispered, hoping that she would but prepared for her to push him away. He sensed that she’d have to take the lead in whatever happened between, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t nudge her along.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was their breathing mixed with the ticking of the clock on the mantel. “Yes.” The soft whisper burrowed inside him, grabbing something deep within him and pulling him to her.
His lips touched hers. The longing of countless days and night coalesced into that perfect moment when her soft lips parted beneath his. She moved slow but certain in her movements as she set their pace. Testing her, he brushed his tongue against her bottom lip. She surprised him by returning the featherlight touch, stroking his tongue with her own. He groaned and gently pushed forward, delving into her wet heat. She moaned deep in her throat and her hands came up to smooth over his chest, settling over the beat of his heart. Her fingers clenched in his shirt.
Blood roared in his ears, urging him to take more, but he didn’t want to push too far too fast. Instead, he pulled back, breaking the kiss to stare down into her eyes. His chest squeezed tight as if he’d just run a mile. Fear and excitement mingled together in her eyes, and he again hated the bastard who had put the fear there. Before he could say a word, the fear won out. She firmly pushed him away and whispered, “I’m sorry. I can’t,” and then she ran to her bedroom and slammed the door.
Zane leaned against the wall, his heart threatening to pound its way out of his chest. If one kiss had done this to him, how would it feel after he’d spent himself inside her? A tingling sensation moved down his spine, tightening his groin as all the blood in his body redirected to that general area.
He cursed himself for pushing her so far. He should’ve stopped before he kissed her or broken the kiss much sooner. She’d opened so sweetly for him, and now he knew exactly how she tasted. He wanted more. He was walking a dangerous line with her. One night with her shouldn’t be enough to make him lose his heart, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t concerned that he wasn’t halfway lost as it was. Because almost as great as the need to have her was the need to hold her and let her know that she was safe, to drive the fear from her eyes.
Closing his eyes, he forced himself to relive the night when Christine had turned her back on him. He needed the reminder that love wasn’t worth the risk.
Chapter Nine
The next morning Glory sat at her dressing table, her lips still tingling from the kiss from the night before. She’d tossed and turned for a while last night before finally settling into a deep dreamless sleep, but the moment she awoke she’d remembered it all over again. She ran a fingertip over her bottom lip, remembering the soft heat of his mouth and how his tongue had felt against hers. A dart of electricity sparked down to her belly, settling there with a slow burn. A blush stained her cheeks in the mirror and she couldn’t stop the ridiculous smile that curved her lips.
Zane Pierce was a much better kisser than she’d assumed he would be. His size suggested brute strength and a lack of finesse, but he’d been surprisingly gentle and attentive. Over the years she’d had men steal kisses from her before. It was like a strange badge of honor with some of them, and she knew about that ridiculous wager in that betting book across town. Since that had come up a year or so ago, the men had progressed from stolen kisses to flirting conversation meant to somehow sweep her off her feet. None of them ever s
wept her off her feet.
Not one in the entire twelve years she’d been here. But last night Zane had made her knees go weak. Had she not been pressed against the wall, she was certain that she would’ve fallen. The thing was, he’d made her weak in the knees before he’d even kissed her. It had started when he’d given her that heavy-lidded look of his that meant he was thinking naughty things. The final blow had come, however, when he’d asked for her permission.
None of the men had ever asked permission. Not one. Despite the fact that she wasn’t selling herself every night, they walked into the house as if she owed them whatever they demanded. More than once Able had been forced to show a man out because he wasn’t happy she wouldn’t take him upstairs. Zane had looked as if he expected her to turn him down. She knew that she probably shouldn’t have, but when he’d allowed her to take the lead, she’d been unable to refuse them what they both wanted. How much harm could one little kiss cause anyway?
A crinkling of paper and a flash of white caught her attention. A folded piece of paper slid nearly soundlessly across the hardwood floor of her bedchamber. The distinct thump of Zane’s boots moving away from the door had her heart beating in her throat. On quiet feet because she wanted to keep the moment of discovery to herself, she walked over and picked up the paper before returning to her stool. She expected to open it to find a note and listened for the front door of her suite, imagining that he was simply telling her he was leaving for the morning. But when she opened it, she got a surprise.
A beautiful rose in full bloom stared back at her. Each petal was artfully sketched in dramatic detail. It was breathtaking. She ran her fingertips over the graphite lines, picturing him sitting out on her sofa drawing them for her. His fingertips must have traced over the lines as hers were doing now. Had he realized how she loved roses? Had he hoped to make her smile? Or perhaps the drawing had been a casual amusement. Did it mean anything to him or had it simply been a pleasant way to pass the time?
Tucking the corners of the drawing into the frame of her mirror, she smiled again at her reflection. The woman smiling back at her was almost unrecognizable. It was the same face with the same red hair that stared back at her every morning. The same smile that she’d learned long ago to keep plastered on her face was there, but this morning something was different. The eyes were different. They were smiling in a way she hadn’t seen in a long time. It was silly to think that it was all because of Zane, but it had to be him. He was the only thing that had changed. He was reminding her of what it meant to enjoy the little things.
A smile, a drawing...a kiss.
Butterflies swarmed in her belly as she remembered that kiss all over again. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel the soft pressure of his lips on hers. She’d never enjoyed a kiss before, albeit she’d never been kissed by someone she wanted to kiss. Would it be possible for her to enjoy more with him?
She shook her head, but the idea of more swirled around in there anyway, seeming like it could be a possibility. Maybe, though almost definitely not. It was an insane idea. They were too different. She was too damaged. He was a rambling type of man who would never be happy here for long. She knew all the reasons it wouldn’t work, but those reasons did nothing to stop the flare of ridiculous hope that flickered to life inside her.
Suddenly anxious to see him again, she rushed through the rest of her morning ablutions. Her stomach tilted and whirled as she imagined what she might say to him or what he might say to her. The kiss didn’t have to change anything, but she knew that it had because every time she looked at him now she’d remember that it had happened. She’d remember how good it felt to be the center of his world for those few slow-moving seconds. She’d remember how she’d liked it. She’d know how very much she wanted to repeat it.
She chose to forget the feeling of panic that had bubbled up inside her and made her run from him. It wasn’t his fault she was so anxious with men. In fact, she rather thought that had he been her first, the experience would be nothing but delicious fun.
Smoothing a hand over her belly to calm the nerves that had started up at the prospect of seeing him, she opened her door and stepped out into the parlor of her suite. He’d been sitting on the sofa but stood when he saw her. He watched her with an expectant look on his face as if he’d been just as anxious to see her as she’d been to see him. For a moment, they simply stood watching each other.
“Thank you for the rose,” she said, breaking the charged silence.
His shoulders seemed to relax as he took a cautious step toward her, followed by another, but his expression was neutral. He wore the same clothes from last night, and she realized how much of his own comfort he was sacrificing to stay with her every night.
“I’m glad you like it.” He took in a breath, his jaw tightening. “I wanted to apologize.”
Her breath caught in her throat. He’d no doubt seen her fear when she’d run, but she didn’t want him to apologize for kissing her. Not when he’d asked her and she’d said yes. Not when she’d kissed him back and for one brief moment it had been perfect. If he apologized, then it could take it all away. It would mean he was sorry that it had happened and she didn’t want that. She wanted to be normal. She wasn’t, but she wanted to be, and she didn’t need one more reminder that she wasn’t. And she shouldn’t expect him to understand that. She knew that she was being incredibly unfair to him, but her hands tightened into tense fists at her sides and she prayed that everything she was feeling wasn’t reflected on her face.
Realizing that she was ranting in her own mind, she made her face very still and asked, “For what?”
“Because we argued.” He tipped his head down to look at her as he came to a stop in front of her. “And because I called you stubborn.”
The relief that swept through her nearly leveled her. She wanted to ask him what he’d thought of the kiss, but she wasn’t brave enough to bring it up. She’d faced down men trying to force her to sell her business to them without flinching, but she couldn’t bring up a kiss to Zane. Instead, she grinned and said, “It’s fine.” Making a show of looking around to check that no one overheard, she added in a near whisper, “Besides, I am a little stubborn.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up in a smirk. His eyes somehow deepened, becoming so dark they were nearly black. When his gaze flicked to her mouth, she knew that he was reliving the kiss. “Then I don’t need to apologize for...?” He allowed the question to trail off into the heavy but not uncomfortable silence between them.
She shook her head and that acknowledgment made the fire that had been temporarily banked flare to life. His heated gaze met hers and she swallowed past the need to touch him, to feel his solid presence beneath her palms, to touch her mouth to his and relive the wonderful magic he’d stoked to life within her.
“You ran away.” It wasn’t a question, but an open statement. He wanted her to fill in the blanks, and she found herself doing that before she’d even realized it.
“I did.” She nodded, chewing her bottom lip because she was unreasonably nervous. “I feel quite ashamed about that if you want to know the truth.”
“Don’t feel ashamed.” He reached out as if he might hold her hand, but he stopped at the last second. Instead of holding it, he ran his knuckles over the back of her hand, an almost touch that seemed far more poignant than it should. Tiny prickles of pleasure coursed over her hand, warming her palm.
Her eyes glued to that point of contact, she said, “There are things that have happened...” No, she wouldn’t go into the past now. It would only tarnish what she knew would live in her memory as a glorious moment. His eyes were warm and soft when she met his gaze. “Please just know that my running had nothing to do with you. What we did was lovely.”
He took in a long steady breath, his beautiful lips parting. A sprinkling of stubble had grown in overnight on his chin and upper lip. “Yes, it was.”
/> The flames from his gaze licked up her neck in a nearly tangible touch. Her skin prickled, tightening with the need for more of his touch. She gave a slow nod, words somehow escaping her beneath the weight of his interest. “Yes, but I’m not certain I’m capable of going further.”
“No further.” He took a step closer and her heart leaped eagerly into her throat, prompting her to step back. “But more of the same?”
God yes. She wanted to kiss him again. She wanted to spend the entire day kissing him, but she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Her entire life since her escape had depended on her being calm and in control. It was faintly disturbing how she wanted to give in to him now, which is partially why she made herself abstain. She needed to get her head on straight before trying that kiss again. It wouldn’t do for her to go making more of it than she already had.
“I have things to do this morning before we open for the day.”
He clenched his jaw and disappointment flashed in his eyes as understanding dawned across his face. When he would’ve said something, she shook her head, dropping her hand to her side. “I’m needed to go over the menu for the evening. Why don’t you go to your room to freshen up?”
Predictably, he shook his head. “We’ve been over this, Glory. Where you go, I go.”
She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his needless protection. “Fine, but let’s get you to your room first so you can freshen up and change your clothes. We’re going to have to move you in if this goes on much longer.”
* * *
Zane followed her silently as she led the way to the second-floor servants’ quarters. He’d tossed and turned all night thinking about that kiss and wondering if he’d pushed too hard. He raked a hand through his hair, pondering why he’d even bothered pushing. She was clearly not interested in an affair; he was not interested in a relationship. There was no reason they should continue and yet he found that he couldn’t stop pursuing her.
An Outlaw to Protect Her Page 9