Love and Triumph: The Coltrane Saga, Book 8

by Patricia Hagan

He knew what she meant, just as he knew she’d figured out long ago he’d mistaken her for Elenore that night in the basement of Rudolf’s castle. Yes, he’d thought she was Elenore—but only for an instant, because once his mouth had pressed against her sweet, tender lips, he’d known it was the kiss of a stranger—a woman hungry for love and affection. It was only later, when he’d had time to think about the warm and wonderful curves of her body, the way she’d clung to him for just an instant, that he knew she was fire waiting to be ignited—that not only was there a hot, burning spirit of desire, but also a sweetness yet untasted, a sweetness that would eventually work its way into his very soul.

  “Yes,” he whispered quietly, his arms tightening about her. “I was waiting for Elenore. She was supposed to meet me there that night. I found out later that Rudolf had locked her in with his mother.”

  Her laugh was tinged with bitterness. “Yes, and then when he got drunk and I had to run away from him, I found my way to you instead.”

  “And was it so bad?” he asked quietly.

  She turned to face him, entwining her arms about his neck. “In fact, I think I knew it was you, before it was…” She shook her head in wonder, a sad smile touching her lips. “Oh, but that doesn’t make sense, does it? You can’t understand what it was like, my dreams haunted by a faceless man who held me and took me to heights of unknown pleasure, unknowingly searching for so long to find that man, and then there you were, and—”

  He silenced her with a kiss.

  Yes, he knew, for in his own way he, too, had harbored a dream of a love yet undiscovered. And quietly, like a thief in the night, she had stolen into his world, his being, and his heart, to make him want and love her as he’d never wanted or loved a woman before.

  Lifting her in his arms, he carried her to the bed and laid her down, then he stretched out beside her and gathered her close. His hands moved up and down her body, and she arched even nearer, wanting to meld into him. Their eyes met and held, blazing with passion and the love they could not deny.

  Cord could restrain himself no longer. He lifted her skirt, caressing her thighs and leaving a path of fire as he danced his fingertips higher.

  Marilee knew she was dangerously close to reaching a point of no return, yet she could not forget that he was the enemy and she, the prisoner. Was he merely using her to satiate his lust? Was she no more to him than Elenore had been?

  But exactly what had Elenore meant to him?

  Marilee reached to still his caressing hand, shrinking away from him.

  “I must know…” She met his questioning gaze. “What was she to you? And why is she here if she means nothing more?”

  Cord felt a deep wrenching inside. With a ragged sigh, he rolled away from her, staring up at the ceiling in frustration. He should have known she would demand an explanation.

  “I know you won’t believe me, but she meant nothing to me, Marilee,” he finally said. “She’s attractive. She was there when I needed a woman. It was never more than that.”

  “And I’m to believe that I mean more?” Marilee got up and went to stand at the window.

  He made no move to stop her, but continued to stare up at the ceiling, his arms folded behind his head. “Yes, because despite the situation we unfortunately find ourselves in, you do mean a lot to me, Marilee,” he said miserably.

  “And I’m to believe it’s all over between you and Elenore?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Nothing ever really began,” he said tiredly.

  “Then why is she here?” she asked once more.

  He sat up then. “She’s a revolutionary, Marilee. Like me. That’s where I met her—at the Wolfa in Zurich, where a group called the Zealots gathered. She came here today because she has orders from the Bolsheviks concerning you.”

  Marilee whirled around, her eyes wide with hope. “My father!” she cried. “They’ve found him? And he’s paying the ransom, and…” Her voice faded as she saw his expression of dismay.

  “I’m afraid not.” He hated to tell her, but he had no choice. “They’ve finally decided that the plan to ransom you has failed. So now they want you turned over to them in Russia, to make your father come out of hiding.”

  Marilee’s heart began to pound with excitement and anticipation. Going to Russia meant being nearer to her father. He was a smart man—he and his comrades would find a way to rescue her. She was far more likely to get out of her predicament there than where she was now. But one prickling question remained—what about her growing feelings for Cord? Despite the fact that he was the enemy, she could not deny how much she cared for him.

  She knelt before him, and he cupped her face in his hands. She gazed up at him through tears of joy and trepidation. “You’ll take me there, then? We’ll have time to know each other even better, to grow closer. Maybe you will embrace my father’s beliefs, and—”

  “Marilee, stop it!” He could not stand to listen any longer. The time had come for her to learn the truth.

  He took a deep breath as she watched him anxiously. “Marilee, there’s something I have to tell you—”

  “Oh, isn’t this sweet?”

  They both looked up at Elenore.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Cord demanded. “I gave orders that you were to be kept on the sun porch.”

  Elenore’s eyes narrowed. They were filled with such venomous loathing that Marilee wondered how she could ever have believed Elenore was her friend.

  “So this is why there is talk at headquarters that you are becoming weak!” Elenore lashed out at Cord. “I’d heard rumors from the comrades that you were weakening for this icy little virgin, but I was too stupid to believe it. What secret does she possess that makes you such a fool, Cord? What is it she does that I can’t do better?”

  Cord grabbed her arm and steered her out, coolly declaring, “I don’t have to explain anything to you.” The door closed behind them.

  For a few moments, Marilee could only stand there in bewilderment. But then she came to her senses with a white-hot flash of realization.

  It did not matter that Cord was the enemy.

  That had nothing to do with the fact that she was falling in love with him.

  And no matter what it took, she was not going to lose him to Elenore.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  For the first time in her life Marilee knew what she wanted, and nothing was going to stand in her way.

  But when afternoon faded into evening, she could not deny the prickling feeling that something was wrong.

  Serge brought her dinner tray, and she saw the worried look in his eyes when she inquired about Cord, and noticed his evasive tone when he told her that Cord was away on business.

  Blocking his escape, she asked, “What kind of business did Cord have to take care of, Serge? Is he making plans for us to leave?”

  Serge paled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do.” She gave him a confident smile. “I already know that the ransom won’t be paid because your leaders can’t locate my father, and they want me taken to Russia. So you can tell me where Cord has gone—and why.”

  Serge shook his head. “He’ll be in to see you when he returns, I’m sure.”

  He tried to move around her, but she remained where she was.

  “Has Elenore left?” she asked curtly.

  Serge drew in his breath and let it out slowly. “No. She’s still here. I think Brandt went for her orders, as well. I assume,” he added nervously, “that he told you she’s one of us?”

  “Oh, yes.” Marilee nodded, frowning. “I was taken in by her, just like her brother. They both made a fool of me, but I’m wiser now.”

  She stepped aside, then asked softly, “Tell me, where is she staying? I have a right to know. It is my home.”

  “The sun porch on the first floor,” he answered readily.

  Marilee hoped she was able to hide her anger. That room had been her mother’s favorite! To quarter a col
dhearted, lying vixen like Elenore there was a sacrilege. But she was not about to say so, not to Serge, anyway.

  He started to pass once more. “If you need anything—”

  “I do!” Marilee interrupted quickly, feeling a sudden need to see Elenore. But first she had to get by Serge and down the stairs.

  He looked at her expectantly. “Yes?”

  “Uh, wine!” She snapped her fingers. “I’d like a bottle of chablis with my dinner. I’m sure Cord would enjoy a glass later. Would you mind terribly?” She opened the door with a beseeching expression, then turned and walked back toward the toilet alcove with its brocade dressing screen, pretending to be in a hurry.

  “I need to wash up,” she called over her shoulder as she disappeared behind the screen. “Just leave the bottle and two glasses beside my tray.

  “And I’m so grateful,” she added sweetly. Serge hurried out, relieved to have been spared further interrogation.

  Marilee waited a few moments, then peered out from behind the dressing screen. She smiled in triumph as she realized her plan had apparently worked. He had thought she would be in her toilet, and he was in a hurry, so he had left the door ajar!

  She moved quickly.

  Tiptoeing out of the room, she glanced about furtively to make sure there were no other guards. Then she stealthily made her way to the front stairway, knowing that Serge would have gone the back way.

  She was almost at the entrance foyer when suddenly the front door swung open and Cord walked in.

  She dropped to her knees behind the thick mahogany balusters and he failed to see her as he strode quickly and purposefully down the hallway toward the rear of the house.

  Marilee felt a sudden wave of fury as she realized that he was headed for the sun porch!

  She stood up and forced herself to continue slowly on her way despite the urge to run and burst in on them.

  Cord, unaware that Marilee was following him to the sun porch, unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  Elenore had been waiting for him ever since he had left her there long hours earlier with a stern warning she was to stay there and keep quiet until he could report to headquarters and confirm the orders she had brought.

  She was lying on a wicker chaise, covered with a down comforter. Her hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders, and she lay with her eyes half closed. “I’ve missed you,” she said huskily.

  Cord was uneasy at once. Her shoulders were bare. Then she confirmed his suspicions by throwing back the comforter and lazily standing up—completely naked.

  “I’ve been waiting for this moment.” Her tongue flicked provocatively across her moist, wet lips, and she moved with seductive grace to where he stood.

  Cord did not move.

  Despite his reservations, he could not help being aroused.

  Her large, firm breasts had always enticed him.

  Her waist was narrow and her hips were wide and curved.

  Merely watching her move across the floor made him instantly erect.

  She stood before him, scant feet away, and paused to spread her legs, in a pose meant to tease and torment. “For you, my darling. All for you. I know you want me. Take me here. Now!” she commanded.

  Cord bit down on his lip, the nerves in his jaw tensing. Goddammit, he loved Marilee, but love had nothing to do with the way his insides were on fire now. Elenore had always been a good and satisfying lover, and it had been too long since he’d had her or any other woman.

  And he could not, would not, apologize for being a man.

  She curved her forefinger toward him, urging him to follow as she backed toward the chaise.

  She lay down, spreading her thighs yet wider, caressing herself. “For you, darling. All for you. Take me…”

  With a deep, agonizing groan of surrender, Cord went to her and lay down on top of her, his lips claiming hers.

  Marilee rounded the corner—and stopped dead still. She could see that the door to the sun porch was ajar.

  All was silent from within.

  Had she made a mistake? she wondered. Had Cord perhaps turned and gone up the back steps? Was he, this very moment, discovering that she was missing?

  Well, all she wanted was a few moments alone with Elenore to get a few things off her chest. For too long she had allowed others to manipulate her. Now she wanted to tell Elenore just what a two-faced bitch she was for having connived with her lying, cowardly brother.

  And yes, she had to admit that she yearned to tell Elenore of that night in the basement, how wonderful Cord’s kisses had tasted. By God, she wanted to have the delicious revenge of seeing the look on Elenore’s face when she told her that she intended to have Cord—for always.

  Taking a deep breath, she tiptoed quietly to the door, pushed it open—and froze in horror.

  Without a word, she turned and fled as quickly and quietly as she had come.

  Cord and Elenore, lost in their wild and wanton passion, were totally unaware of her presence.

  Marilee ran into the nearest room, a large storage closet that her mother had used for arranging flowers. Now it was empty, and Marilee sank to the floor in the darkness and allowed the tears to come.

  First she was overwhelmed with sorrow and heartache to think how Cord had made a fool of her. She had never been any more to him than just another body to give him pleasure. And he obviously wanted Elenore more, for it had been to her he had gone first—not to culminate the passion they had shared earlier in the day.

  But the sorrow and heartache quickly turned into boiling fury, such as she’d never known before.

  Damn him!

  Damn him straight to hell!

  No more would he make a fool of her.

  No more would anyone make a fool of her.

  She had been used for the last time in her life.

  And now, she realized wildly, she had a chance to escape.

  Cord was busy with his animal lust.

  Serge was, no doubt, relaxing outside her door, confident that she was, safely locked inside.

  No one knew she was free, so all she had to do was get out of the house and away from the estate.

  But then where?

  She thought a moment, trying to think rationally.

  She knew Elenore had driven an automobile, for she had seen it parked in the circular driveway in front of the house.

  Marilee chewed her lip anxiously. While she had never actually driven a car, she had watched others and felt she could handle it. In her present state of desperation, she felt she could do anything.

  Stepping from the closet, she saw by a nearby window that darkness had fallen outside. All she had to do was get in the car and make her way quietly to the overgrown back road which led to the site of a winery her father had planned to build. From there a rough, curving road led to yet another back road. Taking that route, she knew she could reach the main road to Pans undetected. By the time she was discovered missing, she would be well on her way.

  She smiled confidently to herself as she made her way out. She would not remain in Paris. She would go from there to the German border, to somehow find her way to Russia. Surely there were subversives along the way, and if she were smart and careful, she could make contact with the underground.

  A ripple of fear ran up her spine as she left Daniberry for what might well be the last time, but Marilee would not look back.

  No matter what the future held, she was determined not to fail.

  She was, after all, a Coltrane, and that, she thought with satisfaction, was a legacy that would give her the courage to survive.

  Cord lay spent and despondent as he pondered the price he was paying for a few moments of pleasure.

  No matter that in his mind the mouth he’d kissed had been Marilee’s, and the body he’d caressed had been hers.

  And no matter that at the moment of final release he had actually been with her.

  For when all was said and done, he found himself looking down at Elenore and wishing h
e’d had the strength to resist.

  “Now I know what a black widow spider’s mate feels like,” he muttered to himself, getting to his feet and gathering his clothes.

  A dreamy look on her face, Elenore raised up on one elbow to ask, “What did you say, darling?”

  His response was cold. “I said I’ve got to go.”

  She reached out to clutch his arm, but he jerked away from her grasp. She frowned. “I don’t like you treating me this way, Cordell,” she said. “What’s wrong?”

  A little warning bell went off inside, and Cord told himself that the last thing he needed was to make Elenore angry. He was going to have a big enough problem as it was getting Marilee out of there and to safety without Elenore causing trouble.

  With great effort, he leaned over to brush his lips against hers one more time. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so cross. It’s just that I’ve a lot to do, and it wasn’t on my schedule to be seduced by a beautiful woman.” He winked.

  Elenore yawned and stretched, pleased as a warm kitten. “Well, do what you must, darling, but hurry. This might’ve been a splendid place in its day, but it’s depressing now, and I want to get back to Switzerland.”

  She sat up suddenly. “Have you given any thought as to where you’d like for us to settle till we decide on the future?”

  Cord groaned inwardly, but with great effort he continued to be amiable. “No. No, I haven’t. I just want to carry out my present orders, and then we’ll talk about it.” He kissed her again and left, promising to return whenever he could.

  He rushed down the hall and up the stairs, wishing he had never taken time to check on Elenore. It had been Marilee he’d yearned to see the instant he returned, and now nearly a half hour had passed.

  Serge was dozing, his chair propped against the wall just outside Marilee’s door. At the sound of someone running up the steps, he was instantly alert, hand at his holster. He sighed with relief to see Cord. “It’s about time you’re back. She was asking about you awhile ago, and I didn’t know what to tell her except that you’d gone away on business.”