Leif eyed his brother, disturbed by the coyness of his grin. “Yeah, she is. And that means you need to make yourself scarce—even if she invites you to stay.”
Kristoff picked up a roll of sandpaper. He tossed it up in the air and caught it numerous times before goading Leif. “What if she’s adamant? I don’t want to be rude.”
Leif reached out and caught the roll mid-juggle. “It never stopped you before and tonight isn’t the night to test those waters. Understand?”
“Yeah, I get it. You want her all to yourself.”
Leif ignored him and adhered the sandpaper disc to a manual palm sander he grabbed from the shelf. “Do you blame me?”
“Are you asking for my approval?” Kristoff drilled sarcastically.
Leif removed his shirt and threw it aside, the heat of the evening sun baking the stuffy barn. Or was it the topic of the conversation getting to him? “Maybe I am.”
“You’re questioning your inherent ability to find flaws because you can’t seem to find a single one in her, aren’t you?”
“There’s that,” Leif said, leaping over the side of the boat. “Or perhaps I’m rushing into things prematurely.”
“Only you can answer that. Do you feel like you are?”
Leif squatted within the hull and began sanding with long methodical strokes. “Not really. As crazy as it sounds, I feel like I’ve known her all my life, yet I just met her. I don’t want to stop getting to know her. I want to know all there is to know about Lorraine O’Connor.”
“Before she leaves,” Kristoff added.
Leif shot his brother a look. The thought of knowing she wouldn’t be in Ireland for long hit him where it hurt. “What if I don’t want her to leave?”
“Then don’t let her.”
Leif shook the idea from his head. “She has a life in the States. Family. Friends.”
“Everyone’s got that, Leif. Question is, is it enough to keep her there? More importantly, what’s to keep her here? You?”
“I’d like to think so.” Leif went back to his sanding, ruminating over how she’d react if he approached her with the idea. “She’d probably laugh at me.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
Leif laughed at himself. “Listen to me. I sound like a love-crazed teen.”
“Are you in love with her?”
Leif’s hand halted, but he stared straight ahead at nothing. “Is that even possible?”
“You’re asking the wrong person about love, pal. But if you’re asking me if she’s worth holding on to? Then yeah, I think so. I think you’d be a fool to let her slip through your hands.”
Leif smiled and continued on his work, satisfied at hearing his brother’s opinion—for once.
Chapter Twenty-two
Lorraine checked herself one last time in the mirror of Leif’s bathroom, the striking light color of her green eyes jumping out. She had darkened her eye shadow to a smoky grey and dramatized her lashes with a deep black mascara to call attention to one of her best assets. She was pleased that it was the first thing she noticed, and hoped it would be the first thing Leif would notice as well.
Fluffing her long dark hair, she smiled at the transformation she’d made of herself. In the past days, Leif had only seen the natural country girl look. Tonight, she wanted to show him the sexy glamorous side, with a black dress dipping low in the back and inching high above the knees.
Content with her efforts, she excited the bathroom, her very high black heels clicking confidently across his floor. She checked the chicken in the oven and lit a few taper candles she’d picked up in Kilronan. Glancing across the elegant place settings on the table, the wine chilling in the ice bucket, she turned and strode out the door, her heart leaping in her chest.
As she descended the few steps of his porch, she had second thoughts about walking down the decorative stone pavers toward the barn. Knowing she’d have more than Leif’s eyes on her somehow shook her nerves. Kristoff was the kind of man who’d analyze her from top to bottom, determining if she were worthy enough for his brother. What if he didn’t approve? What if she didn’t live up to his expectations?
She pushed her ridiculous fretting aside. This night was not about Kristoff. It was about being with the man she had fallen in love with all over again. Spending as much time with Leif, as much as he’d allow, was the only thing that mattered. Even if Leif invited his brother to stay for dinner, she’d not care as long as she was in his presence.
She took one long breath, the clean scent of the sea-salt air calming her as much as the passing breeze. Smoothing her skirt down her legs, she entered the barn, searched the aisleway and froze. To her left, warm light filtered from a room adjacent the barn stalls. It was not the sight of a dragon-headed prow from an impressive Viking longship standing proud within the space of the open door, but the glistening skin of Leif’s muscled bare-chest doused with saw dust that stunned her.
He had no idea she stood there. She admired the muscles of his arms and shoulders flexing as he glided sandpaper up and down the inner planks of the ship. For a few stolen moments, she took the opportunity to watch him, to hear his voice resonate within the walls of the barn as he talked and joked with his brother. It didn’t matter what he was saying. She was absorbed with gazing upon his beautiful form while he dwelled in his element, while he was doing nothing but being his fetching mesmeric self.
Laughter erupted between the brothers and it shook her from her intense stupor. She grabbed the wall next to her for support as her ankle twisted and knocked her off balance. Leif looked up at the noise and his eyes widened upon seeing her.
As they locked eyes, she noticed how still his body became. How the Adam’s apple on his thick throat bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes drifted downward, slowly, taking in her appearance inch by inch. She could almost feel the heat of his inspection blazing a trail over her entire body. Her feet faltered again in her heels.
“Um, Leif? Are you going to help her or just sit there with your tongue hanging out?” Kristoff jibed as he popped up from behind the back side of the ship.
As if slapped back to reality, Leif leapt from the hull and tripped trying to get to her. Catching himself on the barn door, he slid it open on its track. Within two more awkward strides, his hands cradled her elbows and supported her, his eyes still drinking her in.
“Hi.”
Lorraine smiled at the simplicity of his words, though she knew it meant so much more. The huskiness of his voice deceived the casualness he tried to fake. Between the way he stumbled to get to her and the weight of his simple greeting, there was a significance in his tone that splayed across her as if he’d dragged his very hands down her body.
“You look…”
“Sexy as fuck,” Kristoff assisted.
Leif turned and glared at his brother.
“What? Like you weren’t thinking it?”
Leif sighed and turned his attention back her. “You’ll have to excuse him. He loses his manners when a stunning woman enters the room.”
Lorraine gobbled up his compliment. “Thank you.”
Leif stepped back, still holding fast to her arms as he took another thorough look. “How did you swindle this dress passed airport security?”
Lorraine laughed and sported her best cliché response. “This old thing?”
He started to pull her close, but stopped himself, glancing down at his sweaty body. “I’m absolutely disgusting.”
“He is,” Kristoff agreed. “He reeks of self-induced castration. Seriously, Leif, for the good of mankind, reattach your balls and escort the woman forward so she can observe something with masculinity.” Kristoff outstretched his arms across the ship. “Check out my drakkar, Rain.”
Leif surrendered to his brother’s demand and stepped aside, guiding her into the room. She didn’t have to turn around to catch him surveying her backside. She had a feeling he was riveted by the gaping openness of the dress that plunged tauntingly over the top rim of her butt. It was exactl
y what the dress was designed for, and what she hoped when slipping it on.
To add to the torment of his gaze on her rear, she felt the slight pressure of Leif’s hand on the bare skin of her lower back as she walked. Although he meant to assure her footing by placing his hand at a virtually innocent location of her body, he made it doubly difficult for her to walk with poise.
Concentrating on each individual step, she successfully stood beside the streamlined hand-crafted vessel, the smell of freshly sanded wood infusing her senses. Looking up at the carved dragon head looming above her, she recalled the first time she had seen Dægan’s longship in Limerick’s port.
****
Through the fog, I could see the large wooden prow of Dægan’s drakkar. It was carved as an open-mouthed dragon with teeth and scales, raising its head proudly for all to see, even in the dead of night. Its eyes watched fiendishly as I stared back. Its neck was rigid and self-righteous, long and curved as it preceded the rest of the ship and ended with a coiled tail for the sternpost.
As we pushed closer, I could finally distinguish the rest of the wicked ship’s body through the lucid fog. It was draped with colorfully painted round shields at the gunwale, each one as lurid as the next, and five oars on each side extending into the black river, like ten legs steadying the rocking hull as it was loaded down with chests, barrels and brimming sacks. It provoked a feeling of instinctive fear in my heart, which was probably its very purpose, I thought, when landing on virgin soil.
****
Though the bone-chilling dragon-headed prow of this longship was just as menacing as Dægan’s, the familiar likeness warmed her.
Leif skirted around her and smiled.
“You built this?” she asked, still in awe of how closely it resembled the real thing.
“I built this,” Kristoff corrected. “I just used Leif for the manual labor.”
“It’s true,” Leif admitted. “He’s the expert designer—the only thing I’ll ever give him due credit for in this lifetime.”
Lorraine looked at Kristoff, the smile on his face blinding. “I’m amazed. Speechless. When you told me to come out and see your boat I had no idea it was—”
“Wait,” Leif interrupted, looking between the two. Settling on his brother, he pointed. “You knew she was here? And you told her to…” His words drifted to silence.
Kristoff slapped his hands together. “And that’s my cue,” he said, rounding the prow. As he trotted past her, he whispered, “Enjoy your evening.”
Lorraine looked at Leif, his jaw-dropping display tickling her.
“You were in cahoots with him this whole time?” Leif joked, removing an imaginary knife from his back. “Don’t tell me Kristoff saw that dress before I did.”
She bit her lip, displaying a poor sense of guilt through her beaming smile. “In his defense, it wasn’t on me when he saw it.”
Leif slumped against the side of the ship, his shoulders drooping theatrically as he sat on its edge. “I can’t believe this. Betrayed by the one woman I care about.”
A sudden wave of silence rolled through the air. Leif’s words echoed in her ears like the repercussions of a deep cavern utterance bouncing back at her. “You care about me?”
The instant her question fell from her lips, she thought she saw a flash of regret registering on his face. But the slight curve of his sensual mouth hinting at a smile proved she’d been mistaken. He held out his hand to her and she obliged, slipping her hand in his. He stroked his thumb over the top of her knuckles as he gazed into her eyes. “I feel like I can’t remember a time when I didn’t care about you. It’s as if my life, before we met, doesn’t exist.”
Lorraine couldn’t look away from him. His outspoken confession held her fixed to the floor and she found it hard to breath.
With a firm tug, he pulled her closer so she stood between his thighs. “Much of my life has been spent soul searching and trying to discover my ancestors in hopes of finding my place in this world. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been looking for something that, in the grand scheme of things, has no bearing on who I am at all. I never realized that until I met you.
“When I look in your eyes, I see myself the way I’d want to see me; a content man ready to make a leap of faith. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter where I came from or how I’m linked to those who came before me. In my heart, I feel as if I’ve finally found the one answer to all my questions.” He paused, reaching up to brush the back of his hand across her cheek. The distinct smell of lumber mixed with Leif’s heady scent swirled around her. “My journey’s end begins with you, Rain.”
Lorraine felt as if someone had jerked the carpet out from underneath her. She considered herself to be soundly coordinated in most situations. But between the insensible pencil thin high heels strapped to her feet and the things Leif had said to her, she fought the need to collapse in his lap. Her knees shook and her stomach fluttered like she’d trapped a thousand butterflies. She gripped his thighs for support without knowing, and tried like the devil to regain some sense of composure.
“I apologize for putting you on the spot. Perhaps, I’ve said things I shouldn’t have. But something inside me tells me that you understand completely. Tell me I’m not a fool for thinking such things.”
“You’re not,” she stammered.
At this point, she wanted to tell him why he’d felt drawn to her, why he felt so connected in a way that defies the odds of normal human emotion. She was dying to profess their existence as past lovers and that they somehow had gotten a second chance to be together in this life. But she held her tongue. Though he announced his readiness for taking that daring leap of faith, she feared the idea of their souls rebirthed into new human bodies pushed the envelope. Unwilling to divulge the whole truth, she opted to surrender a small portion of the truth.
“I do understand how you feel. I feel it too. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid.”
Leif caught her chin with his warm gentle hand. The stark blue swirls of color in his eyes softened and a trace of sympathy smoothed the sharp angles of his face. “It’s only to be expected. You were with a man to whom you gave everything and he took advantage of that. He broke your heart.”
Lorraine did everything she could to keep herself from disputing Leif’s foolish rendition. It had nothing to do with Jack’s infidelity, but it was best to let him believe it.
“I can’t say what lies ahead for us,” he added bluntly. “But I promise I will always be honest with you. I will never do anything to hurt you.” He slid his hand around her neck and wove his fingers into her hair, pulling her toward his lips. He glanced down at her mouth. “I will never hurt you, Rain. Ever.”
The words he repeated brushed across her lips like lustrous silk. As she closed her eyes, their lips met. Everything around her ceased to exist save the man she’d always loved. His lips were soft against hers, the raw male scent of his skin adding to the pleasure of his delicate kiss. She could feel his callused hands gliding over the fabric of her dress, seeking the bare skin of her back. A smile teased his lips as he touched the tip of his tongue to hers. Sparks ignited and her whole body went numb. If not for his legs on either side of her, she would have buckled and hit the floor.
Chapter Twenty-three
As soon as Lorraine heard the water from the shower turn on, she dove into her backpack and pulled out her cell. From the moment she and Leif left the barn to begin their dinner date, all she wanted to do was call Patrick and tell him the good news.
Counting the rings, he finally picked up on the third. “Hello?”
“You’re not going to believe this.”
His laughed echoed through the receiver. “Try me.”
“I think Leif’s falling in love with me.”
“You think?”
“Well, he didn’t come out and say it, but…” she drifted off, recalling Leif’s words. “He said his journey’s end begins with me. With me, Patrick. He said with me.”
“He did,” she said, glancing at the candle-lit table behind her. “And I’ve made him dinner tonight, so I think the rest of the night is going to be even better.”
“Where is he now?”
“In the shower. Why?”
“I’m wondering why you’re calling me if he’s there with you.”
“Because you’re my best friend. You’re always the first person I’m dying to call when something amazing happens.”
“You seem very happy.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” she exclaimed, pacing beside the table. Unable to stand still, she rattled off her thoughts as they materialized. “I can’t believe I’m getting a second chance to be with him, to be with the man I was once married to. It’s like a fairy tale. Oh, Patrick, talking me into going to Ireland was the best idea ever and I thank you for being so adamant. I mean, what if I had refused to go? What if I hadn’t taken your advice about staying on Inis Mór and booked a hotel in Dublin? I would have never found him.” She froze, the sudden halt of her clicking heels deafening. The idea of missing her opportunity to be with her one true love left a hard lump in her stomach. “I would have missed my only chance to see him again.”
When Patrick spoke, his tone seemed quite subdued. “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing how things have worked out. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
Lorraine tried to decipher the meaning behind his words. It wasn’t like him to mollify her over anything, but then again, she’d never presented him with something so mind-boggling before.
“I know you are having a hard time with this. And I don’t blame you.”
“Blame me for what?”
“For second guessing me.”
“It’s not that,” Patrick denied. “It’s just that it’s not like you to be this happy. I’ve never heard you be this elated over a guy before.”
“This isn’t just any guy, Patrick. This is Dægan, son of Rælik, my Norse warrior and chieftain husband in the body of Leif Dæganssen, a present-day archeologist who digs up castle ruins and grave sites of historical icons.”
The Emerald Isle Trilogy Boxed Set Page 83