Keeper of the Stars: Part Four

by Aliyah Burke

  “I see.” Lian tugged briefly on the sleeve of his business suit as he neared Lana. At her side, he brought her chin up and kissed her lightly. “Lana is my fiancée, Ms Carroll. This is why she spends so much time with Mark. In fact, she was the one who named him. They spend most of their days together.”

  Lana wasn’t ready to relax and when Lian slipped his arm around her waist, she took a deep breath. Her heart skipped a few beats. He’d called her his fiancée. Were it just the two of them, her smile would have lit the room, but it wouldn’t do for her to look shocked by his words. However, later, she could thank him properly and figure out what this meant for them. Would she get a wedding? She felt better having heard him call her what he had and tell the woman how much time she spent with Mark.

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Funny, the scowl didn’t appear to coincide with her statement. “I’m here about…Mark.”

  Lana’s stomach tightened. “What about him?” she blurted out.

  Yancy barely looked at her. Instead she opened her binder again and read something from it. “We have a family ready to adopt him.”

  The words stunned her. No. That wasn’t right. Mark was hers. The room spun and she clutched onto Lian, who tightened his hold on her.

  “I see.” His words were like him. Calm. Unruffled.

  That’s all he has to say? He’s not fighting her on this? What’s wrong with him?

  “We will be arriving for him tomorrow. I just wanted to come by and give you a heads up.”

  “Thank you for that, Ms Carroll. We’ll have him ready.”

  Yancy looked like she longed to say something else, but she turned and walked to the door Maxwell held open for her. Lana didn’t move, not even when it clicked shut behind the woman.

  “Lana?”

  “You just let him go,” she said in disbelief.

  “I had to.”

  Tears stung her eyes and she glared up at him. “Don’t lie to me. You could have fought to keep him. Instead, you just tossed him away like you were glad to get rid of him!”

  She bolted up the stairs then let herself into Mark’s room. He slept soundly in his crib and she picked him up, needing to hold him close to her. In the rocker, she pressed her nose to his soft skin and inhaled the scent of baby and freshness.

  “Lana.”

  “Go away,” she whispered, refusing to look up at the man she knew stood before her.

  “No.”

  “Whatever.”

  “I was fostering him, Lana. That’s it. Nothing more. We want him to have a loving home. Don’t we?”

  Guilt assuaged her for her selfish desires. She continued to refuse to look up but she nodded. “I suppose so. But why didn’t you say you wanted him?”

  “Did I have to say that so you would know? I thought you knew how I felt about Mark.”

  More guilt pressed. “I do.” She lifted her gaze. “Then why not fight?”

  “Did you think maybe this is the best thing for Mark? These people who are adopting him have gone through a process to get a baby to add to or create their own family.”

  “He’s my baby.” She didn’t bother to wipe the tears away from her face.

  “And you’ll always carry part of him with you, and he you. We can foster more, Lana. If you want to adopt, we can do that as well. I didn’t do this to hurt you. I hope you can understand that.”

  “I want some time alone with him, please.” She couldn’t make sense of the tumbling emotions within her.

  “Of course.” Lian left as silently as he’d arrived.

  The remainder of the day, she spent with Mark. While Lian fed him his meal, she stood in his room, over his crib, fingering the blanket that hung slightly through the railing. She stood in the corner as Lian changed him and put him to bed for the last time.

  When he began to pack some of the outfits, she moved from her spot and helped him. They didn’t talk and she continually struggled to stave off new waves of tears. That night she spent in Mark’s room. Lian didn’t comment on it, just let her do her thing.

  The next day, after a sleepless night for Lana, Yancy Carroll showed up in that same car. Lana hung back, Mark in her arms, as Lian went down the steps to greet her at the vehicle and have a talk with her. The woman nodded and put the bag he handed her in the trunk.

  Both of them eventually turned to her and watched her expectantly. Shoring up her defences as best she could, she made her way, slowly, to where they stood. When Yancy held out her hands, Lana had to fight not to snap her teeth at the woman and run away with Mark. Brushing her lips over his head, she tried to smile.

  “Bye, little angel. I love you and will never forget you.”

  Lian took him from her and said his own farewell. Then Yancy took Mark, who began to cry, and put him in the car seat and buckled him in. His wail was cut short when she shut the door.

  Lana’s heart broke and she dug her nails into her palms to remain still. Yancy gave her a look of sorrow and understanding. Then she exchanged a look with Lian prior to getting into the driver’s seat.

  As the car started and turned in the drive, Lana’s limbs shook. When it progressed down the long winding road, they gave out on her and she collapsed to her knees as the floodgates fully opened. She lowered her head then tipped it back and released a keening cry as her pain overflowed. Would she ever see him again? How would she move on from this?

  Lian reached for her but she jerked away, wanting to remain alone in her world of pain. Her shoulders shook with the force of her sobs and she shrank further into herself. Around her, the wind whipped and leaves swirled. None of it mattered to her. All that did was the loss of that little baby boy.

  Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:

  Code of Honour: A Marriage of Convenience

  Aliyah Burke

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  Michael opened the purse he’d found and searched for some identification so he could have the owner paged. As his tanned fingers slipped through the interior they passed a book of American poets—Edgar Allen Poe, Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, and more. He found a container of orange breath mints. A playbill for one of his favourite shows, The Phantom of the Opera, was crumpled up on the bottom and under that, he finally found an identification card. He immediately recognised the woman pictured on the Exchange employee card. She worked in the flower shop, but he’d seen her in the bookstore, as well.

  Standing, he curled one hand over the muted purple purse and headed for the door. Not even the loud roar of the F-18s and other aircraft flying overhead distracted him from his ‘mission’. As a pilot stationed here at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, the sounds were all common place to him.

  Crossing the parking lot of NAS Oceana’s main Navy Exchange, Michael fought the grin which almost crossed his suntanned face as he watched a few children walk past him in their ‘I ♥ Jet Noise’ tees. He knew he was receiving strange looks from people as he walked in the Exchange, carrying a purse, with no woman beside him, and for some reason it didn’t bother him. Today was a good day.

  It was summer in Virginia. Everything was hot, so it was nice to enter the air-conditioned building. He breathed a bit easier without all the humidity in the air. Moving past the beauty salon, barbershop, GNC, and the bookstore, he headed directly to the floral department where he saw the woman he searched for.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, coming towards him.

  “I believe you dropped this outside, Ma’am.”

  “Oh, my goodness. I couldn’t find it. It must have fallen out of my bag. I’ve been looking everywhere for my card to swipe, and I didn’t…” she trailed off, apparently realising she was rambling. Clearing her throat, she muttered, “Thank you so much…?”

  He smiled at her. “Taylor. Lieutenant Michael Taylor.”

  * * * *

  In the bookstore, Ayanna smiled at the customers she was helping and handed them their purchases. “Have a great day,” she sa
id as they walked away.

  Her gaze moved back across the corridor to the flower shop where a handsome man talked to Lauren. His faded jeans seemed to mould themselves to his lower half. A beige shirt hugged his torso and defined his upper arms as it conformed to them. A whisper of familiarity skated across her skin, but she shook it off.

  “Figures,” she muttered to herself. “She’s either getting a dinner date or he’s buying flowers for his wife.” Allowing herself one lingering look at the dark-haired man, she walked over to a box of new inventory waiting for her attention and got back to work.

  As she finished putting the last book on the stand specifically for military reading, Lauren entering the bookstore with a silly grin on her face as she walked.

  “Hey, Ayanna,” she said in her typical, upbeat manner.

  “Lauren,” Ayanna responded with a grin. “I saw that handsome man hanging over your counter.”

  A blush moved up her friend’s face. “Oh, that…that was Lieutenant Taylor.”

  “Ooohhhh,” Ayanna teased. “And what are you doing with him later? Or should I say to him.”

  I knew a Taylor once, but that was a different lifetime ago.

  “Shut up, you. He was returning my purse, well your purse. He was very impressed with its contents. The playbill, the poetry book…”

  “Why would he be impressed with that?”

  “I guess he doesn’t meet many people who read American poets anymore.”

  Ayanna rolled her eyes. “And I suppose you told him the lead in Phantom was just so dreamy.” The deepening flush on Lauren’s face gave her the answer. Ayanna shook her head. She’d let Lauren borrow the purse for a date and was still waiting on the return of her items. Things she’d forgotten were in the purse at the time. “Shame on you for trying to pass off those things as yours.”

  “Well, I was just trying to make an impression.”

  Ayanna burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. “Can you even tell me one of the poets in that book?”

  Collagen-injected lips pursed as Lauren thought.

  With a friendly yet knowing smirk, Ayanna patted Lauren’s arm as she moved to the counter and the customer who waited there.

  Fifteen minutes later, Ayanna sat down outside the Exchange at the small table and took out her lunch. A few moments later, Lauren joined her and they chatted easily while they ate.

  “Is Erma dropping off Devon today?”

  Ayanna smiled. “Yes. Yes, she is.”

  Devon Lamar Barker was her three-year-old son. Back when all she’d cared about were parties, she’d had gone to a Thunderbirds air show demonstration with a friend in Albuquerque while on a break from undergraduate school.

  And had got pregnant.

  There’d been a huge party. Lots to see. Lots to do. Well, only one for Ayanna. She’d met him at the beer tent. His name was Michael Kelly Taylor.

  He was a handsome man. A few inches over six feet. Golden tanned skin, all over. His hair was mocha brown and soft to touch. His dark, sensual, chocolaty gaze had felt like satin when it had touched her. He was beautifully constructed—a body that belonged in a sculptor’s studio, chiselled from granite or marble. Yet, his touch had been warm and tender.

  He’d told her he was staying in Albuquerque at Kirkland Air Force Base. She hadn’t known what that meant exactly, but she’d gathered he was military. And assumed Air Force.

  Honestly, she didn’t care. It was a combination of things. The evening air, the buzz from alcohol, the fact she was wild and impulsive. All combined, it had left her with no desire to leave his presence. Topping it all had been how the mere touch of his callused fingers sent tremors through her body.

  Michael had kept her cradled against his chest during the firework display that had rounded out the night’s festivities, his body keeping the cool desert air at bay. The memory of that night was imprinted on her soul.

  “Ayanna, are you listening to me?”

  Blinking rapidly, Ayanna shook her head, dragged back to the moment. “Sorry Lauren, I got lost there for a sec.”

  “From the dreamy expression on your face, I’d bet it was a guy.”

  Ayanna blushed. “Yeah, it was.”

  “Who?” Lauren asked, more than ready to dish some dirt with her friend.

  “Devon’s father.”

  A blonde eyebrow rose. “You haven’t ever talked much about him. I guess I always assumed your relationship had ended badly.”

  A short bark of laughter slipped out. “Relationship? Let’s just say I was being ‘liberated’ and such. Went to the Thunderbirds air show and the fireworks afterward. The rest was history.”

  Lauren opened and shut her mouth. “Is Devon’s father military?” Her head cocked to the side in question.

  Ayanna shrugged. “He said he was staying at Kirkland. To be honest…I didn’t care. I was at lot younger then, still trying to figure out what I wanted to do.”

  Lauren smirked. “Since I’ve met Devon, I’d say you did do something you wanted to.”

  Running a hand down her face, Ayanna narrowed her eyes. Leaning forward, she whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “I did and it was wonderful. I have never, and I mean never, felt like that.”

  “What happened between you two?” Lauren asked.

  “What do you mean? We had a wonderful night and then…parted ways.”

  “I mean, why didn’t you tell him about Devon?”

  “I didn’t know until I was two months pregnant.” Ayanna smoothed out her sandwich bag and put it back into her lunch container. “I had to settle down and get my life in order—and fast—so that’s what I did.”

  “Were you scared he wouldn’t—”

  “No,” Ayanna interrupted. “I didn’t even think about him at all. The second I got the news I was pregnant, my whole world shifted. It was all about the precious life I carried. And has been ever since. Having Devon is the greatest thing that could have happened to me. Sure, I wish circumstances had been different. Like marriage beforehand, but it didn’t happen that way.”

  She placed her empty water bottle inside the container as well. “I wasn’t anywhere near New Mexico and didn’t have extra money to attempt to find him. Okay, perhaps I was scared of rejection.” Ayanna fiddled with her lunch box. “Perhaps I was scared to hear anything negative out of his mouth. I wanted to remember him as he was when we spent the night together. Passionate. Sexual. Erotic. Not angry and accusing. I had enough on my plate to deal with.”

  Lauren smiled softly and reached her hand across the round wire table. “I’m glad we became friends. And I am going to stop questioning you about this, because—” She pointed to the left.

  Ayanna followed her friend’s finger with her gaze and smiled. Erma, her babysitter who was really more like a grandmother, and her son were heading towards them. Devon churned his little legs as fast as he could, a silly grin on his face.

  Standing, she started to walk to him.

  “Ayanna? Ayanna, is that you?”

  Looking behind her, she met the gaze of the person who called out to her and froze. Staring back at her was the most sensual pair of dark chocolate eyes she’d seen in her life.

  Michael Kelly Taylor.

  Dear sweet Jesus. Am I imagining him? How come he still looks so damn good?

  She allowed her gaze to roam over his body. Everything around her faded as his stare touched her like the lover he’d been to her that one wonderful night. Her lower body reacted much the same way it had the night they had met. Suddenly, she grew damp. Her hand touched the base of her throat. All it takes is a look and I am ready. Ready for him to… Mentally shaking the direction of those thoughts away, Ayanna fought to moisturise her dry throat. How is it when my mouth goes dry my pussy is drenched?

  “Michael?” she murmured.

  The afternoon sun glinted off his dark hair. Those muscles covering his body were more defined than they had been before. His body rippled with power and the promise of safety.

 
In slow motion, she took in his jeans and the shirt and realised he was the same man who’d returned her purse to Lauren. The same man who’d given her more pleasure than anyone had a right to experience.

  He stepped closer. “Ayanna?”

  Michael couldn’t believe it. The last time he’d seen Ayanna, she’d been sound asleep in the king-sized bed of her room at the Marriott. Her naked body had contrasted beautifully with the light sheets that had covered her.

  He’d sat beside her and stroked her hair. She’d murmured incoherently and snuggled further into the feather duvet, never waking. Trailing a finger along her jaw line, he’d whispered, “Goodbye, Ayanna,” and left. Like any man would after a one-night stand.

  He hadn’t wanted to leave her but his leave was up and he’d needed to get back to work. Before they’d ended up in the bed, he’d asked her where she was from. She’d hedged with her answer.

  That hadn’t mattered. The second his hand had brushed the small of her back in the beer tent line, he’d been lost. The nutmeg tone of her skin had seemed to surround the lighter tan of his and cradle it. The jolt that rocketed through his body at that simple touch had amazed him.

  He’d made love to her, and for the moment she had soothed the restlessness inside him. And now, she was before him in a different state and looking better than ever. I haven’t experienced anything remotely close since the night in her arms. I want that back.

  She’d changed her hair. Now springy curls moved with each motion she made. She wore dark blue jeans and a floral top that only fastened on one dark, creamy shoulder, leaving the other one bare. She was curvier than he remembered, and he longed to explore her new body. Wanted to bury his face in the side of her neck and relearn her scent all over again.

  “Ayanna?” he asked again, noticing how her eyes kept flickering to the side. Following her line of sight, he spied an older woman walking with one of the cutest little boys he had ever seen.

  The child wore a tank top with a picture of a basketball on it. The shorts he wore matched the colours of the top. His head was shaved almost bald, but there were telltale signs of growth. However, it was the sparkle in his dark eyes and a smile that stood out against his brown skin that brought a grin to Michael’s face.