How did she get wet? she wondered vaguely.
“Alexis. Are you all right?”
Alexis frowned. Stupid question. She was cold, wet. She wanted to go home. She couldn’t figure out what she was doing in the water. She thought about it for a couple of minutes. Oh yeah! Eric—the snake—had thrown her off the damned ship.
Somehow that didn’t seem quite right, though. She thought about it some more. There was something … something. An image of huge jaws coming at her filled her mind. Her heart leapt into overtime and she started screaming, clawing at Thor in an effort to climb out of the water.
He grasped her tightly. She felt his hand touch her face and suddenly she was drifting again. She stopped fighting, settled against him. He was warm.
I want to go home, she thought plaintively.
She felt herself rising up, as if she’d suddenly become weightless. Cold air blew against her wet skin. Her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. It was the last thing she remembered.
When she woke up, she was staring into a bright light.
“Alexis!” someone said. “There you are! No! Don’t go back to sleep.”
Someone was patting her cheeks, slapping them lightly.
Annoyed, she opened her eyes again.
“Atta girl! Stay with me now.”
She was moving, she saw. Above her she could see row after row of bright fluorescent lights whipping by.
“Where?”
“Saint John’s. It’s OK. You’re going to be OK now. Are you listening? Don’t go back to sleep, Alexis.”
“Where’s?”
“The man that brought you in? He’s in the waiting room. Just hang in there like a good girl and we’ll let you see him in a little while.”
They rolled the gurney she was on into a small room. Overhead, more bright lights from fluorescents beamed down at her, and then a brighter lamp was shoved in her face and someone bent over her.
A blood pressure cuff was slapped around her arm and pumped up until she felt like it would crush her arm. Slowly the air was released from it, but the cuff remained. A needle pricked her other arm in the bend of her elbow. A blanket was thrown over her, and then another. Warmth began to seep into her frozen limbs.
“Blood pressure’s low … a few abrasion’s here. Looks like she’s got an interesting little goose egg on her head here. Concussion, you think?”
Someone pried her eyelids up and flicked a flashlight in her eyes.
“Hey. What’s your name? Tell me your name?”
That was stupid! They’d been calling her Alexis every few minutes. Surely they knew her name, but the guy didn’t seem to want to leave her alone. “Alexis,” she murmured.
“What day is it, Alexis?”
“How hell should I know! Thought it was night,” she snapped, feeling thoroughly provoked.
He grinned at her. “OK. How many fingers am I holding up?”
It took an effort to open her eyes, focus. “Two.”
“Good girl!”
Why was everybody talking to her like she was a moron? Alexis wondered in irritation.
“I don’t think she’s concussed, but take her to x-ray and let’s have a look.”
“The guy that brought her in said she was pregnant.”
“How far?”
“A month, maybe, six weeks tops.”
“Wait on the x-ray then.”
The blood pressure cuff was pumped up again.
Every few minutes someone would touch her face, pat her cheeks until she opened her eyes and looked at them.
Her teeth finally stopped chattering.
She drifted off again after a while. The movement of the gurney woke her. She opened her eyes and discovered that she was in the hall again, and then an elevator and finally another room. They parked her gurney beside a bed. She was rolled onto the bed. A sheet and light blanket were pulled up and tucked around her.
A woman appeared beside her carrying a needle. “I’m going to give you something to help you sleep. You’re going to feel a pinch.”
It was a hell of a lot more than a pinch.
She could’ve slept without the damned shot if they’d just let her, she thought indignantly.
In a few minutes, however, she began to drift away again and her anger faded away with her thoughts.
When Alexis opened her eyes again, Thor was standing over her.
He smiled at her and her heart executed a little flip flop of happiness. “Why, hello handsome. They let you wander loose in a place like this?”
He looked puzzled. “They have not said I could not.”
Alexis chuckled, shook her head. “Never mind. Just a joke.”
He still looked confused.
“With all these sick women in here, I’m not sure their hearts can take it … seeing a gorgeous hunk of a man.”
He grinned. “I think you must still be a little confused.” He touched his head.
Alexis smiled wryly. “Actually, I am. I was beginning to think I’d dreamed … everything until I woke up and saw you. What happened? How did I get here?”
“You do not remember?”
Alexis frowned. A shiver skated over her. “Some of it … most of it. I just don’t remember getting here.”
“I brought you.”
“I gathered that,” Alexis said dryly. “Why? I mean, why here? Why didn’t you take me back to … well back.”
“You said you wanted to go home. You were … ill. I thought it best for you.”
Alexis stared at him. She wasn’t sure whether she was glad or sorry that she was back in her own world. On the one hand, she HAD wanted to come back. She had to do something about Eric. On the other hand, she had a bad feeling about Thor’s reasons for bringing her back.
“Aurora—the physicians would have taken care of me. Why didn’t you take me back there?”
Thor took her hand, studying it thoughtfully. As if it was infinitely fascinating, he lifted each finger and looked at it, caressed it and finally laid her palm against his own, studying their hands. Finally, he lifted her hand and kissed it. “You have almost died twice now, Alexis.”
“But I didn’t. It’s over now,” Alexis said, her mouth grown dry with a nameless fear.
Thor frowned. “Twice, I have almost lost you … not just because I failed to protect you, but because of me. I would far rather live without you and know you live, than to keep you with me and, perhaps, see you die.”
Alexis gaped at him. Before she could say protest, someone tapped on the door and entered.
Alexis stared at the two strange men who moved into the room and stood at the foot of her bed. “Who are you?”
The older of the two spoke. “I’m Detective Richardson. This is Detective Heikes. We just wanted to ask you a few questions about your accident.”
Alexis flicked a glance at Thor. “What accident?”
Richardson gestured at Thor. “Your friend here told us you were Alexis Stanhope. I checked it out. You were reported lost at sea almost two months ago, by….” He looked down at his notes. “Eric Stanhope. The story he gave us was that you’d fallen overboard, or, possibly, that you’d committed suicide.”
Alexis felt anger wash over her. “I’ll just bet he did.”
Richardson and Heikes exchanged a look. “We had you checked out. You’ve been positively ID’d as Alexis Stanhope. I’d be interested in hearing what you’ve got to say, if you feel up to it.”
“Eric threw me overboard.”
Richardson frowned. “You’re sure? Not that I doubt your word, Mrs. Stanhope, but sometimes, after an accident, people get strange ideas in their head. They’re confused, don’t remember anything very clearly.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my memory. We were standing at the prow of the ship. Eric stepped up behind me, told me he’d murdered my father. And then, before I could react, he struck me and threw me overboard.”
Again Richardson and Heikes exchanged a look. “Your husband murdered you
r father and then tried to murder you? Is that a correct statement?”
Alexis nodded. “My father wasn’t a wealthy man, but he had enough money to interest Eric, obviously. Once he’d killed my father, all he had to do was to get rid of me and he could have everything—the business, my father’s home, his stocks—he was worth three quarters of a million, at least.”
“Well, ma’am—not that I’m doubting your word, but something just doesn’t click here. If your husband threw you overboard in the middle of the ocean almost two months ago, how did you end up here? Where have you been all this time? And who is this guy? He told the staff here that he was related, but I can’t find any record of any relation by the name of Thorson.”
Alexis glanced at Thor worriedly. Thor shook his head ever so slightly, turned to look at Richardson and Heikes … giving them a hard stare.
The detectives returned his stare with piercing looks of their own. In moments, however, their eyes began to appear glazed, their facial muscles sagged and they stared blankly into space.
Surprised, Alexis glanced at Thor. “What happened?”
“They won’t remember I was here,” Thor said flatly.
Confusion flooded through Alexis and a terrible dread. “You’re going?”
Thor nodded. Bending, he kissed her lightly on her lips. “I love you, Alexis,” he said when he straightened, caressing her cheek lightly with his fingertips.
Alarm ran through Alexis. “Thor? You’ll come back for me? Promise!”
The pain in his expression told her without words that he wouldn’t. He touched a finger to her forehead. Despite her best efforts, Alexis felt herself sinking into a dark pit. An almost overwhelming sense of despair engulfed her.
“Forget,” Thor whispered.
Chapter Sixteen
The police were none too happy that Alexis could not remember where she’d been when she had been missing so long. They weren’t too happy about the fact that she couldn’t remember how she’d come to be at the hospital either.
The doctors shook their heads and decided she’d experienced some sort of trauma that had induced amnesia. They pointed out that it would’ve been enough of a shock when she fell, or was thrown, overboard to induce a mild amnesia. And, whatever had happened to her just before she’d been found had further traumatized her. They couldn’t find anything physically wrong with her so it was undoubtedly hysterical amnesia.
The DA was doubtful, but launched an investigation. Alexis was adamant, amnesia or not, and filed for a divorce even before she brought charges of attempted murder against her soon-to-be-ex-husband. The end result was that Eric had been arrested before Alexis left the hospital.
The wheels of justice ground slowly. Alexis was in her sixth month before Eric went to trial.
In his first trial, Eric was sentenced to ten years for assault and attempted murder.
A month later Eric and his accomplice, his wife, Sylvia Johnson, went to trial for the murder of Alexis’ father. That trial lasted two months. The DA failed to win a murder one conviction. Eric was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to forty years. His wife, Sylvia Johnson, received a sentence of twenty years.
Alexis was beside herself. She KNEW Eric and his wife had plotted her father’s murder. Unfortunately, despite what she told them, the investigators were unable to prove a plot to commit murder—not that they doubted her. But it required evidence to prove premeditated murder and they were unable to find that proof.
Finally, Alexis realized that she would have to accept the justice she’d been able to obtain. It wasn’t a full measure, but it was something.
Impending motherhood made it easier.
She had little understanding, or interest, in the construction company her father had left her. She sold it and placed the money in trust. She would have felt guilty about her decision if the company had held sentimental value for her father, but the fact was he had grown weary of the construction business long before he had enough money saved up to retire and turn its operation over to a job supervisor. He wouldn’t have expected her to keep it and try to run it herself. He would’ve been surprised if she’d even considered it.
That being the case, she decided to use the money to support her and her child so that she could be a full time parent. At least until her child was old enough to start school, she intended to devote herself to him. Afterwards—she didn’t know what she would do afterwards.
She walked daily, determined to make certain she was in good physical condition for her delivery. As she entered her last weeks, however, she found that walking was becoming more and more a penance, and less an exercise.
Foregoing the neighborhood walks, Alexis began to take a twice daily turn around the garden. She had begun to waddle as her body became more cumbersome, but it wasn’t her awkwardness that kept her close to the house. It was her certainty that she had no desire to be far from the phone when the time came.
She was reclining on a chaise in the garden, feeling, she was certain, and looking, like a beached whale, when she saw the man again.
It was the third time she’d seen him in as many months, trying to look casual as he leaned against a tree across the road and studied her surreptitiously.
It had frightened her the first time she noticed him. He was always dressed in leather, his hair long. She’d thought he must be a biker, or a thug.
For a moment she hesitated, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she rolled from the chaise and stood up. Unfortunately, her stomach muscles were stretched to capacity with the weight of her baby. Sudden shifts produced excruciating cramps. She caught her stomach, bending over. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut while she waited for the pain to subside.
She felt a hand touch her shoulder.
“Do you need help?”
Slowly, as the muscles relaxed fractionally, Alexis straightened, looking up at the man. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest when she met his gaze. Her thoughts scattered in confusion. “Why?” she managed to gasp out.
He frowned, perplexed.
Alexis felt a sob tearing at her throat. “Why did you leave me? Didn’t you love me enough?”
His expression contorted with pain for a moment before he subdued his emotions. “You mistake me, I think, for someone else.”
“Don’t! I know you! If I were blind, I’d still know your voice. If I were deaf, I would still know your touch.”
He swallowed with obvious difficulty, his expression uncertain now. “You do not know me.”
Alexis shook her head. “I thought I did. You said, once, that you loved me. Was it so easy to stop?”
He took a step back, white now. “You cannot … remember.”
Alexis swallowed with difficulty. “I remember, Thor. I have always remembered. Why did you try to take that from me too? If you didn’t want me anymore, you should’ve at least left the memories, not tried to take them from me!”
Thor looked away. “It was because I loved you, more than my own life, more than my own happiness. I could not bear to cause you pain. I set you free because I loved you. I tried to take the memories so that you would only know happiness.”
Alexis went to him, placing a hand on each cheek, forcing him to look at her. “You did all of this for me? Because you love me?”
“Yes.”
“And I am free to choose?”
Thor studied her a long moment. “You felt you did not belong with me.”
Alexis shook her head slowly. “I think I always knew that I belonged with you. I just didn’t realize until you brought me back here that you were my home, where ever you are, where ever we stay.”
“You are certain?”
Alexis nodded.
Thor lifted his hand, touched her cheek. “I have wanted no one but you since I first saw you, wanted only to live my life with you, to grow old loving you. I want you for my wife, my life mate.”
Alexis studied him. “And will we grow old together?”
Thor nodded. “O
n my honor.”
“Then take me with you. Take me home. I want my son to know his father, who is the most wonderful human being I’ve ever known.”
Thor’s arms came around her, squeezing her so tightly against him that the baby began to kick furiously. He drew back, looked down at her rounded belly in surprise.
After a moment, he grinned, resting his hand against her belly, chuckling as he felt the baby pelting his hand.
His expression became pensive after a moment. “Only wonderful?”
Alexis frowned in incomprehension.
His lips twitched. “You thought, once, that I was magnificent.”
She tried to look disapproving, but a chuckled escaped her. Reaching down, she cupped his sex firmly. His eyes widened. “Absolutely magnificent. I think you are the most magnificent … swordsman that ever lived.” She released him, rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “But I love this part second best,” she murmured against his lips.
He laughed. Lifting her arms, he placed them firmly around his neck, then leaned down and scooped her into his arms. “Close your eyes, sweetheart.”
Her eyes widened. “Now?”
He nodded. “My son is anxious to see his father.”
“But … but … it’s broad daylight. Someone will see.”
Thor laughed. “But will they believe?”
The End
Also available from NCP by bestselling author Madelaine Montague ….
Nocturnal
by
Madelaine Montague
Chapter One
Pain and fury filled Raphael as he raced through the dense brush in a mindless quest for freedom. Adrenaline drove him else the pain from his wounds might have overwhelmed him. Fear ate at his mind, as well, but it was a distant voice, drowned by the frustration and anger because the fear wasn’t for himself. It was fear of failing.
He had almost had the bastard!
For months he had tracked the ringleader of the men that had killed his woman and their unborn child. Patience was not one of his virtues, but his rage had grown cold in the year since Concepcion’s death. His determination had hardened in the weeks he had lain fighting for his own life and the months after that that he had spent regaining his strength with an agonizing slowness that had been maddening while he chaffed at his quarry’s trail growing colder and colder.
Atlantium Trilogy I: Bride of Atlantis Page 15