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Adrienne laughed and was i s her defenses And it felt good
More seriously he said, "I instructed the guards to see to Olivia’s return journey the h to make the ride"
Adrienne’s spirit elevated at his words
"Adrienne" He sighed her name like a rich port, complex and sweet "It’s only you--"
"Stop!"
Abruptly his htened like quicksilver "I want to take you soht to show you who I really a no … but perhaps it wasn’t too dangerous Let
You ?
But what harm could there be in conversation?
"What harm could there be in conversation, Adrienne?"
Adrienne blinked He ht out of herfrom behind the rowans" The Hawk pointed, and her eyes followed Down theht’s sluer you sleep little on such nights as this, lass, when a storht Do you feel it? As if the very air is charged with tension? A stor has always stirred a restlessness inwith each word, beguiled by his enchanting brogue
" ’Tis a restlessness I feel in you as well Walk with me, Adrienne You’ll never sleep if you return to the castle now"
The Hawk stood, hand outstretched, gazing down at her with pro for her to choose, to co with hiers twitched hesitantly beneath the heat of his s eyes--eyes with tiny lines at the outer corners Eberhard hadn’t had any wrinkles She could never trust a man without a ferinkles about his eyes He hadn’t lived and laughed enough if he didn’t have a few faint creases How had she failed to notice the fine lines of life on the Hawk’s face?
"Give yourself this moment, lass," he breathed huskily "Try"
Adrienne’s hand slipped like a whisper into his and she felt him jerk at their contact His ebony eyes flared, and she felt the exquisite sensation of his strong fingers closing over hers He swayed forward and she felt the brush of his lips skim her cheek, an unspoken thank-you for the chance that pushed no further
"I used to walk here when I was a boy…" He took her hand and steered her ard, away froe
Tell her about yourself, he thought About the boy you used to be before you went away About who you couldn’t wait to be when you got back But most especially--make her love you before she discovers who you were in between Love still h to make her understand, but then at least there’s a chance
They talked and strolled while the Haove his wild tales of boyhood ientle breeze They sat atop the cliff’s edge and tossed pebbles down into the surf, the crisp salt air tangling her silvery-blonda hath, and heon his back, his arms folded behind his head he would watch the sea and drea voice de he return
Adrienne told hiot him to say it like the locals did a ti her for believing such fantasy Whether he believed she eaving tall tales or he somehow placed it all in the context of the sixteenth century, she didn’t know All she did knoas that he listened to her like a man had never listened before So she told him about Marie Leveau the voodoo queen and Jean Laffite the fareat plantations that once stood with theirhouses and the scents and sounds of Bourbon Street When she spoke of the jazz, the lover’s croon of a deep sax, the trurew deep with mystery and sensual arousal, and he found he could almost believe she was from another time Surely from another land