“That was different,” she said.
“Why?”
She looked puzzled, as if the answer hadn’t come as easily as she had expected.
“No answer, Storm? That’s because there is no answer. Love is love, and it comes in its own good time to unsuspecting people.”
She bounced off the bed holding the pillow to her chest. “Are you claiming to love me?”
“No,” he said, though the thought plagued him. Why fight her on this if he wasn’t in love? “I just feel we should leave fate to deal with it, not throw obstacles in its path.”
“I know my fate and I know my feelings. I will not love again.”
“You are a stubborn one,” he said on a laugh and shook his head.
“Much like you,” Storm said with a toss of her chin.
He folded his arms across his chest. “So where does this leave us?”
Storm sighed softly, and Burke could see her shoulders droop along with her guard.
“You look for something I cannot give.”
Burke raked his fingers through his hair and came close to muttering an oath. “I don’t know what I look for, but…” He paused and stepped closer to her. “I’d like to find out.”
“I don’t know, perhaps…”
He pressed a finger to her lips, preventing her from objecting. “We owe it to ourselves.”
She gently pushed his finger aside. “Why?”
“We’re attracted to each other and have a small time frame of opportunity here, which”—he emphasized—“if we ignore, we will live to regret.”
“You can’t be sure of that.”
“You can’t be sure we won’t, so why take the chance? Why not see what awaits us? Why not delve into the unknown and let fate deal with us? But then you know your fate,” he said. “So what have you got to lose?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead he walked over to the chest near the chair and pulled out a white silk nightgown and handed it to Storm.
“Here, for you. Tonight I want nothing more than to hold you in my arms as we sleep. Can you give me that much?”
She looked bewildered and took a moment to answer him. “I would like to sleep in your arms tonight.”
“Good, then change while I disrobe and join me beneath the blankets.” He turned his back to give her privacy, and then shed his clothes and climbed beneath the covers naked.
It took only a few minutes for Storm to join him. He held back the blankets for her to slip beneath, and when she did, he took her in his arms and rested her body against his.
She cushioned her head on his chest and rested her arm across his midriff.
He rested his chin on top of her head and held her snugly against him and whispered, “Good night, Mrs. Longton.”
Chapter 23
Storm led the way through the woods, the sky overcast and the air chilled. She and Burke had left the ship before dawn and had traveled by horseback until late morning, when they once again returned to journeying by foot.
They had maintained silence throughout most of their travel, though not due to necessity. It seemed they both favored their thoughts, for which Storm was grateful.
Her day of rescue and fun had turned out upsetting. Not only had she tasted a day of freedom, but for a brief time she had experienced the joy of being Mrs. Longton, and she had liked it.
She had discovered Burke was a considerate husband, catering to her, wanting to make her happy, and placing her needs above his own. That he had simply held her in his arms and not attempted to make love with her surprised her and touched her heart.
She had woken on and off during the night and always found him wrapped around her or she around him. It was as if each of them needed to keep hold of the other. He had kissed her awake, informing her that dawn would soon greet them and they had best be on their way.
She hadn’t wanted to leave the safety of his arms, the warmth of his bed, the solitude of his cabin, but she had had no choice; she left them all.
It was time to return to who she was and who she would always be—an outlaw.
It was crazy to think she could be anything else. This was her life, and all she could do was accept it. After all, she had chosen it and she had no one to blame but herself.
She had to start thinking of Burke as simply a man who hired her to help find his brother. Once done, he would be gone for good. The fee would provide handsomely for her small band of people. They would have sufficient food for some time and warm clothes to guard against the winter, not to mention the necessary bribes that helped secure rescues.
As far as sharing intimacy with Burke was concerned, she would need to give it more thought. At first, it had just been a way of appeasing her loneliness, but now she wondered if perhaps her emotions were becoming entangled in ways she had not thought possible. Until she could make more sense of her feelings, she thought it best to keep her distance.