Warrior's Embrace (29 page)

“I doubt that. He’s done some pretty thorough
homework. Does the name Mark Laton ring a bell for you?”

“No. Not that too.”

“‘Elizabeth McCade has a habit of secret
liaisons. Sources say she left Yale because of an illicit affair
with Mark Laton, a professor who was married.’“

“What else?”

“There’s a great picture of you and Black
Hawk on that stallion of his, leaping over the barricade the day
fighting broke out.”

“Anything else about Mark?”

“No.”

At least she could be glad for that much.
Elizabeth took several deep breaths in order to get herself back
under control.

“Elizabeth... is there anything I can do? Are
you sure you’re all right?”

“No... yes. I’ll be fine, Gladys. Don’t worry
about me.”

“I do, you know.” Gladys’s voice softened.
“That was a dirty rotten thing to spread your private life all over
the newspaper, but I’m not sorry you have Black Hawk. I’ve
suspected all along that you had somebody wonderful in your life.
I’m glad, Elizabeth.”

“It’s over. Hawk is no longer in my
life.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, Gladys. You’re a good
friend.”

“See you at work in a little while. I’ll
treat you to lunch, take the bad taste out of your mouth.”

“Sure.” Elizabeth forced some enthusiasm into
her voice. Gladys was, after all, a good friend. She had no
connection with the series of misfortunes that were befalling
Elizabeth. “Great. See you later.”

She hung up the phone then went into the
bathroom and vomited. When she came out, Hawk was sitting on the
edge of her bed.

“Good morning, Elizabeth.”

She pulled her robe high around her neck and
shivered.

“Are you sick?” He stood up, facing her.

“No. Just a little chilly. There’s a nip to
the air this morning.” Turning her back to him, she sat at her
dressing table and picked up her hairbrush. Then she began to brush
her hair. She looked calm, even to herself. She hoped she was
fooling Hawk.

“Have you seen this morning’s paper?” he
asked.

“Is that why you came?”

They stared at each other in the mirror. She
heard the subtle change in his breathing, saw the light spring to
life in the center of his dark eyes. She knew all the signs: Hawk
still wanted her. At least she had that.

“Is Mark Laton the one?” Hawk had his hands
on the hilt of his knife.

Suddenly Elizabeth broke. She was not noble
and long-suffering and magnificent; she was merely human. She stood
up and faced him with her fists clenched.

“How dare you come into my house and question
me about Mark Laton. How dare you enter my bedroom without my
permission. You have no rights, Hawk. None. You gave those up in my
cellar a long time ago.”

“You’re right, Elizabeth.”

His ready agreement made her even more
furious. Why couldn’t he want her enough to fight for her?

Her shoulders sagged, and all the anger went
out of her. Hawk wouldn’t fight for her because he was already
fighting too many battles... and because he didn’t love her. She
might as well face facts.

“Will you please leave?” She put her hand on
her forehead.

“I didn’t come to fight with you, Elizabeth.
I came to tell you that I’m sending my brothers to be your
bodyguards.”

“You’re sending your brothers to be my
bodyguards!” She felt as if she were in the middle of a crazy
movie.

“Because of the newspaper story.”

“There has been no violence since that man
was arrested.”

“I’m taking no chances. My youngest brother
is with me now, waiting downstairs.”

“You can’t do this. You can’t march into my
house and take charge of my life.”

“I’m not in charge of your life, but I
will
be in charge of your safety.”

“Tell him to go home.” Hawk was as silent as
the cutting edge of a sword just before it draws blood. “I won’t
have him here. Nor any of your other brothers. I can take care of
myself. “

“You’re willful, Elizabeth.”

“You’re arrogant.”

They faced off across her bedroom, two
stubborn people, both determined to win.

“We’re just alike, Elizabeth. We’ve always
been alike.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I’m a woman and you’re a man.”

Hawk smiled. “There was never any doubt.”

His smile seduced her. She clench her fists
to keep from reaching out to him.

“Please leave,” she whispered.

“How can I go when I feel the danger to you?
How can I leave knowing that I’m the one who set it in your
path?”

“I made my own choices, Hawk.”

They faced off again, both as implacable as
the red bluffs that bordered the city. Then Hawk came to her and
tenderly cupped her face.

“Be safe.”

“I will. I promise.”

Black Hawk left her standing in the middle of
her bedroom and went back down the stairs just as quietly as he had
gone up them. Steel, his youngest brother, was waiting for him
outside.

“You told her?”

“Yes.”

“And she agreed to the bodyguard?”

“No.”

Steel laughed. “I didn’t think she would.
From what Susan tells me, she’s a very independent lady.”

“You’ll guard her anyway.”

“Look. I’m a young, handsome charmer with my
whole life ahead of me. I have no desire to meet my fate at the end
of a nickel-plated .44 Magnum. Especially if it’s carried by a
lady.”

Hawk threw back his head and laughed. “She’s
tough, all right, but you
will
guard her, and you’ll be
wise and discreet enough to stay out of her way so she doesn’t
suspect.”

“Do you love this woman?”

Black Hawk had never lied to his brother. He
considered it briefly, then rejected the idea as cowardly.

“Yes, I love her.”

“Then why aren’t you the one guarding
her?”

“She must never know that I love her.” He
turned a fierce face toward his brother. “I won’t come to her
again; I won’t see her again. But you, my little brother, will keep
her safe.”

Steel started to say something else, but he
knew his brother too well. It was useless to argue with the Hawk.
When he made up his mind, nothing would stop him.

o0o

Elizabeth made it to work on time by skipping
breakfast and by exceeding the speed limit. With her private life
splashed all over the front page of the newspaper, what would one
speeding ticket matter? Her only consolation was that Aunt Kathleen
had decided to turn her Parisian trip into a tour of Europe. Her
last card had come from Italy.

Tailing far behind in his beat-up little
Chevy Nova, Steel Hawk was cussing.

“What does she think this is? The
Indianapolis 500?” He said a few more words that his mother would
have frowned upon, then pressed down on the accelerator in order to
keep his quarry in sight. The Hawk would kill him if he didn’t do
this job right. And he was too young to die.

He saw the flashing blue lights behind him at
the same time Elizabeth’s car disappeared around a bend.

“Well, shoot. Where’s the justice?”

As the policeman walked toward his parked
car. Steel brightened. He thought he would plead for a very large
fine and then present it to his brother for payment. It would serve
the Hawk right. Any man who refused to acknowledge his love for a
woman like Elizabeth McCade deserved to be taught a lesson.

He rolled down the window and smiled at the
officer.

“I’m just as guilty as sin...” He read the
name tag. “...Officer Bradley. I’ll bet I was doing seventy-five in
that fifty-mile zone.”

“Only seventy-two.” The officer was young and
friendly. He pushed his cap back from his forehead. “Going
somewhere in a hurry?”

“No. Just chasing a pretty woman. If I were
you, I’d throw the book at me.”

“You would?”

“Shoot, yes. I drive like this all the time.
I need to be taught a lesson.”

“Well...” The officer surveyed Steel’s
beat-up little car. “It appears to me that a feller like you has
all the problems he can handle trying to keep an old car like that
running. I’m going to let you off with a warning this time.”

“Heck,” Steel muttered.

“What did you say?”

“I said, ‘Help’ at a time like this is most
welcome. My sincerest thanks, Officer Bradley.”

“You’re welcome. Just watch it. There’s been
enough excitement in this town lately. We don’t want any traffic
fatalities.”

“You bet.” Steel shook Officer Bradley’s
hand, then set off down the road. Elizabeth McCade was long
gone.

He hoped that she’d been heading to work, and
not to some out-of-the-way place where he’d never find her. He
didn’t relish the idea of telling the Hawk that he had lost his
woman on the first day.

Steel breathed a sigh of relief when he
cruised by the bank and saw Elizabeth’s car. She was safe, at least
for the next few hours.

He found a parking spot that allowed a good
view of her car, then left his jalopy and went to a music store to
stock up on a fresh supply of CDs. If he had to spend the best days
of his life watching after a woman who wasn’t even his, the least
he could do was keep himself well entertained.

o0o

Over the next few days, he learned Elizabeth
McCade’s habits. She had a strict morning routine that included
stepping outside briefly for her paper. Steel, hiding in the woods
that surrounded her house, enjoyed these early morning views of
Hawk’s woman. With her hair down and a loose robe wrapped around
her, she was sensational. It was no wonder his brother loved her.
The wonder was that the Hawk was not fighting for her. Surely no
cause could be worth the price of this woman.

Watching from the woods, Steel saw Elizabeth
McCade turn and look his way. There was a tenseness about her that
alerted him. He ducked behind a tree, his heart hammering. He
didn’t want to face the Hawk’s wrath if he was discovered. He
waited, scarcely breathing, listening for sounds, for smells, for
anything that would announce Elizabeth McCade’s approach. Finally
he heard her front door slam.

He slumped at the base of the tree and gave
his brother a very sound cussing. Then he got up and continued his
vigil.

By nine o’clock Steel realized that something
was wrong. Elizabeth should have been out of her house twenty
minutes before and on her way to work. It was not like her to be
late.

By ten o’clock Steel was really worried. What
could be the matter? Had someone sneaked into her house while he
wasn’t watching? Was she lying in a pool of blood even as he paced?
He didn’t even want to think about such a thing.

Forcing himself to remain calm, he began to
rationalize. Perhaps she had called in sick. Or maybe this was her
day off. He’d give her thirty minutes more, and then he’d go inside
to see about her... and hope he didn’t get caught.

He waited while the minutes crawled by. At
ten-thirty he skirted the edge of her yard, staying in the cover of
the trees. When he was behind her house, he ducked low and
zigzagged a course toward her back door, using the cover of large
bushes that had only recently lost their summer blooms.

Steel was no expert on breaking and entering,
but he was not without skill. It didn’t take him long to get inside
Elizabeth’s house. He stood in the kitchen, tense, waiting and
watching. There was no sound.

Drawing his knife from his belt, he began a
stealthy exploration. It took him fifteen minutes to discover the
truth: Elizabeth was not there. She had spotted him and had made
her escape.

He didn’t know which he feared most:
Elizabeth’s peril or the Hawk’s wrath. There was only one thing he
could do. He re-sheathed his knife, got his car, and went to inform
his brother.

Elizabeth hurried through the tunnel. After
she had spotted the man in the woods, she hadn’t even bothered to
put her hair up. She had dressed and called in sick, which happened
to be true. She had been dragging lately, and this morning she had
felt especially exhausted.

There was no doubt in her mind who the man
hiding in the woods was. He looked too much like Hawk for her to be
mistaken.

She was absolutely furious. How dare Hawk try
to run her life. Especially now. She was so mad, she hadn’t even
taken the time to get her gun. The danger was passed now. There had
been no violence since that day at the barricade. The city had
settled in to wait for the advent of the U.S. Secretary of Native
American Affairs.

Elizabeth would be glad when it was all over.
Then everything would settle back to normal. Everything except her
own life. It would never be the same.

She stepped from the tunnel and brushed the
dirt and twigs off her skirt. It was the same butternut suede she
had worn to seduce Hawk. She figured some bit of perverseness had
caused her to wear it. She wanted him to want her as badly as she
wanted him—to want her and not be able to have her.

“Elizabeth McCade,” she said aloud as she
walked through the woods toward Hawk’s cabin, “you have sunk to the
lowest of lows.”

There was no need to hurry. What she was
going to say to him was best done in a cold, calm rage. She didn’t
want to be out of breath and practically fainting on her feet when
she faced Hawk.

“Well, well, well. Looka here.”

Elizabeth whirled at the sound of the voice.
The man appeared out of nowhere and stood in her path, blocking her
way to Hawk’s cabin. He was short and barrel-chested, with
bloodshot eyes and several-days growth of scraggly beard covering
the lower half of his face. There was a strong smell of whiskey on
his breath.

She pressed her hands over her stomach to
still the sudden attack of nausea. She had to remain calm.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Who am I? Who am I?” He spat onto the ground
near her feet. Elizabeth forced herself not to cringe.