Ancient Guardians The Legacy of the Key (27 page)

Chapter
19

“Please,
say something,” he looked down to her, his eyes bright and hopeful.

She stared up at him. “You…love me?”

“More than you
could ever know.” He smiled at her, his eyes glowing in his anticipative face.
“I was inquiring about whether or not you could possibly feel the same,” he
said, teasingly.

Reece knew she had
given herself away completely, “Levi, I can’t…I can’t let myself do this.”

He looked confused,
all trace of humor gone. She tried to walk past him, but he stopped her by
gently holding her arm. “Please explain. Why can’t you?” Reece looked down and
away from him. “Reece, please look at me.” When she did, he went on. “I could
understand if you did not return my feelings, and I would respect that. But I
will not stand here and listen to you tell me that you
cannot
.”

Of course she loved
him, and she wanted to stay in Pemdas more than anything. But in reality, she
knew a relationship with Levi could never work.

“It’s not—it’s not
right. It’s been made very clear to me that we are from separate worlds. And
not only are we from separate worlds, but you will be the Emperor of this place
one day. I’ve been told your people won’t accept anyone from outside of Pemdas
at your side; especially someone from Earth.” She closed her eyes, unwilling to
watch his reaction to the truths she reminded him of.

 Of course,
everything she learned about this situation was from Simone and her friends,
but Reece wasn’t ignorant either. Simone was only one small voice in an entire
dimension. Reece understood very well that this would only cause problems for
Levi in his world. He needed to find the right woman for him, and Reece knew
she was not that woman.

Levi gently put his
index finger under her chin. When she opened her eyes, he said, “Reece, those
are ridiculous excuses. Do you think I care about other people’s opinions? The
only opinion I care about is yours. I will ask you again, will there ever be a
chance for you to return my love?”

His eyes danced
with amusement.

She couldn’t tell
him no. “You know the answer. I’ve already fallen in love with you. But it’s
against everything that’s right for you. It’s against everything that’s right
for me—”

His lips silenced
her. At first, his kiss was soft, his hands gently cupping her face. There was
no way she could, or would, fight this. She had longed for this moment, his
lips on hers, and it was more intoxicating than she had ever imagined it would
be. To taste the sweetness of his kiss, to feel the softness, yet power, in his
smooth lips…made her yearn for more. She stood on her toes, and reached under
his arms to pull him closer. She spread her hands over the thick wool of the
back of his greatcoat, feeling the impressiveness of his muscular frame for the
first time. She marveled at the power she felt in him as her hands continued to
trace along the steely contours of his broad back. He was perfect, and she
hungered for more of his kiss. He answered her desire, and responded by kissing
her more urgently and passionately than she had ever been kissed before. Not a
fun kiss. Not an experienced kiss. If she had to put a word to it, this was a
devoted kiss. A kiss that seemed to mean something, perhaps far more than she
knew. It sent shivers through her body, and her head became light. She slowly
pulled away from him, and he finished by kissing her softly on her nose.

As she leaned into
him, he pulled her close into his chest, and rested his chin on the top of her
head. “I should say I’m sorry for that, but it would be a lie.” She could hear
the smile in his voice. He lowered it to a whisper. “I have so longed to hold
you like this. I have been waiting for you.” She felt his chin move away from
her head, and something soft—a kiss?—replaced it.

She pulled herself
together, stepped back, and looked into his bright blue eyes. She reached up to
caress his cheek. “I think we’ve made our lives pretty difficult.”

He brought his hand
up and placed it over hers, then closed his eyes, and slowly turned his lips
into the palm of her hand. When his eyes opened, they were darker, almost
smoldering. “Reece, you must believe me when I tell you that I love you, and I
will not allow anyone, or anything, to stand in our way.” He brought his strong
hands to her face, cradling it, while his thumbs gently caressed her
cheekbones. A tiny smirk played on his lips, and then he became serious. “You
must promise that you will trust what I say. There hasn’t been much time for me
to prove myself to you, but I beg you, for now, to trust me.”

She could not help
but laugh in response to the memory of the first day he had spoken to her. He
had made the same request then.

He smiled back, in
what seemed to be perfect comprehension. “There will be more than one opinion
of me and you, but it will not affect my love for you. I am prepared for it.”

Doubt must have
been apparent on her face. “Come with me.” He said as he reached for her hand.
He led them away from the fences and upward to where they could see past the trees,
down to the enormous Palace, and the gardens surrounding it. She stared at it
and immediately felt as if it stared back, reminding her that a relationship
with this man was impossible. The Palace was beautiful, but she wasn’t part of
it.

She stood there,
defeated, and slowly shook her head, searching for words to explain that this
love could never work. He, too, stared at the view in front of them. Reece
wondered if he realized what she did.

“It is beautiful,
is it not?” He said.

“Yes, it is.”
But
it’s not for me.

“I have battled
with my feelings for you, and I have already questioned the issues you have
brought to my attention. I am no stranger to the reasons why I should not love
you.” He slowly turned to her, his face serious. “When Harrison and I were
instructed to guard you, I had to force myself to view you strictly as our
assignment. It was difficult, but possible, until the day your eyes met mine in
the airport. Then I began to see everything differently. I found myself longing
to be in your presence, though I didn’t know why.”

He took her hand. “Then
we brought you to Pemdas. And having you here, in my home, was almost more than
I could bear. I found myself battling my emotions. I knew what was expected of
me; I could not allow myself to have feelings for you. But I constantly found
reasons to be in your presence. I told myself it was only to make sure you were
properly taken care of, and I assured myself that there was nothing wrong with
enjoying the company of a new person. But I found myself needing to watch you
smile, or to hear you laugh. Your smile—”

She looked up at
him in wonder, and smiled.

His breath stopped
for a moment. “Yes, that smile. What it does to me—I can’t explain.”

His own smile—open,
unsought, reaching eyes as well as lips, did something to Reece, also. He
lightly stroked her jaw with the back of his hand. She leaned into the caress,
and he laughed softly. “I have more than anyone in my world could ask for. But
what I want, Reece, is you.”

 His thumb tenderly
caressed her neck as he bent to kiss her. Her heart was beating rapidly, and
each stroke of his thumb sent shivers through her. She didn’t know how she did
it, but she managed to pull her lips from his, and exhaled. She wanted to taste
the sweetness of his lips again. She had to make it clear to him, “But Levi—”

“I know. I know
better than you.” He interrupted her. “When others find out, most will be
intent upon destroying our feelings for each other. I will not be inclined
tolerate any of it. I will leave this place with you, if that is what is
required. If you do not to wish to live in these lands, then we will live
together where you will be most comfortable.”

She hadn’t thought
of that. This was a whole new set of issues. “Another part of Pemdas? Or—you
would live on Earth with me?”

He nodded once. “If
that is what you are most comfortable with.”

She looked at him
quizzically, with more challenging questions lining up one-by-one in her mind.

He shook his head
and laughed. “You don’t have to decide anything this instant. We’ll have plenty
of time to discuss it when I return. Now,” he offered his arm, “let’s head back
to the Palace.”

As they walked back
to the Palace, they decided jointly that they would tell no one of their
feelings for each other, until Levi returned.  If there were to be hurtful
comments, they would face them together.

Once they arrived
at the house, they parted ways.  Levi would probably not be at dinner that
evening, but he promised to try and see her before he departed the next
morning.

The rest of the
afternoon dragged. Reece missed him the moment they parted. She became
frustrated by her new weakness, knowing this would only make his time away seem
like forever.
At least I’ll have Elizabeth,
she told herself.

After dinner, they
spent the evening in the sitting room. Reece was hoping to see Levi, and she
forced her eyes to stay open to read. After reading the same sentence a dozen
times, she pulled herself from the large chair she sat in, and placed her book
on the table. It was pointless to keep fighting sleep, so she stood and said
her goodnights. There was no sound of the men anywhere in the house.

She was halfway up
the stairs when a deep voice softly called, “Retiring so soon, Miss Bryant?”

Levi stood at the
bottom of the staircase with one hand on the banister, and one foot on the
bottom step.

Her heart
immediately reacted. “Oh! I thought I wasn’t going to get to see you tonight!”

He started up the
steps to where she stood. “Our meetings went longer than expected. We were
waiting for reports from a couple of our men, but we seem to have lost communication
with them.”

“Is everything
okay?”

“Everything is
fine. It happens every now and then. Although, having to make plans without
their information was an inconvenience. It took more time to make arrangements,
and frankly, I was in no mood to be away from you.” He offered his arm. “Would
you care to join me on an evening walk in the gardens?”

“I would love to.
Let me get a jacket.” No longer sleepy, she raced to her room, and returned
wearing a warm, wool coat. They strolled together leisurely on the small path
where they had walked on her first evening in Pemdas.

It was Levi who
opened up their conversation. “It is odd, is it not?”

“Odd?”

A smile played in
the corner of his mouth as he looked down to her. “The last time that we walked
this location together, you were about to become helplessly lost. That is,
until I came to your rescue.”

She narrowed her
eyes. “My rescue, was it? I was never lost, Levi. Maybe you just wanted a
reason to follow me.” She teased him.

Levi guided her to
a bench near the small pond he had shown her on her first evening in Pemdas. He
sat beside her with his arm around her shoulders, and brought his other hand to
her cheek. Reece’s head spun wildly as he kissed her lips. Then he pulled back
and studied her. “You’re right, of course. Angry as I was with Simone,
Catherine, and Lillian for allowing you to wander off, I was actually much
happier for it. While Harrison stayed to scold them, I stole a few moments
alone with you. At the time, though, I did not admit it, even to myself.”

 She chuckled. “I
remember thinking that you looked really upset about something at dinner that
night.”

“What? Why?”

She laughed. “Well,
I don’t know. You seemed like you had a bad day or something, I didn’t know
what your problem was.”

“Reece, I was
completely taken by you. I had never believed anyone’s presence could be
so…intoxicating.” His eyes sparkled reminiscently. “Did you realize how
astonishing you looked?”

“Really? Because I
noticed you checking out my dress and you seemed to have had problem with it.”
She laughed. “You’re lucky I didn’t change back into my tracksuit!”

“Is that what you
were laughing to yourself about?”

Reece smiled, “Oh,
you noticed that, too?”

He smiled. “Reece,
you have always fascinated me, though I never believed there would come a day
when we would ever speak. In the few short years that we watched over you on
Earth, I saw your beautiful eyes sparkle with excitement toward so many other
people. I learned to decipher your moods, to tell whether you were happy, sad,
nervous, upset, or excited. I can discern your many smiles, the ones you give
your close friends, the smile you display when you are embarrassed, and the
ones when you are thrilled…and recently, I learned of the particular one for
me. I watched your excitement illuminate every room you were in. I have watched
you entertain those around you with the charming personality that only you
possess.”

She smiled at him.
“I would have never believed that you felt that way about me. I have to say—you
did a really good job of covering up your feelings.”