Champion of the Heart (25 page)

Jordan turned her head slightly so he could hear her. “A tree fell, trapping her leg. When I left, she was just able to hold her head up out of the water. The river is rising.” As if in reply, lightning streaked across the sky.

The horse reared slightly and Jordan grabbed the pommel.

Fox steadied the horse with a firm hand and urged it on, moving across the path and into the forest.

Jordan tried to see beyond the dark shapes of the forest trees. But suddenly, tears blurred her sight. “I couldn’t move the tree, Fox. I couldn’t help her.” Her voice cracked as she thought of her helplessness, her weakness.

“You did enough,” Fox said softly, kindly.

He nuzzled her wet skin, and Jordan thought she felt his lips against her temple. She was afraid to look at him, afraid it had been nothing more than the brush of a wet leaf.

The roar of the river sounded as they moved toward it. Jordan listened for Mary Kate’s cries, more fearful of the silence.

“Where?” Fox demanded.

Jordan was silent, listening for the girl. What if she was too late? Jordan shook her head. “She was close to here.”

Fox reined his horse into a walk. “Mary Kate!” he hollered.

Jordan’s heart pounded in her chest. Dread consumed her. Why wasn’t she answering? Fear closed around her body so completely she couldn’t even get her lips to call out her name.

“Mary Kate!” Fox called.

Desperately, Jordan slid from the horse and moved to the river. They had to be close. Jordan scanned the dark river bank, but couldn’t see. She prayed for lightning so she could find the tree.

“Mary Kate!” Fox called again, just behind Jordan.

Jordan moved closer to the water, searching. Despair was settling over her shoulders, moving through her veins, freezing her blood.

“Fox!”

Jordan whirled at the cry, running up the riverbank toward the shout. Relief speared her heart. Fox raced ahead of her, splashing into the water.

Mary Kate was just holding her head out of the rushing water, clinging to the rock Jordan had moved. Jordan collapsed by her side, grabbing the girl and holding her, rocking her slightly. She stroked Mary Kate’s hair, relief filling her. A sob escaped her lips as she held Mary Kate tightly. They had made it. She would be all right!

Fox bent and attempted to lift the tree. “When I lift, Jordan...”

Jordan nodded.

Fox groaned and attempted to lift the tree. But it remained on Mary Kate’s leg.

Jordan released Mary Kate, making sure the child was positioned on the rock so her head was above the water, and moved to Fox’s side. She put her hands beneath the tree.

Lightning lit the sky and the rain pelted them.

“Ready? Go,” Fox said.

They pulled together. Jordan lifted with everything she could. She strained at the tree as hard as she could, pulling it up. The tree budged and then they lifted it.

“Move your foot, Mary Kate,” Jordan said.

The girl slid her foot out and slipped, going under the water. Jordan released the tree and seized Mary Kate’s arm, hauling her away from the tree. Fox held the tree as long as he could and then released it when they were clear, stepping away from the falling log.

Jordan pulled Mary Kate from the water, holding the shivering child to her. The girl was crying, her small arms wrapped around Jordan’s shoulders.

Jordan sobbed into Mary Kate’s hair.

Fox put his hand on Mary Kate’s head. “Are you all right?”

Mary Kate nodded her head.

Jordan leaned into Fox to find herself trembling with relief. His arm swept around her, holding her close for a long moment. “It’s all right,” he murmured, his voice strangely soothing.

***

From the bushes, a one-eyed man watched with interest and joy. I can use a new horse and a good set of armor, he thought, grinning.

***

Jordan’s eyes were still red with worry and tears long after they reached the meal room. A fire had been lit in the hearth, and Mary Kate was sleeping curled up in a ball, exhausted.

But it wasn’t Mary Kate who held Fox’s gaze. It was Jordan. She was soaking wet, a blanket wrapped around her slumped shoulders. Her hair hung in long waves until it disappeared beneath the blanket. She was looking at her hands, which had finally stopped trembling.

Fox moved from his place near the hearth and sat at her side on the bench. “I’m sorry, Jordan,” Fox whispered. “If it hadn’t been for me, Mary Kate never would have left. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

Jordan placed her hand comfortingly atop his.

For a long moment, they said nothing.

“I couldn’t move the tree,” Jordan said. There were tears in her voice and her chin quivered.

“It’s all right, Jordan,” Fox said quietly. “Mary Kate is safe.”

She sniffed. “You don’t understand. There was nothing I could do. Just like Maggie. I thought...” She shook her head. “If I didn’t find you...”

She looked at him and Fox’s heart broke. Her blue eyes glistened like diamonds. Jordan leaned her head against his shoulder, exhausted. She smelled of clean rain and forest. He rested his cheek against her hair for a long moment. His arm went around her of its own accord, rubbing her arm to warm her, holding her.

Jordan lifted her head to him and opened her mouth as if to say something. But no words came out. Fox found his gaze sweeping her face, every precious inch of it, flawless in its perfection. Her eyebrows arched slightly over her large blue eyes. Her pert nose almost touched his, her soft breath fanning across his lips. Her lips, so red and perfectly bowed, so luscious and ripe...

Fox leaned closer until her blue eyes took up his entire view, a sea of vibrant caring life. So generous in her giving, so caring in her unselfishness. Just to touch her perfection would be like touching heaven. Fox’s lips touched hers, a gentle stroke, an innocent mating. He pulled back slightly to study her face, looking for disgust or any sign of pity. But he found neither, only curiosity and trust.

Something so strong and forceful Fox was unable to control took over. He pulled her to him, crushing her against him, holding her as he had longed to for ten years.

He kissed her lips urgently, tasting her innocence. He touched her soul with his need. And Jordan answered as she had always answered, unselfish in her giving. Her arms wrapped around him, the blanket falling to the bench behind her. Her wet clothing had molded completely to her skin, and her body molded completely to his.

Fox’s hand moved to the nape of her neck, pulling her close to him. He could not get enough of her. Her kiss warmed him where he had never been warm.

He could feel the beating of her heart as if it were his own. God’s blood! Fox thought. I want her so fiercely, like nothing I have ever felt before. He pulled back suddenly, fearful of losing himself to her.

Her eyes were full of dazed confusion. Fox could have kissed her again and again, perhaps even taken her right there. But he couldn’t. He moved away from her.

Jordan straightened, drawing herself farther away from Fox.

Fox ignored the need raging inside his body. He couldn’t do that to her, couldn’t force her to live the way he had to live... in disgrace, like a common thief. She was a lady and deserved better, no matter how much he wanted her. He could never even fantasize she could be his. It would be far too painful.

He looked away from her, staring at Mary Kate on the floor. Jordan had saved the child’s life, risking her own freedom, to save her. Jordan deserved far better than the way Fox had treated her.

“Fox, did I –”

Fox interrupted her. “I will take you back to Ruvane Village,” he said quietly. “As you requested.”

F
ox was going to take her back to Ruvane village. Jordan should have been happy. After all, this was what she had been asking for, to see the children. But Fox was distancing himself from her, releasing her to let her go back to her life -- back to Evan.

Jordan sat for a long time, trying to comprehend her feelings. The thought of Evan was like being doused with cold water, especially after she had tasted Fox’s passion. She was anything but happy. She touched her lips, staring into the dying fire. How could Fox kiss her like that and have it mean nothing? How could he just let her go? She was not happy, not elated, just very confused by the emotions stirring inside her.

He was forsaking his title and his lands by letting her go. Why would he do that, especially after making it clear that they meant everything to him? She was his means to gaining at least the land.

Jordan stood and marched out of the meal room. She had to know. She moved down the hallway toward the spiral stairway. The corridors were dark except for the light of the moon shining in through the second floor windows. Jordan marched up the stairway, having to feel her way up the stone tower. She emerged onto the second floor and walked toward Fox’s door.

He wouldn’t get away with it. He couldn’t throw away his chance at getting back what was his.

A figure emerged into a patch of moonlight before her, startling her.

The figure wore the long brown robe of a monk. Jordan quickly halted. Michael. She swallowed and looked at Fox’s door just down the hallway. If she called out, Fox would come. But something made her stay silent.

“Stay away from him, witch,” Michael commanded.

His tone of voice, the degradation in his words, wounded her. “What have I done to you, Michael?”

“Don’t dare to be innocent with me! I see through your facade, demon. I see through it where Fox cannot.”

“What have I done that you treat me as an enemy?” she demanded.

“You are the devil’s own work.” Michael touched his forehead, his stomach, and each shoulder, making the sign of the cross before her. “I vow to protect my brother against you.”

“I love him, Michael.”

The look in Michael’s eyes seemed to grow darker, more dangerous. “Love?” Michael spat. “What do you know of love?”

“I loved you, Michael,” Jordan said softly. “Like a brother. I protected you and –”

“Abandoned Fox!” Michael shouted. “Is that love? Was it love that made you remain silent while our life was stripped away?”

Jordan felt the guilt rise within her once again. “I gave my word,” she whispered.

“You could have at least come to our defense! Instead you turned your back on us.”

“Turned my back?” Jordan gasped. “How can you say that? You were there! It was because of you that I...” Jordan stopped, shutting her mouth quickly. “It was all to save you, Michael,” she whispered.

Michael scowled in confusion. “Me?” His anger seemed to dissipate. He looked away, his face filling with tortured agony.

“Don’t you remember?”

He rubbed his brow. “I... I...” He shook his head fiercely. “It was a long time ago. I was just a boy. I remember that the baron was in my room. But...” He shook his head again. “Evan...”

“Evan?” Jordan echoed. What had Evan to do with it? “Michael –” She stepped toward him.

He backed away quickly and his anger suddenly resurfaced. “Your words cannot sway me! Be gone, witch!”

“I’m leaving tomorrow, Michael.” Even to her own ears, her voice sounded heavy.

“Good.” There was no emphasis or conviction behind the word. He rubbed his forehead again. “You will stay far away from Fox until then.”

She looked at him quietly for a moment, then turned and retraced her steps, leaving Michael alone in the hallway.

***

Later, Jordan sat in the meal room, her head bowed. Suddenly, something white moved past the door. Jordan lifted hear gaze, but the doorway was empty.

Then a ghost appeared there.

Jordan stood quickly, taking a few involuntary steps backward and putting her hand protectively over her heart. But when the ghost moved deeper into the room, she saw it was only Beau dressed in a white robe.

“Are you all right, m’lady?” Beau asked.

“Why are you dressed all in white?” she wondered.

Beau smiled sheepishly and indicated the robe. “I’m the ghost of Castle Mercer,” he said. “We take turns wearing it and walking the battlements so the villagers think the castle is haunted.”

Jordan smiled. Everything was making sense. The traps set in the hallway for inquisitive intruders, the ghost of Castle Mercer. It was all part of an elaborate plan to keep visitors away. She retook her seat.

“If you don’t mind my saying, you look as miserable as Fox.” Beau sat beside Jordan.