Glorious Victorious Darcys 01.5 - His Broken Angel (5 page)

P.J. Darcy was every bit the ace pilot she bragged to be.

Snoop had buffalo-sized balls.

Doc hadn’t been in the position to witness the duo’s every tactic, but he was experienced in sky warfare and they had dodged a dog fight with impressive skill and speed. He was a mite embarrassed knowing he’d kissed his way through the mayhem. Sure and certain, he was almighty vexed at the affection he felt toward the woman sleeping in his arms.

Talk about dangerous foreign ground.

Sailing through the darkening skies, Doc pondered his poor judgment of late. He should have ignored Lily’s awkward peck, but no. He’d gotten a taste of her sweetness and the temptation had driven him to reckless distraction. He’d kissed her long and deep. Proper-like, then improper-like. He’d worked his hands beneath her,
his
, coat, and he’d sampled her curves.

Oh, yes, he’d compromised Lily good and plenty. Even now his John Thomas was rock hard and ready. He wanted her in his bed and, even worse,
in his life
. He’d never been in love before, but he’d wager he was in the thick of it with Lily. The moment he’d laid eyes on her—
an angel on earth
—his heart had gone all soft. His brain had taken a hit as well. Because, dash it all, if he’d been thinking straight, he would’ve dodged this intimate bullet.

Now he was in a devil of a pickle. Not just because he’d compromised her reputation, but because he was pretty sure Lily had feelings for him too. This was bad. Real bad. They couldn’t be together. Not as man and woman. Not as man and wife. He couldn’t do that to Tuck. He sure as shootin’ couldn’t do that to Lily.

How the hell was he going to address the situation?

First and foremost, get a grip on your lustful urges
.

Lily stirred in his arms and Doc shifted, trying to shield her from his erection.

“Are we there yet?” she asked in a husky voice that drove him one mile closer to mad.

“Almost.” He wasn’t sure how long they’d been traveling, but it had been a good while. Dusk had fallen and Doc had to squint to make out the outlines of the Freak Fighter hideout. “We’re coming up on the outpost now. Looks like a village built into the side of a mountain. Two and three story housing—almost Tudor-style—balanced on stone and wood foundations, jutting out of the cliff. Hard to describe.”

“You’re doing a fine job,” Lily said while interlacing her fingers with his. “Sounds unique.”

“It is.” He cleared his throat, knowing he should pull free of her grasp and instead tightening his hold. “There’s a waterfall gushing over the side of the cliff and running over a giant grist mill wheel. It’s pretty magnificent. Four airships are docked at intermittent bays.”

“Do you see the
Crusader
?”

“No.” What if Crusher had blown that zeppelin out of the sky, and Jasper with it? Doc palmed his shirt pocket and the photograph tucked inside. What if that tattered daguerreotype was all he had left of his brother?

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Lily said. “Probably took that bounty hunter on a chase far and away from here. Give him time. He’ll show. If nothing else his pride will demand it,” she teased in a light voice. “Plus, you’ve got unfinished business, remember?”

“All I want is a chance to talk some sense into him,” Doc said as the
Bullet
slowed and nosed toward a docking bay. “If he keeps living like this, on the wrong side of the law, he’ll end up in the hoosegow for life or six feet under.”

“If he turns himself in, he’ll be punished for sure. What do you expect him to do?” Lily asked. “Go into hiding?”

“That or adopt an alias and find an honest job. Seems like the only alternatives given the debacle with the
Brittania
. That bloodbath marked him for death. What the devil was he thinking? How could he order such senseless destruction? I don’t care how much he hates intolerant Vics, that ain’t no call for annihilating a boodle of men in cold …”

Gasping for air, Lily doubled over.

Son of a
… “I’m sorry, angel.” He pulled her back into his arms, spoke close to her ear. “Calm down. Breathe. Did you feel that bump? We just docked. I’ll find us some warm clothes and a hot meal. I’m thirsty. You ever had ale? Or a shot of whiskey? I’m thinking we could both use some fortifying. That’s it. Breathe.” His heart hammered as he smoothed his hands up and down her arms. “Slow and easy. That’s it.”

Someone wrenched up the thermoplastic shield, allowing for brisk winds and the sounds of groaning engines. P.J. glared down at Doc.

“She’s all right,” Doc said.

Lily nodded and massaged her chest. “I’m fine. Truly.”

A mountain of a man moved in next to P.J. and Doc instantly felt the rippling of two dimensions.
A kindred Freak
. “Snoop?”

Ignoring Doc, the frowning man focused on Lily. “She doesna like to think aboot it.”

How did he know
… Ah. Snoop was clairvoyant. He was also a Scot. His accent reminded Doc of Captain Dunkirk—the Scottish Shark of the Skies. Which made Doc think of Tuck and Amelia and the betrayal.

Snoop arched a wary brow.

“Lift Lily out of here,” Doc prompted. “And be mindful of her leg.”

Snoop was a big man, taller than Jasper and broader in the shoulder. He’d painted his face blue and wore his long dreaded hair in a high ponytail. Doc wondered if the intimidating Fighter could be trusted.

“Aye,” he said, holding Doc’s gaze. “I can. Jury’s still oot on you, yeah?”

Dash it all
.

“What’s going on?” Lily asked.

“Nothing,” P.J. said, motioning Doc and Snoop to hush.

Doc censored his thoughts as the big blue man gently hauled Lily from the cockpit. His own legs tingled, half asleep from the cramped ride. He massaged one thigh while nabbing his derby and bag from beneath the seat. Joining the others on a narrow gangway, Doc eyed Snoop. “Trade you my medical bag for Lily.”
She feels safer with me
.

Snoop nodded, but before Doc could initiate the exchange, P.J. tugged him down and whispered in his ear. “Canoodling in a dog fight? In the words of your brother:
If that don’t beat all
.”

Doc felt his color rise. An explanation escaped him as affectionate thoughts swelled.

“Leave him be,” Snoop said to P.J. while placing Lily in Doc’s arms. Then to Doc, “We need to talk.”

“Yes, we do.” Doc realized suddenly that Snoop was not only privy to his thoughts, but to everyone’s. Including Lily’s. What went on in her mind during those anxiety attacks? By now Doc had deduced her spells weren’t wholly instigated by her lack of sight. What panicked Lily was whatever she’d witnessed on the
Britannia
. Something she never spoke of. Something she didn’t like to think about. Blocking memories. Images. Surrounding herself in darkness.

Was it possible her blindness was self-inflicted
?

Snoop smiled down at him. “My thoughts exactly.”

Even though they hadn’t been greeted by a league of gun-toting Fighters, Doc sensed they were being watched from several vantage points. He held Lily close, trying to keep her warm as Snoop deactivated an alarm and triggered a geared mechanism. With a hiss and several metallic clicks an iron door slid open, revealing a dimly lit foyer. No furnishings. No people. Just dank walls brandishing crude oil lamps. Must and smoke curled into Doc’s nostrils as they stepped inside and the door groaned shut behind them.

Lily clung tighter. He didn’t blame her. He felt it, too.
Tension
.
Danger
.

An armed guard stepped out of the shadows.

“They’re with us,” Snoop said.

“Where’s Jasper?” the man asked in a gruff voice.

“Wrangling a bounty hunter along with Joey and Viper.”

Another Fighter appeared, decked out in leather and brass armor. “Strangers aren’t welcome. Especially now.”

“Don’t get your codpiece in a twist,” P.J. said. “This is Jasper’s brother, Blue, and his wife, Lily.”

Doc blinked down at the aviatrix who hushed him with a nudge of her boot.

“We’re here on Jasper’s orders,” Snoop said. “He’ll be here soon.”

The Fighters exchanged glances. “Keep them out of sight until he gets here,” the first one said. “For their own safety.”

The intimidating pair melted into the shadows and P.J. grunted. “I’d say they’re more bark than bite but they aren’t.” She hurried toward a crude elevator. “Going up,” she said in a pithy voice.

Once inside the rickety contraption, Lily looked in the woman’s general direction. “Why did you lie about me?”

“The outpost is teeming with rowdy men,” P.J. said as the elevator jerked upward. “Taking you off the market seemed wise.”

“But you’re a single woman.”

“She’s a Fighter,” Snoop said.

“I’ll pop into Central Communication,” P.J. said while tugging off her gloves. “See if anyone’s heard anything about Jasper or the investigation.” She passed Snoop a key. “Put them in K-4. Help yourself to my wardrobe, Gentry, such as it is. As for you,” she said to Doc, “don’t venture out. Easy to get lost in the grids, plus folks are twitchy about the traitor.”

The shaft squealed to a halt. The doors opened and P.J. dashed to the right. Snoop peeled left and Doc followed. “What’s this about a traitor?”

“Later.”

Arms locked tight around Doc’s neck, Lily spoke in a hushed tone. “I think P.J.’s in love with your brother.”

“Most women are.”

“Not this woman.”

“You might feel different once your sight returns and you get an eyeful.”

“You don’t think it’s permanent? My blindness?”

“No, angel. I don’t.”

She squeezed him tight and smiled against his neck. “I can’t wait to see you.”

Doc tensed. As long as Lily was blind, he was perfect. She wouldn’t feel that way once she got a look at his defect. Gut knotted, he followed Snoop through a tangle of torch-lit corridors. He looked for visual markers but every hall looked the same and none of the doors they passed were marked. Plus they hadn’t passed a single soul.

“Where is everyone?”

“Never you mind.” Snoop stopped sudden like at an unremarkable door and shoved the key into the lock. They moved inside and the big man set the small room alight with kerosene lanterns. “This is P.J.’s temporary quarters. Help Miss Gentry settle in, yeah? I’ll be waiting ootside.”

Doc wasn’t crazy about leaving Lily alone, but he supposed they could lock her inside, plus P.J. would be coming back. Anxious to speak with Jasper’s second-in-command, he settled Lily on the edge of what passed for a bed. The door closed and Doc looked around. He didn’t see a closet or an armoire, so he went for the small steamer trunk. “Like the furnishings of this room,” he said to Lily, “P.J.’s wardrobe is pretty sparse.”

“I’m grateful for whatever.”

“Wool trousers and a brown shirt. Socks. Boots.”

“That’s fine.”

“I don’t mean to be intrusive, but I should help you. Your leg—”

“Nothing personal, right?”

Surprised by her brittle tone, Doc eyed Lily as he approached the wooden platform with the inch high mattress. She’d already slipped out of his coat and was fumbling to tighten the laces of the thin white chemise. Head bowed, her long hair fell forward hiding her expression, but he could see the tension in her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“I felt you pull away out there. I thought you wanted me. I thought …”

“I do want you, Lily.” Ah, hell. That’s not what he’d meant to say. “It’s just … it can’t be.
We
can’t be.”

She looked up at him with those beautiful sightless blue eyes. “Is there someone else?”

“No.”

“Is it because we’ve only just met? Don’t you believe in spontaneous love? I never dreamed it would happen for me, but …”

“I believe in it now.”
Dash it all!
Disgusted by his lack of control, Doc dug deep for professionalism. He laid the clothes on the bed then stooped down in front of his vulnerable patient. “Before we pull on those trousers let me infuse your leg with more HE.” He wrapped his hands around her shin, trying not to derive pleasure from the feel of her bare skin. Trying and failing.

“If you … care for me,” she ventured, “why can’t we be together?”

“There are a number of reasons.”

“Name them.”

“God, but you’re forward. Tuck always described you as shy. What happened?”

“You.”

His heart swelled and ached something awful. “
I
,” Doc forced past his constricted throat, “am a Freak.”

“So?”

“A first generation Freak, Lily. I’m … different.”

“I’ve been called eccentric. Because of my paintings, my style. They call it
avant-garde
.”

“You don’t understand.”

“I may be young, but I’m not uneducated, King. Nor have I lived with my head in the sand. I know your race is persecuted. That’s what your brother is fighting for, yes? Equal rights for Freaks? We may not agree with his methods, but it’s a good cause. I’m not afraid to join in the fight in a nonviolent way. I’m not afraid to be with you.”

“You should be,” Doc snapped. Then he blew out a breath and rolled back his shoulders. “Sorry.” He thought about his parents, hounded and hassled. He thought about the house fire that had taken their lives. The officials had blamed a faulty furnace. But like Jasper, Doc suspected calculated arson.
Murder
. The only reason the Bluebell brothers had escaped harm was because they’d snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to go skinny-dipping with a couple of Jasper’s more daring female admirers. If Doc allowed his mind to wander, he could still hear the sickening explosion. He could smell the burning wood.

“People fear what they don’t understand, Lily. Sometimes that fear causes them to strike out. You wouldn’t be safe with me.”

“I’m willing to take the chance.”

“I’m not.” Good God, he loved this woman more by the minute. How was that possible?

“Is it because you think I’m frail? Cowardly? I know I’ve been difficult since the accident, despondent. But I promise you, I’m made of sterner stuff. Whatever trials you may suffer due to your Freak heritage, I’ll not only weather, I’ll help you to overcome and prevail.”

Her vehemence moved Doc mightily, but his gut cramped with a theory he’d yet to address. “Forgive my wariness, Lily, but I have to wonder. How can you be so brave for me, yet, just this morning, you were ready to give up on yourself?”

She blinked down at him.

“This sudden burst of courage, your
spontaneous
affection for me, I fear it’s twisted up with gratitude and perhaps awe of my supernatural gift.”

She sat quiet for a moment—contemplating—then blew out a ragged breath. “There is logic in your assumption. I cannot deny I am most grateful that you quickened my healing and soothed the pain. I cannot help but to admire such a wondrous gift, but …” She shook her head. “I’m not so shallow as to have succumbed to hero worship. When you know me better, you’ll realize that. What I feel for you is honest and true, King.”

He wanted to believe that. He truly did. But Doc was a pragmatic man. Once her sight returned, once they left the dicey outpost and she returned to a more normal life, to the protection of her brother and the solace of her art, surely Lily’s fascination with him would fade.

Somber now, Doc squeezed her leg. “I’m going to help you with these trousers.”

“I’m going to change your mind.”

“There are no skirts in that trunk, angel.”

“I mean about me. About taking a chance.”

Doc’s pulse skipped when she reached down and palmed the sides of his face. He froze as her fingers brushed over his cheeks, his nose, his jaw.

“So handsome,” she whispered.

He swallowed. “You wouldn’t say that if you could see me.”

“Why? Are you disfigured somehow? You feel beautiful to me. Strong jawline. Regal nose.”

“My eyes.”

She reached up and touched his goggles. “Do you always wear these?”

“These or tinted wraparound specs.”

“I’ve heard that Freaks have rainbow eyes,” Lily said as she gently pushed his goggles to his forehead. “Multiple colors that slowly swirl.”

“All Freaks are born with kaleidoscope eyes.”

“Do you shield your eyes so Vics won’t stare?”

“Shield them so folks won’t recoil.” Doc was stunned by his bald honesty. His botched surgery had rendered him self-conscious—a weakness he accepted but never spoke of. Yet he’d shared his personal torment with Lily as easily as he’d admitted the fact that he was a Freak, another thing he usually kept to himself.

“Why would people recoil from such beauty?” Lily asked as she traced her fingers over his eyebrows. “All those colors—dancing together like a Monet painting.”

Doc’s heart hammered as her feather-light touch extended to his closed lids. He’d never been so aroused in all his born days.

And never so miserable.

“There are no colors, Lily.”

“What do you mean?”

He grasped her hands, held them strong and true while he bared his heart. “When I was three, my parents decided they wanted to give me a shot at a normal life. Life as a Vic, or at least the appearance of one. They’d heard about a procedure, consulted with a specialist. There’d been a couple of successful cases.”

He focused on Lily’s pretty features, her lovely blue eyes. “My parents thought they were doing the right and kind thing. Unfortunately, the surgery was botched and the kaleidoscope of colors burst and blended into all colors.”

“White.”

“That’s right. I’ve got no irises, Lily. Just small black pupils in the middle of brilliant white.”

She furrowed her brow. “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Can you see all right?”

“Right as rain.”

“I’m thinking I could stare into those eyes forever, King.” She tilted her head and smiled a little. “Eyes are the windows to the soul. I’m thinking I’d see compassion and wisdom shining in all that white. I’m thinking you’re like one of my paintings. Unique.”

Touched beyond words, Doc dropped his forehead to Lily’s. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“I hope you never will again. It’s kind of nice being special.”

“Yes, it is.”

He didn’t wait for her to ask. He knew what she wanted. He wanted it too. A brush of the lips, a sample of heaven. Against his better judgment, Doc kissed his broken angel and soared beyond dimensions. She made him feel whole and worthy.
Desirable
.

Threading his fingers through her silky hair, Doc cradled her head and took the kiss deeper. Her enthusiastic response singed his brain cells. He lost control. Or maybe it was her. Or mutual. Somehow Lily ended up on his lap. Straddling him, she rocked against his erection, her arms locked tight around his neck as their tongues dueled.

Lust raged and crackled and Doc finessed her onto her back while she yanked at his shirttails. A voice in the back of his charred mind urged him to stop, but his need,
her
need drove him on. He nearly lost it when her soft hands slid over the bunched muscles of his bare back. He wanted her naked too.

Groaning, he broke the kiss to sample her neck, her collarbone. He tugged at her chemise, gaining access to her small, firm breasts. “So beautiful.” He flicked his tongue over a rosy bud then suckled.

Her sensual moan stimulated his system with the intensity of synthetic aphrodisiac.

A knock on the door stopped him cold.

“Be right there,” he called over his shoulder while covering Lily with a coarse blanket. He stared at her flushed face for a long moment, heart pounding, shaft throbbing. “How can someone so sweet be so dangerous?”

“I guess you bring out the devil in me,” she said in a breathless voice.

Doc kissed her forehead. “Stay here and rest.” Willing good sense, he left the room, the flames of hell lickin’ at his boots.