Lilac Temptress (17 page)

Drake suddenly pulled her down onto
the bed beside him, and touched her cheek. He searched her nervous
features. “What will it take, Sierra, for you to set yourself
free?” he sighed deeply.

Sierra stared at him, perplexed by his
question.

Drake knew how much she needed him,
even if she didn’t know it. “I want to go to bed with you, Sierra.
But what if I told you I couldn’t promise you anything tomorrow
morning? I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t want to hurt
you.”

“
What makes you think I
would allow you to hurt me?” Sierra didn’t like the sound of
Drake’s overconfident voice.

“
You are so innocent,”
Drake assured her, sensing that his words made her
uncomfortable.

“
There’s nothing you could
ever do that would hurt me any more than I have already been hurt,”
Sierra affirmed.

Drake knew she must have been speaking
of Jason Grant, but he wouldn’t bring him up. But maybe he should,
he thought. He wanted to know the ghost he was competing
with.

“
Tell me more about
how
he
hurt
you.”

Sierra exhaled, rolling to her back,
facing the ceiling. “You remember I spoke of him the night we first
met. I thought I loved Jason more than anyone in this world. We
were to be married, and he was going to take me out of
Jadesville.”

Drake rested on one elbow, his eyes
fixed on her while listening intently, trying not to give away any
sign that he knew more to this story than she could ever possibly
tell him.

“
In some ways you and he
are alike. He was just passing through town like you. We met at
Wil’s bar and in a few weeks time, we fell in love. At least I did.
Being new to this kind of love, I was very rash in my decision to
fall for him.” Sierra paused, thinking back to a time when she was
so willing to easily love a man. “He left me the day before we were
to be married. He just up and left town without so much as saying
goodbye.” Sierra deeply sighed, reliving her
disappointment.

“
I wept over it for months
on end. I wished he had told me if he had second thoughts about us.
Adrienne and Kyle were my only comfort. Wil said I deserved to be
abandoned and that it should teach me a lesson for the next time I
get any ideas about skipping town.” Tears formed in the corners of
her eyes. “Sometimes I think Wil was right. I deserved
it.”

Drake imagined what she must have gone
through and sympathized. She really had no idea what had happened
to Jason, and if she ever found out, what then? How would she
survive William? “It was not your fault,” he insisted, trying to
convince her.

“
Of course it was. I was
too troublesome.”

“
Troublesome?” Drake raised
his eyebrows.

“
Yes. Wil was against
Jason from the beginning. He was against our relationship. Wil
wouldn’t let just anyone run off with his baby girl and Jason
wouldn’t immediately back down. I hate that Wil was right after
all. I
hate
him.”

“
But William is the
man who has cared for you—the man
you
think
has a right to
rule your life
just because he has
looked after you and your brother for so long.”

Sierra ignored Drake’s sarcasm and
sighed. “I don’t believe that Wil thinks of me as a daughter
anymore. I sometimes feel that he wants more from me.”

Drake’s face grew grim. “He doesn’t
look at you the way a man looks at his daughter.”

“
So you’ve
noticed.”
I can’t stand the way he makes
me feel
, her mind cried out, but she
wouldn’t voice it aloud. She wouldn’t tell Drake how William had
touched her, exposing her shame.

“
I don’t know what it is,
Sierra, but I have a notion that you are trying really hard to take
care of everyone else. Who’s taking care of you? Certainly not
William,” Drake said, her distant jade eyes moving him.

He eyed her more seriously now. “Come
with me, Sierra,” he urged softly, surprised by his own words, but
confident in the rightness of the sentiment behind them.

Sierra’s heart pounded against her rib
cage. “What are you asking? Just a minute ago you were telling me
you couldn’t promise me anything beyond tomorrow morning and
now—”

Drake abruptly covered her lips with
his, to stop her idle chatter. He kissed her so eagerly, twirling
his tongue around hers that the kiss more than took her by
surprise. An unexpected wooziness washed over her.

“
What if the purpose of
your entire life was for you to meet me?” Drake professed, looking
into her awe struck eyes.

“
You have a way of
impressively declaring things,” Sierra’s breathed brokenly, still
spellbound by his kiss, “already making me once wonder if we are
fated and now you’ve almost left me without words. You speak as if
I have not managed well enough without you.”

“
I believe that you have
barely lived. I have more than you’ll ever need. Anything you’ll
ever want,” Drake said passionately.

With great reluctance, Sierra
whispered, “I cannot go with you, Drake.” Her breath was still
caught in her chest. Every time he kissed her, a part of her
surrendered to him—she had to struggle to bring herself back to
real life.

“
Is it Kyle? If it is, we
can bring him with us—or is it William?” Drake raised his brow. He
didn’t want William to be her reason to stay behind.

“
No—don’t you take no for
an answer? Don’t you get it?” Sierra said, feeling the rising panic
within her heart and mind.

“
Don’t
you
get it, Sierra? This
place is no good for a woman like you.” Drake leaned in closer to
her, stroking her face. “William is sucking the life out of you and
you don’t see it. You’re smart, beautiful and talented, fearless
even. There’s something about your spirit that makes you
irresistible. You can take on a place like New Orleans. Hell, you
can even take on a man like me.”

“
A man like you?” Sierra
swallowed hard. “A man who is used to getting what he wants? A man
who can have any woman he wants? A man whom women are dying to
have? I bet you have women wishing for your return home right this
very minute as we speak.”

A picture of Isadora entered Drake’s
mind, but he pushed the thought of her aside.

Sierra caught Drake’s mental pause.
“Ah, it seems as if though I struck a chord,” she frowned. “I can’t
go with you to New Orleans. I can’t become your little mistress
from God knows where. What do you take me for?”

Sierra noticed the look in Drake’s
eyes and realized she had offended him. “I’m sorry Drake... it’s
just that my life is entirely different from yours. I can’t live as
a part of your precious little blue-blooded society and I can’t
drag you into my life, my mess.”

“
Why not?” Drake paused.
“Sierra, I’m an even bigger mess than you are.” He took her hand
and laid her palm across his waist so that her fingertips touched
his tender scar. “I should be dead. I received this in a duel with
a man who loved a woman who was in love with me.”

Drake’s face, full of emotion,
conveyed his deep remorse. “Her name was Angelique Normand. I
didn’t love her, but she thought I might in time. The man I fought
this duel with killed her that same evening and every time I look
at my scar, I regret that I didn’t end his life before he ended
hers. I wish she were alive. I often feel that it should be me
rotting in a grave.”

Drake relived the painful memory in a
moment of silence. He had never been blamed or ridiculed for
Angelique’s death—she had not been wealthy nor an esteemed woman,
and though her demise had been a horrible happenstance, the lover’s
triangle was soon forgotten by nearly everyone.

“
Sierra, I did care for
her. I cared very deeply for her,” Drake said as much for Sierra’s
benefit as his own.

“
Drake... I...” Sierra
started to speak, but lost her train of thought when she saw the
hurt expression on Drake’s face. She hadn’t meant to make him
recall such a dark moment in his past. The scar left no pain, but
his memory of the tragedy had.

“
Come with me, Sierra,
please.” Drake voiced in a heart wrenching tone. He thought that if
he could protect her, this would somehow help him atone for his
part in the death of Angelique.

Sierra sat quietly considering Drake’s
plea. She hated that he was living with so much self-imposed guilt,
which she thought was the worst kind of affliction. However, she
wanted to get out of Jadesville and as far away from William as
possible, and she didn’t think she should let Drake’s confession
discourage her from leaving. Drake was the man had that risked his
life to save her. And with only a little further help from him, she
could have a real chance at starting a new life.

“
If you are afraid to come
with me because of what I have just told you about—” Drake started
speaking.

“
No, it’s not that,” Sierra
interrupted him. “It would never be because of what you’ve just
said.” She briefly touched his cheek.

Drake sighed his relief. He didn’t
want her to think of him as a horrible man.

The momentary silence between them,
while they watched each other now, was without any awkward
discomfort.

“
Kyle and I can take care
of ourselves, even if we did leave,” Sierra thought aloud, breaking
the silence. “We would only need a place to stay for a short while
until we could get one of our own,” she said, weighing the
offer.

“
You and Kyle would be
welcome, and well cared for at my estate for as long as you
needed.”

“
What about you and me?”
Sierra questioned him curiously. “Nothing in life is free. What
would I have to do to earn our keep?”

“
Just live your life,”
Drake stated simply. He brushed her hair behind her ear and began
nibbling at her lobe. He watched her tilt her head slightly,
offering more of her neck to him. There was nothing he’d rather be
doing. “I can’t even close my eyes without envisioning you,” Drake
slipped the words into her ear before he could stop
them.

Sierra forced herself to slowly slide
away from him. She couldn’t think with his lips so close to her
ear. She was afraid to believe him. And if she went to New Orleans,
could she up and leave him at any time or would he treat her as if
she owed him something like William did? Drake said he wanted her
to be free, but she didn’t know how much freedom he was truly
willing to give her once she was solely at his mercy.

“
Sierra, I know what you
are thinking.”

“
Do you?” Sierra lifted her
eyes to meet his.

“
I am not William. I won’t
try to dominate your life. Don’t fight me on this, Sierra. Have
faith in me. I know it’s a big risk for you to take on a man you
don’t even know, but...”

Sierra moved farther away
from him and stood up from the bed.
Is it
chilly in the room or is he the cause of my shivering.

“
I will go with you. It
will be marvelous to venture outside of Jadesville.”

Drake rose and pulled her toward him,
enfolding his arms around her. He wanted to be touching her. He
wanted to stop her trembling.

“
How can you be so sure
that this is a good idea?” she asked looking up at him.

“
Because I know how
desperately you want to leave.”

Sierra buried her head into his
chest.

Drake knew that this had been a
difficult decision for her to make—to leave everything she knew
behind and start over elsewhere, and he admired her courage. “You
can still change your mind. We don’t leave for a few
days.”

He pulled her onto the bed once more
so that she was lying on top of him. He started kissing her gently
and slowly, respecting that her experience with men was virtually
none, except for Jason, whom she had never made love to. “I am
going to make sure that you have no regrets.”

Drake’s soothing voice calmed her.
“The way you say it makes me want to believe you.”

“
Then trust me, Sierra.”
Drake hands moved down her back, around her waist. Then he gently
rolled her to his side, fighting his every physical urge to begin
undressing her. However, he thought it was best to let her
willingly come to him in her own time, especially now that they
would have more time with each other, if she stuck to her decision
to leave.

Sierra turned on her stomach, placing
one leg across Drake’s legs, draping her arm across his chest.
Within minutes she’d exhausted every emotion she had while thoughts
crossed her mind about leaving Jadesville, and then she fell fast
asleep.

Drake stayed up for at least another
hour, thinking of his plans for their departure. If Sierra had
known anything about Jason’s death, then surely she wouldn’t have
taken him up on his offer, likely fearing that William would kill
him as well. And Drake was certain that William must not know of
her decision to leave until the day they set out. He was concerned
with William’s reaction and Sierra’s safety, and whether or not he
could get her out of town without conflict.