Lilac Temptress (50 page)

“
Ill?” Drake fixed
his eyes on Isadora. She did seem to be a little peaked, and he
could have kicked himself for not noticing earlier.
If I hadn’t been avoiding the women for the past
week..
. he sighed unable to finish the
thought. For God’s sake what kind of man was he to ignore Isadora
so thoroughly that he didn’t even realize that she might not be in
good health. And to make matters worse she was still second in his
thoughts. He just couldn’t think past Sierra and her late night
rendezvous with Jason.

“
I’m just a little fatigued
from managing all of the wedding arrangements,” she said
dismissively. “Nothing serious, I’ve already had a physician stop
by to have a look at me.” Isadora fluttered her eyes at Drake whom
seemed to finally be diverting his attention from
Sierra.

“
A
physician? Drake said, slightly alarmed to hear that she had been
out of sorts enough to warrant a doctor’s visit. “Isadora you have
been overexerting yourself since the Darling Belle accident and now
you look somewhat pale,” he said, his voice full of concern. “Are
you sure that you are well enough for such an outing? Perhaps we
should return to the house,” he suggested, feeling that he might
finally pay her some much-needed attention.

“
Drake, in less than
two days you will have her all to yourself,”
Rosaline snapped at her brother. “
Isadora
said
she
is well. It has been such a long
time since we’ve gone out and
God
only knows how long it will be before we will be
able to ride together again.”

Kyle glanced at Rosaline.
Though his feelings ran quite deep for her, he sometimes wished she
wouldn’t be such a relentless instigator; he was growing tired of
the performances all the women carried out to gain Drake’s
affections. “Rosaline, I’m sure they need their time alone.”
Kyle gestured her to come nearer to him, catching
Sierra’s cutting look at his comment.

Rosaline silently reared
her horse next to Kyle’s side.
Drake gazed
at his sister. Never had she shied away without getting her way out
of him and now she was following Kyle’s suggestion? Her actions
were decidedly un-Rosaline like. Had he missed something? Could
something be going on between his sister and Kyle? He had been so
distracted by his own dilemmas that he had not even noticed that
Rosaline and Kyle might be more closely acquainted.
As if he didn’t have enough on his mind already,
he thought irritably, now he needed to add Rosaline and Kyle to his
list of worries.

“
Isadora, would it be
alright if we ride with them for a short while?” Drake found
himself asking his betrothed. He hoped Isadora interpreted his
request as an older brother trying to satisfy his willful, youthful
sister rather than a man seeking an excuse to spend time with
another woman. In all honesty he desperately wanted to be near
Sierra, if only to sort out the truth.

Isadora shot him a defiant look and
huffed aloud, but didn’t outright protest.

“
Isadora, if you’d rather
not come—” Drake trailed off, offering her a way out.

“
I will not waste this
beautiful day. I will ride out with you all.” Isadora succumbed.
There was no way she was letting Drake out of her sight, much less
allow him to go gallivanting around with Sierra, whom she was sure
had concocted some convoluted plan as a final attempt to thwart
their plans for matrimony. She would take no risk of losing Drake
to Sierra. Though Drake hadn’t known it, she was very aware of the
article Charleston Brennan had written about their supposed love
triangle. Yesterday evening she had gone into Drake’s study looking
for him. He was not there, so she thought to wait on him. While
perusing his office, it was not long before she had stumbled across
a package half-concealed behind his desk.

At first she was quite furious over
what she had read. She wanted to address the issue immediately and
have Drake throw Sierra out, and her rough-edged brother along with
her. But while she continued to think about it, she realized that
if there was a possibility that Drake was in love with Sierra, he
might not send Sierra away. Drake just might do the opposite if she
forced him to choose, and she may possibly push him right into
Sierra’s arms.

No, Isadora could not allow that to
happen. She would keep up the pretense of not knowing anything
about the article. Drake had kept the paper away from her for a
reason. He still wanted to marry her and she still wanted him for a
husband. That twit Sierra was not going to win Drake away from her.
Drake was far too ambitious to give up her offer to become his wife
and business partner, she thought.

* * *

Kyle turned and started out slowly,
Rosaline behind him, Sierra riding next to her. Drake and Isadora
followed at the rear of the group.

The sunlight permeated the riding
path, and tall thick trees coupled the light in waves. There was a
natural symphony of croaking frogs, the occasional clamoring wings
of blue herons, and squawks of pelicans being carried by the breezy
air. Sierra thought she picked up the scent of reptiles.

They had been riding for at least
twenty minutes silently on the trail and Sierra felt somewhat proud
of herself for quickly getting the hang of it.

“
You’re doing fairly well!”
Rosaline called out in encouragement at Sierra.

“
Do you think we
could pick up the pace a little and get this over with already? Or
would that be too much for you, Sierra?” Isadora sneered, clearly
bored by the leisurely morning out. She didn’t care to continue
riding with a
child
on a
pony ride
for much longer.

“
I can if you can!” Sierra
snapped back.

Drake rolled his eyes preparing
himself again for another brewing conflict. Why hadn’t he learned
to keep these three women apart by now?

Kyle glanced at his sister. He knew
that Sierra was being unreasonable in allowing Isadora the
satisfaction of browbeating her into quickening her pace, but he
also knew that Sierra would not be bested by Isadora. Still, he
didn’t think it was a good idea to move any faster. And Sierra had
already quickened her pace. If he told her to slow down, she just
might speed up even more in false bravado.

They rode at a moderate pace for
another twenty minutes. “We should turn back now!” Drake called
ahead to Kyle, Sierra and Rosaline. “The property becomes quite
dangerous swampland farther ahead,” he warned. Isadora slowed her
horse next to Drake’s and Kyle, and Rosaline came to a halt, but
Sierra was still moving.

“
Slow yourself!” Drake
called out to Sierra.

“
I can’t!” Sierra yelled
over her shoulder in a state of panic. Sierra leaned forward and
adjusted the reigns, thinking it might do the trick and bring her
to a halt. She was terrified when the steed sped up even more, and
shrieked out in horror.

The horses started to get excited.
Rosaline did all she could to calm her horse, which seemed eager to
race while Isadora adjusted her stallion to thwart any notions the
animal might have of bolting.

“
I have to go after her!”
Kyle said to Drake, his face alarmed. His sister’s horse continued
to pick up speed. At this rate their morning out could turn into a
catastrophe in moments.

“
No you can’t,” Drake
argued. “The grounds become too treacherous up ahead and you don’t
know the terrain. I’ll go after her. Stay here,” Drake commanded
and then raced after Sierra.

Kyle’s features displayed his inner
conflict. He clearly didn’t feel comfortable ceding his sister’s
welfare to anyone—even to someone as competent as Drake. But he
also knew the truth behind Drake’s words—riding blindly into harsh
terrain might jeopardize both Sierra and his own safety, requiring
not one rescue, but two.

Convinced that Kyle would heed Drake’s
caution, Rosaline tried to assure him that Drake would not allow
harm to come to Sierra. “Drake will bring her back,” she said more
confidently than she felt.

Kyle glared at Isadora who didn’t
attempt to hide her amusement. She was noticeably pleased by the
humiliation and trouble that she had brought Sierra. “You are
enjoying this aren’t you?” Kyle asked her gruffly.

“
I resent your accusation,”
Isadora remarked bitterly.

Kyle glared at her as she furrowed her
eyes at him.

“
Why are you so unkind to
my sister? She helped you. Did you know that? She kept you from
tumbling out of the stagecoach during the run-in with the thieves
and you are still are so cold-blooded toward her.”

“
Oh, spare me your blubbering. Do you expect me to become her
dearest friend? I hope you weren’t foolish enough to think so.”
Isadora let out loud mocking laughter that pierced the tense
atmosphere.

“
Isadora, how can you be so
cruel!” Rosaline yelled at her coming to Kyle’s defense.

“
Rosaline, there is no need to be so melodramatic, and if I
were you, I wouldn’t speak another word—for fear that I might
inform your mother about how much time you have been spending with
this young
man
.”
Isadora threatened coolly, with a wicked smile while tossing her
head back.

White-faced and trounced, Rosaline and
Kyle didn’t dare say another word.

* * *

Galloping at breakneck speed, Drake
steered his horse. He kept his eye on Sierra who was no more than a
few feet away, but with the path narrowing he had trouble pulling
up beside her. “Sierra! Sit deep in the saddle and pull back on the
reins!” Drake called out loud.

“
I can’t! I’ll fall!”
Sierra cried, stiffly hunching low, trying to hang on.

Drake knew that in a few more yards
they would come to a dead end of the path, which dissolved into a
wetland basin filled with dangerous swamp life. “Sierra, listen to
me! You must sit deep and pull back!” He shouted frantically as he
gained on her at a risky velocity.

Sierra couldn’t reply. She was too
frightened to speak, but held on as securely to the bridle as she
could. She shut her eyes tightly, every moment terrified she might
fall off.

“
I cannot get close enough
to you! Sierra you must!” Knight bucked wildly at the first sign of
wetland forcing Drake to bring him to a halt. Drake jumped down as
quickly as possible and began running after Sierra toward the end
of the path. He legs became heavier as he trudged deeper through
the swamp. His heart pounded hard against his ribs as he watched
Sierra’s horse panic uncontrollably at the end of the path,
abruptly launching Sierra. She toppled deep into the murky water as
her enthused horse—being free of its load, quickly galloped to
drier land.

Sheer dread gripped Drake. What if he
didn’t make it to her in time? He wouldn’t allow himself the
thought; he just had to save her. Reaching where she had landed, he
dashed into the muddied water after her. He searched frantically,
but did not see her re-emerge. He was terrified. He dove under
where he had seen her go down. Faintly seeing her outline through
the dark haze, he caught her up in his arms and hurriedly brought
her to the surface.

Sierra coughed and wheezed violently
while he carried her out of the swamp water to dry land. He stood
her up in front of him letting her use his body for support until
she had solidly gained her footing.

Safe on dry land, their horses were no
longer agitated and grazed nearby, as if nothing ever
happened.

“
Are you hurt?” Drake asked
as he ran his hands down her shoulders and arms, his face full of
fear as he gaped at her, searching for any sign of
injury.

“
I’m okay, I’m fine—I’m...
I was so afraid,” Sierra said, wringing out the excess water from
her wet hair and whisking the stray pieces that were plastered
against her cheeks—hanging like vines before her eyes, out of the
way.

“
For God’s sake, I thought
I had lost you!” Drake said, still affected by the utter panic that
had seized his heart moments earlier. Without thinking he began
planting little kisses all over her face, oblivious to the bits of
grime that clung to her. Now that he knew she was safe, and that he
could touch her and hold her again, the edge in his voice returned.
His features hardened, and he said more forcefully than he
intended, “What in the hell did you think you were doing back
there? How can I protect you when you pull such crazy
stunts!”

“
Me! Surely you can’t be
blaming me for this?” she said in disbelief. She placed her hand on
her chest. “Can’t you see what happened? Isadora tricked
me!”

“
Enough Sierra. I will not
hear another word of it. Your own foolish pride got you into this
mess. You’re lucky to be alive,” Drake scowled. “I swear that you
two women will be the death of me!”

Sierra bent her face in outrage. “I
hate you! I hate you! I hate—” Sierra repeated stepping back from
him, then her eyes widened as she glanced at Drake’s throat.
What... what is that?” She squinted and pointed at his
neck.