Chapter Sixteen
Talon spent the entire morning with Kate, returning to his cabin early that afternoon. He’d found it nearly impossible to leave her side and had postponed the inevitable as long as he could.
Last night had been everything he’d imagined and more. In her arms, he’d felt at peace for the first time in his life.
But it couldn’t last. Kate wasn’t his. She could never be his. He wanted to scream with the injustice of it all. He’d never asked for much out of life, never wanted anything but a home and someone to care about. But it seemed that the things most men took for granted were to be forever denied him.
Daniel waited on the bottom bunk in their cabin. The self-satisfied smirk on his brother’s face brought Talon crashing even further back down to earth.
“Well, how did it go?” Daniel queried, looking up from the book he was reading. “Did you deflower my wife?”
Talon merely glared. He stalked across the room to the cold basin of water Kate had used to bathe his wounds yesterday. Wringing out the washcloth, he brought it to his face and washed the perspiration from his brow.
For a long moment, he just stood there, staring at the wall, a vein pulsing in his jaw. “It’s done,” he muttered at last, tossing the washcloth back in the basin. “I’ve fulfilled my part of the bargain, and I damn well expect you to tell Sutcliffe to live up to his.”
“What if it doesn’t take? Who knows, it might be months before your work is done.”
Talon closed his eyes, both horrified and elated by the prospect.
Daniel was right. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead, stupidly assuming it would only take one time.
How would he bear it, deceiving her time after time, watching the love in her eyes grow? How could he bear knowing that as soon as he’d gotten her with child, he’d have to give her up?
He turned around, focusing his fury on Daniel. “Don’t make light of this, you bastard. This is your fault, all of it. If you’d been man enough to do the job yourself, Sutcliffe would have left me the hell alone.”
“Don’t you dare stand in judgment of me.” Daniel’s voice was low and furious. “You expect me to pity you because James Sinclair turned you from his door? Well, think again. I wish I could have gone with you. There are worse things in the world than poverty.”
“Spoken like a man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” Disgust laced Talon’s every word. “I would have given my soul for the things you take for granted.”
“And I’d have given mine to be you. Absolutely free, sailing the world without a care with no one but yourself to disappoint.” There was a longing in Daniel’s voice Talon couldn’t fathom. How could Daniel be so foolish? Didn’t he know how lucky he’d been?
“You had a father!” he cried. “You don’t know how it feels to be all alone. You never had to fight and struggle for every bite you ate. My God, Sutcliffe is willing to sacrifice the lives of seventy men just to give you a son. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“If you think he’s doing this for me, you’re a fool.” Daniel turned away, his shoulders rigid with anger. “You don’t know a damn thing about it. I could have made love to Kate. Hell, it isn’t as though I’ve never been with a woman. And whether you believe it or not, I do care for her. I care for her very much.”
“Then why didn’t you? God damn it! I deserve to know the answer.”
There was silence for a very long moment, and Talon was sure his brother would once again laugh him off, leaving him angrier and more confused than before.
“Did you know my mother killed herself?” Utter despair laced Daniel’s voice when he finally spoke. “Sutcliffe drove her to it. He made her life a living hell.”
Talon’s anger drained away. He knew what loving Sutcliffe had done to his own mother. “I’m sorry.”
Daniel shrugged. “She killed herself to escape him, because no matter how often he beat her, no matter how often he beat me, she would never give him the answer he sought. She would never admit she’d lain with someone else.”
“He doesn’t believe you’re his son?” Suddenly all the pieces started to fall into place.
Daniel shook his head, and Talon was stunned and humbled by the pain in his brother’s eyes. “He did when I was young, treated me like a damned prince. But then, when I was twelve, I had a tutor who used to punish me for poor tests scores by making me perform sexual favors…” He trailed off and squeezed his eyes shut. “Anyway, Father caught us. It was right after he’d sent you away, and as he beat me, he told me he wished he’d kept you instead.”
Talon sank into the cabin’s lone chair, feeling utterly drained. He hadn’t counted on this, had never imagined Daniel had been cast aside as cruelly as he had, perhaps even more so. “Are you telling me he planned this all along? That he never intended for you to bed your own wife, whether you wanted to or not?”
Daniel opened his eyes and met Talon’s seeking gaze. “You’re the son of his heart, Talon, the one he’s proud of. He doesn’t want my tainted blood muddying up his line. On my wedding day, he told me he’d kill Philip if Kate became pregnant before he had a chance to set this whole complicated scheme into motion.”
“Christ.” Talon bowed his head, soul-deep fear chasing away the last remnants of his anger. “I can’t let him have my child. I won’t let that son of a bitch get his hands on another innocent life.”
Daniel shook his head, pity in his eyes. “The only way you can keep him from doing that is to sacrifice your men. I’m sorry. I wish there was some other way.”
Talon felt as if he were suffocating. He couldn’t stand being in this cabin even one more second. He got to his feet and headed toward the door, hesitating after he’d opened it. “Go talk to Kate, Daniel. She’s afraid what she’s done will hurt you. Let her know you understand. Tell her you’re not angry.”
