She held his child against her, the tiny mouth sucking greedily, the sound very loud in the silence of the room.
He couldn’t speak. He could only stare in awe. She was more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen in his life. Madonna and child. His family.
“Talon,” she whispered, her voice breaking with emotion. “Is it really you?”
He nodded and moved toward her hesitantly, afraid of losing control, of throwing himself against her and crushing her in a bruising embrace. His gaze traveled from her face to the baby at her breast, transfixed by the sight of the tiny creature he’d helped create.
She patted the bed beside her in invitation. He sat down, a shudder working its way from deep inside him as she closed her hand around his.
“Oh God.” He bowed his head and pressed his lips to her palm. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too.” She touched his face, his hair, his chest, as though she couldn’t believe he was really there.
“I didn’t think you were ever coming back. I’ve been so afraid, so worried about Elizabeth...”
“Elizabeth?” His gaze left hers to return with awe to the baby. “A daughter?”
“Is Elizabeth all right with you?” she asked. “It was my mother’s name.”
“Of course,” he whispered, his throat tight with emotion. “Of course, it’s all right. It’s a beautiful name.” He reached out and touched his daughter’s downy head, awed by the softness, the warmth.
Kate gently disengaged the child from her breast. “Would you like to hold her?”
Talon nodded and held out his arms. Kate handed him the baby, and a rush of overwhelming love consumed him. He cradled Elizabeth to his chest, staring at her tiny, perfect face.
He saw a little of Kate in his daughter’s face, but also a little of himself. It made him doubt everything that had been so clear just a short while ago. He didn’t want to die. Not when there was so much left to live for.
“Did you get Daniel’s letter?”
Kate’s soft voice intruded on his reverie. He nodded, the grief for his men a crushing weight dragging him down. He had no right to be here, holding his beautiful daughter and basking in the love of this wonderful woman, when so many men were dead by his father’s hands.
“I’m so sorry. I wish I could have been there with you when you found out.” The sympathy in her voice undid him.
“I’m glad you weren’t. I went a little crazy. I wouldn’t have wanted you to see me that way.”
She pulled her nightgown up, covering her full breast, and then cupped his cheek with her hand. “You don’t always have to be at your best for me. I want to be there for you during the bad times as well as the good. Nothing you do could ever make me love you less.”
“You can’t mean that.” He shook his head, unwilling to believe her. How could she still love him after all that had happened? “Don’t depend on me, Kate. I can’t bear it. Don’t you realize I didn’t come here to see you? I didn’t even know you were here.”
Her hands slid from his skin, leaving him bereft. “Then why did you come?” Kate’s voice was frightfully restrained, cool and condemning, every bit the English aristocrat. Never had he felt the difference in their stations so acutely.
“You know why. I came to kill Sutcliffe to protect you and Elizabeth. To make him pay for everything he’s done.”
“Don’t drag me and Elizabeth into this.” Kate’s green eyes flashed with fury. “If you loved us, you’d take us away from this place tonight and never look back. You’d be there when we needed you instead of throwing your entire life away for revenge.”
“Kate, you don’t understand.” He met her gaze, trying to make her see he was doing this for her. He was sacrificing his entire future. There was a kind of nobility in that, wasn’t there?
Christ, why couldn’t she see it?
“I understand perfectly.” She leaned forward and took Elizabeth from his arms, cradling the baby to her chest and giving him a look filled with loathing. “You seduced me because you had to. You’ve never claimed to love me, and I’m an utter fool to have believed you did.”
Her words left him reeling. He might not have said the words, but he’d shown her in a million ways how much he loved her.
Hadn’t he?
“Please, sweetheart. Don’t be this way. You know I love you. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. That’s why I have to kill Sutcliffe. As long as he’s alive, we’ll never be free of him. He’ll find some other way to destroy us.”
“We can leave England, go back to America and change our names. There has to be a way, if only you’re strong enough to find it.”
