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She stood alone on the porch and the only sound that interrupted the stillness of the night was her own irregular breathing. Nervously, she stretched upward on the toes of her shoes and peered into the closest window. The room into which she was looking was dark, but there were soft lights glowing in the far doorway, as if illumination from another room was filtering down the corridor. Apparently whoever it was within the manor preferred his privacy.
After a few quiet minutes of indecision, Ashley tossed her hair over her shoulders and rapped sharply on the dark wood door. She had come to see Trevor and she was bound and determined to find him, even if it took her all night. Whoever was in the house would just damned well have to get off his duff and answer the door. After eight years, she was sick and tired of waiting.
Her heart was beating wildly when she heard footsteps approaching the door.
It opened with a moan and she found herself staring into the anxious blue eyes of the man she loved with all her heart. He looked older than she remembered; his hair was unkempt, his eyes dull. He looks as if he’s been to hell and back, she thought to herself. He was a far cry from the strong, unbeaten man with the flash of determination in his eyes that she remembered so well. Her heart twisted in silent agony for him and the pain he bore.
“Ashley?” Trevor asked, leaning between the door and the frame, as if he were too tired to stand unaided. The scent of Scotch lingered in the air.
His voice was surprisingly indecisive and the thrusting determination of his jaw was undermined by the painful questions clouding his eyes. A stubble of beard darkened his chin and his skin was stretched tightly over gaunt facial features. His clothes consisted of worn jeans and an unbuttoned flannel shirt, which was faded and rumpled, with the sleeves rolled over his elbows as if he hadn’t wasted the time or the effort to change in several days. When he looked into her eyes, the rigid lines near his mouth softened slightly and the tension in his shoulder muscles slackened.
“Ashley . . . dear God, woman, is it really you?”
She hesitated. Nothing could have prepared her for the tired and broken man she was facing. A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth, but even that seemed an effort. Tears of misunderstanding filled her eyes.
“Oh, Trevor, what’s happened to you ?” she whispered, her voice catching in the dark night.
“Nothing that matters. At least not now.” He closed his eyes as if to push aside the demons playing with his mind. “I’ve missed you, lady,” he admitted roughly, and he opened the door a little wider.
It was all the encouragement she needed. With a strangling sob, she ran to him and wrapped her arms securely around his neck to hold on to him in quiet desperation. All the old barriers that had held them apart for so many years semed to crumble and fall. His arms held her securely, crushing her body with the power of his, as if he, too, were afraid that she was only a figment of his imagination and would vanish into the night as quickly as she had appeared.
Silvery tears streamed down her face and she drank in the familiar scent of him, all male and warm. There was the lingering trace of Scotch on his breath. When he pressed his lips to hers, she felt as if she would melt into the polished oak floors of the grand entry hall.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he rasped, and for the first time Ashley noticed the tears gathering in his eyes. Never before had she seen Trevor cry and there was something endearing in the knowledge that this proud man cared enough to let her see his weakness.
“Shhh . . . I’m here now. That’s all that matters,” she murmured, smoothing the disheveled chestnut hair from his eyes and kissing his tear-stained cheeks.
“I won’t let you leave me again,” he vowed, recovering his composure and kicking the door closed with his foot.
“If I remember correctly, Senator, it was you who left me.”
“Not eight years ago, lady. That’s when I made my mistake with you. I should never have let you walk out of my life.”
“And I shouldn’t have walked—”
“Amen.”
With a quick movement, he bent and slipped one arm under the crook of her knees, lifting her lithely off her feet.
“What are you doing?” she murmured into his neck as he started to carry her to the back of the house.
“What I should have done a long time ago,” he returned. “I’m going to make love to you until you promise that you’ll stay with me forever.” His words pierced her heart like silver needles, reminding her of a past that held them together only to push them apart. “I’ve made more than my share of mistakes in my life, but not tonight. I’ve waited too long for you to show up on my doorstep.”
“And what if I hadn’t? How long would you have waited?” The warmth of his body seemed to flow into hers, and his rock-hard muscles rippled slightly when he walked. Despite the unspoken questions lingering between them, Ashley felt her body responding to Trevor’s captive embrace and the sparks of possession in his eyes.
“I don’t know,” he replied darkly.
“You could have called.”
Shame tightened his jaw. “I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
He let out a disgusted sigh. “For you. Whatever it was that I was up against, I didn’t want you involved.”
“But you asked me to check the company records—”
He placed a silencing finger to her lips. “After our argument, I realized that it had been a mistake to ask you for your help in the first place and then, later . . .”
