Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Leona shuddered and tried to move away, but he held fast. She inhaled deeply before she began. Again, there was no need to clarify the request, for she knew exactly of what he spoke.

“After I was ripped away from you, I was taken to the pit. You remember that, right? The pit?” Her body trembled against his but she stayed there and soaked up his strength. “After dinner they brought me out. Stripped me naked and hung me by my wrists until my toes barely touched the ground. Then they whipped me in front of everyone.”

Trace’s hands caressed both of her wrists, the motion gentle and soothing. Calming. “After that?”

“After that Mama was allowed to take me home and she nursed me. I believed that you had betrayed me. Steven stopped by just to tell me that you were with your newest slave girl. That hurt worse than any beating I could have received, for I fancied myself in love with you and believed that you felt the same about me. I dreamed that one day we would be together. Married. Not having to hide our feelings. That was just a dream. As soon as I could move Mama ran with me. To the island, Saba. Once on the island, Mama met Jackson. They were in love and not afraid to show it.”

She licked her lips, glad he couldn’t see her face. “He encouraged my painting habit and sold my first painting for me. He has been investing my money ever since. Anyway, then I saw you again and came here to England.”

“I’m so sorry. I promised to protect you and I failed,” he murmured. Then his words became even fainter. “I would have given my life for you. I would still to this day.”

Leona snuggled up against his chest, the heat from the fire warming her front and the heat radiating from the man behind her keeping her warm from the back. How perfect was this? For the first time in years she felt perfectly content. She turned a little to the side and placed her face against his rock-hard chest.

He smelled like sandalwood and spice. She fell asleep as he sat there stroking her hair, lost in thought.

* * * *

After a while, she roused from her sleep. She was still warm and content on the floor in front of the fire, wrapped up securely in Trace’s arms.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to doze off. That was really rude of me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I like holding you in my arms while you sleep. Can I ask you a question?”

“Um-hum.”

“Does it matter to you that I have a son?”

“No. Should it?”

“Well, he was concerned that he would remind you of the plantation. And to be perfectly honest, so was I.”

She sat and tucked some hair behind her ear. “Trace, you remind me of the plantation. But I would never take anything out on a child.”

“I know. But I had to ask.”

“I think he looks a lot like you did at his age.” She smiled at him.

“Do you? I don’t see it but between the two of us, you were the one who looked at me more,” he teased.

They shared a moment of silence.

Trace cleared his throat. “Where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean?” Leona was still leery, but she knew that he would ever be the only man for her.

“I mean, where do we go from here? I love you, Leona. I want to fall asleep every night with you held in my arms and wake in the morning to you as well. I want to learn your body all over again, and show you just how beautiful I think you are. I want to spend days making love to you. Most of all, I want you to look at me like you used to, as though I had just handed you the moon and the stars. I want to see you grow large with our child. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” His hands curved around her abdomen as if he already anticipated a child growing safely in there.

“What about Falcon?”

“What about him?”

“How do you think this situation would make him feel? Not to mention how giving him a sibling might make him feel.”

“He’ll be fine.”

“This is too fast. I need time to think. To sort out my feelings.”

“What’s to sort out? You love me, right?”

“I…I…I just need some time.”

“All right, kitten. Some time. I’ll not stop coming around. I will be here every day to make sure you don’t forget me.”

As if that were possible.

Traced closed his eyes for a moment before he continued, “I’m not much for flowery words, or soft sentimental feelings. I never have been, and you know it. If that’s what it will take to get you to only want me then that is what I will do. I only want to make you happy. Please tell me you understand. Tell me.”

Back to his commands.

Trace tightened his arms around her. “Do you remember anything good about Hawk’s Cove?”

“Yes. The time I spent with you. The adventures that we had, the times we spent together as we explored Eden. All of that is a happy memory for me. Every second that we spent together was wonderful. You taught me what it was like to love, to be loved. What it was like to be a woman. It doesn’t matter, Trace. None of that will change that what I need now is time. Can you understand that?”

He stiffened slightly. “Yes, I understand. Will you at least give me a chance to make you see things as I do? That we belong together, always. I’m not in this for one night. I want to be with you until we’re both old and gray.”

“So I get time, but you’ll be there to try to influence my decision? Is that right?”

“Every step of the way, I will be there. I’ll not lose you to some dandy from this island. I will not lose you to anyone.”

He’d begun to caress her, fanning the flames that burned within her. Within moments, her body arched against his. Soft mews were born deep within her throat.

This time they were not teens bumbling around in inexperience. They were adults and knew just what they wanted. Every hair on Leona’s body stood on end—it was electrifying, being held in his arms.

Leona struggled to regain her control. She slid out from his arms and stood. “Come with me. I have something I want to show you.”

Trace rose with his usual fluid grace. Leona had to swallow a few times before she calmed herself enough to precede him out of the room and up the stairs.

Trace followed her willingly. He stared his fill as he walked behind her and watched her body move under her dress. Her hips swayed gently with each step she took. He still couldn’t get over how gorgeous she had become.

They went to the third floor and he realized what room they had entered once they got there. It was her studio. There were portraits and sketches in an organized mess all over the room.

A warm fire blazed within the hearth and it made the room very comfortable. She led him silently over to a table and stood there with apprehension on her face as she waited for him to look over the papers that lay scattered there.

Keely hadn’t been lying. Every single paper that covered the large table was of him. Different poses, head views, profiles and full-body sketches. And every single one of them had him happy with a sparkle in his eyes—the same sparkle that was in the picture she had given him when she’d returned his rings.

His mouth dropped as he stared at the sight before him. Her ability astounded him. She was absolutely amazing. And her artwork wasn’t that bad either.

Her mute admission about her feelings rocked him to the core. What she couldn’t say to him downstairs had just been yelled loud and clear.

She still loved him.

With a deceptively casual movement, he turned to her. Leona’s eyes were downcast, and her hair had fallen over part of her face, keeping her in the shadows. His body was tense and ready to pounce but he kept his actions calm.

“Look at me.” His tone was husky and seductive.

Her head came up slowly. A faint flush had settled on her cheeks but her eyes were what hit him hard. They glittered like jewels with unshed tears.

“Oh, kitten.” His voice was like velvet, and it reached and embraced her, he had no doubt it encased her in its softness. He could feel it too.

She made to step back and he acted. Just like a bird that swooped down on its unsuspecting prey, she was in his clutches.

It took mere seconds for his lips to find hers. That was all. Leona ran her hands up his body to lock around his neck. Everything she felt was in that kiss.

His tongue gained swift entrance to her mouth, where it proceeded to tangle with hers. His body was on fire. From her reaction, so was hers.

He backed her up to the bed that was along the wall and stopped. “Are you sure?” The question was guttural, admitting he had a hard time asking it.

“Yes. Please, Trey.”

It was his nickname that did it, did him in. He had her dress off in mere seconds, to pool on the floor. Her undergarments followed without delay and soon she was naked in front of him. He stopped and took in the sight before him.

She was magnificent. Her body was firm and tight. Her breasts were full and begged to be touched. Her legs were slim and long.

Trace stepped up to her and took the pins out of her hair so it cascaded down around her. She looked like a darker, more beautiful version of Venus as she came out of the water. As soon as her hair fell, he smelled the normal scent that he did around her, only this time he could place it. Orchids.

“You still smell like orchids. You always did.” His words were murmured as he stepped back to her.

“My turn.” Leona ran her eyes over him.

She slowly removed his shirt from his pants, then she began to unbutton it. Little by little his chest was revealed to her.

It was still broad, still firm. Still covered in that dusting of brown hair. He had a few scars, though, which she kissed as they became exposed.

With his shirt on the floor, she moved on to his pants. Leona unfastened them and pulled them down over his lean hips. His arousal pushed against his undergarment. Moments later he too was naked.

Trace pulled her back into his arms. It had been so long and all he wanted to do was ravish her, and yet at the same time he wanted to go slowly.

He placed kisses all over her face as he lowered them onto the little bed. His hands ran down her body to massage and tease her until she writhed with desire.

One large hand covered her as a finger dipped between the glistening curls to seek access to her heated core. Her thighs spread wider to accommodate him.

She lifted her hips to meet his finger. She was wet. More than ready for him.

“Please, Trey. Now.”

“Not yet.” He moved his mouth to her breasts and sucked them. First one, then the other, until they had hardened and were tender.

“Trace,” she moaned.

“Yes, kitten? What is it? What do you want?” His words were coarse with the strain of maintaining control of the situation.

“You. I want you, Trey.”

Trace settled himself between her legs, guided his hard length to her velvet heat and with one stroke encased himself fully within her.

She was so tight, almost as tight as that first time, when he’d taken her maidenhood. She hissed.

He stopped and looked down into her eyes. “How long has it been?”

“A little over fifteen years.”

He blinked away tears as he realized that he really had been the only man for her. Trace moved slowly until she got used to him inside her.

As soon as she started to whimper and push up to meet him, he lost the hold he had on his control. The slow lover was gone and in his place was a man who needed to find his release.

Trace slid in and out of her with increased speed. He went deeper and deeper. Long strokes, short strokes, faster and faster he went.

He placed his hands on her hips and pounded into her. Leona met each and every thrust with an undulation of her own. Moans and grunts.

Trace’s body was covered with sweat and still he moved his hips back and forth like a piston. Leona’s cries got louder, so Trace leaned down and placed his mouth over hers and swallowed her cries of passion.

Leona crested first, her body shuddering around his. The feel of her molten heat gripped around him sent Trace over the edge. He was so lost in what he was doing he didn’t pull out of her, not that it would have mattered, for Leona had her legs wrapped around him like an iron-clad vise. They were anchored together. Fused as one.

With one last plunge, Trace spilled his seed deep within her womb and collapsed on her. They were totally spent. Both of them fought to catch their breath as their limbs stayed intertwined.

“Are you all right?” he asked into her neck.

“Fine.”

“Am I too heavy?” Trace moved to get off her, but she tightened her hold.

“No, stay. I like the feel of you on me.”

Too tired to argue, he remained like that for a bit then rolled off and hauled her up against his side. Like they had never been apart, she fit her head right on his shoulder and cast a leg over his waist.

“Sleep now, kitten. I will…”

“I know. You will keep watch and keep me safe.” Leona was fast asleep in no time as Trace covered them with blankets, laced his fingers so she was anchored against him and fell prey to the world of the sandman within moments.

* * * *

For the first time in ages, Trace slept a peaceful sleep. He awoke before Leona and just lay there in silence and held her. The smell of orchids tantalized his senses and stirred his lust once more

He edged out from under her and laid some more wood on the fire to build up the blaze. Then he walked back over to the bed and gazed down upon her form as she slept. She had curled up into a smaller ball since he had left the bed. Her hair fell around her like a silk cloud, framing her in gentle waves.

Leona moaned in her sleep and turned over onto her stomach. Trace reached down to pull the blankets up over her shoulders, and as he pulled them away from her body, he saw them.

The scars on her back. The marks criss-crossed her skin, marring the perfection of her back. Trace folded down the blankets and completely exposed her back. He sank down on the floor beside her and stared in horror. The pain this must have caused her.

Trace reached out and hesitantly touched the lines. They were smooth, but he could feel some pain in them. “Little one, what did I do to you? I didn’t realize, I just didn’t realize. I am so sorry. No wonder you don’t want to trust me.”

He rose over her and covered her up before he slid in beside her. Leona instinctively moved toward his body and curled up against him, like she belonged there. Which she did, she just didn’t—or wouldn’t—realize it yet.

* * * *

It was her dream again. It had to be. She was on fire and there was someone sucking on her breasts, alternating between them. Then they moved down her body and licked and nipped everywhere.

When her legs were spread and a pair of wide shoulders settled themselves between them, she knew it had to be a dream. Maybe this time she wouldn’t wake up before coming.

There was a tongue that probed deeply within her secret place as it looked for its reward. Her legs tightened around his neck and held him there. If only it was Trace.

“Trace. Where are you?”

“Right here, little one. Who do you think is between your legs?” A hint of anger tinged his question.

Leona rose up and looked down at the man who was settled between her widespread legs. “I thought it was a dream. You’re really here? It’s not just a dream?”

“No, kitten. I am most definitely not a dream. Does this feel like a dream?” He flicked his tongue back over her nub and smiled as her hips rotated to press him more firmly against her.

She whimpered. “No. It’s not a dream. You’re real. I…I… Oh God, Trey. It feels so good, don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

”No chance of that, kitten.”

Trace slipped two fingers inside her and moved them back and forth. Leona contorted as he continued his relentless attack on her body. Over and over she came until her body shook with exhaustion.

“Trey, please.”

“What?”

“More, I want more.”

He didn’t make her ask again. He rose up over her and in one swift move he slid his entire length inside her. They fit together like a hand slid into a warm glove. A perfect fit.

They were one again. Trace went slow.

For the second time that day Trace came deep within her and she found himself wondering if she would end up pregnant. And if she did, how she would handle everything.

“You know this doesn’t change anything.” She spoke to his neck, where her face was buried.

“What do you mean? Of course it does. You could be pregnant.”

“I mean I still need some time to think. This is happening so fast.”

“Very well, I will give you until the ball that they are throwing to be alone or with your other ‘appointments’. I will stay away from you for the next two weeks. After that, though”—he put his face millimeters from hers—“all bets are off. I will come after you with everything I have.” There was a dangerous edge to his tone, informing her that he meant exactly what he said. That warmed her much more than it scared her.

“Two weeks isn’t much time for me to figure things out.”

“The other guys can’t make you happy. I know what you want. I know what you love. Do they know your favorite flower, your favorite color and animal? I know that you like to sleep curled up in a ball if you are alone, I know that you hum to yourself when you concentrate on something like cooking. I know your dreams, kitten, and I will not let you go. Not without one hell of a fight.”

“I have to sort things out.”

“I know, kitten, but to be fair you have to give me the same chance that you give everyone else.”

She was silent for too long and he frowned, reaching out to her.

“What’s wrong, kitten? What are you thinking?” He caressed her cheek.

“Just thinking.”

“Perhaps we should get up now. I don’t know how long we have been up here.”

“You’re right. Keely will probably come looking for me soon.”

Leona looked at the man on the bed in her studio. He looked upon her like she was the only thing in the room. His eyes grew darker and she knew what thoughts raced through his mind.

“No. You need to get up.”

“I am up.” He shot her an arrogant male smirk again.

“I meant out of bed. Get dressed.”

He rose languidly. It was clear he wasn’t ashamed of his current aroused state, he made sure she could see it. Leona’s eyes never left his body for a moment.

My God. He was perfect. Her body leaped in response and began to tingle and twinge. Nipples hardened and begged for him to touch and stroke them.

Trace obviously knew his effect on her and reveled in it. Slowly, ever so slowly, he put his clothes on. He held her gaze and made sure that she didn’t take her eyes off him for a single second.

Fully dressed, he helped her make the bed. “Can I see some of your other work?”

Leona took his hand and led him to the other table, where there were multitudes of sketches. He recognized some of them but not all.

“You are amazing. These are wonderful.”

“That is just the beginning. I do many sketches then sort through them to find the ones I think capture them people the best, depending on what type of picture they want—serious, relaxed or even fun. Then I start over here.” She headed to the easel next and flipped back the sheet that covered it. “This is one that I just started of Rafe.”

“Who the hell is Rafe and why are you drawing a man alone?”

“He is Lucien’s brother-in-law. I did him first since he will be behind the chair where his wife, Devonna, will sit.” He is still jealous, even after what we just did together. She smiled to herself.

“Oh.”

“Then once I get what I consider to be a decent idea of what they will look like, I start on this canvas and begin my painting. I only get to the canvas when I am sure that I will get it right.”

“What is this?” He pointed to the corner of a finished picture her dogs that was going to be for her own house.

“My signature.”

“Is it the symbol of a hawk?”

“Yes.”

“So you did think of me.” When he put it that way, it was in no way a question.

“Every single day.”

Trace cupped her face and lowered his lips to hers. “Thank you. That means the world to me.” He placed a fast kiss on her lips and moved back. “Tell me more.”

He was interested in her work. It was amazing for her to be able to share this with him. He had been, after all, the one who had gotten her the items for her first start in this career.

“I mix oils and try to get the right colors for people. Or for whatever I am—”

“Mama! I found them, they are in her studio.” The childish yell pierced the hall and the room.

In ran Keely, and she was followed by her parents. All they found was Leona as she stood next to an easel and talked to Trace. All clothes were on and there was no hint of disarray anywhere. Her dogs lay on the bed content to just watch their mistress.

“Everything going all right with you two?” Ciara asked, as her sharp eyes swept the room.

“Fine. Leona was just explaining how she did her painting.”

“Well, we are about to have some lunch. You two have been up here long enough. Come eat with the family,” Lucien spoke.

“Very well. Leona, thank you for sharing this with me.” He gazed at her. His eyes sent a different message—Thanks for sharing yourself with me.