WindSwept Narrows: #14 Daphne Paddington Read online

  “We’ll get something on the way home,” he said after a quiet minute, helping her into the SUV before sliding behind the wheel.

  “Do you think they’ll mind if I…well…visit sometimes…” Daphne wasn’t sure where her mind was trying to go or why her mouth wasn’t working right.

  “The ranch? You’re the owner, Daphne,” Vlad said carefully, uncertain what she wanted to ask.

  “No. No…I’m not. They are. It’s theirs,” she told him, straightening and groaning at the stiffness in her side.

  “It belongs to the family, and you’re part of the family now,” he clarified. “You had fun chasing the kids?”

  “I always have fun with kids…it’s hard not to,” she admitted easily. “I wanted to have a garden…a real garden…there isn’t enough room at the house.”

  “I think there’s plenty of room around the west side of the house for some raised beds, Daphne. I have a large room there,” Vlad looked over at her now and then. “You don’t want to stay out there, do you?”

  “I…not during the week. The compound is so much closer to work than dealing with the bridge each day,” she admitted, uncertain where her mind was going. She knew she liked him. Knew she was comfortable with him.

  “It’s been a busy three days,” Vlad commented as they worked through a large platter of fish and chips. She seemed more relaxed, more comfortable as they ate, talking about their careers and their families and the world around them.

  “It’s been a very strange three days, Vlad,” Daphne said with a laugh, meeting the smile in his eyes. She settled her elbows on the table, palms holding her chin as she watched him. “You…you’ve settled into this whole mess with more…I don’t know…you should be protesting. You should be…fighting the whole thing!”

  “Why? Maybe I’m ready to settle down,” Vlad saw the instant flare of disbelief in her eyes. “How would you have chosen a partner, Daphne?”

  She thought about his question, sitting back across from him, her eyes landing on the large ring on her hand.

  “I don’t know that I would have, Vlad. It’s kind of like…it’s not broken, why fix it?” She said with a little shrug.

  “And before I wandered into your life, no guys have had the nerve to broach the fortress?” He cleaned up the table and stood up, offering his palm to her. “Let’s go home, Daphne.”

  “I don’t guess I encouraged people…and sometimes I’d lie,” she admitted with another shrug, deciding she definitely felt better after food.

  “Lie?”

  “Yeah…well…I’d tell them I already had a boyfriend,” she buckled the seatbelt, glancing to the side to see his reaction. “I know…not very honest…”

  “I’ve met most of the family, Daphne. I’m not sure what has you convinced to avoid dating,” Vlad voiced his confusion cautiously. “Am I missing something?”

  “It’s not…you mean are there hidden dramas going on? No…no, it’s peaceful and happy,” she told him with a grin. “We’ve been lucky to grow up with parents who not only loved one another, but were friends. It isn’t about them…”

  “You really are concerned about losing your freedom,” he said quietly, guiding the large SUV onto the grounds of the compound and around to her patio entrance.

  “And it’s been proven by the way this whole thing happened, Vlad, don’t you see? This…us…we shouldn’t have been forced into this just so I could give something to your family! Just so I could correct a stupid…” Daphne didn’t want the anger back and stopped, inhaling slowly and leaving the vehicle as soon as it stopped. “If it had been handled by me and Anca, as independent women, it would have been a simple business transaction. Period. But no…we’re not bright enough to handle our own business…please, I don’t want to argue with you,” she slid the patio door open and went to her bedroom after tossing her purse to the table.

  Vlad followed at a slower pace, his suitcase dropped outside the closed bedroom door. He shoved two hands through his hair, dragging the dark strands back repeatedly as he paced. He didn’t have an answer for her. While both of them grew up with certain rules in the households, it didn’t mean either of them liked the way things were. And each and every time he thought the words, I know what’s best, he reinforced the very thing she had fought against.

  Daphne changed her clothes and stood filling the sink with water, hands absently plying the fabric and loosening the blood stain. She didn’t want to argue with him, she repeated the words, realizing how true they were to her. She carried the damp blouse to the laundry room, draping it over the larger utility sink with a sigh. There was no sign of Vlad in the main rooms and she didn’t hear anything from the back of the apartment where the second bedroom was located. Maybe…a little streak of sadness burst like a bubble when she realized maybe he’d accepted her words and left.

  She fixed a tall glass of ice water, moved to the thick cushions on the recliner and sat cross legged, hands absently undoing the long braid before lifting the brush and stroking through the thick mass. A nightly ritual, she thought as she stared into the darkness outside the wide patio doors. Only the small sink light was on, throwing a dim shadow through the large room. Her hands stilled when the silhouette appeared on the glass in front of her, his hands up and rubbing a towel briskly over his head. He let it fall to his shoulders, his hands on each end as they stared into the patio glass.

  “I…” she worked to clear her throat. “I thought you’d gone.”

  “Shower…working with the horses seemed a lot less strain when I was younger,” he said quietly, crossing to sink into the chair next to her.

  “You’re very good with them. I watched you and the others when…” She stopped, not wanting to talk about the man stalking her. “You’re very good,” she repeated softly, continuing to brush her hair and stare into the night.

  “We grew up with them. I think we could ride before we were running,” he admitted with a laugh. “They’ll be good on the ranch…easier to work with than vehicles. I thought about what you said,” he began carefully. “I think…there are things in relationships that we don’t see,” he paused, watching the slight tilt to her head and the way her eyes moved to meet his in the reflective glass. “If it were me in your condition…hurt…you would be equally as positive that you knew what was best for me when I was feeling…caged…and angry that I couldn’t do things that were normal for me. But that doesn’t mean you’d want to take my freedom from me, Daphne.”

  “But you would fight just as hard,” she said softly, smiling at the slightly exasperated sigh he returned.

  “I won’t argue that one. You’re right,” he shrugged. “We haven’t had a very normal courtship.”

  “That’s a very old fashioned word, Vlad,” Daphne set the brush on the table, her head back as thoughts careened inside her mind.

  “I’ve spent my life walking a line between what was and what is,” he said after a few quiet minutes of thought. “When I’m at the ranch, it’s amazingly easy to slip back into the role they’ve assigned to me because of my birth and gender. Then I go to work or I’m here with you and…I don’t know what century I’m supposed to be in.”

  “I can understand that…it’s the same here. Especially at Christmas time,” she confided, relaxing and smiling at the memories. “From about Halloween to New Years, it’s so easy to be lost in the Dicken’s age…the Emporium and the compound are so decorated and…and it feels like another time, another place. It feels nice…and at the ranch…it was like that, there, too.”

  “We can spend weekends there, Daphne,” Vlad had made the decision that if she didn’t push him away, he was proceeding as if they were a couple. “We can leave here on Friday afternoon and return for dinner with the family at six. But this is a closer location for both our jobs.”

  “You wouldn’t mind? And they wouldn’t mind?” She found herself asking, unaware of the tiny light of excitement in her voice.

  “Are you going to be able to handle two la
rge families?”

  “I think it’s all I’ve ever known,” she admitted slowly. “I don’t dislike my family, Vlad…and I really enjoy being a girl…it’s just…so frustrating…so annoying sometimes. The odds are way less you’d ever have to put up with something like that man stalking me. Just…please…” She sighed thickly and pushed herself to her feet. “Don’t mind me. My head’s a little confused at the moment.”

  “And I have a feeling that’s my fault,” he said honestly.

  “I won’t lie to you…” She said softly, her head shaking, her gaze on the fingers he had snagged as she moved past. “Vlad…”

  “Sit with me, Daphne…talk to me…” he tugged until she was perched on the arm of the chair, a sharp pull sending her tumbling and laughing into his lap. “I make you laugh…”

  “Oh, Vlad…” Daphne relaxed in his arms, her head down and shaking slightly. “You make me think and you make me feel and…and all of that isn’t bad…it’s been an overwhelming couple of days.”

  “But not bad,” he repeated softly, one arm behind her back, his palm resting on her hip. The other rose and tilted her chin up, searching the wide blue eyes for an answer to more than his question.

  “No…not bad…” she whispered leaning closer to meet him half way, their lips touching lightly before settling more firmly together. Neither heard the soft sigh from the other, neither noticed the faintest of moans from the other.

  Chapter Ten

  Vlad felt his mind crashing, trying to remember which side she was hurt, trying to keep his hand from pulling her against him too solidly and losing himself in the teasing of her tongue against his.

  She could barely catch her breath as he moved in to kiss her again.

  She let his lips touch her and jerked at the electric feeling it caused between throughout her body, then moved back in to kiss him again. Her tongue came out and lapped across his lips before she melded her mouth to his in a deep, sensuously passionate kiss.

  Vlad could feel the purr of approval in her throat.

  Daphne felt herself slide against him, allowing him to reposition her to the side slightly, careful of her side. She could feel his heart beating against her chest, beneath her fingers where they lay pressed against his shirt before slowly moving higher to stroke over his shoulder to his throat. Slim fingers spread out, tips touching the edge of his jaw, feeling the coarse shadow on his face.

  “I don’t hear any words,” Daphne whispered against his lips, her tongue tracing a delicate line around the curve of his lips when he smiled.

  “Not making my credibility look good, huh?” He felt the warmth spreading throughout his body even as he laid his head against the cushion.

  “I think your reputation is safe with me, Vlad. I…I don’t understand how you…I felt safe with you…that day on the horse…and I know,” she leaned back in his arm, gazing the few inches to his eyes. “I know they only released him because you told them it was alright.”

  “How did you…”

  “Because they both looked to you when I told them to let him go,” she said softly. “You’re the eldest of them and they look up to you. Thank you for that. I think I needed it…”

  “I don’t like the nightmares he’s caused you,” Vlad told her honestly, his mouth returning to the side of her throat. Flowers and spices and heat raced through him as he inhaled deeply. “But I do understand why you had to face him, Daphne.”

  “I think that was the first day I felt…I thought maybe part of you understood,” she admitted slowly. “That you were different than others. You didn’t like it, but you let me handle it.”

  “Have you practiced long?”

  “Since I was little. Mostly now for discipline and exercise. I’m not crazy about the bruises I used to get,” she said with a chuckle that melted into a soft groan, his teeth running sharply around her ear. “Vlad…we have to…you should realize…oh, god, that feels so nice…”

  “I’m listening, Daphne,” he whispered hotly against her throat, tilting her mouth back and covering her lips with his, teasing her tongue out to play.

  “We have to stop…” she felt him raise his head, her eyes opening slowly. Daphne pulled her lip between her teeth for a quiet minute. “I’m not on birth control, Vlad. And I don’t want a child…right now…” She watched the meaning of her words register in his mind, saw a bright light of fire at the fringe of his dark eyes.

  “I’m feeling like a kid at the moment,” Vlad said, pushing a deep breath between his lips.

  “It’s very easy to get…caught up in the moment,” Daphne admitted quietly, easing herself over the arm of the chair and standing up. “I think it was probably my last rational thought, if that helps. Good night, Vlad.”

  “I’ll take care of it, Daphne,” he assured her, not moving for a long couple minutes after the light went out in her bedroom.

  ****

  Daphne shoved the thoughts from her mind as she poured juice in the morning, perched on a kitchen stool. Fingers tapped on the counter. The tapping stopped when her eyes caught on the man striding from the hall, his hands up and absently knotting a silver and blue tie. She wasn’t aware of the small puckered frown, her gaze going from the floor to his head.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you…formal…before…” she commented with a little nod.

  “Meetings, interviews and yelling at contractors works better in suits,” he said with a crooked grin, giving in and tipping her chin up for a kiss. “Take it easy, okay? I’ll see you later tonight.”

  “Very easy…that’s me,” she promised, absently weaving the long hair into a braid after watching him drive off. She dressed quickly, making sure she had new, dry bandages before sliding behind the wheel of her car and heading to the resort.

  “You…are not supposed to be here,” Eve waggled a finger at her from her position behind the desk for early morning check-ins.

  “I…will work on paperwork and work desk duty,” Daphne swore, one finger up and making a cross over her heart. “No kid wrangling for me for a few days, I promise. I’m fine…well…except for the stitches part, I’m fine.”

  An hour later, both of them looked up from the large check in desk.

  “They could be for you,” Daphne said, lips pulled into a taut bow.

  “Uh-huh…yeah…they could,” Eve agreed with a smile. “Except Zach is more inclined to send me food, than flowers.”

  “Or for one of the other many staff members we have working here…”

  “Yep…very true,” Eve said with a nod.

  “I mean, seriously…what are the odds…” Daphne winced when the young man carrying the large vase of flowers stopped at the front desk.

  “Daphne Mircea?”

  “Damn it…oh…sorry…thank you.” She swore and lifted the card, turning it over and over a few times before opening it.

  “So? Who’s it from?” Eve moved to her office door.

  “Have a nice day…and his cell number…and name,” Daphne said with a sigh. “He’s got spies everywhere…” but she took out her phone and programmed his name into it. “And he wrote it out himself…”

  She stared at the little keyboard, tapping out her message carefully. ‘Thank you for the beautiful flowers. I’m on desk duty. No running. No chasing. Daphne.’

  Her frown deepened when she received his response. ‘I know.’

  Daphne knew she was still growling at lunch time, stabbing at the salad when her friend tapped her on the head as she was leaving.

  “It’s because he’s in love with you, you goof,” Rose Maddock shook her head, chuckling as she went off to the health center.

  She stood in the drug store considering her choices at the same time wondering why this man made it through her defenses. And realizing that she didn’t mind him being there at all.

  She was still puzzling over how a guy gets inside your head and heart as she fixed dinner. A little uncertain on the duties of a wife, she was working on the pasta dish when
the sound of the sliding door registered in her mind.

  Daphne looked around the opening, a greeting on her lips that remained inside. His tie was pulled free, the top buttons of his shirt open and the jacket slung over one shoulder.

  “Should I ask?” Daphne said carefully, returning to stir the pasta and vegetable mixture.

  “Best not to right now. Can I get ten minutes to shower?” Vlad asked with a heavy sigh.

  “Easy…it’s not quite done yet,” she told him, watching him toss a briefcase to the sofa before heading to the back.

  Throughout dinner, she found out just how much dust and old machinery was left in the building they were renovating. They laughed through a couple games of backgammon, lying on the floor like kids with the fire warming the room around them. She wasn’t quite sure how she ended up in bed alone shortly after ten, the house quiet as the rain made itself known outside.

  ****

  She was reaching for one of the cookbooks on a high shelf the next morning when she felt the hands on her waist and his mouth next to her ear.

  “Do you want to pull the stitches out?” Vlad asked quietly, following the long arm and slender fingers, he brought the book down to her. He met the wide eyes, the fresh scent of Daphne racing through him as he lowered his mouth to hers, tasting his way over the full bow of her lips before settling down with a low, husky groan.

  Daphne kept her fingers tightly around the edge of the cookbook, even as her mouth softened and returned his kiss. Nurturing their friendship was a very nice thing, but she was fast coming to the conclusion that taking it another step forward would go beyond nice.

  “Vlad…”

  “I know…I’m gonna be late…not good for the boss…” He murmured against her mouth, sweeping in for one more kiss before backing up, shaking his head. His hands moved to the open tie, working the ends together as she opened the book and flipped through pages. “Can you make that?” He asked, pointing to one of the colorful selections.