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  “She could, you know...my wife did,” he whispered.

  She took an audible breath and forced the tone of her voice to remain even. “You must not let this notion stick in your craw. Death can just as quickly come to a rider falling off a horse. Or be the result of any number of acts people perform daily. To be afraid of every move one makes does not allow for a very interesting or productive life. And to believe every woman giving birth will die would never produce the generations to follow.”

  His gaze upon her was so intent, Riley was sure he was taking an inventory of all the teeth in her mouth, the hairs upon her head, and the bones in her body. “Sunny is all I have here.”

  His devotion for his sister swelled a twinge of jealousy within her, and though it was fleeting, her actions sickened her. Was she this desperate for his love that she compared his feelings for his sister to what she wished he felt for her? “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to make light of your feelings or your fears. I know they are very real to you, but you must control them. They will do you, nor Sunny, little good.”

  A cry of pain came from Sunny’s chamber.

  His glare bore into the door’s wood, as though he willed his sight to peer through to the other side. Then he stood, pulling her up with him. For a moment she thought he would burst into the birthing room, but instead he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

  The silence now was deafening as she waited for his next move. Could she contain him? Should she even try?

  Then he opened his eyes and released her hand. Moving lethargically, like a drunken slug in a garden overrun with brambles, he made his way to the window at the end of the hallway. There he stood, a proud and commanding figure, in spite of the anguish spreading through his body like poison ivy. Gazing out at the coal-hole darkness of night casting a veil over Collins Stead, he looked as though he carried the weight of the world solely upon his broad shoulders.

  Her heart went out to him, and nothing at that moment, least of all her pride, mattered. She went to him, placing a hand on his arm. “How can I help you see all is well and as it should be for Sunny?” She swallowed hard the emotion rising to choke her. “After this night she will be a mother, will have the family she wanted, the family every woman hopes for.”

  He turned toward her, sullen, worn, and searched her face. After a lengthy reflection, he said, “And do you...do you hope for a family as well?”

  She moved her hand to rest on his bared chest. His flesh was smooth, muscles rock hard. The rapid beat of his heart vibrated through her palm, as the heat from his body coursed through hers.

  “Aye,” she said, moistening her lips with a swipe of her tongue.

  He pulled her close. “And then I would fear for you.”

  “Nay, there must not be any more fear or misgivings,” she whispered.

  He brought his lips to her forehead and placed a tender kiss there. “That is easier said, than done,” was his reply.

  She closed her eyes. “Then how else can I convince you? What will it take? What possible thing can I do for you to ease your heart?” Her voice broke with emotion. “Just tell me, Gabriel. Just show me and I will gladly...”

  As his mouth captured hers, Riley’s last words were smothered.

  His kiss, slow and thoughtful, drugged her senses. Emotions whirled and skidded as he parted her lips with his tongue. She quivered, drinking in the tender and sweet way he explored her mouth. Thoughts spun, pleasure radiated, and she found herself returning his ardor with reckless abandon.

  As her passion roused, his grew stronger. And he took her mouth with a savage intensity, devouring, challenging, and causing the blood to pound in her brain. Her heart leapt, knees trembled, currents of desire robbing her of all resolve.

  He pulled her against him, his hands locking against her spine. The intimacy of his bared chest pressing snugly to her breasts teased her nipples. Sensational surges of delight awakened her body, and she surrendered to him, a moan of ecstasy slipping through her lips.

  His embrace grew bolder, encompassing more than her waist. Her limbs trembled as she clung to him, moving her hands to his neck, conscious of where his warm flesh met hers as she buried her fingers in his thick hair.

  Regis clearing his throat loudly instantly parted them.

  Riley, stepping back and away from him, covered her lips with a hand.

  Gabriel’s face flushed under his reddish-bronzed complexion as he turned his gaze once again out the window.

  “The doctor has arrived, miss.” Regis tried to act as though he saw nothing.

  She moved her hand to rest on her neck and cleared her throat to recover her voice. “Thank you, Regis. You may send him up immediately.”

  “Very good, miss,” Regis said, inclining his head politely as she left.

  He broke the silence, a faint tremor in his tone. “I believe you have found it.”

  She hoped he didn’t notice the tremor in her own voice. “And what might that be?”

  When he spoke again, his voice was warm. “A way to convince me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It seemed to Gabriel, that from the time the doctor arrived and well into the night, everyone in the household was engaged in synchronized activity.

  Cirie and Betsy, the upstairs maid, could be heard coaxing Sunny to push. Jane encouraged her when she did. Rafe soothed his wife with loving and caring words. Addie made frequent appearances, going to and fro with pots of hot water and armloads of towels. Regis and Lady Lucinda searched the attic for anything resembling a cradle, and when five were found, they proceeded to clean and cover them with fresh bedding for whatever use any of them might serve. Even Riley made her way into Sunny’s birthing chamber, taking on the role of main organizer. She kept the others running like the cogs of a well-oiled machine. Everyone was helping in some way, playing a part, except for him, Sunny’s only real blood kin.

  Feeling useless and disconnected, he took several deep breaths to summon up control, as he watched all the non-stop commotion taking place. Finally, he reclaimed his seat outside his sister’s room and sat quietly, silently praying.

  Not long after the dark of night unveiled the flush of a pink-dawn sky did a baby’s cries sound from the room.

  “We’ve a son, Sunny,” Rafe resonated joyfully.

  Tears prickled his eyes.

  Then all was silent.

  Again a baby cried. The wailing this time softer than the first.

  “And a daughter,” Rafe exclaimed. “By Jove, we’ve got twins.” His brother-in-law laughed. “Can you imagine, Sunny?”

  He waited, hands clasped in his lap.

  “Sunny?” Rafe said again.

  He stood with his heart racing, ready to enter the room no matter what anyone said.

  Then he heard his sister’s voice. “Good heaven, Rafe. Your mother was right.”

  He flopped back down upon the bench and closed his eyes.

  “She is alive. All of them are alive and well,” he whispered to himself, then dropped his head in his hands and wept.

  Hours passed before he was permitted to enter Sunny’s room. Stiff from sitting the night upon a hard seat, he stood and stretched his spine, pacing the hallway as he waited. When Riley finally did summon him, he quickly buttoned and straightened his crumpled shirt as he followed her over the threshold.

  “All is well,” she whispered, reaching for his hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

  He returned her fondness with a warm smile. “I thank you for...”

  “There is nay a need,” she interrupted.

  But there is a need...to do much more than just thank you.

  After some time was spent with Sunny and both he and Riley allowed ample rest, he would show her how much more he appreciated her presence.

  “I will leave you now to have a bit of private time with your family,” Riley added before closing the door behind her.

  His gaze found his sister, sitting up in bed, her long golden cu
rls fanned out over the pillows. Her face was lit with pleasant exhaustion as she held in her arms one of the newborns. Rafe, sitting at the end of the bed, his dark hair in disarray, held the other. The morning light flooded past the opened drapes, and warm beams of a new day spread over the bed’s coverlet. It seemed to encompass the newly-formed family with its rays.

  Sunny reached out a hand to him and smiled. “There you are.”

  He went to her, entwining his fingers with her delicate digits, as he struggled to control the overwhelming rise of emotions circling within him. She was alive, the babies were alive, and in that instant he felt unfettered. A sense of relief lifted his shoulders from the weight they had carried since the day he learned she was with child.

  “Gabriel,” she whispered, not to wake her sleeping infants. “Are they not beautiful?”

  His loving glance took in the small, pink faces, sleeping peacefully in their parent’s arms. “They are more than beautiful.”

  “Sorry, old chap,” Rafe apologized, raising his gaze from the babe he held. “I meant nay an ounce of malice when I stopped you at the door. I just thought, in view of the fact my wife’s modesty was in plain sight, your presence would be inappropriate.”

  Gabriel realized what Rafe spoke of, as he was present at his wife’s childbed. He held up his free hand. “I hold no hard feelings, my brother. You made the right decision.”

  Rafe nodded. “When the doctor arrived, he nearly gave me the boot as well, but Sunny Beth wouldn’t hear of it,” he added, returning his admirations upon his child.

  “Would you like to hold her, Gabriel?” Sunny said, removing her hand gently from his grasp, to caress the cheek of the infant she held.

  He nodded, taking a chair from a nearby corner and bringing it beside the bed.

  She waited until he sat, then held the babe out to him.

  He took the infant gently from his sister’s embrace. While supporting the floppy head, he brought the babe close to his chest. Once he had held his son like this, for only a few moments many years ago. But his darling’s body was lifeless, the flesh blue, his eyes shut in death not slumber. He swallowed the tears stinging the back of his throat and leaned forward to place a kiss atop the infant’s head. The pale fuzz covering the small girl’s skull was soft upon his lips.

  “Gabriel Golden Eagle, meet your niece,” Sunny announced softly.

  “And this handsome gent I’m holding is your nephew,” Rafe chimed in. “If I have anything to say, he will definitely not be a foppish youngster.”

  Gabriel glanced over at the other infant, his head capped with hair as dark as his father. “It appears each of you has a smaller version of yourself.”

  Sunny giggled. “It does at that, a little girl much like me, and a little boy resembling Rafe.” She leaned back against the pillows. “But I understand completely now why giving birth is called labor.”

  “I should go, leave you to your rest,” he offered.

  “No, not just yet,” Sunny protested with a yawn. “Do you want to hear what we have named them?”

  He nodded.

  “She will be called Amelia Dove, after her two great-grandmothers, Amelia Bentley Gregory and White Dove,” Sunny explained. “And he will be called Peter Jerome, named for his grandfathers, Peter Proud Eagle and Jerome Cavendish.”

  He nodded again, remembering Peter was his father’s Christian name, given to him by his grandfather, Silas Collins.

  “I know Apache tradition frowns upon a child being named after the dead, fearful it will bring the child bad luck, but I wanted to honor those no longer with us,” she clarified.

  “And so history will repeat itself as another Amelia will live now at Bentwood,” Rafe concluded.

  “And I hope she has just as much of a sense for adventure as her great-grandmother,” Sunny said, beaming with pride as she looked over at her tiny daughter. “If it were not for Amelia’s spirit, our own dear mother might have been born in England, instead of America. Think about it, my brother. If that had happened, she would not have met and married our father.” She frowned. “And although we would be somebody, we would not be the people we are.”

  “Good heaven, I perish the thought,” Rafe teased.

  “Well, it is true,” Sunny said, raising a defiant chin.

  Gabriel chuckled lightly, still seeing in his sister’s mannerisms a trace of the little girl she once was. “Ah dayden, I can see you as no other then who you are, and the winds of fate realized this fact. All balance, I am sure, would have been disturbed if otherwise happened.”

  “Aye, I agree. It would have been an atrocious injustice, especially for me,” Rafe said, casting his wife a mischievous grin.

  Sunny blushed, returning her husband’s playfulness with a demure smile. “You need to always keep that in mind my shikaa.”

  Gabriel stifled a smirk. His sister’s use of the Apache word meaning husband sounded much like his mother. Golden Lady is able to get whatever she wishes from Proud Eagle with a soft smile and a bat of an eyelash. He always admired his parent’s marriage, the way they had defied all odds to be together. And now he was happy for the love his sister and Rafe shared. But seeing the joys of such a close bond made his empty heart yearn all the more for the same relationship in his own life. He had it once, but all too quickly, it was snatched from him. Would he ever find it again?

  “You are...we all are who we’re supposed to be and doing what we’re made to do,” Rafe philosophized further.

  Gabriel looked at little Amelia snuggled in his arms. “And doing the best we can with what we have.”

  “I wish Mother and Father could see my babies,” Sunny said.

  He raised his gaze to see her large blue eyes suddenly growing moist.

  Rafe, the protective husband that he is and the first to admit he cannot stand to see his wife cry, immediately reached out a comforting hand to her. “When they are older, we will take them to America.”

  Sunny smiled through her tears. “Do you promise?”

  “Aye, shi’aad, that I do,” Rafe responded softly.

  Gabriel liked Rafe’s attempt at speaking their family’s language. His Apache use of the word for my wife pleased Sunny, and she brought his hand to her lips, bestowing a small kiss on his thumb. “Ashoge, thank you,” she said.

  “A he ya ch, you are welcome,” Rafe replied slowly, careful with the pronunciation of each syllable.

  She giggled. “Your British accent makes the Apache language sound strange, but nevertheless, my parents would be proud of your efforts.” Then she turned to Gabriel. “I have been dreaming of them more than usual.”

  He nodded. “I have strongly felt them as well.”

  She frowned. “Do you think anything is wrong, my brother?”

  He hesitated, wanting to speak the right words. The last thing he wanted was to upset his sister. After all she has been through this night, revealing his apprehensions and fears would not be wise. Neither would it be right to announce his departure from England. There was time enough in the days to come to explain his decision. “I think they are just missing us as much as we are missing them,” he lied.

  “Then we must definitely send them a wire about the births,” Rafe said, trying to lighten his wife’s spirits. “In that way they can share our happiness.”

  Sunny’s face brightened. “Oh, Rafe, that is a wonderful idea. You always know just what to say, just what to do to ease my heart.”

  Rafe gazed deep into her eyes. “I pray you always cherish my efforts, Sunny Beth.”

  “When will you send the wire?” she asked.

  “First thing come morning,” Rafe vowed.

  “It is already morning.”

  “Then first thing after we’ve all rested,” he returned.

  “Which none of us will do if I remain,” Gabriel added. He stood, returning Amelia to her mother’s arms.

  “Wait, Gabriel,” she said, reaching for his hand. “What happened when you asked Collette to marry you?” />
  “Aye, with all that’s happened, we never heard,” Rafe inquired further.

  “She flatly refused me,” Gabriel said.

  Sunny’s eyes softened with pity. “I am so sorry.”

  He shrugged. “I am better off without her, dayden. You were right from the beginning. Collette Halston is not the woman for me.” He arched a brow. “I do not believe she is the woman for any man.”

  “There is a woman for you, Gabriel,” Sunny said in a hopeful tone. “It is just a case of you finding her.”

  He smiled. “I believe I might have already found her.”

  Sunny returned his smile with a large one of her own. “Could it be Riley that you speak of?”

  He tweaked her nose. “It could be.”

  “Sit and tell me everything,” she urged.

  “Another time, when we are all more rested,” he advised.

  Rafe chuckled softly. “And now you realize, of course, she won’t sleep a wink for wondering.”

  “It is true, my brother,” Sunny added.

  “I need time to figure it all out myself, dayden. So, you will just have to wait.” He bent down and bestowed a brotherly kiss upon her forehead. “Now, rest,” he whispered before turning to leave the room.

  Once in his own chamber, he flopped upon the bed. Too exhausted to remove even a stitch of clothing, he raised his arms above his head and closed his eyes. With stillness finally surrounding him, he was able to relive Riley’s kiss. Swiping his tongue across his lips, he could still taste her sweetness, feel the warmth and softness of her mouth upon his. Her kiss did more than quench his thirst. It fed his hunger, satisfied his deepest longings and filled an urgent desire for true affection he craved for so long. Though the fusing of their lips took place only in a matter of moments, it expanded to a lifetime in his mind. The sort of lifetime he wanted...needed...prayed for.

  The scent of her was caught in the fiber of his clothes, and he could not help but wonder how it would be to have her forever by his side. The soundless empty void he carried around within since his wife’s death would finally be filled.