Hope Everlastin' Book 4 (7 page)

Kahl laughed then nodded
along with his brothers.

It suddenly struck Lachlan
that one day he would be talking to his children like this, holding
their bodies in the crook of his arms. His heart leapt with joy but
then as quickly sank into a murky hollow of depression when he
realized Beth could easily prevent his children being raised around
him. One voice in his head told him to challenge her rights if she
tried. But another more logical voice told him he would go along
with whatever she decided, no matter what it cost him
emotionally.

Standing, he gestured
toward the staircase. "Long past yer bedtime, laddies."

"Aw," Kevin began, but
instantly quieted when Lachlan arched an eyebrow.
"Okay."

"Straight to bed," Lachlan
said with a hint of a smile. "No stoppin’ along the way to have you
a wee mischief."

Kevin led his brothers to
and up the stairs. As soon as they were out of sight, Lachlan
walked into the night.

It was indeed raining.
Large, icy drops of water pounded the earth in a lament of spring's
arrival. They stung his exposed skin and the coldness seeped into
the marrow of his bones, but by the time he made it to the field,
he was too numb to feel much of anything except the sorrow weighing
heavily on him.

He didn't see the dark-clad
figure slipping through the opened bulkhead and into the basement.
He didn't hear the curses growled in condemnation of his
unappreciated stroll through the backyard. He only knew he needed
to be alone. To think. To try to understand how he could have
gotten so angry at Beth. To perhaps even pray for some guidance
before he unintentionally brought about another disaster, like
setting the planet on fire.

* * *

Beth tensed when she heard
a soft rap, then her door opening. She wasn't sure if she was glad
it wasn't Lachlan or not, but she nonetheless gestured for Deliah
to join her by the window. Rain pattered loudly against the panes.
Coldness seeped through the glass, and her skin was broken out in
gooseflesh.

The night was relatively
dark, barely enough light for her to make out Lachlan's figure
emerging beyond the far end of the wooded area. He was going to the
old oak. To the graves.

Why?

Why put himself through
that kind of torment?

She mentally cursed his
stubbornness then found herself choked up with regret and
self-loathing.

Yes, she'd been angry with
him, but not so angry that it justified her assaulting him as she
had. What amazed her was how he'd taken so much of it before
utilizing his superior size and strength against her. She was more
frightened about their futures than upset about the reporters,
although the exposure meant they couldn't stay at Baird House, not
without someone spotting her on the grounds.

So why strike out at him
like a bloodthirsty shrew?

What had brought on that
instantaneous eruption of heat inside her when she realized he was
in the room?

It was almost as if
something had gotten inside her and taken over her body and mind.
Or was she just trying to give her temper an excuse, when there
really wasn't one to be had?

"The babes be still
asleep," said Deliah, coming to stand to Beth's right. Her bright
blue eyes looked into the night and she frowned thoughtfully. "When
do they begin to sleep the night through?"

Beth sighed. "I have no
idea. I was an only child, and was never around babies or toddlers.
That makes me about as ignorant as a rock."

Deliah smiled then blurted,
"I have pledged to marry Winston."

"What?" With a low squeal,
Beth threw her arms around the smaller woman and hugged her. She
eased back, her face glowing with happiness. "Congratulations! When
did this happen?"

A dark blush stole into
Deliah's cheeks. "Afore, durin’, and efter all three times we made
love today."

Beth also blushed. "Three
times?"

"I wanted mair, but alas,
he pooped ou' on me, silly mon."

Impulsively, Beth again
hugged the slender woman. Tears spilled from her eyes as she
released her and faced the window. "I'm so happy for you,
Deliah."

"Aye, I know. Twould make
me happier, though, to see ye a wee happy for yerself."

Beth gave her a harried
glance. "I don't see that happening in the near future. God,
Deliah, I pounded on him! Bit him. Kicked him." She lowered her
voice. "I threatened to castrate him with that damn
dirk."

Deliah smiled ruefully.
"Tis no surprise now why the poor mon didna want to remain in the
house."

Although Deliah's tone was
light, almost playful, her words cut into Beth's conscience. "This
isn't right, Deliah. I shouldn't be in here feeling miserable, and
he out there— God, he has to be freezing without a coat! Why has he
gone to the graves? Is he some kind of masochist or
what?"

"Today be March
twenty-third, the day o' his dying so long ago."

Stunned, Beth turned to
face Deliah. "He was murdered on March twenty-third?"

"Aye. I dinna think he
realizes the date. Subconsciously, mayhaps."

"Tessa drove the dirk into
his heart, and I threatened— Oh, God," Beth ended on a groan. "I
didn't know! His headstone only has the year!"

"I wasna aware maself till
Winston and I started talkin’ abou' a date to marry. Now I
wonder...."

"What?" Beth asked
anxiously.

Deliah gave a weary lift of
her shoulders. "Tis no' for me to make excuses for him, but...the
timin’ o' yer return couldna have been worse, aye? So close to his
daith date, I mean. I be no expert on the ways o' the human mind,
but tis a fair guess his subconscious is dwellin’ on tha'
night."

She forlornly gazed through
the window. "Now he be ou' there, cold and alone, as was he tha'
night when he was removed from the tower. I shouldna have
interfered wi' his passin’ on, Beth, but I couldna stop
maself."

Trembling with an onslaught
of tears, Beth could say nothing.

"No word or action," Deliah
said softly, placing a hand on Beth's shoulder, "should put asunder
a love wha' transcends time and space, and this world and
anither."

Beth shook her head
miserably.

"I know ye fairly weel,
Beth. It no' be in yer heart to isolate yerself from him." Deliah
sighed. "I must return to Winston, but it saddens me to leave ye
alone at this time."

"What do I say to him?"
Beth asked, placing her fingertips against the cold
panes.

"Tha' would be up to ye.
Twould be a blessin’ upon this house and all it has stood for,
though, if we all were to lie wi’in our lovers' arms, and ward off
the cold wi' the heat o' our bodies."

Beth nervously moistened
her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. "I don't think I could
keep myself together if he turned me away, Deliah."

The Faerie princess
released a scoffing chuff. "Do ye really believe he
would?"

"I...don't
know."

"I tell ye he willna. The
babes be asleep. I promise to listen for them while ye give this
date a new meanin’ for yer mon. Dinna be afraid. Aye, our Lachlan
has his faults, but would ye really have him change?"

Beth laughed a bit
unsteadily. "No. No! Not one iota! He can be so infuriating, but
it's—I must be nuts—what I first loved about him." She glanced at
the door, at Deliah then lit into a run. "See you in the
morning!"

C
hapter 3

Barefoot and only wearing
her torn nightgown, Beth dashed into the night. She was soaked
before she rounded the house, and numb by the time she reached the
woods. Nonetheless, she hastened along the path to the field,
thoughts of Lachlan's arms enveloping her all that kept her
going.

The field seemed unusually
long, the oak inordinately far. She slowed her pace when she was
close enough to see that he was on his knees in front of her
headstone and arced slightly to her right until she could see his
fingertips touching the engraved lettering on the granite. She
stood not more than five feet from him, lapping at the wetness on
her lips. The rain tasted sweet and somehow reviving. Shudders
coursed through her, but she didn't care.

Soon....

"When there is too much to
forgive, wha' does tha' leave a mon to do?" he said in a low, husky
voice. "I canna live wi’ou' you, Beth, nor can I die. I've no way
to know how to make up for the wrongs."

Beth slowly positioned
herself on the opposite side of her headstone, where she could only
see the back of his bent head. She realized he was praying and
waited a few moments until the cold became too unbearable, and
thoughts of snuggling beside him in a warm bed gave her the courage
to break the silence.

"March twenty-third,
eighteen forty-four—" His head shot up and his fathomless dark eyes
looked at her as if he were seeing a ghost. "—a heartless bride
took her husband's life and had her lover wall him up in the
tower."

A hearty preternatural
breeze, laden with pellets of rain, swept around Beth. She caught
her breath at its frigid caress. Sepulchral voices rose from the
ground, whispering in her ears, but she couldn't decipher the
words. For a moment she feared something would erupt from the earth
and carry Lachlan and her back into their graves.

Anything is
possible.

They both existed as
testimony to the unexplainable, the unbelievable, and knew
firsthand how fragile was mortality.

The breeze melted into the
night, carrying away with it the voices and a large part of her
anxiousness. Rain poured from the infinite sky, through the canopy
of still-barren branches above them. Sweeping back the hair wetly
plastered across her face, she told herself her life wouldn't end
if Lachlan rejected her.

She would leave the
relationship with a hole in her heart, but she would survive. The
twins would fill a vast portion of her life. Right now, all she
could do was to try to mollify what had happened in the bedroom.
She couldn't explain the extent of her anger, but she could tell
him that she loved him above all else.

"On March twenty-third,
nineteen ninety-five," she forced herself to go on, "another
heartless lover drove this same man into the cold of a rainy
night."

She stepped closer to the
stone and gripped its top. A breath lodged in her throat when
Lachlan slowly rose to his feet, still staring at her as though
disbelieving she were real. Usually he wasn't so quiet or still. It
was unnerving and she almost wished she hadn't left the
house.

"Are you hoping to die of
pneumonia out here, is that it?" she asked. Shivering, she hugged
herself with her arms. "It just won't do, Lachlan. I can't allow
you to deny your children their father."

He stepped to one side of
the headstone, his boots making sucking sounds in the
mud.

Gulping, Beth pressed on,
"Okay, so I'm not that unselfish! I'm here because I want
you."

In the semi-darkness, she
saw his right eyebrow arch in a challenge.

Releasing a sparing breath,
she cast a forlorn look in the direction of the mansion. She was
cold and tired, and her stomach was tied in knots. The twins would
be waking at any time to be fed. And Lachlan was milking her
discomfort for all it was worth. Making her squirm. Waiting for her
to swallow a fat, old corbie and say what he wanted to hear, not
her feeble attempt to skirt around an outright apology.

"I'm sorry," she finally
said in a small voice, peering at him from beneath her soaked
eyelashes.

He stepped directly in
front of her, leaving little space between them. Heat replaced the
chill in her body as she blinkingly stared at his chest. The wet,
blue material of his torn shirt clung to the muscular contours,
making her needy to touch him.

Damn the chemistry between
us!

Her head barely reached his
chin. From the moment they had met last summer, his height, barrel
chest, and broad shoulders had felled her inhibitions. He was so
powerful, so masculine, so magnetic that she could no more resist
wanting him than she could resist breathing.

"Sorry for wha'?" he asked,
his deep voice husky.

Sorry for what?
she fumed. She didn't expect him to forgive and
forget in a matter of minutes, but was it necessary for him to make
this so grueling?

Without thought, she
openhandedly whacked him on the chest and sputtered, "For ever
coming to this damn country—" She gasped then straightened back her
shoulders and looked into his eyes with what she hoped was a
semblance of remorse. "For hitting you. Okay...for hitting you and
running off at the mouth."

His silence squeezed her
heart and she released a shuddering breath. "Damn you, Lachlan, you
make me crazy, sometimes! I told you I want you in my life. What
more do you want to hear? That I want you in m-my bed?" She sucked
in a breath to calm her nerves. "Okay. O...kay, I do. Want you in
my bed, I mean."