A Family Homecoming (17 page)

Inside, she hurried to the bathroom and changed to her warm flannel nightgown. With her face washed and her finery gone, she looked like Cinderella after the clock struck midnight. The ball was over.

When she started for her and Sara's bedroom, she noticed that Kyle had built a fire in the family room. She hesitated, then recalled she hadn't talked to him about the ads Sara was supposed to do.

Maybe this wasn't the time. It was late. They were alone. She should go to bed…alone…

But her feet didn't move toward the bedroom. She walked down the hall. The wood floors were wickedly cold on her feet. But inside she was warm. She felt feverish.

“I forgot to tell you,” she began.

He turned from the fire and looked at her.

“I forgot to tell you,” she said again.

The words died in her throat. She saw the need, the terrible need that was always in his eyes when he returned home from those dark, scary depths where crime and terror lived. She sensed the cold inside him.

But there was warmth in her. The sun sang in her veins and she was flushed with its heat.

“Dani,” he said, the one word spoken low and husky, with an ache inside it.

She pressed her hands to her chest and felt the heat radiating from her body. His soul was dark, lost in an icy wasteland…. She held out her arms.

“Come,” she whispered. “I'll warm you. This time. This last time.”

“Dani,” he murmured and lifted her into his arms.

D
anielle lay in bed and listened to the wind sing around the eaves of the house. Joy and despair sang in her blood. Physically she was satiated and content. But in her soul…

In her soul, her heart, her mind…there's where the ache lay. She thought of the long winters ahead. Perhaps she should have gone south to warmer climes in choosing a new home. She'd once spent a happy vacation in this area. Was she now to spend an unhappy life here?

She closed her eyes against that wild, furious need to weep and envisioned the night. His strong embrace, his delight in her touch, his kisses. He was generous with his kisses, touching each part of her body in the gentlest forays, all the way to her toes.

Heat speared through her. He had driven her to
madness with his kisses, with his skillful caresses. And she had done the same for him, bringing him as much pleasure as she could with her hands, her mouth…

Opening her eyes, she gazed out the window at the gray sky. Clouds again. Snow. Cold.

She sighed and forced herself out of bed. Dressed, she padded into the kitchen in her thick socks. The telephone rang just as she entered. Kyle, seated at the table with the newspaper, grabbed it.

“Hey, Luke,” he said after answering.

Luke Mason, his contact for his undercover work with the FBI. A tiny ache pinged through her heart.

“Yeah? Hmm.”

She could tell nothing from this end of the conversation. Which was just as well. It didn't matter to her or her future. Kyle was free to go.

“An undercover job? No, thanks.”

Her breath caught. She willed herself to normalcy. She poured a cup of coffee and a glass of juice. She took a seat at the table and picked up a section of the paper.

Kyle laughed softly. “Yeah, I've heard your couple-of-weeks argument before.”

She stole a glance at him. He was smiling, and his eyes sparkled like sunshine on water. The ache intensified. She would tell him goodbye. She wouldn't cry.

“No way, man. I'm going to stick to the field office.” He laughed again. “Tell your problems to Dear Abby. My answer is the same. I'm on R and R.”

Then he hung up and settled back in his chair. She stared at the paper, the print a blur before her face.

“Dani,” he murmured. “Good morning.”

She took a breath, stretched her mouth into a smile and looked at him. His gaze was lambent, tender, all the things she had ever needed from him. She looked at his smiling mouth and thought of all the places he'd touched last night.

Laying the paper aside, she pressed a hand against her chest. She wished they could go back to bed and stay there, content in each other's arms forever.

“Interesting,” he said.

“W-what?” She cleared her throat.

“You're blushing like a bride,” he commented softly. His gaze drifted over her, sexy and enticing.

She denied it with a quick shake of her head. “Was that Luke Mason?” Such a dumb question and not at all what she wanted to know. “Did he ask you to take an undercover job?”

“Yes, a brief investigation. I turned it down.”

“Why?”

“I have a new position lined up. I thought I'd made it clear. I accepted the assignment to the field office.”

“Don't,” she said. Her voice came out strained, hardly above a whisper.

His eyes narrowed. “Why not?”

“You won't be happy dealing with a lot of paperwork and bureaucrats while your men are out in the field doing the real work. You'll grow to hate it. And Whitehorn.”

He was silent for a long time, his gaze fixed on her as if he were looking into her soul. “And you and Sara?”

“You would never hate Sara.”

“I would never hate you,” he added softly.

She clasped her hands in her lap to still their trem
bling. “I want you to go. I…it will be easier if you aren't here. I'll share Sara. You're welcome to visit her at any time. She loves hiking and camping out.”

“I'm not leaving,” he stated.

The hot, hot tears pressed close. She wasn't going to be able to get through this with dignity if he didn't stop arguing. “Please—”

“I've made my choice,” he interrupted, his tone still gentle. “I've realized I don't have to save the world all by myself anymore. There are good men and women out there in law enforcement. They can help.”

She stared at him, not sure what he was saying.

He smiled, then looked thoughtful. “I've been on a one-person crusade for years. When my mother died I felt guilty, as if it had somehow been my fault.”

“She died of cancer. What could you have done?”

“I didn't say it was logical, only that I felt if I had tried harder, been a better person, she might have lived. It was a boy's need, a bargain with God. If He'd let her be okay, I'd do only good all my life. She died, but my guilt didn't, or the need to justify my existence.”

Danielle nodded in understanding.

He reached across the table and took her hands in his. “I tried to do good, but there was a darkness in my soul. Sometimes I thought I would sink into it and never come out, that I'd turn into the men I hunted, men with no souls. Then I met you.”

A tremor coursed through her at the look in his eyes.

“You, Dani. My light. My guide back to the good world, the real world. When I was on a case, I would
lie in bed during the long, lonely nights and look at the moon, but I saw you. It was your light that brightened the night for me. Don't drive me away.”

The tears pressed against her eyes. “Winona said you would always be in law enforcement. It's in your nature.”

He nodded. “I'll still be there. But I'll be the one directing operations. It's the same work but from a different angle. I can let others do the hard stuff. I'm staying with my family.”

The silence spun between them as Kyle gazed deeply into her eyes. He sensed her uncertainty. He'd done that to her.

“If you'll let me,” he added softly.

She didn't speak.

“Dani.” It was a plea.

She pushed up from the chair and went to him. He met her halfway. He crushed her into his arms. She crushed back, holding him as tightly as she could.

“If you're sure,” she whispered. “I couldn't bear it if you wanted to leave, but couldn't.”

“I'm sure.” He kissed the side of her face, her ear, her neck. “I'm home, Dani, for good. When I wake in the mornings, it's your face I want to see beside me. It's you I want to share life with.” He pressed his lips against her throat. “In your arms, my sweet shining love, I'm home.”

As Danielle looked into his beautiful eyes, she knew he spoke the truth. “Welcome home, my love.”