Into His Private Domain

Mary, Mother of God. He was at her side in the slice of a second, his hands shaking and his brain mush. He was an animal, no better than the coyotes who roamed the hills at night.

She was unconscious. Gently he stroked his palms down her extremities, searching for breaks. Growing up with male brothers and cousins, he had seen his fair share of broken limbs over the years, but he might be sick if he found a sharp bone protruding through her silky, fine-textured skin.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he found none. But the purplish bruise blooming near her temple and the blood trickling down her leg galvanized him into action.

He scooped her negligible weight into his arms and carried her into the house and to his room, his private sanctuary. He deposited her carefully on the unmade bed and went for ice and medical supplies.

The fact that she was still unconscious began to worry him even more than the deep cut on her leg. He grabbed for the phone and dialed his brother Jacob. “I need you. It’s an emergency. Bring your bag.”

Ten minutes later, his sibling joined him at the bedside. Both men looked down at the woman who was dwarfed by the bed’s size and masculinity. Her red-gold hair glowed against the somber gray and navy of the cashmere blankets.

Jacob examined her rapidly from head to toe, his mien serious, his medical training as automatic as it was thorough. “I’ll have to stitch the leg. The knot on her head is bad, but not life-threatening. Pupils seem okay.” He frowned. “Is she a friend of yours?”

Gareth snorted, his gaze never leaving her face. “Hardly. She was here for all of two minutes when she fell. Said she wanted to talk to me about something. I’m guessing she could be a reporter.”

Jacob’s brow creased. “What happened?”

Gareth leaned forward and brushed the hair from her face. “I tried to scare her off and it worked.”

Jacob sighed. “That hermit act you put on is going to bite you in the ass someday. Maybe today. Damn it, Gareth. She could sue the family to hell and back. What were you thinking?”

Gareth winced when Jacob stuck a needle in the woman’s leg, deadening the small area around her cut. She never moved. “I wanted her gone,” he muttered, irritated, brooding as he battled inward demons. He hoped this female was as innocent as the first pristine snows that fell in late autumn.

But she could just as easily be a viper in their midst.

Jacob finished the last stitch and covered the wound with a neat bandage. He checked his patient’s pulse, gave her another shot in the arm for pain and frowned. “We’d better check for ID. Did she have anything with her?”

Gareth nodded. “It’s on the chair over there.” While Jacob rifled in the woman’s long-handled tote, Gareth stared down at the intruder. She looked like an angel in his bed.

Jacob held up a billfold and sheet of paper, a troubled frown on his face. “Take a look at this photo. And her name is Gracie Darlington.”

“Unless the ID is a fake.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. You wear paranoia like a hair shirt, but this might be nothing sinister at all.”

“And pigs could fly. Don’t expect me to be gullible just because she’s cute and cuddly. I’ve been down that road.”

“Your ex-fiancée was overly ambitious. And cuddly wasn’t in her vocabulary. It happened a long time ago, Gareth. Let it go.”

“Not until I know the truth.”

Jacob shook his head in disgust as he broke an ammonia caplet beneath Gracie’s nose.

She moved restlessly and moaned as reality returned.

Gareth took her small hand in his. “Wake up.”

She opened her eyes, blinking against the light. Her lips trembled. “There are two of you?” Her brow creased in confusion.

Jacob’s chuckle was dry. “As long as you don’t see four, I think we’re okay. You probably have a concussion. You need to rest and drink plenty of fluids. I’ll be nearby if you get worse. In the meantime, don’t make any sudden moves.”

His attempt at humor didn’t register on Gracie’s face. Her nose wrinkled in discomfort. “Where am I?”

Jacob patted her arm. “You’re in my brother’s bedroom. But don’t worry. Gareth doesn’t bite. And I’m Jacob, by the way.” He glanced at Gareth. “Keep ice packs on her leg and the side of her head. I’m leaving a mild painkiller that should give her some relief as the shot wears off. I’ll check back in the morning unless anything changes. Bring her to the clinic and I’ll x-ray her to make sure I haven’t missed something.”

Gareth didn’t bother to see his sibling out.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and winced inwardly when Gracie, damaged as she was, made the effort to move away from him. The simple exertion drained what little color she had left in her face, and she shuddered, leaned past him and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor.

Then she burst into tears.

Gareth was momentarily frozen with indecision. He’d never in his life felt such an urgent, desperate need to comfort anyone. Gracie might be a lying, cheating witch. And even worse, a woman who could cause untold trouble for his family.

But he was helpless in the face of her heartfelt misery. No one could fake such distress.

He went to the bathroom for a damp washcloth, handed it to her and proceeded to clean up the mess on the floor in silence. By the time he was done, her sobs had subsided into hiccupping, ragged sighs. Her eyes were closed, her body still as death. Probably because every little movement sent pain shooting through her skull.

Gareth had been thrown from a horse when he was twelve, and the resulting head injury had left him weak as a babe.

He knew how she felt.

He didn’t risk sitting down again. Instead he went to the windows and opened both of them, letting the fresh spring breezes cleanse the room. He pulled the curtains together to dim the light, wanting to make her as comfortable as possible.

Afterward, he stood by the bed and stared down at her, wondering how a day that had begun so normally had rapidly skidded off track. He cleared his throat and gently pulled the bedding to cover her slight frame, tucking it to her chin. “We need to talk. But I’ll wait until you’ve had a chance to rest. It’s almost dinnertime. I’ll fix something simple that won’t aggravate your stomach, and I’ll bring it in when it’s ready.” He hesitated, waiting for a reply.

Gracie tried to gather her composure, sure that any minute now she would get a handle on her scattered wits. This all seemed like such an odd dream. The glowering man tending to her with patent reluctance was huge.

His face was remarkable, wholly masculine, but striking rather than handsome. He had a crooked nose, a jaw carved from granite and cheekbones that drew attention to his deep-set, black-as-midnight eyes—eyes so dark, his pupils were indiscernible.

Equally dark hair framed his face aggressively, suggesting wildness and a lack of concern for polite conventions. The strands were thick and vibrant, and Gracie wanted to bury her hands in them and drag his head down to see if the tousled layers were as soft as they looked.

His broad, bare chest was golden-tan, its sleekly muscled beauty marred by three small scars over his rib cage. She frowned, her fingers itching to trace each imperfection. She refused to acknowledge that she was gob-smacked by his sheer magnificence. He left the room finally, closing the door behind him, and eventually, she dozed, rousing now and again to the awareness of pain and frightening loneliness. Shadows cast the room into near darkness by the time her host returned.

He carried a tray which he set on a wooden chest at the foot of the bed. She feared the sudden onslaught of bright light from the fixture overhead, but instead, he turned on a small antique table lamp with a cream silk shade. The diffused glow was bearable.

He stood beside her. “You need to sit up and eat something.”

Questions clogged her throat. The smell wafting from a handmade earthenware container made her stomach growl loudly. He didn’t comment, but helped her into a seated position. His manner was matter-of-fact. Everywhere his skin touched hers, she burned.

His expression was hard to read. When she was ready, he placed the tray across her lap. She sucked in a breath as she moved her leg beneath the covers. She hadn’t even realized until that moment that she had injured more than her head.

He answered her unspoken question. “Jacob put six or seven stitches in your shin. You hit some sharp gravel when you…” His voice trailed off, and she saw discomfiture on his face. He pulled up a straight-back chair and watched her eat. If she hadn’t been starving, his intense scrutiny would have made her nervous. But it must have been hours since she’d had any food, and she was hungry.

He, or someone, had prepared chicken soup, which required far more effort than simply opening a can. Large chunks of white meat mingled with carrots and celery in a fragrant broth. She tore off a hunk of the still-warm wheat bread and consumed it with unladylike haste.

Neither she nor her companion spoke a word until she had cleaned her plate, or in this case, her bowl.

Removing the trappings of the decidedly fine dinner, Gareth—was that his name?—sat back down and folded his arms across his chest.