The early dawn light, filtered by the curtains that graced Spring’s five-feet tall windows, was relentless in its quest to wake her. She’d been awake half the night as she mulled over the last two days’ events. As a result, she was a wee bit groggy and irritable despite the lovely golden light of dawn.
A shadow shifted in the corner of her room. She bit back a scream at the split-second she recognized the shape of the man gliding toward her. How could she not? She’d made a study of everything about him.
“Knox! What are you doing here?” She sat up and rested her back against her heavily upholstered headboard.
“I couldn’t sleep.” He sat sideways on the bed, one leg bent with his foot hooked behind the other leg. Although he rested an arm on the bent knee with a casual grace, he exuded an air of restlessness.
His inability sleep shouldn’t have been cause for him to invade her privacy. If he did so, knowing how much of a stickler Knox was for the rules, he’d have done it with great deliberation. He was here for more than a casual chat. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure. I feel as if something is off.” He sighed and scratched his day’s growth of beard. “Alastair mentioned he felt the same last night. Since then, I can’t seem to shake this odd sensation.”
“You and my uncle are worriers by nature. Everything is going to be fine,” she stated with a confidence she didn’t feel. In truth, she felt off, too. It was as if the Goddess was gearing up to battle Fate for Spring’s future. Maybe she was being fanciful, but she sensed a disturbance in the Force. She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around her blanket-clad knees.
“I don’t want you to go.”
The scab covering her wounded heart was ripped away, leaving nothing but a raw, oozing opening. She tried to ignore the ache. Tried to tell herself his reasons for wanting her to stay home might have nothing to do with why he’d rejected her in the past. When she couldn’t take another second of his brooding silence, she asked, “Why?”
Knox seemed surprised by her question. “Because you might get hurt. I don’t think I could stand it if anything happened to you, sweetheart.” He traced a finger along the arch of her brow.
Appeased and more than a little relieved, Spring halted his hand’s trajectory down her cheek by turning her head. When he dropped his hand, she said, “You can’t protect me from injury, Knox. As you’ve pointed out, Lin came to our town to cause trouble. The only safe place is our own properties or the clearing, and I refuse to be held captive to fear. Being held prisoner would be the one thing I could never tolerate.”
His eyes made a quick study of her face as if he was judging her earnestness. His mouth tightened in frustration. “I know, but I also don’t think you should take unnecessary risks.”
“You’re never going to see me as a grown woman, are you?” The question needed to be asked. Spring needed to hear the final nail driven into the coffin of her DOA unrequited love.
“Sweetheart, if you don’t know the answer after that day in the clearing, then you are living in denial.”
A shiver of awareness went through her. The deep, husky quality of Knox’s voice had the ability to reach in and caress her nerve endings. She wanted to curl against him and purr whenever he was close or spoke to her in those raspy, knowing tones.
Perhaps her sister Autumn had been correct months ago when she suggested Spring should’ve found another guy to relieve her of her pesky virginity. Until nine months ago, she had wanted that someone to be Knox, but now she understood that in holding onto her girlhood dreams and expectations her own actions had been a deterrent for him. It was only when she confessed to making out with guys that he’d become interested.
This new realization made her sad. “I’m tired, Knox. I think you should go so I can catch a few more hours sleep. We can meet up and discuss it later this morning.”
His mouth twisted in a wry smile. “You grew up when I wasn’t looking.”
“I suppose so, but when were you ever looking other than to see me as some young, innocent pest?”
Again, he frowned. “Confession?”
She nodded.
“I’ve always seen you as someone desirable. That was part of the problem. I feared if we formed a relationship while we were both teens, you would never have a chance to experience life. You deserve more than what I can give you, Spring.”
“In your mind, the times you purposely rejected me were for my own good?”
“It sounds stupid when you say it aloud, but yes, that was my thinking.”
She shook her head in wonder. “For someone with an IQ off the charts, sometimes you’re dumb as a rock.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She cupped his face but waited for him to pull away. When he didn’t, she said, “If you truly cared about me, treating me like crap and shoving me away was never the answer, Knox. You might have done irreparable damage before we could form any type of lasting relationship.”
“Have I?” he questioned hoarsely.
“Are you saying you want to form a lasting relationship?”
“I am.”
She dropped her hands and sat in contemplative silence for a moment. Had he done irreparable damage? She didn’t know the answer. All she did know was her ability to trust his motives was nil at the moment. What if she committed to him and he decided he didn’t want her once again? She didn’t think she could stand the humiliation a second time around.
“Would you be mad if I said I need time?”
“No, never.” He smoothed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “You take the time you need. I’ll be waiting.”
“And what if my answer is no?”
His expression tightened and turned watchful. “I’ll have to respect your decision, won’t I?”
“Thank you.”
“Does that mean you’re saying no?”
“I still want time to think. Let’s get this thing with my mother out of the way and return to normal before we make any life-altering decisions, okay?”
“Fair enough. One more question; may I kiss you before I go?”
“Hell, yes!”
Knox laughed at her enthusiasm, but when she straddled his lap, he was no longer laughing. Kissing Spring was no joking matter. It required his utmost attention. Their gazes locked, and in Spring’s eyes Knox could see trepidation. She honestly feared he’d reject her again. But he wasn’t sure he had the ability to deny his baser instincts any longer. He’d already touched her. Tasted her. And now he had to have her.
Spring said she needed time, and Knox intended to give her whatever she required. But he also held onto the hope that Thorne family legend rang true, and he reserved the right to try to change her mind if she decided she no longer wanted him in her life.
“You are, hands down, the most beautiful creature on the planet, Spring Thorne. One wicked look from your mischievous eyes, one smirk from those delectable lips, or one sassy comeback makes me want to drag you to the bedroom and thoroughly ravish you.”
She gasped at his candor. When she would’ve spoken, he placed a finger over her full lips. He reached for her hips and held her in place as he shifted his pelvis.
“Do you feel that?” He dipped his head and lightly brushed her lips with his. “When I’m around you, it never goes away. You were always too inexperienced to tell.” He kissed her more fully. When he pulled back, he said, “I can’t ever imagine a day when I won’t want you. And one day, when we are old and gray, I’ll still be chasing you around the bedroom as fast as my walker will allow me to go.”
Spring’s smile brightened the still-darkened room. Or maybe it only seemed so, but she beamed her delight at his words. With a not-so-subtle shift of her hips, she said, “You won’t need to chase me, Knox.”
He growled low in his throat and captured her mouth, plunging his tongue into its warm depths. Spring gave as good as she got. Her fingers wove their way into his hair, and she gyrated her body against his.
He fell back on the bed and allowed her to take the lead. He intended to stop her before things went too far and she did something she would potentially regret in the morning light. But for the moment, he was dog enough to enjoy the sensation of her body flush against his.
He ran the tips of his fingers along the smooth skin of her spine at the same time he pushed a low burst of power from his hands to her back.
She broke their kiss to stare down at him in wide-eyed wonder. “What is that? I feel it all the way to my…” The blush coloring her cheeks delighted him. “Is it normal?”
With a suggestive grin and a quirked brow, he slowly shook his head.
“Can you do that again?” she asked breathlessly.
“I can, that and more, but I thought you wanted me to go.”
Indecision was written on her face. Clearly, she wanted to experience the pleasure of magic while making love, but she was still torn about her feelings for him. With a deep sigh of regret, she climbed from atop him and flopped on her back.
Knox rolled on his side and slid a hand under her shirt to caress the full cup of her left breast. “When you’re ready, we’ll spend a week in bed. I’ll show you every trick I know, and we’ll make up more as we go along. We’ll eat bonbons and drink champagne. We’ll make love in every position imaginable.”
With one last, lingering kiss, he pulled her shirt down to cover her chest and rose to his feet. “I’ll see you later. Try to get some rest, sweetheart.”
“You, too,” she said softly.
Knox let out a small bark of amusement. “I’m not getting sleep. Not after what just happened here. Besides, I have horses to feed in another hour.”
As he stood to leave, Spring stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Knox? Why now?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You said you were purposely trying to push me away. Why do you want me now when you didn’t before?”
“I can’t answer other than to say that seeing you with Tommy triggered some sort of primitive, possessive gene within me.” He couldn’t tell her about his other reasons. Maybe one day he would, but for now, all was as it should be. Or it would if Spring decided to give him a second chance.
The solemn look in Spring’s eyes bothered him. Instinct told him to press the issue, but she had already pulled the blanket up to her chin and snuggled down into her pillow.
“Sleep well, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Knox.”
True to his word, Knox stayed awake after he left Spring’s room. Unease had taken over and refused to let him get a quiet moment. A sort of rapid-fire warning repeated in his brain throughout the morning as he cleaned stalls and tossed hay to the stock. As mid-morning rolled around, he concluded that he needed to convince Spring to stay home. The Goddess wouldn’t send him these vibes for no reason.