The question was direct and to the point. She answered it with the same bluntness. “Did it?”
He shrugged. “In an indirect way, yeah, I supposed you could say that.”
He didn’t offer any more information, but Hope couldn’t let the matter rest there. Of its own accord, her hand reached up, the palm drawing slowly down the hard, bristling line of his jaw. The muscles beneath her fingertips stiffened, and to her surprise, instead of trying to pull away, he turned his face so his lips grazed her wrist.
“Tell me who you lost, Drake.” Her drawl thickened and her voice deepening to a pitch huskier than normal. Her hand continued to caress his cheek, drinking of its warmth.
“Everyone.”
The single word, so solemnly spoken, settled around Hope like a thick, dark cloak. Her gaze softened as she stared at his silhouette, but she doubted there was enough daylight left for him to see the emotion swimming in her eyes. The hand caressing his cheek slipped past his ear. Her fingers buried themselves in the silky curls clinging to his nape as she pulled his head down and pillowed it atop her right shoulder. His hair tickled her cheek and his warm breath seared through the thin cotton chemise, washing over the sensitive flesh beneath.
“You have no family then?” she asked softly, her fingers stroking his temple.
Drake stiffened, his tone hard and unyielding. “I have a brother in Boston, and, I would imagine by now, a sister-in-law. However, the three of us are not...friendly.”
Hope swallowed hard. A brother. God, what she wouldn’t give to have hers back! “Your brother and his wife, do they have any children?”
“When I left, Charles and Angelique weren’t even married. If there’s a God, the two will never procreate.”
“You don’t like him very much, do you?” she asked softly. The tightening in his shoulders told Hope all she needed to know.
“I hate him. Almost more than I hate his wife.”
His unconcealed anger took her by surprise. “But he’s your brother, Drake,” she persisted warily. “Surely any differences between you can be smoothed over. After all, his children will be your nieces and nephews. You can’t hold his sins against innocent children.”
“Keep out of this, sunshine. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe not, but I do know what it’s like to have a brother.” Her voice cracked. “Until recently I had one myself. Luke and I had our differences, but I loved him. And I would have loved any children he had.”
“And what if your precious brother had stolen the heart of the only woman you ever loved?” he growled. “How would you have felt about him then?”
She gasped. That his brother’s wife had been the only woman to capture his heart hurt her more than she would admit. “Angelique?” she asked, her voice a throaty whisper.
Drake relaxed, his tone forcibly light. “It doesn’t matter. It happened a long time ago. It’s in the past now, where it belongs.”
“But—”
“Leave it alone, sunshine. It doesn’t concern you.” Reaching up, he cupped his hand over hers. Turning it over, he placed small kisses on the tips of her fingers, her knuckles, the center of her palm. His tongue darted out to taste the hollow in her wrist, running a moist path over the pulse throbbing there.
There was no denying her body’s immediate response to his touch. The shock of her reaction rippled down Hope’s arm in a way that was breathtakingly spontaneous and irresistible.
A blatant form of wildly sinful torture, she thought, as warm kisses trailed up the column of her arm. His lips had reached her upper arm, and she bent her elbow and let her fingers sink into the golden mane of hair.
“You’re avoiding my questions, gunslinger,” she whispered, her voice a husky sigh.
“Are you complaining?” he countered, nuzzling her shoulder. His fingers pushed aside the white cotton chemise and his breath kissed her skin. He tasted the flesh there only briefly as thoughts of her healing wound cut through his mind. Good God, he didn’t want to hurt her!
“I know I should be, but no, I’m not complaining.”
“Good.” He shifted, planting a leisurely kiss on her brow before he made to leave the bed. His palms burned where they had touched her warm flesh. “Save that thought for later. Right now you need your rest and you need your strength. And I need a bath.”
The mattress sagged as he reluctantly slipped his long legs over the side. Hope reached out and grabbed his arm before he could stand. “Where are you going?”
“To fix us some supper.”
“Now?” A pout turned her lips as she settled against the mattress. Although she knew he was right, she couldn’t help feeling cheated. She wanted him back on the mattress with her. Maybe she shouldn’t, and maybe she hadn’t healed enough for such antics, but that was what she wanted—it was what her heart and body screamed for. He hadn’t moved, but sat there staring at her. She regarded him through a shield of lashes, a sly grin turning her lips.
“Well,” she sighed heavily, “I suppose if you must go I shouldn’t stop you....” The lashes lifted and her gaze clashed with his. She drowned in those sea-green pools. “There is one thing, though.”