Through the shadows of the night she saw him there, and in a flicker of moonlight she saw his face, taut and gaunt.
She hesitated only briefly, then crawled from the bed and went to him. He seemed startled; he had been deep in a worldall his own, she knew.
But he put an arm around her, pulling her to him as he leaned against the door, kissing the top of her head as he held her there. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I seem to keep you awake when I can't sleep."
His body was warm; the moonlight and the balmy night air seemed to caress them both. Still his touch upon her was a distracted one.
"I couldn't sleep, either," Bryn said, and when he remained silent, she turned in his arms, staring beseechingly into his eyes."Lee...why don't you...want me...tonight?"
"What?" The query was a startled one. And then he smiled slightly, touching her cheek, and she knew she had his attention at last.
"Bryn, I always want you," he told her. "I was thinking of you. Don't you know you have a massive bruise on your jaw, and scratches and scrapes all over?"
Bryn touched her jaw. It was the spot where Winfeld had struck her, but it wasn't causing her any real discomfort.
"Lee, it's--it's just a bruise, and I don't even notice it.Really. I...I need you to hold me tonight, Lee. Dear God, I'm not that fragile, really...."
He wrapped his arms tightly around her, bending to bury his face against her hair. She felt all his tension.
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Whathad she said, she wondered, and then she heard his groan, and the blunt statement that explained it all.
"She killed herself, Bryn.Victoriakilled herself."
It all came out. Words poured from him. Jerky words, starting with the time when the prowler had come in and he had defended himself.Victoria's reaction.How much he had lovedVictoria, and how, no matter what, she had turned from him-- afraid. How she had come to think of him as a savage. How fragile she had been, so fragile that he could not touch her, or reach her.His confusion.His loss.Victoria's affairs and that terror of him that he could never understand.
Bryn had been so afraid herself--of love.Of giving everything. Yet if ever a heart had been set before a woman, bared and bleeding, this was it. And she could not deny it. She held him tightly, her words pouring out in reassurance, and then in love.
"Oh, my God, Lee, you have to see that there was nothing else you could have done. It wasn't you, Lee.
She was...self-destructive. Didn't the doctors tell you that?"
"Yes, that's what they said," he told her tonelessly.
"Oh, Lee, you've got to believe them!" she "Please...I need you, Lee. I need you now, please...."
He gripped her chin in his hand, looking searchingly into her eyes."Enough to marry me, Bryn, after hearing all that?"
"Lee, don't you see? It wasn't you! I love you enough to do anything, Lee," she cried, stunned, yet afraid again herself. "But I'm--I'm a package deal, Lee. I come with three little boys--''
"Do you doubt so much that I can love them too?" "No, I don't doubt you. I just know that it can be--"
"Hard," Lee agreed. "Yes, I'm sure that being an instant parent can be hard. We'll argue sometimes; we'll have problems sometimes. But if we start out right... equal partners... we should make it. If I'm going to be their parent, I'm going to yell at them sometimes. You'll have to respect my judgment-- and why are you laughing?"
"Because I love you so much!Because I can't believe that you really want to marry me.That you're willing to tackle it all. Oh, Lee, do you mean it? Marriage... forever and forever...?"
"And forever," he promised her huskily. "If you can really bear with me, Bryn, Bryn, I do love you so very much." "It's magic," she said tenderly and with awe, smoothing away the taut lines of strain and concern on his face. "I can barely believe it."
He ducked slightly, sweeping her into his arms, holding her fiercely, protectively...but tenderly. She felt his love and his passion in the strength of his hold.
"Maybe words aren't enough," he told her huskily. "Actions can speak so clearly. If you'll allow me, I'll try to make a believer out of you...."
Bryn smiled. "I have an open mind. Please... show me." Never had he made love to her so tenderly. And when they were replete and exhausted, they talked.Openly. About a future that would be real and secure--and beautiful.
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Tempestuous, too, Bryn reminded herself. There would be gentle rivers ahead of them, but also raging seas. A man of his passions and vitality was seldom calm. And the past would continue to haunt him.
Only time would teach him to be secure in her love. She was more than willing to give him the time--
andthe love.
Mrs. Lee Condor, she thought, right before falling asleep. It had a nice ring to it.
Five days later they were on their way to theBlack Hills.
"We need this vacation," Lee told her as they boarded his private Lear."A time together with no fear."