There was a bursting sound as the door to the room swung open. She heard it dimly, far in the back of her mind. Then her name.
“Skylar!”
She fought the web of sleep that wrapped around her. Someone was touching her. Hands, strong hands were upon her. She screamed, her eyes flying open. Darkness seemed heavy all around her. She was being held while shadows hovered in the hallway.
“Skylar!”
Oh, God! She woke fully and exhaled raggedly. It was Hawk. She realized that she was shaking, a fine sheen of perspiration bathed her flesh. He was holding her. Fingers threading through her hair. He wore a crimson smoking jacket, the V top loose. He drew her against the bare flesh of his chest, stilling the trembling that seized her.
“It’s all right,” he said to the shadows in the doorway. “She was dreaming.”
Shadows melted. The door was closed.
“Oh, God!” she breathed.
She swallowed hard, fought the emotions the vividness of the dream had brought home once again. She bit into her bottom lip, preparing for the onslaught of questions he would snap at her now.
But amazingly, he was quiet, fingers running gently through her hair.
“I think the entire house heard you screaming,” he said softly at last.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
She opened her mouth, still seeking an explanation.
But to her amazement, he spoke first again.
“One might have thought I was in the act of scalping you. Are you that afraid of coming with me over the hills?”
“Afraid of the hills?” she repeated. “No, of course not, I’m not—” she broke off, realizing far too late that he had assumed she had been dreaming of an Indian attack! “I?—”
He pulled away from her, lifting her chin. The firelight was low, and it was all that illuminated the room. Still, she knew that he saw quite well in the dark, and that he was studying her now. It seemed too late to dissemble now.
“I’m not afraid of going with you.”
“Why were you screaming?”
She managed a smile. “I really didn’t mean to convince the entire household you were scalping me.”
“Then?”
She was startled by the warmth that filled her as his thumb moved over her cheek. She lowered her lashes, shaking her head. “Monsters,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t really know. It was a nightmare. Dreams are so terrible, but then they fade so quickly. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb everyone.”
“And you’re not afraid? Of riding with me?”
She shook her head again, sighed, and admitted, “No—I’m not afraid.”
“You just don’t want to come.”
“I—” She paused, trying to study his features in turn. But he gave nothing away. His eyes seemed almost as dark as his countenance in the shadows. Yet his very austerity seemed tooffer her a strange sense of security now. His force and body heat offered a strange comfort.
Her lashes swept her cheeks. “Lord Douglas, I do strive to be a good wife. If you wish company on a journey, then I would most obediently oblige you.”
“Ah! At least until the wire is sent, Lady Douglas?”
She glanced up at him, but he laughed softly, drawing her against him. “You really need to sleep, Skylar. Morning will come quickly. It probably would help if you’d tell me the truth about that dream.”
