Circle of Fire (34 page)

It took several seconds for the meaning of his words to hit her. He was saying he loved her—
wasn’t he?
She licked her lips, refusing to let elation bubble free. After a year and a half of waiting, she had to be sure. Even if he
was
admitting he loved her, he hadn’t actually mentioned any plan to
stay
.

“Do you want it back?”

His smile was rich and warm, but she could see the uncertainty in his eyes. “No, I don’t want it back. It belongs to you, as does my heart.” He hesitated, then added softly, “I love you, Maddie.”

Tears stung her eyes. She blinked, pulling her gaze away from his. He’d finally said the words she’d longed to hear, so why was she suddenly crying?

“Why haven’t you come back for me before now?” she whispered, staring at her hands, which were clasped together on the table.

He took a step toward her, then stopped. “I walked away because I didn’t want to see you harmed, didn’t want you to become a target for some madman who was after me.”

“So why come back now?”

“Because I can’t survive without my heart anymore.” He walked around the table and squatted next to her chair. He didn’t actually touch her, but he was close enough for the heat and the tension in his body to wash over her.

She kept her eyes on her hands and didn’t move. Could barely breathe.

“I can’t walk past a rose without thinking of you,” he continued. “Every time I see a beaten-up old truck with squealing brakes I find myself hoping it’s yours. You have been in my thoughts and my dreams every minute of every day for this past year and a half.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.” She raised her eyes to his. She could see the fear and love and loneliness in the depths of his bright gaze—echoes of everything she’d felt since they’d parted. She reached out, gently touching the faint scar on his cheek. “Why are you here now?”

“We’d barely known each other a week, Maddie. I kept telling myself that what we shared, what I felt, could be little more than an offshoot of the danger we shared. That you deserved the chance to get on with your life and sort out your emotions without me getting in the way.” He raised his hand, capturing hers. His thumb traced the white mark where his ring usually sat. “It wasn’t until I saw you were getting ready to leave that I realized I had to tell you what I felt before you left the past—and me—behind you forever.”

“You were watching me?”

“Not often—just enough to assure myself you were okay.”

“Then that hawk outside
was
you?”

He hesitated, then grinned. It was a decidedly boyish grin that speeded up her already trembling heart.

“That was me trying to gather the courage to finally face you.”

She glanced down at their entwined fingers. He loved her, but was he really ready to have her stand by his side? Because if he wanted her in his life, it
would mean his
whole
life—whatever the risks or dangers that might entail—or nothing at all. “But nothing has changed. You can’t give up what you do, so where does that leave me?”

The blue eyes she loved so much were filled with uncertainty. He still wasn’t sure of her reaction, of her feelings for him.

“I’ve wasted a year and a half trying to survive without you. I can’t do that anymore. I need you, Maddie.” His voice husky, he continued. “I want to have children with you and watch them run wild in this big, old house. I want to wake up in the mornings with you in my arms and go to sleep each night the same way. I want to grow old with you, Maddie. I’ve no right to ask you to risk your life, to become a part of mine, but that’s exactly what I’m asking. Share my life—and let me become a part of yours. Marry me, Maddie.”

The tears stinging her eyes finally fell. He reached up, gently wiping them away with the soft pad of his thumb. His touch sent shivers of anticipation racing through her soul. This man’s caress was hers to keep—forever.

“Is that a yes?” he asked, smiling gently.

“Oh God, yes!” With a sob, she fell into his embrace. He held her close. It was better than any dream. “I was so afraid you would never come back to me,” she whispered against his chest.

“And I was so afraid that you might have come to your senses and not wanted me back.” He brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “That’s why it took me so long to finally face you. I just couldn’t bear the thought that you might not love me.”

She raised her head and gave him a mock glare. “It’s a shame you couldn’t have found the courage sooner. Then maybe I wouldn’t have sold the house.”

His smile sang through her soul. “Seline Whiteshore is my boss. She bought the house on my behalf. It belongs to us, and our children.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and eased her back. “We have to do this properly.”

She sniffed and stared at him, perplexed. “Do what?”

He smiled and reached into his pocket, producing the ring. “I saw you come out of the greenhouse without it,” he said before she could ask. “And I need it for what I’m about to do.”

“I hate it when you speak in riddles.”

“Shush.” His eyes gleamed, then he took a deep breath and his expression became serious. “The Heart of the Hunter is only given once in every lifetime. Do you, Madeline Smith, accept the heart of
this
hunter?”

She smiled and leaned forward, gently tasting his lips. “Only if the hunter promises he’s not going to spend our entire lives simply
talking
.”

“That is something you can be very certain of.” He gave her a smile as sweet and tender as any kiss and slipped the ring onto her finger. “That, and the fact that I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered, and knew that no matter what life threw at them, they would remain together.

Forever.

If you loved
Circle of Fire
,
be sure not to miss the next thrilling novel
in the Damask Circle series

by

Keri Arthur

And stay tuned for the epic conclusion
to the Damask Circle series—
Circle of Desire—
coming next month.

Here’s a special preview:

D
EATH HAD COME CALLING ON A WINDBLOWN, WINTRY EVENING
. It smashed past the deadbolts lining the front door and grabbed the living with unparalleled glee, sucking the life from them until there was nothing left but husks. Then it tore the remains apart, as if determined to erase any evidence of humanity.

Kirby hadn’t been home at the time—but her best friend was.

Kirby stood on the edge of the porch, in the wind and the rain, and felt nothing. No pain. No anger. Not even the chill from the wild storm that had shattered the warm Australian summer.

It was as if part of her sat in a vacuum, waiting … but for what, she wasn’t sure.

“Miss Brown? Did you hear my question?”

The voice held an edge of impatience. She turned, vaguely recognizing the red-haired police officer who stood before her. “Sorry. My mind was elsewhere.”

On walking into the kitchen and seeing the blood spattered like paint across the walls. Or the dismembered
parts of Helen and Ross, strewn like forgotten toys throughout the house.

She swallowed heavily, then crossed her arms and licked the rain from her lips. It tasted salty, like tears.

“I asked why you were late coming home tonight.” His blue eyes studied her closely. Not suspiciously, not exactly. Just a cop being a cop, asking questions.

“There was an accident on the West Gate Bridge. It held up traffic for hours. I was supposed to have been home by six.”

If she’d been on time, death would have caught her, too. But fate had stepped in and saved her life. She wondered why.

“What time
did
you get home, then?”

“Eight-thirty. I stopped at the KFC down the road and got something to eat.” It had been her turn to cook, but because of the late hour, she’d decided to wimp out and just grab takeout for everyone. The chicken still sat in its box, just inside the door where she’d dropped it. She wondered if she’d ever be able to eat KFC again. “I called in the murder not long after that.”

But the constable knew all that. He’d been there earlier, taking notes, when the other detectives had questioned her. She wondered what it was that he didn’t believe.

He checked his notes. “And you saw nothing, heard nothing, as you walked up to the house?”

She shook her head. “Everything was dark. I didn’t even notice the door was open until I got close.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t find that unusual?”

In all honesty, she hadn’t. She’d merely grinned,
thinking that perhaps Helen and Ross had been too involved with each other to worry about mundane things like locking the front door. “Helen had only known Ross for a week. They were still at the ‘fucking like rabbits’ stage, I’m afraid.”

She wasn’t entirely sure why she’d said that. She wasn’t usually the swearing type. Maybe it was simply the need to shock the half-smug smile from the young officer’s lips.

A faint hint of red crept across his cheeks and he cleared his throat softly. “Yes, well, that would no doubt explain why the victims had no clothes on.”

“No doubt,” she mimicked, voice remote.

She stared past the emergency vehicles’ swirling red and blue lights, a cold sense of dread enveloping her. She rubbed her arms and wished she had a whiskey or a scotch. Even a beer would do. Something—anything—to drown the knowledge that death stood out there, watching and waiting.

“Do you have anyplace to go, Miss Brown?”

Her gaze jumped back to the police officer. “Go?”

He nodded. “You can’t stay here. It’s a crime scene.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that. Hadn’t thought of anything, really, once she’d stepped through that door.

“Have you got parents nearby?”

She shook her head. No use explaining that she didn’t have parents at all. None that she remembered, anyway, and certainly none she wanted to find. As near as she knew, she’d been a ward of the state since birth, and had spent her formative years being bounced from one foster home to another. Helen had
been the one permanent fixture in her life. They shared everything, even down to a birthday. They’d met in a government facility at the age of eleven, and had run away after it had burned down and they’d been faced with separation again. Now Helen was gone, and she was alone. Again.

She raised her face and let the rain wash the heat from her eyes.
Don’t cry for me
, Helen would have said.
Just find the answers
.

“No friends you can bunk with for the night?” the officer continued.

Again she shook her head. They’d only moved into the Essendon area a few weeks ago. She’d barely had time to unpack, let alone make new friends. And she’d always been slower than Helen in that department anyway.