He slammed his hand on the edge of the desk, an oath rising to his lips. Dammit. She couldn’t have just vanished into thin air.
So, she had run away, in which case someone must have helped her, but who? Everyone else in the village was accounted for. Try as he might, he couldn’t believe she had found the courage to run off on her own, yet there was no other answer. Where would she go? As far as he could tell, she hadn’t taken anything with her, so she couldn’t have gone far. He would find her, and when he did, he would make her pay.
Scowling, he paced back and forth, his anger growing. He had lusted after the girl since she was thirteen years old, patiently biding his time while he waited for her to grow up. He had discouraged the young men who had wanted to take her out. He frowned. Had she been meeting one of them behind his back? Someone from another town, perhaps? No, that was impossible.
Where had she gone?
He paused to stare out the front window. It had been a hard year for the townspeople. Tourism had been down due to a bad turn in the economy. Perhaps the offer of a sizable reward for information regarding her whereabouts would yield results.
Chapter 5
For Elena, the next few weeks passed like something in a fairy tale. For a girl who didn’t believe in ghosts, goblins, or magic, she was beginning to think that Wolfram Castle was under some sort of enchantment. Or that she was.
Drake was definitely magical. Whenever he was near, she had to fight the urge to touch him, to go to him. When they were apart, she yearned for the sound of his voice. At night, he haunted her dreams. She told herself it was merely infatuation, that it would pass, that what she felt was gratitude because he was providing her with food and shelter.
The cat, which she had taken to calling Smoke, kept her company during the day. Elena had no idea where the mysterious Mr. Drake spent his days and when she asked, he merely shrugged and told her, firmly but politely, that it was none of her business.
With no one else to talk to, Elena often chatted with the cat. Strange as it seemed, there were times when she was absolutely certain that the creature understood every word she said. Odder still was the fact that the silly feline seemed to appear whenever she was feeling lonely. Even though she didn’t like cats, she was grateful to have another living, breathing creature to keep her company in the drafty old castle.
When she complained to Drake that she needed something to do to occupy her time, he brought her a dozen of the latest paperback novels, a number of crossword puzzle books, drawing paper, pens, crayons, and markers.
When she complained she was growing tired of wine, he bought an ice chest and kept it stocked with cans of soda, iced tea, and lemonade, as well as fruit and milk. He also stocked the kitchen with snacks and other, nonperishable items.
Meals continued to appear morning and evening. When she asked where they came from, he told her he had an arrangement with one of the women in town.
Elena had never cared for cooking, but she loved baking and she spent a part of every day in the kitchen, learning how to bake in the ancient oven. Her first few endeavors ended up in the garbage, but eventually she learned to make a decent pie, and then turned her hand to cakes and cookies. And always, the ubiquitous cat looked on, a bored expression on its face.
Drake refused to eat anything she made, declaring that he preferred to take his meals in private, and that he had no taste for sweets.
He was gone every day and most of the nights, and felt no need to explain where he went. At first, being alone didn’t bother her. She was an only child; back home in Colorado she had always been good at entertaining herself. But as the days passed, Elena began to long for more than just a cat for companionship. She wanted someone who would do more than just listen, someone with whom she could share thoughts and hopes and dreams. And so it was that she decided to stay up one night and wait for Drake’s return.
She was staring into the flames in the hearth, the book in her lap forgotten, when Drake suddenly appeared beside the sofa.
“I didn’t hear you come in!” she exclaimed, one hand pressed to her rapidly beating heart.
“I thought you would be in bed.” He removed his long black cloak and tossed it over the back of the sofa.
She stared up at him, struck anew by how tall and broad-shouldered he was. As usual, he wore black—boots, shirt, and pants. But it was his face that held her attention. He was incredibly beautiful for a man, with finely shaped lips, straight black brows, sculpted cheekbones. And those incredibly blue eyes. Looking at him made her want to touch him, to trace the curve of his lips, to sift her hand through his thick black hair, to explore the muscles flexing beneath his shirt.
He was looking at her oddly, one brow raised as if in amusement.
Elena curled her hands into fists and buried them in the folds of her skirt, her cheeks burning with embarrassment at her wayward thoughts. Beyond some exploratory kissing and necking in high school, she had never been intimate with a man, partly because her uncle had refused to let her date, and partly because she had seen what happened to one of her friends who ended up sixteen and pregnant. Elena had never wanted to have to decide whether to keep a baby born out of wedlock and try to raise it on her own, or to give it away and never see it again. Her friend Dorina had given her baby away and regretted it every day of her life.
Drake dropped onto the sofa across from her. Stretching out his long legs, he regarded her over his steepled fingers. “What are you doing up so late?”
“I was bored.” Her gaze slid away from his. “And lonely.”
Drake grunted softly. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might be lonely. “Would you care to go for a walk?”
She looked at him, her eyes wide. “Do you mean it?”
“Of course.”
She bounded to her feet, her heart racing with anticipation as she ran upstairs to change her shoes.
He was waiting for her by the front door when she returned. He opened it with a flourish and bowed her through.
Outside, she hesitated, not sure which way to go.
Drake made the decision for her. “This way.”
He turned down a narrow, tree-lined path that led away from the castle toward the distant hills. It was a beautiful night. A new moon hung low in the sky. Stars glittered like millions of sparkling diamonds flung across the midnight sky by a careless hand. A faint breeze rustled the leaves of the oaks and chestnuts.
He was ever aware of the woman walking silently beside him, just as he was cognizant of her growing desire and the confusion it caused her. Young and untouched, she wasn’t sure what to make of her feelings for him.