He had a way of making her believe everything would work out in the end. Just as being around him made her feel strong and sure of herself, as if she could do anything. As if she was in control of her destiny. As if she could reach out and take anything she wanted. It was a confidence that—growing up as a Gypsy, an outsider—she had never felt before.
She bit her lower lip and set the envelopes on the counter. The only problem was that the more she was around Garner and experienced this feeling he’d planted in her, the more she wanted him. Wanted to sleep in his arms and wake to his kisses. Wanted to laugh with him and share with him and love with him. And not just for tonight, not just for a week or a year, but for always. She wanted to heal his injured heart so he could love again. So he could love her.
The door to Garner’s father’s office slammed shut and Garner’s footsteps thunked across the wood floor toward the kitchen. She pivoted to face him as he entered.
His jaw was set at a stubborn angle, and his eyes still burned with anger from the argument she’d overheard.
Sabina braced herself. “What happened? Did he refuse to meet with us?”
“He’ll meet with us at the carnival early tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow? Why not tonight?”
Garner grimaced, lines digging into his forehead and bracketing his mouth. “Because he’s busy interrogating your cousin Andrei about your aunt’s death. And after I reported the attack on you, he jumped at the opportunity to heap that accusation on Andrei, too.”
“Andrei? But he didn’t have anything to do with any of it.”
“That’s what I told Leon. But I think he’s more set on following in my father’s footsteps and looking for a convenient scapegoat than finding the real murderer. Especially if that murderer could be Richard Granville.”
Sabina walked over to Garner on shaky legs. The thought of Andrei being questioned about Valonia’s murder as if he was a suspect made her stomach roil. Andrei, her older, handsome cousin, a man with charm to burn, a man she’d looked up to her entire life. “They can’t do this. We have to go down there. We have to tell them. We have to get Andrei out of there.”
Garner held up a hand to stop her before she could race for the door. “I’ve taken care of it. I called the attorney who’s working with you on Carlo’s case. He’s on his way to the police station now. They have no sound legal reason to hold Andrei. He’ll be out of that interrogation room within the hour.”
“You’re sure?”
“Oh, yeah. Sometimes the law is the law. Even in Les Baux.”
She laid her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes. The rush of power shot through her. It was as if she fed off the look in his eyes. Fed off the way he saw her. “Thank you. Thank you for doing all this. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
The corners of Garner’s mouth quirked up, his smile as warm as the Louisiana night. “You would find another way to save your cousin. You wouldn’t give up until you did.”
“Maybe.”
“You would, Sabina. Because you’re not a person who gives up. You’re a person who needs to help others. And you’re strong. Strong enough to overcome any obstacle in your path.”
She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe the strength came from within her. But she had a sneaking suspicion that he was the real source. She dropped her gaze to the floor and began to shake her head.
Placing his fingers under her chin, he tilted her face so that she was looking at him again. “You are, Sabina. Trust me.”
Gazing into his eyes, she could almost believe him. “My sister Alessandra is strong. My aunt was strong. I’ve never thought of myself as strong.”
“What on earth would make you believe you’re not?”
She drew in a breath. She had good reason to believe she wasn’t strong. But here with Garner the humiliation, the stifling dependence, the horrible loneliness lost its sting and faded into the past. “I was married when I was very young. Not yet fifteen.”
Garner’s eyebrows shot toward his hairline.
“It’s not unusual in Gypsy culture to marry that young. I knew the boy. I liked him. He liked me and needed a wife. And my parents arranged the marriage.”
Lines of concern etched Garner’s brow, but he said nothing. He just waited for her to continue.
“His family were very traditional Romany—or as you call us, Gypsies. When I married, I assumed the role of a traditional Rom wife. I probably could have been happy if we’d had children. I’ve always loved children. But although there didn’t seem to be a physical problem, I never got pregnant. It just wasn’t to be.”
“Is that why you’re no longer married? Because you didn’t have children?”
She shook her head. “When Josephe—Joe’s father died, I found out Joe didn’t like Rom ways. He had followed the traditions only because his father insisted. Joe wanted the opportunities the gadje world could give him. He didn’t want to follow Rom ways. And he no longer wanted a Rom wife. I tried to please him by changing, but it was not enough….”
Garner’s lips pressed together in a bitter line. “So the bastard ran out on you.”
Sabina shrugged. Joe’s leaving had been humiliating. Devastating. But somehow it didn’t seem that important anymore. Not when she was standing here with Garner. Not with Garner looking at her this way. “I was fitting myself into the mold of a Rom wife one moment, and the next moment the mold was gone. I guess I’ve been trying to figure out who I am ever since. If it weren’t for Alessandra and my aunt taking me back to the carnival and encouraging me to explore my gifts, I don’t know what I would have done.”
“Your gifts. I know you read auras. You have other gifts?”
A shiver of nervousness inched up her spine. Sabina had never talked of this with anyone other than Alessandra, Valonia and Andrei, who all had gifts of their own. Not even Joe had known her power.
Garner watched her, patiently waiting for her answer. Acceptance radiated from his aura. He wouldn’t judge her. He wouldn’t be afraid of her powers. He would take whatever she told him in stride.
“I can heal.”
His brows slashed low over his eyes. Not in judgment, but seeking to understand. “You mean with the charms you sell at the carnival?”
“No. With my hands.” She held her hands out in front of her, palms up. “I can lay my hands on a wound, and if I concentrate hard enough, the wound becomes my own. The person I lay hands on is healed.”
“The wound becomes your own?”
“Yes. For a time. It isn’t a physical wound you can see, nothing quite so dramatic, but I can feel the pain.” She flinched inwardly remembering the pain she endured the last time she healed someone. A long time ago. “My body then heals the wound. Very quickly.”
Garner nodded, as if what she told him fell perfectly into place like the missing piece to a puzzle. “That’s why Andrei thought you could do something for Valonia. He thought you could heal her. But if you had, and you’d absorbed her wound, wouldn’t you have died?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t really know. I haven’t tried to heal more than shallow cuts and bruises. I don’t know if I would be able to heal anything more serious. And I don’t know what would happen to me if I did.”
He nodded. Reaching out, he ran a finger over the palm of her hand. “You’re even stronger than I thought. You have a very powerful gift. A powerful purpose.”
Yes. Maybe she did. But only if she could learn to use it. If she could learn not to be afraid of it. If she could believe in herself the way Garner believed in her. She laid her hand on his chest again, feeling the steady beat under her palm. “I wish I was strong enough to heal the pain in your heart.”
“If I had a fraction of the strength and vitality and love of life that you have, I could heal myself.” Tiny lines framed his mouth, and the sadness in his eyes was almost more than she could bear. “But I don’t have any strength left, Sabina. And I don’t want to hurt you. I couldn’t live with hur
ting you.”
GARNER LAY AWAKE, staring at the ceiling of the bedroom he’d slept in as a kid. His heart ached. He’d known Sabina such a short time, but he didn’t need to know anything more about her to know he loved her. Loved her with all his heart and soul. Pushing her away tore him up inside. But if he let himself love her, marry her and cherish her the way she deserved, and then he lost her…
He rolled to his side and thumped his pillow with a fist. After they turned the evidence over to Leon tomorrow and mailed the other copies to Carlo’s attorney, the attorney general, the governor, the Les Baux Record and the Times-Picayune, he would turn his father’s house over to a Realtor to handle and say goodbye to Sabina for the last time. He would return to St. Louis. And she would travel to the next town with the carnival. And then they would both be safe.
The creak of his bedroom door interrupted his thoughts. He jolted to a sitting position, squinting through the shadows, every muscle tense, ready to fight.
The door swung open, and Sabina slipped inside. Still in her Gypsy skirt and blouse, she glowed like an emerald in the moonlight falling through the window.
“Sabina.”
She held a finger to her lips. “Please. Don’t say anything. Just hear me out.”
He nodded, his heart beating so loudly he was sure she could hear it, too.
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about you and about me and about what is between us.” She paused, as if searching for the words to go on, the words to describe what couldn’t be described.
Garner sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Sitting on the edge, he said nothing, as he’d promised. He just watched her, soaked her in.
She took a deep breath, as if drawing strength. “I know we don’t have a future. But I also know we can’t waste what we do have. It’s too rare. Too precious.”
Now it was his turn to draw strength. What she said was true. Every word spoke to the longing in his soul. “But—”
She held up a hand, stopping his protest. “I need you, Garner. I need your arms around me.” Even in the moonlight he could see her body tremble. With need. With want.
Just as his own body trembled.
“I don’t want our memories of each other to be filled only with regret, Garner. I want to remember the feel of your skin on mine. Your hands touching me.”
Arousal pulsed inside him like an undeniable force. A need only she could satisfy. Night after night of loneliness stretched in front of him. Nights when he would have nothing more than the memory of her softness, her scent, her loving to pull him through.
“Please, Garner. Don’t throw away what is so good, so rare. Give us something to remember. Give us tonight.”
He stood up and crossed to her. He couldn’t refuse. He couldn’t even think. He didn’t want to. He wanted only one thing. Sabina. Raising his hand, he traced a finger down the silken skin of her cheek.
She peeled the soft, gauzy top over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and her breasts hung free, breath-taking in the moonlight. She lowered her arms and dropped the top to the floor. Her necklace glinted from where it rested just above her breasts.
He reached out a hand, teasing first one nipple and then the other with his fingers until they puckered, hard and ready for the attention of his mouth.
Give us tonight, she’d said.
He’d do his best. For her and for himself. Because after tonight, memories would be all they had.
He lowered his lips to one breast. Littering kisses over the supple mound, he circled her nipple before taking it into his mouth. He suckled and nipped, reveling in the arch of her body and the moan of pleasure from her lips.
She reached her arms around him, trailing her fingers down his back. Goose bumps rose on his skin at her touch. Her hands found the waistband of his briefs and inched the elastic down over his buttocks. The briefs caught on his erection. She followed the waistband with her fingers until her hands were between their bodies. She slipped the stubborn briefs over his hardness and down his legs. Once they were out of the way, she cupped him with her warm hands and stroked his length.
He gasped at the caress of her fingers and the soft tickle of her gauzy skirt on his skin. Abandoning her breasts for a moment, he lowered himself to his knees in front of her. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her skirt, he inched it down over the curve of her hips. He caught her panties in his fingers, as well, pulling them down with the skirt until he exposed the triangle of soft hair nestled between her thighs.
He brought his mouth to her, kissing, caressing until she cried out in need. Until his hunger grew so acute, he feared he couldn’t hold out much longer.
Standing, he led her to the bed and laid her down on it. Leaning over her, he lowered his mouth to kiss her breast.
She pulled him down to her. “Please, Garner. I want you. I need you now.” She wrapped her legs around him and drew him close.
He covered her mouth with a kiss. Expelling a shuddering breath, he eased inside her.
They moved as one, sensation, passion building with each thrust. Until she shattered beneath him. Until he couldn’t hold out anymore and he joined her in release. Until their sweat-slick bodies collapsed together on the sheets.
“Oh, it’s so beautiful.”
He nuzzled the shell of her ear. “What?”
“Our auras are touching and mingling. A kaleidoscope of color. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
He had to agree. As ridiculous as it sounded, he was sure nothing this dazzling, this earthshaking, had ever happened before. Not to anyone. And certainly not to him. He felt infused by color. Alive with color.
Without pulling away, he raised himself on his elbows and peered into her lovely face. “Yes. It was beautiful.”
“Did you see it?”
“I can see it in your eyes.”
They made love throughout the night, until they were both so exhausted, all they wanted was to sleep in each other’s arms. And after Sabina drifted off to sleep, Garner stayed awake, still nestled in her warmth. Still part of her. Until the sun inched its way over the horizon and its rays glowed through the dusty windows. He couldn’t let go, couldn’t give her up. Because once he did, she would be gone forever. Once he did, all that he would have would be memories.
Chapter Six
“I know who you’re looking for, and I know where he is.”
Sabina narrowed her eyes on Florica Vasilli. She and Garner had been waiting at the carnival office for Leon Thibault to arrive for more than twenty minutes, and despite his promises to show, he was nowhere in sight. “Where is he, Florica?”
“He went to the fun house. The fun house. The fun, fun, fun house.” The girl swayed back and forth to the strains of zydeco coming from the office radio as she chanted the words, an ethereal smile curving her lips.
Sabina drew in a deep breath, striving for patience. She’d never been able to figure Florica out. Although the woman was only a few years younger than Sabina, she had the innocence and demeanor of a child. Even her aura was that of a child. A rainbow of color. Unspoiled. Unmarred. And also quite unreadable.
Garner stepped closer to Florica. “The fun house? Why is he in the fun house?”
Florica’s smile grew so wide her entire face was transformed into a mask of mischief. “That’s where I saw him go.” A musical giggle bubbled from her lips.
Garner frowned.
Sabina reached for his hand, lacing her fingers with his.
He looked at her, the bittersweet expression shadowing his eyes a reflection of her soul. Last night had been more than she’d ever dreamed. Ever hoped. Garner was a wonderful lover. Passionate, considerate, just as she knew he would be. But it was the way their auras had touched that still had her senses reeling.
And left her with a hole in her heart.
She pushed away the thought. She couldn’t focus on what it would be like when Garner was gone. This morning he’d told her of his plans to leave immediately foll
owing their meeting with Leon Thibault. She only had a few hours left with him. A few hours to touch his hand, to lace her fingers with his. And she wouldn’t waste it. Not one second.
But she couldn’t concentrate on that now. Now they had to find Leon Thibault.
Sabina narrowed her eyes and gave Florica a gentle but firm smile. Judging from Florica’s mischievous giggle, Sabina wouldn’t be surprised if she’d directed Thibault to the fun house herself as a prank. “We’ll go look for District Attorney Thibault at the fun house, then, Florica. But if we miss him and he comes back to the carnival office, I want you to tell him to stay put. Do you hear me?”
Florica shifted her weight from one foot to another. “Do you hear me?” she mocked in a schoolmarm’s tone, then broke into giggles that looped and danced in the already steamy morning air.
Garner turned to Sabina and shook his head. “Let’s go to the fun house. If we miss him, we’ll track him down ourselves.”
FINGERS TIGHTENING around the ivory handle of his knife, he pushed open the door of the fun house and let himself inside. He’d seen how Sabina had narrowed her eyes at Florica. Just as he’d heard her pressing Florica for information, all the while watching and assessing. Sabina King had powers. Powers he didn’t understand. Powers that frightened him.
He pulled the blade from its sheath and ran his thumb across the edge. Razor sharp and ready. Just as he always kept it. He’d tried to warn Sabina away from digging where she didn’t belong. God knows he’d tried. Just as he’d warned her sister and Wyatt Boudreaux. Just as he’d tried to warn the old woman.
Guilt plunged into his heart.
He hadn’t planned to kill the old woman. That had been unfortunate. But it couldn’t be helped. She’d put it all together. She was going to tell.
And he couldn’t let her tell.
She’d tried to get away from him, knocking over a table in her haste, scattering candles and velvet across the rugs. He’d had no choice but to grab her, to pound her head against the table’s steel edge until her life slipped away. Just as he’d had no choice when he’d tried to kill Alessandra and Wyatt with the fire and tried to run down Wyatt Boudreaux with the rental car.
Gypsy Magic Page 13
