Draycott Eternal - Draycott Eternal Part 2
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Draycott Eternal Part 2

Gray barely noticed his tension, too relieved by the assurance that she was finally near her destination. Soon she would be ensconced in one of the lovely old chintz-and flower-filled rooms Kacey had described. There she would be safe from Matt, safe from any and all distractions while she completed the work she"d come here for.

But the man outside the window continued to frown, showing no sign of being finished with his interrogation. "What sort of game are you playing at, woman?"

Gray felt her cheeks redden.Game? Was the fellow mad or just terminally rude?

"I"ve come on an assignment-for Lord Draycott, not that it"s any ofyour business." Suddenly she stiffened. "You can"t be-good heavens, you aren"t Lord Draycott, are you? That is, I expected someone-"

Shorter? Younger? Less imposing?

She didn"t finish, held captive by the intensity of his slate-dark gaze.

"I?Nicholas Draycott?" The man"s dark brows rose as he laughed bitterly. "By God, that"s rich! The woman thinks-"

Suddenly a rustling at his feet called his attention to the ground, where a sleek gray cat pressed against his black-booted ankles.

He seemed to catch back his words, his eyes narrowing.

Gray didn"t mean to give him time for any more questions. "Well, if you"re not Lord Draycott, then I"m wasting my time here. So if you don"t mind-" she gestured at the gravel drive "-I really would like to reach the abbey before the light goes."

The man"s frown grew to a decided scowl. "Mind? Who amI to mind? When amI ever consulted about anything?" Suddenly he bent closer, his eyes scouring her face. "Ah! You must be the artist. American, I believe."

Gray merely glared. "Are you going to move or not?"

The slate eyes glittered. "I believe not-Miss Mackenzie."

Suddenly Gray felt cold-very cold. So what if he knew her name? Why did any of this matter?

But it did. For some reason it mattered intensely. Perhaps it was something about the man"s face, something sad and bitter in the way he laughed...

Enough, Mackenzie. Get out while you still can.

One last question leaped to her lips. "Who are you? What givesyou the right to cross-examine me?"

Did she merely imagine that he stiffened? "I? I am...Adrian. The caretaker, as you would call it."

Gray frowned. Caretaker? He was like no caretakershe"d ever met before. A tiny network of lines radiated from the corner of his eyes, and she had a sudden urge to touch them, smooth them.

"Have I ever-I mean, have we ever-"

Ridiculous! Of course they hadn"t met before.

But how else was she to explain the familiarity of that lean face, her instinctive knowledge of the pain that haunted those wintry eyes? The heat hidden in that stern mouth?

With a gasp, Gray recovered herself. "N-never mind. Of course we haven"t."

Outside the car the man smiled slightly. Draping his arm along the metal roof, he bent closer, his eyes darkening. "If you mean by that obscure bit of gibberish have we met before, the answer is no. But I do have the advantage over you, Miss Mackenzie. Kacey told me you were coming."

It was a lie, of course. The viscount"s bride had said nothing to Adrian Draycott about Gray Mackenzie. But a ghost had ways of hearing nearly everything that happened within his domain, particularly when he was a resident ghost of the guardian variety.

In that sense Adrian supposed his answer about his identity had not been a lie. In his role of guardian he had chanced to overhear Kacey and Nicholas speak about Gray Mackenzie several times before their departure.

But no amount of discussion could have prepared Adrian for the pure beauty of the woman who sat before him now.

Nothing could have captured the glow of her alabaster skin, the fiery sheen of her wild auburn hair.

The wariness that darkened her azure eyes.

And those things made Adrian want to sweep her against him and drive the fear from her eyes.

To kiss her and tease her and coax a laugh from her soft lips.

And then carry her down to the ferns beside the moat and slide deep inside her, filling her with his hard heat until she shuddered and arched in breathless abandon beneath him.

Adrian stiffened. What in the name of heaven was wrong with him? He was aghost. He hadn"t had such raw impulses for years!

Two hundred years, to be exact.

He scowled, trying to fight down the heat that rose insidiously toward the seat of his manhood.

Abstracted, he ran his finger down the rim of the roof, leaving a long trail in the dust atop the car.

But how was it possible? This womansaw him. Sheheard him. And somehow he was beside her in physical form, with fingers that moved and felt and left a visible mark against dusty metal.

He had managed to materialize once or twice before, of course, in times of dire need. He had even appeared to Kacey once, desperate to warn her of the danger that she and Nicholas faced unless they found a way to trust each other.

But never had those appearances been more than temporary, and never had they involved a tangible flesh-and-blood body such as he now possessed. Certainly Adrian had never before felt the intensely physical things he was feeling now.

Yet here he stood, the wind ruffling his long black hair, the sun warming his neck, the metal of this clamorous four-wheeled conveyance cool and smooth against his all-too-real fingers.

In physical flesh-and-blood form, by God! Accomplished without conscious thought or effort of any sort. Damn, but it was unnerving.

Was this another test? Or was it simply a new twist to his ancient duties at the abbey?

He smothered a curse, trying to understand, knowing already that he would not succeed.

Meanwhile the look in the eyes of the woman beside him told Adrian that to her he was onlytoo real, and that the sight made her vastly uncomfortable.

Somehowthat hurt Adrian Draycott most of all.

For at that moment, he felt a stunning need to sweep the fear from those wary azure eyes forever. To see those petal-soft lips curve up in joy and wonder.

Shocked by the force of these unfamiliar emotions, he could only stare down at her pale face, fighting to understand this sudden and intense need to protect her.

Beside him, Gray swallowed. What was happening to her?

The man was handsome, there was no mistaking that. But the sun would soon be setting and, if she dawdled any longer, she would miss the best time for viewing the abbey. "I-I"d really better go."

She tried to look away, but the storm-black eyes continued to hold her. Motionless, the black-clad stranger merely stared back at her.

And the look was pure heat, a beam of summer sun poured through leaden clouds straight into her heart.

Frowning, Gray swept unsteady fingers over her forehead, then clutched the wheel. "I-I"m going to go now. If you don"t want to lose a toe or two, I"d suggest you move back."

She tried to make her voice cool, but all she felt was utterly foolish as she looked down and fumbled with her keys. What in heaven"s name waswrong with her?

In that second, a hard hand reached out to catch her fingers, pulling them from their trembling hold on the steering wheel. His eyes were tense, unreadable. "Don"t go."

Gray"s heart beat wildly. "I b-beg you pardon?"

"To the abbey.Don"t go. " His voice was harsh. "Go back to London instead. And then go back home, Gray Mackenzie. Back to wherever you come from in America."

Gray nearly flinched. "Don"t go?Just like that? After I"ve come ten hours by plane and another five by car?" She felt her cheeks burning. "Not on your life, mister!"

A vein pounded at Adrian"s forehead. "Wretched female! There is danger here, don"t you see?

And somehowyou are involved, though I cannot yet say how. But I bloody well won"t permit my abbey-"

"Yourabbey?" Gray laughed in disbelief. "Funny, I could have sworn that Nicholas Draycott was the abbey"s owner!"

The caretaker"s fingers tightened on hers. His calloused thumb inched across her cold palm, leaving an odd trail of warmth against her skin. His eyes flashed dangerously. "Of course he is.

But Nicholas left me here to...to keep an eye on things, shall we say? In his absence, of course."

Muttering angrily, Gray tried to tug her fingers free but failed. "You take your duties very seriously, don"t you? But then, I"m clearly a dangerous sort, just bristling with evil designs upon the abbey"s treasures."

"You might be more dangerous than you know, Miss Mackenzie." For long seconds the frowning caretaker stared down at their entwined fingers. Abruptly he released her. "Mark me well. If you go farther, know that you do so onmy land." His slate eyes narrowed. "And it will beme to whom you"ll answer then."

Gray glared back at him. "No, I have a much better idea! You stay out ofmy way! My work will keep me quite busy enough as it is. Believe me, the very last thing I need is an ill-mannered, supercilious junior gardener with delusions of grandeur and an advanced case of paranoia poking around while I"m trying to concentrate!"

Without waiting for an answer, Gray wrenched at the gearshift and sent the car plunging forward. Gravel hissed and spun beneath the flying wheels and a moment later, the forest bled away in a blur of green.

But with every second, Gray felt her neck prickle, felt her cheeks flush. Somehow she knew the unblinking slate-gray eyes were following her still.

And she couldn"t help but wonder at her nagging certainty that she"d seen those strange, implacable eyes somewhere before.

HE WATCHED,MOTIONLESSas her car sped down the drive and disappeared over the hill.

Damn and blast, he hadn"t meant to frighten her! In fact, he hadn"t meant to say most of the things he had. He"d only meant to warn her of the danger he felt and then try to find out if she could explain its source.

Hecertainly hadn"t meant to touch the woman.

But he hadn"t been thinking straight at the time.

After all, he hadn"t expected to be knocked speechless by the vision of a wary beauty with a mane of auburn hair and azure eyes. He hadn"t expected to see full crimson lips that trembled slightly at some private fear.

He certainly hadn"t expected to feel this fierce compulsion to protect her. From everything and everyone.

Even from yourself?

Cursing roundly, Adrian turned away from the road. He raised one hand before him, then the other.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, he ran his fingers over his tense forearms, feeling soft wool and hard, bunching muscle beneath.

Frowning, he dragged his booted toe through the rich dark earth, then stared fixedly at the small furrow raised in its wake. "So I really am here. And I haven"t the slightest memory, the slightest clue as to how it came about."

Grim-faced, he raised his head and stared at the spot where the noisy green car had just disappeared. "One minute I"m caught up in dreams and the next I"m thrust down without a hint of warning into dirt and noise and a body I can barely remember how to maneuver. The whole thing is bloody impossible!"

But there were the powerful forearms, the booted legs to prove him wrong. He scowled down at his outstretched palms. "Muscle. Blood. How strange it all feels. How...heavy. And how vast a responsibility..."

A butterfly with azure wings skimmed past, looped around his fingers, then settled onto his calloused palm.

For a moment Adrian Draycott"s face darkened. He stood unmoving, mesmerized by the sight of those frail wings fluttering upon his long, calloused fingers.

Just like her eyes, he thought.

Azure with flecks of gold. Like sunrise on a warm summer sea.

He shook his head abruptly, forcing away that particular memory, feeling a half-forgotten heat rush through his legs and move inexorably upward in a way that was distinctly disconcerting.

And all too human.

But Adrian Draycott was not about to be deterred from his ancient obligations. Not by anyone or anything.

And before the night was over, he was bloody well going to know just what in the blazes was going on here at his abbey!

CHAPTER TWO.

BY THE TIMEGRAY LEFTthe woods and circled up the drive to the gatehouse, her heart had stopped pounding. But her cheeks were still flushed.

Damn the man! Who did he think he was?

Then even he was swept from Gray"s mind as Draycott Abbey"s massive granite walls burst into view before her.

Her first thought as she looked upon the ancient structure was that she was glad she wasn"t psychic. Within such a place there must be many ghosts. Even she, who"d never felt a hint of special intuition, sensed an off prickle at her spine as she stared up at the crenellated roof and mullioned windows.

The granite walls gleamed back at her, bathed with light in the slanting rays of the afternoon sun. Beneath the sheer stone faces, white swans skimmed across a lily-studded moat.

Gray"s breath caught. There was a sense of timelessness to the place, a sense of utter peace that invaded one"s very soul. It was almost as if past and present merged here, then formed a boundless, eternal present.

Oh, right, Mackenzie! Next you"ll be seeing mounted knights jousting for their ladies" honor!