CHAPTER 11

He was just finishing dressing in his familiar buckskin pants and white shirt when there was a knock on his bedchamber door. Mrs. Hawkins and an unidentified man were waiting on the other side.

"Mr. Sully, this is Dr. Harrison, the hotel doctor. He just examined Dr. Quinn. You asked to speak with him."

Dr. Harrison reached out and shook hands with Sully before answering his unspoken questions. "Sir, I have examined Dr. Quinn and am pleased to report that she will be fine after a couple of day's rest. There do not seem to be any lasting effects from her terrible ordeal."

Sully looked slightly relieved but asked, "Did you treat the rope burns on her wrists, and what about the bruise on her cheek? I'm also still worried about how long she was in the river."

"No, sir. Dr. Quinn had already had Mrs. Hawkins rub salve on her wrists. I believe it was something she had in her medical bag. The bruise should fade in several days. Other than her being chilled from her unfortunate plunge in the water, there is nothing to be concerned about. However, please have the hotel contact me should she develop any unforeseen malady."

Sully thanked the doctor and the housekeeper for their assistance and ushered them out the main suite door.

He needed to see Michaela and assure himself of her recovery.

He knocked lightly on her bedchamber door and quietly cracked it open in case she was sleeping. He peeked around the door and saw her reclining in bed against several feather pillows. Looking up, she saw his worried expression and smiled as she invited him into the room.

"Sully! Please come in. There is so much I want to ask you."

"Are ya sure you're up to havin' company? I can come back later. Ya need ta rest, accordin' ta Dr. Harrison."

She motioned for him to sit down on the small tufted slipper chair next to her bed. "Please. I'm too restless to sleep. Besides, I want to thank you for once again coming to my aid."

He pulled the chair closer to the edge of the bed and sat down as he reached to clasp both of her hands. His fingers gently caressed the angry burns left from the tight restraints. "Michaela, there is no need to thank me for anything. I'm jus' thankful you're gonna be alright. Don't you know I would give my life without hesitation for yours?"

He looked straight into her tear-filled eyes and noted a rosy blush. The pinkish bloom made the bruise on her cheek even more visible, and he noticed a slight cut at the corner of her luscious mouth. He raised his hand and touched the small wound with the tip of his index finger. "Did one of those ruffians hit you? Was it Will-or whatever his real name was?"

"It's nothing really. He didn't like my answers to his questions and tried to intimidate me into telling him everything I knew about you."

"Me? What was he askin' you?"

"He wanted to know where you were born and why you were in New York. His questions didn't make sense. It was like he knew you but wasn't sure. Sully, is…was he really your brother?" She tentatively asked the question, as she did not want to cause him further hurt.

"Don't know…may never know. He said we had the same pa. If that's the truth, then I'm sure my ma never knew. If she'd known, she'd a left my pa. I don't remember him so I don't know if what Will said was true...that my pa had blue eyes. He was right about my ma though. After I was born, she got real sad and never got any better. My brother once told me she even got worse after pa died. Then he was killed, and ma jus' couldn't live no more. She jumped into the river one day and drowned herself. I was ten and saw her do it. Michaela, I couldn't save her, and I regret it to this day. But I had to save you. I've lost too many people I lo…care about. I wasn't gonna lose you, too," he finished, his voice cracking with emotion as his eyes filled with tears.

She leaned forward, placed her hand against the side of his jaw, and wiped a lone tear as it spilled from his vivid blue eyes. "You did save me, Sully, and you're there for the children and me every day. I'm just so sorry this trip to New York been so difficult for you. Having to rescue me, and having Will dredge up painful memories…oh, my heart breaks for what you have been through."

"I don't care about Will or Padric…whatever his name was. I do hate that my real brother's name has been tarnished. He surely didn't deserve that. As far as me rescuin' you, I would do it all over again without a thought."

He leaned forward, and her hand moved from his face to grasp his arm. Her other hand reached as if to draw him closer. Then, as if he could no longer prevent himself from embracing her, he rose from the chair and perched on the edge of the bed. When she made no objection, he took her willing frame into his arms and leaned in to tenderly kiss her lips. He could feel her wildly beating heart as he pressed her back against the bed pillows. She made no move to stop him and, emboldened by her acquiescence, he moved his hands around her small waist and hips and then passionately deepened the kiss. She mewled softly in the back of her throat, and the sensual whimper aroused him even further. His tongue pushed past her lips as his hands continued exploring her body. He finally wrenched his mouth from her swollen lips to trail nibbling kisses down the column of silken skin on her throat. The knuckles of one hand brushed against the rigid nipple of her firm breast as he moved to open the pearl buttons of her white lawn nightgown. Her fingers raked the muscles of his back, and he could feel her nails through the thin material of his cotton shirt.

Suddenly he jerked backwards, his breathing labored, his blue eyes still dark with desire. "Michaela! I gotta stop. We gotta stop. I'm sorry. I shouldn't…shouldn't of…please forgive me!" He turned as if to rise from the bed when she reached and clutched him by the sleeve of his shirt. "Sully! Please don't go. There's nothing to forgive. I wanted to feel our closeness as much as you did." She let go of his shirt and sagged backwards in the bed.

"Sit with me…stay with me…just until I go to sleep. I don't want to be alone."

There was no denying her anything so he moved as if to settle back in the little chair by her bed. She glanced up at him and spoke in a hesitant murmur. "Sully? Would you just hold me? Please? For a little while."

He looked into her eyes so as to ascertain for himself that she really understood the significance of what she was requesting. Seeing only innocent sincerity and hope radiating from those sparkling bi-colored eyes, he sat down on the bed and leaned against the wooden headboard. She turned and lay back in his waiting arms and then rested her head against his shoulder, tucked underneath his chin. He felt her sigh and glanced down in time to see her long eyelashes fan downwards as she drifted off in a restful sleep.

Sully cradled her warm body for hours, as he tried desperately to keep his own traitorous body under control. He didn't sleep, and his thoughts turned to the earlier conversation he'd had with Mr. Watkins. He was correct. A man could spend his whole life looking for a woman like Michaela.

Now that he'd found her, he never intended to let her go…