Authors: Justine Dare Justine Davis
Fire Hawk (29 page)
Kane nearly dropped the book, and Jenna stifled a cry as Tal’s laughing voice echoed in the room. They both looked around, but they were alone in the cottage. Kane, having been through this before, recovered first.
“You are all right?” he asked. Jenna smiled at him then, as if pleased that had been his first thought, rather than to question how what they had heard was possible.
There was a pause, until Kane began to wonder if the connection was to be that brief. Then, in Tal’s infuriating way, a nonanswer came back.
I am as I have been. But you have things to do.
“Tal—” they both began in irritated unison.
Turn the page,
came his voice again
. And be well, my friends.
Jenna opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked at Kane. He tilted his head slightly, then nodded at her.
“He is gone.” He sighed. “Perhaps forever, now.”
“I will remember and pray for him always,” Jenna said softly. “All of us will.”
Kane felt a tightness in his chest, worry for the man who had for so long been his only friend. “He needs it more than any man I know. Now.”
Jenna smiled, and he knew she had not missed the significance of that last word; once he had needed her prayers more than any man living, and she had given them, and her love freely.
“I love you,” she said suddenly, urgently.
Kane’s mouth softened into the smile only Jenna could get from him.
“And I love you,” he said; it came almost easily now, but never, ever lightly. Never without full knowledge of the wonder of it, the power of it.
It was a moment before he remembered Tal’s words and turned a leaf in the book, to what yesterday had been a blank page. He was not really surprised when it was no longer blank; it had happened before, but when he read the words that had appeared his breath caught. His gaze shot to Jenna, who was looking up at him, her face shining with joy.
“You have built weapons all your life,” she said softly. “Can you now build the one thing that most signifies hope for the future?”
“I . . . what?” he said, feeling a bit stunned by the news he could not doubt.
“A cradle,” Jenna whispered.
He pulled her into his arms. “I know nothing of cradles,” he said against the warm fire of her hair. “I know even less of . . . fathers and children, as they should be. But I will learn, Jenna. I swear to you I will learn.”
“Our son, and his brothers and sisters after him, will be a fortunate child to have such a father,” she said, hugging him back so fiercely he reveled in it.
“And it will happen,” he said in awed wonder. “It will go on, and on. Always.”
“And our love will be the beginning.”
Kane stared down at her, saw the courage and heart and spirit of the woman he held so clearly that he wondered anew at the pure glory of having her love. It was a love so pure and strong it would indeed carry down the years, and in that moment he believed that even the family to come generations from now would feel it.
If you feel it half as strongly as I do now, you will be blessed. She is a woman worthy of founding a dynasty
, he said to himself, wishing he could send the thought down to these unknown children so far down the years.
Then he felt the warmth of the book he still held.
And he knew that he need not worry. For all the generations of Hawks would know of her, and of their heritage. And he knew with a certainty that he could not question that Jenna Hawk, with her fiery hair and fierce heart and courage, would be the pride of them all.
And our love will be the beginning
, she had said.
And there will never be an ending
, Kane promised her silently.
And so he stood there holding the woman who had made his most impossible dreams come true; Kane the Warrior wept, and they were tears of joy.
The End
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About the Author
“Some people call me a writer, some an author, some a novelist. I just say I’m a storyteller.
”
—Justine Dare Davis
Author of more than sixty books, (she sold her first ten in less than two years) Justine Dare Davis is a four-time winner of the coveted RWA RITA Award, and has been inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame. Her books have appeared on national best seller lists, including
USA Today
. She has been featured on CNN, taught at several national and international conferences, and at the UCLA writer’s program.
After years of working in law enforcement, and more years doing both, Justine now writes full time. She lives near beautiful Puget Sound in Washington State, peacefully coexisting with deer, bears, raccoons, a newly arrived covey of quail, a pair of bald eagles, and her beloved ’67 Corvette roadster. When she’s not writing, taking photographs, looking for music to blast in said roadster, or driving said roadster (and yes, it goes very fast), she tends to her knitting. Literally.