Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (13 page)

“
That is beautiful
,
Amira.
”

The rabbit ran away at the new voice while
S
hadow jumped to his feet.  The only one that did not seem surprised to see him was
Amira
.

“Down
,
Shadow.”

“Good
evening
,
Dragan.”

“Good evening.
”
 

Stepping into the tiny glade, Amira felt h
im
completely overpower
ing
the space.

“
What is it that you are doing out here
?
  It will be dark soon
.
”

“Yes
,
it will be soon but not yet.  I am r
eading
aloud
some of my wor
k.  It sounds better out here.
”  Standing to her feet
,
Amira
felt the blood rush
to her head
,
and
she
became unsteady.
  Today
had not been
a good day
.
F
eeling
ill
since she woke up, she refused
to give in to her sickness
by staying inside.

Dragan was beside her gently steadying her
body
before
she
could collect herself. 
Laughing
,
she tried to pull away.  “You must tell me how you move so fast.  That would be a
great
skill to have.”

Not releasing her, he stilled. 
Her scent
seemed to wrap around him and
was intoxicating to
his senses
.  Amira c
ould feel him staring down at her.
She actually missed him these past few days while he was at work.
Afraid that he would see
how much he affected her
in her eyes,
she
stared at the pulse beating in his neck.

“Did you need something
,
Dragan?”

Lifting
her chin
,
he scanned her face noting the red cheeks and glazed eyes.

“Are you
not
feeling well
,
Amira?”

“Not really.  I think I need to go home now
before…
.”
 

Unable to complete her sentence
before she fainted
, Dragan caught her
as
she fell.  Lifting her up into his arms, he quickly strode to
the
cottage as Shadow trailed
,
whining with worry.

Pushing the door open with this foot, he crossed the threshold
while his
eyes scann
ed
the room before striding to her bedroom.

Dragan
was grateful she had left a light on as he gently eased her onto t
he bed as if she weighed nothing, then
he
turned to the bathroom for a moist washcloth.

Before he reentered the room
,
he heard her speaking.

“Shadow!  Please tell me that your hunky owner did not carry me and put me to bed?”  Grinning
,
he stepped into the room to see her trying to
sit up
.
  He could not
ever
recall being called a hunk before.

“Amira, you must lay down for a bit.”

Embarrassment
spread across her face.

“Really
,
Dragan, I am fine.”

“Really
,
Amira, I am not asking.”  Sitting on the e
d
ge of her bed, he pushed her shoulders gently forcing her to
l
ean
against the headboard
;
picking up the washcloth
,
he tenderly ran it across her face. 
Amira
hated to admit it but the coolness did make her head feel better.

Dragan
scanned her face worriedly
as she closed her eyes
allowing
him to administer to her.  She
did not
look any better to him.  Her paleness was startling
- s
uch a contrast
from
several days
ago
when he had last seen her.

Taking her wrist between his fingers
,
he checked her pulse.  Heartbeat seemed
weak
. 
Feeling her head, she felt warm to his touch.

“Amira
,
have you eaten anything today.”

“Yes, of course.  You are so kind to stay with me
,
but really, I will be fine.  I just need to rest.  I am sure I will feel better in the morning.”

“I am sure there is no way I could
convince
you to spend the night at the manor?”

“Of course not.”  Smiling up at him
,
her breath caught in her throat.  The man was stunning.

“You know, you are kind of ruining your reputation.”

“I
’m
sorry?”

“Well you try coming off as aloof and untouchable
with that whole private property thing
,
but here you are with me, in my bedroom no less, playing nursemaid.”

Dragan could not figure out if she was trying to be funny or serious.
 
Choosing
to ignore her comment, he
wiped her
forehead
with the washcloth
again
.   After he finished
,
she turned onto her side touching his arm.

“I am teasing you.  I am sorry.”

Standing
,
he turned to walk out of the room
,
and
Amira
felt really bad.

“Drag
a
n!  I was just teasing.”

Smiling from the doorway, he winked.  “I know, I am just getting you some b
lackberry tea and my medical bag
f
rom the car
as I
believe y
ou have a fever
,
Amira.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“Hang on to that thought.”

Amira thought of protesting
but
realizing that he had already left the room,
she
closed her eyes.  She really did not feel well. 

Hearing him return
,
she opened her eyes
watching him s
ilently
as
he took out
a
stethoscope and thermometer from his ba
g
.

“I am probably just getting a cold.”

“Hmm.”

Pressing the stethoscope to her chest, he listened for a few minutes.  The clock ticking in the hallway seemed to echo through the whole house. Still without saying a word, he slid the
thermometer
under her tongue while taking her pulse again.  After waiting a few minutes, he gazed at the mercury frowning. 
Sitting
on the edge of the bed
, he
thought
fully looked at her
while Amira stared up at him.

“Are you always so serious
,
Dragan
?”

“The world is a serious place
,
Amira
.”

“Oh, I don’t know.  There is a secret to all of this you know.”

Dragan stared at her for a moment before sig
h
ing.  He could feel another Amira-ism coming on.  A light smile softened his lips
. “P
lease tell me the secret, I know you want to.”

Laying
her head back, she looked up at the
ceiling
lower
ing
her voice.  “The secret is that you find the rainbow within the cloud.”

“Really?  It is as simple as that
to you
?
”

“Yes
.
”

Dragan was overwhelmed with the feeling of irritation that arose from him at her statement.  “Could you really be that naïve?”

“It’s true!!!”

“Amira, life is not that easy.  Just because you have had it easy doesn’t mean that the rest of the world has.”

Amira leaned back as if struck.  “Is that what you think?  That I have had it
easy?
  Just because I choose to look at life from a different perspective does not mean it has been easy
,
Dr. Reynolds.  I know
what I
know!  Whether you like it or not, I know for a fact that God has put a rainbow in every cloud.  Have you never found yours?”

Dragan’s fingers absently
smoothed the
bed sheet
.
  He was learning quickly with her that whenever she called him Dr. Reynolds, she was getting
angry
.  He was surprised at her reaction to his comment.  Obviously, he had touched a nerve with her
,
and if he were honest,
she had
touched a nerve within him.

“No, I haven’t ….found the rainbow.”

“Then you, my dear,
must
be the rai
nbow in someone else’s cloud.
”
  Cocking her head to one side
,
she smiled weakly. 
“
You
are
a rainbow you know.  Right here, with me.  I am not well, and I am sure you have
bazillion better things
to do
,
but you are staying with me because you think I am sick.”

“No
,
Amira,
I am staying with you because
I
know
that you are sick.  You have a temp of 102
,
and I am trying to figure out what
exactly
to do with you.”

Amira was shocked her
temperature
was so high.  Dragan saw the worry in her eyes. 
“Amira, is t
here something
more
going on that
you are not telling?”

Shaking her head, she felt guilty at the blatant lie.

“Look, I am going to finish making your tea, then run home and pick up a few things and will come back to check on you.”

“You really don’t need to
, Dragan
.”

“I know I don’t, but I want
to.”

Amira’s face flushed as he continued to look at her.

“Stop looking at me that way.”

“What way?”

“I don’t know, like you are trying to get in my head or something.”

Her comment made him smile.

“That’s because I am.”  Bending over he kissed her softly on the lips
,
then with a sharp command to Shadow, walked out
l
eaving
her staring after him
with
wide eyes
as the wolf
happily
guarded
over
her.

“Welcome home
,
Dr. Reynolds.”

“Thank you
,
James.”

Dragan hurried through the living room to his office just off the hallway
with James following obediently.

“Is everything ok
ay,
Sir
?
”

“
I stopped over at
Amira
’s on my way home and found that she
is not feeling well.  Would you please ask
the c
hef to pack a basket with some soup and whatever he feels needs to go with it please.”

“Of course, right away.”

“Tell him to keep it to light broth.  She has a
temperature
,
and I am not sure how her
stomach
will
tolerate
something heavy, but the woman needs to have something in her system.”