“Be at peace,” Dione Harrison said with a touch of amusement as Kane’s eyes once again sought out Rebecca was dancing with her father. “She is in good hands.”
Satisfied that Rebecca was not in distress, he turned his powerful gaze to Dione’s. It was clear from which parent Rebecca and Aidan had gotten their exotic features. Dione was an incredibly beautiful woman, and Rebecca, except for the brown eyes and honey hair, looked very much like her mother.
“They are very much alike, Rebecca and her father,” Dione continued. “They share the same infinite capacity for caring for others, the same indomitable strength of spirit. And like magnets, two forces so similar sometime repel each other, do they not?”
“They disagree often then?” He should know this, he thought. Not because it would have made any difference in how he felt – because he was more than certain that she had been created as the only woman capable of being his wife – but because it might have helped him anticipate and plan for times such as this. As it was, he’d been every bit as surprised as Rebecca when her parents were suddenly there.
Rebecca had never once intimated that she would have liked to have her parents in attendance. The one and only time anyone had made a reference to them was when Lexi and Aidan had been planning the guest list. Rebecca had quickly and summarily dismissed the invitation; she had received a disappointed look from her brother, but no further discussion ensued.
Aidan certainly hadn’t mentioned a thing about his back-of-the-church epiphany, though Kane wished he had. Kane did not like being surprised. If he had known, he certainly would have persuaded Aidan to postpone the meeting to a less public time and place, or at least ensured that Rebecca was as well prepared and well-insulated as possible.
Tonight he’d been forced to do little more than stand by her side while she dealt with issues on which he had not been fully briefed, and that did not sit well with him at all. Maybe it was because when she looked at him sometimes, he saw more than love. Maybe because she had confided to him once when she thought he was sleeping that she knew nothing would ever hurt her as long as he was around. Because sometimes she looked at him as if he was her knight in shining armor, and God, how he wanted to be that, to see her looking at him like that forever. For whatever reasons, he wanted to do everything he could to protect and to shield her.
Dione laughed at his question; the sound was as musical as Rebecca’s. “Without fail. Rebecca inspires a fierce passion in those she loves. It is in her blood.” Her mother’s eyes glittered then, dark and mysterious, and Kane thought once again about asking Ian if he’d ever delved into the Harrison ancestry – or, more specifically, Dione’s.
Dione’s voice flowed through him, merging with his thoughts. “But then, you are already quite aware of that, are you not?”
“Aye,” he agreed, without thinking, his eyes seeking Rebecca again. The mere sight of her filled him with so many different sensations, urges, and cravings; he was still adjusting to feeling so much at once.
“Her love is her greatest gift, and she loves you above all others. You must remember that.”
There was something intangible in Dione’s voice, something that compelled Kane to focus his attention back to her.
“That sounds like a warning, Mrs. Harrison,” he said carefully.
“My daughter loves you. She wants to make you happy.”
“I wish only to do the same for her. Is that a bad thing?”
“If she feels like she is failing to provide that which you desire, it will destroy her.”
“She loves me, Mrs. Harrison. She has agreed to be my wife. That is more than I could ask for, more than I deserve. I desire nothing else.”
“But you are a possessive man, Kane. She knows this. She worries that you will not look with favor upon those who also crave her love and affection.”
Kane blinked. Did Dione think he would try to keep Rebecca from her family? He looked over again at Rebecca, resting her head on her father’s shoulders, the tranquil little smile that played about her lips, and felt only a surge of love for her, happy in that moment because Rebecca was.