Physically and emotionally damaged by the horrors of her past, no one is more surprised than meek and silent Faith Parsons when she feels compelled to stow away in the van of the taciturn Liege Lord, Lucien ad Toussaint and travel to his House of Guardians in the faraway Southwest. She’s even more surprised when some of the local women see her as the one who will heal the 160 year old wounds that are destroying their way of life.
Lucien, too, is haunted by his past. He has withdrawn from the world around him and lives a reclusive and duty-bound life. He never expected that a tiny Daughter of Man could open the doors to a heart he’s kept closed for so long.
As the attraction between Faith and Lucien grows, the events of both their pasts begin to replay in the present. Must history repeat itself or can their future be changed?
EXCERPT
She was curled into him now just as she’d been curled into him that night when he held her in his arms for the short ride home. Her body had relaxed and her eyes had closed. Her hand was spread over his left pectoral where the skull and tears of his calling marked his chest. He could feel the warmth of that tiny hand all the way to his heart.
How could he have mistaken her for a child? The weight she’d gained had added to the fullness of her hips which only emphasized her tiny waist. With her small rounded bottom and her high firm breasts, she was a woman fully formed. He could blame his earlier assumptions on her emaciated form, but he couldn’t excuse his lack of attention to her face. Those big blue eyes were captivating, but they were not the eyes of an innocent child.
There was a wariness in them that he should have noticed. She would smile and laugh in her silent way, but always, always, her hand would unconsciously move to the light scarring on her cheek and the smile would disappear as if the scars were a reminder that she had no right to happiness.
Marisol, without the physical reminder of scars, had done the same thing. Maybe that was why he’d seen Faith as a child. She reminded him of Marisol.
He pressed his lips to Faith’s forehead and murmured his vow against the smooth skin. “I will not let you fade away as I did my sister. You are mine, little hummingbird and I will prove to you that I can keep you safe.”
