LeClerc 01 - Autumn Ecstasy by Pamela K Forrest Page B

decide to attack, but it was the only obstacle she could set in his path.
    A large knife lay on the edge of the table, and Linsey’s eyes moved from it to the man and back again. She could use it as a weapon. Maybe, if she were lucky, she could provide herself with some protection. Her hand reached hesitantly toward it.
    “I mean you no harm, Autumn Fire,” he said quietly over his shoulder. “But if the knife makes you feel safer, hold on to it.”
    His back was toward her, and she wondered how he could have known she was reaching for the knife. As he turned, she raised startled eyes to his, and she saw the gentleness in his gaze, a slight smile tugging at the comers of his lips.
    There was no mystery in his knowledge of her actions, only years of learning from his Shawnee friends. Luc could have told her that he had been aware of her every move since she had climbed out of bed. He had heard her wrap the blanket around herself and the quiet sound of her steps as she crossed the room. There had been total silence when she reached the table, and he had remembered the knife at the same instant a slight rustling told him she was reaching for it.
    Linsey grabbed for the knife when he stood abruptly. Her blanket slipped, and she struggled to hold it in place with one hand while keeping the knife pointed at him with the other.
    Luc’s smile was one of gentle amusement. “Forget your nudity in battle,” he advised softly. “There is no place for modesty when the life you are fighting to save is your own.”
    He turned away from the fire, and Linsey gasped, for the moment forgetting her struggles. It had not been her imagination. The flames seemed to flare, brightening the room. If one side of his face had been a thing of rare beauty, this side was flawed.
    “It is only a face, little one. Skin and bone, scars earned in battle. It can not harm you.”
    His voice penetrated her mesmerized stare. As her eyes met his, she found that she wanted to erase his look of understanding. She wanted to apologize for staring so rudely, but not as much as she wanted to turn and run from the cabin so that she never had to see him again.
    “I’m sorry,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
    “For what? For the scars? You were little more than a child when they happened, and I have come to accept them. For staring?” He shrugged lightly. “If I met me walking down a trail, I too would forget the lessons of my mother; I would stare,”
    “Does it hurt?” Linsey cringed mentally when she heard herself ask.
    “Only when I frighten little children.” Luc rubbed the side of his face in question. “It’s been known to frighten some adults, too.”
    “You’re the Bear.” It was a statement.
    “Some call me that. I was named Luc LeClerc. You may call me whichever you wish.”
    “I think always you are a little of both, but sometimes more one than the other.” Linsey stated with perceptive cognition.
    “Each of us is more than one person; we are the echo of many.” He walked to the bed, pushed the furs away and sat down. Leaning back and stretching his big body, Luc sighed. It had been a long day; it would be a while yet before he could find sleep.
    “The bed is big enough for both of us and much warmer than the table.”
    “No!” Linsey’s hold on the knife tightened.
    He shrugged and rolled to his side. The scarred half of his face was in full view, and she averted her eyes from it.
    “How did you find my cabin? Why are you alone? Where is your family?”
    He did not seem as threatening when he was lying down, and Linsey eased the hold on the knife. She snuggled beneath the blanket and became aware of the chill in the air. Pulling her bare feet up beneath her, she told him briefly of her kidnapping and of Kaleb buying her from Jeb and Zeke.
    “He said to tell you he no longer owes you anything.”
    Luc nodded his understanding. “I saved him from the Iroquois. You are the paying of a debt.”
    “I don’t want to