Finding Him

33l Flames

Daniel listened to Hadassah cry beside him, his mind racing for what it was he could do or say to ease her grief. He knew he had failed her when he didn't try to find her after her disappearance but his lack of action had been based on the conversation he heard between her and Leah and while he had been wrong to assume an interpretation of the conversation, the mistake had already been made, he couldn't go back to the past to change it. He could however beg her forgiveness and hope to make things right.

Shifting slightly so his body was pressed against hers, he wrapped his arms around her, her body tensing in his arms. He breathed in the scent of her skin, realizing just how much it was he missed her. Tomorrow, they would be journeying to Rye and soon, she would turn eighteen and they would be allowed to live as man and wife.

“I'm sorry.” He murmured softly against her hair. Feeling her stir in his arms, he slackened his hold on her, making room for her to turn fully to him. Fully expecting her to respond to his words, he was surprised when she kissed him. He was even more surprised when her kiss continued to linger.

Even as he leaned back that evening, ending the kiss, he knew they needed to talk. It seemed to him like Hadassah would much rather be intimate than have a conversation with him, even if only a few hours ago, they had been intimate and she seemed oddly distant. Was he missing something? He desired to regain his ability to see so he could look into his wife's eyes and find the problem. For while he was blind, he could sense there was a problem, he just didn't know what it was.

Shaking his head as she leaned in once more, he pushed himself to a sitting position. “You didn't answer the question when I asked if you were alright.”

He heard her heave a soft breath. “Why would you think I'm not alright?” It was obvious she tried to hide the grief in her voice, but he heard it quite clearly.

He frowned. “You seem eager...” Not knowing how to phrase his next words, he ran his hands through his curls.

“Eager for what?” There was movement on the bed. He assumed she was struggling to a sitting position. When her hand settled on his chest and she kissed him once more, he ended the kiss abruptly.

“Eager to be intimate, rather than tell me what is wrong.” He didn't mean to sound so frustrated but he couldn't help it, he was. He heard her gasp softly beside him and immediately regretted his brashness. He was being inconsiderate, wasn't he? Perhaps he needed to be more understanding of whatever it was she suffered in her uncle's custody. Yet, he couldn't imagine any harm coming her way, Lord Hadley was her uncle, wasn't he? She seemed thinner in his arms, but that seemed to have been the only difference.

He opened his mouth to apologize but Hadassah's hurried movement alerted him that she was climbing out of the bed.

“Forgive me for being eager, Daniel.” Her voice was laced with hurt. “I only assumed you would desire me after so many weeks of being apart” He heard rushed movements, as if she was getting dressed.

“Dasa...” He made to climb out of the bed but Hadassah's retreating footsteps reached him and before he could react, the sound of the door slamming shut, echoed in the room.

Daniel thought to go in search of Hadassah but he knew it would be a foolish decision. He was in an unfamiliar building and trying to find her would do nothing but alert the people in the boarding house of the presence of a blind man and his angry lover. Shaking his head, he leaned back against the head bed and tried to think of what it was he said wrong. It had only been a few hours of their reunion and he had managed to upset her again. Perhaps he was wrong to read anything into her desire to make love. It was natural, wasn't it? They had been apart for several weeks, surely she would desire him.