a blur. Once, they jumped a four-foot hedge, and she felt as if she were flying. Sounds and scents blended together: the chirping of crickets, the bark of a dog, the smell of damp earth and lathered horseflesh, and overall the touch of Gabriel's breath upon her cheek, the steadying strength of his arm around her waist.
Gabriel let the horse run until the animal's sides were heaving and covered with foamy lather, and then he drew back on the reins, gently but firmly, and the stallion slowed, then stopped.
"That was wonderful!" Sara exclaimed.
She turned to face him, and in the bright light of the moon, he saw that her cheeks were flushed, her lips parted, her eyes shining like the sun.
How beautiful she was! His Sara, so full of life. What cruel fate had decreed that she should be bound to a wheelchair? She was a vivacious girl, on the brink of womanhood. She should be clothed in silks and satins, surrounded by gallant young men.
Dismounting, he lifted her from the back of the horse. Carrying her across the damp grass, he sat down on a large boulder, settling her in his lap.
"Thank you, Gabriel," she murmured.
"It was my pleasure, milady."
"Hardly that," she replied with a saucy grin. "I'm sure ladies don't ride pell-mell through the dark astride a big black devil horse."
"No," he said, his gray eyes glinting with amusement, "they don't."
"Have you known many ladies?"
"A few." He stroked her cheek with his forefinger, his touch as light as thistledown.
"And were they accomplished and beautiful?"
Gabriel nodded. "But none so beautiful as you."
She basked in his words, in the silent affirmation she read in his eyes.
"Who are you, Gabriel?" she asked, her voice soft and dreamy. "Are you man or magician?"
"Neither."
"But still my angel?"
"Always, cara."
With a sigh, she rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. How wonderful to sit here in the dark of night with his arms around her. Almost, she could forget that she was crippled. Almost.
She lost all track of time as she sat there, secure in his arms. She heard the chirp of crickets, the sighing of the wind through the trees, the pounding of Gabriel's heart beneath her cheek.
Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the touch of his hand in her hair, and then the brush of his lips.
Abruptly, he stood up. Before she quite knew what was happening, she was on the horse's back and Gabriel was swinging up behind her. He moved with the lithe grace of a cat vaulting a fence.
She sensed a change in him, a tension she didn't understand. A moment later, his arm was locked around her waist and they were riding through the night.
She leaned back against him, braced against the solid wall of his chest. She felt his arm tighten around her, felt his breath on her cheek.
Pleasure surged through her at his touch, and she placed her hand over his forearm, drawing his arm more securely around her, tacitly telling him that she enjoyed his nearness.
She thought she heard a gasp, as if he were in pain, but she shook the notion aside, telling herself it was probably just the wind crying through the trees.
Too soon, they were back at the orphanage.
"You'll come tomorrow?" she asked as he settled her in her bed, covering her as if she were a child.
"Tomorrow," he promised. "Sleep well, cara."
"Dream of me," she murmured.
With a nod, he turned away. Dream of her, he thought. If only he could!
"Where would you like to go tonight?" Gabriel asked the following evening.
"I don't care, so long as it's with you."
Moments later, he was carrying her along a pathway in the park across from the orphanage.
Sara marveled that he held her so effortlessly, that it felt so right to be carried in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder, content. A faint breeze played hide-and-seek with the leaves of the trees. A lovers' moon hung low in the sky. The air was fragrant with night-blooming flowers, but it was Gabriel's scent that rose all around her - warm and musky, reminiscent of aged wine and expensive cologne.
He moved lightly along the pathway, his footsteps making hardly a sound. When they came to a stone bench near a quiet pool, he sat down, placing her on the bench beside him.
It was a lovely place, a fairy place. Elegant ferns, tall and lacy, grew in wild profusion near the pool. In the distance, she heard the questioning hoot