by Donna Young
Kate’s hand dropped to her stomach. The honey-dipped words turned her earlier butterflies into dive-bombers. How could she fight him, when he was all she’d ever wanted?
His gaze rested briefly on her hand before returning to hers with an intensity that probed her soul. “Are you…?”
“Pregnant?” she inserted quietly, following his thoughts. “No,” she said, unable to keep the thread of disappointment from weaving its way through her response. She had wanted his baby. Desperately.
He must have heard the ache. “Ah, sweetheart, you will be soon.” His eyes became hooded, like those of a hawk. “And it will be my pleasure.”
The air around them crackled with sensuality, but she refused to give in to it—even knowing she’d lost. Her heart was his and gave her no other choice.
Only the how and the when were hers to choose.
Tossing her hair back like a true Scottish princess, she said, “I’ll think it over.”
“I mean it, Kate…” Roman started to argue until her simple statement hit him with the impact of a two-by-four. Relief rushed him from toes to throat, forcing its way out in a burst of laughter. “You’d better think fast.”
“No. I’m not going to make it easy for you, Cerberus.” She drawled out his name hauntingly, taking a cautious step backward.
He let the name pass, too pleased to fight over the trivial and took a step forward, stalking her. She took off for the bungalow.
Roman raced after her, the view from behind quickening his desire as well as his stride. She shrieked when he tackled her, even though he cushioned her body with his as they toppled into the soft bed of sand. After rolling her onto her stomach, he lowered himself ever so slowly.
“Seems to me,” he drawled, enjoying the sensation of her bikini-clad derriere as it twitched against his groin, “we’ve been here before.”
Kate stopped struggling, and a soft sigh escaped her lips.
“I love you, Roman.”
The relief made him weak, then humble. For the first time, he could accept the words from her without feeling guilt. And God knew, he wouldn’t have blamed her for not ever saying them.
Dropping her hands, he flipped her over and covered her completely, balancing himself with his arms. “I love you, too, Kate.” He nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent. “You should’ve made me suffer more after what I’ve put you through.” He lay down beside her and drew her into his arms. “But I’m grateful you didn’t.”
“I couldn’t.” Tenderness shadowed her features. “When you suffer, so do I. The pain from that would be far worse than the pain of having you walk away again.”
“Kate, I won’t walk away again. I’ve been fighting my love for you since the day I saw your picture on your parents’ mantel. When Threader shot you, all the feelings for you I’d tried to bury came back to haunt me.” He caressed the soft line of her back.
“I had a lot of time to think about my past while I watched you in that hospital bed. I realized that the one thing I remembered most about my parents was the love they shared. With each other, with me.
“I hated the terrorists for taking my parents’ love away. Uncle Joe had tried in his own way to replace it, but my world was never the same. In the hospital, I finally realized that in making the terrorists pay, they ultimately won. I was giving up my only chance to create what my parents had—the one thing I craved most in the world. Facing life without you, never to feel my child kick inside you or be able to hold your hand while growing old together—” he dropped his forehead to hers “—was more than I could bear.”
If she hadn’t loved him already, she would’ve toppled then. “Me, too.”
“There’s something else you need to know.”
The words had an ominous ring, so she waited, not wanting to ask. Dread filtered through the love that had filled her only moments ago.
“For all intents and purposes, I’ve retired. But there will be times when Cain will need my help out in the field. Times when he’ll only trust me as his backup. On those occasions I won’t be able to turn him down, not if it means covering his back. Do you think you can handle that?”
She threw her arms around his neck, her breath hitching with relief. “I can handle anything, as long as I know you’ll always come back to me.”
The planes of his face softened. “Always, mi amore.” One hand splayed across her stomach, only to stop abruptly when he encountered the soft ridge of scar tissue.
Pulling back, he looked at the marred skin with such intensity it left her cheeks burning with embarrassment.
“I’ll never forget…” His voice trailed off as he took a deep breath. Then gently, almost reverently, he leaned forward and kissed the scar where the bullet had hit her.
“They’re just scars, Roman.” she said, trying to reassure him. She’d wanted to laugh, but then he suckled a cloth-covered nipple, and her bones dissolved into goo. One day she’d tell him how precious that pink line was to her. How it represented a new beginning. But now…now…
“Just scars,” he repeated, the corners of his mouth tilting when he recognized his own words from the mountain. “How, exactly, did you get them?”
“Well, you see,” she whispered, pulling his mouth to hers, “I was playing racquetball…”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-3252-5
BODYGUARD RESCUE
Copyright © 2005 by Donna Young
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
[http://www.eHarlequin.com] www.eHarlequin.com
Table of Contents
Letter to Reader
Dedication
About the Author
Cast of Characters
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Copyright
