Love Me Before Dawn
Page 23
“Merry Christmas,” he whispered, tracing the outline of her lips.
“It is, isn’t it?” And then her eyes widened. “You had to go shopping!” she gasped, sitting up.
He gave her a lazy smile. “I went without you. You looked so damn tired that I didn’t have the heart to wake you, Tess. I just put a comforter around you and let you sleep.” He pushed himself into a sitting position. His hair was mussed, giving him a boyish look. Tess reached out, smoothing several strands off his forehead.
“I’m sorry, Shep. You’ve got to admit the past few days have been stressful.”
“You’ll get no argument out of me, lady. Do you remember me carrying you in here or undressing you?”
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Her blue eyes twinkled. “No. God, I must have been dead to the world,” she laughed. She started to slip out of bed. Shep caught her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“I thought I’d make you some breakfast and then serve it to you in bed. Sort of a celebration for successfully flying the B-1 yesterday.”
He grinned, pulling her back into his arms and kissing her soundly. “We have another reason for celebration,” he murmured, taking the green velvet box off the nightstand and placing it in her hand. “Merry Christmas, honey.”
Tess felt the smoothness of the velvet against her palm and gave Shep an awed look. Tears gathered in her eyes as she glanced at him and then back at the box. Her hand trembled.
“Is—is this what you went shopping for last night?” she asked quietly, fingering the box gently.
“Yes. Actually, I ordered it a few weeks ago. All I had to do was find time to go pick it up.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “Go ahead, open it.”
Her heart pounded in her breast as she opened the lid. A small gasp escaped her. She had seen many diamond rings, but none like the one she now held. It had a rose-colored hue to its sparkling depths. “It’s lovely!” she breathed, holding it up to the light. No matter which way she turned it, the pale pink color gleamed from the depths of the gem.
Shep watched her with interest, a smile lingering deep in his gray eyes. He took the ring out of the box and picked up her left hand. “It’s an engagement ring,” he explained.
She gave a small laugh, watching as the ring slipped easily onto her finger. “The color, though…it’s so unique. So beautiful! I’ve never seen a diamond quite like this.”
“One in a million,” he said, “like you.” He continued to hold her hand, watching her with a tender expression in his face. “I noticed that you wore pink or rose colors when you weren’t at the office. And your Irish shawl has that color running through it. There were three things that struck me that first night I met you, honey. First, your beautiful face, then that old-fashioned dress you wore, and finally the Irish shawl. You were a Victorian lady stepping into the twentieth century in your lace and ivory. The shawl’s color enhanced your auburn hair and flushed cheeks, making you look like an incredible creature from the past gracing that party.” He stroked her head, his fingers trailing through the strands of her hair. “I want you for my wife, Tess,” he said huskily, searching her tearstained face. “Be my best friend and my partner and share my life with me.”
A sob caught in her throat as Tess threw herself into his waiting arms. Shep held her in the gathering silence, their hearts beating in unison. “Whether I wanted to admit it or not, Shep,” Tess murmured, “I’ve been yours since the first night we met. And looking back over the past year, I can see how much I’ve matured. I wanted you but I didn’t understand my own emotions.” Running her fingertips along the tightly muscled curve of his arm and shoulder she said, “I’ve always loved you. Always.”
Shep buried his head in the rich folds of her luxuriant auburn hair, inhaling her sweet scent. “You’ve always been mine,” he growled. “And now we have the rest of our lives to keep discovering one another.” He gave her a pat on the rear, holding her at arm’s length. His gray eyes were curiously bright as he gazed into her upturned face. “I love you, Irish princess, and I’m going to take the rest of my life to show you how much. Come on, I’ll help you make breakfast. I’m starved.”
Tess smiled brokenly, dashing away the telltale tears streaking down her cheek. “We’re going to make a great team, you and I.”
He helped her from the bed, holding her within his arms. “The greatest,” he agreed huskily, seeking her lips and finding them. In the warm quietness of the room, the sunlight filtered through the green drapes, casting muted shadows upon the floor and bed. Somewhere outside the window a meadowlark began his melodic song, announcing the beginning of a new day, a new life.
Black Hawk pilot Sarah Benson is known for her risky flights to save lives and SEAL Ethan Quinn is just one more mission. But when she needs rescuing, it’s Ethan who infiltrates enemy territory, and her heart. Read on for a sneak peek of RISK TAKER by Lindsay McKenna, available February 2013 from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
Sarah sat with Ethan, watching him gulp down his meal as if he were starved. She forced herself to eat because she knew it was going to be a long day. When he finally slowed down, she narrowed her eyes and held his gaze.
“You’ve been writing those poems and putting them under my tent flap. Haven’t you?” Her heart thudded because if she was wrong, she would feel foolish. Ethan stared at her as if stunned. And then a ruddy flush rose up his neck and swept across his face. For once, he was speechless.
“How did you know?”
“I was awake the first time you pulled the tent flap open to put the envelope inside it,” she said, still tense, unsure of why he was writing such beautiful poetry to her.
“Oh…”
He looked so crestfallen. “What? You’re a SEAL and you got caught in stealth mode?” A grin nudged at one corner of her mouth.
“I thought…I knew it was a risk. I was running late.…I had wanted to finish the poem and get the first stanza to you, but things went haywire at the HQ. I had to drop what I was doing and attend to other things. I didn’t get back to it until after dawn.” Ethan shook his head and gave her an apologetic look. “I meant it as a surprise. Something I hoped would make you happy after getting the crap beat out of you by that Army sergeant. I didn’t want you to think all men were like that guy who attacked you.”
Her heart warmed. This time, Sarah allowed it to fully embrace her. “Is that why you wrote me the poem?”
Ethan pushed his tray aside, then folded his hands, never more serious. “I’ve always been attracted to you, Sarah. I wanted to get to know you, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t want to hit on you like every other guy was doing. I knew you hated it, and I don’t blame you. And just getting to hold you…carry you…to the E.R., I went crazy trying to figure out a nonthreatening way to reach you.”
“Then why didn’t you sign your name? It was a good thing I saw you, Ethan. I would have, for sure, thought it was the pilots in my squadron playing another dirty trick on me.”
“I didn’t think—”
“You didn’t know what I’ve been up against in the squadron…the tricks…”
“I’m sorry, Sarah.” Ethan searched her eyes. “Do…you like the poem so far? Or do you want me to stop sending them to you?”
Sarah had never seen a man be as vulnerable as Ethan was being with her right now. She knew he was unguarded, no game face, but authentic and honest. “I loved the poem, Ethan. I love receiving them. They’re like new life being breathed into me when I read the lines.” She quirked her mouth and looked away, a war raging inside her. “I so wanted to believe you. I knew you were writing about how you saw me. And—” she swallowed, her voice hoarse “—I loved how you saw me because that’s not the way I see myself.…”
Don’t miss RISK TAKER by Lindsay McKenna, available February 2013 from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
Copyright © 2014 by Lindsay McKenna
Trained to kill, but built for love…
From New
York Times bestselling author
LINDSAY McKENNA
Captain Morgan Boland is at the top of her game, as is navy SEAL Jake Ramsay, her former lover. Then a military computer selects them to partner in a special op. The mission can’t be compromised by their personal history—and they have truckloads of it.
But the Afghan assignment might provide the discipline they need to finally get it together—outside the bedroom, that is. A lot has happened over the two years since they last went their separate ways. And there’s way more to Morgan than Jake has ever given her credit for….
Available now!
www.LindsayMcKenna.com
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ISBN: 978-1-4603-1784-6
Love Me Before Dawn
Copyright © 1984 by Eileen Nauman
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^Morgan’s Mercenaries
@Black Jaguar Squadron
*Warriors for the Light