by Joss Ware
“It’ll be easier to say what I have to say if I don’t have you in my arms, or on my lips,” he said with a wry smile.
Her belly dropped. Her heart began to pound. “Not again.”
“What?”
“You and your ‘we need to talk, I need to ask you a serious question’ shit again.” She knew her words were caustic, but with her belly churning like that, she couldn’t help it.
But Quent didn’t seem to care. His wry smile turned to a softer one. “That’s my Zoë. Always bloody calling it like it is.”
“Whatever.” She crossed her arms over her belly. Then she crossed her legs. And pulled her knees up close to her. “Well. Spit it out.”
“I really want to make love to you,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “So what else is new? What’s stopping you? Although it is a bit dirty, and I think that’s rat shit over there. Or worse.”
“I…well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the last few times we’ve been together, we haven’t actually done coitus.”
“What the hell?” She frowned and rolled her eyes. Why in the hell did he feel the need to dissect this? “Yes, we have. When I sneaked in on you.”
“Right. Well, that’s because you took me by surprise.”
“Okay, so, yeah, I did notice. I noticed you haven’t wanted to fuck since Marley appeared.” There. She’d said it. Her deepest, biggest fear.
Besides losing him.
But if her fear was right, she was losing him anyway.
“It has nothing to do with Marley,” Quent said sharply. “It’s me. I don’t want to get you pregnant.”
Well, there we have it, all fucking naked and laid out for all to see.
He spoke quickly. “And can we call it making love instead of fucking?” He jammed a hand into his hair, clearly frustrated. “What I mean to say is, there’s nothing that would make me happier than to get you pregnant…if I knew you’d stay with me. If you didn’t run off all the time. Zoë.” His voice dropped and he reached for her hands. “Please put me out of my misery. Either stay with me, or…”
“Or what?” she asked in a challenging voice, but her heart had begun to lift.
“Or…stay with me. I need you.”
She looked down at their hands, remembering all the times she’d held his fingers, stabilizing him while he ventured into the dark pit. And knowing that he did the same for her. She opened her mouth to answer, but he spoke again.
“I’ve never told anyone I loved them. Ever. In my whole life—”
“Not even your mother?” Zoë couldn’t imagine it. She’d told her naanaa she loved her every single day. And Papi nearly as often.
“No one. Which is why I’m not very good at it. But…” His fingers tightened around hers and she looked at him. “I love you. I’ve never wanted to say it to anyone. But…I love you. I don’t want to live without you in my life. You make me feel like I can live in this world, like I have a place. A home. But, Zoë, I can’t handle you leaving me all the time.”
She tightened her grip on his hand. “I love you, too, Quent. And I’ll stay with you, if you’ll stay with me. At my hideaway. Sometimes.”
“Any time you want,” he said. “It can be our vacation home.” He laughed and she wasn’t certain why it was a joke, but she smiled back, warmth and pure delight rushing through her to settle comfortably in that empty spot in her belly.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a family. I’d like to have one again. With you,” she said. “But…I don’t think I can give up hunting gangas.”
“I thought we made a pretty damn good team,” he told her. “We can do it together.”
At that moment, she realized that her purpose in life hadn’t ended, and that there was a reason she’d lived through that horrible night her family died. It hadn’t been to avenge her family’s death by killing Raul Marck. Her real purpose was to be the lifeline, the partner of this man—this strong, yet vulnerable, damaged and brave man who had a double-edged ability that could save mankind.
There was no one else who could do what he could, and he needed her to strengthen him. To stand by his side.
Her eyes stung with tears and she felt happier than she could ever remember feeling. And because getting soft like this pissed her off, she pushed the emotion away and took control.
“But I get to be in charge on the hunts,” she said. “And you have to teach me how to drive those trucks. And how to make those damn bombs.”
“I promise.” He leaned forward and tugged her into his lap, his hands already moving over her breasts. “So, now can we have real ‘thank God we escaped with our lives’ sex?”
“Damn straight,” she said. “But let’s call it making love.”
And, heedless of the rat shit and skittering rodents, she climbed onto his lap and pulled him close for the kiss of a long promise.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Once again, I find there are many people to thank for their support for this book and for the series as a whole.
As always, thanks to my agent, Marcy Posner, and my editor, Erika Tsang, for believing in this series and helping me to get it off the ground. Also, much appreciation to everyone at Avon and HarperCollins, especially Amanda and Christine, for everything you do on behalf of these books. You make a great team!
My deepest gratitude to Gaylene and everyone at NBPR for their support and creativity in promoting this series.
Thanks to Dennis Cruz for introducing me to canela tea, and to Dennis Galloway and Scott Turner for continuing to brainstorm with me. And also to Lara Adrian, for taking the time to read Quent’s story, and for her great endorsement.
Hugs to Tammy and Holli for being my stalwart critique partners, and to Jana DeLeon for being an early reader as well. Also to Kristina Cook for doing an early read and helping to spread the word. As always, big thanks to my mom, and also to my mentor, Robyn Carr, for their unfailing support and advice on all fronts.
Lots of hugs and kisses to Kelly Young, for always listening and being the wise woman when I need you.
And, of course, much love to my husband and children—thank you for understanding when the deadlines loom, and for ignoring the piles of laundry and neglected housework when things get down to the wire. I couldn’t do it without you!
About the Author
JOSS WARE has a degree in English and an MBA from the University of Michigan. After more than fifteen years in sales and marketing, she owned her own business and worked in a variety of roles for two startup companies. She’s traveled to London, Paris, and Tahiti, and currently resides with her family near Ann Arbor, where she writes full-time.
Joss loves to hear from her readers, and encourages them to visit her website for updates and sneak peeks of future Envy books.
www.joss-ware.com
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Romances by Joss Ware
ABANDON THE NIGHT
EMBRACE THE NIGHT ETERNAL
BEYOND THE NIGHT
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ABANDON THE NIGHT. Copyright © 2010 by Joss Ware. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © January 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-198124-1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com