But his cockiness eased her panic, and that was such a gift. It made her able to at least think rationally. She would take all the positive vibes she could get right now.
He held up a nylon harness that was hooked to the steel cord attached to his truck. "If the tree goes over, this will keep you from going over."
She wiped the rain out of her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"We still have to get you over the tree, and I don't want you climbing it unprotected. Never thought I'd actually be using this stuff. I had it just out of habit." He dropped the harness over her head and began strapping her in with efficient, confident movements. His hands brushed her breasts as he buckled her in, but he didn't seem to notice.
She sure did.
It was the first time a man's hands had touched her breasts in about fifteen years, and it was an unexpected jolt. Something tightened in her belly. Desire? Attraction? An awareness of the fact she was a woman? Dear God, what was wrong with her? She didn't have time for that. Not tonight, and not in her life. But she couldn't take her gaze off his strong jaw and dark eyes as he focused intently on the harness he was strapping around her.
"I'm taking you across to my truck," he said, "and then we're going to get your daughter and the others."
"We are?" She couldn't stop the sudden flood of tears. "You're going to help me get them?"
He nodded as he snapped the final buckle. "Yeah. I gotta get into heaven somehow, and this might do it."
"Thank you!" She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around him, clinging to her savior. She had no idea who he was, but he'd just successfully navigated a sheer mud cliff for her and her daughter, and she would so take that gift right now.
For an instant, he froze, and she felt his hard body start to pull away. Then suddenly, in a shift so subtle she didn't even see it happen, his body relaxed and his arms went around her, locking her down in an embrace so powerful she felt like the world had just stopped. She felt like the rain had ceased and the wind had quieted, buffeted aside by the strength and power of his body.
"It's going to be okay." His voice was low and reassuring in her ear, his lips brushing against her as he spoke. "She's going to be fine."
Crushed against this stranger's body, protected by his arms, soothed by the utter confidence in his voice, the terror that had been stalking her finally eased away. "Thank you," she whispered.
"You're welcome."
There was a hint of emotion in his voice, and she pulled back far enough to look at him. His eyes were dark, so dark she couldn't tell if they were brown or black, but she could see the torment in his expression. His jaw was angular, and his face was shadowed by the floodlights. He was a man with weight in his heart. She felt it right away. Instinctively, she laid a hand on his cheek. "You're a gift."
He flashed another smile, and for a split second, he put his hand over hers, holding it to his whiskered cheek as if she were some angel of mercy come to give him relief. Her throat thickened, and for a moment, everything else vanished. It was just them, drenched and cold on a windy mountain road, the only warmth was their hands, clasped together against his cheek.
His eyes darkened, then he cleared his throat suddenly and released her hand, jerking her back to the present. "Wait until you see whether I can pull it off," he said, his voice low and rough, sending chills of awareness rippling down her spine. "Then you can reevaluate that compliment." He tugged on the harness. "Ready?"
She gripped the cold nylon, suddenly nervous. Was she edgy because she was about to climb over a tree that could careen into the gully while she was on it, or was it due to intensity of the sudden heat between them? God, she hoped it was the first one. Being a wimp was so much less dangerous than noticing a man like him. "Aren't you wearing one?"
He quirked a smile at her, a jaunty grin that melted one more piece of her thundering heart. "I only have one, and ladies always get first dibs. Besides, I'm a good climber. If the tree takes me over, I'll find my way back up. Always do." He set his foot on a lower branch and patted his knee. "A one-of-a-kind step ladder. Hop up, Ms.—?" He paused, leaving the question hovering in the storm.
"Clare." She set her muddy boot on his knee, and she grimaced apologetically when the mud glopped all over his jeans. "Clare Gray." She grabbed a branch and looked at him. "And you are?"
"Griffin Friesé." He set his hand on her hip to steady her, his grip strong and solid. "Let's go save some kids, shall we?"
Buy No Knight Needed at Amazon
Select List of Other Books by Stephanie Rowe
(For a complete book list, please visit www.stephanierowe.com)
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
The NightHunter Series
Not Quite Dead
The Order of the Blade Series
Darkness Awakened
Darkness Seduced
Darkness Surrendered
Forever in Darkness (Novella)
Darkness Reborn
Darkness Arisen
Darkness Unleashed
Inferno of Darkness
Darkness Possessed
Hunt the Darkness (Coming Soon!)
The Soulfire Series
Kiss at Your Own Risk
Touch if You Dare
Hold Me if You Can
The Immortally Sexy Series
Date Me Baby, One More Time
Must Love Dragons
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Hot
Sex & the Immortal Bad Boy
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
The Alaska Heat Series
Ice
Chill
Ghost
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Ever After Series
No Knight Needed
Fairytale Not Required
Prince Charming Can Wait
The Knight Who Brought Chocolate (Coming Soon!)
Stand Alone Novels
Jingle This!
NONFICTION
The Feel Good Life
FOR TEENS
A Girlfriend's Guide to Boys Series
Putting Boys on the Ledge
Studying Boys
Who Needs Boys?
Smart Boys & Fast Girls
Stand Alone Novels
The Fake Boyfriend Experiment
FOR PRE-TEENS
The Forgotten Series
Penelope Moonswoggle, The Girl Who Could Not Ride a Dragon
Penelope Moonswoggle & the Accidental Doppelganger
Release Date TBD
Collections
Box Sets
Alpha Immortals
Last Hero Standing
Stephanie Rowe Bio
Four-time RITA® Award nominee and Golden Heart® Award winner Stephanie Rowe is a nationally bestselling author, and has more than twenty-five contracted titles with major New York publishers such as Grand Central, HarperCollins, Dorchester and Harlequin, and more than fifteen indie books. She believes in writing stories where characters survive against all odds, fighting their way through to personal triumph, while discovering true love and sensual, hot passion along the way.
Stephanie is an award-winning and bestselling author of adult paranormal romance, and has charmed reviewers, receiving coveted starred reviews from Booklist for several of her paranormal romances. Publishers Weekly has also praised her work, calling her work "[a] genre-twister that will make readers...rabid for more."
In addition to her vibrant paranormal romance career, Stephanie also writes a thrilling romantic suspense series set in Alaska. Publisher's Weekly praised the series debut, ICE, as a "thrilling entry into romantic suspense," and Fresh Fiction called ICE an "edgy, sexy and gripping thriller." Equally as intense and sexy are Stephanie's contemporary romance novels, set in the fictional town of Birch Crossing, Maine.
Stephanie is a full-time author who has been an avid reader since she was a kid (she even won the blue ribbon at her town library for reading the most books over the summer). She wrote her first book when she was ten, but abandoned
that fledgling career when people started asking to read it. Fortunately, she now delights in people reading her work, and loves to hear from readers. With more than fifty completed novels to her name, Stephanie is well on her way to fulfilling the dream that started so long ago. Some of her favorite authors are Lisa Kleypas, Dick Francis, and Julie Garwood, but the list goes on and on.
In her spare time, Stephanie loves to play tennis, take her rescue dog for walks in the woods, and to make up stories about the people she sees on the street with her daughter. Yes, the author's imagination is always at work.
Want to learn more? Visit Stephanie online at one of the following hot spots:
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Not Quite Dead (A NightHunter Novel) Page 35