by Lori Foster
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
shelter from the storm
one
two
three
four
take me home
one
two
three
four
razor’s edge
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
midnight rendezvous
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
dime store cowboy
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
life in the past lane
Copyright Notices
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PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation trade paperback edition / June 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The promise of love / Lori Foster . . . [et al.].—Berkley Sensation trade pbk. ed. p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-52902-7
1. Love stories, American. I. Foster, Lori, 1958–
PS648.L6P76 2011
813’.08508—dc22 2011005548
http://us.penguingroup.com
shelter from the storm
LORI FOSTER
one
When the storms woke him, his first thought was of Sabrina. As lightning shattered the darkness of midnight and the growl of thunder set everything trembling, Roy Pilar bolted upright. She’d be ashamed but terrified, thanks to a history of violence so sinister it still gnawed on him, making him want to resurrect the dead just so he could exact some personal vengeance.
Throwing back the sheet and climbing to his feet, Roy felt around on the chair for his boxers. Hopping on one foot and then the other, he pulled them on with haste. He was on his way to the front door when the frantic knock sounded.
His guts clenched and his eyes burned. As he hurried to the living room, he called out, “Be right there.” On another series of panicked raps, he opened the door and Sabrina Downey launched into his arms.
Against his naked chest she felt so soft and warm and so damn right.
Heart breaking for her, he cradled her close a moment. “Shh. It’s all right. I’ve got you now.”
“S-sorry.”
“Don’t.” It wasn’t her fault that raging storms always brought out memories too harsh to deal with on her own. Abuse. Death. Displaced in the system.
Roy lifted her into his arms and, after kicking the door shut, went to sit on his couch.
When he started to reach for a light, she tightened around him and whispered, “Please leave it dark.”
So she could hide. But she didn’t need to hide from him. He’d been there that night, and he understood her reaction because he still suffered reactions of his own. She had no reason for shame, none at all. But that was something he could explain to her later. “All right, kiddo. Whatever you want.”
At twenty-five, Sabrina was extremely independent. It was a testament to her spirit and intelligence that she’d accomplished so much, that she acknowledged her past by working with abused children. Only someone special, someone with an innate empathy for victims, could deal so gently with the things she saw on a daily basis.
She lived alone, worked in an emotionally draining fleld, and when necessary, she fought for the rights of others with fierce intensity. She despised injustice of any kind and opened her heart to one and all.
It was only when Mother Nature raged, breathing life into old nightmares that Sabrina needed to borrow his strength.
Tucked in close to his chest, her fingers digging into his shoulders, Sabrina felt small and frail and very much his.
But she wasn’t, not yet.
She accepted their close friendship. She’d even rented the apartment across from his as soon as it became available. But anything more? He didn’t know how she’d feel about that.
She didn’t know that he’d loved her forever. Even before his parents got guardianship of her, he’d been drawn to the young girl who moved in next door. At first he’d felt protective of her, seeing her loneliness and her sadness, suspecting her abuse. He’d befriended the girl with hair like liquid moonlight, her eyes big and blue and hungry for understanding.
Later, when she’d been only seventeen and he twenty-one, he’d accepted that he felt more.
A lot more.
But for years her circumstances and her age kept him from going down that path. They hindered him still because Sabrina saw him as a friend, or maybe even a pseudo–big brother.
In the dark and quiet of his living room, Roy held her secure and settled back into the corner of his deep couch. Drowning in protective instincts, he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and stretched out his long legs, propping his feet on the coffee table.
Her silence worried him, so he asked, “Comfortable?”
She nodded without allowing a single inch of space between them. A loud crack of thunder sent her pressing closer.
He soothed her with easy strokes over her back. As if he hadn’t noticed her violent reaction to the storm, he asked, “Not cold?”
Experience told him that her shivers could be the remembrance of a long-ago night still churning through her.
“No.” He felt her mouth against his chest. Voice small, she asked, “Are you?”
Hardly. Resting his hands on safe ground, one on her waist, the other on her
shoulder, Roy said, “I’m good.” At least, as good as a man could be while holding the woman he loved, he in his boxers, she in a short nightgown, in the middle of the dark night—while she clung to him with bone deep terror.
Time ticked by and neither of them moved. Emotion kept his thoughts churning; love for her kept him keenly aware of her bare legs over his, her breath on his skin, the scent of her hair.
Eventually the storm began to fade. Flashes of lightning still illuminated the room with a lazy strobe effect, but the accompanying thunder offered only a distant grumble, barely perceptible. The wind died down so the rain became a simple, almost soothing patter against the patio door.
Sabrina’s breathing was so light that if he didn’t know better he might have thought she’d fallen asleep. It satisfied something deep inside him to know his nearness helped to calm her, that when she needed someone, she came to him.
He wanted much, but settled for brushing another kiss over her forehead. Looking across the room at the clock on the wall, he saw it was nearing 3 A.M. He had a lot to get done at the shelter tomorrow, but for right now, for this moment in time, nothing mattered but Sabrina.
As if she’d read his thoughts, she burrowed her face closer to his neck. “You have to be up in a few hours.”
“Yeah.”
Her small body clenched. Agonized, she said, “I’m so damn sorry.”
“Hey.” Roy tipped up her chin. Even in the darkness he could see the paleness of her blue eyes. And her mouth. God, she had the most beautiful, sensual mouth he’d ever seen. “I’m where I want to be.”
She gave a short laugh devoid of humor. “Right.”
With the storm abated, she sat up on his lap. His eyes had adjusted enough that he could see her, the pale yellow gown with little flowers, her naked knees, her cleavage.
Pushing hair from her face, she looked around as if she’d never seen his apartment before. Truth was, it was identical to her own across the hall.
Roy just waited to see what she’d do, what she’d say—if she’d acknowledge the growing rise beneath her bottom, a reaction he couldn’t help now that she wasn’t mired in panic.
“I guess every guy enjoys getting woken up in the middle of the night by a clinging, hysterical woman who falls apart over the weather.”
“Maybe not every guy and definitely not every woman.” He opened his hand over her narrow back. “Just you, Sabrina.”
She cast him a quick, uncertain look.
Her face was so sweet and vulnerable and it made him feel ten times more a man. “I understand why you react the way you do. I hate seeing you upset, but I like holding you. A lot.”
As usual, she took his comments all wrong. Giving in to a self-conscious laugh, she said, “Roy Pilar, you have always been the most uniquely kind guy I’ve ever known.” She slipped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug of gratitude. “Thank you.”
When she started to lean away, he held on. “You’re okay now, Sabrina?”
Close to his mouth, she smiled and whispered, “Yes, thanks to you.”
So tempting. But not yet. “You want to talk about it?”
“God no.” She squeezed him again, then forced space between them. “I should get back to my place.”
“Why the rush?” He fingered a hank of silky hair draped over her shoulder. Naturally curly and very pale, her hair had always fascinated him. “We both need to be up in a few more hours. And there’s no guarantee the storm won’t return.”
With that, her expressive face stilled with worry. “I hate this, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“If I could help it . . . If I could stop it, I would.” Frustration curled her hands into fists. “Storms during the day, or when I’m in crowds don’t faze me, not like this. But at night . . .”
“When you’re alone. I know.” And he was so glad that she’d moved close to him. The idea of her going to any other person, any other man, would be unbearable. “If you hadn’t come to me, I would have been knocking on your door.”
“Thank you.”
“No thanks necessary.” He scooped his arms around her and came to his feet with her held against his chest. She was so petite, so damn female, that his every nerve ending sparked with awareness. “I’m glad you live right next door so that I can be here when you need me.”
“Uh . . . Roy? Where are we going?”
“To my bedroom.” He maneuvered through the darkness, around tables and a chair.
She went still and alert. “What?”
He kept going. “To my bed.”
“Oh, uh . . .” Her fingers curled against his shoulders, not for a secure hold but out of reaction. She breathed a little faster, a little deeper. “I . . . um, need to use your bathroom flrst.”
Why that threw him, Roy couldn’t say. Maybe because he’d expected outright objections, not a simple delay.
But she hadn’t objected, and that had him smiling. “All right.” Stopping outside the bathroom door, he slowly let her slide down his body—and tortured himself in the bargain. Standing, her head barely reached his shoulder. He brushed a thumb over her downy cheek. “You okay by yourself now?”
“Definitely.”
She did seem steadier. “All right. I’ll wait on you here.”
Her eyes went wide in the dim shadows. “You don’t have to.”
He turned her, gave her a light swat on her rounded tush, and said, “I’m waiting.”
She shook her head as she went in and closed the door.
Dropping back against the wall, Roy let out a pent-up breath. At twenty-nine he wasn’t a saint, but he wanted Sabrina more than he’d ever wanted any woman. Mixed with the familiar lust was the all too unfamiliar affection, so sharp that it sometimes took his breath away.
But she didn’t see him that way, so he didn’t want to push her.
Much.
But tonight . . . well, he’d waited for her to mature, to come into her own. She now lived alone, although across the hall from him. She had a rewarding job she loved that utilized her unique ability and empathy for others in need. She’d dated a few times, but it never amounted to anything serious.
He’d given her plenty of opportunity to experience life on her own terms, and now he wanted to pursue her.
Really pursue her.
Tonight he could start building on what they had, and maybe, soon, he’d be able to get to where he wanted to be.
Even as he made that decision, he thought of the past. He could still remember Sabrina as a scrawny fifteen-year-old when she came to live with them. He’d been in his first year of college. Squeezing his eyes shut, Roy thought of the times his parents had fretted over her, how they’d hear the noise next door, the unexplained bruising they’d seen on her.
Calling Children’s Services hadn’t gotten the desired results. It had only earned the enmity of their druggie neighbor, Will. Sabrina’s father hadn’t liked their interference, and he’d threatened all kinds of retribution if his “nosy neighbors” didn’t mind their own business.
Of course, that hadn’t fazed his parents. If anything, it made them more determined to get to know Sabrina better and to flnd out the truth. Little by little, when Will wasn’t around or when he was passed out, Sabrina came to visit.
In the process, she stole his parents’ hearts. And when push came to shove, they fought for her—and won.
Within a minute Roy heard the toilet flush and water running in the sink. Looking especially shy and very sweet, Sabrina opened the door again.
She stood there before him, shifting her feet and toying with the end of a blond curl. Like a long sleeveless T-shirt, her nightgown hung to her knees. She was about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
“You know. . . . Roy . . .”
He scooped her up again and started down the hall. “We’ll be more comfortable in the bed.” Turning sideways to get her through the doorway, he carried her into his room. The bed was still disheveled from his hasty retrea
t. He set her on the side of the mattress and straightened the covers, then held them back. “In you go.”
She puffed out her cheeks, then released her breath. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
Oh yeah, real sure.
She rushed on, saying, “I mean, you have to be at the shelter early. And taking care of all those animals isn’t exactly easy work.”
“Sabrina.” Her nervous chatter bothered him; he couldn’t bear the idea of scaring her. “You trust me, don’t you?”
Without hesitation, she answered, “More than anyone.”
“Good.” Never would he abuse that trust, but he had to let her know how he felt about her. “Then stay. Please.”
She softened, relaxed. “All right.” After crawling into the bed, she rested back on one of his pillows, clasped her hands together, and looked at him with expectation.
Seeing her in his bed gave Roy incredible satisfaction.
She lowered one eyebrow in suspicion. “Why are you grinning?”
He shrugged. “You look good there, that’s all.” Lying down next to her and pulling her into his side amplified everything tenfold. This wouldn’t be easy, but then nothing with Sabrina ever had been.
He released a tense breath and felt her do the same.
Nestled up along his side, her head on his shoulder, her arm around his waist, she whispered, “Roy?”
Talking wasn’t easy, not with a semi-boner. “Hmm?”
“Did you know that I wanted to stay?”
“You did?”
Her silky hair teased his skin with her nod of assent. “Knowing how I react to storms makes me anticipate it. You know what I mean?”
Of course he did. “You fear that you’ll panic, so when it starts to rain, you start worrying.”
“And that just makes it all worse.”