01 Only Fear

  She squeezed him back, her arms circling his waist. “I know. But we’re okay now. You did it. You got the monster.”

  “I got my life back,” he whispered against her hair. “When I saw what he’d done to your sister, and thought about what he would do to you…I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He pulled away to gaze into her dirt-streaked face. She’d never been more beautiful to him.

  “You’ve got me now,” she assured him, leaning up until she was a breath away. “Show me what you’d do with me.” The tenderness in their kiss made his chest swell and ache. She tilted her head and he followed her lead, deepening the kiss, reaching for the passion he knew they shared. The sound of several footsteps at the top of the stairs had them reluctantly pulling apart.

  Ethan leaned his forehead against hers and sighed. “We’ll finish this later.”

  Noah, Maria and Lorena came rushing in at almost the same time, from the direction of the stairs leading into the rest of the building.

  “Julia?” Maggie asked.

  “She’ll be okay,” Noah assured them. “Just heard from the hospital. She lost a lot of blood, but she got there in time.”

  “Thank God. Do my parents know?”

  “They’re with her at the hospital.” Noah looked at Fearmonger’s body lying sprawled on the ground. “Looks like we have several things to be thankful for tonight.”

  The summer night wrapped around her like a warm blanket as Maggie stepped through the hospital’s automatic sliding doors. She’d needed a moment to herself, to absorb what had happened in the past few days. She felt her heart pumping but embraced the feeling. The awareness of this ordinary function of her body was no longer solely linked to anxiety but now a reminder that she was fully alive.

  As was her sister, thank God. Julia had come out of surgery and was recovering in intensive care. The prognosis was good. The desire to hear Ethan’s voice, and to share her relief, was so intense it almost knocked her knees out from under her. She leaned against a concrete pillar and stared across the dark parking lot. She had to stand on her own. Ethan was busy, anyway, answering questions and helping to process the scene back at the university. Thanks to Damian’s insistence, the police had agreed to delay her questioning and let her go to the hospital.

  A niggling of doubt picked at her. Now that the danger was over, would Ethan still feel connected to her? Their passion had been intense and sudden. But it had also felt right.

  She blinked as the form of a man emerged from the darkness, weaving between the cars. She’d know that swagger anywhere. He headed for her and she straightened, swallowing as he came up to her, his gaze sweeping over her body. She felt the heat of his look all the way to her toes.

  Tucking her hands into her back pockets, she fought the urge to reach for him. She wanted to give him some space. Let him make the next move. Danger did things to people, made them more vulnerable in so many ways. Perhaps when he’d declared his desire for a future with her before, he’d been under the influence of adrenaline or something.

  “I have that answer for you. To your previous question,” she continued when he didn’t say anything. He just stood there, looking at her with an odd, intense expression on his face. She resisted the desire to shuffle her feet. “You know, about our future.”

  Oh, God, what if, now that it was all over, he’d changed his mind?

  She almost backed away. But no, that was the old Maggie. Hiding from her fears. The new Maggie stood up to them. The new Maggie claimed her right to live life to the fullest. And she was certain Ethan had to be a part of that life to make it truly full.

  I am in control.

  For the first time in a long time, she believed it.

  She swallowed. “If you’re, uh, still interested in something long term, I’d like to give it a try. I think we should be together.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t think we should. I know we should be together, and you do, too.”

  She sucked in a breath, her heart pounding as she reached into her front pocket and pulled out a piece of suturing thread she’d found on a supply cart in the hospital. She handed it to him.

  “What’s this?” he asked, his look of confusion comical.

  “I told you there were no strings attached. But now I want them.”

  “I don’t think it’s long enough,” he said, his lips curving into a grin. “I plan to be attached to you for a very long time.”

  The earth shifted as Ethan pulled her to him and embraced her as if he’d never let her go. She sank into him, savoring the steady heartbeat beneath her palms. She felt him breathe in and out before he spoke again.

  “I thought you were gone forever. I thought I’d lost you.” His hands came up to frame her face. “God, I never want to feel that way again,” he whispered. It was a prayer.

  “You won’t have to.” It was a promise.

  About the Author

  Anne Marie Becker is an award-winning author of romantic suspense. Her novel, Only Fear, won the 2009 Golden Heart Award for Best Romantic Suspense. She has always been fascinated with people and how they “work”—inside and out—which led to degrees in biology, psychology and counseling. Now, her roles as wife, mother, writer and domestic goddess continue to satisfy her curiosity. For more about Anne Marie, please visit her at www.AnneMarieBecker.com.

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  ISBN: 978-1-4268-9219-6

  Copyright © 2011 by Anne Marie Becker

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