Solitary Soldier. Debra Webb

her waist and hauled her up against him. “Don’t you want to find out if I’m half the man you seem to think I am?”

      The dam broke loose then, tears trickled down her face. She pushed uselessly against his chest. “I already know all I need to know.” She was shaking uncontrollably now. “I saw how you reacted when you thought Josh was lost. You’re a good man. I know you are.”

      Sloan had no come back for that allegation. He could only stare into those deep brown eyes, watery with the kind of pain he understood all too well. Just when he felt certain that he would have to kiss her…kiss her or die, she wilted in his fierce hold. Startled, Sloan scooped her slight body into his arms.

      Damn.

      She had been through too much. He had pushed her too hard. All because he couldn’t control his own sadistic impulses.

      Sloan considered the sweet, innocent-looking woman lying unconscious in his arms for a long moment. He shook his head in self-disgust.

      “I told you I was no knight in shining armor.” He let go a mighty breath. “What am I supposed to do with you now?”