Outlaw Hunter. Carol Arens

and yet so present in her heart?

      Melody’s eyes ached. Her chest felt heavy with misery and disbelief.

      A white fog clouded her mind. Fight as she might against the debilitating vapor, nothing seemed secure any longer.

      Nothing except Reeve. Reeve was secure. His voice whispering comfort in her ear as he carried her back to the hotel was the slim thread grounding her to the here and now. Just when she thought she might be overwhelmed, his voice whispering across her cheek reminded her that life would go on. It had to.

      He carried her through the dark hotel lobby and up the stairs. She thought he would set her down outside the door to her room but he walked past it.

      His footsteps padded down the hall with the muffled shuffle of leather on wood. Opening the door to his room, he carried her inside then closed it quietly behind him.

      He set her upon the mattress. Propriety, and past experience with a man, demanded that she protest, screech and run back to her own room. Instead, she clung to his neck, holding on to him a moment longer than she ought to.

      Gently, he removed her shoes. She sighed and closed her eyes.

      What was wrong with her? With Ram, she’d always slept with one eye open, always on guard.

      “Rest now, darlin’. I’ll keep watch on the children... You get some sleep.”

      Sleep...she couldn’t...wasn’t certain she ever would again, but at some point she must have. Her eyes opened slowly, feeling gritty. Her head ached, but she was no longer weeping.

      A fire, banked low, glowed in the hearth. Reeve sat in a chair beside it with his arms propped across his chest, his legs stretched out with his boots crossed at the ankle. His chin dipped toward his chest in sleep.