Paladin's Woman

way to prove it.

Addy's ex-husband had used her and abused her, emotionally if not physically. She was afraid to give herself to another man, unsure of his motives. Because of past experience, she'd come to the conclusion that men who showed an interest in her were after Rusty's money. Hell, he didn't give a hoot about her father's millions. If he'd wanted to marry for money, he could have done so more than once over the years. He bedded women who attracted him, women who turned him on. He had enough money to meet his needs. He neither wanted nor needed more. But he did want Addy McConnell, and he needed her, needed her in his arms, in his bed and in his life, as he had never needed another woman. Once he'd had her, it was going to take a lot of long, slow loving … a lot of hot, wild mating … to get enough of her to satisfy his craving.

'What are you doing lurking out there in the hall?' Addy closed the suitcase lid, zipped it, then set it on the floor beside her bed.

'I wasn't lurking.' Nick stepped over the threshold and into her room, instantly feeling as if he'd entered a forbidden zone. 'I was just watching you pack. Are you sure you got everything you need in one bag?'

'It's a big bag.' She sat down on the edge of her pencil post mahogany bed. 'Besides, you said to pack light.'

'I've never needed more than one suitcase.' He glanced at her, noticing how at ease she seemed alone in her room with him.

'You've been traveling most of your life, haven't you?' She crossed her legs at the ankles.

Nick couldn't take his eyes off her legs, her long, slim legs that beckoned for his touch. 'I don't own a house or even rent an apartment. I didn't need one when I was in the Navy, and when I was between DEA assignments, I'd either visit my grandmother in El Paso, get a hotel room or stay with my buddies Nate Hodges in St. Augustine and Sam Dundee in Atlanta.'

'You've never mentioned Nate Hodges before. How long have you been friends?'

'Since SEAL training in Coronado.' Nick's dark eyes glazed over with memory. 'We were both a couple of eighteen-year-old half-breeds running from lives we hated, hoping to find something worthwhile. What we found was a living hell in Nam.'

Addy wanted to run to Nick, to throw her arms around him and hold him close. She could tell by the tone of his voice, more than the words he spoke, that he was so alone, that he'd been alone all his life—a man always on the outside looking in. She longed to bring him inside, into the warmth and caring in her heart, to show him that he never had to be alone again.

'Daddy was in Korea. He never talks about it. He has this old-fashioned notion that women should be protected from life's harsher realities.' Her father had tried, unsuccessfully to protect her mother. Sometimes she wondered if Rusty and Madeline had shared more of the agonizing pain and ugly reality of what had happened to their son would her mother have grown stronger instead of weaker in the years following Donnie's murder.

'Women experience most of life's harsh realities,' Nick said, leaning against the colonial blue wall near the door. 'No matter how much a man wants to protect his women, sometimes he's powerless. I think that's how your father feels now.'

'He trusts you to keep me safe.' Addy stood up, walking over to face Nick directly. 'And I trust you.'

Damn, how he wanted to pull her into his arms, to taste her sweet mouth, to feel the sleek leanness of her body. 'No need to set your alarm clock. I'll wake you at three-thirty, and we'll hit the road by four.' He didn't dare stay near her a minute longer, with those bewitching green cat-eyes of hers casting a spell over him.

When he turned to leave, Addy caught his hand, lacing her fingers through his. 'Sleep tight then.'

Bringing her hand to his lips, he brushed a feathery kiss across her knuckles. He could feel himself tightening, his whole body preparing for a feast to which he hadn't been invited. 'Two weeks, Red, and if we're lucky, this will all be over.'

'If we're lucky—' she whispered, then released his hand and stood back, watching him walk out of her room and close the door behind him.

Nick felt like beating his cane against the wall or smashing his fist through a window. He hadn't been this horny in years, and in the past, all it would have taken to ease his pain was a willing woman. This time nothing would give him relief except emptying himself into Addy McConnell's receptive body.

* * *

The grandfather clock struck midnight. Nick flipped on the bedside lamp, hauled himself out of bed and slipped into his faded jeans, forcing the zipper up over his arousal. He couldn't sleep. Hell, he couldn't even get any rest. Addy was in the room next to him, probably wearing one of her silky nightgowns and sleeping like a baby. She'd told him that she wasn't any good at sex. He didn't believe it. That bastard ex-husband undoubtedly didn't know the first thing about arousing a woman as sensitive and untried as Addy. If only she'd give him half a chance, he'd prove to her what a sensuous creature she really was; he'd give her unbearable pleasure and teach her how good it could be between them.

 Retrieving his cane from where he'd propped it against the nightstand, Nick made his way across the room and out into the hall. Addy's door stood open. They both kept their doors open at night so he could hear every sound. Just in case.

Moonlight poured in through the Federalist-style fan-lights above the double French doors that flanked each side of the fireplace in Addy's bedroom. The waxed pine floors glistened in the muted light, and the rich reds and blues in the scattered Oriental carpets gleamed like jewels.

Nick stepped inside. Addy lay in the middle of the big bed, shadows of the crocheted canopy drawing lines across her face. She had neatly folded back the white bedspread, laying it over the patchwork sampler quilt that graced the foot of her bed.

He didn't want to wake her, but he had to see her, to look at her. Despite the air- conditioned coolness in the house, Nick felt hot. Beads of perspiration dotted his upper lip and a trickle of sweat ran down his throat, getting lost in the mat of black hair that covered his upper chest.

Without warning, his foot banged into something in the semidarkness. He cursed the object, swearing softly under his breath. Looking down, he saw a brass pot filled with red geraniums near the window. If the damned pecking of his cane hadn't awakened Addy, then maybe his bumbling crash into the flower container hadn't, either.

'Nick?' She sat up in bed, throwing off the thin blue sheet that covered her.

'Sorry, Red. I didn't mean to awaken you. I—I thought I heard something,' he lied. 'I just wanted to check things out. Go back to sleep.'

'I wasn't asleep.' She slid her legs over the edge of the bed, allowing her feet to touch the floor. 'I'm so restless that I can't sleep.'

He took a good look at her then and wished he hadn't. She wore a teal-blue satin chemise that barely touched the top of her thighs. He sucked in his breath, calling on all his willpower not to reach out and grab her. Her curly red hair hung loosely about her shoulders and halfway down her back. Tousled and unkempt, it looked as if some man had been running his fingers through it. Dear God, that was exactly what he wanted to do. But he wouldn't stop with her hair—he wouldn't stop touching her until he had covered every inch of her body and counted every little copper freckle.

'I should go and let you try to get some rest. We've got a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.'

Addy picked up her teal-blue lace kimono that she'd tossed across the nightstand. Easing into it, she stood. 'Don't go.' She took a tentative step toward him. 'Stay.'

'Bad idea, Red.' Nick turned from her, starting toward the door.

'Please, don't go, Nick. Stay and … talk to me.' She moved closer, her hand hovering over his back, almost touching him.

Keeping his back to her, he drew in a deep breath. 'If I stay, Red, I'm going to do a lot more than talk.'

'Oh.' She trusted Nick with her life. She had even admitted to her father that she was falling in love with the man. But was she ready for them to make love?

'It's going to happen sooner or later, but there's no need for us to confront it tonight. There'll be time enough when we're alone in an isolated cabin in the middle of the Georgia mountains.' He moved forward, taking a step out into the hall.

Addy followed him, touching his back with the palm of her hand. She felt him stiffen. His naked back was sleek and damp and warm. Her hand burned from the physical contact of flesh against flesh. 'Don't leave me, Nick.