Paladin's Woman

'Having a crippled leg doesn't make you any less of a man,' Addy said, tempted to throw her arms around him and kiss away the pain she saw in his eyes. 'I've never known anyone who's more a man than you.'

Reaching out, he tickled the bottom of her bare foot. 'You're prejudiced, Red. You're only saying that because I'm such a fantastic lover.'

She giggled. 'You are so conceited.'

Holding her heel with one hand, he traced the veins atop her foot with his fingers. 'You've made me conceited, panting after me all the time, dragging me off to bed all hours of the day and night, groaning and moaning and crying out when you come. What's a man to think, other than that he's a stud?'

Addy twisted her leg when Nick ran his fingers higher, caressing her calf. 'All right, I'll grant that you're a stud—but…'

'But what?' He kissed her ankle, then ran his tongue all the way up her leg to her knee. Brushing aside her billowy cotton skirt, he slid his hand up her inner thigh.

'But you should give me some of the credit. After all, not just any woman could keep a forty-three-year-old man primed and ready all the time.'

With both of them laughing, Nick pulled Addy out of the swing and down onto the floor and into his arms. 'I think I've created a beautiful, insatiable monster.'

'Am I your creation, Nick?' She unbuttoned his shirt and placed her lips on his chest.

Yes, by God, she was his creation. With his patience and tenderness and loving administrations, he'd given Addy the confidence in her own sexuality that she needed to become the woman who'd been buried inside her all her life. With each word of encouragement, with each reassuring, inspiring touch, he'd brought her out of the darkness to which her ex-husband had doomed her. She was his now. His woman … his heart, his soul … his very life.

When the time came, how the hell was he going to be able to take her back to Huntsville and leave her? He'd never been a man for commitments, always moving on when things got too serious. He wasn't the marrying kind, and Addy deserved no less. She'd want marriage and kids, if she could have them, and the kind of love that lasted forever. He didn't know if he was capable of that kind of love, of that kind of lifetime pledge. There was one thing she knew for sure—he hadn't had his fill of Addy, not by a long shot. He was nowhere near ready to give up what they'd found together. Nothing in his life had ever been this good.

'Nick? Nick, what's wrong?' She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

'Nothing's wrong, Red. Not a damned thing.' He buried his face against her breasts, nuzzling her nipples with his nose. 'You're my woman, you know that, don't you?'

She sighed, clinging to him, savoring the sheer physical pleasure of being so near the man she loved. 'I remember the morning after you rescued me from my kidnapper, you told me that someday I'd become one of your women. Looks like you were right.'

'I was wrong,' he said, then covered her face with a dozen tiny kisses. 'There's never been another woman like you, and there never will be again. You're unique. What I feel for you is different. You're mine—my woman—and I never want you to belong to anyone else.'

'Oh, Nick—I love you so much. You must know that. Surely you've guessed.' She could feel the rat-a-tat-tat of her heart drumming within her chest. She longed to hear him repeat the words, to vow his undying love for her, but she knew he wasn't ready, that she'd confessed her love too soon.

'Ah, Red. You mean the world to me. I—'

She covered his lips with her index finger, silencing him. 'I'm not asking for anything you can't give. You've been honest with me. That's all I ask now and in the future. Don't ever lie to me, don't ever pretend something you don't feel.'

'When I'm with you, I don't have to pretend anything. What I feel for you is real. I just don't know if it's love or not because I've never been in love.' He kissed the tip of her finger, then drew it into his mouth.

'What about Dina?' Addy hadn't given Dina a thought in days, but she couldn't forget what the woman had once meant to Nick.

'I didn't love Dina, not the way you mean. My teenage male hormones loved her lush, little body.'

'I've learned just how powerful sexual attraction can be. Do you think— I mean, is that what you feel for me?'

He pulled her close, pressing her head to his chest. 'I've never felt such a strong physical attraction to a woman, but—there's more. A lot more. I enjoy being with you, Red. In and out of bed. I like you. I admire you. And I trust you more than I've ever trusted a woman,'

Lying in his arms, Addy smiled. Even if he didn't know it, even if he couldn't bring himself to consider the possibility, Nick Romero was falling in love with her. 'I trust you, too. Not only with my life, but with my heart.'

'If I could ever love a woman, it would be you.'

'Is that a promise?'

'That's a fact, Red.'

Tender touches and sweet kisses gradually turned to frantic groping and wild, tongue-thrusting lunges. Clothes disappeared and naked bodies appeared. Entangled limbs and damp, moist flesh mated in a savage, mindless dance of pleasure. Man and woman joined. Giving and taking. Finding release. Claiming ownership. Silently professing love in its most elemental form.

* * *

Nick heard the loud rapping on the door. Before Addy became fully awake, he'd already leapt out of bed and was feeling around on the floor for his jeans.

'What is it?' Addy asked.

'Somebody's at the front door.'

They both heard the voice. 'Nick? Addy? It's Elizabeth.' Then a mournful wolf howl erupted from MacDatho.

'Oh, Nick, something's wrong!' Addy slid out of bed and pulled on her satin robe.

He wrangled with his rumpled jeans, finally getting them zipped. Picking up his cane, he walked over to the door, Addy right behind him. When he opened the door, Elizabeth ordered MacDatho to stay, then stepped inside, her flashlight casting a steady stream of light into the bedroom.

'I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but Sam called. He said to call him back immediately. It's urgent.'

'Did he say what's wrong?' Addy asked.

'No, he didn't say.' Elizabeth reached out, touching Addy's arm, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

'We'll get dressed and come on up to the cabin.' Nick held the door for Elizabeth, who stepped back out onto the porch.

'Wait!' Addy cried. Elizabeth stopped. 'Do you know what's wrong? Have you felt anything?'

'Your father needs you. That's all I know.' Elizabeth turned and left, disappearing back into the woods, the ever-faithful MacDatho at her side.

In frenzied haste, Addy dressed in black slacks and a turquoise cotton sweater. She waited while Nick laced his shoes. 'Elizabeth told me the day we arrived that we wouldn't stay here the full two weeks. She said then that Daddy would need me. Oh, Nick, do you suppose Daddy's had a heart attack or a stroke?'

'Don't jump to conclusions. We'll know what's going on as soon as I talk to Sam.' Holding his cane in one hand, he offered her the other. 'Ready?'

Fifteen minutes later, Addy clutched the cup of hot tea that Elizabeth had handed her the moment she and Nick entered her cabin. Nick had just gotten through to Sam. Three people and one half-wolf dog stood in Elizabeth's living room, waiting for news.

Elizabeth placed her arm around Addy's shoulder. 'Drink your tea. It will help soothe your nerves.'

'Did you put something in it?'

'It's herbal tea, that's all.'

With trembling fingers, Addy put the cup to her lips, sipping slowly. The tea was hot and sweet and soothing.

'Yeah, I understand. When did it happen?' Nick asked Sam Dundee.

Addy handed her cup to Elizabeth, then approached Nick, tugging on his shirtsleeve. 'Tell me, what happened?'