Beholden (42 page)

His chest felt as if a lead weight were pressing on it. He cleared his throat. “All right. Thanks for stopping by. And take
care.” He moved away, placing both hands on the stall gate, his back to her.

She would not cry. Not now. There’d be plenty of time for tears later. “You, too.” She turned and started for the double doors.

“Terry?”

She stopped. His voice had cracked as he’d called her name. She swung about. “Yes?”

Luke swallowed around a huge lump in his throat and took the greatest risk of his life. Was he afraid of embarrassing himself
by asking her to stay? Yes, but the greater risk was that he’d let her walk away, out of his life. “Do you care about me?”

She heard more than he’d intended in that short question. She took a step closer. “Is that so hard for you to believe?”

He didn’t move for a long minute, then finally turned, struggling to keep himself under control. “Yes, it is. Do you?”

Terry blinked back tears that gathered on her lashes. She’d told him once in anger; now she’d tell him again. “I love you,
Luke.” She watched his face change, saw a glimmer of hope spring into his eyes. “I’ve been so unhappy without you.”

“No more than I.”

She wanted to rush to him, but he seemed to have more on his mind as he ran shaky fingers through his hair. “I told myself
you can’t want what you’ve never really had. Something you’ve only occasionally glimpsed—someone who cares about you for all
time, a home, a family.” He thought of Bob and Laura and the boys. Just like he hadn’t known he wanted a place of his own
until he’d seen the ranch, he hadn’t known he wanted someone of his own until he’d met Terry.

“I was wrong,” he went on. “I do want you, and the rest. I realize that nothing comes with a guarantee, certainly not a relationship.
I’ve always been ready to put my life on the line in my job, but I’ve been unwilling to risk being hurt again. It was pretty
cowardly of me.”

“Cowardly, you? Never.” She moved to him finally, unable to hold back. A breath away, she looked up at him. “You’re the bravest
man I know.”

His arms slipped around her then, pulling her close. “No, I’m not. You scare me to death.” Easing back, he looked into her
eyes. “One small woman and you brought me to my knees. How did you manage that?”

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall?” She smiled then, blinking away the tears. “Do you have any idea how scared I
was, coming to you like this?”

“Yeah, I do. About like I felt when I saw you drive up.”
He tightened his arms, lowering his head to hers. He kissed her long and passionately. A sense of rightness settled over him,
a feeling he couldn’t remember having before. He looked again into her shimmering blue eyes. “Tell me again, are you really
here for the long haul, for better or worse, whether I stay with the Service or stay here and raise horses?”

“For all time, Luke. I love you. I’ll never leave you.”

“Would you be willing to swear to that in front of witnesses, maybe that chubby little priest you’re so fond of?”

Her smile widened. “Absolutely.”

He could smile, too, now that he had her back. “I love you, Theresa Anne Ryan. For all time.”

Luke kissed her again, but it wasn’t enough. His hands slipped under her jacket as he glanced over where a ladder led upward.
“Ever make love in a hayloft?”

Terry smiled. “No, but I’m a quick study. Show me.”

And so he did.

IN THE GRIP OF DANGER, IN THE ARMS OF
HER PROTECTOR, SHE WAS…

B
EHOLDEN

With the sharp, deadly crack of gunfire, Terry Ryan’s life changed forever. She had witnessed a murder, recognized the gunman,
and knew immediately she couldn’t go to the police. With the killer an official high in law enforcement circles, Terry knew
her life was in danger. She picked up her best friend, headed for a mountain hideaway, and tragically never reached it. In
the crumpled wreck, her friend was dead and Terry herself badly injured. Before she realized it, she would be hiding behind
a new identity created by Luke Tanner, the coldly handsome marshal sent to protect her. But her life was still in danger.
Soon they would both be on the run from a desperate killer—and falling in love. Fear stoked their passion; living for the
moment heightened their hunger. And waiting at the crossroads was a fearsome choice…one even more fateful than an assassin’s
bullet.

“PAT WARREN IS A VERY TALENTED
WRITER.”—
ROMANTIC TIMES