Desert Rain with Bonus Material by Elizabeth Lowell

Author:Elizabeth Lowell [Lowell, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780062208859
Publisher: HarperCollins US
Published: 2000-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Roger looked from Holly’s stricken face to Linc’s narrow-eyed fury.

Holly simply looked at the man she loved.

Despite his obvious anger, Linc was handsome enough to break her heart. His evening clothes had been tailored to fit the long, lean lines of his body. Every time he moved, the material outlined another aspect of his masculine grace and power.

Roger looked at the two of them, so consumed by each other that no one else existed. Yet Roger knew that Linc’s anger was as real and potentially dangerous as lightning.

With a soft curse, Roger put a finger under Holly’s chin, turning her head until she was looking at him rather than Linc.

“I don’t know why he’s mad,” Roger said, “but instinct tells me that his bite is worse than any bark I’ve ever heard. If you need first aid, you know my room number.”

She said nothing.

“Are you listening, Shannon?” he asked softly.

She nodded.

He gave Linc an unreadable look.

“If she comes to me,” Roger said coolly, “you’re a bloody idiot. I’ll wrap her in silk bandages and you’ll never see her again.”

Roger stared back into Holly’s eyes. They were tarnished gold, mysterious, sad. Wary.

“Some men are as dangerous as they look,” Roger said. “Be careful, love.”

He kissed her lips lightly, brushed past Linc, and disappeared into the darkness beyond the pavilion.

Linc made a harsh sound.

“It’s a wonder that the tame Viking isn’t immune to beautiful models by now,” he said.

As he spoke, he looked Holly over with a thoroughness that made her weak. His eyes lingered on the fine chains that dipped and quivered between her breasts with each breath she took.

“Before I even got out of the house,” he said, “people were coming up to me and telling me what a charmer Beth’s friend Holly North was. Not just the men, but the women, too. They all fell in love with you.”

Breath held, Holly waited, hoping against hope.

“So I hurried out here to enjoy you,” he said. “I couldn’t find you. I found someone else, though. What’s that name again? Shannon?”

“Yes,” she said in a low voice. Then, more clearly, “Yes. Shannon. My mother’s maiden name. My middle name. Shannon. No secret, Linc. You knew the name six years ago.”

He muttered a single, vicious word.

“No secret?” he snarled. “Christ, what kind of a fool do you think I am?”

He heard his own words and laughed with a bitterness that made her flinch. Then he looked at her with cold, hungry eyes, the eyes of a predator.

“Scratch that question,” he said savagely. “You already know what kind of fool I am. I’m the fool who thought you were a virgin.”

“I am.”

“Yeah. Right.”

Holly started to speak, but could only gasp as his fingers shot out and clenched around her wrists.

“No,” Linc said coldly. “Not one more lying word. See you at midnight, Shannon.”

He dropped her wrists and strode into the crowd without a backward look.

The rest of the dance moved by in a haze of misery for Holly. Even Beth’s transparent glee at Cyn’s rout brought only a small smile to Holly’s lips.

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