Free Dark Warrior: To Tame a Wild Hawk (Dark Cloth) by Lenore Wolfe Page B

through the night. But Doc was happy to see it. “It’s a healing, restful sleep,” he assured Mandy.
    She stared out the window. The look in Hawk’s golden eyes should have warned her off, but she had ignored the warning. Why did she do that? Was she so afraid of her feelings for him, she would deliberately provoke him that way?
    Doc came into the room, and seeing her, his wise, old face split into a grin. “You got more than you bargained for, didn’t you, Mandy girl?”
    Mandy turned and looked at him sadly. “From the first moment I saw him, even when I was held in the grip of that murdering McKinney, I . . . .”
    “Don’t give up on him, Mandy girl.” Doc took her hand. “He needs you. He just don’t know it yet. He needs your goodness. But more than that, he needs your love.”
    Mandy’s head shot up in shock, her free hand going to her throat.
    Doc turned away, picking up his bag. “I have to go see to the Brown’s little girl. Poor little mite,” he shook his head, “been sick all her six years. I’ll probably be back late. They always have me for dinner.” He pulled open the door. “Fight for him, Mandy. He won’t know what he’s thrown away—till it’s too late.”
    Mandy didn’t hear the door shut. She was still thinking on one thing. Love. She had loved the man in her visions. She had loved him in past lives, and she loved him still. She loved a man who masqueraded as a gunfighter. And from the way he used that weapon, she knew Meg was right—he was more than dressing the part.
    No! She couldn’t have fallen in love with a man who held a secret that might keep them apart forever. A gunman; a man who, even if he stayed now, would be on the next stage out of town when his job was done. Yet all the sense in the world would not change what her heart wanted. She wanted Hawk. She had known him forever—been in love with him forever. She looked down at her trembling hands in realization. It was hopeless. She was in love with a man as changing and unpredictable as a storm and he would be gone with the next wind, taking her heart with him.
    ***
    Blinding, morning sunlight filled the room as Mandy tied the drapes back with their thick, rope ties. Hawk sat up, wincing from his sore shoulder. “What time is it?”
    “Almost time for lunch.” She tried to avoid looking at him and failed. She swallowed hard when her traitorous eyes followed the dark curly hair covering a massive, chiseled chest, then dropped lower still to see only a thin sheet hiding what was beneath. Her cheeks flamed when she realized the direction of her thoughts, and her eyes flew wide when they clashed with his golden ones.
    His eyes were smoky, but his lips were turned upward in a sardonic grin. One eyebrow arched in wicked amusement. “Don’t stop now.”
    Mandy’s own eyes went black with anger. “You, sir, are no gentleman, even if you dress the part in that suit and put on a show.”
    “I quite agree.” He grinned unabashed. “I’m a heathen, with a soul as black as the darkest night.” Suddenly, his eyes became stormy. “And speaking of—come here, Amanda,” he commanded softly.
    She shook her head, almost violently, sending her dark hair flying. “Oh, no! No, I did so before and . . .” she flushed, unable to finish.
    Dark eyebrows collided, giving him the look of his namesake. “Then I shall come to you.” He reached to draw back the covers as he spoke.
    Mandy got a glimpse of dark curls and jumped forward. “All right! I . . . just lay back down, you’ll open your wounds.”
    When she reached his side, her gaze collided with his. She was drawn down deep into their golden depths—spiraling down—drowning in their green-gold pools. Her breath caught, and she reached out to steady herself.
    A warm hand, with the strength of steel and the gentleness of a soft kiss, grasped hers, and pulled her slowly into his embrace. When his lips were mere inches from hers, he asked in a husky voice, “What were