Free Her Soul to Keep by Delilah Devlin

Chapter One
    Her hips swished beneath a short, flirty skirt, drawing his gaze like iron filings to a magnet. The splash of large pink flowers on white stood out like a beacon in the darkness. Beneath the hem stretched a pair of nude legs, toned, nicely curved at the ankles. Perfectly made to lightly clasp a man’s waist as he slid into moist heat…
    He suppressed a low, rumbling growl from the beast rising inside. Something he rarely bothered to do in the squalid dens he roamed most nights. The creature lurking deep inside was a sexual animal, a lustful, ravenous host who found partners only too willing to let him feast. But this woman was different. Her soul was pure. Her mind unawakened to the darkness.
    He followed her as she left her apartment, sticking to the shadows, ducking into stairwells when she looked behind her as though checking if someone followed. A frown marred her smooth brow, and her lips tightened. The clip of her heels on the pavement quickened.
    Shoulder-length, fly-away brown hair bobbed across the tops of slender shoulders. The creamy skin of her exposed arms and legs swung in a rhythm that his heart picked up and matched, beat for stride.
    Feeling more than ever like the true predator he was, he tamped down the shame that burned like battery acid in his stomach and continued stalking the woman who walked more briskly now along the darkened sidewalk.
    When she turned onto a crowded walkway, her shoulders sank and her footsteps slowed as she relaxed.
    She believed herself safe now as she mingled with others strolling along the promenade.
    Little did she know, but her “spontaneous” decision to leave her apartment had been at his suggestion—a message telegraphed with tantalizing snippets of the smell of the fresh salt air, the caress of a soft breeze, and a glimpse of sensual pleasure.
    She hadn’t heeded her own natural inhibition. Hadn’t paused to check the clock and note the waning evening hours.
    Instead, she’d made her decision, wriggled into a sexy little skirt and snug pink tee, slid her feet into strapless sandals and bounded down the stairs, ready to kick off winter’s gloom in an unseasonably warm spring night.
    He’d made sure she didn’t glance even once at the clock or the calendar resting on the bureau in her foyer. Nothing would trigger a fleeting memory.
    And while he’d provided himself the opportunity to see her, he’d decided days ago he wouldn’t use his persuasive gifts to bring her straight into his arms.
    Tonight, he wanted to savor a natural seduction.
    She paused along the gangway that followed the curving street through a long, outdoor strip mall. At the bottom of one set of stairs leading into a seafood restaurant, she lifted one foot, planting it on the first paved step.
    As he drew back the suggestion that had led her here, her brow furrowed, and she shook her head. Her foot slipped off the step and slowly settled beside the other.
    In a blur of movement no human would detect, he slid in behind her. “Did you forget something?” he murmured, careful to keep his tone innocently inquiring.
    A gasp escaped, and her head jerked to the side then tilted up to meet his gaze. Her eyes widened, and then slid over his shoulders before rising again. “You frightened me.”
    The frown that bisected her brow amused him. She was annoyed and not bothering to hide it.
    Her eyes narrowed. “I know who you are.”
    Viper jerked imperceptibly. His heart tripped, and then thudded dully again. She couldn’t mean what he thought. “I doubt that. If we’d met, I would have remembered,” he lied, giving her a rueful twist of his lips. More of a smile than most ever saw.
    Her head shook, sending her fine, dark hair shivering silkily across her cheeks.
    The urge to tuck her hair behind her ears was almost irresistible. He curled his fingers and stuffed both hands into the pockets of his faded jeans. “Who do you think I am?”
    Gaze narrowing, she hesitated. “I’ve seen you