Darkness Dawns Read Online Free PDF Page A

what with the spikes.
    Roland was glad she didn’t know. If she did, she wouldn’t be holding him like this, with such tenderness and trust. When was the last time a woman had done so?
    Centuries surely. It felt … foreign to him.
    Having been betrayed one time too many, Roland had long ago given up on relationships. When the strain of celibacy grew too much, he simply sought out prostitutes or women looking for one-night stands and allowed them to sate his needs.
    Those women never held him like this, though. Only two women had embraced him so tenderly. And he didn’t care to think of that right now.
    In truth, he found it more and more difficult to think at all. Every inch of his body either ached, stung, throbbed, or burned. His head swam. His vision started to blur. His stomach churned.
    Strangely, Sarah’s presence, the comfort of her embrace, helped him distance himself from it all.
    Gradually, her tremors subsided, as did her tears.
    Sighing, she released him and eased a step away.
    As Roland withdrew his large, hastily bandaged hands, he swayed and realized, to his dismay, that she had been anchoring him and helping him remain upright.
    Several long strands of her hair clung to the stubble on his jaw. Reaching up, he gently disentangled them.
    “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to fall apart on you.”
    He shook his head, alarmed when the small movementmade the kitchen around him tilt and roll. “I’m the one who should apologize. I’m sorry you were dragged into all of this.”
    She nodded, her expression filled with anxiety.
    Roland cupped her face in his hands, smoothing his thumbs across her soft, damp cheeks. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Sarah. I vow it.”
    Heart pounding, Sarah held his earnest gaze. His touch, his nearness, began to stir her in a wholly unexpected way. He stood before her, his gorgeous body riddled with severe wounds, and suddenly all she could think about was what it would feel like if he kissed her.
    What is
wrong
with me?
    Something dark flared in his eyes. One of his thumbs slid down her cheek to caress the corner of her mouth.
    His head dipped. Her breath stopped. Anticipation rose.
    Her lips a hair away from tasting his, Sarah heard a rustling sound followed by a soft thump. She glanced down, then swiftly up again as she realized the towel wrapped around his waist had fallen to the floor.
    Emitting a sigh, Roland lowered his hands. “It’s going to be one of those days,” he said with a look of such pained chagrin that Sarah had to smile.
    As he bent over to retrieve the towel, he listed to one side and would have fallen had he not reached for her. The moment his hand made rough contact with her shoulder, he cried out and yanked it back. His balance faltered.
    Gasping, Sarah threw her arms around him and tried to steady him.
    He staggered. She staggered with him.
    Jeeze, he weighed a ton! Six foot one or two, maybe two hundred pounds of muscle. She would never be able to get him up off the floor if he fainted!
    Finding it a lot harder to support him when he reeled awayfrom her, she drew his upper body toward her, took two steps back, and leaned all of her weight into him to prop him up.
    Success! They were both still on their feet.
    This time, when Roland’s arms closed around her, he carefully avoided touching her with his hands. “Sarah,” he rasped.
    “Yes?”
    He blinked hard and stared over her shoulder, his gaze unfocused. “If I pass out and you can’t wake me up—”
    Oh crap.
    “—wait until an hour before sunset, then call Marcus.”
    “Shouldn’t we call him now?”
    “No, he won’t …” Roland’s dark eyes started to roll back in his head.
    “No, no, no! Don’t pass out on me! We have to get you to the futon!”
    He blinked sluggishly when she shook him.
    Hurriedly maneuvering them so her back was to the futon, she began shuffling toward it, dragging him with her.
    He took one step, two, three, then his knees