Love Me Forever Read Online Free PDF Page A

neck with the back of his hand in a soft
steady rhythm, and she once again settled into a contented
slumber.
    He stared at her long and hard, lingering on
her delicate features. Her lashes were long, dark, and curled
perfectly over her eyes and against her creamy pale skin.
    He shook his head. Lord, but she was
beautiful. The thought struck like lightning. He had been sent an
angel. Was she here to save his soul from the fires of hell? Was
she to rescue him from the depths of despair?
    He laughed silently inside himself. How
could she help save him when she could not help save herself? She
was presently vulnerable, forced to completely rely on him for her
every need.
    Yet she did so with courage and strength. He
saw the spark of fear that lighted in her eyes every now and again,
and yet she faced that fear and conquered it each and every time.
She shed not a single tear for herself but for the pain she bore
bravely.
    He had admired different women in his life,
his grandmother in particular. She had raised him upon his mother’s
death when he was but five years. She had been loving and strong
and had instilled within him the necessities of survival, and he
would forever be grateful to her for the many lessons she had
taught him.
    She could give him a hug as quickly as she
could give him a slap for not paying attention. She taught him that
awareness was everything in life and without it he would be as
blind as most. And she had been right; that awareness had kept him
sharp in battle and when dealing with friends and enemies
alike.
    She had been his strength until she had
forced him to face his own strength. She was a remarkable woman,
and he missed her every day since her passing two years ago.
    But she had whispered prophetic words to him
before she died. She had told him that a woman of courage and
tenderness would enter his life when he needed her the most and
that she would give him one daughter and four sons. She would teach
him what it meant to truly love, and his warrior skills would be
necessary to keep her from harm.
    They would live to an old age and he would
die in her arms, she following two days after him, for their love
was too strong for even death to separate them. His grandmother had
never been wrong in anything she had predicted for him or the clan,
and he has always paid heed to her advice.
    Now he wondered if Brianna was this woman.
She fascinated him, though he could not say why. He wanted time
with her, time to know her and time to understand her. He would
care for her as long as necessary; he, after all, needed to heal as
well, not only his physical scars but the ones that festered within
him.
    They would help each other, as strange as
that may seem, and he looked forward to the healing. He needed it;
he yearned for it.
    She whimpered in her sleep, and without
thought to his actions he stretched out beside her and gently took
her in his arms. She went without protest, snuggling against him as
though he could protect her from the pain, and he wrapped strong
yet tender arms around her and settled her snugly in his
embrace.
    He felt the emptiness inside him that had
seemed to forever linger fade away and be replaced by a gentle
acceptance, as if he had finally arrived home, as if he was welcome
and could remain as long as he wished here in her loving
tenderness.
    He slept knowing that he protected her and
that an angel protected him.

Chapter Four
    Royce watched her sleep. Sleep was what she
mostly did these past two days. She would wake and talk with him
for a short while and then drift off to sleep once again. It amazed
him how often she would smile at him when her eyes slowly opened to
find him beside her, and at times she would drift immediately back
to sleep, as if she had opened her eyes only to make certain he was
nearby.
    That they had established a trust between
them was obvious, but it extended only so far, and he realized the
wisdom of her ways. He was after all a stranger, and she was
vulnerable