Midnight's Warrior Read Online Free PDF Page A

treat,” Tara said to herself.
    She’d never thought herself a daydreamer. She’d always kept herself firmly planted in reality, but for the first time in her life, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to be the woman who walked into such a room. To know that the man she was with cared so much, and had gone to such lengths, for her.
    No one had ever done such a thing for her. Not that she could be upset about it. She’d never let anyone close enough.
    Of course she went out on dates. Occasionally.
    Tara rolled her eyes as she turned and walked into the bathroom. She had a few more roses left over, and she wanted to add a special touch there.
    Dates. The last time she had gone on a date had been over two years ago. He’d been nice and quite handsome. But he’d wanted another date from her. He’d wanted a relationship, and Tara couldn’t allow that.
    She’d quickly broken it off. And the nights alone in front of the telly hadn’t been so bad. She’d watched almost every movie known to man, and spent hours on her laptop.
    Tara shook her head as she thought of her dour life. She knew she needed to go ahead and pack up to leave Scotland. She should do it tomorrow.
    Her hands filled with roses slowly lowered to the counter in the bathroom as an image of Ramsey sprang into her mind. She didn’t want to leave Dunnoth Tower. She didn’t want to leave Ramsey.
    Although she couldn’t say exactly why.
    Tara shook her head to clear it of her thoughts. She needed to concentrate on finishing the room, and decide later that night what to do about leaving.
    She opened the cabinet and found the vase Liz always kept in the room for such occasions. Tara rose on the very tips of her toes, but couldn’t reach the vase.
    With a sigh, she carefully set down the roses and tried again. When that still didn’t work, she found the small footstool and stepped on that.
    She stretched, her fingers just grazing the crystal vase. “Oh, come on,” she muttered in frustration.
    Tara licked her lips and scooted a bit more to the left of the stool. She knew she was close to the edge, but she only needed to reach a little bit farther.
    Her fingers took hold of the vase the same instant she felt the stool tilt. Instinctively, Tara released the vase as she felt herself falling sideways. Her arms cartwheeled wildly to try and grab on to something so she wouldn’t fall, but there was nothing.
    And then arms like bands of steel wrapped around her. Her hands gripped muscled arms. For a moment all Tara could do was soak in the feel of the heat and sinew beneath her palms.
    She knew without looking up it was Ramsey. Tara kept her eyes locked on the middle of his torso and his T-shirt. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest and it had nothing to do with the fall and everything to do with the man holding her.
    It wasn’t like her to act like a silly schoolgirl, but around Ramsey, she could hardly form a coherent thought, much less act rationally.
    Slowly, Tara raised her face to find him staring down at her, his amazing ashen eyes locked on her. He said not a word as he gradually shifted her so that she was standing. Yet, he didn’t release her.
    Tara reveled in the feel of his heat, the same heat that had stolen through her when he’d touched her earlier. It felt amazing, almost as if it went directly into her chest and spread outward.
    It did more than warm her, though. It made her body tingle, as if every nerve ending were stimulated and waiting for more.
    His fingers tightened for a second, as if he too felt the current between them. Tara wasn’t sure what to make of it. No one had ever affected her so strongly.
    “Thank you,” she finally managed.
    “I’m glad I was here,” he said and released her. “It could have been a nasty fall.”
    Tara raised her hand to her temple and the small scar hidden by her hair. A forgotten memory of her mother pushing her down the stairs in an attempt to make Tara use her magic to protect