Wolfe Wanting Read Online Free PDF

repressed the sigh that rose to tighten his throat. Megan had gone through an extremely nasty experience, and it showed.
    Royce recalled that, during her stuttered and disjointed recitation, he had been shaken by a startling conflict in the emotions tearing at his senses and sensibilities. His intellect had been outraged by the disclosure of the details of the attack on Megan. Assailed by fury, he had had to impose restraint on an overriding urge to jump up and dash from the room to search out, find and personally destroy the bastard who had terrorized her.
    At one and the same time, his emotions had responded in an unprecedented way to a sudden and strong sense of attraction at the touch of her hand clinging to his.
    Though Royce had pushed aside the unusual sensation then, as he did now, the memory lingered, a wisp of flotsam tossed about by an overwhelming wave of compassion.
    Royce felt a deep, almost compulsive need to help her, in some way to ease the frightening mental and emotional aftereffects he knew she was suffering.
    Frustration ate away at Royce like acid; Megan looked so damn vulnerable.
    But how to help? The question had nagged at Royce for more than twenty-four hours. What could he do? He was a trained law-enforcement officer, but that certainly did not qualify him to deal with in-depth mental or emotional problems.
    The only options that presented themselves to Royce seemed puny weapons of combat in relation to the magnitude of the inner battle tormenting Megan.
    He could extend his hand for grasping. He could volunteer as a shield of law between her and the world at large. He could offer his strength as protection.
    Puny, indeed, but...wait, Royce thought with sudden inspiration. The old adage of laughter being the best medicine had recently gained new, stronger credence. He had heard of physicians using it to treat a multitude of ills.
    Maybe it would help, Royce mused. Surely, if doctors were employing it, it couldn't hurt.
    Unnoticed as yet by the two women in the room, Royce stood silent, his eyes inventorying the look of Megan, comparing her beauty to the different yet equal beauty of the other woman, Dr. Virginia Hawk.
    In point of fact, there really was no comparison, except that they were both beautiful women.
    Whereas Megan had a mass of long, unruly-looking, fiery red hair, Virginia was a cool-looking blonde. And where Virginia was average in size, and maturely, enticingly curvaceous, Megan was tall, willowy, long-legged...and, in Royce's instant assessment, she looked more the model than the artist. Funny, he had never before been attracted to the lean, angular type.
    But the attraction was certainly felt now, banished to the fringes of his awareness, but there just the same.
    Royce didn't like it, but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
    “Oh, Sergeant, I didn't hear you come in.”
    Virginia Hawk's soft voice gently snared Royce's distracted attention.
    “I just arrived a moment ago,” he said, strolling into the room with a self-imposed casual air.
    “Oh, good morning.” Megan glanced around at the sound of his voice, revealing the bruised side of her face to his gaze. “I'm just about ready to go.”
    “No hurry. Take your time.” Royce had difficulty keeping his voice steady, concealing the feelings bombarding him. The sight of the discolored bruises marring her lovely face reactivated conflicting feelings of burning anger and drenching tenderness. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
    “No.” Megan began to shake her head, but halted the movement at once, wincing in pain. “I just have to slip into my shoes, and we can leave.”
    “Okay.” Royce shifted his gaze to the doctor. “Paperwork all cleared up?”
    “Yes.” Virginia smiled and nodded her head. “Megan is fine,” she said, letting him know she had seen and understood his reaction to the other woman's appearance. “She has agreed to come in to my office next week for a follow-up visit, but it will