To Tempt a Wilde (16 page)
Authors: Kimberly Kaye Terry
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Fiction, #General, #Love Stories, #African American, #African Americans, #Wyoming, #Ranchers, #African American Cowboys
Ready to end his hold on her forever as she brought
the log down for the final blow, a strong yet gentle hand grasped her wrists, pulling her to her feet.
She turned with a cry and looked up into Nathan's beloved face.
“Enough, Altheaâ¦baby, enough.”
Althea turned and beat
against the chest of the man who held her, tears streaming down her face.
“I know, babyâ¦I know. It's okay. He's not worth it. He's not worth your life,” Nate said, and she cried even harder, burying her face into his chest. Hard tears racked her body until she could cry no more, her limbs grew limp. Had he not held her up, she would have fallen to the ground.
Had he not stopped her, she would
have killed Reggie.
And he would have had the final victory in the end. Although she would have gotten her vengeance, she would have ended up paying a price for it.
She finally opened her eyes, pulling away from him to see both Shilah and Holt there beside them.
In her rage, her determination to end the terror Reggie had inflicted on her, she hadn't noticed Nathan's brothers' arrival. After
a brief word with Nathan, both men moved toward the fallen man on the ground.
As his brothers pull a dazed Reggie to his feet, Althea heard them calling the local sheriff as they dragged him past them.
She barely gave him a glance, her eyes on the man who held her in his arms.
“You don't have to run anymore, baby. Never again,” Nate said, the love he had for her blazing in his eyes. “I'll protect
you, love you, cherish you for the rest of
your life. If you'll have me,” he said, emotion thick in his deep voice.
Tears ran down her face unchecked as she once more glanced at the man being taken away, the man who'd taken her father from her and had terrorized her for the last two years. A man from her past.
She slowly wrapped her arms around Nate, the tears of pain now mingled with those
of joy, knowing the man who held her was the man of the present. The one who was her future.
She nodded her head, and he pulled her close, kissed her, before slowly releasing her.
“I want your face to be the last one I see at night⦔ he said, after he released her.
“And the first one I see in the morning,” she finished, her voice thick with emotion.
Together they turned, slowly walking toward
his waiting brothers and their bright, love-filled future.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8817-5
TO TEMPT A WILDE
Copyright © 2011 by Kimberly Kaye Terry
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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