No Quarter Given. Lindsay McKenna

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СКАЧАТЬ her, startling and unexpected. She’d never found peace with any man. Drowning in the warmth exuding from his eyes, Dana’s gaze clung helplessly to his as some silent, invisible strength seemed to flow from him to her. She felt the power of his caring and allowed it to wash through her, cleansing her of fear and momentarily taking away her pain.

      And then, the weight of her past rushed up within her to crush the new experience. No man gave without wanting something first. No man gave anything without extracting a price and payment, an internal voice reminded her. They always took. Bitterness coated Dana’s mouth, and she tore her gaze from his. Looking up, she saw people crowding close around her, curiosity written on their faces. Two policemen were working their way forward. Good. The thief would get his due. Her hands shaking, Dana pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose and tipped her head back to stop the bleeding. She’d learned this trick when she was seven years old after her father had struck her for not getting him the Sunday-morning newspaper fast enough.

      She had to get out of here. Trying to ignore the crowd, Dana keyed in on the conversation between the police officers and the man who had helped her apprehend the thief. His voice was low and modulated, sending a ribbon of calm through the chaos roiling inside her. It was a deep voice, belonging to someone who was very sure of himself. For an instant the desire to open her eyes and simply watch him was nearly overwhelming. And then she laughed at herself. The last time she’d been drawn to a man, she’d allowed his lies to become her reality. Jason Lombard had been a smooth talker, and she’d fallen beneath his spell.

      Mired in the memory of her mistake with Jason, Dana blotted out everything else. Time ceased to exist as she remembered her one-and-only affair, during her third year at Annapolis. Jason had been an upperclassman, ready to graduate from the prestigious military academy. Her roommates, Molly and Maggie, had warned her about him, but she hadn’t listened. Later, after spending Christmas with his parents, Dana had accidentally discovered the awful truth: Jason had bet his buddies that he could lay Dana. They’d called her Ice Woman at the academy. He wanted to see if ice water really did run in her veins. Jason had been the first man Dana had ever slept with. He’d seemed so different from the men she knew; so different from her father. The bitter truth was, they were all alike. They took what they wanted from innocent, trusting women.

      No more. The words pounded in her head in sync with her thudding heart. Dana slowly released the pressure from the bridge of her nose and lowered her head. Her nosebleed had stopped. Resting her brow against her drawn-up knees, she felt the shattered emotions still warring within her. She was positive her eye would blacken. My God, she had to report to Whiting Field tomorrow morning as a student pilot! What would her instructor think? Worse, would her eye swell closed? She needed both eyes to learn to fly.

      Women Annapolis graduates were few and far between, and those who passed the rigorous tests to get a chance to earn their wings were even rarer. Dana knew she and her two roommates wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms at Whiting. Most of the men saw women as taking flight slots that rightfully belonged to them. Now Dana would be standing at attention tomorrow morning with a black eye—a hell of a welcome to Whiting Field and pilot training.

      Dana felt a strong hand settle on her shoulder. She stiffened, jerking her head up. It was him. The man who had helped her. The eagle. His fingers were long and tapered, his grip gentle but firm on her shoulder.

      “Are you okay?”

      His voice flowed through the chaos of her thoughts. Dana blinked, unable to tear her gaze from his wonderfully warm gray eyes. Her heart opened, receiving his concern. When she didn’t answer right away, Dana felt his fingers tighten imperceptibly on her shoulder. He lifted his other hand, and instinctively she winced.

      “Take it easy,” Griff soothed, barely caressing the woman’s mussed black hair. He saw the sudden fear in her eyes. She was jumpy. Managing a slight, one-cornered smile, he added, “My name’s Griff. That was a hell of a tackle, lady.”

      “Dana.” He was too close, too overwhelmingly masculine. Her heart was beating even more wildly, his touch dissolving her defenses.

      Griff dug into the back pocket of his jeans. “I thought I had a handkerchief,” he muttered apologetically. “Oh, here it is.” He pressed the clean linen into her hands.

      “Th-thank you.” A part of Dana wanted desperately to fall into the shelter of his arms. The injured-animal part of her tasted panic, layered with suffocating fear.

      “I couldn’t believe you did that.” Griff gently laid his hand on her forearm, turning it over. The flesh had been scraped away. “The ambulance is on its way. Just hang on.”

      Dana’s black humor always surfaced in a crisis. Her lips curved into a wry twist that could be misconstrued as a grimace. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had a black eye,” she offered. “Don’t worry about me. What about the old woman? Could you go see how she is? Please?”

      Griff wavered. Dana was small and ultrafeminine, but he felt the smooth firmness of muscle beneath the flesh of her arm. The fear shadowing her azure eyes hadn’t ebbed. Why? She was safe now. He knew he had a craggy face, with features that were harsh and unforgiving, but she was reacting as if he were threatening rather than helping her.

      “Well—”

      “Please, she needs help. Go to her. I’ll be fine.” Did Griff hear the desperation in her tone? Dana wondered as she pulled her arm from his hand. She saw the puzzlement in his eyes. His lips parted to say something, but he changed his mind.

      “Okay. But you stay put. Understand? You’re in no condition to go anywhere.”

      A hysterical giggle clawed up Dana’s throat as he eased to his feet. If Griff had seen her after her father had gotten done with her, he’d have thought she was dying. A couple of times her mother had taken her to the hospital emergency room. When Griff halted and half turned toward her, Dana muttered, “I won’t go anywhere.”

      Ordinarily she’d have resented a man’s order. At Annapolis, especially as a plebe, she’d had to take plenty of stupid, inane orders from upperclassmen bent on driving her out of the academy. Then, as now, she tucked the resentment deep within her. The worry in Griff’s eyes was genuine, if she was any judge of the situation. But her track record with men had always been poor, so she feared she could have misread his intent. Still, her heart wanted to accept that Griff was concerned about her welfare.

      Griff crouched by the old woman who was shakily putting her glasses back on. Speaking quietly, he placed his hand on her. Dana’s face hovered before him. Automatically, he looked over his shoulder. A police officer was kneeling next to Dana, taking a report. She looked disheveled and in need of some care. Internally, Griff chastised himself. He’d gotten out of divorce court only six months ago. Carol, his ex-wife, had appeared strong and capable. But during the five years of their disastrous marriage, Griff had discovered his wife was a clinger, not a woman who could stand on her own two feet as his equal. Carol had fooled him completely. Sensing what he’d wanted, she’d become that for him while they were dating. He was a brash, cocky, fighter pilot who’d earned his wings out of Annapolis. Carol, an only child from a banking family, had fallen in love with his image; he ’d fallen in love with her facade.

      Disgusted with himself, Griff forced himself to look away from Dana. She had the face of an angel, with eyes the color of the sky he loved to fly in. And that mouth of hers… Groaning to himself, Griff wondered if the adrenaline flow was making him unusually responsive to her. Hadn’t he learned his lesson about being drawn to women too quickly?

      The police officer rose, giving Dana a hand to her feet. She brushed off the seat of her pants. A young woman came up, offering СКАЧАТЬ