Safe In His Arms

Safe In His Arms
Christine Scott

SCANDAL'S DAUGHTER?Was it fate that led beautiful Jessie Pierce into Samuel Connors' embrace? Surely only fate could have drawn her to the man with whom she shared a secret for which neither had the key…. For buried somewhere in the missing memory of Jessie's first five years was the answer to who had killed her mother and framed Samuel's father for the crime.Now a specter from the past was trying to ravage the promise of their future, as Jessie found herself the target of a killer. And though Samuel had sworn to protect her, their lives and their newfound love were both at mortal risk….

“Tell me about yourself,”

Samuel said, breaking the strained silence. He met her surprised gaze without wavering. “You want me to help you uncover your past. I know who you were when you used to live on this island. I’d like to know who you are now, the person you’ve become.”

Jessie bit her lip, considering her answer. How much did she want to tell him? That she was haunted by dreams she couldn’t explain? That she’d never been able to make a relationship last because she wouldn’t allow herself to trust anyone? That she’d come to the island in search of a past, because she was desperate to save herself from a dismal future?

No, she couldn’t tell him the truth. No matter how much she might want to confide in him, she wasn’t ready to reveal that much about herself to anyone.

Dear Reader,

This is a very special month here at Intimate Moments. We’re celebrating the publication of our 1000th novel, and what a book it is! Angel Meets the Badman is the latest from award-winning and bestselling Maggie Shayne, and it’s part of her ongoing miniseries, THE TEXAS BRAND. It’s a page-turner par excellence, so take it home, sit back and prepare to be enthralled.

Ruth Langan’s back, and Intimate Moments has got her. This month this historical romance star continues to win contemporary readers’ hearts with The Wildes of Wyoming— Hazard, the latest in her wonderful contemporary miniseries about the three Wilde brothers. Paula Detmer Riggs returns to MATERNITY ROW, the site of so many births—and so many happy endings—with Daddy by Choice. And look for the connected MATERNITY ROW short story, “Family by Fate,” in our new Mother’s Day collection, A Bouquet of Babies. Merline Lovelace brings readers another of the MEN OF THE BAR H in The Harder They Fall—and you’re definitely going to fall for hero Evan Henderson. Cinderella and the Spy is the latest from Sally Tyler Hayes, an author with a real knack for mixing romance and suspense in just the right proportions. And finally, there’s Safe in His Arms, a wonderful amnesia story from Christine Scott.

Enjoy them all, and we’ll see you again next month, when you can once again find some of the best and most exciting romance reading around, right here in Silhouette Intimate Moments.

Yours,

Leslie J. Wainger

Executive Senior Editor

Safe in His Arms

Christine Scott

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To my mother-in-law, Dutch.

Thank you for your wonderful son, and for being such a loyal supporter of my work.

CHRISTINE SCOTT

grew up in Illinois but currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri. A former teacher, she now writes full-time. When she isn’t writing romances, she spends her time caring for her husband and three children. In between car pools, baseball games and dance lessons, Christine always finds time to pick up a good book and read about…love. She loves to hear from readers. Write to her at Box 283, Grover, MO 63040-0283.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Epilogue

Prologue

Voices.

Loud, angry voices woke her.

Confused and uncertain, Jessie Pierce climbed out of bed. Stumbling, following a night-darkened, long and unfamiliar hallway, she hurried toward the sound of shouting. Her movements were clumsy, her feet leaden, as though she was walking in slow motion. She was disoriented, uncertain where she was headed. Her heart raced, fluttering in her chest like a butterfly’s wings.

The angry voices grew louder. Emotion distorted their timbre, making it hard for her to identify them.

A beam of light sliced through the inky night, blinding her, paralyzing her with fear….

A shape emerged from the shadows.

A shape large and frightening, coming closer, closer…

Her heart leaping in her chest, she stumbled back, one step, two, until she couldn’t go any farther….

And then there was nothing but darkness. All-encompassing darkness.

With a start Jessie’s eyes flew open. She was trembling. Her teeth were chattering—the only sound in the stillness of the night. Her lungs burned in her chest, and she realized she was holding her breath. Releasing the pent-up breath with a whoosh, she gulped in cooling drafts of air and desperately tried to still her shaking limbs.