Guarding Raine Part 74

"I'm glad she won't go to jail,"

she said, her eyes meeting his.

~ He nodded.

"You were right about the kind of help she needed. The judge must have

agreed, too. Trey says she's been remanded to a psychiatric inst.i.tution."

He hadn't liked listening to Raine defend Sarah to the police.

But the results attained by the court-appointed psychiatrist had supported Raine'S long-time suspicion of abuse.

Raine was convinced that the years of physical abuse Sarah had suffered

from her brother had taken a serious emotional toll on the woman."After Burnett had begun the threats, Sarah must have decided to copythe idea. When you were completely terrorized, she figured youwouldn't be able to work. But I think it was definitely Joe's decisionto take the idea to the extreme."

"Gettingrid of me completely."

His face went harsh at her words.

"Yes."

G.o.d, the final episode in the gallery still had the power to wake him

at night, sweating at the realization of how easily he could have lost

her.

It had been the most difficult thing he'd ever had to do, to wait in the darkness, knowing Joe had his hands on Raine and being awa~e of the man's intentions.

It had been impossible to tell in the darkness whether Joe had a weapon, so he'd had to wait for his chance to take him off guard.

Sarah's action had given him the opportunity he needed.

He hadn't expected her to come to Raine's rescue and strike her brother with the heavy flashlight.

It had provided the opening he'd been waiting for.

Joe had turned Raine loose, and Mac had sprung.

He smiled grimly.

Getting his hands on Joe had been primitively satisfying.

If it hadn't been for his need to hold Raine again, he couldn't be sure

Joe would have left the gallery alive.

"What will happen..."

her voice faltered a little, and she made a visible effort to steady

it.

"I mean, to the others?"

He frowned, fiercely wis.h.i.+ng she'd leave .

the subject alone.

But he knew better than to s.h.i.+eld her from unpleasantness, had learned

his lesson well from her.

Still, it was with visible reluctance that he answered.

"Burnett will go back to prison,"

he said with certainty.

"With his record, there won't be any plea bargains. And there's an

awful lot of circ.u.mstantial evidence linking Joe to the physicalattacks on you. The hairs found in the abandoned car matched his. Hisgirlfriend drives a late-model sedan that matches the description ofthe one Anderson saw the night your porch was set on fire. I thinkthey have enough to send him away for a long time."

He fell into a brooding silence, and she could read his thoughts from

the ferocity of his expression.

It wasn't in his nature to forgive easily, and he'd taken his role as her protector very seriously.

But she'd learned a long time ago the fruitlessness of dwelling on the

past.

She turned to her side, facing him, and reached out to smooth her hand over his hard shoulder.

"It's over now,"

she reminded him gently.

He turned his head slowly to gaze at her, and the intensity in his eyesmade her breath catch.

He raised himself up on one elbow, bringing his face very close tohers.

"No, it's not over,"

he said, his low voice giving her words a very different meaning.

"If there's one thing I've decided in the last month here with you,it's that I don't want it to be over. Not for us. " All I've thoughtabout in the last twenty-nine days has been you.

And if I was honest with myself, I'd admit that I thought of d.a.m.nlittle else for quite a while before that.

" He leaned closer and pressed a long, deep kiss to her mouth. Raisinghis head slightly, he rasped, " My life had been empty for a long timebefore I met you.

I deliberately kept it that way.

But I have a feeling that if I let you walk away, I'd find out whattrue emptiness is.

Her lips parted, wonder skating over her features as hope unfurled itsfragile bloom within her. " I'm not going anywhere," she whispered,her lips near enough to brush his as she formed the words. " You told me once that your love was there for the taking.

Are you still offering it?

" She wrapped her arms around his sun-kissed back. " It's always beenyours, Macauley," she told him achingly. " All you had to do was reachout for it.

" His mouth grazed hers as he said shakily, " I don't know much aboutlove, Raine, but I figure you have about the next seventy years toteach me.

" She stroked his cheek lovingly and saw the pure emotion blazing ineyes that had once been so expressionless. " You know more about love than you think.

He gazed steadily at her, wanting to freeze the moment into his memory.If he had her talent he would paint her like this, sunlight spillingall around her. " I like to see you like this," he murmured, "surrounded by light.

" She smiled serenely against his lips as they claimed her own. He was thinking of her fears, she knew, and the shadows that had tormentedthem both. But somehow she didn't think she would mind the darkness anymore, now that Macauley would be there beside her.

end.