Dancing in the Moonlight - Harlequin.com

RAEANNE THAYNE
217
Who would want to willingly take on someone with
her problems? She faced a lifetime of challenges.
Medical expenses, prosthesis adjustments, lingering
physical and psychological issues.
Any sane man would run for the hills when confronted
with all that, even if he could manage to get
beyond the obvious deformity of her missing limb.
She let out a long, slow breath, her heart aching already
in anticipation of the pain she knew was inevitable.
Every instinct warned her to make a clean, solid
break while she still had a chance, before she slipped
further down this hazardous path. Starting now. It was
foolish to indulge herself, to savor the pleasure of lying
here in his arms when she knew what lay in store for her.
So move, already, her inner voice suggested tartly.
She didn’t want to. She wanted to stay curled up
against him, feeling his slow breaths in her hair and his
heartbeat beneath her fingertips and his solid strength
against her.
A few more moments, she told herself. Couldn’t she
treat herself, just this once?
Before she could answer that question, he stirred
beneath her and she felt the tenor of his breathing
change as he started to wake. She froze, trapped in his
arms, cursing herself for not moving faster.
Now she couldn’t break free as he tightened his hold
and angled his head to give her a sleepy smile that curled
her five remaining toes. She could swear she felt the
missing ones clench, too.
Phantom sensation, they called that. Different from
phantom pain but just as disconcerting when she could