Sheri WhiteFeather - Skyler Hawk - Lone Brave

“Excuse me?” Windy asked, surprised.

“Your hair looks like you just tumbled out of bed.” Sky wiggled his eyebrows. “Nothing’s sexier than a thoroughly loved woman with tangled hair.”

For Pete’s sake. What a thing for him to say, especially after she’d been fantasizing about sleeping in his arms. “My hair always looks like this.” And she’d never been thoroughly loved. Windy tried not to blush.

She knew her lack of experience was showing. Although plenty of men found her attractive, she’d never lost her heart, made earth-shattering love or even cuddled in masculine arms all night. Call her old-fashioned, but she didn’t mind waiting for the real thing.

Sky clanked a spoon against his cup. With a start, Windy looked up to find him watching her, a knowing look in his eye.

Dear Reader,

Please join us in celebrating Silhouette’s 20th anniversary in 2000! We promise to deliver—all year—passionate, powerful, provocative love stories from your favorite Desire authors!

This January, look for bestselling author Leanne Banks’s first MAN OF THE MONTH with Her Forever Man. Watch sparks fly when irresistibly rugged ranch owner Brock Logan comes face-to-face with his new partner, the fiery Felicity Chambeau, in the first book of Leanne’s brand-new miniseries LONE STAR FAMILIES: THE LOGANS.

Desire is pleased to continue the Silhouette cross-line continuity ROYALLY WED with The Pregnant Princess by favorite author Anne Marie Winston. After a night of torrid passion with a stranger, a beautiful princess ends up pregnant…and seeks out the father of her child.

Elizabeth Bevarly returns to Desire with her immensely popular miniseries FROM HERE TO MATERNITY with Dr. Mommy, about a couple reunited by a baby left on a doorstep. Hard Lovin’ Man, another of Peggy Moreland’s TEXAS BRIDES, captures the intensity of falling in love when a cowgirl gives her heart to a sweet-talkin’, hard-lovin’ hunk. Cathleen Galitz delivers a compelling marriage-of-convenience tale in The Cowboy Takes a Bride, in the series THE BRIDAL BID. And Sheri WhiteFeather offers another provocative Native American hero in Skyler Hawk: Lone Brave.

Help us celebrate 20 years of great romantic fiction from Silhouette by indulging yourself with all six delectably sensual Desire titles each and every month during this special year!

Enjoy!

Joan Marlow Golan

Senior Editor, Silhouette Desire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my husband, Dru, for teaching me to appreciate all of God’s creatures, including the ones that slither.

To Raven, for letting me borrow your son.

And to my own son, Nikki—you’ll always be my baby, no matter how big you get.

lives in Southern California and enjoys ethnic dining, summer powwows and visiting art galleries and vintage clothing stores near the beach. Since her one true passion is writing, she is thrilled to be a part of the Silhouette Desire line. When she isn’t writing, she often reads until the wee hours of the morning.

Sheri also works as a leather artisan with her Native American husband. They have one son and a menagerie of pets, including a pampered English bulldog and four equally spoiled Bengal cats. She would love to hear from her readers. You may write to her at: P.O. Box 5130, Orange, California 92863-5130.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

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A nice, quiet young man?

Tall, dark and gorgeous would have been more accurate. Windy Hall gazed at the stranger standing on the other side of her front door. Edith Burke, her elderly landlady, had described him as a “nice, quiet young man.” So upon Edith’s recommendation, Windy had agreed, sight unseen, to share her two-bedroom rental with him, at least temporarily.

Maybe she had mistaken this man for her new roommate. Maybe he was selling something or collecting for a charity. Yeah, right. Hunks of America. “You aren’t Skyler Reed by any chance, are you?”

“Sure am.” He flashed a slightly crooked smile complete with a set of twin dimples. “But just Sky will do.”

Okay, no mistake. She extended her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Windy.”

“Hello, Windy.” As he clasped her hand, he spoke her name in a husky baritone. “The pleasure’s mine.”

A pair of dark sunglasses and shoulder-length black hair gave Sky Reed a renegade appeal, clearly contradicting the boyish dimples. A white T-shirt clung to his chest, then tapered into the waistband of well-worn jeans, emphasizing a lean yet muscular physique. Copper skin and razor-edged cheekbones boasted a Native American heritage, whereas his towering height, flared nostrils and square jaw hinted at European ancestry. Since Edith had said he worked with horses, the Western drawl and dusty cowboy boots were no surprise.

But the flirtatious grin, Windy decided, was anybody’s guess. She withdrew her hand from his grasp and fingered the hem on her T-shirt. Even his handshake sizzled with sexuality. Lord, what had she gotten herself into?

Act normal. Don’t let his looks fluster you. It’s a man’s heart that counts. “Come in. I’ll show you around so you can get settled.”

Sky pushed his sunglasses onto his head. “Thanks, but I’m not officially moving in until tonight. I’m on my way to work and thought I oughta stop by and meet you first.”

Windy started to respond, but upon seeing his eyes, found herself immobilized. And mute.

Blue. His eyes were blue—clear and vibrant, sparkling against that bronzed complexion and shock of black hair. The exotic combination weakened her knees. But before they could buckle, she decided his cerulean gaze was just an illusion—tinted contacts. Mixed genetics or not, no one that dark had eyes that blue.

His voice jarred her back to the subject at hand. “Edith said you had the extra house key.”

“Oh, of course. I’ll get it for you.”

Sky followed her into the living room then scanned the surroundings.

“It’s still a little barren,” Windy said. No knickknacks, no pictures on the walls, no stereo, no TV. “I wasn’t robbed. I was vandalized. Most of my belongings were broken.”

The horrifying experience had left her feeling violated and afraid. “My last roommate moved out a week before it happened. We weren’t getting along very well because she hadn’t paid her share of the rent for two months, but the police said she was not involved. This wasn’t a lone incident. Some other houses in the neighborhood were hit.” All of them had females living there. Young, single women.