The intensity of his stare made her remember the dream shed been trying all day to forget
The two of them had been
No!
She couldnt allow herself to have those thoughts about Nathan.
He looked down at her, and in the soft light his eyes were like obsidian poolsdeep and fathomless. Dangerous, if you werent careful.
He reached out a hand to touch her hair.
Dont do something well both regret, she warned. But she didnt move away from his touch.
I would never ask you to do anything you didnt really want to. Nathan wove his fingers in her hair, applying a gentle pressure until they stood only inches apart. He was so tall, she had to look up at him, and when she tilted her head back, he lowered his mouth to hers.
Her first thought was to shove him away. Let him know she was not his for the taking.
Instead, she stood perfectly still, allowing his lips to whisper over hers in a promise of passion.
Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,
We have another outstanding title selection this month chock-full of great romantic suspense, starting with the next installment in our TOP SECRET BABIES promotion. In The Hunt for Hawkes Daughter (#605) by Jean Barrett, Devlin Hawke had never expected to see Karen Ramey once shed left his bedlet alone have her tell him his secret child had been kidnapped by a madman. Whether a blessing or a curse, Devlin was dead set on reclaiming his childand his woman.
To further turn up the heat, three of your favorite authors take you down to the steamy bayou with three of the sexiest bad boys youll ever meet:Tyler, Nick and Julesin one value-packed volume! A bond of blood tied them to each other since youth, but as men, their boyhood vow is tested. Find out all about Bayou Blood Brothers (#606) with Ruth Glickwriting as Rebecca YorkMetsy Hingle and Joanna Wayne.
Amanda Stevens concludes our ON THE EDGE promotion with Nighttime Guardian (#607), a chilling tale of mystery and monsters set in the simmering South. To round out the month, Sheryl Lynn launches a new series with To Protect Their Child (#608). Welcome to McCLINTOCK COUNTRY, a Rocky Mountain town where everyone has a secret and love is for keeps.
More action and excitement youll be hard-pressed to find. So pick up all four books and keep the midnight oil burning.
Sincerely,
Denise OSullivan
Associate Senior Editor
Harlequin Intrigue
Nighttime Guardian
Amanda Stevens
www.millsandboon.co.uk
MILLS & BOON
Before you start reading, why not sign up?
Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!
SIGN ME UP!
Or simply visit
signup.millsandboon.co.uk
Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amanda Stevens has written over twenty novels of romantic suspense. Her books have appeared on several bestseller lists, and she has won Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement in Romantic/Mystery awards from Romantic Times Magazine. She resides in Cypress, Texas, with her husband, her son and daughter and their two cats.
Books by Amanda Stevens
HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE
373STRANGER IN PARADISE
388A BABYS CRY
397A MAN OF SECRETS
430THE SECOND MRS. MALONE
453THE HEROS SON*
458THE BROTHERS WIFE*
462THE LONG-LOST HEIR*
489SOMEBODYS BABY
511LOVER, STRANGER
549THE LITTLEST WITNESS**
553SECRET ADMIRER**
557FORBIDDEN LOVER**
581THE BODYGUARDS ASSIGNMENT
607NIGHTTIME GUARDIAN
HARLEQUIN BOOKS
2-in-1 Harlequin 50th Anniversary Collection
HER SECRET PAST
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Shelby AugustTwenty-one years ago she saw something rise out of the river and come after her. Whether the monster was real or imagined, Shelbys life has never been the same since that night.
Nathan DallasFor over two decades hes kept his feelings for Shelby a secret. Now shes come back home, but another terrible secret threatens to keep them apart.
Annabel WestmorelandShelbys grandmother has lived on the river most of her life. Shes seen a lot of strange things.
Yoshi TakamuraHes built a laboratory near the river, and there are whispers in town of strange experiments.
James WestmorelandAnnabels son. How far would he go to get his hands on her money?
Delfina BoudreauxHer midnight walks along the river are troubling. What is she looking for?
Virgil DallasAfter Shelbys monster sighting, his paper made the nine-year-old famousand then infamous.
Miss ScarlettAnnabels neurotic cat may be the death of Shelby yet.
Dear Reader,
They say you cant go home again, but Nighttime Guardian took me straight back to my roots along the White River in Arkansas. The journey started, oddly enough, on the Internet when I came across a site for a jewelry store in Newport, Arkansas, which deals in freshwater pearls from the White and Black Rivers. I was fascinated to learn that river pearls can be worth thousands of dollars and that in the late 1800s a White River pearl was mounted in the royal crown of England!
I was hooked. Intrigued. But I still didnt quite have the spark I needed for my story. Then one day Phyllis Holmes, the manager of the store, reminded me about the White River Monster. That prehistoric, sea-serpent-like creature, affectionately dubbed Ole Whitey by the locals, had been the stuff of local legends. I began to wonder what would happen to a child who had a close encounter with the monster. How would she function in a world that didnt believe in such creatures?
In Nighttime Guardian Ive changed the name of the river and created a fictitious town, populated with fictitious characters. Ive even taken artistic license with the monster. But make no mistake. This is where I grew up. These are my people.
And the monster? Well, a 1973 resolution was passed in the Arkansas state legislature creating the White River Monster Refuge.
Now, to you city folk, this may seem a mite eccentric. But if youre ever out on the river at midnight, when the air is still and the shadows deep and the water so murky its like pea soup, you wont think it strange. Not one bit.
Contents
Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Prologue
From the Arcadia Argus, June 18, 1980:
Pearl River Monster Strikes Again!
Well, folks, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the Pearl River Monster has reared its ugly head again. A few days ago, a couple of local farmers reported missing livestock, and another one says he found a mutilated cow carcass down by the river. Now little Shelby Westmoreland, Annabel Westmorelandsgranddaughter, has told Sheriff McCaid that she saw a huge scaly beast rise up out of the river last night right around midnight.
Unlike previous eyewitness accounts, which claimed the Pearl River Monster resembled some sort of prehistoric sea serpent, this creature apparently walked upright, like a man.
The child was clearly terrified and what she described sent cold chills down my spine, said McCaid.
Just what little Shelby was doing out there alone at that time of night is still unclear, but one thing seems certain, folks. There is something in that river besides pearls and catfish.
From the Arkansas Democrat, June 25, 1980:
Nine-Year-Old Sees Monster
An Arcadia girl swears she saw a huge scaly monster rise out of the water near her grandmothers home on the Pearl River. The nine-year-olds claim is the most recent in a rash of Pearl River Monster sightings that have swept the small communities along the river in the wake of reports of missing livestock and cattle mutilations. Cross County Sheriff Roy McCaid told a group of reporters outside the courthouse yesterday that the child either saw something that badly frightened her, or else shes a very accomplished actress. Ive never seen a kid that scared. She could hardly talk when her grandmother brought her in.
The childs grandmother, Annabel Westmoreland, who deals in freshwater pearls harvested from the river, says her granddaughter left their house just before midnight on a dare from one of her friends. According to the grandmother, the child came running back to the house, screaming that shed seen a horrible creature rise out of the water and come after her.
From the Wall Street Journal, July 2, 1980:
Monster Hunters Invade Arkansas
Following a recent Pearl River Monster sighting by a nine-year-old girl, an army of scientists, sightseers and so-called monster hunters have descended on the small, northeast Arkansas town of Arcadia, located on the Pearl River.
In addition to missing and mutilated livestocksupposedly the handiwork of the monsterthere have been numerous alleged sightings of a huge, scaly, humanoid creature that inhabits the river.
In Arcadia, where Shelby Westmoreland lives with her grandmother, feelings are mixed concerning the sightings. Were all spooked around here, one woman says uneasily.
But another resident openly scoffs at the notion of a monster. That girl is obviously trying to get herself some attention. The woman admits, however, that she has started locking her doors at night and might have second thoughts about swimming in the river.
Meanwhile, nine-year-old Shelby has become something of a celebrity, with tabloid reporters camping on her doorstep and an appearance scheduled later this week on the Tonight show.
From the Arkansas Democrat, July 9, 1980:
The Vanishing Monster
Three weeks after the latest and most dramatic sighting of the Pearl River Monster, scientists from Arkansas State University and from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have pulled up stakes and gone home. If there is something living in that river other than an assortment of freshwater fish and mollusks, it certainly knows how to camouflage itself, says Dr. Dean Carey, a zoology professor in Jonesboro. Weve found no evidence of anything out of the ordinary in the Pearl River, except, unfortunately, for a high level of pollution.
Dr. Carey speculates that what people along the river may have witnessed recently is an alligator gar, which can sometimes reach lengths of ten to twelve feet. And they arent your most attractive creatures, he adds. I can see how a child might think it a monster, particularly at night.
When asked how an alligator gar might rise up out of the river, he laughs. Chalk it up to a childs vivid imagination. Thats the only possible explanation.
From the Arcadia Argus, July 16, 1980:
Monster Sighting A Clever Hoax?
Well, it looks like weve all been had, but it was a fun ride while it lasted. Sheriff McCaid now believes Shelby Westmorelands claim that she saw the Pearl River Monster a month ago was, in fact, a hoax perpetrated by the girls uncle, James Westmoreland, to capitalize on the influx of sightseers to the area.
According to the sheriff, business at the Pearl Cove probably increased by as much as tenfold during the weeks following little Shelbys claim. Anxious for a souvenir, visitors to the jewelry store were willing to plunk down hundreds of dollars for freshwater pearls from the river, guaranteed to protect the wearer from the monster.
With her uncles confession, Shelbys fifteen minutes of fame have officially come to an end. Following recent developments, her second scheduled appearance on the Tonight show has been canceled, and the tabloid reporters have all gone home. Evidently, their feelings now are that the girls story just isnt very credible.
Lets hope little Shelby doesnt go crying wolf in the near future because its doubtful anyone would be willing to listen.
Chapter One
Twenty-one years later
Nathan Dallas swatted a mosquito on the back of his neck as he guided the Buford boys aluminum fishing skiff across the dusky water. The two brothers sat in the prow, drinking and muttering to one another until Nathan couldnt help but wonder what they might be up to. Hed been gone from Arcadia for a lot of years, but he still remembered the rumors that had always swirled around the Bufords.