Her mind swirled with his gypsy’s story and his warrior’s logic and the emotional honesty he was finally giving her. There was no reason to believe he wouldn’t hurt her again. But safe or not, she could feel herself falling. Sinking. His memories from his family’s tragedy surged around them and rustled through the ravine like thousands of tiny wings fighting to escape the night’s darkness, as fearlessly as Richard had survived his own legacy’s meltdown. She nestled deeper into his embrace, exactly where she’d always wanted to belong. She yearned to be as fearless as that sixteen-year-old boy who’d found a way to survive the unthinkable—as fearless as she appeared right now, reflected back from Richard’s gaze. She wanted to become whatever she had to, to keep him in her life, in her mind. More than ever, she wanted to conquer the nightmares that threatened this new beginning he made her want to believe she could have. Richard had been her raven. A villain from her past.
