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"Brent, helpand sure and determined She thanked God He had co down this deadly giant of a monster alone

"Tara!" The word, her nath of her flesh

Then

He had her

He ripped her frorasp she couldn’t break

"No!" she screahter She couldn’t see, for shadows seemed to burst before her eyes

She couldn’t breathe, she could only hear the thunder of her heart, slowing

Tara

It was as if she heard his voice, a deadly whisper at her nape And she knew

He hadn’t come to help her To save her life He had coht Paul to a wonderful hotel roorand They had left hi that he could desire--coffee, wine, fruit, cheese, bread, crackers

The men had left The woman remained

She was in the other roo, he didn’t know, but it seemed very important to her that she find whatever it was She was beautiful, and very kind to hi on him now and then

At first, the novelty of the hotel suite kept hi his hands over the polished wood furniture, sitting on the pluain He adjusted pillows, picked at the fruit, enjoyed a glass of wine He liked playing with the rerew restless He walked over to the balcony, opening the s, and looking out at the streets below It was a wonderful view He had never really seen the landscape this way He saw it fro the land most of the time But here, where the hotel sat on a little hill, the view encompassed much of the countryside, in ed as the afternoon waned, and he was fascinated by each subtle variation in tone It was all very beautiful

The woman came out briefly to sht Or perhaps she wassure he was still there

He sood

At last, he tired of wandering and watching the view He even tired of playing with the television and the remote control There was no show on that could hold his attention

He couldn’t help thinking about Yvette

He wondered why he loved her But he did, and he had, forever and ever, so it seemed He was the one who had been there for her, so h the years, there were tinant, but she had told hiain that she was a free spirit, and would not be tied down, and if he was going to try to hold on to her, like a giant brick around her neck, she simply wouldn’t talk to him at all And they wouldn’t be friends And there wouldn’t be those tireat interest in life, and spent hours with hi, that escalated life to such wild fields of pleasure that it ony of her constant betrayals all the more complete But still, all in all, in the end, he believed that she would tire of her hunt for adventure and riches She would remember the times that he had been there for her, rock hard and steady, alaiting Always No ht that he would be there for her under any circumstances He had fantasized about occasions when she had been in trouble, when he had stepped in, swung a practiced right hook at some abusive fellow, and become her hero

And now

She hadn’t been the headless corpse at the ue, he res sprawled over the elegantly carved end of it, and let the remote control fall to the floor He listened with half attention to the sports channel that was on, but found hi off as he did so He drearier with her She had certainly eh, not with her words, but with a look Why, why, did she have to run around with other men? Money did not mean so much in life The way she looked at hily

No one would ever love her the way he did

As he drifted, she came into his dreams Yvette So pretty She was in one of her playfultoward hi, shoulders somewhat back There was that look in her eyes that he hadn’t seen very oftennot in the last many months, at least A look that was all for him, that said she wanted him

Paul, silly boy, there you are Such a silly squabble we had I need you now, you know I know I’ve been bad, but you’ve forgiven me so many times You’re the one I really want, the one I’ve alanted in the end And you know, Paul, I want you now

I want you now

It was such an incredible dreaossamer stuff that seemed to lift and swirl around her as she walked He knew that beneath it, she was naked There were hints of flesh to be seen, hints of color at her breasts, shadows at the juncture of her thighs His rin on his face, he was certain He shouldn’t smile so He should be like soback, waiting, ame, tease and taunt as if she was desperate for once

For him

It was a dream, of course, which e The closer she came to him, the more he felt certain that it was Yvette Really Yvette She was in trouble so out to him The words formed in his mind

Yes, Yvette, I love you, I’ll save you, I’ll come