Shades of Twilight
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Authors: Linda Howard
LINDA HOWARD
POCKET BOOKS
New York  London  Toronto  Sydney
LOOK FOR THESE HEART-POUNDING NOVELS OF ROMANTIC SUSPENSE FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR
LINDA HOWARD
She's hunting for a mateâand there's no more playing it safe.
OPEN SEASON
Handsome, rich, sexy,
deadly
â¦
MR. PERFECT
⦠and don't miss
ALL THE QUEEN'S MEN
NOW YOU SEE HER
KILL AND TELL
SON OF THE MORNING
AFTER THE NIGHT
DREAM MAN
HEART OF FIRE
THE TOUCH OF FIRE
ANGEL CREEK
A LADY OF THE WEST
Available from Pocket Books
Praise for the sensational novels of
New York Times
bestselling author
LINDA HOWARD
SHADES OF TWILIGHT
“[A] sizzlerâ¦. Ms. Howard is an extraordinary talentâ¦. [Her] unforgettable novels [are] richly flavored with scintillating sensuality and high-voltage suspense.”
â
Romantic Times
OPEN SEASON
“A perfect mystery for a late summer weekend. It's part romance with a dollop of suspense.”
â
The Globe & Mail
(Toronto)
“This book is a masterpiece. Howard hooks us with a devastating opening prologue, then paints such visual pictures of her characters that they live.”
â
Rendezvous
“The irrepressible Daisy Minor has a way of freshening everything.”
â
The Palm Beach
Post
“This lighthearted novel takes a dark turn when Daisy herself becomes prey.”
â
People
“A modern-day version of the fairy tale about the ugly duckling that grows into a magnificent swanâ¦.”
â
The Orlando Sentinel
(FL)
MR. PERFECT
“A frolicsome mysteryâ¦. Jaine Bright lives up to her name: she's as brightâand explosiveâas a firecracker.”
â
People
“
Mr. Perfect
really scoresâ¦. Part romance novel, part psychological thriller, [it] is both a frightening and funny look at the plight of the modern woman searching for an ideal mate.â
â
New York Post
“There is nothing quite like a sexy and suspenseful story by the amazing Linda Howard! ⦠Funny, exciting, gripping, and sensuous ⦠one of her all-time best!“
â
Romantic Times
ALL THE QUEEN'S MEN
“A high-suspense romanceâ¦. Howard's trademark darkly sensual style and intense, layered plot will delight her fans.”
â
Booklist
“Ms. Howard has made the character [of John Medina] irresistibleâ¦. A fascinating novel of suspense and sensual tension.”
â
Rendezvous
â[A] sexy thriller ⦠another explosive hit.”
â
Romantic Times
NOW YOU SEE HER
“Steamy romance morphs into murder mysteryâ¦.”
â
People
“An eerie, passionate, and thrilling taleâ¦.”
â
Romantic Times
“Sensual, page-turning.”
âAmazon.com
KILL AND TELL
“Linda Howard meshes hot sex, emotional impact, and gripping tension in this perfect example of what romantic suspense ought to be.”
â
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“A riveting masterpiece of suspense. Linda Howard is a superbly original storyteller.”
âIris Johansen,
New York Times
bestselling author of
And Then You Die
SON OF THE MORNING
“Linda Howard offers a romantic time-travel thriller with a fascinating premise ⦠gripping passages and steamy sex.”
â
Publishers Weekly
“A complex tale that's rich with detail, powerful characters and stunning sensualityâ¦. It's no wonder that Linda Howard is the best of the best.”
âCompuServe Romance Reviews
AFTER THE NIGHT
“
After the Night
has it allâ¦. Intense romance and mounting tension.”
â
The Literary Times
Books by Linda Howard
A Lady of the West
Angel Creek
The Touch of Fire
Heart of Fire
Dream Man
After the Night
Shadow of Twilight
Son of the Morning
Kill and Tell
Now You See Her
All the Queen's Men
Mr. Perfect
Open Season
Published by POCKET BOOKS
The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An
Original
Publication of POCKET BOOKS
POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 1996 by Linda Howington
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
ISBN: 0-671-01971-6
ISBN 13: 978-0-671-01971-6
eISBN 13: 978-1-439-18791-3
First Pocket Books printing July 1996
29Â Â 28Â Â 27Â Â 26Â Â 25Â Â 24Â Â 23Â Â 22
POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or [email protected]
Printed in the U.S.A.
To
Beverly Beaver, a wonderful woman and dearly loved friend, for all the years of camaraderie and support, as well as taking the time to escort me around Tuscumbia and Florence, tell me who is sleeping with whom, and show me where all the bodies are buried. (Just joking, folks ⦠you hope.)
And to Joyce B. R. Farley, sister extraordinaire. Here's to dolls, both blond and redheaded; tricycles with no brakes; attack roosters; graveyards for socks; hair rollers and bonfires; makeup and Molotov cocktails. You're the only other person I know who understands the reason behind wearing a Groucho mask and a tiara in publicâand the only other person I know who's done it.
(For the curious: if you wear a Groucho mask and a tiara, people will figure you're either important, or crazy. Either way, they'll leave you alone. Try it some day when you're feeling grouchy and don't want to be bothered.)
S
he heard her own soft cries, but the pleasure exploding in her body made everything else seem unreal, distanced somehow from the hot magic of what he was doing to her. The noon sunlight wormed its way through the rustling leaves overhead, blinding her, dazzling her as she arched upward against him.
He wasn';t gentle with her. He didn';t treat her like a hothouse flower, the way the other boys did. Until she'd met him, she hadn't known how boring it was to always be treated like a princess. To the others, the Davenport name had made her a prize to be sought but never sullied; to him, she was just a woman.
With him, she
was
a woman. Though she was nineteen, her family treated her as if she were still a child. The protectiveness had never chafed her, until two weeks ago when she'd met him for the first time.
Naive and innocent she might be; stupid she wasn't. She knew when he'd introduced himself that his family was little better than white trash, and that
her
family would be horrified that she had even spoken to him. But the way his muscled torso had strained the fabric of his too-tight T-shirt had made her mouth go dry, and the swaggering masculinity
of his walk had started a strange tightening deep in her abdomen. His voice had lowered seductively when he spoke to her, and his blue eyes had been hot with promise. She'd known then that he wouldn't limit himself to hand-holding or necking. She knew what he'd wanted of her. But the wild response of her body was out of her experience, beyond her control, and when he asked her to meet him, she had agreed.
She couldn't get away at night without everyone knowing where she went, but it was easy to go out alone for a ride during the day and easy to arrange a meeting place. He had seduced her that very first time, stripping her naked beneath this very same oak treeâno, she couldn't pretend that it was a seduction. She had come here knowing what would happen, and she had been willing. Despite the pain of the first time, he had also shown her a wild pleasure she hadn't known existed. And every day, she came back for more.
He was crude sometimes, but even that excited her. He had been proud that he was the one to “bust her cherry,” as he'd put it. Sometimes he said something, with a sneer in his voice, about a Neeley screwing a Davenport. Her family would be horrified if they knew. But still she dreamed, dreamed of how he would look in a nice suit and with his hair freshly cut and neatly combed as they stood together and informed the family that they were going to get married. She dreamed of him going to work at one of the family businesses and showing everyone how smart he was, that he could rise above the rest of his family. He would be a gentleman in public, but in private he would roll her on the bed and do these nasty, delicious things to her. She didn't want that part to change at all.