A Love For All Seasons by Denise Domning

they'd hardly notice she was leaving.
    Struggling to her feet, she limped deeper into the alley's shadows. Every muscle ached. The need to sob filled her, but she fought it back, afraid she'd fall to pieces if she released even a single cry.
    Behind her, one of the two screamed, the sound choked off with a suddenness that spoke of death. Johanna moved faster. Ahead of her, a wall rose up to stand between her and freedom. With the tiniest of cries, she clenched her fist and hit the blind alley's end.
    The winner's footsteps echoed in the dimness as he came to claim his prize. Johanna turned, pressing her back to the wall. A man, taller and broader than her previous attacker, appeared out of the dimness. She would die.
    Anger at this filled her. Why should she have survived the attack in the field, only to perish even more horribly in this filthy place? It was the injustice of this that turned her fingers into talons. With a bold shout to hide her terror, she threw herself at this new threat. The man caught her hands then pulled her close into his embrace. Her head was pressed against his shoulder.
    "Nay, love," he said to her, his tone warm and low. "You're safe. I have you now."
    Johanna went still at the sound of his voice. Her fists opened, her fingers digging into the soft fur of his mantle. Beneath her cheek she felt the steady beat of his heart. She moved her head to the spot where it had always been most comfortable.
    "Rob?" she mewled, a piteous sound.
    "Aye love."
    Her heart, so long denied affection, sighed at this endearment. "He was going to ..." she began to tell him, only to fall silent as a terrible trembling started in the pit of her stomach.
    In the space of a breath her quaking spread to every inch of her body, until even her toes shook. The horror of what had and had not happened washed over her, again and again. A single dry sob left her then a tear trickled down her cheek, the harbinger of a bursting dam.
    "You're safe, love," he crooned, his arms tightening around her. "You're safe now."
    It was Rob; she was safe. Johanna buried her face into his shoulder and let the terror pour from her with her tears.
    When at last her sobs subsided, she lay spent against him, beyond thought or care in her relief. He let her stay so, but rocking her gently in his embrace. It was a long while before she had strength enough to lean back in his arms and look at him.
    Now that her vision was accustomed to the dimness, she could see the blood seeping from a set of scratches on his brow. His collar was torn. Light from the alley's opening gleamed against the familiar high thrust of his cheekbones, the gentle curve of his brow, and the narrow length of his nose.
    She frowned. It was Rob, but he was so changed. Fine lines touched the corners of his gray eyes, while a beard covered his strong jaw and outlined the curve of his lips. He'd let his hair grow longer than she liked it on a man.
    Without thought she raised a hand and pressed one dark brown strand into a curl against his cheek. Thick and soft, his hair did as she bid, just as it always had. He smiled at this familiar game of hers. His amusement set deep creases in his lean cheeks and brought warm lights to life in the cool gray of his eyes.
    In that instant the boy who'd loved her reappeared. Time shifted, and the years melted away. It was the girl who loved him in return who raised herself to her toes and touched her lips to his.
    The meeting of their mouths was nothing more than a gentle press of flesh to flesh. Yet, it was so warm, so familiar, so right, she wanted nothing more but to stand so forever. That was, until a spark of sensation shot through her, infinitely short, but oh-so-pleasurable.
    Catching her breath against it, Johanna moved her lips on his as she fed her starving heart. Her caress made his kiss deepen, but just a little. This time the spark returned, lasting long enough to wake years of banked hunger from its uneasy slumber. Long suppressed carnal