Patricia Rice

Wayward Angel

by

Patricia Rice

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ISBN: 978-1-61417-087-7

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This is a work of fiction.
 
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Copyright 1997, 2011 by Rice Enterprises, Inc.

Cover and eBook design by eBook Prep www.ebookprep.com
 

Thank You

The First Time

Pace bent his head to apply his mouth to hers with a force that reflected his hunger.

She was soft and small. Pace felt the slight exhalation of Dora's breath against his lips when he claimed hers, but something kept driving him on. He expected resistance but instead received a tentative, questioning pressure of her lips in return. He wanted more.

Suddenly she shuddered and gave a soft cry, but her fingers curled more securely into his shirt. She was responding. She was answering his plea, molding her lips to his, allowing his invasion, moving her body closer into the curve of his. He couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it. He wanted all of her....

To the survivors:

May love and the power of God heal all wounds.

I would like to dedicate this book to my mother, who survived, and to the Henwoods, whose acceptance gave her the family she needed.

Prologue

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

The Bed be blest that I lie on.

Four angels to my bed,

Four angels round my head,

One to watch, and one to pray,

And two to bear my soul away.

—Thomas Ady, A Candle in the Dark (1656)

November 1851

Alexandra Theodora Beaumont grasped the rim of the polished mahogany library ladder and attempted to unhook it from the ledge of Bible study volumes. Although she had just turned eight, her hands were too small and helpless for the Herculean task. With a moue of disgust, she glanced around the lamp-lit library for an alternative.