I bit down on my lip and relished the foreign invasion.
“You okay?”
“Very.” I smiled like I was on a drug I had zero desire to get off.
“Good.” He quickly twisted me so I landed on my back in front of him. “I need to see you.”
He crawled on top of me and dove back in. His eyes squeezed closed as he sucked a deep breath through his nose before he opened them and gazed down at me with a wicked smile.
I lifted my knees to take him deeper, and he rocked into a smooth rhythm, stroking all the right places. I hooked my ankles around his hips and held on while he took over my mind and body.
His panting next to my ear drove me wild, so I dragged my nails down his back and listened to the hitch in his breathing.
“I won’t lie, I’ve dreamt of this moment,” he whispered. “But nothing could prepare me for this.”
He switched angles and hooked his arm under my knee, and as soon as he hit the root of me, I started to see spots. The center of my belly knotted and coiled like a snake, heat burst through my veins, and a massive roar built in my ears.
“Yes, baby,” he murmured from somewhere. “Squeeze me like that again.”
I gave in to my animal instincts and let whatever I was feeling come out like a caged tiger. I didn’t remember the merge into my climax, I just knew that everything burst into a hundred different colors and utopia washed over me like a waterfall.
Blake’s cries were a million miles away, but he held on to me while we both rode out our pleasure.
I didn’t how I continued to breathe. All the air had evaporated from my lungs and left me in bubble of warmth and contentment.
“Come here.” He pulled my limp body to his side and kissed my forehead. Warmth covered my bare skin as I was tucked into his side with the cozy blanket. “Sleep now.”
I barely caught his words, as sleep decided it was its turn to take me away.
“You sure you’re good?” Blake handed me my jacket and purse once we finally got home that morning. The roads were plowed by four a.m., and we were able to get home by four thirty.
“I just need a warm shower and some coffee.” I leaned over and kissed him, which was a mistake because now I craved him inside me. “I wish you could come in.”
“I’ll be over later,” he assured me. “I just need to check in with the station.”
“Okay.” I kissed him once more before I hopped into the knee-deep snow with a quiet scream and hurried to my porch. I unlocked my door and discovered Bentley huddled by the fireplace that was now just ash. Poor guy! My house was freezing, and it took me a moment to realize why.
“Oh, no!” I had forgotten to close the window last night when I was dying from hairspray fumes. A sinking feeling washed over me when I realized Lloyd hadn’t attacked me when I arrived. I quickly lit the fire and gave my sad looking pup a rub on the head and called out for Lloyd.
“Here, kitty kitty!” I called and hurried to the kitchen to open a can of tuna. The little piggy could never resist the Chicken of the Sea. When he didn’t come, I tried his actual name from the Lego movie Ninjago. “La-loyd!” He always came when I used it, and my stomach sank when I realized he was actually gone. He wasn’t an outdoor cat. He liked his Brita water and fancy cat chow.
I quickly changed into jeans and snow boots and rushed outside, calling his name.
“You’re up early,” Kim called from her porch. “Are you looking for your cat?”
“Yes!”
“Saw him down by the bakery last night. I tried to get him, but the little devil wouldn’t come to me.”
“Okay.”
Dammit! Bed was calling my name, but Lloyd wasn’t used to this area yet, so I headed down my property toward the lake.
“You want help?”
“Nah, I’m good!” I rushed down to the water’s edge and took the fastest route to the bakery I could.
My flashlight bounced around as I wove through the trees. The snow was easier to walk through, as the trees provided protection from last night’s storm.
“La-Lloyd! Here, kitty kitty!” I called over and over until my throat became sore and my legs grew tired.
Normally, I wouldn’t struggle with physical activity, but Blake had worn me out. I hadn’t had an orgasm like that in my entire life. Although I was beyond tired, if that man showed up right now, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. My skin broke out in a heatwave at the memory of his touch.
Something dark caught my attention, and it was enough to stop me in my tracks. I’d have liked to believe it was a moose or a bear, but the way it hid told me I wasn’t dealing with an animal. I twisted around, scanning the trunks of the tress, and lost sight of it.
“Meow.” I heard a tiny squeak. I turned in that direction and hurried toward the sound.
“Lloyd!” I saw him up in a tree, holding on for dear life. “Come here, boy. Jump to me!”
Just as I went to raise my arms, I heard the crunch of snow beating toward me. Someone dressed all in black raised a branch and swung it toward me and hit me in the head. I fell back and hit the ground hard. The sound of the wood meeting my skull once again echoed through my ears and blinded me with pain. When I opened my eyes, someone stood over me. The hood made them faceless, but the way the head leaned led me to believe they were deciding what they should do with me.
Fear licked my insides, my adrenaline pumped through my veins, and everything became too much. I blacked out.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jonah
“Shit!” I roared and wiped my runny nose on the sleeve of my jacket. I held the wood up and stood over her head, ready to drill the branch straight through her skull…but it wasn’t time yet. “Fuck!” I tossed the wood aside and hung my head and stared at one of my biggest enemies, the one who got in the way of my happiness and had what I couldn’t. Blood splatter dusted the white blanket around me, and I felt myself start to crumble.
The words wrong one ping-ponged inside my head, and once again, I submitted to her hold.
The woods were a perfect cover to watch from a short distance. I blended in well with my camo clothing and ball hat. I knew her schedule well and knew when the neighbors would be making their routine visit whenever her husband was away. This wasn’t the first time I stood in that spot.
It was May, so the sun wouldn’t be down for hours, but I could wait. I was good at waiting. A lot of my life was waiting for the next call for work or waiting on my agent to get back to me about my books.
As soon as dusk came, I pulled up my hood and hurried over to the front door, slipped the key in the jagged hole, and like a flash, pounded in the alarm code.
Easy.
The shower turned off, and I waited in the hallway with my gun on my thigh.
It took seven steps to emerge from the bedroom, so when I heard the dresser open, I knocked the glass off the counter and counted.
Silence.
Then a scuffle as I heard her quickly pulling on some clothes.
“Kim? Shannan?” Her words filled the cabin.
Footsteps.
“One, two, three, four,” I fixed my grip on the handle, “five, six,” I raised the 9mm, and just as her seventh step hit, I tossed a punch into the back of her head.