given him, the full touch of flesh against flesh, the vibrance and feel of her, the intoxication of her scent and her lips and the lightest brush of her fingers.
They scrambled to kiss and touch and tease. They rolled to one side and the next and twisted and turned in eagerness. He found her breasts and collarbone and ribs and worked his way down. Her fingers teased liquid fire into his shoulders and neck, grasping at his hair as whispers escaped her lips and she arched beneath him. The length of him seemed to be composed of lava then, hotter than melting steel, and the world became nothing but urgency. He came to her at last, for a second, just feeling that melding as if their flesh became one, frantic and eager, and longing still for the ecstasy and even agony to go on, rising like the sound of thunder crashing closer and encompassing all.
It was perhaps the best sex he’d ever had, a thought that shifted through his mind as they reached a shattering climax and slipped into the sweet and incredible afterglow that came as their hearts slowed and their bodies cooled.
They were both silent, just holding tight.
She lay curled against him, and he closed his eyes, savoring the silken feel of her hair against his chest.
And he wondered if it was true, if there was one person out there destined to be everything—lover, friend and all else.
She shifted, hands on his chest, rising against him, a sweet and slightly wicked smile on her face. She was about to speak.
But suddenly Titan began to bark, ferociously, frantically.
They both jumped out of bed as if a train were about to come crashing through the walls.
He was good at stumbling into his pants, grabbing the Glock and shouting at the same time.
“Stay here—leave this one to me and Titan!”
* * *
Stay here!
Weren’t those the words used in dozens of horror movies? Kids messing around in the woods, the guy telling the girl to stay in the car while he checks out the situation.
Then the killer with a giant knife or hook sweeps in, skewers the guy and comes for the idiot girl who is just screaming in the car.
They weren’t in a car. This was her home.
And Axel wasn’t an idiot guy; he was a trained agent. Not to mention Titan. The dog would die before allowing anyone without permission into the sanctuary of his home.
But be that as it may, she couldn’t just “stay.”
She raced to the closet for a dress and threw it on. She didn’t rush out; she hesitated at the front door, listening. She could hear Titan barking.
And she could hear Axel speaking to him. “Good boy. It’s all right now. Whatever it was, it’s gone now. Good boy, you were great. Come on back in.”
Raina ventured into the hallway, waiting. Titan came rushing in first, down the hall and straight to her, for once almost knocking her over in his eagerness to reach her and assure himself that she was okay.
She patted her dog, waiting for Axel.
She heard him relock the front door and saw him as he came back down the hallway, frowning.
“I didn’t catch it,” he told her.
“Catch it?” she asked.
He nodded, brows still tightly drawn. “I think someone stopped a car in front of your house. I don’t know if they did or didn’t get out, but it was blocks down the street by the time Titan and I got out there. I couldn’t see the license plate.” He shrugged lightly and offered her a half smile. “I could have chased the car down the road, but he took off. It was probably nothing. Animals are instinctive, and Titan probably knows he needs to be on high alert all the time. The car might’ve just belonged to a neighbor or someone visiting nearby. Anyway, doors are locked again.”
“Why do you look worried?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “I’m not worried. I’m good friends with my Glock, and we have Titan.”
“Do you think someone might really try to get to me? Why?” Raina asked. “I’m not a cop. I don’t know anything.”
“There’s no reason. Unless someone else somehow knows you tried on a dress and found the body of a murder victim.”
“Only my brother and the cops I saw that morning. None of whom seemed to believe me.”
“You don’t think Robert would have talked about it, do you?”
“My brother? No, that man is careful when he talks about the weather. He’s an