Deb - Bound to Her

Bound to Her

Deborah Pin

English teacher Katrina’s patience is put to the test when sexy

detective Dillon saunters into her classroom forty-five minutes late for parent-teacher conferences. Their first meeting is anything but

amicable—but they’re soon together again in an entirely different and more unpleasant situation.

When Dillon responds to a home invasion and assault, the last person

he expects to see is his son’s fiery-tempered—and damn attractive—

teacher, who has been haunting his thoughts since he aggravated her only days before.

It soon becomes clear that Katrina’s attacker’s intentions are far more

sinister than anyone initially realized and Dillon and Katrina’s time together becomes a necessity. But as the investigation heats up and their

attraction mounts, Dillon is faced with a choice. Ignore the rules about getting involved with a witness—or risk it all for love.

Bound to Her

Debora Pin

Chapter One

Katrina wasn’t at all sure she wouldn’t call the man up and scream at

him if he didn’t arrive soon. Last damn one of the day and he was standing her up. Her blasted head hurt as if it were in a vise. A vise that

was tightening with every minute this man kept her waiting.

She rifled through her desk drawer, hoping to find something with a

painkiller in it. Cold medicine. Great. But she was desperate and it had acetaminophen in it. It might leave her wired for hours thanks to a good

kick of real ephedrine but she’d rather be wired than in pain.

“Are you Mrs. Page?” The voice was deep and masculine. Authority

oozed from the assured tone.

But this was her damn meeting. She slammed the drawer on her finger as she righted her body to see who spoke. As the pain bit into her

fingertip, the words escaped her before she could reel them back in. “Son

of a bitch!”

He simply watched her appraisingly with an impassive expression

that caused a knot of rage to twist in her gut. She didn’t need to know the

man to guess who he was and he was late. She also held him completely

responsible for her headache and that wasn’t helping her vengeful

attitude. It was damn near eight o’clock in the evening and she was done with this day.

“You must be Mr. Adler. And it’s Ms. by the way. You are aware

you’re late?” Her voice was curt and cool.

“Yes. I’m sorry but I got tied up and—”

“I don’t care.” Oh boy was she in a mood. “I’ve been here since seven

this morning. It’s now nearly eight at night. The least you could have done was call the office and let them know you were running late. They

stayed open for just such a purpose tonight but I’m guessing whatever it

is you were doing was far more important than this. Does that about sum

it up?”

He watched her for a moment, saying nothing, giving nothing away

by the bland expression on his face. “As I said, I’m sorry. I’m a single

parent and—”

“Contrary to what you obviously think, you’re not my only single

parent and every last one of them managed to make it to their assigned

appointment.” Damn. In a mood didn’t quite touch her irritation with this man.

He studied her intently but without so much as the slightest reaction

to her anger. He was handsome—dark-brown hair, five o’clock shadow,

oddly pretty eyes for such a masculine, brooding appearance. However

stunning his light-brown eyes were, they were searing into her at the moment. He was tall and fit and she was fighting to hold his intense stare

rather than letting her gaze wander down his strong frame.

“Please have a seat.” Her voice was curt as she pulled her folder back

out from her drawer.

He eyed the nearest desk. “I think I’ll stand, thank you.”

“Very well. I’m Seth’s homeroom teacher and I’m also the seventh

grade English teacher. I’ve received reports from his other subjects to review with you as well. Seth is doing well in his math and science courses—above average in both—but he’s struggling with history and

literature. I’m concerned his reading comprehension isn’t where it ought

to be. This is his first year of junior high and I’m worried he could fall behind quickly if his reading comprehension doesn’t improve.”

“I see. Do you have some recommendations?” The man’s jaw was

tight but there was no mistaking the concern. He might not like her—not

that she cared—but he was obviously concerned about his son’s

progress. She shouldn’t be surprised but after their rough start she was.

“We have a reading group for students who are struggling—”

“My son knows how to read, Ms. Page.” He was starting to sound

annoyed again—almost as much as she still was.

“I’m not suggesting he doesn’t, but reading comprehension doesn’t

simply revolve around reading as much as it does remembering and

understanding what one reads. This group specifically addresses those concerns and I would recommend you consider putting him in this study

group.”

His jaw was working and his nostrils flared for a moment as he

appeared to stew in irritation. He wasn’t the first parent to hear bad

news during conferences and she supposed their rocky start hadn’t helped matters. She let the words sink in as she unconsciously pushed on

her head between her eyebrows, trying to stifle the throbbing pain in her

head.

“Are you all right?” His voice was suddenly far gentler than it had been and the crease between his brows looked of concern, though she couldn’t imagine it after how she’d treated him. She had been rude. More

than rude and that wasn’t Katrina’s habit.

“I’m fine. I just have a headache.” He studied her for a moment

longer with his arms crossed on his chest as he appraised the situation.

“Very well. What do I need to do to sign him up for the group?”

“Nothing at all. I’ll take care of it. The group meets in my classroom

during morning study hall, so it won’t conflict with any of his current courses.”

“Fine. I’m sorry I was a bit late.” His words were clipped and he didn’t sound at all sorry. He still sounded annoyed and what right did he

have? She was annoyed and as he turned to leave, it was with a frustrated shake of his head that ratcheted up her own irritation just a hair further.

“Yes well, I’m sorry I was a bit rude earlier.” Her words sounded no

more apologetic than his but it was more a taunt than real regret she was

imparting and her voice sounded of sarcasm. He’d only barely managed

an apology and a pathetic one at that, so he’d get nothing better from her.

He paused. He took a moment to turn toward her again and when he

did she watched his very chiseled, handsome jaw work on his rather beautiful face as his very delicious-looking mouth pursed. “You weren’t

a bit rude. You were exceptionally rude.” His hands were on hips as he squared off with her but Katrina was used to rude parents and she wasn’t going to be intimidated by this one.

She stood putting her own hands on her hips. “Yes? Well you weren’t

a little late. You were exceptionally late!” His eyebrows shot up as he watched her for a moment before turning once more and sauntering his

handsome ass away from her.

“Have a good evening, Ms. Page.” He didn’t even bother looking

back at her.

“What’s left of it.” She muttered under her breath to the empty room.

He was long gone.

She packed up, thinking her brain might fall out through her nose as

she bent over. She slung her laptop bag and book bag over her shoulder

and flipped the light switch as she left the room. The building was silent

as she headed toward the exit and the only sound that could be heard was the clicking of her heels along the old concrete floors. Even the custodians were finished for the day. She was alone.

She hated this place when it was empty. It scared the crap out of her,

really. The usually bustling, loud and busy halls were terrifyingly still and ghostly. It was the perfect setup for a horror movie and she happened to be walking through this most unsettling scene by herself in

near darkness.

She pulled her pepper spray from the side of her book bag as she neared the exit door and as she bumped it open with her hip she nearly

careened into Mr. Adler. She was sure he must have a first name but she’d be damned if she’d gotten it or paid attention to whether it was on

her schedule or not. It was only after she realized she was aiming the pepper spray at him and his hands were up that she realized just how hard her heart was pounding.

“Maybe point that elsewhere. I’m thrilled to see you’re carrying it but

it’s not warranted with me, I assure you.” His voice was still intense and

harsh but she couldn’t deny she was relieved to see him.

“I’m not so sure of that. What are you still doing here?” It didn’t mean

she was suddenly going to start being a sweetheart.

He looked around a bit with his lips pursed for a moment. It was almost a sheepish expression, if this man was capable of such a thing.

“The parking lot was empty—the building was too. I didn’t want to leave

you here by yourself.” He was muttering. He was definitely still irritated

—about as irritated as she felt—but it didn’t stop her cheeks from burning hot. Fortunately, the only light was coming from the parking lot

lights. It was otherwise dark as pitch.

It was a chilly Seattle night midway through the spring semester and

she shivered as she pulled her jacket tighter around her.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said.

Well she wasn’t going to argue with that—not when her heart was

still thudding away.

“Maybe you could put the pepper spray away now?”

“Yeah. Um…thanks for sticking around. I appreciate it. I can’t stand

this place when there’s no one here.”

“Well, it is my fault you’re here so late. It’s the least I could do.” They

walked in silence to her lovely, sensible and used Subaru Outback. He watched her climb in and raised his hand in a casual gesture as he turned

from her toward his not-so-sensible but far-more-rugged Chevrolet

Tahoe.

He was really something else to look at. Asshole of a personality, but

hot damn he had the butt of an Adonis. He was wearing slim-cut

charcoal-gray wool slacks that hugged his body beautifully and a light-

gray dress shirt. It was dressy but not over the top. She got lost at the sight of that ass and it was only when she peered up quickly to his face

and realized he was standing at his car door staring at her that she snapped back to this world. Fuck!

He stared at her without an inkling of expression until she fumbled with her key that was already in the ignition, realizing too late that her

car had already started. It made a god-awful noise as she turned over the

engine again and he continued to eye her impassively.

She threw her car into drive, nearly screeching out of her parking space as she took off. She snatched up her cell phone, dialing quickly.

“So you know how I’m literally the world’s biggest dumbass?”

“Of course I do. I mean, anyone who knows you knows you take the

cake on idiocy.” It was Imogen, her best friend with whom she’d felt the

need to call and share her humiliation. Imogen was a feisty brat from the

U.K. who Katrina had met during their first year of college. They hadn’t

been apart since, including working for the same school system. Imogen

had obviously gotten home from parent-teacher conferences long before

Katrina had.

“Right, well, add another log to the idiot pile. What the f-bomb is wrong with me?”

“You’re not in school, love. You can say fuck. No detention, I swear.”

“Fuck fuck fuckity fuck! Why? Why? I mean really? Why am I such a moron?” Katrina was whizzing through streets, speeding far more than

she should but the streets were fairly deserted and she was done done done being responsible for the day.

“Uh oh, Trink. What happened?”

“You know I hate it when you call me Trink. Why can’t you call me

something cool like Kat?”

“Kat’s taken by the chick in The Hunger Games. I’m afraid you’re just stuck with Trink. I don’t make the rules, dear. What about Trinkster?”

Katrina was already starting to smile again. Bless Imogen’s heart for

bringing a laugh to her life when she needed it most. “Anyway…”

“Yes, anyway. What did you do this time?”

“Oh you know…I was rude to a parent who consequently deserved

my rudeness and then he caught me staring at his butt. The usual.”

“Ah. So the parent had a nice butt, I take it? Or is this your new way

of sizing up the parents at parent-teacher conferences? So whose parent

are we talking about?”

“Seth Adler.”

“Ah… Yes. I don’t know the man but I’ve heard mention of his

hotness factor and I’ve seen him from afar. Nice ass is right!”

Katrina groaned as she remembered his expressionless face watching

her while her eyes were glued like tractor beams to his backside. “It was

awful. And I might have left my transmission in the parking lot too. Who

knows?” She threw her hand up as her less-than-perfect alignment

pulled her toward the center lane. Grabbing the wheel again, she righted

her path.

“You need a drink.”

“I hear that, sista! But sadly I still have five more essays to grade tonight before I can call it a day. Grading and drinking do not mix.

Listen, I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

They disconnected quickly as Katrina pulled into her driveway. It was

just a small home but she loved it. Her neighborhood in Seattle was quiet

and modest and while not anywhere near the amazing views on the

Sound or Lake Washington, it was all hers—thanks in large part to the inheritance her father left her years ago after passing away from lung cancer. Imogen called it a shack but in fact it was a quaint older bungalow-style home. Imogen was allowed to call it a shack because

Imogen had money—lots of money—and no one had to die for her to get it.

While Katrina struggled to eke out a living on the modest income

afforded a teacher, Imogen taught simply for the love of it and nothing

more—not that Katrina didn’t love it.

Oddly enough, Imogen was the most down-to-earth, quirky and fun

character Katrina had ever met. Her money didn’t spoil who she was in

any way and she was just as content schlepping her way through

Walmart by Katrina’s side as she was dragging Katrina through stores Katrina could never in a million years afford.

When she entered, Kitty met her at the door. She was an old cat—at

least twenty years at this point. She’d wandered up to her dad’s house as

a stray when Katrina was still in elementary school and she’d just stuck.

The poor old bat couldn’t hear a thing and when she meowed she more

often than not made no sound. She had no idea, of course. She was simply deaf and had no clue her meow box wasn’t working anymore.

She staggered like a drunken old soldier too. She was as neurologically

messed up as she was deaf but she was a ravenous animal when it came

to food and so Katrina couldn’t bear to put her down yet. Kitty was just

far too content in her deaf, neurologically fucked-up, half-dead, older-than-dirt sort of way.

The light on her answering machine that was just as old as her cat was

blinking.

“Trink, I think you should ask out the hot-butt parent. I’m assuming

he’s single, otherwise you would have acted normal. You only really seem to act like a maniac when a man’s actually available. Anywho, love

ya. Margaritas at Cabos tomorrow night. Be there or be square, love!”

Beep.

Katrina crawled into bed with a glass of wine and a stack of essays.

She wasn’t going to let herself take even one sip until she was on the last

essay. That would be her reward…

* * * * *

When Katrina woke the next morning, there was a full glass of red wine on her nightstand and three essays left to grade. Damn. Should have seen that one coming.

The day was long. It was Friday. Fridays were always long and as she sat at her desk during free writing time, she tried to grade the rest of the essays. “Ms. Page?” The voice was quiet and when she looked up Seth Adler was standing in front of her. She was suddenly hit with guilt as she took in his sweet face. He had his father’s eyes and for whatever reason, she felt as though every rude word she’d said to his father was spoken in front of him. It wasn’t of course and he’d deserved it for sure.

Beyond that, his father had a steely hard demeanor that she’d failed to crack in any way whatsoever, so her guilt didn’t make any sense but it was there nonetheless.

“Hey, Seth. What’s up?”

“My dad said I needed to talk to you about joining a study group for

reading during study hall?”

“Yeah. I’d love to have you in the group. I think it’ll really help you

with your studies but I hope I didn’t cause you any trouble with your father. I certainly didn’t intend to. I just really think it would be a great group for you.”

“Oh no. I’m not in trouble. He was glad you asked me to join. He just

wanted me to make sure I was there when I was supposed to be.” Huh?

And here she’d assumed Mr. Adler would put little stock in her group.

“Great. Third period, this room. We work on comprehension exercises

for the most part but we work in a group. So we may read individually

for a while but then we discuss and quiz each other over the material. It’s

more fun than it sounds, and I always have snacks to help you ruin your

appetite for lunch.” She smiled at Seth as his eyebrows shot up.

Her reading group was actually one of the highlights of her day. It was a small group and it allowed them to work as a group and actually

have some fun with it at the same time. It didn’t mean she wasn’t ready

to be done with this Friday. She was more than ready for margaritas at

Cabos with Imogen.

The day inched along painfully slowly and when her cell rang just as

she was waving to the last of her students on the way out her classroom

door, she snatched it up quickly.

“Cabos. Now.” Then Imogen hung up on her. Hello weekend

margaritas.

Chapter Two

 

“And how was the study group yesterday?” Forcing Seth to

communicate with him was getting more difficult by the grade level. But

Dillon was intent on spending some time with him, at least on this weekend. He wasn’t on the clock until Sunday night and so come

Saturday night, Dillon was dragging his butt to the movies whether Seth

wanted to go or not.

“Ms. Page’s cool. The group’s fun. Not much more to say, Dad.” He

had that annoyed tone to his voice as though there was no logical reason

his father should be so interested in his life. But he was trapped beside him in the car with little means of escape.

“Cool, huh? I wouldn’t have pegged her as cool during conferences a

couple nights ago.” There was a whole lot more he could say about his

impression of the woman than that but he was guessing it’d be

inappropriate to speak so poorly of his son’s English teacher in front of

him. She’d rattled him. She was pissed and it left him defensive. But she

was cute as hell too and that left his mind wandering to places it had no

business going with her.

She was too young for him, he was guessing. Mid-to-late twenties to

his mid-thirties and with an attitude like hers he’d be a glutton for punishment. But she sure as hell didn’t have an attitude in his fantasies

of her.

She was of average height, if not on the shorter side and perfectly curvy. Her hair was light-brown and long and even when she was pissed

off she was pretty. Her eyes were large and blue and she had lashes that

went on for miles, even if her fairly short stature didn’t give her legs that did the same.

He’d heard Seth mention her a time or two but it was a bit shocking

to walk in on such a harsh disposition—not that he didn’t deserve it. He

had kept her waiting for forty-five minutes, after all. He’d been more than ready to explain the situation but she’d given him little chance, and

once her mouth got in the way he’d decided he didn’t much care if she

knew the why behind his tardiness. Hot for teacher or not, she was a bitch.

The Hollywood blockbuster they saw was shoulder-to-shoulder

seating and as Seth put it, “it sucked ass, Dad.” He was sure he should

discipline him for his bad language but he was so busy agreeing with him and laughing at the same time, he forgot that part of parenting.

Raising Seth alone had been something of a terrifying prospect at first.

He was fortunate enough to have a sister two doors down who had a son

only a year older than Seth. The boys had been close growing up and it

was only thanks to his sister Molly that he’d managed to work and parent. He couldn’t conceive of being without her. The boys were back and forth between their houses nearly every day and the moment he pulled into the drive, Seth headed off to Molly’s to see if Jake was around.

Dillon found them awhile later parked in front of Molly’s TV playing

video games. “Hey, Uncle Dillon. Mom’s out back on the patio.”

He brought a couple beers for him and Molly and joined her on the patio where she had the outdoor chimney lit and warming the small paving stone area. Their yards backed up to a hilly wooded area. The front of their homes both had great views of Puget Sound, though from

many miles away and they were lucky enough to have private backyards

that met the hills behind them.

Molly had made it clear she bought the home for completely personal

reasons that had nothing to do with her little brother being a single parent with a baby but he knew she was full of shit. He was terribly lucky she was so full of shit. She was long-divorced from Jake’s father and Molly liked to think of them as something of a team when it came to

parenting.

“What’s up with Seth’s reading group? He mentioned it to Jake last night at dinner.”

“Struggling with reading comprehension. The group’s supposed to

help, I guess.”

“You guess? What’d his teacher say about his reading

comprehension?”

“I don’t know. It was bad? It was kind of a strained meeting.”

“Did you say strange?”

“That too. His English teacher is a pill. I was late to the conference and she wasn’t very happy about it.”

“Uh…ya think? Who’s the teacher?”

“Ms. Page.”

“Aha. Jake had her last year. She’s actually awesome, so that tells me

you’re likely the pill and you deserved pill attitude for being the pill.”

“Well thanks for the support, Sis.”

“Just sayin’. She kinda rocks as a teacher. How late were you

exactly?”

“Forty-five minutes.” He said it quietly as he turned his head from Molly.

“What? You’re definitely the pill. Forty-five minutes? What the hell did you expect?”

“I said I was sorry.”

She nearly spit out a mouthful of beer. “Yeah right. I know your apologies and they’re never quite what they should be. For instance, if you sneer while apologizing, it cancels the apology out. If you glare, same thing. If you apologize and then get upset with the other person, again, apology canceled.”

He was chuckling by the time she was done speaking. Yeah, he might

not have been quite as sincere as he should have been but damn, she’d made it hard on him.

“I think you should apologize to her.”

“Should I now?” He was being sarcastic. There was no way in hell.

“She’s cute. Apology parlayed into a date perhaps? You never know.”

“No thanks. She was rude to me.” He gave her his best pouty face, which she scoffed at. She knew better.

“You’re the picture of irritating aloofness. I highly doubt the sweet little Ms. Page sent you running for the hills.”

Maybe not the hills but she had made a mark. He’d not quite gotten

her out of his mind yet. She was pretty. She was also bizarre. Angry one

second, weird the next. He’d definitely caught her staring at him in the

parking lot and then…well then she tried to start her already running car

and sped off as he stood there staring after her. She was …quirky.

Quirky hot. He liked quirky hot. What the hell was he saying? He did not

like her.

He left Seth there for the night with plans to come over for breakfast

the next morning and he went to bed alone. He went to bed alone every

night. Even when he was getting laid on a regular basis he still went to

bed alone. It wasn’t as though he had any opposition to a real

relationship but it was complicated. In his line of work, there was little time for it. With a son in the picture there was even less. Commitment was a thing of the past. Fucking was not, even if his dear sister was ready

to see him settle down again.

* * * * *

By the next morning, he was helping Molly in the kitchen. He was really just standing around moving things about when she wasn’t

looking so she’d get tripped up. More than once he caught her pointing

to the spot on the counter she knew she’d left something just to find it on

the opposite counter. It took her a good thirty minutes to catch on to that

one before she kicked him out with a stack of dishes to set the table. He

left midafternoon with Seth in tow to do laundry. By that night there was

a good possibility Seth would be back. Dillon would be on call and there

was little chance that wouldn’t turn into something. It was Seattle after all. Plenty to keep him busy.

Chapter Three

 

“No, I don’t personally think there’s anything wrong with pairing

stripes with plaid…if you want to look like a total dumbass.” She was holding her cell phone between her cheek and her shoulder while trying

to unload her groceries from her car. Imogen was going on and on about

her latest fashion ideology.

No one but Imogen would actually see the art behind her vision,

including Katrina, but it wouldn’t stop her dear friend from trying to convince her anyway. Imogen was an arts teacher and drama coach. That

meant she directed pretty much anything theatrical in their school.

Couple her creative streak with her charming British accent and she was

quite the character.

“Listen, Imogen, can I let you go? I’ve got an arm full of groceries and

I can’t find my keys.”

When she reached the side door, she struggled to drop her cell phone

into her hip pocket before she reached into the side pocket of her tote bag

to grab her keys. She was cutting off the circulation to her hand thanks to

about three times more grocery bags hanging from her wrist than what

ought to be humanly possible but damn it, she was not making a second

trip the whole ten feet from her car to the side door of her house.

As she snatched up her keys quickly, she fit the key in the lock, pushed the door open and then hoisted the bags onto the counter just inside the door. She let out an exaggerated sigh, turning to pull the storm

door shut behind her and that’s when it hit her—or not so much it as him.

The man, dressed in black, flew toward her. He was large and he

looked like an ominous shadow descending on her as she fell back onto

her kitchen floor. Terror was seizing her heart like a shrinking box that was squeezing in around her.

Katrina started scampering backward across her floor like a belly-up

spider. She knew she couldn’t move quickly in this position but she was

too damn afraid to turn away from him. He was closing in on her and she was panicking more than she even imagined possible. She’d left the

light on in her living room but it helped her little. The man wore a mask and there was nothing of him to see aside from his cold blue eyes. They

were wide with what looked like fury but for what?

Katrina was being quiet. She’d not screamed, not yelled, not said

anything at all and she knew she should but she couldn’t seem to get herself to breathe, much less get her throat to move. She was going to die.

She was going to die alone in silence in her home with this madman.

The thought was gut-wrenchingly depressing and a sob finally passed

her lips as the picture of just how awful her death might look and feel hit

full force. This man was going to hurt her. He was going to hurt her in all

the ways woman feared a man might. Her worst nightmares were

coming true as she scrambled away from this monster saying nothing.

She wasn’t even trying to defend herself. She was simply crab-crawling

across her floor.

His mouth opened, showing surprisingly normal-looking teeth. She

almost assumed he was a monster under that mask but it didn’t much matter what his dental habits were as the snarl that was firmly planted on this man’s mouth made it clear he meant business.

“What do you want?” She’d hit the edge of her brick fireplace mantel

and she could go no farther. Her forearm rose in front of her face in defense and her mouth finally worked. “Please. I’ll give you whatever you want. Please…please don’t hurt me.” She was begging and she could

feel the tears dropping from her eyes as she waited for him to do something. He was towering over her, glaring down. He was frozen like

a large statue and all she could do was wait.

When he reached down for the collar of her shirt, she shrieked and the sobs that she’d failed to stifle turned to wails of desperation. Snot was running from her nose and when he jerked her to her fee she tried again

to hold her hands out in front of her. She had to fight back but she was

too terrified to even move. Her hands were crossed at her wrist only a few inches from her face as though she could make him disappear if she

could just block him out—keep him from killing her if she couldn’t see him.

“Please…please…please…” Her breath was hitching in her throat as

she pleaded with him.

His other hand shot out and slapped her hands away from her face

before grabbing her by the throat. He squeezed and her panic built further. He was panting and she was trying to sob around the

constricting pressure on her throat. When her phone suddenly rang from

her pocket, she grabbed at it without much thought in her head.

She hit the answer button as she pulled it from her pocket and before

he could even react, she yelled as loud as her garbled throat would allow.

“Help! Help me please!” It was all she got out before he backhanded her

across the face. Her head exploded in a light storm of colors that flashed

in the back of her eyes and she started sobbing again. He snatched at the

phone and she threw it away from her.

When his eyes returned to her, they were searing her through like daggers. His snarl had turned animalistic and she watched as if in slow

motion as he raised his hand and punched her. It sent her head sailing in

the opposite direction toward the fireplace behind her and he let loose his grip on her throat as she was sent toward the rough hard surface of

the mantel.

Her head hit the brick just above and outside her right eyes, scraping

across the surface after smacking hard into it. She fell down, collapsing on the corner of the brick ledge surrounding the fireplace. It knocked the

wind out of her, pulled her shirt up and scraped across her stomach as she rolled down to the floor.

Her back was to him and as she finished rolling from the fireplace, she caught only a glimpse of his hulking figure as he darted out her still-open side door and into the night. She started sobbing as she crawled toward the door and it was only once she’d pulled it closed, locked it and

collapsed back to the floor that she heard Imogen’s voice screeching to her from her abandoned phone on the floor.

She crawled to the phone, afraid to stand up from her place on the ground. She tried to catch her breath as she held the phone to her ear. But

as she gulped down air her voice started to hitch and the sobs took her

over again.

“Okay…okay…I’m okay, Imogen.” She had to force her throat to

tighten and control the sobs so she could get the words out.

“I’ve got 911 on my landline. They’re on the way. Are you safe?

What’s happened? Please talk to me!” She was trying as hard as Katrina

to control her voice.

“Someone broke in. He’s gone. I’m okay. But I’m scared, Imogen.”

And then she was sobbing again.

Katrina could hear Imogen relaying information to the 911 operator

and she stayed on the phone with her. Katrina pulled her knees up close

to her body as the panic washed through her in waves that would

subside and then reinvigorate. But Imogen was there, soothing her, while

she waited and occasionally reassuring the 911 operator that Katrina was

okay. Imogen stayed on the line until Katrina could hear the sirens approaching.

“I’m okay now. I can hear the sirens.” Her voice was still shuddering

and lurching as she spoke and Imogen remained there at the operator’s

insistence until the police pulled into her driveway and started pounding

on her door.

“I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Imogen disconnected

quickly.

When she pulled the door open, two men in uniforms stood by with

their guns drawn as others swarmed around the back of her house.

“Miss. Miss. Are you alone?”

She nodded. “He left out this door. He’s gone.”

“Miss, your head’s bleeding. Do you need an ambulance?”

“I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” She nodded.

The officer was young and he looked nearly as scared as she felt but

she wasn’t alone anymore. She couldn’t seem to stop shaking, trembling

as though her core was quaking. “Miss…”

“I’m Katrina. Please…just call me Katrina.”

“The officers outside are securing the area. The detectives are on their

way and we’ll get crime-scene techs here to process the scene.” Her home

had become a scene. What the fuck? “Can you tell me what the perp might have touched?” She indicated the doorjamb and door they were standing

near and she shrugged beyond that.

“I don’t think anything else really. I opened the door and he shoved

me inward. He very likely didn’t even touch the door. I think it was still

standing open when he left.” The officer nodded and pointed to the sofa

in her living room. She sank into the softness of her vintage moss-green

velvet couch, grabbing a throw pillow and clutching it to her chest.

She stared at the edge of her coffee table. It was sitting at an odd angle

on the rug—it had no doubt been pushed aside during the attack. “What

the hell did he want?”

She didn’t even realize she’d spoken the question out loud until the officer responded to her. “I’m sorry?” She just shook her head. “Can I get

you anything?”

“No. I’m fine.” The poor officer seemed to have no real idea what to

say to her.

She could feel the spot above her eye, searing as though she had rug

burn on her forehead. Her head was throbbing, her eye socket was

aching fiercely and her throat felt as if she’d gargled with gasoline. She

zoned out, waiting. She wasn’t sure what she was waiting for, only that

she didn’t want to bother trying to talk to the officer who seemed to be

more nervous than she was.

She could hear a man approaching, though she could hear nothing of

what he said, and the officer moved to meet him at her side door. The officer pointed at the frame of the door, wordlessly telling the man to avoid touching it. When the man stepped through, her jaw dropped

before she could stop it.

“Detective Adler.” The officer nodded to him, but the man who

suddenly appeared was far too busy staring at her just as intently as she

was staring at him. The officer started giving him a rundown, but his eyes continued to hold hers.

His brow furrowed as he studied her and she swallowed over a lump

in her throat. “Yeah yeah yeah. Have them dust the door and get the extra officers out of here. The scene’s secure so I don’t need the extra bodies trampling around.” He dismissed the officer and the officer

ducked out the door, leaving them alone—still staring at each other.

“Seth’s teacher.” He offered her a weak if not shocked smile.

“Seth’s father.” She pursed her lips as he walked toward her. “I’m Katrina by the way.”

“May I sit?” She nodded. “And it’s Dillon.”

“Or…Detective, apparently. I didn’t know.” She laughed nervously as

he watched her calmly. She was not calm. She was freaking the f-bomb

out and now the handsome man she didn’t like had his handsome ass sitting next to her on her couch.

When his fingers brushed her long floppy bangs away from the side

of her face, she flinched and her eyes darted to him. “How did this happen?” His voice was exceptionally soothing as he spoke to her and she forgot for half a second that she didn’t actually like him.

“Forehead, fireplace.” His brow flinched again as he continued to

hold her hair back from her face. When his thumb brushed lightly down

her temple, she moaned quietly at the tender touch before she could stop

herself. He pulled back quickly as her hair fell back in place, tickling her skin as it moved. His hand moved to her chin, tipping it up as his eyes

took in her throat. He pulled her chin back down and studied her eyes again.

“Your throat looks like it’s going to bruise and your eye looks swollen

too.”

“He was choking me and he punched me.”

“I think you should go to the hospital and have it checked out.” She

shook her head. “You could have a concussion.”

“No.” Her gaze flashed to his quickly. “I’m fine.”

His lips pursed for half a second as he exhaled a deep breath. “I’m going to have to ask you some questions. Are you ready to talk about it?”

She shrugged and at just that moment, Imogen burst through the side door with an officer trailing behind her, annoyed at her flurry of panic.

“You can’t be in here! And don’t touch that door!”

“Trink!” She practically shrieked and Katrina stood walking toward

her. Imogen had tears streaming down her face. Katrina wasn’t even so

upset—until Imogen pulled her into a fierce bear hug. Then Katrina fell

apart too. Imogen was tall, nearly five feet ten inches to Katrina’s five feet four inches and Imogen practically had her off her feet, smothering her in

her long blonde hair. She was stunning but just as quirky as Katrina and

they were both showing their weirdness at the moment. “I thought you

were going to die! What the fuck!”

“Imogen, I’m fine. But I have to answer some questions for the

detective.” Katrina couldn’t believe she was being the calm one but eventually Imogen released her death grip on Katrina, setting her back

down on her feet. When Katrina turned back to Detective Adler, she caught a small smile on his lips before his face returned to his somber serious expression.

“Trink is your nickname?” He spoke quietly to her as she sank down

beside him and Imogen took the armchair sitting off to the side of the living room.

“No…not Trink. I would have to actually be okay with someone

calling me Trink in order for it to be a nickname.”

“Trink, you’re sure you’re okay?” She glared at Imogen but caught

the subtle smirk on Detective Adler’s face out of her periphery.

“Imogen, this is Detective Adler. He’s actually Seth Adler’s father.”

“Oh!” Oh holy fuck. “He’s the one with the nice ass who pissed you off the other night, isn’t he?” She was speaking quietly as though they were

sharing a secret of some sort. The problem was Imogen was talking right

in front of him as his eyes moved between them.

It was entirely intentional and Katrina should have seen that coming.

Imogen was the consummate matchmaker, even if her means were a bit

unconventional, poorly timed and completely crude. Apparently

Katrina’s near-death encounter wasn’t enough to stop Imogen.

“No.” Her eyes flashed to Detective Adler’s.

“No?” He held her eyes calmly as her throat started constricting. Shit

shit shit!

“Another parent who…” Her voice trailed off as she realized just how

stupid she sounded and how futile her attempt to throw him off was.

His lip pulled up in a slight smirk before he turned to Imogen. “I need

to get a statement from Ms. Page. Would you mind waiting in the other

room?”

“What room?” She snorted. “Have you seen how small her house is?

Sorry and of course. Trink, will you stay with me tonight?” Relief washed over Katrina at Imogen’s invitation and she nodded instantly.

“Awesome possum. I’ll go pack you a bag and then I’ll wait in the car.

Am I cool to touch stuff without Officer Meany having a cow?”

“Yes. They’ll dust the side door for prints so as long as you leave out

the front you’ll be fine. My partner’s going door-to-door right now, so if

he sees you sitting in your car he may stop and talk to you. Just don’t

compliment his ass and you’ll be fine.”

Imogen’s mouth pulled up in a big grin and for half a second Katrina

was hit with a wave of jealousy. They liked each other. Not liked liked each other. Imogen would never be interested in a man she thought might interest Katrina, but they got on well. Far better than Katrina’s own experience with the man. But when she looked up to him, his eyes

were back on Katrina and he licked his lips as he watched her. It wasn’t

intentionally seductive. In fact, it appeared completely subconscious but

it felt seductive and she melted for a moment as she bit down on her lip.

She might just have a crush on Detective Handsome Ass. Fuck.

 

“What’s wrong with your cat?” He watched the strange-looking

creature wind its way around her leg, tottering over like a drunk old man. Its eyes were a bit milky and as she reached down to scratch the top

of its head and it arched up to meet her hand, it lost its balance again and fell over.

“She’s twenty-one.”

“And that’s a medical condition?”

“It is to a cat.” Her eyes were distant but she met his with a small smile. She was still trembling. She’d given him the details of the attack and he was already not thrilled with just how little he had to go on. It wasn’t helping that the tech dusting the door had that exasperated look

on her face that said she wasn’t finding much to go on either. Frankly, he

wasn’t expecting much. Her statement suggested the perp likely never touched a solid surface in her home.

“Any recent altercations, arguments, angry ex-boyfriends I need to

know about?”

“Just a disgruntled parent who showed up to parent-teacher

conferences late.” She smirked at him and he couldn’t help but smile. He

liked her sense of humor. He liked her friend’s as well. He especially liked how loose her friend’s lips were when it came to the good teacher.

Katrina. Too fucking bad she was his witness. That made her quite hands off and yet he couldn’t seem to stop touching her.

Every time he caught sight of the abrasion peeking out from under her long bangs or the quickly reddening throat, which left little question

where the man’s hand had gripped her, his hand just instantly moved to

brush the hair back and study the spot or tip her chin to see her throat.

“Please go to the hospital.” His voice was quiet. “I know you’re not likely

seriously injured but I want a medical report on the injuries and photographs. I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”

She must be in pain. The abrasion was an angry red patch of missing skin above her eye and the skin surrounding her eye was darkening with

a bruise with every passing minute. She’d already divulged she had a large abrasion across her stomach as well from her fall over the edge of

the fireplace mantel. He was a detective short on clues and the only ones

he had were on her body at the moment.

“Fine.” Her voice was quiet and she leaned down to scratch the cat, if

it could be called that, one last time before they stood together. He walked with her from the house and he stood back watching as she spoke with her friend.

Her friend nodded in agreement to something before backing from

the driveway in an exceptionally expensive sports car. He spoke briefly

to the officer and the crime-scene tech before he opened his passenger door for her and rounded the car.

“I thought you said your partner was here?” She met his eyes as he sank into the seat beside her.

“He is. We drove separately. Is your friend going to meet you at the

hospital?”

“No. I told her I’d call when I was finished. I won’t of course. I’ll take

a cab. It’s late and we both have to work tomorrow. Will they lock up when they’re finished?”

“Yes. The scene tech is nearly finished photographing and the officer

will lock up when they leave. We’ll keep a patrol unit in the

neighborhood and check on the house periodically to make sure no one

comes back.”

“Do you think he just wanted to rob me?” Her voice was far too quiet

as she spoke and he didn’t like the fear he heard in the slight tremble.

“I can’t say that for certain.” He was giving her the noncommittal response because he didn’t want to answer that question truthfully.

He didn’t think the man wanted to rob her at all. He’d said nothing to

her—he’d demanded nothing from her. He was there for a purpose and

Dillon didn’t think it was random happenstance that he caught her just as she was conveniently entering her side door. Her house was set off the

street too far for it to be some random asshole out walking around who

just happened upon her getting out of her car.

Nothing about the way it played out left him thinking robbery was the motive. The man wanted to hurt her, plain and simple, and he’d been

waiting for her. Both left a chill running through his body. The rude quirky teacher, whom he’d not been able to stop thinking about all weekend, was a very vulnerable young woman at the moment.

Chapter Four

 

The hospital was buzzing with people who needed far more care than

she did, but with a detective at her side it didn’t take them long to get her into a semiprivate, albeit ridiculously small, room. The doctor swooped

in, barely looking at her before he poked and prodded at her head, made

her do eyeball aerobics as he shined a light in her face, looked at her throat and then her stomach and finally met her eyes for the first time without trying to blind her.

“Lucky girl. You’re fine. Your head’s likely going to ache a bit for a while but you’ll heal. Now stay here. They need pictures and then you can go.” The man was then gone and she was alone. But not for long.

Detective Adler walked in with the same scene tech who had been at

her house. The woman was young and pretty, even with a dark-navy

uniform on and her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her camera was

slung around her neck and as she walked in beside Detective Adler, Katrina was hit with that nasty juvenile feeling of insecurity and jealousy

again. Katrina looked like hammered shit and she fucking well knew it. It

wasn’t helping matters that an incredibly good-looking man was walking

toward her with a cute blonde at his side.

“Pull your hair back from your face, please.” The scene tech spoke without actually looking up at her. No one seemed interested in looking

at her in this place. But as they approached her, she looked up to see Detective Adler’s eyes studying her intently. His gaze remained glued to

her as she pulled back her long bangs from her forehead and the woman

started snapping pictures from every angle imaginable.

“Now your stomach. Can you lie back please and lift your shirt?” Her

gaze flitted to his just to see him watching her coolly. She leaned back on

the gurney, lifting her t-shirt and bunching it just under her chest. She could feel her heart thudding and when she glanced to him, his focus was on the raw and abraded skin across her stomach just above her bellybutton. When his eyes moved up to hers, they stared at each other.

His breathing was deep and calm but hers was anything but.

“I’ve got what I need. I’ll be in touch, Detective.” She turned and walked from the room. Katrina couldn’t seem to stop staring and her breath was coming in shallow gasps. His fingers reached to her hands, which were still holding her shirt in place and he tugged the hem of the

shirt gently down to cover her stomach.

“Oh…sorry.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. Sorry for forgetting she was half naked in front of him? Sorry for letting her brain shut down? He reached a hand to her and she let him pull her up to sit. “I should call a cab.”

“I’ll drive you.” He didn’t wait for an answer before he turned from

her and started walking from the room. She hopped down from the

gurney and followed him back out to his car. Well this promised to be awkward as hell.

It was. It was a painfully nerve-racking awkward with a touch of

erotic need thrown in for fun. She wasn’t stupid. She trusted him. She absolutely trusted him. He was Seth’s father, he’d been in the community

for many years and he was a cop. She literally had no reason not to trust

him and so she trusted. Under the circumstances and after her night, the

feel of that trust was intoxicating. He made the terror she’d felt suddenly

feel better. The relief, his subtle show of concern, his desire to help her all pushed her very female buttons. What other reason were Sandra Bullock

and Keanu Reeves attracted to each other in the movie Speed? Duh. She got it. Were she just some sap of a woman on any other day without having experienced some lunatic trying to kill her, she’d feel nothing for

this man. Oh who the fuck was she kidding? She’d not been able to pull

her eyes away from him after the moment she met him!

“Where does Seth stay when you’re working?” Well she had to break

the tension somehow.

“My sister. She’s divorced. Jake Sayors? You taught him too…”

“Oh sure. Your sister is…uh…” She was snapping her fingers.

“Molly.”

“Yeah. I like Molly. She seems fun.”

“She is. She reminds me a lot of you actually.”

Her gaze flashed to his before she could stop herself and he glanced

to her before she could wipe the quizzical expression from her face. What

the hell does that mean?

“I just mean she’s quirky. Good sense of humor.”

“Oh.” Apparently he didn’t intend to say she was gorgeous like her—

but then that would be weird.

She gave him directions to Imogen’s mansion on Mercer Island and as

they neared, her heart sped. She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t ready to give him up tonight. He made her feel safe and while she was sure she’d

be perfectly secure and comfortable in Imogen’s house with high-tech security and even a security gate, she still wasn’t ready to see him go.

They pulled up to the keypad entrance and she sat like an idiot for a

moment as options raced through her head. She was panicking.

“You can either tell me the code or crawl onto my lap to enter it yourself. Your choice.” He smirked at her and she shook her head in mortification. She wanted to crawl into his lap—but she gave him the code instead.

“Thank you for driving me. I appreciate it.”

“Sure.” He looked at her a moment without speaking. “I’ll be in touch

soon. I’m sorry, Katrina. You didn’t deserve this and I know how

difficult it can be to cope with being the victim of a crime.”

Her eyes were suddenly flashing with tears and she turned to look out the window rather than share her pathetic emotions with him. But when his fingers touched hers, she sniffed and turned back to him, giving up on hiding it.

“You are very lucky but you’re also very strong.” He let go of her hand quickly, pulling his hand back to rest on the steering wheel. “We’re

going to be spending a lot of time in your neighborhood for a while.

We’re going to increase the patrols and check in with you regularly once

you’re back in your house.”

“Thank you, Detective.”

“Dillon.” His brow flinched and he dropped his gaze to his lap as though he’d said something wrong. All Katrina could think was just how

much he’d said right. She climbed from his car, tossing a quick wave to

him as she bounded up the steps toward the front door. Imogen was already pulling the front door open as she approached and the moment

she saw Detective Handsome Ass backing up, she smirked before pulling

Katrina into a hug.

* * * * *

“Seth go to bed at a good time?” He was talking to Molly on the phone. There was no sense waking him up when it was after midnight.

“Oh ‘bout nine or so. You done for the night?”

“Yeah. At least for the time being.”

“Why do you sound weird?”

“I haven’t said anything!”

“You don’t have to. Spill it.”

“You know I can’t do that. Good night. I’m letting you go.” He hung

up quickly, collapsing on his bed.

She was attracted to him. Fuck. Not fuck because he wasn’t attracted to her, not even fuck because he was attracted to her. Fuck because he was so fucking attracted to a woman he wasn’t allowed to be fucking attracted to. Just…fuck! Oh yeah and fuck because he suspected this wasn’t the last they’d see of the masked Looney Tune intent on hurting

her. That was the biggest fuck he had at the moment and it left his heart

racing.

He liked her. And not just because she was nice to look at. She was feisty and smart, she was quirky and silly but she was sweet. She was kind and good except when she was pissed at him. But he’d deserved that.

He fell asleep without even undressing—who knew if he’d be lucky

enough to sleep the rest of the night without another call. But he didn’t

sleep—at least he didn’t sleep through the night. When he woke, he was

covered in sweat and his heart was pounding in near panic. He’d

dreamed of her and not just of her. He’d dreamed of a monster intent on

killing her, taking her away from him. In his dream, she belonged to him

and that incredibly possessive and arousing ownership he felt for her was being threatened.

He didn’t even bother trying to go back to sleep after that. He rose, showered and left his home at three o’clock in the morning. He drove to

her home and sat in his car staring at her little house that looked eerily

terrifying even to him. He didn’t believe for a second they’d seen the last

of the dark intruder.

Chapter Five

 

She couldn’t seem to get enough coffee into her body to stay alert the

next morning but she was there. When Imogen popped her head into the

teachers’ lounge about ten minutes before first period was to begin, she

offered a sympathetic smile.

“You sure you want to be here today, Trink? I mean, no one really expects you to be and you look like hell. Did you actually look in the mirror this morning, love?” She was being Imogen—with a sarcastic

sense of humor that always brought a smile to Katrina’s day. Of course

smiling actually wrinkled her brow on this day and left her head aching.

She filled her coffee mug for the third time and headed out of the lounge toward her classroom. She knew no one expected her to be there.

The good news had traveled fast once Imogen entered the building with

her that morning and within fifteen minutes, ten teachers and the

superintendent had stopped by her room assuring her they could get a sub for the day and telling her she was crazy for coming to work.

What they failed to realize was she had no interest in being anywhere

alone at the moment—not even Imogen’s overly secure house on Lake

Washington. She needed to be at school. She needed to be around people.

She’d mentally committed herself to going home that night and she

was dreading it. She loved her home. It was small, quaint and she’d poured her sense of style into every last nook and cranny of the place.

She spent a small fortune on an old railroad-cart coffee table she loved.

She’d thrift-store-shopped and antique-shopped her way into an

incredible eclectic design which literally made her smile every time she walked through her door.

She relaxed every time she thought about the smell of her home and

the comfort of her small world that belonged to just her. She couldn’t lose

that. She simply couldn’t give it up. What she could give up was a bit of

money to have the locks changed and two motion sensor lights installed

at the front door and the side door. The workmen were scheduled to arrive that afternoon and though Imogen had glared at her over lunch in

the teachers’ lounge as she called and scheduled the installer and locksmith, she’d held her ground.

“Imogen, I appreciate you offering to let me stay, but I have to do this.

I can’t let this thing stop my life. I like my life too much to see it sullied by this.”

“You sound like such an English teacher when you say shit like

sullied. But you also keep saying this thing. It’s not a thing you can just ignore. It was a man. A man who had no business being there or trying

to hurt you and you need to take this seriously!”

“And you don’t think I am? Come on, you know me better than that.

Why do you think I’m changing the locks when there’s likely no reason

for it? Why do you think I’m installing the motion lights?”

Imogen studied her. Katrina wasn’t used to Imogen being so serious

—ever. It just wasn’t her style. “I’m just worried about you.”

“I know, and I appreciate it.” They were interrupted by a couple other

teachers who came in jabbering on about a problem student who was driving them nuts. She wished a problem student was all that worried her today and as Imogen’s brows shot up and she rolled her eyes, she made it clear she understood just how much deeper her worry went on

this day too.

Katrina didn’t have a class during the last period on Mondays,

Wednesdays and Fridays and she usually moderated a study hall but on

that day, she found another free teacher to cover the hour and she left early so she could be home in plenty of time to meet the installer. She took a cab from school since she had no car and as it pulled up in front of

her home, her heart started pounding, her hands got clammy and she started to panic.

Could she really do this? It looked like her home. It really did look exactly as it always did but it felt so very different. But she couldn’t sit in the cab all night and as the cab driver’s eyes met hers in the rearview mirror, she saw the awkward way he watched her as though he

suspected she might just be crazy. She didn’t want to be crazy and so she

stepped from the cab, paid the man and turned toward the largest

investment she’d ever made in life. She desperately hoped she wouldn’t

ultimately end up hating it.

It was on a deep breath and a sigh that she started the trek up her

lawn toward the front door. She rarely used the front door but for whatever reason she couldn’t seem to bring herself to use the side door.

She unlocked the door and just stared.

She could smell the scent of her life she loved so much and it was like

longing for something she couldn’t quite reach. It looked like her home,

in a slight state of disarray but still. She almost expected the place to explode when she stepped across the threshold but she didn’t make it that far until she heard a car pull into her driveway.

She turned to see Detective Adler pulling in behind her car and relief

hit and started to soothe her nerves instantly. She could feel tears pricking the backs of her eyes and she fought to stifle them as he stepped

from his car and watched her for a moment. Given the serious look on his face, she’d not quite stifled how hard this was for her. He stood watching her for a moment before he started walking toward her.

“Can’t quite seem to walk in.” She laughed humorlessly and he

smiled gently.

“You wouldn’t be the first victim who’s experienced that feeling.” He

shook his head and exhaled deeply. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to trivialize

or generalize how you’re feeling right now. It’s just very normal to feel

that way. How about we walk in together?” She nodded as a tear

escaped her eye and ran down her cheek.

She shook her head in frustration and he reached to her shoulder, studying her eyes. She wanted more. She wanted to feel his strong, firm

arms around her but that was insane. He didn’t get paid to hand out hugs to frightened young women but fuck she sure needed one.

Apparently touching her was okay, though. When he reached up to

brush her bangs away from her eye to take in the damage, she tensed.

“Nice shiner.” His eyebrows shot up as he took in the state of her face.

It was bad. The swelling had turned quite colorful over the past twenty-

four hours and she’d spent the day dodging questions from students about what had happened. There was no hiding the damage.

She chuckled quietly as she held the door open for him and he

sauntered casually past her into her living room. She followed him, commenting as she walked. “On the plus side though I look hot with a

black eye. So I’ve got that going for me.”

He smiled. They stood staring at each other in her living room and

her body started trilling at the quiet closeness.

“I wanted to take another look around and ask you a few more

questions.”

“Didn’t you say you had a partner? I’m starting to think that was a lie.” She was trying for playful, knowing damn well it would be a struggle given her less-than-playful mood.

“He’s shy.” He smirked. “Why? Would you prefer to work with

him?”

“That’s not what I meant, but since you bring it up, is this considered

a conflict of interest for you?” She sure as hell hoped not.

“What? The fact you vehemently hate me for my tardiness issues or the fact you teach my son?”

“Both.”

“We don’t have a personal relationship, so no.” His voice trailed off quietly as he held her gaze and her breath caught in her throat. “But if you’re uncomfortable working with me, please tell me.”

Her heart started pounding as her brain started spinning. Where to even begin processing what he’d just said? No personal relationship was

a good place to start. No duh—but she wasn’t sure she liked hearing him

say it. Uncomfortable? Hell yes she was uncomfortable. But it was the really good kind of uncomfortable that left butterflies in her tummy and

left her blood tingling through her veins until the warmth of it settled between her legs. She didn’t want to deal with some other detective.

“No. I’m glad you’re the one working on this case.” His lips pulled up

ever so slightly at the corner before relaxing.

He turned from her and started looking around her living room. It was still in disarray and he studied the odd angle her railroad-cart coffee

table was sitting at He studied the fireplace for a moment and then he turned back to her. “Show me.”

She had only just made it to the kitchen and was starting to pick up

the groceries she’d abandoned on the floor from the night before. Half of

it would be going in the garbage at this point but as she stopped and looked to him, his eyes were serious and dark. She lined herself up facing

the side door as though she was getting ready to reach for the storm door

to shut it and he stepped in front of her.

“He pushed me. Here.” She pointed to the spot just between her breasts. His eyes flashed to the spot before returning to hers. “I fell back onto the floor and I started crawling backward, Exorcist-style if you ever saw that scene, toward the living room. He followed me.”

“Was he moving quickly as though trying to catch you?”

“No. Not at all. I wasn’t moving fast enough to warrant it and he just

followed me. Very creepy. When I reached the fireplace he reached down

and grabbed the collar of my shirt, pulling me up.” He nodded as his eyes moved around the room. “Hit me a couple times. Imogen called, I

answered, threw the phone away from him so he couldn’t disconnect

it…”

“Good move.”

“Thanks. When he punched me I spun and fell into the mantel and

then to the floor and the last I saw of him, he was running out the door.”

“What about workmen, servicemen? Have you had any in your home

recently?”

“My home is older than dirt. So sure, I have them in regularly.

Plumbing, tile work. There was a roof issue and I nearly had to gut the

bathroom a year or so ago. So yeah. A ton. But really recently no. It’s probably been nine months or so.”

“Any of them strike you as unusual? Pay too much attention to you?

Anything?”

“No. I usually see their butt cracks more than I see them. You know,

I’m not really good at making enemies, pissing people off.” The sudden

small smile on his lips gave him away. “I mean, aside from you.”

The smile slowly faded as he walked down her hallway, peered into

the bathroom and then continued on to her bedroom. She followed him

to her bedroom, finding him looking around the room. There was

something odd about seeing the man standing in her small bedroom with

his hand rested easily on the footboard. It sent a tingle up her body as her mind wandered to a very nice little fantasy of him lying on her bed.

When he turned to her, his face was gravely serious and those most

intoxicating images faded. He followed her eyes down to his hand and he lifted it from the bed as she felt the heat creeping into her cheeks but

that flush faded quickly when he opened his mouth again. “I don’t think

you pissed anyone off. He wasn’t here because you upset him.” Her eyes slowly dropped to stare at the middle of his chest. She knew that. She didn’t want to admit it but she knew it.

“Could he come back?” Talk about the most pointless of all questions.

She caught his eyes shifting from her before he looked back. “Of

course it’s possible.”

She took a deep breath before turning from him to leave. “I need to pick up the groceries I left in the kitchen. Feel free to look around as much as you need.” She left without another word.

He found her in the kitchen, staring out to her backyard with her hands on the side of the sink. There was an open beer sitting beside her

and she was just staring. The bags were all gone and a large garbage bag

was sitting by the side door ready to be taken out.

“Your spare bedroom window was unlocked and the blinds were

open in your bedroom. Make sure you check your windows regularly

and keep the blinds closed, especially in a bedroom. If it’s daylight you

can open them but I always recommend closing them when the sun starts

to go down. It’s far too easy for people to see in and watch you with open

blinds when it’s dark out.”

She nodded and then there was a knock on the front door. As she let a

serviceman in, he watched her. She looked nervous and unsure, not the

way he remembered her from their first encounter on parent-teacher

conference night. He didn’t like that she was scared and unsure right now but he understood of course. The man was there to install a couple

of motion-sensor floodlights. He waited for her as she showed the man the side door and front door, where she wanted the standard exterior lights changed out.

When she rejoined him in the kitchen, she took a swig of beer and found his eyes. She blushed for a moment as he watched her and then she walked to the fridge and pulled out a package of chicken and a couple packages of fresh herbs and vegetables, setting them on the counter.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” He was suddenly struggling to

swallow but he forced himself to hold her gaze.

“I can’t do that.” No sense sugarcoating it.

“You can’t eat?”

“Not with you.” He watched her and she didn’t look away.

“Are you attracted to me?” Fuck. Her voice sounded exceptionally vulnerable and quiet and yet her question was loaded with backbone.

God, he was so attracted to her.

“Don’t.” The very question left his groin tight and his heart

hammering. Hell yes he was attracted to her and he wanted her to know

just how much at the moment but that wasn’t going to happen. “I’d better go.”

He watched her for a moment longer. She looked nervous and she

looked confused and all he wanted to do was touch her, reassure her.

Instead he pulled his business card out of his pocket, wrote his cell number on the back and handed it to her. “You call 911 if it’s an emergency but if you see anything suspicious or have anything to report,

you call me.” He turned from her to leave out the side door, grabbing the

bag of garbage for her.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

He stopped dead in his tracks and fought with himself about turning

back to her. A quick, polite, professional and impersonal response was what he should give her. But he didn’t. He turned to her slowly. She held

a pan in her hand and as she met his eyes, she set it on the stove.

“We just can’t. I’m Sorry.” And he was. He may not have outright admitted he wanted her but he may as well have. He simply couldn’t stand the idea of rejecting her when all he really wanted was to have her.

Chapter Six

He didn’t expect to see her again so soon but as he snatched up his cell phone the next afternoon, he sucked in a quick breath as he heard his

partner’s words. “Your vic’s here from the home invasion the other night.”

“Why?”

“The asshole left her a nice little message. Not sure how the hell to play it. Do we even have something that will play those little tape thingies anymore?”

“I’ll be there in ten.” He hung up and seven minutes later—he might

have sped—he was walking back into the precinct.

He found her sitting beside Stephens’ desk alone. Stephens had

obviously abandoned her, not that he was surprised to see that—he was

a bit of a dick. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She held up a small tape in her hand with a somewhat sheepish

look on her face.

“I had no idea they even made such things anymore. Haven’t you

heard of voicemail? Or even a digital answering machine?” He smirked

at her before he could stop himself and her face relaxed.

“But then I wouldn’t have these great little tapes to tote around when

psychopaths call me and leave me romantic messages, now would I?”

She had him there. He caught himself smiling again but even as they

looked at each other, her face fell. She was nervous. Of course she was nervous—a psychopath had left her a romantic message.

He slipped his suit jacket off his shoulders as she watched and he tossed it over the back of his chair before sitting and facing her. “Where’d Stephens go?”

“To find a tape player. He’s not nearly as nice as you.”

“And I ain’t that nice to begin with.” He was smirking at her again and she was smiling.

“No you’re not.”

“Care to tell me what we’re going to hear on this tape?” Her cheeks instantly burned scarlet and she looked away from him.

“Not really. In fact, I’d rather just leave the tape and let you listen to it when I’m not around.” She looked hopeful.

“And I’d rather you be here. I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be

uncomfortable but it’s important. I need to be able to ask you questions.”

She took a deep breath through her nose as her eyes flashed to the ceiling. He could only guess what could make her so nervous about this.

It didn’t take long to find out.

“It’s not going to happen again—you know that, right, you stupid

little cunt? You’re not going to scare me off again. Don’t worry. I don’t want to kill you, at least not right away. Not until I’ve gotten what I want. You’re all the same—you know you are. You act sweet, you act nice but you’re not. You’re all the same. Fucking dick tease. Fucking bitch.” The voice was rambling and Katrina was trembling. “I’m going to

fuck you, you know that, don’t you? You can’t stop me. The fucking cops

can’t stop me. And I’m going to make it hurt. It’s going to more than hurt. It’s going to tear you in half and leave you wishing you were dead.”

His jaw was tight as he listened to the deranged voice threaten her.

Stephens was sitting quietly by staring at the recorder in front of them and Katrina couldn’t seem to do anything but stare at her hands. “It’s been awhile since you’ve gotten laid, hasn’t it? I know it has. Months.

I’ve watched you, you fucking slut. I know how much you enjoy getting

yourself off. I’ve heard the moans from your bedroom. I’ve watched you

writhing around with that fucking fake cock of yours you enjoy so much.

You fuck your pussy hard and fast, crying out and groaning like a whore. Why shouldn’t it be me?”

He was starting to understand just why this might be uncomfortable

for her. Fuck. It was uncomfortable for him too. “It’s going to be me very soon.”

The call disconnected and Stephens stood. “I’m going to go call the phone company.” He looked between the two of them in the small

private room they’d used to listen to the tape. Dillon was struggling to maintain his composure far more than normal. He’d seen plenty of crazy

in his day and this shouldn’t be bothering him but she was sitting across

from him trembling and refusing to look up to him.

Stephens cleared his throat. “Cool?”

“Yeah.” It was unspoken between him and Stephens which of them

would be questioning her. Dillon was always the front man with victims.

He simply had a better personality for it, though the woman in front of

him might have disagreed with that the first time she met him. There were hard questions to be asked and he and Stephens were both well of

aware of that fact. Stephens was also without doubt wondering what the

fuck was making him so damn uncomfortable all of the sudden. Stephens

left, shaking his head.

“Katrina?”

“Hmm?” She was still refusing to look up.

“I have to ask you some questions.”

“Great.” Her sarcasm was biting.

“He mentioned it’s been a long time since you’d been with anyone. Is

there truth to that? I need to understand just how much of what he said

is true to determine if he’s really been watching you or just wants you to

think he’s been watching you.”

She finally looked up but she still couldn’t meet his eyes and hers settled on some place over his shoulder. Her humiliation showed clearly

in her crystal-blue eyes. He wanted to touch her, reassure her that it was

okay but there was nothing he could do to make this less embarrassing

for her. She had no idea just how much he was okay with hearing the more private parts of her life but he couldn’t say that to her.

“I was in a relationship late last summer through fall with a man I met at a Starbucks of all places. He ended the relationship about three months ago, just didn’t think we were going anywhere.” She used finger

quotes on “going anywhere”.

“We only dated for four or five months and he stayed over a few nights a week on average. That is what you wanted to know, right? How

often I was getting laid and this creep was watching. Should have kept my fucking blinds closed, huh?” She sounded angry. She had every right

to be but she didn’t need to be aiming it at him.

“You have every right to be upset, Katrina, and yes that’s what I need

to know. I need to speak with your ex-boyfriend. Can you give me his

name and contact information?”

“Sure. It’s not him. He had blue eyes like the man who came into my

house but that’s not his voice and he didn’t like me nearly enough to want to fuck me in half. That is what that asshole said, isn’t it? What the

hell does that even mean?” He wasn’t even willing to entertain the idea

of what exactly that might mean to a lunatic.

He handed her a slip of paper and watched as she wrote down the name and information of her former lover and she slid it back to him. She

was still refusing to look at him and just stared at the tabletop. “We need

to talk about some of the other comments he made as well.”

He didn’t need to explain that to her—the look on her face as she shook her head in disgust made it clear she understood exactly what he

was saying. It didn’t mean he expected to see her stand and stalk to the

door. He stood quickly and then she turned to him, meeting his eyes for

the first time.

“It’s all very likely true.” Her eyes closed as the humiliation ate away

at her and then she left him staring after her. He wanted to follow her but

there was nothing he could say to her to make this better.

Instead he did his own stalking all the way to the chief’s office. “I want more protection on Katrina Page.”

“And how am I going to justify that?” Chief Greenwood wasn’t being

rude but he did need a damn good reason.

“He left her a message threatening her. He also suggested that he’s been watching her for some time and particular statements left in the message have been confirmed by the victim. There is little doubt in my

mind at this point that he’s a danger to her.”

“Okay. We’ll put a uniform outside her house when she’s there. I’m

not going to sacrifice the man hours during the day when she’s working

but she’ll be covered at night when she’s home. Anything else?” He shook his head and left. He felt marginally better about the fact she’d insisted on going home but he was anxious and he didn’t like it. When he

made it back to his desk, Stephens was there.

“You gonna tell me what’s up with that witness?”

“She’s freaked out—she’s upset. Does that seem odd to you for some

reason?” Stephens harrumphed and stared at him. He and Stephens had

been teamed together for a few years and they got on just fine—but Stephens had the personality of a meat grinder.

“Wasn’t really talkin’ ‘bout that. You two act like you’re fucking or something. All weird around each other. And not just her, by the way.” It

was Dillon’s turn to harrumph. Of course he knew it was likely true. He

couldn’t seem to pretend to be quite as professional as he ought to around her and she just seemed damn uncomfortable.

“Greenwood’s putting extra security on her. What did you find out

with the phone company?”

“Nothing yet. They’ll call me when they have something. I’m

guessing the psycho’s not so stupid he’ll use a traceable landline or cell.

Even the biggest idiots in the world know to use a disposable phone now

a day. Good thing Greenwood’s putting more people on her. I think she

may just need it.” He stood and walked away, leaving Dillon staring at

his desktop.

Chapter Seven

 

“Hey, Ms. Page?”

“Yeah, Seth, what’s up?” She peered up at him, feeling all the

humiliation looking at him as she felt around his father. It was just so damn odd having his son in her class. They looked so much alike it seemed as though every thought which passed through her mind

revolving around Detective Adler was somehow staring right back at her

in Seth’s eyes. It wasn’t and she was just being paranoid. She was also exhausted and likely losing her mind.

She had ended up sleeping on her bathroom floor the night before

with the door locked and a knife lying by her side. She’d had a nightmare and even though she could see a patrol car parked outside her

house nothing much seemed to calm her paranoia. She simply couldn’t tolerate being alone in a room with windows for some reason and so she

ended up in the bathroom.

“Here’s my free writing.” She took the paper from him, smiled and he

turned back to his desk. It was only second period and she wasn’t at all

sure how she was going to stay awake all day, especially given she had

an adult-education class to teach downtown that night.

She managed somehow, sucking back coffee and downing a Five-

Hour Energy drink after lunch but after the last of her students walked

out the door, she quickly snatched up her coat and bags and staggered out her door. She nearly choked on her tongue as she caught sight of Detective Adler towering above the tops of the other students’ heads about twenty feet down the hall with Seth another ten feet beyond that.

“Dad. I’m doing fine in Ms. Page’s class. Shit!” Katrina’s brows shot

up as Detective Adler wheeled toward Seth.

“Say that again and see how long I can make your Xbox disappear.”

She almost laughed but then the humiliation set in again. He hadn’t even

seen her yet and she contemplated high-tailing it down the hall in the other direction.

She decided there was little reason. He was obviously there to see her

and that meant there was a reason and it involved her case or Seth. He wouldn’t be paying her any social visits—he’d made that abundantly

clear in her kitchen. Actually the first time was the parking lot. She couldn’t stop humiliating herself around him and now the phone

message? Sheesh! Why? Why? Why?

“Go wait in the car. I’ll be out in a few minutes.” Detective Adler tossed his keys to Seth, who threw his hands up in the air in frustration

as he turned around and stomped off down the hallway. It was all rather

cute and heartwarming really. She’d never actually witnessed them

together.

When he turned toward her, she had a small smile on her face and the

moment his eyes lit on hers, his mouth pulled up in his own small smile.

Hers faded quickly and she turned back into her classroom.

“How are you?” He closed the door behind him as he walked into her

room.

“Detective, I’m sorry. I just—”

“Dillon, please.”

“Dillon. I’m sorry about yesterday evening at your precinct. I was just

embarrassed and—”

“You shouldn’t be. Not around me, okay?”

She nodded but her eyes dropped down along his tall and strong

body to settle at his feet. Don’t be embarrassed about having the most private part of her life exposed to him against her will? Yeah, right.

“I wanted to let you know the phone trace was a dead end. We

suspected he would likely use an untraceable disposable phone and he did. I’m sorry.” She nodded. Just her luck. “We’ve put extra security on

you at your home address in the evenings and overnight. You may have

noticed.”

She nodded again but still remained quiet. “Katrina.” She finally

looked back up to him and his expression was serious but incredibly calm. “I’m sorry about all of this. I wish things were different…”

The subtlest of head shakes suggested he’d overstepped a boundary.

She wanted him to overstep it again. She needed his need—the need he

was hiding and withholding from her. She’d deal with the humiliation of

what he knew about her if she could just absorb and experience some of

that incredible strength of his.

“You don’t look good.” Her mouth dropped open as he spoke.

“Thanks?”

He smiled and she finally did too. “You look exhausted. You’re not sleeping, are you?”

“Sure I am. I slept on the bathroom floor last night, nearly stabbed myself with a large kitchen knife I was cuddling with for comfort.” She

smirked. It was humorless but he seemed to appreciate her sour mood.

“If you feel that way, call me. I never sleep through the night and I’m

used to being woken up constantly. You don’t need to just suffer that type of fear alone.” His eyes softened and her insides turned soft too. She

was melting into his strength again, turning into a mushy pathetic woman. “Let me walk you out.”

She nodded and they walked from the room together. “Can I ask

about Seth’s mother?”

He turned to her as they strolled slowly down the now deserted

hallway. She thought perhaps she’d overstepped a boundary that time but she suspected he was too busy worrying about his own boundaries

to judge too much.

“She died when Seth was six months old. Car accident.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I mean, thank you, but it was a long time ago. I feel bad for

Seth more than anything. He never knew his mom and that’s a bit

heartbreaking for me to stomach on his account, but in truth he doesn’t

miss her because he never knew her.”

“What about you? Do you miss her?”

He thought for a moment as they walked and then he stopped and

turned to her. “Not really. Don’t get me wrong, I did for a long time but

—it was just so long ago at this point. I guess I miss what we had but because it was so long ago and my life has changed so much since it’s hard to connect with the life I had then. I’m not sure that makes sense.”

“What was she like?” Talk about overstepping boundaries but he

humored her interest.

“She was great. She was beautiful, kind, honest and moral. She was everything I wanted. I thought we’d be together for the rest of our lives.

Her name was Shannon. We met our first year of college, married our junior year and she was pregnant before we’d even graduated.”

They were taking a damn long time walking at a snail’s pace through

the hallways. “What about you? You’ve never been married?”

She shook her head slowly as he studied her. “Nope. Not even close.

Nothing even remotely interesting in that category.” He smirked.

“What are you doing this evening?” Going on a date with you. She wished.

“Teaching. I have a creative writing class I teach downtown on

Wednesday nights.”

He tensed beside her for a moment. “And you drive yourself?”

“Of course. There’s a parking garage attached to the building. Why?”

“I should probably check it out. Can I meet you there later on at the

end of your class?”

“Sure.” She was more than happy to see him later in the evening, even if she wasn’t entirely sure why he suddenly seemed so concerned. It

was a busy building, it was a busy town. She actually felt safer there than

her quiet little home at the moment.

“Oh, I don’t talk cases with Seth, if you were curious. In fact, I don’t

talk cases with anyone not related to my job.” He eyed her for a moment

as they approached the door. “So…Seth thinks I’m getting a progress update from his favorite teacher. Beneficial for a couple reasons. Keeps him on his toes and lets me chat with you without him being the wiser.”

She chuckled as he held the door open for her. “Such a dishonest thing to do to your son.”

“Yeah? Well, I expect you to play along.”

“If it makes you feel any better, he’s doing well. He’s a great student

and he seems to be doing well with the reading group too. He’s

participating a lot and that’s a good sign.”

“Glad to hear it. See how productive we can be together when you’re

not hating me for being late and I’m not hating you for being rude to me?” His shit-eating grin had her smiling before she could remember she

had nothing to smile about.

Katrina gave him the building address and room number of her class

that evening as they walked toward the parking lot where his SUV was

pulled up in the loading zone.

“If you have a crush on my teacher, Dad, I’m going to puke.” Seth was hollering out the window, very intentionally trying to embarrass his

father and given the rather flushed look on Dillon’s face, he’d managed it

beautifully. Naturally it left Katrina’s cheeks burning too.

“Sorry about that,” he muttered.

“It’s okay. I already know you have a crush on me.” It popped out, as

such comments often did, before she could stop herself. She sauntered away from him before he could say anything further and before he could

see the furiously burning red of her cheeks. She forced herself to keep her

eyes forward. It was a small victory for the sake of her humiliation and

she reveled in it even as the embarrassment coursed through her veins.

She’d had few victories recently and she deserved that one.

* * * * *

He snuck into her classroom toward the end of the evening, taking a

quick seat in the back row. It was an adult education class and there were

fewer than fifteen students there. Stephens was trolling the hallways at the moment, checking out the building security but Dillon was more interested in the students—very specifically the ones in her classroom.

He watched them. Most hadn’t even noticed him entering, though

Katrina most definitely did. She was speaking, something about the

importance of dialogue in fiction writing—but her cheeks were the most

incredible shade of pink. He was making her nervous and he was

enjoying that fact after the comment she left him with in the parking lot

earlier.

She’d nailed him. He did have a crush on her but she failed to see just

how inappropriate it was. It wasn’t something he could let get away from him—no matter how much he might want to. But he’d be damned

if he could stop fucking thinking about her. This had never been a struggle before and he couldn’t quite figure out why she was testing him

so much.

He’d worked with plenty of attractive witnesses and had never been

so tempted, as he was every time he was with her. And she apparently

knew it. He was obviously doing a shit job of hiding his desire from her

and he knew he had to get a handle on how he responded to her or she

was going to continue to push his buttons—however subtly she might choose to do so. But he didn’t relish the thought. In fact it was torturous

to even think of.

He watched her as she walked casually in front of the class. About a

third of the class were men and he let his focus travel to each and every

one of them. He watched exactly how they regarded her. He couldn’t see

their entire faces but from his position he could see an angle of their profiles and he watched. One ignored her completely and was far too focused on his iPhone than what she was doing. He was sunk back in his

seat casually with his legs sprawled out before him. Other than wanting

to kick his feet and pull him up by the collar for his obvious lack of respect for Katrina, Dillon certainly didn’t see him as a threat to her.

The second one he watched for only a moment. He was at least in his

sixties and while he couldn’t rule the man out on that fact alone, his demeanor was far too fatherly when he watched her. There was no

hunger in his eyes at all—nothing at all like he felt in his own desire to

watch her. Desire was desire regardless and he was looking for it. It might be coupled with contempt or malice or it might be puppy drunk love that made the lunatic look more like a buffoon than a threat to her

but the desire had to be there.

The third man he focused on for a long time. He kept his chin down

but Dillon could see the man’s eyes following her wherever she

happened to walk. Of course her students were expected to pay attention

to her but he didn’t like the look on this guy’s face or the way he refused

to pull his chin up. It was as if his body language was trying to hide himself in some way but his eyes couldn’t seem to stop following her.

Dillon dismissed the fourth and final man in her class quickly. The man was obviously gay and there was simply no reason to watch him further. Dillon’s eyes returned to man number three and he studied.

There were about fifteen minutes left of the class and he was hoping she

wouldn’t release them early. He wanted the time to focus on this man’s

body language and how he regarded Katrina. But by the time the fifteen

minutes were up, he was no closer to getting a handle on the man.

Dillon stretched his legs out crossing his ankles under the desk in front of him as the students started collecting their belongings and heading out the door. The women all regarded him curiously or tried to

flirt with him with their eyes. He ignored them all, keeping his focus on man number three. The man stood quietly, pulled his jacket on quickly and tucked his chin down to his chest. He said nothing to any of the other students and stalked with his head down from the room. Dillon wasn’t sure what to make of the man but he intended to do some

digging.

Katrina approached him, sitting in the desk in front of him and which

his legs were stretched out under. She faced him, pulling one of her legs

up and leaving the other in the aisle. “Brushing up on your creative writing skills?” She was just too good at making him smile.

“Busted. Tell me about the guy who was sitting toward the back of the group, early- to mid-thirties, dark hair, likes to stare at you.” He was sounding more jealous than suspicious. Dillon raised his hands up to rest

on the back of his head as he watched her and waited for a response.

“Josh? He’s harmless.” He hated it when women made such

statements. He especially hated hearing Katrina make that statement. It meant she was naive about her predicament, and moreover her safety.

He had no doubt she was worried about it but the fact she could make

such a statement so offhandedly was concerning.

His heart raced for a moment as she studied his eyes. He was too worried about her and he cared entirely too much about what happened

to her. It wasn’t a good combination for a cop and it was exactly why he

wasn’t allowed to like her, want her, think about her, fantasize about her,

imagine what it would be like to have her, own her, fuck her. She was off

limits for a reason. But even as he reaffirmed that in his mind, he imagined what she would look like stretched out on the desktop in front

of him—arched back with her legs parted on either side of his body, exposing every last inch of her pussy.

She finally got tired of waiting for him to respond as he got lost simply watching her, fantasizing about her, hell worrying about her.

“Are you okay?” Her voice was suddenly small and her eyes were

suddenly regarding him far too intimately.

He nodded for a moment but he stopped. “Actually no. I don’t like how that man was looking at you. And I don’t like that you so easily dismissed my questioning about him.”

He pulled his legs out from under the desk she was sitting on and he

leaned toward her. “I’m here to do a job, Katrina, and that’s to figure out who attacked you and by extension of that keep you safe.” He was speaking rather harshly and he could see the shock on her face but she needed to understand. “I need your cooperation, I need you to stow your

nerves and embarrassment around me and I don’t need you making

comments about my being attracted to you because none of that really matters, does it?”

She shook her head subtly as her eyes shifted away from him.

“Sorry.” She started gnawing on her lower lip and guilt swiftly punched

him in the gut but she just had to understand.

“There is no doubt in my mind that your safety is in jeopardy and I

need to know you get that— really get that.” She nodded. “What’s the student’s name?”

Her eyes finally found his again but she looked stunned and hurt—

and he was dying just a bit inside to see it.

“Josh Grant. I’ll find an address for you.” It was his turn to shut up and nod and he did, holding his gaze on hers.

“We should go. Stephens is roaming the hallways checking out the

building’s security.”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was a bit stronger when she said it this time and he softened.

“Don’t be. I’m not upset with you. I just want you to take this seriously and things are…complicated with…” Us. The word was us but he wasn’t willing to say that word. “This case and the fact you teach at

my son’s school and are part of his life. It grays some areas of this investigation for me and I need things to be very black and white.”

She stood with all her insecurity written on her face, but the moment

she turned from him she stopped and looked back down to him. “Don’t

you think I’m taking this seriously? I live and breathe fear right now. I promise it doesn’t take much for me to imagine just what this creep wants to do to me and I don’t appreciate you suggesting that I don’t get

it. I’m not naturally paranoid and no, it’s not my first inclination to fear a student whom I’ve been teaching for a while now, but I get it.”

Her lips pursed for a second before she turned from him again.

She walked from the room with his eyes trailing after her. He stood a

moment later and followed, finding her already talking to Stephens in the corridor. He stood stupidly by as Stephens complained about the lack

of security in the building.

“They have a security desk downstairs and yet it’s empty after six o’clock. They have security cameras around the building but there are far

too few and with no one monitoring the security desk in the evening it’s

all pointless until after the fact.” Stephens sounded personally offended

by the building and she just stood by watching him, nodding her head and trying to disguise her eyes, which kept shifting to Dillon’s nervously.

“The parking garage is another issue.” Dillon chimed in. Katrina’s

focus switched entirely to him but her expression was guarded. “There are no cameras in the garage, which is ridiculous. They don’t monitor the

gate at night because it’s permit parking after five o’clock. There is nothing stopping someone from walking right into the garage and there

are more dark, deserted corners in there than there are in even this building. I don’t want you parking in there anymore.”

She looked shocked for a moment. “What? Street parking is pointless

downtown and the garage is free for faculty!”

“I don’t care if they pay you to park in that damn garage. It’s unsafe.

Take public transportation.” He was holding her gaze harshly while

Stephens looked between them.

“Because that’s safer?” She looked incredulous.

“Under the circumstances, yes! A crowded bus is far safer for you right now than a deserted, unguarded parking garage. Though I don’t like the idea of you walking from a bus stop to your home either. But we

can have the patrol officer meet you there.”

“He’s right, Ms. Page,” Stephens chimed in. “You’re better off on a city bus right now where there will always be plenty of people. Better yet, take a cab if you can afford it. Just don’t put yourself in a place like a nearly vacant parking garage with no security.” She nodded but she was

staring at the floor. “Now what the hell were you two doing in that classroom alone for so long, making out? Kept me waiting long enough,”

Stephens muttered as an afterthought.

Dillon could strangle the man. Instead he turned with his lips pursed,

shaking his head and stalked off down the corridor. He pointed back at

Stephens when he was about fifteen feet away, pinning the man with one

final comment. “See that she gets to her car and out of the parking garage safely.” And then he kept walking. Fucking hell. He just couldn’t win for trying!

Chapter Eight

 

“So how is Detective Sweet Cheeks?” Imogen drawled as she sat

beside Katrina at the baseball game ticket table on Friday night. Damn gate duty.

“By cheeks I assume you’re referring to his handsome ass cheeks?”

“Of course. Duh. I assumed that went without saying.” She chided

Katrina and elbowed her in the arm but Katrina was having a hard time

appreciating the humor. She was a bit too irritated with Detective Sweet

Cheeks. She was also exhausted thanks to two more nights of next to no

sleep. But it was Friday. TGI-Ready-for-an-Adult-Drink-F. “So, are we getting a drink after this shindig?” She must have read Katrina’s mind.

“Yes please.”

“How long do we have to sit here? The game’s already started.”

“Until the third inning. Then it’s a free-for-all.”

“It’s junior-high football for God’s sake. Are people really expected to

pay for this? I mean, how are we even going to know when it’s a third in?”

“First of all, this is baseball, not football. Second of all, yes, they’re expected to pay. That’s why they keep handing us money. And third, it’s

not an ‘in’ it’s an inning and just look up at the scoreboard.” She smirked.

Couldn’t help it, not when Imogen was being ridiculous.

“Well, it’s not my fault you Americans have the stupidest sports

known to man-kind.”

“Really? At least we didn’t name a sport after a bug.” And then as Katrina looked up her face fell.

“Well, speak of the devil.” Imogen muttered as Katrina elbowed her

in the rib cage. She hadn’t told Imogen about Wednesday night’s lecture

she’d received from the man and here he was walking toward them now,

along with Seth, Jake and Molly. Outstanding.

“Hi, Seth, Jake. How are you guys?” They gave her as much of a

greeting as she guessed anyone ever got out of them before taking off,

leaving Dillon and Molly standing at the table.

“Free tickets yet?” It was Molly and she was as bubbly and friendly as

Katrina remembered her from Jake’s year in her class.

“Sorry, not yet. After the third inning.”

“Well we’d have been here sooner if Dillon hadn’t made us late. Bad

habit of his, don’t ya know?” And Molly’s eyes found Katrina’s with a subtle knowing smile while Imogen practically choked on her laughter.

Detective Adler looked less than amused as he forked over the cash and

Katrina could barely make eye contact with the man as she reached to his

outstretched hand to take the money.

It wasn’t long until the end of the third inning and she opted for concessions before she and Imogen escaped for drinks. She was ready, more than ready, for a good strong margarita with an extra shot of tequila but she was guessing having at least some food in her stomach would be

a good idea, lest she end up knee-walking drunk. Drunk, fine. Falling-down-stupid drunk, not fine.

“Buy you a walking taco to make up for my rudeness the other

night?”

“Are you supposed to be talking to me or are you going to get in trouble with the police police?” He studied her with a perplexed look on his face for a moment as her cheeks started burning. “Well I’m glad that

joke fell flat.”

“No I get it. Well done.” He pursed his lips. He wanted to smirk. She

could see it in his eyes but alas he’d made it clear just how professional

their relationship needed to be. Didn’t seem to stop her heart from fluttering in her chest or her fingers from trembling as he handed her the

Doritos bag with a fork sticking out of it.

They started walking slowly from the concession stand, stopping to

stand along the fence that ran parallel to the third-base line. It should mean nothing, the two of them standing together and given the few pairs

of eyes that regarded them and the brows that then shot up in interest it

intrigued a few people if nothing else. But it sure as hell shouldn’t be so

damn strained, awkward and just plain wrong.

What could possibly be wrong with them talking? He’d made it clear

just how hands-off he was to her but all she felt was rejection. Of course

that wasn’t true. He was standing awkwardly by her side, eating in

silence and trying to behave like any other adults milling around the baseball diamond.

“Seth did great on his history test yesterday with Mrs. Martins. Her tests can be complicated because they rely heavily on reading retention and he aced it. Not sure if he told you but he should be proud.”

He looked to her with a small smile that showed nothing more than

pride for his son. “Well thank you for including him in your reading group. That’s great to hear.” She nodded and they went back to silence.

He was taking her empty Doritos bag from her hands a few minutes

later before he spoke again. “I’m sorry if I sounded rude downtown the

other night. It was very unprofessional of me.”

“Unprofessional…” She let the word trail off her tongue as she

repeated him. He was right about that. It was completely unprofessional

and entirely personal. Personal, that thing he seemed so intent on avoiding with her. But Katrina was guessing it would be…

unprofessional to remind him of that fact.

He ignored the challenge in her voice for a moment as he studied her.

“I better go find Molly. You have a good night.” He walked away and she watched. Naturally her eyes were drawn to his exceptional physical

strength and beauty. His gait was purposeful but not stalking. He was just the perfect height to be commanding but not overbearing. And that

ass. The shape through the casual jeans he wore was sinful. It showed the

extended strength of his legs. He had quite a powerful build and she forced herself to look away quickly as a flush ran through her body. But

she didn’t look away quickly enough.

“Close your mouth and stop staring.” Imogen had just snuck up

behind her, following the trail of her overeager eyes. “Let’s hit the road,

Jack.” She nodded as Imogen linked their elbows and hauled her off toward the parking lot. Drinks. Drinks would do her good. She was only

twenty-eight for crap’s sake and she deserved a little twenty-something

fun.

* * * * *

Two-thirty in the morning was never a fun time to be woken up.

“Adler.” He croaked out the word as he struggled to sit upright.

All he could hear was sniffling and he looked at caller ID on his cell phone quickly. He shouldn’t know her cell phone number by memory

but pathetically he did.

“Katrina? What’s wrong?” More sniffling. “Katrina, you have to talk

to me. Are you okay? If you’re not okay, you need to hang up and call 911.”

“I’m fine.” She was choking on the words and he was struggling to control the panic. “I just thought I heard something. But the patrol officer’s out front and I called him. He checked and it’s nothing but—I …

just…I just panicked. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called. I just don’t want

to sleep on my bathroom floor again.” She laughed nervously for a second.

“Hang tight. I’m on my way. I’ll be there soon.” He text-messaged Molly that Seth was alone and he left Seth a note. It was their routine.

Seth would see the note and head down to Molly’s when he woke if Dillon wasn’t back and Molly would know to make sure he showed up at

a decent time in the morning.

When Dillon pulled up in her driveway, the patrol officer sitting

outside met him. “I checked around all the windows and I’m not seeing

any sign that someone’s been snooping around. The floodlights never came on. It’s windy though so I’m not surprised she’s hearing things with all the bushes that grow right up around her house.” He thanked the uniformed officer before walking up to her side door, being flooded

with the obnoxious rays of the motion-sensor floodlight. She answered moments later. Her eyes were puffy and her face was splotchy. She was

wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and a sweatshirt. She held the door for him and he entered.

“I’m sorry.” She just looked so damn exhausted. Her light-brown hair

was up in a ponytail and her face was without makeup, leaving her looking younger than she actually was. She looked quite stunning in that

frightened-young-woman-who-needed-rescuing sort of way. God, he

wanted to rescue her.

He shook his head slightly, dismissing her apology. “Tell me what

happened.”

“I got home about an hour ago and…”

“What were you doing out until one-thirty in the morning?” He

sounded more like a jealous boyfriend than a cop.

“I was having drinks with Imogen.”

“You’re drunk?” She didn’t act it but he couldn’t seem to stifle the frustration in his voice.

“No!” She hung her head on a deep sigh as she walked to her sofa and sat down. “I wanted to be. I thought if I could just get a few drinks in me maybe I could sleep without thinking I was going to wake up to some

man raping me.” She spit the words out in her disgust. “I couldn’t relax

though. I had two drinks and then drank water for the rest of the evening.”

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he walked to the couch

and sat. She pulled her legs up and sat cross-legged, grabbing a throw pillow next to her and hugging it to her body. He watched her fingers trembling and he scowled at the sight.

“Maybe you should stay with your friend for a few days.” He didn’t

expect her to scowl back at him.

“No. This is my home. I can’t…” He understood well enough how she

felt. This was her world that he was sitting in with her at the moment and it meant something to her.

“I’ll take a look around.” He stood and walked down the hallway to

the spare room. He peered in the closet, finding off-season clothes hung

up. The entire home smelled like her and he loved it entirely too much.

He peered under the bed, finding her strange-looking old cat curled up

snoring. Who knew cats could snore? He peeked into the bathroom, opening the linen closet and pulling back the shower curtain. When he entered her bedroom, he checked that closet as well and peeked under the bed.

He wanted to delve further. He wanted to dig into everything she

owned and study it, smell it, touch it. But instead he pulled her blinds up

and checked out the back of her house. She did have overgrown bushes

that were brushing against the side of the house in the strong wind and

there was little doubt the sound might be alarming in her vigilant state.

He lowered the blinds and when he turned she was standing in the doorway. She was leaning against the frame, watching him. Her face was

ghostly white and there were tears on the lower rims of her eyes. She was

torturing herself being here alone and he wanted to shake some damn

sense into her. Instead he walked to her and he overstepped the boundaries once more.

He wrapped his arms around her body, feeling the small fragile

weight of her against his strength. She collapsed against his chest and snuggled into him. He was far too aroused to be so close to her but he was running on erotic autopilot. He’d given over to it for a moment and

he was fighting to maintain what little space there was between them.

Her face was nuzzled up under his chin and his fingers were stroking slowly over her back.

When her lips touched his neck, he choked on his breath but he didn’t

pull back. He let her lips caress along the stubbly hair along his jaw. His

brain was screaming and his heart was pounding but his body was

soaking in the feel of her like it was a drug he was starved for—so starved, in fact, that his cock was twitching. She was only just far enough

away from his groin for him to hide it from her.

Her breath was ragged and desperate against his skin and he was

curling his fingers against her back to keep from grabbing her and mauling her on the bed. But when her lips parted and the warm breath

turned to an incredibly super-heated kiss just below his ear, he groaned

and he closed the last remaining space between their bodies. She

whimpered when his erection pushed up against her stomach and she

sank her nails into his back through his t-shirt.

He started panting, begging his body to stop, but she wasn’t done letting her lips set the pace and the moment they brushed back down along his jawline and up to his mouth, he fell apart. She parted her lips,

taking his bottom lip between hers and he let her. Why the fuck did he let her? He sank into it, letting his mouth fall lower to hers. He quite intentionally ignored the part of his brain that was screaming when he grabbed her cheeks and thrust his tongue into her mouth. She groaned loudly and whimpered as though she couldn’t quite figure out if she needed to cry or come to an orgasm.

He was losing his mind, but for all the warning bells going off in his

head, his mouth wasn’t getting the message. He was ravenous as he backed her body up against the opposite doorjamb behind her and he pushed his body to smother hers, pinning her to the doorframe and continuing his assault on her lips. Her hands were everywhere and

couldn’t seem to figure out what to touch first. They were on his back, on his chest, clutching his face to hers, down along his neck but it wasn’t until she hit the waist of his jeans and slid her hand swiftly and tightly

down under the waistband of his underwear and farther down along the

rigid length of his cock that his brain finally caught up to him.

She was grasping the base of his erection, squeezing with the most perfect pressure as his cock pulsed and begged for more. But the gears were turning again and he pulled from her mouth, grabbed her hand, yanked it painfully away from him and pinned it above her head. She was panting and her eyes were wide and shocked. She lunged for his mouth, capturing his lips again and he gave in for a split second.

“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t. Fuck. Oh fuck.” He was speed-talking against her mouth and she was whimpering into his. He held his

forehead to hers, pushing forward and tensing every muscle in his body

to keep himself from attacking her lips again. Her free hand was

gripping his biceps harshly and she looked as if she were ready to break

apart into a hundred pieces.

He didn’t let her go until he was certain he could walk away, and as

he staggered back away from her down the hallway, he watched as she

sank to the floor, clutching her knees to her chest and letting her head sink to rest on top of them. Her shoulders shook as she silently started to

cry. His soul was chastising him loudly, making it clear he was the cause

for her pain and while logic said her state was far more complicated than

simple lust for him, it didn’t abate the agony or the guilt he felt for what he’d allowed to happen.

He stumbled back from her until he was standing back in the living

room, still watching the emotion that was coursing through her body.

“I’m so sorry.” His voice came out on a hoarse whisper and she shook her head, refusing to look up.

He couldn’t leave her like this—there was no way in hell he could just

walk away from her in this state. He’d fucked up. Her emotion wasn’t just about what had happened between them but he’d sure as hell made

it a whole lot worse. “I want you to stay with your friend Imogen. You’re

exhausted, you’re terrified to the point of falling apart. You need to get

away from this place, even if just for a few days. Please.” He was pleading with her and as she continued to shake her head, he let his drop

back in absolute helplessness.

All he wanted was to scoop her up and take her to bed, hold her, make love to her, give her some small amount of peace but he was rooted

to his place in the living room, afraid to step even one inch closer to her.

When she climbed to her feet, she padded down the hallway past him and into the kitchen, slipping on her hiking boots and coat, grabbing a tote bag that hung by the back door and snatching up her cell phone from the counter.

She stood by the door, staring at his feet and waiting for him to get the hint. He finally did. He snatched his own keys from the kitchen counter and stepped through the door to the cool spring air.

She said nothing to him and he didn’t press. He’d done enough

already. He followed her all the way to Imogen’s house, where he’d dropped her off the night she’d been attacked. He pulled over, waiting to

see that she got through the gate okay. She was eyeing him in the rearview mirror and he waited until the gate was closed behind her to finally put some much-needed space between them.

Too bad he’d not thought to do that sooner.

Chapter Nine

 

“Oh, love. I’m sure it’s not as bad as all that. Talk to me.”

“I touched his penis.”

“You what?” Imogen was practically shrieking at her. “You box-

grabbed the detective?”

“Imogen, where did you hear that? It’s not—”

“Study hall. Why? I’m not using it right, am I?”

“No. You’re not using it right at all. Backward. You’ve got to stop copying junior-high sex slang. Half of them don’t even know what sex is

and the other half know more than we do.”

They were lying on their stomachs on Imogen’s bed, staring out the wall of windows to the rocky shoreline below. Imogen’s bed didn’t have

a headboard and not because she couldn’t afford one. The head of the bed butted right up against the expansive window wall and it was the most incredible feeling in the world to lie on her bed and just stare down

at the water beyond. She was curled up in one of Imogen’s soft thick white down blankets, letting the sight of the steam rising off the water soothe her overtaxed noggin.

She’d made a damn fool of herself. Again. She’d been half crazy the

night before, deliriously mad in her exhaustion and emotional lunacy.

He’d come to check on her and she’d crumbled into his protectiveness like some seriously mentally disjointed woman. Maybe she needed to be

locked up in an insane asylum. She felt crazy. But he’d felt amazing…

His desire for her was real. Hers for him was real as well. But that was

beside the point and she understood that. She didn’t like it, especially not when that steadfast strength was what she needed most. But she got it.

Until she forgot about it last night and he apparently did too. Dear God,

she’d grabbed his wanker.

“So that’s not like a metaphor? You like actually grabbed his Roger Moore?”

Talk about metaphor. She cocked her head to the side quizzically. It

wouldn’t be the last time Imogen threw down a word that meant absolutely nothing to Katrina and she could only assume a Roger Moore

had something to do with a man’s dick. So she nodded, turning her head

to rest on her upstretched arms as she looked at Imogen. “Like I zoned in

and attacked. No buildup, no inching my hands down along his body slowly, just—cock, hand, grab, squeeze. I really think I lost my mind temporarily.”

“What was it like?”

“Losing my mind?”

“Don’t be coy with me. ‘Fess up.”

“Scary big.” She sighed as she returned her eyes to the water. Lovely.

Deliciously and arousingly big. Intimidating. Hard as steel but smooth, like silk over steel. So very fucking masculine. Her mind was going adjective-crazy on her.

“Ah. So, it was a Roger Moore.” Katrina was still clueless. “Back in a

flash.” Imogen hopped from bed, padding out of the room as Katrina got

lost in her adjectives.

Why couldn’t she have been sane last night? Katrina finally felt

human, thanks to the most decent night’s sleep in well over a week.

She’d slept next to Imogen all night long, falling asleep to the dizzying sight of the lights surrounding the water and when she woke it wasn’t to

a nightmare, it was to dawn over the lake. She finally felt rested or something very closely resembling it. She couldn’t stay here forever. In fact, she wouldn’t allow herself to but she needed this break.

“Here.” Imogen handed her a long beanbag that was incredibly warm

to the touch.

“What is it?”

“It’s kind of like a heating pad.”

“And?”

“And you can cuddle it like Cat.”

“Kitty. And you don’t like Kitty and why, just out of curiosity, would

I want to cuddle a hot beanbag?”

“Well I don’t know. I use it for cramps but I just thought…” Katrina’s

lips started pulling up as she tucked the warm beanbag to her neck and

cuddled it. “That-a girl. Try to get some rest while I make breakfast. You

finally look awake again and you need to stock up on that for a while.”

Imogen left and Katrina drifted back to sleep.

* * * * *

“And you dated how long?” He was fighting the desire to punch the

man. It was Monday and he’d managed to avoid his tempting witness over the weekend. No more messages, no more break-ins and she was still staying with her friend Imogen. It all left him relieved—until he was

forced to endure her ex-lover. The man was a douche bag and while he

was handsome, he was smug, arrogant and he eyed every woman who

walked past his office as though he’d fucked every last one of them. He

couldn’t stand the idea that this man’s cock had been inside her body. It

was a painful combination of absolute fury and damn debilitating

jealousy.

He shrugged casually as he leaned back in his desk chair. The fucker

was a corporate lawyer with a view for miles that Dillon was now forced

to stare out, behind the asshole’s head. Hatred was definitely what he felt

for this man but only half of it was actually warranted. The man was a schmuck—there was no doubt about it. But he wasn’t a threat to Katrina.

At least not the kind of threat Dillon was allowed to worry about.

“A few months. We had our fun but you know, plenty of fish in the

sea and all that bullshit.” He chuckled, looking at Dillon as though he expected some show of camaraderie. Fat fucking chance. Dillon tried to kill the man with his eyes but the guy was oblivious to the hatred.

“I’d like to know where you were two Sundays ago.”

“Out of town. I was in San Francisco on business. I’m sure you want

verification. I’ll have our travel coordinator get it for you very soon.”

Saying thank you was a struggle and not lunging across the man’s

desk and punching him was difficult but he somehow managed.

“So what happened to my Kat, hmm?”

He stood, shaking his head and turning for the door. “I’m not at liberty to discuss that.”

“Been meaning to call her. You’ve seen her. Incredible ass, tight

pussy, perky as hell tits. I wouldn’t mind another run at it with her.

Maybe she’ll appreciate the distraction at the moment.”

Dillon’s limit hit a brick wall and disintegrated. “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that? Get confirmation of your travel to me before the

end of the week or I’ll be paying you another visit.” And then he left before Mr. Asshole could piss him off even more.

He should be happy the man was such an obvious dickhead but he

knew even dickheads could turn on the charm when they wanted—how

else would Katrina have ever fallen for a prick like him?

Dillon was suddenly glad he’d waited to talk to the man until the end

of his day. His tires nearly screeched into his driveway and he didn’t even bother walking in his own house before he stomped down to

Molly’s, grabbed a beer from her fridge and flopped down at the dining

room table. The boys were in the living room scrambling to get their homework done so they could disappear into Xbox world as soon as

possible.

“What’s got your panties in a bunch, little bro?” Molly was wiping down counters as she eyed him curiously.

“Nothing.”

She snorted. “Yeah. I believe that.” She tossed the rag at him, hitting

him square in the face. “Wipe that table clean. Pizza’s gonna be here soon.”

He wiped down the table as she grabbed her own beer and joined

him. “Okay.” He sighed deeply, trying to let go of the day. “I’m having a

problem with a witness.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Girl problem.”

“Oh. You’re not really allowed to have girl problems with witnesses.”

“And there’s the problem.”

Molly stared at him. He watched as the gears turned in her head and

her mouth screwed up before she shook her head in confusion. “Wait. I

could have sworn you kind of had a thing for Ms. Page. I mean, I don’t

know…the way you kind of wanted to hate her after parent-teacher

conferences but you weren’t really very convincing and the way you were with her at the baseball game…I don’t know. I just really thought

maybe there was something there.”

He stared at her. He was trying to speak to her telepathically but it

wasn’t working, given the confusion evident on her face. So he raised his brow and cocked his head to the side and he waited and waited…

“Oh! Oh oh oh oh… Well talk about a small world. She’s obviously okay but is she, I don’t know, okay? Is she in danger or hurt or…” Molly

knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t talk to her about this so he returned to staring at her. “Well shit. Now you’ve got me all worried. I like her.”

“Yeah, well I do too.” She gave him her best big-sister sympathetic face.

“Then tell me about that part of it.”

“Well it goes a little something like this. I like her, she likes me. I’m

not allowed to like her but she comes on to me anyway, naturally because I’m a man and can’t quite get my body to do what my brain is

telling me to do, I allow it to happen just a bit too long, then I hurt her

feelings by putting a stop to it. And now…I can’t stop thinking about her.

Or worrying about her for that matter. And she grabbed my crotch. That

was nice.”

“Ohhhh. Like a reverse box grab. Nice.” He cocked his head to the side in confusion. “I don’t know. Jake came home saying it the other day.

Where do they get this stuff?”

His phone started buzzing across the table and he snatched it up.

“Adler.”

“Hi Detective. It’s Officer Anderson. You said you wanted to be called

first if there was any activity at Ms. Page’s house?” He shot to his feet just a bit too quick to appear casual and Molly joined him with a worried

expression on her face.

“Yeah.” His heart started hammering.

“Well it’s actually her. I mean—Ms. Page is here. She was carrying a

bag with her and she looks like she intends to stay. I mean I don’t think

she just showed up like she usually does to feed the cat.”

Shit. “Okay, she’s allowed to be at her own home. It’s not a crime for her to come home.” He sounded annoyed with the man, but in truth he’d

be livid if the man hadn’t called. He was just annoyed in general and he

didn’t want her there alone.

“Well, that’s…not all.” Anderson was starting to sound nervous.

“She’s not alone. Some guy showed up driving a Lexus. Rich-looking

guy in a suit with blond hair.” The ex. “She just let him in so she must know him but I’m going to go up and check on her. Just thought you’d

want to know.”

He thanked the man before disconnecting and grabbing his coat off

the back of his chair. “Gotta go. I’ll be back in a while.”

His anxiety level was getting a workout today and as he took off toward her place he gripped the steering wheel hard until his knuckles turned white. His fury, his jealously, his roiling emotions which he couldn’t even seem to put a name to were inappropriate given his

position but he failed to care in any way.

He had no real business going over there at the moment but he just couldn’t seem to make the rational decision he knew he should make. He

should still be sitting at Molly’s table eating pizza but instead he was speeding toward her house with no real purpose except her douche bag-ex was with her and his heart felt like it was going to explode.

His composure promised to be a challenge.

Chapter Ten

 

“What are you doing here, Jason?”

“Oh come on, Kat. I’m worried about my girl. A cop shows up today

asking questions about our relationship. I mean I’m a lawyer, for fuck’s

sake. I’m not stupid. You were obviously involved in something.” He looked worried. She knew better but she held the door open and let him

in.

He moved instantly to her couch and planted himself there as she

stared at him. She really didn’t want him there. At the same time she wasn’t sure she was ready to be alone there either. She’d not been at her

home alone since the butt crack of Saturday’s dawn. Imogen had begged

her to stay but Katrina just wasn’t capable of being so dependent on her.

Besides that, she was starting to think maybe the whole thing had just

gotten blown out of proportion. He’d broken in and then he’d called and

threatened her. Maybe that was all he wanted to do, scare her. Maybe the

police activity had scared him off. Maybe nothing would ever happen again with this creep. But the maybes didn’t really help when she stepped into her home alone and the fear set in.

She stayed in the kitchen getting Kitty’s food ready for her as the old

cat staggered her drunk self out from the spare bedroom. Poor old girl.

“Well you can see I’m fine, Jason.” She set the cat food dish on the floor

and moved to refill her water dish as Kitty attacked the food dish like it

was a living rodent.

“I miss you, Kat. What can I say? When the cop showed up today I got scared and it just reminded me of how much I care about you.” He

was driveling on, his bullshit literally slipping past his lips like verbal vomit. She really did hate this man now that she could see him for the jackass he truly was.

“You said a cop came to visit? Who was it?”

“How the fuck should I know? Just some detective. Tall, dark hair, mid-thirties. Why does it matter? The guy was a dick. So can I take you

out Friday? Help take your mind off all this nonsense?” Her lips pulled

up in a small smile at the thought—not of going out with Jason—ick—

but of Dillon. If Dillon was rude to him Jason had deserved it and given

their conversation was without doubt about her, she couldn’t help but feel a trill of warmth coursing through her. Dillon had defended her in some way. She was certain of it.

When there was a knock on her side door, she jumped a mile and

dropped the lid of the cat food can she’d just picked up. Officer Anderson was standing there, waiting patiently for her to open the door.

“Hi, Officer.” She was hoping he’d want to come in.

“Hi. Everything okay, Ms. Page?”

“Yes. Jason is an acquaintance of mine. I’m fine but thank you for checking. Would you like to come in?” Her face fell when he declined the

offer and she was once again stuck with Jason and his proposition for a

date. Maybe she should agree. She could use the distraction for sure.

Jason thought he was far better in bed than he actually was but who

was she to complain? It had been months since she’d gotten laid and since Dillon had made it clear they wouldn’t be going there she was now

just as sexually frustrated as she was just plain frustrated.

But could she really stomach dealing with the ass just to get laid? Was

she capable of doing that? Normally she’d say no. Right now she was hurting thanks to Dillon’s rejection and she was just desperate for something, anything, to give her some relief from the constant worry that

was plaguing her. But Jason? Ugh.

Instead of answering she changed the subject. “How are you, Jason?”

That would throw him off. If there was one thing Jason liked to do it was

talk about himself.

“You know how busy I am. It’s why things didn’t work out for us the

first time around.”

She snorted and nearly lost the swig of beer she’d just taken out through her nose. “It is not!”

“I miss you, Kat. I’ve been thinking about you for so long.”

“Like since this afternoon?” She really wasn’t making this easy on him but he didn’t much seem to care. She wasn’t surprised. He was one

of those people who could sit blandly by while you talk and not hear a

word of what you were saying. Self-absorbed was an understatement.

“So are you going to tell me what happened? The cop wouldn’t say, of course.”

“Oh you know, some guy broke in, attacked me and then called me

and left a nasty message.”

“That’s it?”

“Because that’s not enough? What the hell does that mean?”

“I just assumed you’d been, I don’t know, nearly killed or

something.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” she muttered. She hadn’t even offered him

a beer and she stood at the kitchen counter refusing to join him in the living room drinking her beer. She really did not like this man.

“You want me to stay tonight? I promise I’ll make it worth your

while.” His expression was suddenly seductive but it kind of made her want to puke. The hell he would. He was as self-absorbed in the bedroom as he was in real life. But part of her was still tempted. She hated being

alone now and he was offering.

When another knock came at her side door after they’d made another

ten minutes of small talk and she’d subtly rejected his advances three more times, she jumped a mile again, spilling her beer this time.

Dillon was suddenly filling the window of her door with his hands on

his hips. He was glaring at her and she instantly had a lump in her throat. She was trembling as she approached the door and she took a deep breath as she reached for the doorknob. He watched every last move she made.

She couldn’t tell what was going on in that handsome head of his. He

looked angry but his eyes looked worried. The intensity of his body language left her tingling.

“You have company?” He spoke quietly as she pulled the door open

but quiet as his voice was, he couldn’t disguise his irritation. Her gaze dropped to his chest as he stood in the doorway, making no move to enter. She suddenly felt guilty—rational thought didn’t support that in any way but she did. She was also still mortified. This was the first time

she’d seen or spoken to him since the unfortunate cock grab and as she

tried to function like an adult her brain started flashing images and memories of her assault on his body.

Traitorous fucking brain. She could feel his hard erection under her hand as surely as if it was that night all over again and as she stared helplessly at his chest she started to panic.

“Who’s there, Kat?” Jason hollered from the other room and she

rolled her eyes before she could stop herself.

“That man is an asshole.” Dillon was still talking quietly for only her

to hear as he leaned toward her. And he still looked angry. Which, frankly, left her feeling defensive.

But her defensiveness was a blessing and she got hold of her

humiliation quickly as her own irritation built. “Is that a professional assessment? Does it bear on this case in some way?”

And then the prick was there, eyeing Dillon with a narrow glare.

Dillon was glaring right back and Katrina was doing the only thing she

could—shaking her head like an idiot.

“I have business to discuss with Ms. Page.”

“Are you asking me to leave or telling me leave?” It was turning into

a damn showdown at the Katrina Corral. Fuck fuck fuck.

She turned to Jason quickly, grabbing his arms. “I’m telling you to leave. I’ll talk to you soon but now just isn’t a good time.” He was still

glaring at Dillon and though Katrina’s back was to him she was guessing

he was glaring right back.

“Until Friday then, Kat?” And then eyeing Dillon with a cold stare before returning his eyes to her, he continued. “Like I said, I’ll make it worth your while. I know exactly what you need to ease all this damn tension. You know I can show you a good time.”

She wanted to gag. Jason wasn’t even looking at her when he said it

but instead was taunting Dillon with his eyes and an immature smirk.

“I said I’ll talk to you later.” She should have rejected him outright, put Dillon at ease and been honest but she knew that would rile Jason up. He didn’t like rejection. He was too pompous and self-righteous to handle it and she didn’t feel like dealing with that at the moment.

And then before she could stop him Jason kissed her. He just laid it on

her as she cringed, pulled back and let out a shriek of surprise. She felt

Dillon’s hand on her shoulder as he grabbed her gently but firmly and pulled her body back to his. His other hand shot out over her shoulder

and shoved Jason away from her.

“Get your fucking hands off her.” He was damn near growling and

she could hear the vibration of his voice through his chest as it radiated

out through her body, held snug to him.

Jason looked flabbergasted, appalled, offended and just plain floored.

“My hands have touched every last inch of her fucking skin. Who the fuck are you to—”

Dillon’s hand was suddenly on her hip, pushing her to the side as he

started lunging toward Jason. But Katrina could sense what he was going

to do with nothing more than the forward movement of his chest against

her back and she spun to him, putting her palms on his chest.

His breathing was harsh and his sneer was venomous as he glared at

Jason over her shoulder. “Detective.” She was trying to talk in a soothing

voice but she realized quickly it was going to take more than that to get

his attention. “Detective!”

His eyes flashed to hers for the briefest of seconds before nailing Jason

to his spot again. “Dillon, please.” Now she was just begging but the rush of breath that escaped his lungs at the sound of her pleading voice

made it clear she’d finally reached him.

His eyes finally returned to hers and she could do nothing but hold his gaze. She felt her brow flinching at just the same time as his brow flinched and his hand moved to gently grip her shoulder.

“Jason, I need you to leave.”

“Kat, this man—”

“Now! Please.” She still couldn’t seem to pull her gaze from Dillon’s

and he seemed just as trapped by her eyes. Jason left without a further word and she breathed a sigh of relief when the door finally closed behind him.

“He is not a good man, Katrina.” His voice was low and warm.

“Please.” He shook his head in frustration as she studied him. “Please don’t see him.”

“What right do you have to ask me?” She couldn’t seem to make her

voice sound as challenging as she intended. Instead she just sounded quiet and desperate.

“None. But I care about you and I don’t want to see you hurt by him.”

“But this really doesn’t change anything with us does it?”

He looked broken and devastated, just how she felt. She wanted him

so incredibly and knowing he desired her too did nothing but make her

feel helpless. “I’m sorry. I know I have no right to ask but please just give me this.” His hand was gently holding her shoulder and she’d not

managed to remove her palms from his hard chest that was slowly rising

and falling beneath her hands.

She nodded but said nothing and when she stepped back from him to

her kitchen counter, he exhaled a deep breath and they went back to studying each other. This was just damn painful. She needed him. She needed him in this moment more than she’d ever needed a man but he

was just out of reach. “You can let yourself out.”

She turned and walked from the room to her bedroom, refusing to

look back. She stayed there sitting on the side of her bed, waiting to hear

the door close again and once it had she returned to the kitchen, finding

a note on the counter.

I’m sorry.

Yeah? Well she was too.

Chapter Eleven

 

It was eleven that night when Mindy called. She was one of a few casual flings he indulged in on a regular basis but he cringed at the sight

of her number on caller ID. Seth was sound asleep and thanks to the fact

he slept with a TV on in his bedroom, Dillon could easily slip her in and

out of the house without Seth ever being the wiser. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it plenty in the past.

“Thought I’d swing by if you were up.” Her voice was seductive and

warm as she spoke to him. She was trying to entice him and it usually worked. But he felt cold and dead.

Mindy was a triage nurse who worked odd hours and she’d been

divorced for a few years. She didn’t expect a commitment from him and

since he had no interest in giving her one it worked out well. Something

in her eyes though said she’d welcome more and he knew at some point

he’d have to put an end to it with her. But not now. Not now when he

needed to know he was still the same Dillon who could fuck his casual

fling with no other thought to it.

“Sure.” He was staring at his feet, stretched out before him on his bed

as he spoke the word. His voice sounded detached and distant and that

was about what his interest in her was at the moment. But this was who

he was and what he did. He didn’t disrespect her—he didn’t disrespect

women in any way. This was just easy and because life wasn’t, it made

sense to keep his personal relationships this way.

But this wasn’t easy and after he plodded downstairs and flipped the porch light on, he grabbed a beer and downed half of it as he stood at the

sink. Part of him wanted this. He wanted it because he didn’t want it.

That made no sense but there it was.

He wanted Katrina, not this woman he’d fucked more times than he

could recall and had still managed to not give a shit about. He cared for

Katrina and he’d not even fucked her. Couldn’t fuck her and that’s why

he wanted Mindy. He wanted to want Mindy. He wanted to want Mindy

enough that he could stop thinking about Katrina. So why the hell was

he chugging beer in some pathetic attempt to loosen himself up before she got here? He knew damn well why. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to do it if he wasn’t half toasted.

When he opened the door for her, she smiled her seductive smile that

matched her overly contrived seductive voice. “Well aren’t ya gonna invite me in?” He stood back, holding the door for her. His heart was pounding even though he was halfway through his second beer.

She sauntered past him and he followed her into his kitchen as she opened his fridge and grabbed her own beer. He watched her and he replayed the last time they were together in his mind. He’d enjoyed it—

he always did with her and he was hoping desperately for something right now but the memories did nothing for him. He could see her body

in his mind. She was incredible to see naked, tanned, tight and lanky as

fuck. But even that couldn’t erase what he really wanted.

Every time he tried to focus on the visions of Mindy’s body, which usually excited him instantly, all he could see was Katrina. He’d not even

seen her naked, but he’d take whatever was under her clothes in a heartbeat over every last inch of what he’d seen of Mindy’s body any day

of the week. When her hand touched his waist, he wriggled away from it.

This was going to be torturous if he couldn’t get in the mood. Her eyes

followed him curiously as he moved to the fridge, grabbing yet another

beer as he drained his last one.

She looked confused if nothing else and he was just frustrated. He wanted to will his body to cooperate with him but when he looked at her

expectant face, his breath left him in a rush. He had no right to expect Katrina to stay away from her pompous ex-dickhead of a boyfriend but

he’d made that right his whether he should or shouldn’t, against policy

or not. And if he could go through with this then the right he decided belonged to him to make that judgment for her wasn’t a right he

deserved. And he wanted that right.

He was suddenly plagued with images of Jason fucking her. He saw

himself standing outside her bedroom like the fucking psychopath likely

had, watching them. He could hear the sound of her groaning as he pushed into her body. He could hear her moaning the man’s name and

when he let his mind wander painfully to the sight of them in her bed, he

had to turn from Mindy to face his kitchen sink as the pain of it hit him

square in the gut.

She was waiting patiently for him and he stared at the stupid

unopened beer he held in his hand before finally setting it on the counter

and ignoring it. Mindy’s hands reached for his waist, wrapping around

him from behind and his breath caught in his throat at her touch. He could feel her breasts against his back as she pushed her body against his

but it was too late. He was in hell, fighting the images of Katrina with Jason, and he grabbed Mindy’s hands, unpeeling them from his body

and turning to her.

“What the hell has gotten into you?” She was starting to sound

defensive.

“I’m sorry, Mindy. I need you to leave. I can’t do this.” His throat was

tight as he said the words.

She looked stunned for a moment but then she turned on the

seductive again and reached for his body. “I don’t believe you.”

Her hand started at his waist and he turned his head from her but he

didn’t stop her. Her hand slipped down to cup the bulge in his pants that

was betraying his mind. But his arousal wasn’t for her. It was an arousal

that only existed from the tormenting images of Katrina in bed with Jason and it was an arousal that he hated because it came from painful yet enticing images.

He stepped away from her reach and walked toward the front door as

her eyes trailed after him. He shouldn’t have agreed to let her come over

and it was his fault this was happening but she was going to piss him off

fast if she didn’t get the hint. He needed her gone. When he reached the

front door he held the door open and waited.

She took her time following him and she eyed him with a cold glare

as she approached.

“Why are you doing this? I know you want this. Your fucking hard-

on says it clearly enough,” she muttered with a sarcastic smile. He should have let it go, but he didn’t like arrogance and she was loaded with it at the moment.

“I’m turned on imagining a woman I do want—and she’s not you. I

don’t want to see you anymore.”

Chapter Twelve

She turned toward the door with an irritated huff but wheeled on him

before she passed over the threshold. “Odd she’s not here then, hmm?

Isn’t it fun to want what you can’t have?”

He glared at her. “Leave.” His voice was seething. What business did

he have expecting anything less from her? He was dumping her and

she’d come over expecting to get laid.

He watched her walk to her car, feeling defeated. Well that settled that. He was definitely not going to be convincing himself he could get past her anytime soon. And he was never going to get laid again at this

rate.

When he hopped in his shower he stared at the tile wall in front of him. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around why he couldn’t let this one go. It wasn’t the chase. He wasn’t one of those guys who only wanted the un-gettable get. He wanted to get and keep her. He wanted to

end this fucking case and have her and not have to let her go. And he wanted that to happen without her getting hurt in the process because he

wasn’t quite sure he could handle that.

Her file was sitting on his desk and as he walked back into his bedroom naked after toweling off, he grabbed it and flopped down on his bed. He read the report, he read her statements, he reviewed his notes, he reviewed the transcription of the message that had been left on

her answering machine and he studied her pictures. There were more pictures than they would likely ever need but he looked at each and every one closely. He studied the injuries as his heart pounded. The bruises and scuffs had faded significantly since then but seeing the fresh

marks on her body in graphic, high-definition color left his anxiety soaring.

Then he let his gaze study her eyes. There were so many close-ups of

her face that showed her eyes. She had incredible round blue eyes and they glistened with barely restrained emotion in the pictures. His mind left him again and he imagined her pleasuring herself in just the way the

lunatic had spoken of.

He’d watched her. Dillon didn’t doubt it one bit. He’d seen how she

fucked herself when there was no man in her life and as he flipped from

one picture to another, seeking out her wide stunning eyes, he imagined

it.

He could hear the sounds she would make in his head—the wet, slick

smacking sounds as she plunged her dildo in and out of her pussy—and when he finally lit on one particular picture, he stared. He dropped the

others to the folder and held this one above his face. Her eyes were looking straight at the camera when this one had been taken, unlike the

others where her eyes were shifted off to some spot in the distance. But

not this one.

Her eyes were looking at the camera and by extension of that right into his eyes. He studied and he heard her moans of pleasure in his mind. He imagined her saying his name as she writhed beneath his body

and he stared at that damn picture. His cock was hard and painfully engorged.

All it took was a picture and a bit of imagination and he was ready to

explode. He stroked up and down the length of his erection, wanting his

release. He just had to get her out of his system. He couldn’t let himself

believe this was all about her. He couldn’t let himself think he could care

about this woman he barely knew. He simply couldn’t let himself want

something that was so fucking off-limits.

But when he came, he was uttering her name over and over and over

and as the last of his seed was spent on his stomach as his muscles clenched and contracted, he was forced to admit this was absolutely all

about her.

Her picture stared back at him as he gasped and stroked through the

last of his release. “Fuck.”

He muttered to himself as he set the picture on the folder, closed it and tossed it to the floor beside his bed. He was more frustrated than tired by the time he turned the light out, and he stared into the darkness

for nearly fifteen minutes. He hated that she was there alone. He was glad they had an officer at her house but he knew it was hard on her to

be there alone and he couldn’t stand the idea of her being frightened.

When he snatched up his cell, he tried to stop his fingers from typing.

He was overstepping a line and there was no denying it. He sent a text

asking if she was awake and it was mere seconds before the response said she was.

He dialed her number, his pulse quickening with every number he

pushed. “Hi.” She sounded hesitant, worried.

“Hi.” He wasn’t quite sure what to say beyond that. He’d not gotten

that far into his plan. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Don’t you ever sleep?” There was a slight sarcasm in her voice and

he calmed at the sound of her humor.

“No but not for the same reasons as you. I’m just used to the

interruptions.”

“Yeah well, I like my sleep and I don’t like that it’s so damn hard to

now.”

“I really do think you should stay with your friend Imogen. You

know you’d be more comfortable.”

“I can’t. Kitty is here and I’d just end up driving back and forth every

day to take care of her. And—I just can’t.”

“So take Kitty to Imogen’s place.”

“Well I would but she kind of …pokes at her a little.” She was being

cute but he could sense she was also being serious to some extent and his

body was tingling at nothing more than the sound of her voice. “I think

she thinks she’s petting her but she pokes. There’s just no other explanation. It’s odd, I’ll give you that, but she’s never had pets.”

“That’s weird.” His voice trailed off at the bizarre image in his mind

of the quirky Brit poking poor old Kitty.

“Yeah. Yeah it is.”

He chuckled and she sighed. The tension was gone. It was gone from

her voice and it was gone from his body. However strained it had been

earlier in the day, it was melting away. She wasn’t angry at him. She could be—she likely should be. He’d interrupted her life and barged in on her when he had no good reason to. But she wasn’t.

“I’m sorry about the other night when I touched you.” Her voice was

quiet and laced with insecurity and his warm chuckle that he was

enjoying so much after so much tension froze in his throat. “I put you in

a bad position and—”

“It wasn’t any more your fault than it was mine.” He heard her inhale

a deep slow breath before letting it out just as slowly. He caught himself

holding his breath, waiting for her to say something else. There was nothing else to say but it didn’t stop him from wanting to hear her.

“I should go.” But she didn’t make any further move to end the

conversation and she was just silent. He was too. He wasn’t ready to say

good night to her but he didn’t know what to say to keep her talking—

and frankly there was nothing he should say and keeping her on the line

wasn’t a concern he should have with her.

The silence became uncomfortable and long and eventually, he

opened his mouth and forced the words out. “Good night, Kat. Call me if

you need anything.”

 

“I need you.” She whispered the words pathetically in response to his

comment. She could never say it were he actually there but he was already gone. He’d hung up and she was alone again in her quiet house.

Her night table lamp was on but the house was otherwise dark. She had

to figure out some way to get some sleep or she was going to go crazy again and who knows what she’d do in her delirium this time—lick his

face the next time she saw him perhaps or worse.

She flipped the light off and curled up on her side, pulling the heavy

quilt up and over her head, letting only her face peek out. She felt safer in the dark. She always had. She never understood fear of the dark. You could hide in the dark in a way you couldn’t in the light and even as a

child she’d always known that.

She had so many memories of doing just this as a little girl. Her fears

weren’t real then the way they were now but this was how she’d always

managed it.

She lay still under the weight of her blanket, listening to the quiet.

She’d almost prefer some noise. Silence only magnified every last drip of

water from her leaky faucet, the furnace as it kicked on, the creak of her

old pipes, the long tendril-y branches of the overgrown bushes outside her window as they brushed along the siding. There were just too many

quiet sounds. But eventually she did fall asleep. And when she woke in

the morning she was still alive.

The next few days tumbled by without incident and the feeling that perhaps the worst was over inched into her mind just a bit more with every passing hour. She wanted to think it was over and every minute that passed with more nothing made it easier and easier to think, to rationalize and then eventually—after a while or so—to fully believe it was just plain over and that belief was extremely comforting. Part of her

thought it was contrived and just her way of finding peace and sleep—

part of her thought it might be real.

She’d followed Dillon’s request to take public transit to her

Wednesday-night class that week, though she was struggling to fathom

why at this point. It was uneventful at best, minus the exceptionally foul

smell of the woman sitting next to her on the bus. Class was equally uneventful.

She stopped in the registration office before the start of class and asked for Josh Grant’s personal contact information, and they handed it

over without question. When he approached her as the other students were filing out of the classroom at the end of the night, she almost felt guilty. His head was down and he was holding a piece of paper in his hand.

“I made this for you.” His eyes stared at her desktop and he dropped

the paper in front of her. She reached for it, trying to hide the tremble in her hand. They were alone at this point and she was nervous. Josh was

an odd duck if nothing else and Dillon had her afraid of the poor man at

this point. She unfolded the paper and gasped.

It was stunning. Nothing more than a simple ink drawing on a single

white sheet of copy paper but it was her. It was an amazing likeness of

her. Not a posed or glamorous drawing, just her staring off at some distant point. She wasn’t smiling, she wasn’t frowning, she was just…

being. Her heart thumped and she lost her ability to stifle the tremor in

her hand any longer.

“Josh, this is beautiful. I had no idea you were an artist.” She was trying to sound casual and as nervous as she was she was just as amazed

by the talent she was looking at.

“Was…uh…who was…was that guy yours? No—no, no… Like was

he your boyfriend…last week?”

“Oh.” Her pause was ridiculously long as she contemplated. “Yes.”

She blurted it out as her eyelids fluttered. That meant she was lying.

Thank God he didn’t know that. She sniffled and looked away quickly.

That was lie sign numero dos. She cleared her throat nervously as she stood and gathered her belongings.

“That’s nice.” His face dropped and he turned from her with his head

down. Her heart was racing and she was starting to panic. He walked from her without a sound and she waited until he was out the door

before she sank into her chair and started breathing deep calming breaths of air.

When Dillon burst into the room, she shrieked in shock and he rushed

to her, pulling her to her feet. He held her at arm’s length, turning her face, touching her skin and pulling back, trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” She grabbed his wrists and stilled the panic in his

touch.

“What the fuck was he doing in here with you alone? I got here as your students were leaving. I didn’t realize he was still in here with you.

I was just waiting for you in the hall when I saw him leave. Did he touch

you?” His panic hadn’t abated an ounce.

“He didn’t do anything. He gave me a picture.” She wasn’t doing

very well at controlling her own panic either. The man had done nothing.

Nothing but given her an incredible picture. He was odd. He was very odd but he’d done nothing. Dillon studied the picture in his hand and she watched him. “I have his information.”

“Good.” He didn’t even look up from her likeness on the piece of paper as he spoke the word. His jaw tensed and clenched as she watched

his face.

“Why are you here, Dillon?” Again he didn’t seem interested in

pulling his gaze from the picture.

“I wanted to see that you got home all right. Come on. I’ll drive you.”

The weather was warm for early spring though the sun was long gone

and as he walked her from the building, they strolled. He didn’t say where he was parked and she just followed his lead, meandering slowly

down the sidewalk.

When a skateboarder nearly took her out, he clutched her upper arm

and swiftly pulled her body into his. It left her gasping as her palm met

the hard clenching muscles of his stomach to steady herself. Even with a

t-shirt on it was easy to feel the definition of his abdomen and it was all

she could do to pull from him.

He stared down at her. It was nearly a glare as he fought his own battle. She could see it in the way his intense eyes held hers, refusing to

look away but refusing to let his expression soften either. He was trying

to remain in control and not falter—but he wanted to falter as much as she did.

He was parked two blocks away and when his hand met the small of

her back as he rounded the car with her, she inhaled a rushed breath and

he instantly pulled back from her. He eyed her carefully as she climbed

in.

The phrase “walking on eggshells” suddenly had new meaning. It

was what they did with each other. It was as if her every movement was

somehow offset by his. If she touched, he pulled back. If she gasped he

held his breath. If she looked, he looked away. He was trying so hard to

undo her every reaction to him and it was so telling. She wasn’t offended. He wouldn’t be doing it if he wasn’t trying to hide what he really wanted to do, which was match her every move, every gasp, every

touch. It was an incredible turn-on to some degree and it was incredibly

painful in another.

Once he was sitting beside her in the driver’s seat, she turned to him.

“What if it’s over?” He cocked his head at her as his eyes narrowed. “I mean couldn’t it be? It’s been nearly three weeks, nothing’s happened, maybe nothing will. Maybe he was scared off and…”

He studied her, his jaw clenching. She could tell he was frustrated with her but it wasn’t anger. “That’s a very enticing notion but I don’t think you can afford to think that way.” He’d shifted his body toward her and he’d not even bothered starting the car. “You say a few weeks as

though that means something. A few weeks is nothing. This man

watched you for months. There’s no doubt in my mind. So what’s a few

weeks to a man who has invested a few months on you already?”

She shivered at the thought. But she didn’t want to believe that was

true and she shook her head, opening her mouth to argue.

“Don’t.” He silenced her quickly. “You’re not the first witness who’s

wanted to trade her circumstances for something a bit less horrifying.

You’re rationalizing, you’re compensating and you can’t afford to be that

careless with your life.”

Her mouth hung open at the harshness of his words. Nothing he’d

said was cruel or mean. It was just honest and devoid of any

sugarcoating whatsoever.

“I just thought maybe…” Her eyes shifted out the window and when

they shifted back, she caught his outstretched hand as his fingers curled back and he redirected his hand to the steering wheel. He’d wanted to touch her but he wouldn’t.

After he dropped her off at her side door, she walked inside and he

walked down to the patrol officer’s car to speak with him. She watched

him from the living room window, and he stayed there for many minutes

until turning and walking back up her driveway. She half expected him

to knock on her door and come in. but he didn’t. When she heard his car

start her heart sank.

Chapter Twelve

 

He managed to avoid her for the next week. And he hated every

minute of it. He didn’t call her, he didn’t seek her out, he didn’t text—

hell, he didn’t even go inside the school the couple afternoons he was able to pick Seth up. But the following Tuesday afternoon, he hurt her anyway.

“Dad, Jake and I want to go play soccer after dinner. Aunt Molly already said Jake could go.” Seth was approaching him as he stood by his

SUV outside the school. He was looking at Dillon expectantly, waiting for an answer. Answer? Hell, Dillon was still waiting to hear a question.

“Was any part of that supposed to sound like it had a question mark

on the end of it?” He cocked his head to the side as he watched his son.

Seth was a really good kid and Dillon was determined to keep him that

way. He’d witnessed entirely too many kids who should have known

better start taking steps in the wrong direction and there wasn’t a chance

in hell that was going to happen with his son.

Seth threw his book bag on the floor of the front seat as he climbed in

and Dillon closed his door. But he froze the second he turned to round the car. She was there, standing up near the entrance doors to the school,

watching him.

She wasn’t smiling. She wasn’t doing anything at all except pinning him to his spot with her incredible eyes. He swore he could see the blue

even from twenty-five yards away. Her hand was half raised in a casual

attempt to wave at him. He should say something to her but he panicked.

Every time he tried to just be a detective around her he caught himself

being a man. So instead of letting that happen he ignored her, looked away and rounded the car to his side. He refused to look at her. That was

until he was pulling away from the curb and stole a quick glance in the

side mirror. Her head was down, looking at the ground. He didn’t need

to see those beautiful blues to know she was hurt. Fuck. It was the last thing he wanted to do to her but he couldn’t seem to behave himself with

her.

“So can I go?”

“Yeah, sure.” He was barely thinking when he said the words.

“Really? That’s it? You just said yes, you know that, right? You can’t

unsay it.” Seth was speaking a hundred miles an hour.

“What?” Dillon was confused.

“You just said I could go play soccer with Jake after dinner.” Seth sounded suspicious and Dillon was still—well, confused.

“I did?”

“Dad!”

“Fine. Yeah. You can go as long as your homework is done but in the

future ask, don’t tell and say please. I promise it’ll get you further in life.” Seth hated it when he lectured but at the moment, Seth was a bit too

jazzed about soccer to give a shit if his dad wanted to lecture.

“Okay. So uh, what’s up with you? I mean like no offense, Dad, but

you’re acting kinda weird.” Seth was giving him that chastising look that

said he thought his dad was crazy. Dillon was very familiar with it.

“Why? Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.” He was practically stuttering.

“I saw you looking at Ms. Page.” Dillon tensed at nothing more than

her name. “Do you like my teacher, Dad?”

Seth was watching him and his face was oddly serious for a kid of thirteen. “I mean, it’s okay with me. She’s really pretty cool for an old person.” Old person? Dillon almost laughed. She was seven years

younger than he was and his son thought of her as an old person. Then

again Seth probably thought of his dad as geriatric.

“I don’t have a crush on your teacher, Seth.” He said it sternly, hoping

to mask the blatant lie but given the look on Seth’s face—that look that

made Dillon think his son was rolling his eyes without actually rolling his eyes— Seth wasn’t buying any of it.

“Whatever, Dad.” Seth ignored him for the rest of the drive.

Molly was no better that night and after the boys were out the door

headed to the soccer field two blocks away she lit into him. “So how’s Ms. Page?”

“You know I’m not having this conversation with you.”

“I’m not asking about her case. I’m asking about the two of you.” She

was staring at him, waiting for him to ‘fess up.

“There is no two of us and there’s also nothing to say. Sorry to disappoint.” He quickly stood from the table and started clearing dishes.

“You only do dishes when you don’t want to talk about something!”

She hollered after him and as he returned to the table for more dishes, she propped her feet up on one of the other chairs and rested her hands

on the back of her head casually. “But seeing as you never help in the kitchen, I’m inclined to let you keep your silence.” She smirked and he stared down at her before finally sinking into a chair.

“Fine. I like her.”

“Duh.”

“A lot. I…care about her. A lot.”

She dropped her feet from the chair and moved her hands to the

table. Now she looked concerned. “The case won’t always be a factor.

You’ll be through this someday.”

“First of all, she has to survive this and I’m not going to say more than that so don’t even ask. Second of all, assuming I can solve this fucking thing and keep her intact, there’ll likely be charges, court, testimony. This thing could go on for a year or more when it’s all said and done. Hell, longer! I’m not allowed any involvement with her until

this over, buried dead and over.”

“Then buckle in and be patient. You care. Isn’t she worth that?”

“Worth what? Listen to what you’re saying. I mean—what the hell are

you saying? That I should—what? Hey, Kat, let’s put this relationship that we don’t have on pause for the next couple years, okay? I mean I know we’re not seeing each other and maybe you won’t even survive long enough but can you just maybe not see anyone else for two years in

the event that someday we might be able to go out on a date and decide

if we actually want to see each other? Seriously, Molly?”

She cracked a small smile. “Then take yourself off the case. Make up a

reason if you have to. Dillon, you like her. You care. It’s been a long time since you’ve been like this. I don’t believe that’s a waste of your time for one second and you wouldn’t be this wrapped up about it if it was.”

“I’d rather be on this case than trust someone else to her safety. That’s

the most important thing.” He held her eyes and she pursed her lips as

her brow wrinkled. “And at the same time, how compromised is my perspective because of how I feel about her?” He shook his head in frustration. He cared. He wanted what was best for her and he no longer

had any idea what that actually was.

Dillon stood, grabbed more dishes and walked to the kitchen. When

Molly joined him at the sink as he rinsed dishes, she started taking them

from him to load into the dishwasher. They were silent as they worked

and once they’d finished she squeezed his shoulder before walking out of

the kitchen and leaving him staring out the kitchen window.

* * * * *

When Stephens called him at eight-thirty the next night, he and Seth

were watching TV. “Your girl’s house was broken into tonight. Just got

the call.”

Dillon sat bolt upright as Seth’s eyes flashed to his. “Is she okay?” His

heart was pounding loudly and he caught his hand on his chest as though he could still the racing speed.

“She’s fine. She’s with the patrol officer right now and they’re

securing the scene. You coming?”

“I’m on my way. Forensics has been notified?”

“Duh.” And then Stephens hung up on him.

“Do you mind staying at Aunt Molly’s?” He didn’t even need to ask.

They were used to this routine and Seth never minded. He was as

comfortable there as he was here and though that left Dillon with his moments of guilt—not to mention jealousy—he’d feel a whole lot worse

if Seth didn’t have such a great second home to go to.

He called Molly quickly before leaving and his worry took his mind

to places he really didn’t want to go on the drive to Katrina’s place. He

saw her leaning up against the squad car as he pulled to the curb. She was talking to Officer Anderson and she nodded subtly at something he

said. She smiled at him appreciatively and his heart raced for a moment.

It was an odd sense of jealousy that hit him. Anderson was young, he

was handsome and the way he watched her wasn’t completely innocent.

It also wasn’t lascivious. He meant her no harm but he was attracted to

her if nothing else and though he was being professional, Dillon could

see it clearly.

The moment Dillon stepped from his car and she caught sight of him,

she inhaled a deep breath and moved as though she was going to come

to him. But then something stopped her and she dropped her eyes to the

ground and her body stilled. He wanted to rush to her, pull her into his

arms and quiet the slight tremble that was running through her body.

It took considerable willpower to keep his gait calm and slow as he approached them and once he was there he struggled just as much to greet her casually. Her eyes flashed to his as he said hello and the hurt in her expression reached out and slapped him across the face. In all his worry and fear for her safety he’d completely forgotten what an ass he’d

been in the school parking lot the day before. She very obviously hadn’t.

“Officer Anderson, can you give Ms. Page and me a moment?” He

didn’t bother looking at the man and kept his eyes trained on hers. Once

the man was out of earshot he opened his mouth. “How are you?”

Her eyes flashed to his quickly and the hurt was replaced by anger.

“So you’re acknowledging me today? I wonder, Detective, what it is I did

today to earn your attention.” Bitterness was dripping from her tone. She

was more than angry.

“I’m sorry. I have no excuse for my behavior yesterday.”

“Yes you do. It’s just not an excuse you’re willing to say out loud.”

Fuck, she was pissed and more than that, she was dead-on.

He inhaled slowly and let it out just as slow. He deserved her anger

and though it left him defensive, he was going to give this one to her. But

she needed to stow it fast. He had a job to do and her anger could wait

until later. “Like I said I’m sorry but this isn’t the time. I need to know

what happened.”

“Yeah? Well, Stephens already knows what happened so I suggest

you talk to him.” She wasn’t stowing it at all.

“I’m talking to you. I want answers and I want to hear them from you.” And then he leaned toward her, speaking through gritted teeth.

“Be angry with me later. Not now.” Her jaw clenched but her emotions

got the better of her. He watched as tears welled on her lower eyelids.

Her tears were perfectly and beautifully restrained and he swallowed painfully over a lump in his throat.

“I let class out early, got home and the side door wasn’t latched. It wasn’t open but it was pushed slightly in. The floodlight didn’t come on

either. I panicked and I ran down to the patrol car.”

“So you didn’t enter?” She shook her head. “And did you touch the

door, the door handle, anything?” She shook her head again.

Stephens was walking casually down the driveway to meet them but

Katrina’s back was to him. “Can I go in and make sure Kitty is okay?”

Stephens shook his head as he heard her words and he watched Dillon closely.

“I’ll check on Kitty.” He said it to make her feel better but he wasn’t at

all sure what to make of Stephens’ response. Was the cat dead or was he

implying something about the crime scene?

When she finally noticed Stephens as he stepped up beside her, she turned to him. “Did you see my cat?”

“I didn’t but we’ll check on her.” His voice gave nothing away.

“Well, can’t I just go in and check? I won’t touch anything.”

“Sorry. Forensics is in there and there’s evidence we need to

preserve.”

“What evidence?” Katrina’s question was met with silence. Stephens

took a deep breath and looked away. Dillon’s head cocked to the side and his eyes narrowed as he studied Stephens’ expression. There was entirely too much going unsaid at the moment and he didn’t like it.

“Do you have somewhere you can stay tonight?” Dillon broke the

silence.

“Yeah, Imogen should be here any minute.” Dillon was itching to get

inside her house but he wasn’t quite ready to leave her alone yet. They

stood by awkwardly for a few minutes until Imogen finally pulled up.

When she looked up to him, her expression had softened. “Please check

on Kitty?”

He nodded but said nothing else. He didn’t even know if the poor old

bat was still alive and given he couldn’t outright ask Stephens who was

still standing by silently, all he could do was agree.

He and Stephens walked toward the house together and it wasn’t

until they were getting ready to enter the side door that Stephens stopped him. “There’s gonna be questions on this one.”

He said nothing else to Dillon before he walked through the door.

Dillon followed and the moment his eyes lit on the kitchen counter he sucked in a quick breath. The crime scene technician who was studying

the countertop peered nervously up to Dillon the moment he saw him.

Dillon swallowed, forcing the lump in his throat down and then he stared until he couldn’t get the images out of his mind.

“I want eight-by-ten copies of all of these by tomorrow afternoon.”

The tech looked at him wearily but nodded. Dillon finally made it out of

the kitchen and followed Stephens back to her bedroom. He froze in the

doorway, refusing to go any farther.

Stephens was standing beside her bed looking down but when his

eyes moved back up to Dillon’s, he shook his head. “Like I said, questions. I can’t I say I don’t have some myself.”

Fuck. How was he going to have this conversation with her?

Chapter Thirteen

 

“What did they find?”

“I don’t know, Imogen. That’s what I’m saying. Detective Stephens

said there was evidence to collect but he didn’t say anything else. I don’t

even know if Kitty is okay.”

She was calming her nerves with a rather large glass of wine as they

sat on Imogen’s back deck. Imogen’s property was on the lake, along with a multitude of others but it was still secluded. It was buried in trees and they surrounded the deck, closing out the rest of the world. There was little backyard and it was a rocky steep incline down to the water below. There was no place Katrina felt safer at the moment.

When her phone started vibrating on the arm of the lounger she was

sitting in, she snatched it up, seeing Dillon’s number. “Hello.” She sounded desperate.

“Kitty’s fine. She was hiding under the spare room bed. Forensics is

still here and I’ll stay until they leave to make sure everything’s locked up. I’ll leave some food and water for Kitty. I found a spare motion bulb

the technician left and I’m replacing it before I leave too. The lightbulb was broken out at some point. I’m guessing he slipped by during the day

and broke it. We have a patrol car drive by your house twice an hour during the day when you’re not at home but that leaves it uncovered for

much of the time. Can’t be sure when he broke in but I’m guessing it was

when you were in class or earlier in the afternoon.”

“What did you find? I mean, evidence. Detective Stephens said there

was evidence.”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” His voice was awkward, strained

perhaps. He was hiding something and there was no guessing what it could be. “I’ll leave enough food and water out for Kitty for a couple days. I want you to stay at Imogen’s for a while. We’ll figure something

out for Kitty.” He was waiting for a response from her.

“Okay.” At the moment there was just no argument to be had.

“I’d like to stop over at Imogen’s whenever you get home tomorrow.

We need to talk about some things.”

He left her with that and she sat stunned for a minute after they disconnected. Imogen just watched her. Their normal brand of sarcasm was lost at the moment and she didn’t even attempt to make a comment

about Dillon’s ass. She was worried—and Imogen didn’t do worried.

After a couple of minutes, Imogen turned to her. “Spring break’s

coming up, Trink.”

“And?”

“And I’m going to be on the other side of the world for nearly two damn weeks! Just say it, love. Tell me to cancel and stay and I’ll call my

mum and dad. They’ll understand. Or better yet, come with me. They love you and I can’t stand the idea of—”

“I can’t go, Imogen. I’ll be okay.”

“You can’t honestly say that, now can you! Damn stubborn girl you are!” She was pissed. But it was only because she was so worried. It was

about the only time Imogen ever got angry. “Then stay here. Bring that

damn old cat with you and you stay here. Please?” She was just plain begging now.

Katrina watched her. Her eyes were as pleading as her voice was and

after a deep breath, Katrina nodded. Imogen grabbed Katrina’s hand and

refused to let go. She had tears in her eyes and that alone left Katrina sniffling back her own emotion.

She’d been very wrong to assume this could possibly or would

possibly go away on its own. How was it really possible Katrina could ever have caught the attention of a psychopath who wanted her dead?

She was just Katrina. A lackluster junior-high teacher who hadn’t dated

for months, had never been much of a flirt and was too quiet, too normal

and just too damn boring to attract the attention. Why was this

happening to her?

* * * * *

The next day was entirely too long and difficult to get through. She’d

gotten choked-up during lunch as she’d watched a couple of young

teachers laughing about something and had to escape the teachers’

lounge in a hurry with Imogen on her heels.

Something had changed. Or nothing had changed and she was just finally figuring that out. The night before was a glaring and ugly reminder that absolutely nothing had changed at all. The psychopath was still after her, he’d certainly not been scared off and yes, Katrina was an absolute idiot to be lulled into the notion that perhaps this whole nightmare was over. It was very much not over.

Part of her was anxious to see Dillon. She felt safe when he was by her

side—likely the only time at all she felt safe anymore. But it was uncomfortable. She didn’t want to admit just how much his reaction a couple days before had hurt her feelings. He’d very intentionally ignored

her and it just plain hurt. She couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it, even amid all the fear and chaos in her life. He’d found it more than easy

to simply look away, walk away, drive away as though he hadn’t even seen her. Still, she wanted to see him.

Imogen was intentionally going to make herself scarce that night but

when Katrina had assured her it wasn’t necessary as they’d finished their

lunch in Katrina’s classroom, she’d gotten nothing more than a

mischievous smile.

“It’s not like that, Imogen,” she’d said very truthfully. It was exactly

what she believed.

“I don’t think you have a clue. That man can’t take his eyes off you when you’re together and the fact you’re blind to that is oh-so-very-Trink-like. Sorry love but you’re the queen of underestimating yourself.

The man’s smitten.”

“Doesn’t really matter and I’m starting to get that.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“It’s not.” She hated that she was starting to understand this. “Think

about it. You let yourself care about someone you’re trying to protect—

how do you keep your perspective?”

“Maybe it makes him work harder for you.”

“Or maybe it makes it hard to be rational, logical, focused. I’m just saying I get it. If you have to do this for a living, it’d kill you to care too much for every victim you encountered. Wouldn’t it?” And then the bell

rang. They were sitting in Katrina’s classroom after her mild lunchtime meltdown and as Imogen stood to leave she pecked Katrina on top of her

head.

But now it was hours later and she was nervously pacing in Imogen’s kitchen waiting for him to arrive. He’d sent a quick text when he was on

his way and she’d pathetically checked her face and hair, changed into one of Imogen’s far-cuter shirts and ran through a light cloud of Imogen’s best perfume.

When she stepped in front of the bathroom mirror, she took in the sight of herself. Her eyes had those ugly dark circles again after another

night of tossing and turning, she’d lost a bit of weight—no complaints there—and she looked depressed. “Idiot,” she muttered to herself as she

heard the doorbell ring.

He looked quite incredible standing on Imogen’s porch, wearing a

perfectly fitted pair of jeans, lightweight sweater and impeccably

polished brown loafers. He held a folder in his hand and her eyes instantly moved to it. Whatever was in there was meant for her to see and she was suddenly on high alert. He’d said they had something to talk about. She’d not missed the subtle if not vague insinuation in his voice and it had something to do with that folder.

She held the door open for him as he walked in. He seemed mildly uncomfortable around her but then wasn’t that just where they were at this point?

“I let myself through the gate. I hope that was okay.” She nodded and

offered him a cup of tea before she put a kettle on the stove. When she

turned back to him, the folder was sitting on the counter and he rounded

the bar to sit at one of the stools.

“May I?” She asked, meeting his eyes as she touched the folder. He nodded, steepling his fingers against his mouth and studying her calmly.

However calm he might have outwardly appeared, she wasn’t buying it.

There was a tension to his body, a seriousness to his eyes he couldn’t disguise.

Her hands trembled as she reached back to the folder and opened it.

Then she sucked in a shocked breath. She was aware her mouth was hanging open but what the fuck!

It was her—or parts of her. It was her face but it was most definitely

not her body, not unless she posed for some hard-core pornographic photos without recalling. The Photoshop job was bad to her estimation but it was good enough to not look comical.

If someone didn’t know better, they’d likely think she was a pinup girl with a proclivity for spreading her legs wide and splaying her own

vagina open with her fingers. This was more than soft porn. This was gratuitous and her fucking face was on it!

“Oh my God! This isn’t me!”

“I know. I know. You don’t have to look at them if you don’t want to

but I don’t want to hide it from you either.” Not look? How the hell could she not look? There’d been countless people traipsing through her home the night before, seeing these images. How the hell could she not

look?

She found more of the same on the next page. This pose was beyond

compromising and featured another stunning, voluptuous body bound

with the legs again splayed open and hiding nothing at all. She was mortified and her cheeks were burning furiously. His eyes drifted away

from her as she flipped to the next picture. Her own shyness at having her face attached to this body made sense, his sudden shyness did not.

The pictures alone would be enough to leave her gasping in

humiliation in front of this man. Add her head to the mix and she was in

humiliation hell. All she could do was cover her mouth, keep her eyes down and keep moving through the pictures. She made it past seven more similar images before she finally understood Dillon’s own state.

When she first saw it, her body tingled. It was inappropriate but it did. On the page, another female with Katrina’s face was on her hands and knees with her chest to the ground, her nipples brushing the fabric

surface she was on.

But behind her was a man’s torso—a very fit and stunning torso. It wasn’t the torso that brought her up short but the incredibly handsome

head on top of the torso. Dillon’s calm expression from some unknown

photograph had been transplanted onto this image. His lips were slightly

parted in the photo, and though the original likely hadn’t looked at all seductive, coupled with the naked torso and the strong masculine fingers

that gripped the woman’s hips, it looked exceptionally sexual. Dillon was

fucking her in this image.

She didn’t even realize she’d started panting raggedly until Dillon’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Please keep going.” His voice was

husky as he spoke and she couldn’t even muster a glance up at him as

she moved to the next image.

Again she was on the page. This time on her back with her legs

splayed wide open, her neck craned back to look at the camera above and slightly behind her head. An awkward position to say the least, except necessary to capture the face of the man between her legs with his

dick buried halfway in her body. Of course the man had Dillon’s face.

In total there were five pictures of them together and each one sent an

inappropriate tingle through her body even as she tried to gulp down calming breaths of air. Her fingers trembled as she moved from one image to another, forced to study incredibly vulgar poses with her and Dillon’s faces on them.

When she flipped to a photograph of her bedroom, she was relieved.

But it didn’t last. At first she couldn’t see the focus of the photograph but the next moved closer to her bed and the next closer still until there was

little question what she was looking at.

She recognized the flesh-colored silicone phallus lying in the center of

her bed. She choked on her tongue. Around the dildo were a couple of the pictures she’d just been looking at. Her body was trembling and the

picture was making a fluttering sound against the countertop as her fingers tried desperately to hold it still.

“I have to ask.” He didn’t need to say anything more.

“Yes. It looks like mine.” He was silent. She knew he was watching her but she still couldn’t force her eyes up to meet his. “But no, I haven’t fucked you in front of a camera, if you were curious.”

She was being sarcastic. She just wasn’t sure what else to be under the

circumstances. He chuckled quietly and at the sound of his warmth she

finally managed to look up. He was watching her gently and he wasn’t

shying away from her at all. “And my boobs aren’t nearly that big either

or that fake for that matter.” Now the gentle expression turned to a small

smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. This lunatic obviously knows you’re working on this

case and I…” He rounded the counter as she spoke and she pulled

herself up to sit on the countertop.

“Stop. This isn’t your fault and I don’t want to hear an ounce of guilt

in your voice.” She pushed the folder away from her, refusing to give it even one more moment of her time. “I meant to ask yesterday—was Josh

Grant in class last night?”

She met his eyes again before shaking her head. “No. He wasn’t.” He

took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what to make of him. He doesn’t have a criminal

background I’ve found yet, at least not in Washington. It’ll take a bit longer to know if he’s got something out of state but I don’t like him.

He’s artistic and this…” He indicated the folder sitting next to her. “Well

I wouldn’t call it art exactly.”

“Yeah. Artistic. Not sure that’s the same thing as…as Photoshopistic.”

His lips pulled up again. He had beautiful lips and her eyes got stuck

there for a moment. When he licked them, her eyes flashed back up to his

just to see him studying her intently.

“I want to talk about the other day.” She was obviously begging to sour the mood.

“What about it?”

“Why did you ignore me?”

He sighed. He looked guilty. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be mean.”

“You really didn’t answer the question.”

“There are so many things I wish I could say to you that I’m simply

not allowed to say.”

It was her turn to sigh but it was far more frustrated than his. “I like

you too.” He just stared at her. He didn’t say a word. She’d thrown it in

his face again.

“Kat, I want you to understand something. I want what’s best for you.

That’s the only thing you need to know about me.”

“Then don’t ignore me. It hurt my feelings. I thought at the very least

we were friends and I could wave to you. I felt like a complete idiot standing there.” Her hurt was seeping through her words.

“You really think we can be friends? You think that’s possible for us?”

His words were loaded. He wasn’t really asking.

“Why not?”

“You don’t need me to answer that question.”

“It’s not so complicated.” She was challenging him.

“Okay.” He ran his finger along the line of his chin as he approached

her. “Let me start by saying it’s really easy for you to say that. Your job

doesn’t depend on me keeping my dick out of you. Your safety doesn’t

depend on you being able to stay focused, rational, unemotional.” He obviously wasn’t going to be holding back on making his point.

“I said friends, not lovers.” She was actually serious when she said it,

though admittedly she sounded like a complete dumbass.

His smirk was subtle and it was completely devoid of humor—the

hand that reached out for her exposed knee was slow, deliberate. “You would stop me if I did this?” His fingers brushed the inside of her knee.

The skin was sensitive and she almost cried out at the warm tickle. His

eyes held hers with a raised brow.

When he pulled his hand back from her leg, it wasn’t to stop

tormenting her arousal. Instead he let his mouth taunt her. It was just a

soft gentle kiss at the corner of her mouth but it set her desire off like a firecracker in her womb. When he pulled back, he kept his face mere inches from hers. Far enough to hold her gaze but close enough she could feel his warm breath on her skin.

“And that? You’d stop me?” He watched her. He couldn’t possibly be

waiting for a reaction and she was far too dumbfounded to give him one.

“What if I pulled your nipple into my mouth with my lips?” She sucked

in a quick breath. “If I slipped my finger into your pussy? Hmm?”

She started slowly shaking her head. Hell no, she wouldn’t stop this

man from doing anything he wanted to her body.

“Well that’s too fucking bad, isn’t it? Because I’m not at all sure I could resist doing every last one of those things to you given the chance,

friends or not, and if you’re no more capable of putting a stop to it than I am, well where would we be then?”

His eyebrows shot up but the seduction was gone. His face was a bit

somber, defeated. “You know I want you. I want to do every last thing I

said to you and more. The fact of the matter is all of those things make

me less able to do my job. And I’d rather keep you alive than fuck you.”

His eyes were incredibly serious as he regarded her and she felt like a child being chastised for her poor behavior. “I won’t ignore you again. It

was rude and I’m sorry.”

She had no idea what to say. She was aroused, frustrated—she felt damn stupid and guilty for pushing the conversation down that path and

in her panic, she grasped at the first question that popped in her mind,

desperate to get back to some safe form of conversation that would hide

her intense need. “How’s Seth?” Maybe this was a safe topic.

“He’s doing well. He says you’re a cool teacher and he called you an

old person.” His smile was subtle. They weren’t friends after all.

“Well, I am a cool teacher and he’s obviously not met his dad. How

old are you by the way?”

“Thirty-five.” His face looked strained. It was as if she was pulling the

conversation out of him at this point. He’d made his point and now he was driving it home.

“See, now that’s old.” She tried for a laugh but it fell flat and he just watched her, forcing his lips to pull up slightly.

“I should go.”

They stood by the front door staring at each other for far too long and

as she started to reach for the door handle he did too. Their hands collided and he pulled back as though her skin was radioactive.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Kat.” His voice was quiet and she knew damn well he was overstepping a boundary right then, regardless of how hard he fought to put one up just minutes before

in the kitchen. She didn’t give a shit about his boundaries at the moment.

She wanted him to destroy each and every last one of them and give in to

it. But she wasn’t surprised in the least when he abruptly walked out the

door.

She watched him walk to his SUV and after he pulled from the

driveway and the gate was secure, she returned to the kitchen where the

kettle was only just starting to whistle. She made tea and paced. She paced and paced and paced until the door finally opened and Imogen came in.

“So?”

“Uh… Imagine gratuitous porn images—and I mean gratuitous—

with my head attached to the body. And oh yeah, Dillon’s too. You can

apparently do a lot with Photoshop to humiliate a person.” Katrina wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell Imogen about the rest of their

conversation. Perhaps she didn’t want to sound so pathetic or perhaps she just didn’t know how to explain it to her.

The porn images were enough though to hold Imogen’s attention and

she stared wide-eyed at her. She grabbed them each a beer from the fridge, took Katrina’s tea straight from her hand and tossed it in the sink.

“Why are you wasting your time with tea? Drink. And…uh…yeah, they

do it all the time in tabloids, doll. Next thing you’re going to tell me you’ve got paparazzi following you. Well can’t they just CSI that shit or

something?”

Katrina just stared at Imogen for a moment. “Um, I’ll make sure to ask him if they can just CSI the shit.”

“So did you keep your hands of his wanker?”

“I did. There will definitely be no more wanker touching.”

“That’s my good little temptress.”

She was pleasantly buzzed by the time they called it a night and she

crashed in the spare room. But it didn’t take long for her to realize it was going to be another long worrisome night of no sleep. The spare room was on the second floor and while not quite so grandiose as the master

on the first floor, it still had tall ceilings, a balcony overlooking the water and enough windows to bring the lake practically into the room. Katrina

ended up lying with her head at the foot of the bed, gazing out at the moon shimmering off the water.

* * * * *

When she showed up at the precinct the next day, she looked

nervous. She held another tape in her hand and he bristled with irritation

at the thought she’d gone home but after the strained, awkward, hot and

downright inappropriate conversation they’d had in her kitchen the day

before, he decided not to chastise too much.

“I just went home over lunch to check on Kitty. There was a message.

I thought I should just come straight here.” He led her away to a quiet room to listen to the tape. She looked like she felt as awkward as he did.

He’d basically told her he didn’t want to be her friend. Of course he’d also basically said it was because he wanted to fuck her too much.

He’d screwed up—there was no doubt about that. He might want to

be far more than her friend but he still needed to be her friend. He was going to have to find some way to fix that.

Stephens was out at the moment and Dillon couldn’t help but be glad

they’d be listening to this alone. Given the blush of her cheeks, there was

reason to assume this might be equally as humiliating as the

Photoshopped pictures.

“Did you like the artwork I left you? What can I say, I’m just calling it

like I see it. That man wants to fuck your brains out but then given the

look on your face when you’re with him, you want it just as much as he

does. You think he fucks good? I bet he’d like nothing more than to get

his cock inside your body. Whadya think? How do you think he

measures up to your dildo?”

Well, so far the man wasn’t saying anything they didn’t both already

know, but she was staring at his chest across the table from him. He was

watching her face intently, wondering all the while where he was getting

the nerve, considering the topic of conversation. The lunatic was

rambling on and on about Dillon’s penis and though he was certain he should be humiliated, he stifled it and watched her.

Her cheeks were pink and her hands were clasped tightly on the

tabletop. He wanted to reach out and reassure her. This tape was nothing

more than a humiliation for them both under the circumstances but he wasn’t allowed to act as though it had anything to do with them—

though it doubtless had everything to do with them.

“You think he eats pussy? I bet he’d eat yours and I bet you’d love it.

You would moan his name the way you used to moan Jason’s every time

that fucker licked your cunt. You used to love it. You’d pinch your own

nipples between your fingers, cry out as he sucked on your clit. Is he listening to this? I bet he is. He’s one of the detectives, isn’t he? I bet he would love to do all sorts of things to your body and you’d let him. You

think he thinks about you when he jacks off? I bet he does. I bet he thinks

about you and what you do to your own body with that dildo. You practically owe me your thanks. If it weren’t for me, he’d have no idea just what a fucking whore you are. What man doesn’t want to fuck a whore like you?

She stood, nearly knocking her chair over. “I’m sorry. I just can’t do

this.” And then she bolted from the room before he could stop her. He hit

the stop button and pocketed the small tape recorder before taking off after her. But then he ran right into Stephens and by the time he made it

down to the front lobby she was nowhere to be found. When he returned

upstairs, Stephens was waiting for him, scratching his chin.

“What the fuck was that all about?”

“Another message. Guess she didn’t want to hear the end of it.”

“Yeah? Well, I do. Let’s hear it.”

Stephens eyed him suspiciously as they listened to the tape in the same small little room and Dillon avoided his gaze. Odd he should be so

intent on watching Katrina’s face but he was so determined not to meet

Stephens’. He was afraid Stephens would see through him and he just wasn’t up for it. The end of the tape was more of the same vulgar drivel

as the first part with a few references to Katrina, Dillon and anal sex thrown in to make it interesting. No wonder she’d fled. He didn’t blame

her.

“So, you fuckin’ this girl?”

His glare flashed to Stephens, meeting his eyes easily for the first time

as the tape ended. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“But you want to, don’t you?”

“I’m not answering that question.”

“You just did.” Stephens let out an angry humph. “You’ve never been

careless about your responsibilities—”

“And I’m not now! And how dare you insinuate I am? You believe

some psycho on a tape who’s obsessed with our victim over me? Is that

it? You think I’m sleeping with her just because some dumb fucking lunatic suggests it?” His voice was raised and he was struggling not to yell.

“I think you’re treading on thin ice with her. I’ve seen you with her.

You can pretend it’s innocent all you want but there’s nothing innocent

about it.” Stephens stood and stalked from the room.

He had no business going after her and he didn’t. At least not for a couple of hours. But the moment he was out the door of the precinct in

his car, the war in his mind started and he fought with himself half the

way home until he finally turned around and headed to Imogen’s house

instead. He had no business at all doing this. He wasn’t treading on thin

ice—he was jumping up and down on it, daring it to break through and destroy his career.

Chapter Fourteen

 

When there was a knock on the door that night, Katrina nearly

jumped herself right off the couch and onto the floor. She was grading—

or trying to grade, though she couldn’t concentrate on anything. Imogen

had a date and was gone for the evening, leaving Katrina alone in her veritable fortress on the water.

She peeked through the peephole and there he was. The man who

had her guts wound into knots, her heart trying to pull apart at the seams

and her panties soaked through every time he was near her. She was pathetically attached to him—the man who didn’t want to be her friend.

Was it this damn case, the security he exuded perhaps? Or was it just him?

Her heart had sunk on the way home from the precinct. It was just a

damn lousy way to end an already-shitty day and as she pulled the door

open for him, she fought all the bullshit spinning through her mind. She

wanted to give into it and fall apart. It had just been one of those kinds of days. But she didn’t. She offered a small smile and stepped back so he could enter. He watched her carefully as he passed—he wasn’t buying her feigned smile.

“Are you okay?”

No. It’s what she wanted to say. Instead she nodded slowly and led him to the kitchen. He leaned against the counter and she leaned against

the opposite one. It was silent and after a moment, she walked to the fridge, grabbed a couple of beers and handed him one. She opened hers

immediately and took a big swig. He looked at his for a moment before

setting it unopened on the counter next to him and then returned his eyes to her.

“What’s going on with you?”

“I only talk about things like that with my friends.” She was throwing

his bullshit in his face but she felt guilty the moment she said it.

“I didn’t mean—”

“No, you were right.” Her eyes stared at the ground for a few

seconds. “Heard a story on the radio on my way home today. Young woman, abducted, beaten, raped, murdered. Her body was just dumped

on the side of the road like garbage.”

“Yeah. I know that case.”

She found his eyes. He was watching her cautiously. He looked

suspicious of where she was going with this. “Just got me thinking.”

“Katrina, don’t do this.” There was a warning in his voice but he didn’t know her moods—and when she was in a mood like this, she

wasn’t going to be stopped.

“I could turn into a dead body one of these days, couldn’t I?”

“Please.” He sounded desperate.

“That girl was alive too. She was alive just like me—until…she

wasn’t.”

“Don’t.” He sounded like he was damn-near begging.

“My body could just end up being part of a crime scene. All of those

crime scene technicians who picked through those fucking disgusting

pictures could end up picking through a crime scene with my dead body

in it one of these days.”

“Stop it!” Now he was angry.

The tears that had been threatening and pricking at Katrina’s eyes since that damn radio announcement hours before finally appeared. She

could feel them sitting on her lower eyelids and yet she felt oddly calm,

as though she couldn’t really cry if she wanted to. The tears sat there as

she took in his glare. It wasn’t a mean glare—it was loaded with some kind of emotion she couldn’t even begin to guess.

“I get it.” His brow wrinkled at her words. “I get why we can’t… You

were right.” He slowly shook his head as his eyes fell to the ground. He

was finally catching on and he didn’t like what she was saying. “If we were…intimate—hell, even friends—how much more difficult would my

death be for you?” It wasn’t really a question that needed an answer and

given the shake of his head and the purse of his lips, he had no intention

of answering it. “Best to hold me at arm’s length.”

She wasn’t trying to be rude. She was dead serious. The thought of him having to see her in death left as much sadness in her for him as it

did for herself.

She didn’t expect the explosive movement of his body toward her. He grabbed her by the waist, lifting her easily to the countertop and pushing

his way between her legs before his hands found her hips and gripped her tightly. “No. I was wrong. I mean I’m right but I—I need more.” His

head was dropped to hold her gaze harshly. His voice was just as harsh

when he spoke again. “But don’t you dare assume your importance to me is about sex. If anything happened to you… It doesn’t matter if I fuck

you or not. It would destroy me.”

His grip on her hips was possessive and tight. He was pulling her body toward the edge of the counter and straight to his groin. Her tears

were falling pathetically and he was refusing to look away from her.

When his hands met her cheeks, he clutched her face so close to his. Their

mouths were nearly touching and she could smell the scent of mint on his breath. His deep breathing was a metronome that started to soothe her panicked and defeated mind and when his warm lips touched hers,

her despair melted away.

He was gentle and slow as his mouth tugged on first one lip then another. But as gentle as his kiss was, when he dropped one hand to clutch her by the lower back, he was not gentle in the least. He pulled her

body to his, forcing the space between them to disappear. She didn’t care

though—she was melting away to a place that felt so much better and safer than life and what he was doing to her body was the key to it all.

He pulled her body to teeter on the edge of the counter and his hold

on her pinned her firmly between his hand at her back and his groin in

the front. He was aroused, hard and tightly restrained by his jeans but he

made no move to touch her body further. He was only interested in her

lips. His tongue dipped between hers, slow and cautious at first and then

invasive and aggressive.

She wanted to look at him but she was afraid he’d stop if she broke

whatever spell he was under. She’d meant it when she said she

understood why they couldn’t. She did. She completely got it and her brain was screaming at her to stop before they both ended up regretting

what they were doing but his mouth felt so good, so possessive and powerful and she just didn’t want it to end.

He finally did pull from her mouth. The pad of his thumb ran over the skin of her cheek as he held her gaze. She was damn near holding her

breath, waiting for him to walk away but he didn’t.

“Oh fuck, what am I doing?” He muttered it under his breath as his

eyes glanced down at their bodies held so closely together. When he looked back to her, his brow flinched for half a second and she knew it

was over. But then slowly, so slowly she could watch every last inch of

space between them disappear, he leaned to her mouth again.

She focused on the wet smacking of their lips over and over again as

she tasted him. Dear God, he was good at this.

The door being slammed open startled them both. “Calls himself a

chemical engineer! He develops pictures at a drugstore. Arsehole liar is

what he is!” And then Imogen rounded the corner to them. They were already frozen, staring at each other but with their bodies still snug together. His lips glistened beautifully and her lips were throbbing and

sore. They both looked to Imogen but his hands remained on her hips and he closed in closer to her as though to shield her in some way.

“Oh! Well I saw your car outside but I didn’t expect—but you two just…you should just, uh…” She held up her index fingers bringing them

together as Katrina’s cheeks started burning hot. “I’ll just, uh— I’m going

to go. To the other room.” Her finger shot up in the air like a general ready to lead a charge. And then she literally ran from them toward her

bedroom. Damn it. That was humiliating. That was Imogen.

Well now it was going to happen. Now he was going to pull away.

He’d found his bearings without doubt thanks to Imogen and it was over. When he leaned to her mouth once more, planting a gentle kiss on

her lips, she moaned quietly against his mouth.

“Two years is just too fucking long.” He muttered it as he brushed the

hair away from her cheek. She had no real idea what he was talking about but the tone of his voice was just right. The smile he offered her was gentle. The hesitance or maybe even shock was there but he seemed

intent on keeping it to himself.

He kissed her forehead one more time and she followed him to the front door. “I’ll talk to you soon.” He held her eyes as she nodded and then he was gone.

She practically collapsed against the door once it was closed behind her and in a millisecond she heard Imogen’s feet stomping toward her in

a mad race. “What the—I mean, what the…” She pointed to the door and

then she pointed at Katrina as she walked toward the kitchen and then she finally brought her index fingers together again. There was no denying Imogen could be quite the child at times. Then again, so could

Katrina. “Spill it, bitch!”

Katrina shook her head, a bit dumbfounded, and after a moment she

gave up trying to come up with some rational explanation for what had

just happened and she collapsed on the couch. Imogen just sat and stared

at her.

Eventually, Katrina picked herself up off the couch and stumbled

upstairs to bed. Imogen never had really found her voice again but then

Katrina had never quite figured out what had happened. She just knew

she wanted it to happen again. Boy did she ever want to be that man’s friend.

Chapter Fifteen

 

“So are you going with us to San Francisco?”

“Do you think Seth would mind if I didn’t?”

“Hmm.” Molly was feigning contemplation. “Let’s see. Do I think a

thirteen-year-old boy would care if his father spent spring break with him at his grandparents’ house in San Francisco? Really? Jake and Seth likely won’t even want me around. Or Mom and Dad for that matter.

Trust me, they’d prefer to take vacation without us entirely at this point.

We’re grownups and that means we’re the most uncool people on the planet.”

He chuckled at her but it didn’t ease the guilt one ounce. She was right. Seth wouldn’t care at all, but Dillon did. Dillon also cared about a

certain beautiful woman’s safety and the idea of trusting her safety to some uniformed officers for ten days wasn’t going to happen.

“Is this about her?” He nodded slowly as he let his eyes travel out the

dining room window to see the boys playing basketball in the driveway.

“I feel guilty though. This is spring break. I’ve been planning on going and I’m choosing to stay here.”

“Okay, well think about it this way. If she were safe—without a

question safe—would you go to San Francisco?”

“Of course.” And then as an afterthought he muttered, “I might try to

drag her along too for my own enjoyment but yes. Of course.”

Molly laughed. “My little brother’s got himself a crush. How cute.”

Then her face went back to serious. “If Seth could make this decision for

you he’d tell you to stay. He’d also probably guilt-trip you into buying him a new Xbox game too but basically he’d want you to stay. He likes

her a lot and he would understand. There isn’t much choice right now.

She needs you here.”

He nodded, staring off into space. He was confused and spring break

was likely the least of his confusions. He was falling for her. More than

falling for her. He wanted her desperately. He wanted her so much he

was ready to risk his job to be with her. He wanted her so much he couldn’t bear the idea of not having her.

But it wasn’t just the want. It was the worry, the care, the strong pulsing need in his chest to give himself to her. If he never had the chance to give her what they both wanted he’d regret it for the rest of his

life. At the same time, if he jeopardized her in any way with his selfish

needs, he’d never forgive himself. Absolute confusion.

“I’ll take the boys to Mom and Dad’s. You stay here and take care of

the teacher.”

They stood and joined the boys outside. He and Molly took on Jake and Seth in a round of HORSE and by the time dusk stole their light he

was exhausted. He and Seth walked the short stretch to their house while

Seth bounced the basketball.

“I think I have to miss spring break, bud. I’ve got a witness in danger

and I can’t leave knowing how unsafe it is for her.”

“Is it Ms. Page?” He hadn’t expected that one.

“Why? What makes you think that?”

“I’m not stupid. She looked like she’d been beat up a month or so ago.

Kept saying it was nothing but she was lying. She just didn’t want anyone to worry. Plus you two. You’re weird around each other. I mean I

know you have a crush on her but…” He shook his head for a second.

“It’s her. I know she’s in trouble. She’s different than she used to be.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. Just different. She spaces out a lot. Seems tired.

Flinches sometimes when someone surprises her.”

“Ever thought about being a detective, Seth? That’s quite an eye

you’ve got.”

Seth laughed. “So are you going to tell me if it’s her?”

“Of course not.”

“Of course it’s not her, or of course you’re not going to tell me?”

“Of course not.” He grabbed Seth by the back of the neck as he

steered him through the door. Seth threw his hands up in the air, letting

the basketball get away from him across the entryway floor.

* * * * *

When Chief Greenwood called him and Stephens to his office the next morning, Dillon’s blood pressure spiked. He got along fine with

Greenwood but the man didn’t call a person to his office just to chat about the weather.

“Sit down.” Greenwood was staring at an open folder in his hands as

he stood in front of his window. He didn’t even look up at them as they

moved to the chairs and sat. “Care to tell me what these are?”

He didn’t bother showing the folder to both of them. Instead he

tossed it onto Dillon’s lap. Dillon opened the folder, hoping there wouldn’t be any more Photoshopped nightmares inside.

What he wasn’t expecting to see were real pictures. He might not

have been naked and fucking her like he had been in the doctored images left at her home but these were just as damning. He was walking

beside her on the sidewalk in one. She was practically in his arms in another. The worst was as he walked her around his car with his hand on

her lower back. From the angle, it practically looked like he was groping

her ass.

“Chief, this isn’t—”

“Isn’t it? Showed up addressed specifically to me. Not a print on any

of them.”

“I was driving her home from her evening class downtown. This

picture was taken when a skateboarder nearly took her out! This isn’t what it looks like.”

“And where was Stephens?” It might have been a question but he was

on the verge of yelling. Dillon just sat silently, shaking his head. He was

feeling a bit fucked at the moment. “And let’s not forget the pictures your perp left at her house the other day.”

“And I’m responsible for that too? The man’s a lunatic!”

“I asked where Stephens was when these pictures were taken.”

Greenwood was two shades away from scarlet and he was close to losing

it.

“He wasn’t there.”

“I couldn’t go and I told him to go without me.” It was a lie and Dillon’s jaw nearly dropped as his eyes flashed to Stephens’ quickly before dropping to his lap. He hadn’t told Stephens anything about

going to see her that night.

Chief Greenwood glared at them both. “I’m putting Smith and Terrell

on this one. You two are being reassigned.”

“What? Chief—”

“Silent! Stephens out, Adler you stay put.” He was panicking as

Stephens stood to leave. Smith and Terrell were fine detectives but this was Katrina. His Katrina and he couldn’t very well let go of her safety just to hand it over to someone else. As the door closed behind Stephens,

Greenwood sat on the edge of his desk. “Do you have anything you need

to tell me?”

He just stared at Greenwood for a moment. “I think this is a mistake.

Stephens and I know what we’re doing and there is no reason to pull us

from this just because of a couple of stupid pictures that are being taken

out of context!”

“You’re right and if that was all I was going on, I’d be wrong to remove you. Care to tell me why you went to see her at her friend’s house alone a couple days ago?” Dillon was silent, staring at the top of

Greenwood’s desk. “No? How about the day before that? Hmm? I

assigned a patrol officer to monitor Imogen Graham’s property as well given Ms. Page is living there. Didn’t quite expect to see so much of you

there.”

“It involved the case.”

“Right. And yet you forgot to take your partner. Again. Ms. Page is Seth’s teacher. You know her, even if only casually. She’s pretty and you

just can’t seem to stay away from her. This has become as much a liability for you as it is for her.”

His voice was reined in as he studied Dillon. “The man that’s doing

this to her has taken pictures of you as well. He may or may not have identified you yet but he’s targeted you nevertheless. I like you, Dillon.

You’re a damn fine detective. That’s why I’m taking you off this case—to

salvage your fucking career before you throw it out the window for a piece of ass.”

Dillon couldn’t even keep his butt in the chair at that point but when

he stood abruptly ready to fire back, Greenwood cocked his head in warning. Dillon took a deep breath, cramming his fury down painfully.

He shook his head. “Smith and Terrell—”

“Are damn fine detectives too. They’ll do their jobs and since I absolutely think your head is getting clouded on this one, you’re just going to have to deal with it. Believe it or not, I’m looking out for your

best interest. Hers too for that matter. Let them work the case, you stay

out of the way and you let the smoke clear before you go anywhere near

her, you hear me?” He didn’t react at all. He was still too stunned to move. “I said, do you hear me? I want you to stay the hell away from her

until this thing is long gone and done.”

“Is that an order, sir?” His jaw was nearly too tight to speak.

“No. It’s a strongly worded suggestion I fully expect you to comply with. You’ve created a conflict of interest and I don’t need that conflict popping up and biting us on our asses if this thing even ends up in court.

A decent defense attorney will have a field day with these pictures alone.

If there’s any truth to the relationship Mr. Crazy Pants is insinuating exists that will only make it worse. Now get out. I need you to bring Smith and Terrell up to speed before the end of the day.”

When he returned to his desk Stephens was sitting there with his

hands rested behind his head. He was watching Dillon, saying nothing.

Dillon sank into his chair, staring at nothing. How the hell was he going

to hand over her safety? His guts were clenching and he was scared shitless.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m afraid they’re gonna fuck it up and she’s gonna end up hurt.”

“Yeah? And that’s why you’re not allowed to care for her.” Stephens

stood and walked away.

Chapter Sixteen

 

She’d been trying to reach him all weekend but he wasn’t returning her phone calls or messages. She didn’t know how to feel about the new

detectives on her case. They were crotchety old men, unlike her

handsome Dillon and his gruff yet oddly cute sidekick.

She liked the new detectives fine but they weren’t him. And he was refusing to speak with her. She’d asked Detective Smith when he and Detective Terrell had come to Imogen’s for a chat on Monday afternoon

why Dillon and Stephens had been replaced and the most he did was shrug his shoulders and give her a vague excuse.

“Happens.”

“But why?”

“Just happens.” She needed to get this man into her classroom and teach him a thing or two about communication. But neither of them ever

came to her classroom or her house or Imogen’s if they could help it. Hell

they didn’t even know how to get through Imogen’s security gate and Kat had no intention of telling them.

They didn’t give a shit she had a cat she had to feed every day—they

didn’t seem to understand her concerns at all. But it wasn’t them. They

were likely fine. They just weren’t him and she was sour about it. He always showed his concern, he was always there when she needed him,

she never had to feel alone even if it was just to talk on the phone. She

just missed him.

It had been three days since she’d seen Dillon, kissed him, touched him. And it was the last week before spring break. She was still staying

with Imogen and pretty soon she’d have the fortress to herself for almost

two weeks. She didn’t want to be alone at Imogen’s but she certainly preferred to be alone there than her own home. She’d grown to resent her house and she was just plain over her need to stick it out there.

The officers still patrolled her neighborhood—not that she was there

to see it—and now they patrolled Imogen’s as well. She had no reason to

believe the psycho knew where Imogen lived or that Katrina was staying

there but they weren’t taking any chances.

Imogen would be leaving the next morning for the UK to spend a

couple weeks with her family and Kitty had finally made the journey to

Imogen’s place to live. She’d caught her saucy Brit friend poking Kitty on

more than one occasion. She’d murmur sweet pet names to the old lady

and then poke her on the face or the chin. She really did think she was

being sweet but—she poked.

And now it was late Tuesday night, Imogen’s luggage was stacked by

the front door and they were cracking open a rather large bottle of pre-

made margaritas. When her cell rang, she snatched it up from the

counter. She was half drunk already and the moment she saw his

number she choked. Her heart started racing and her face dropped.

Imogen saw it instantly and grabbed the remote, turning down the

overloud stereo system.

“How are you?” She walked out onto the deck as he spoke and she flopped down on one of the wooden loungers.

“Umm, I’m not sure how to answer that. I guess I’m fine. You?” She

could hear the defensive tone in her voice.

“Katrina, I’m sorry. Being taken off your case wasn’t my choice.”

“I don’t really care about that. I’ve tried to reach you for a few days

now. I just wanted to know what was going on and why a couple of new

detectives were suddenly showing up at the door. You could have at least called to tell me.”

She listened to him breathe slowly. “I was told to stay away from you.”

She didn’t have a clue what to say to that. “But—but that doesn’t make sense. You’ve been taken off the case. They can’t tell you to—”

“Of course they can and they have. I’m not allowed near you during

the course of the investigation or any ensuing case. Our relationship gives the appearance of impropriety and the force isn’t going to tolerate

that. I just didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you at my own choosing. I wouldn’t do that.”

“So wait. You’re saying you’re no longer on the case but now you can’t even talk to me or see me or…anything?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to happen.”

“I think this fucking sucks.” She was pissed. And the alcohol coursing through her system was making it very easy for her to voice that anger.

“I want you. I mean, I want you, want you. I don’t want to stay away from you and I sure as hell don’t want you to stay away from me.”

Apparently the alcohol was making her mouth divulge all sorts of things.

“This isn’t fair.”

“This is my fault, Katrina. I shouldn’t have let things—”

“What? Get personal? I want personal.”

“I do too but that can’t happen. Not anytime soon.” He was silent for

a long time and her drunken mouth had quieted with his last words too.

“I just wanted you to know I’m sorry. I didn’t intend for this happen and

I hate it.”

He didn’t really give her a chance to say anything more and he

disconnected quickly after that. Well that certainly explained a lot and she hated all of it just as much as he did.

When Imogen brought her the margarita she’d left on the counter, she

flopped down next to her. “He was told to stay away from me.”

“Shit. That explains the unreturned messages. What are you thinking,

love?”

“That I shouldn’t care as much as I do. That this shouldn’t matter to

me as much as it does. That I should want to protect his job and stay away from him. That I should understand that my own safety is more important.”

“But?”

“I hate it.”

“I’m sorry. Is he in trouble?”

“He didn’t say he was. Only that he was off the case and regardless of

even that he still has to stay away from me.”

“Well that’s that then.”

“I feel bad. I feel like this is my fault. Like I drove things in this direction. I was so stupid. I just—thought about myself and I risked his

job, risked my own safety for that matter.”

“Stop. You’re being too hard on yourself. You like the guy. You didn’t

do anything wrong.”

“I grabbed his penis.”

“Well okay, yeah. That was wrong.” She offered a weak smile. “But this isn’t about that. This is about how he feels about you. He wouldn’t

have put himself in this position if he didn’t care about you.”

“What difference does it make?”

“Sorry.” It didn’t make any difference and Imogen knew it as much as

Katrina did.

* * * * *

When Katrina woke the next morning Imogen had already left for the

airport. She had her night class that night and a couple more days of school and then she’d be forced to endure a week of sleepless nights alone in Imogen’s house.

She really wasn’t ready to face the reality of the fact that Dillon wasn’t

going to be a part of her life anymore. It was odd considering she wasn’t

even sure what part in her life he’d been filling up to that point but he was missing from it and all she felt was sadness for the loss.

Knowing she could pick up the phone and call him whenever she

needed, even if it was the middle of the night, had gotten her through a

number of sleepless nights. She may have only used that privilege a time

or two but just knowing he was there and she could gave her a feeling of

security. She couldn’t imagine ever picking up the phone to call

Detective Smith or Terrell and she suddenly felt very alone in this.

Chapter Seventeen

 

“Thought you were going to San Francisco to see your parents this Friday.”

“I decided to stay here.” Stephens was eyeing him. Molly had called

to see if she could take the boys out of school earlier than their normal dismissal time on Friday and naturally Stephens had overheard.

“And this wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain off-limits

teacher with a secret admirer who’s tormenting her, would it?”

He just looked at Stephens across the desk but said nothing. Did he really want to lie? It was completely about her. It was hard enough coping with the fact he wasn’t part of her case. It was just as hard knowing he couldn’t talk to her. But leaving for some reason was

impossible. He was terrified something was going to happen and even though he’d be sitting at home alone, he needed to be close.

He’d talked to Molly about it the night before and she didn’t want him along on the trip any more than he wanted to go. She understood why he needed to be here but the man sitting across from him glaring didn’t seem to understand any of it.

“Unless you want me to be honest, I suggest you not ask.” Stephens

tapped his pen on the desktop as he glared at Dillon. He was considering

just what he did or did not want to say on the matter and Dillon held his

gaze.

“You’re going to stay away from her, right?”

Dillon nodded. “Don’t have much choice now do I?”

“Then I guess I just don’t see the point.”

“You don’t need to understand.”

Dillon was having a hard time taking his eyes off Smith and Terrell across the room. It had been that way all week. He was torturing himself

with them. He hated it when they weren’t at the precinct because he wondered just where the hell they were. He hated it when they were there because the very sight of them was a slap in the face. It hadn’t gone

unnoticed by Stephens either, and every time Dillon’s eyes shifted to them, he shook his head in discouragement.

When Terrell’s phone rang and Dillon was forced to watch as the man

tensed and muttered some words to Smith as they both grabbed their jackets, Dillon’s anxiety skyrocketed. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

They took off, glancing quickly to Dillon and leaving Dillon’s eyes trailing after them.

He was tempted to follow but if he thought he was in hot water

before, he’d be boiling in it if he were so bold as to force his way into their investigation. But there was no hiding the panic and as he stood and started pacing around his desk, hating their absence, he started contemplating.

He had to get the hell out of there before he lost his mind. There was

no way he could sit there, knowing something was going on. He looked

at his cell phone and then he looked at the clock. It was six o’clock on Wednesday night. She should be at class. Fucking hell. What if

something happened with Josh Grant? What if she didn’t even make it to

class because something happened to her on her way? He started clicking

his pen in his hand as he walked back and forth over and over and over

again.

Stephens continued to watch him, silently glaring at his partner. He likely thought he’d lost his mind but Dillon didn’t really give a shit what

Stephens thought of him. Just when he’d decided he didn’t give a shit what the chief thought, said, did to him or otherwise, Stephens stood.

“You’re going to drive me crazy.”

“I can’t sit here.” He shook his head in resignation. He was going to

lose his fucking job over this but there was just no chance he could sit back not knowing what the hell was going on. Something was fucking going on!

“Chill. You stay put. I’ll go find out what’s up. But don’t you leave this damn desk or you’ll get us both in trouble.”

He sat and he stared at his cell phone as Stephens left. He couldn’t call her. He needed to call her. He had to call her. His fingers trembled when he reached for his phone and as he dialed he looked around to make sure Stephens wasn’t coming back yet. The man was being oddly

helpful but he didn’t want to get caught trying to reach her.

As the phone rang, his heart pounded. His heart pounded every time he knew he was going to hear her voice. The fact she wasn’t answering

and he couldn’t get the reassurance he needed from her left his heart pounding more by the second. It finally went to voicemail and he hung

up.

He stood and went back to pacing. Fuck! He felt like his body was pulling apart at the seams. He thought this must be what it felt like to go

crazy because at any minute he wasn’t going to be able to stifle the need

to scream at the top of his lungs to release the building tension in his chest. His throat was on fire as it constricted painfully and he was panting as if it was the only way he could keep himself from passing out.

When his fingers snatched up his jacket and he grabbed his phone it

was over. He’d decided he didn’t give a shit about any of it. He didn’t care if it meant his career was over. He didn’t care if he wasn’t supposed

to see her. He didn’t care Greenwood had explicitly told him to stay away from her. He simply didn’t care about anything except getting to her.

He turned to storm from the room, hoping to get out of the building

before Stephens returned and tried to stop him and that’s when he came

face to face with his terror. It was written on Stephens’ face.

Stephens didn’t show much but when he did it was warranted. He

just stood in front of Dillon, his eyes wide, his face concerned. He almost

looked afraid to speak and his hands rose slowly as if to slow the momentum in Dillon’s movements. But there was no reason to. Dillon was stunned and he stopped on a dime at seeing the serious expression

on Stephens’ face.

“What?” He could barely get the word out and it sounded choked.

“Something’s happened.” Stephens’ voice broke for a second as he

spoke and Dillon reached for the nearest desk to support his weight, which suddenly seemed to be getting away from him. His head was

buzzing and he wasn’t at all sure he could bear to hear the rest of what

Stephens had to say.

He gasped out the only question he needed an answer to and he

fought to stay standing. “Is she alive?”

* * * * *

She’d only been at Imogen’s for fifteen minutes and in that space of time, she’d managed to drop the coffeepot, shattering and spilling the caffeine that was supposed to get her through her night class that night.

She also spent thirty minutes trying to find Kitty, who was staging a kitty

sit-in in protest of being uprooted from her home. Thanks to Imogen’s ridiculously big house and an old cat who couldn’t hear Katrina calling

her, she’d nearly given up until she heard Kitty’s bizarre-sounding meow

coming from the pantry Katrina had apparently closed her in that

morning. Another ten minutes to mop the cat pee up and she was finally

ready to go—sadly, she was nearly forty minutes later than she wanted

to be.

She almost made it to Imogen’s gate to start the trek to the closest bus

stop when she stopped and stared at the ground for a minute. She was fighting common sense and arguing with Dillon in her mind and finally

telling both Dillon and common sense to fuck off, she turned back toward the house. She jumped in her Outback and took off, grumbling the whole time. Dillon would be livid—there was no doubt of that. But

he wasn’t her concern anymore and she was late as hell.

She sped, she cut people off and got herself flipped off twice, all before she zipped into the parking garage and steered her little car like a

race car around in circles until she found a spot. Pay dirt. Or—one floor

away from pay dirt. But were she taking public transportation, she’d likely still be on Mercer Island. She hopped the stairs two at a time and

pulled the door open to the fourth-floor building entrance door. It would

spit her right into the back end of a deserted hallway, and a quick route

to her classroom.

She wasn’t entirely sure what she’d gotten hung up on as she passed

through the door to the corridor. All she knew was she was snagged and

powerless to move forward. She had her tote bag and laptop bag over her shoulder and they both caught on something.

Hindsight being an unfair bitch, she realized just a bit too late that she

should have kept going. Perhaps had she abandoned her bags that were

pulling her back, she could have made it to safety. But not realizing the

hang-up was a lunatic’s strong hands grabbing her bags and yanking her

back into the stairwell, she was unaware of the danger that lurked behind her until it was too late.

She wheeled around to free her bag and the moment she did a hand reached from within the stairwell to grab and twist in the hair at the top

of her head, dragging her painfully back into the stairwell. She knew she

was fucked the instant she caught sight of the hand darting toward her

head but no amount of pulling, fighting and bracing herself against the

doorframe could stop his strength from overpowering her.

She heard the heavy door’s latch click behind her and her heart sank.

This was going to be bad. This was very likely going to kill her, and all

for what? Because she’d been stupid enough to value her time over her

safety. She stood frozen facing the man. He was wearing another black ski mask and his light-colored eyes glared at her. He’d released the hold

he had on her hair and he was simply standing in front of her, his hands

raised as if daring her to try to skirt past him.

He was blocking the stairs that led down a level and though she was

closer to the stairs leading up, she could see it playing out in her mind even as she willed her feet to move. She knew he’d catch her. She had no

idea why or how she knew, but as she darted up the stairs and his hand

grasped the back of her ankle there wasn’t an ounce of surprise. She collapsed to the stairs, banging her knee hard on the edge of one of the

stairs and crying out.

Her yelp echoed through the vacant vertical shaft of the stairwell and

it was the most depressing sound she’d ever heard. It was her

nightmares come true, it was her end, it was everything she’d dreaded but had been too stupid to avoid.

It was over for her and she knew it. He’d managed to get her bags off

her shoulder and had abandoned them on the floor of the landing and as

she scrambled to crawl hand over knee up the stairs, he caught her by the

collar of the fitted casual blazer she wore.

She let her arms go slack behind her, allowing the jacket to be pulled

free of her arms, rather than letting him pull her over backward down the stairs, but even freeing herself from him for a brief moment wasn’t enough.

He lunged again with a growl emanating from his throat. She’d not even made it halfway up the flight of stairs when he latched onto her hair, yanking her swiftly backward.

She grabbed desperately for the stair railing to keep herself from

being thrown backward. She latched onto it, listening to her hands skid and slide along the painted metal of the railing. She couldn’t get enough

purchase to stop her backward momentum but she wasn’t falling. It was

an awkward drag as he yanked on her hair and she sank back and down

to the stair below her. It twisted her knee in the process and she cried out again, wanting to keep her damn mouth shut.

She should be screeching but she was terrified it would piss him off

more. She was dragged down the steps, her flimsy camisole pulling up and her lower back scraping across the sandpapery safety paint coating

the edges of the steps, intended to keep people from slipping.

The burning on her skin as her lower back grated across the four steps

was painful but it was oddly grounding in some sense. She was

whimpering and begging pathetically by the time he released her hair.

Her pleas were echoing up and down the stairwell just as her cries had

and she started crying as much from sheer sadness as fear.

She staggered to her feet, unable to stop the tears that were dropping.

He stood back and watched. She guessed he was amused, given the way

he subtly cocked his head to the side and watched her calmly. The calm

didn’t last. The moment she was on her feet, he took a swift step toward

her, punched her square in the gut and threw her body into the wall behind her. She collided with the rough cinder block wall and as she gasped and desperately tried to suck in air, she slid down the wall. The

bricks scraped harshly against the naked skin of her shoulder as she slid

and when her butt hit the ground she started retching.

She was still trying to get her lungs to work and her stomach was clenching and trying to empty itself from the fist he’d jammed up under

her ribs. When he knelt down in front of her as she kept fighting to suck

in air, it was to grab the hair along her forehead and pull her head up to

look into his cold, evil eyes. “You can’t believe how much pain I can give

you.” His words were hissed through gritted teeth. She was holding his

eyes, unable in fact to look away.

His hand found her neck and he gripped, pushing her neck back to the wall and cutting off her airway as she clawed desperately at his wrist.

His free hand moved to the low-fitting neckline of the camisole and though she couldn’t see what he was doing, she could feel as the fabric

was yanked down below her breast.

The cool air tickled her exposed skin and then it was pain. Blinding and agonizing pain was shooting through her chest, radiating out from her breasts. She could feel warmth dripping from her skin and even as her mind started to go fuzzy and her ears started to buzz loudly, she knew she was bleeding. She could feel the pulsing beat of hypoxia in her

head but it didn’t dull the searing pain in her chest.

And then there was nothing.

* * * * *

She was suddenly awake and she was being dragged by the hair

again. The tingly pulse running through her head and out to her skin said she’d been unconscious and as she looked down she saw the blood

across her naked chest but she couldn’t determine the injury. He stopped

yanking her and she listened as he hesitantly pulled open the door to a

parking level. And then she was being dragged again. The moment she

was through the door she started fighting. She was finally in an open space and if she could just get free of him, she could run, she could hide,

she could scream for help.

She reached up and dug her nails into his wrist. He growled, stopped

moving and then smacked her hard across the face. But she was ready to

fight now and she started screeching, pulling from him, letting the hair rip out as she struggled to get away.

She managed it but he again caught her by the leg, sending her to the

ground. He started yanking her across the abrasive concrete by her ankles. Her camisole was a tattered mess that did nothing at all to protect

her skin at this point and she could feel her back rolling over small pebbles and grit from the dirty concrete as he dragged her.

But then she heard it. The sound of heaven. The sound of safety. The

sound of hope. At first the tires screeched slightly as they rounded one spiral turn after another. It was a long way off yet but the car was getting closer. If she could just get out from between the row he was dragging her through… She started kicking, she started clawing, catching her hand

on a tire for a moment before he yanked her past it but then she caught

on the side panel of the car. She reached under, feeling the metal lip, and

she clutched down hard. He tugged against her suddenly immovable

weight and he toppled back.

She rolled to her stomach and then up to her knees, sprinting out from between the cars. She could hear the sound of his fury in the growl

behind her and it sparked a terror in her gut that forced her legs to pump

harder and faster than she’d have thought possible.

She was not going to die today. Not this fucking day! She was crying,

she was screaming and she was running with the knowledge that her life

absolutely depended on it. And then it was there. Just a compact blue car. The young man behind the wheel looked startled, his eyes wide and

terrified at the sight of her.

Katrina didn’t waste even one second before she darted to his

passenger door, wrenched it open and slid in next to him. He sat there stunned as she locked the door.

“Drive!” She yelled at the poor man as though she was furious with

him for not knowing what to do.

He eventually managed to get his foot back on the gas pedal and she

collapsed against the back of the seat. He tried to stop once, asking if he

should call the cops. She screeched at him to drive and wouldn’t let him

stop until they were back out of the parking garage. He pulled over haphazardly, blocking an alleyway, but the street was busy and she knew she was safe.

* * * * *

The next couple hours were a blur. There was an ambulance and there

were lights. She was lucid and completely conscious, but her brain just didn’t want to deal with it. So she closed her eyes and ignored all the sounds and voices. The hospital was no better. They took pictures and they patched her up.

The fuckwad had used her left breast as a carving board. The cuts were shallow and didn’t require stiches—a good amount of liquid

adhesive and a number of butterfly bandages did the trick. Her back was

sore, her upper stomach felt bruised where he’d punched her and her body just ached—but she’d be damned if she wasn’t alive. She shouldn’t

be alive.

Detective Smith and Terrell arrived. They had countless questions but

she struggled to pay attention. She recounted the story as best she could

and they eventually shut up. The photographer—the same blonde from

her first trip here—took pictures of her naked chest, her back, her stomach. And eventually a social worker came in and asked if she

wanted to talk. Fuck no she didn’t want to talk and she’d like nothing better than to stuff a rag down the social worker’s throat to get her to shut up too.

“Do you have anyone we can call for you?”

Dillon. “No.” She muttered the word as tears filled her eyes. “I just want to go home. Can someone just take me home?”

The social worker excused herself and shortly after Smith and Terrell

returned. Terrell offered his arm as she stood. Her body was sore and she

was tired but against all odds she had somehow managed to survive this.

But how many attacks would it take before Mr. Psycho Pants would

succeed? She might just be a bit fucked.

She collapsed on Imogen’s sofa as soon as the detectives finally left.

They scoured the house and the property before they’d leave with the promise that a patrol car would be circling the block. She was almost too

exhausted to be scared. Almost. But as she looked around Imogen’s large

open living room and listened to the silence surrounding her, her pulse

quickened and the terror set in.

She lay on the couch, trembling and fighting the panic for some time,

when there was a knock on the door. When she peeked through the

peephole, she started sobbing and yanked the door open. He scooped her

up in his arms, closing the door behind him as he moved. “You’re okay,

baby. I’ve got you.” He was moving through the house and her head was

buried in his neck, sobbing. He sat, he held her and he didn’t move. He

hushed her quietly and she slowly drifted to sleep in Dillon’s arms as he

cradled her on his lap.

Chapter Eighteen

 

She woke to the sound of movement in the kitchen. She was on the couch—which was likely a good thing considering it was easy to clean leather—and she’d not changed clothes. Her clothes were caked in dry blood and what wasn’t bloody was covered in dirt and grime. When she

looked to the kitchen he was there, watching her. She crawled from the

couch and started moving toward him. Her stomach was fluttering with

butterflies and she couldn’t quite make out his mood.

“Thought we weren’t supposed to see each other.” She was trying to

be funny, likely doing a piss-poor job of it but it was the intention.

His intense stare was all the response she got.

She rounded the counter to be closer to him and he looked her up and

down. She knew she looked like hell. The cleanest part of her was the shirt they’d given her at the hospital to replace the camisole that had been destroyed in the struggle.

“Are we supposed to be doing this?”

She got an answer this time. “No.”

“Then—”

“You could have died.” His expression hadn’t softened an ounce. He

didn’t seem mad, nor happy, just unreadable.

“But I didn’t.”

“You could have.” His voice rose to a demanding volume.

Unreadable had turned to anger in a flash.

“So is that why you’re here? To yell at me?”

His face softened marginally and a subtle humorless smirk took over

his mouth. “No. I intend to make love to you too but I thought I’d get the

yelling out of the way first.”

She gasped even as her body flushed with warmth. “I really wasn’t trying to upset you.”

“I’ll take that under advisement. But it doesn’t change the fact you made a stupid decision that nearly cost you your life.”

He might not be yelling but he also wasn’t biting his tongue. “I’m exceptionally angry, Katrina. You can’t imagine how angry I am.” He watched her seriously and she stood like a sullen child in front of him.

“I’m also exceptionally relieved. Now you look like you need a shower and I’ve been waiting to see just how stunning you are under those clothes of yours for far too long.”

She couldn’t seem to stop gasping at everything the man said. She’d

not thought she’d see him again, certainly not in this context but here he

was standing in front of her, irritated at her stupidity but with her. He wasn’t pushing her away, he wasn’t telling her what they couldn’t do together. In fact, quite the opposite—he was giving in and he was making it clear he intended to.

“Hate to break it to you but what’s under these clothes isn’t much to

see at the moment.” She tried to soften his harsh demeanor but she was

all nerves at the moment.

He chuckled quietly as he took her hand. “Where’s your shower?”

She trembled but she led him upstairs to the spare bedroom with

attached bathroom. Nervous was an understatement. She’d been

obsessing about this for too long and now when she looked like a disaster he was ready. She’d prefer to be newly plucked, waxed and not

have dirt and grime covering ninety percent of her body—but beggars couldn’t be choosers and all that. And she was ready too—more than ready.

 

Her fingers were trembling within his and his body was pulsing with

need. The incredible drive to possess her and have her set in the moment

he heard Stephens utter the words, “She’s going to be fine.” He wasn’t actually convinced of that until she opened the door and he was able to

get his hands on her but once she was in his arms, he’d decided—

reckless as the decision might be—that he was done staying away.

He sat holding her on the couch in the living room nearly all night long. He dozed with his forehead resting against hers but he refused to

lay her down or separate himself from her body. When his muscles

started to ache and he couldn’t ignore it any longer, he laid her gently on

the sofa, covered her with a blanket and started the kettle. He needed coffee but while he found a coffeemaker and the grounds he never did

find the coffeepot that went with it.

Kitty circled his feet as he waited for her to wake and once he saw her

shifting around on the couch, his groin tightened and the possessive need sank back into his body again. He was furious. Irritation and anger

were roiling under the surface but it was eclipsed so effectively by his lust, need and absolute relief. He didn’t want to do anything but get his

hands on her, get his mouth on her, get his fucking dick inside her.

Now he was trailing her up the stairs, taking in the dirt and blood-streaked clothing she was wearing. He wanted her out of them. Just seeing the blood left his heart pounding and his brain buzzing with terror.

Stephens had sent him a text message once she’d left the hospital.

Stephens knew Terrell well enough to know the man would keep him in

the loop if he asked and Stephens, for some reason Dillon hadn’t yet figured out, was using that connection for Dillon’s benefit.

One cab ride later and a bit of covert maneuvering to keep himself hidden from the patrol car that was driving by constantly and he had her

in his arms where he needed her to be.

She didn’t stop trembling and as he reached in and started the faucet

in the massive walk-in shower, she stood by the counter waiting.

“Undress.” He held her eyes as her trembles turned to violent shakes.

Part of him wanted to help her, ease her in some way but part of him wanted her uncomfortable. He was still angry after all and while he intended to make sure they both enjoyed this, he still wanted her to understand just how furious he was. It was an odd combination of need

and fury.

She stripped the shirt off over her head. She was braless and his eyes

moved instantly to her breast covered in butterfly bandages. Dillon was

lacking on the details and while he knew she’d been choked, had some

minor cuts, scuffs and bruises, he’d not quite imagined this.

What he saw was done quite intentionally. There was nothing

haphazard about it. The straight precise lines could have been made with

a scalpel and as he took in the damage, swallowing became painful and

his throat constricted. Her eyes wouldn’t meet his and she stared at his

chest.

“How did that happen?” His voice was lurching as he spoke. She had

exceptionally beautiful breasts with small pink nipples and he wanted to be focusing on only that but the red slashes across her skin were impossible to ignore.

“He cut me with something. I’m not sure what. The doctor literally glued the skin back together. Kinda wild.” She laughed but it was nervous and he swore her eyes filled with tears even as she laughed. He

caved in and walked to her, pulling her into his arms.

“I really am incredibly angry with you.” She nodded against his chest.

“If you’re ever so careless with your life again, I promise you I’m going

to yell but right now I just can’t.”

He leaned to her neck and kissed her as his hands traveled down to

the waist of her jeans. He undid the button and lowered the zipper as her

stomach muscles twitched and trembled beneath his knuckles. He could

see the large scuff that ran up her shoulder in the mirror behind her and

her lower back look bruised and scraped. When he pushed her jeans down her hips and let them drop, he nearly choked at the sight of her bottom.

It was pristine and beautiful. She had an incredibly small waist and a

lovely round bottom that was perfectly toned. Her skin was milky-

smooth and pale and his cock was flexing and fighting to get free. There

was nothing more stunning than the sight of her. His hands held her still

at her waist and he just stared. He’d assumed she had a nice figure but it

was something else finally getting her out of her clothes and seeing just

how incredible her pale smooth skin and perfectly curved figure was.

“Get in.” It was little more than a whisper when he spoke and she walked from him to the enclosure. He undressed quickly and when he entered after her, she was standing under the large showerhead with her

face angled up to the water and her eyes closed. She ran her hands through her hair and he stood against the far wall with his arms crossed

simply watching.

His gaze found her sex. He’d not gotten his eyes on that part of her yet and he was just as captured by the sight of the small lips of her sex as he’d been by the sight of her ass. She kept herself completely shaved and

it left nothing to the imagination, except perhaps what the silken skin between those lips would feel like and taste like.

She caught him staring and her pale cheeks blushed crimson as his

eyes met hers. But then her gaze started traveling every inch of his body and her mouth fell open. He let her study him and he could feel his cock

twitching against his stomach. He stroked the length of his erection, knowing full well she was watching. He wasn’t necessarily trying to shock her but he needed the touch. He needed her touch but he was willing to settle for his own until she was ready.

He walked to her and leaned down to kiss her mouth. She reached for

his dick and he let her touch him this time. She squeezed the shaft gently

and he groaned into her mouth.

“Turn around.” He said the words while he still had the strength to.

One more moment of her touch and he might lose his ability to speak altogether. She released him from her grasp and turned slowly around.

He pulled her hair over the side of her shoulder and let his mouth wander down over her good shoulder. Her other shoulder looked

painful and he soaped the washcloth he’d grabbed on his way in and gently ran the rag over the scraped and angry skin. She hissed and pulled forward for a moment but sank back as she adjusted to the touch.

He moved over the rest of her skin, gently washing the dirt and grime from her skin.

He moved the washcloth over her bottom, wanting to make the

material disappear so he could touch her skin and when he kneeled behind her he moved the washcloth down her legs but he kept his eyes

glued to her bottom. He leaned forward and kissed gently over the pale

skin of her cheeks and she moaned quietly. He ended up abandoning the

washcloth at her feet and moving his mouth up to her lower back as he

knelt up behind her and pulled her body into his with a hand covering

each hipbone.

His chest was to her bottom and he took his time kissing along her back as his hands toyed with her hipbones. By the time he’d made it back

up to standing, his body completely covered her backside and he’d

forgotten all about the washcloth now sitting on the floor. He turned her

around and pushed her body back to the wall behind her and after finding her mouth and thrusting his tongue between her lips for long enough to leave them both panting, he snatched the forgotten washcloth

from the floor and started at her neck.

Her neck looked red where she’d been choked yet again and he was

careful as he ran the rag down the line of her neck to her breast. When he traveled lower to her stomach, her muscles danced and twitched under his hand.

He didn’t delve between the lips of her sex when he cupped her with

the washcloth between her legs. Instead he moved quickly down to the

front of her legs before he could get too caught up with her pussy. She washed her hair quickly as he ran the washrag over his body while she

watched and when they were finally done there was gritted dirt circling

the drain but she was clean and he was so overly desperate for her that

he was damn near going insane with lust.

She followed him to the bedroom once they were both dried and he

sat on the edge of her king-sized bed. For a spare room it was a bit ridiculous. It was large with exceptionally high ceilings, a large balcony

and an amazing view of Lake Washington. She watched him intently,

trying to decide what to do. He could see the nervousness in her expression and he thought it was the least she deserved for putting herself in danger and worrying the hell out of him.

“What do you want me to do?” He almost melted at the insecurity in

her voice. Katrina was quirky but she was also a bit bold when she wanted to be. She usually called it like she saw it and asked the questions

she wanted to ask but right now she just looked terrified. Her

nervousness was the only punishment he had for her behavior and he was going to enjoy it immensely.

“I want to see you on your hands and knees—if you’re comfortable

enough for the position.”

“What? Why?”

He smiled gently at her and she blushed. That alone made his cock pulse. “I want to see all of you. I want to touch all of you. I want to spread your lips open, kiss your pussy, taste you. I want every inch of your body visible.” She shuddered at the sound of his voice or perhaps it

was the words he was saying. When she said okay, his cock didn’t just pulse—it jumped.

“Where?” It was her quiet, unsure voice. He was learning to love that

one.

“On the bed. Facing away from me.” She sat on the bed beside him and he pulled her mouth to his. Her lips trembled as he kissed her. She

left him feeling like he was going crazy in the best possible way and when she moved into position, showing her backside to him first before

bending over and exposing it all to him, he groaned.

There wasn’t anything he wanted to see that he couldn’t. “Can you put your chest to the bed without hurting yourself?” She started

dropping her chest down. “Now keep your bottom up. Very nice.” It was

more than nice. Her lowered chest pushed the angle of her ass up just that much higher and opened the cheeks of her bottom to his view even

more.

He brushed the back of his knuckles down the plump little lips at the

junction of her thighs and she whimpered. The muscles running up the

back of her thighs tightened up to her bottom and he couldn’t help but

moan. He used his first and second fingers of one hand to spread her lips

open. She was glistening and pink and he inhaled a ragged breath as visions of his cock pushing deep into her started attacking his arousal.

He was ready before he even got her onto the bed. Now he was just

torturing himself with her—but what an amazing torture. She was

stunning. He let his eyes slowly travel up the cleft of her pussy to the smooth skin that led to her anus. He wouldn’t mind touching her there

too but given the tremble of her legs, her own patience was wearing thin.

He leaned to her and when his tongue stroked the pink, sweet skin of

her sex, she cried out. He let his tongue find her entry and then he pushed it into her. He could feel the quiver of her walls clenching, trembling and begging for more and he was going to give it to her. Every

inch she could take. He’d fuck her as hard or gentle as she wanted, so long as she would take all of him to her core. He wanted to be buried inside her with not an ounce of space between them.

“Dillon.” She was whimpering his name as his tongue pushed and

pulled from her. “Please. Please.” She kept repeating it as he moved down to her clit and as he stroked, sucked and pulled her into the throes

of orgasm, she kept begging. Her thighs were shaking and when the orgasm passed, she collapsed to the bed. He crawled up her body, letting

his erection trail over the skin of her bottom as she lay twitching beneath

him.

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered it against her ear and her breath left

her. “Can you lie on your back or are you too sore?” She rolled, raising

her hands above her head but one stopped, clutching his cheek and pulling his mouth to hers.

She tasted exquisite, but then he was still savoring her delicious pussy. His dick was on her stomach, pulsing against her skin and when

he reached between their bodies, the hand she’d placed on his cheek followed his down between their bodies too. He used his cock head to tease the tight, swollen nub of her clit and she used her fingers to part her lips, beckoning him. He could feel her fingertips brushing against his own and he groaned at nothing more than that.

She left her fingers in place when he lined himself up with her entry

and he pushed slow, feeling the shaft of his dick run between her fingers

before pushing past her lips and into the heat of her body.

She was slick with her need but she was also exceptionally tight

around him. He withdrew slightly, pushing in again, deeper this time.

She cried out at the invasion and he watched her eyes. He could see pain

but her need was undeniable. Her fingers remained, framing her pussy as he plunged, retreated and then sank even deeper. He was slowly pushing his way to her depths and when he finally thrust that final inch,

letting his balls rest against her bottom, she yelped and her eyes shot open wide.

He waited. He watched her face, patiently waiting for her muscles to

relax. She slipped her hand from between their bodies and he nudged ever so marginally deeper as she groaned and cried out.

“Oh God, Dillon.” She was gasping and he ground his hips between

her legs as she clutched his shoulders. He could feel the wetness on her

fingers streaking across the back of one shoulder as she gripped him through the intensity of his depth.

He was so ready to fuck but he wanted her to be ready too and so he

was patient. He enjoyed the sight of her expression as she slowly accommodated his breadth and length. He knew he was large and he

knew he was pushing her limits but he so desperately wanted her to take

all of him.

When she kissed him and her insides relaxed around him, he eased

back and then pushed to her core again. Her moan said she was ready and he pulled nearly from her entirely before sliding deep in again. He

set a pace, pulling and pushing. He didn’t hold back and he hit her limit

each and every time he plunged. As his speed quickened she clutched at his shoulders, digging her nails into his skin.

He held her eyes, becoming mesmerized in the crystal-blue depths as

he started pounding into her body. He was jolting her body forward and

her lips were parted as she watched him.

“God, you’re beautiful.” He didn’t even realize he’d said the words until he heard them. He was just so lost in her that his mouth had taken

over without his permission. She whimpered at his words and he

crushed her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue between her lips. She

was panting, clawing at his shoulders in desperation and when she came,

he could feel her pussy gripping and clenching hard around his length.

He paused deep inside her—it was nearly impossible to stop the thrust of

his hips but he forced it as her orgasm pulsed around him.

He froze, letting himself savor the feel of her muscles constricting on

his length and when they finally relaxed, he pulled and then he pounded

hard. He fell apart quickly after that and with only a few deep thrusts, he

was spilling himself inside her as he cried out her name and buried his

face in her neck.

She hummed against his neck as their bodies started to slowly relax and when he pulled from her body as the walls of her vagina quivered

around him, he tried to be gentle. She had to be sore and he moved slowly. She hissed as he slipped from her body and he lay beside her, pulling her into his arms.

“God was quite generous with you.” He chuckled at her as he pulled

her closer. Leave it to Katrina to say exactly what was on her mind.

“I’m sorry. Too generous?”

“No. Perfect.”

“I was thinking the same thing about you. Umm—please tell me

you’re on birth control.” He wasn’t nearly so brain-damaged now and the panic had just set in when his brain slowed enough to realize what he’d done.

“Arm implant. I was actually stupid enough to think Jason would be

sticking around long enough to think a three-year birth control

commitment would be worth my time.”

He was suddenly tense at the sound of the man’s name but he forced

himself to smile at her. “I’m glad and I’m sorry. I just wasn’t thinking about that.” He would have no problem finishing out that three-year birth control commitment of hers and then some if she’d let him.

She was pure perfection. Milky-smooth skin, a tightness that left him

thinking he’d gone to heaven—everything about her was incredible. It was almost easy to forget in the quietness of her bedroom that someone

was threatening it all. He couldn’t lose her. He was falling in love with

her.

Chapter Nineteen

 

She had no business being at school. She knew that, but Dillon had to

go to work and she had no interest being alone just yet. She’d parked in

Imogen’s garage, making it fairly easy to get Dillon out of the house without being seen. She’d driven him home that morning and when she

pulled into his driveway on her way to school and put the car in park, he’d pulled her mouth to his and kissed her.

He was exceptionally good at the sexy stuff and she couldn’t seem to

stop the pitter-patter of her heart every time he touched her. She also couldn’t quite get over the barriers he’d allowed to crumble since the night before.

He was risking his job. He had to be but he was also refusing to talk

about it. She’d asked once they were on the road, headed toward his neighborhood and he’d reached for her hand, squeezing it gently and then ignoring her.

She didn’t like the barriers any more than he did but she wasn’t the

one whose job would be jeopardized because of what they were doing together. What did that even mean? Doing together? They’d made love.

The man whom she’d spent time yelling at the first time they’d met, whose penis she’d grabbed in a lust-filled, emotionally exhausted stupor,

who’d made it quite clear they had no business being together—he was

who she’d made love to.

He was incredible but now as he pulled from her mouth as they sat in

his driveway, she was nervous. That was nothing really new under the circumstances but it was the why behind it.

“Um—are you going to tell me we can’t do that again?” The question

had come out totally wrong and totally lame.

He watched her for a moment and her nervousness ratcheted up a

notch. He was going to tell her exactly that. She couldn’t handle that. He

was something important to her. She could handle all of this with him but alone she simply couldn’t do it. He gave her strength and calm and it

was bad enough he was no longer on her case.

“No. I’m not telling you that at all. And I don’t want you to worry about this. This is my problem, not yours.”

“Problem?”

He just stared at her for a moment. He’d been honest. This was a problem that could hurt him professionally and whether he wanted her

concern or not, he had it. “I want to see you tomorrow night. I want you

here in my home with me. I’m not leaving town with Molly and the boys

for spring break and I have the week off. I want to spend that time with

you.”

“Are you staying in town because of me?”

He again stared. This conversation was becoming more strained by

the moment. Basically, he didn’t want to have the conversation and she

did. “Is your safety not a good enough reason?”

“I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“You mean you don’t know how to feel about me and my choice to

stay for you.” He shook his head in frustration and reached for the door

handle.

She clasped his arm quickly. “Please. I just don’t want to be the reason

your career is ruined. I don’t want to be the reason you’re missing time

away with Seth. I don’t want to be the reason you make these decisions.”

“Then what do you want to be the reason for?” His voice was harsh

and his eyes were angry. “I just made love to you. I did that for a reason

—a very specific reason.” His eyes were searching hers. “I care about you. What the hell is wrong with that reason?” And then his voice trailed

off and his eyes moved from hers to stare out the window.

She sat frozen beside him, her heart pounding as his words echoed through her mind over and over again. She could hear her own voice telling him she loved him. He may not have said it to her but she still knew she did. At the very least she should tell him she cared about him

too.

Saying nothing was the cruelest thing she could do but it wasn’t for

want of being cruel. She just couldn’t quite figure out what to say. He gave up on her and pulled the door open, leaving her staring after him.

Now it was three hours later and she was sitting in her classroom during her reading group, staring off into space as the students read. The

group sat in a circle and after reading a section of material, it was something of a roundtable discussion about what they’d read. Seth was

there and she kept catching him looking up at her.

When it was time to discuss the section they’d just read, his hand went up instantly. “Yes, Seth.”

“What happened to your neck, Ms. Page?”

“Oh…” Odd to think but she’d nearly forgotten about it. Her entire body ached—her shoulders, her back, every last inch. The majority from

the attack and a few very personal places from Dillon’s most incredible

invasion on her body and yet, she’d not been thinking about the pain.

“It’s nothing.”

He stared at her with his father’s eyes. It was concern, it was

suspicion. He wasn’t fooled by her and she couldn’t help but wonder just

what Dillon had told him. She hadn’t thought he’d speak of her case at

all but Seth wasn’t doing a good job of hiding the fact he knew something. She steered the conversation back to the reading but Seth continued to watch her.

“Are you okay, Ms. Page?” She peered up to Seth as the rest of the group filed out of the room.

“I’m fine, Seth. How are you?”

“I know my dad’s investigating something that has to do with you.”

“And did your dad tell you that?”

“No. My dad won’t talk to me about that stuff. I can just tell. I know

you were hurt a while back and I can just tell by the way he acts around

you. And you’re hurt again and he was gone last night. I can tell he’s worried about you.”

“And how’s that?”

“Like he acts when I get hurt.” The tone of his voice suggested she was insane not to understand this. “Just like when Molly and Jake were

in a car accident a few years ago. I know he’s not going on spring break

because he’s worried about you.”

“Seth…” What the hell could she say? “I don’t want that.” She

swallowed hard over a lump in her throat. She couldn’t have this

conversation with him but she also couldn’t not have this conversation with him.

“I don’t care. Jake’s going and Molly will be there too. I really don’t care.” Again, he sounded like a teenager but he really was trying to reassure her as much his thirteen-year-old maturity level would allow. It

was sweet but she couldn’t say she felt any better about the situation.

Seth had no idea what his father meant to her. He also had no idea what

she meant to Dillon. Awkward was the understatement of the century.

“I was just saying it’s cool with me. And I’m sorry about—whatever

happened.”

“Thanks, Seth. I appreciate it.” And she did. It was the sweetest thing

a thirteen-year-old boy could say to a grownup. He might have thought

she was crazy for not understanding everything he was trying to say and

he might not have a clue just how serious the situation really was but it

was compassion usually not seen in a kid his age.

He turned from her to leave but then stopped and turned back slowly

to face her. “Do you have a crush on my dad?”

“What? No. No. That’s not…” Lie lie lie.

“It’s cool if you do. I know he likes you. Just sayin’.” And then he was

gone.

* * * * *

When she got to Imogen’s home that evening, Detectives Smith and

Terrell were waiting outside the security gate parked at the curb.

“Well there’s no surveillance video in the parking garage.” They

followed her into Imogen’s home. “So there’s no security video.”

She could have told them that but she just nodded.

“And we’re assuming he entered the parking garage on foot. He’d

have to have a permit to enter with a car but we’re still checking into all

the vehicles that were there last night. I just wouldn’t expect anything with that.”

She started zoning out. She was tired and they weren’t telling her anything new. This man didn’t want to be found and he was doing a damn good job of keeping it that way.

They’d found her bags and jacket in the stairwell and set the items on

the kitchen counter as she offered them tea. They declined and in less than ten minutes they were leaving.

Imogen called while she was fixing dinner. It was late in the UK and she was just getting back from having drinks with a couple of her old friends. Katrina could tell she was half drunk and though she knew Imogen would be livid later, Katrina decided not to bother telling her about the parking-garage incident, or the sex incident for that matter.

When they finally hung up, Katrina sat at the dining room table alone to

eat the chicken she’d managed to burn. She stared at the emptiness around her, feeling pathetic.

She missed Dillon and she was certain she’d pissed him off that

morning. She had no idea how to feel about him or what had happened

between them. She wanted him in the way she’d finally had him but she

knew it was a risk to his career. Could she put an end to it with him to

protect that? She didn’t hold out much hope she could. If she had the opportunity to be with him again there was no chance she could say no

to him. She needed him. She cared for him too. Hell, she just plain loved

him.

She curled up in bed with her phone and started typing. “Are you upset with me?”

His response came nearly ten minutes later and left her convinced

he’d contemplated not responding at all. “Usually.”

“I’m sorry.”

There was no response after that and thirty minutes later she gave up

waiting for one and fell asleep.

* * * * *

“Are you sure you’re not really into Ms. Page?” Molly was just

finishing up packing as he lay across her bed. Seth and Jake were downstairs loading their bags into Molly’s Traverse.

Dillon was now technically on vacation for the next week too, though

he’d be spending the week sitting alone afraid to go to San Francisco lest

the woman he was secretly pining over be attacked again. It promised to

be a great time staring at his walls with nothing at all to do. Her reaction the morning before had been a disappointment—not that she’d

necessarily said anything wrong.

Even as he was confessing to caring about her he knew he was

holding back. He was in love with her but she’d not even managed to reciprocate his mildest of emotional confessions, so he certainly wasn’t going to be giving her any more than that. But none of it really mattered.

She could decide she hated him tomorrow and he still couldn’t bear to leave her and be too far away from her knowing her life was in danger.

“Molly, it doesn’t matter how I feel.” He sounded like Seth as he said

it—annoyed that she couldn’t understand the situation telepathically.

“Something happened and it didn’t exactly end the way I’d have liked it

to.”

“Something as in…”

He stared for a moment, contemplating, considering, debating. “Fuck

it. I slept with her.” Molly’s mouth fell open. “A couple nights ago and

the next morning…it was—I don’t know what it was. Things just fell apart.”

Molly still hadn’t managed to close her mouth so he continued. “She’s

worried about how a relationship with me could hurt my career, she’s worried I’m making decisions based on how I feel about her and I guess

she doesn’t want me to. Or…I don’t know. I mean she likes me. I know

she does and she’s said as much but then when it came to my staying here for spring break or the idea that I was going against the rules being

with her, she was upset.”

“You slept with her?” Apparently Molly’s brain had shut down after

that first statement.

“Molly! Focus.”

“Fine, fine. She probably feels guilty that you could endanger your career for her. She probably also feels guilty you’re staying here rather than coming with us to San Francisco. I mean, put yourself in her position.”

“I’m doing this for her!”

“And that can leave anyone feeling guilty. You’re sacrificing for her.

That’s great, that’s noble, I get it but maybe she doesn’t quite think she

deserves that. Does she know you love her?”

“I didn’t say I love her.” He said it defensively.

Molly gave him her cocked head annoyed expression. “And you

don’t?”

He sighed. “I do.” He sounded damn near pissed off about the admission.

“If she doesn’t know that, then it’s really no wonder she doesn’t quite

understand your motive. It’s no wonder she feels guilty. I’d feel the same

way in her position. If you love her and you’re willing to take risks for her and compromise certain things for her, then she needs to understand

why you’re making those decisions for her.”

“Shut up.” He rolled his eyes as he turned onto his back and stared at

Molly’s ceiling.

The boys came in, jumped on the bed and started singing “I Left My

Heart in San Francisco.” They’d been tormented by Molly and Dillon with this particular song on every last car trip they’d taken to San Francisco and they were finally old enough to turn the tables. They had

nothing on Tony Bennett and as they wailed the tune in their best vibrato, Molly and Dillon laughed and Dillon socked Seth in the face with Molly’s pillow.

It was hard to rationalize not going with them when Katrina couldn’t

even seem to understand his need to be close to her. But the moment he

let his mind wander to the ugly things that could potentially happen to

her, there was just no choice. He couldn’t physically force himself to put

that much distance between them. He’d go insane if he couldn’t be close.

Dillon walked them out to the car on his way out and gave Seth a quick hug. “Hey, Dad, take care of my teacher. I’m actually getting a good grade in her class.” Dillon let out a strained laugh at Seth’s words

and then said nothing. There was nothing he could say but Seth’s

somewhat serious expression said plenty. He was worried.

“I’ll see you in a week and a half. Say hi to Grandma and Grandpa for

me.” He watched them pull away before walking to his own house and

flopping down in front of the TV. He wanted to call her but he was so fucking confused about what to think. Molly was right. She’d put him on

the spot and expected him to explain just why he was making the

decisions he was making in regard to her and he’d failed to deliver. He’d

told her he cared about her. He’d just made love to the woman he’d fallen in love with and the most he’d been willing to say was he cared.

Then he got pissed at her for putting him on the spot and not simply accepting that she was worth all that. She was but he’d not convinced her

of it or even gone so far as to try. He’d simply walked away from her.

He cooked a frozen pizza and chugged a beer. He was working up the

nerve to call her and apologize but he didn’t get the chance to prepare.

When there was a knock on his door he knew it was her before he even

answered. His heart started racing, his cock started dancing and his mind

started spinning. He couldn’t fuck this up again.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

Then they just stared at each other. She nibbled on her lip while he gripped the doorframe. He stood back but said nothing. When she

passed him, her eyes flashed sideways. He reached for her arm and stilled her.

Her chest heaved and she couldn’t seem to look at him. She was as nervous as he was but the moment he closed the door behind her, he kissed her. She was stunned for half a second until her body melted into

his, her arms wrapped around him and her tongue pushed gently past his lips.

He moaned at the feel of her tongue in his mouth and his hands

gripped and dug into the sides of her waist. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have

walked away like that.” He was talking between kisses.

“No. I shouldn’t have questioned you. I need you. I need you here.”

Her fingernails curled against his skin under the back of his shirt and he

pushed her toward the stairs.

“I like it the first way you said it.”

“I need you.”

“I need you too.” He was pushing her body back and she’d taken the

first step upstairs. He couldn’t stop kissing her and her mouth was just as

eager. The first step up put her just below his eye level and he stripped

her shirt off over her head quickly before he attacked her lips again. She

was already pushing his t-shirt up over his head too and she dropped it

to the floor behind him as he pushed her up another step.

She was wearing a pair of yoga capris and he peeled them down her

hips, leaving her underwear in place. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want her out of those as well but he wasn’t in any hurry. He pushed her up another step once her pants were around her ankles and he removed her

slip-on hiking shoes from her feet as she stepped out of her pants and moved up another step.

He unclasped her bra and pulled it from her arms. He dropped his mouth to her uninjured breast and sucked her nipple into his mouth as

she moaned and ran her fingers through his hair. “Sit.” He spoke with her skin in his mouth but he released his hold on her nipple as she sank

down to sit on the step two levels up from her. He’d gotten her halfway

up the stairs already and he intended to keep her here for a while.

Her underwear was sheer and white and he could see everything

under the fabric easily. He slipped his middle finger under the leg opening and ran the back of his finger down over her sex. She

whimpered and he met her gaze, daring her to hold his eyes. Her brow

flinched and her lips parted as she quietly panted but she didn’t look away. When he slipped his finger between the lips of her sex, he felt the

silken moisture of her arousal coating his finger and she cried out at the

first contact he made with her clit.

She whimpered when he abruptly pulled away and stood. He stood

below her on the steps and as he reached for the waist of his jeans, he let

his gaze travel every inch of her. She was seated with her legs open but

as his eyes invaded her, she started to close her legs.

“Don’t you dare.” He uttered it as his fingers deftly undid his jeans and slid the zipper down. She paused, met his gaze for a moment and then dropped her knees out wide again. She studied his hands as he slid

his jeans and underwear down his legs and then stepped out of them, abandoning them on the step below him. When he was undressed in

front of her, she zoned in on his cock and he stepped up between her legs

as she reached for his erection.

She leaned forward and he held his breath as he watched her lips part

to take him in her mouth. He wanted to watch every last move she made

but his eyes fluttered closed as the warm heat of her mouth enveloped him.

The deep groan coming from his throat was out of his control and the

slow thrusting of his hips was manipulated completely by the sucking of

her mouth. She pulled him, taking him as far as she could before releasing him. He watched when she licked around the throbbing and engorged head of his cock. She licked away the precum as it appeared

and then kissed gently down the length of his erection.

She pushed her hips forward on the step to sink her body lower and

she gripped his buttocks, pulling and holding him tight to her as she sucked first one testicle and then the other. She cupped them, licked them, taunted them until his dick was ready to beg for more attention.

But she seemed to sense his threshold and just as soon as he thought he

couldn’t take any more of her exquisite torture, her palm squeezed around the shaft of his cock and her mouth slowly made its way back up

to the head.

Her eyes peered up to him. “Lie back.” She let the cock head fall from

her lips as she leaned back against the steps behind and above her. He climbed up her body, planting a knee on the step that supported her back. His other foot was on the other side of her body on the same step

and as he used his hand to guide himself to her mouth, her hands reached up and gripped his bottom.

He humped her mouth with a slow and even stroke, supporting his

body with a hand on the stair above her head and the other hand gripping the spindle beside them. He thrust, watching his dick sink into

her mouth as he kept his eyes trained between their bodies. He was already dreaming of tasting her pussy. Every time he remembered that sweet flavor she had his balls tightened and his cock pulsed.

He was moaning. He was trying to stop but he couldn’t. When he

started saying her name over and over, it was in a desperate attempt to

get her to stop because he was beyond ending this. He wanted to come in

her mouth so bad he had visions of it in his mind, but as the sound of her

name rolling off his tongue became more desperate, her eyes flashed to

his and she stilled. He stayed panting over her body as she released him

from her mouth and when he could move again he slowly descended

back down along her body and kneeled between her legs.

Her lips were glistening and they were parted as she waited for his touch. He pulled the fabric between her legs to the side and just stared.

Her legs were wide open and she was wet. He used his other hand to stroke one very gentle glide from her clit to her entry. She shuddered and

when he reached her opening, he pressed his middle finger slowly into

her as her muscles contracted around him.

He pushed all the way to his knuckle and when he withdrew he

pushed in again with his index finger alongside his middle. He pushed as far as he could and then curled his fingers as his knuckles grinded against the soft wet skin surrounding her sex.

She cried out and he continued the back-and-forth movement. When

he started thrusting in and out as he twisted, her cries turned loud and

she gripped the edge of the stair at either hip. Her pussy was clenched and tightened around his fingers and she pushed her hips down toward

him. When he leaned his mouth to her clit and sucked it harshly between

his lips, her hips bucked and she swore.

She instantly looked embarrassed but as he sucked her harder she got

over it. She started pushing and grinding against his mouth as her hips

moved and writhed against him. He watched her fall apart and she was

moaning his name when she came, gripping his hair with her fingers.

She collapsed back on to the stairs with her legs splayed wide—one braced against a spindle and the other bent and dropped open. She was

breathing deeply as he moved up, letting his dick tease the wet lips of her sex. She instantly tried to move her hips to line up with the head of

his cock but he stilled her hips with a firm hand to her belly that held her in place.

He licked her lips, waiting for her mouth to open and when it did he

slipped his tongue in. He wanted her to taste what he enjoyed so much

and he explored her mouth for a while as her hips wriggled. It was useless with his palm holding her in place and when she became

Chapter Twenty

frustrated enough she spoke. “Please.” There was little more needed than

that.

“Turn around.”

She was nervous as hell now. Who wouldn’t be? If the bright daylight

sun filling the house weren’t enough, the large hanging light that lit up

the open entryway was enough to make anyone blush. She nodded and

he released the pressure on her tummy as she pulled herself up, turned

around and climbed up a stair. She was on her knees but her legs were

closed and she was upright. She knew that wasn’t going to get her anywhere but she was terrified to move.

“Bend over and spread your legs.” Could she do this? Here, now,

with this gorgeous man watching her? As he watched from his place

below her body, she opened her legs to his view and bent over the stair in front of her and he inhaled a deep breath and hummed his satisfaction.

She could feel her legs trembling and he climbed up behind her and

held her waist in his strong hands. He shushed her as she shook and then

he dropped a hand to his dick and used it to prod and nudge at her sex.

Katrina was touching herself again, waiting to feel that incredible sensation she liked so much. But what she didn’t expect was to be called

out on it.

“Why do you like to touch?” He was leaning over her body, speaking

in her ear. His free hand was on the top landing, gripping the edge as he

pushed so slow into her body it was torturing her.

“I don’t know.” She grunted quietly as she spoke and he nudged

slightly deeper.

“Yes you do. Tell me.” His breath was warm against her earlobe and

she shuddered.

“I like to feel it.” He wanted honesty? He was getting it. She was powerless to deny him.

“You need your fingers to feel this?” He thrust deep and hard to her

core in one smooth invasive move that left her groaning.

“No! I like the way our skin feels.” She was whimpering as she said it.

“My skin? Yours?” He was moving his hips with every word he

spoke and she was falling apart with every movement.

“Yes!” She cried it out this time. He was deep, painfully deep inside

her.

“What does your pussy feel like?” He stayed still inside her body. He

was refusing to move until she talked.

“Soft.”

“Definitely.”

“Wet.” He could tell she was trying not to pant as she spoke now.

“Most definitely. What do I feel like?”

“Hard. But smooth.” He ground into her. “So fucking hard.”

“You like to feel it go in, don’t you?” He pulled gently from her entirely, leaving her empty and trembling.

She seemed to be barely holding it together when she spoke again.

“Yes.”

“What do you like the most?” He held perfectly still for a moment before inching past her entry slowly. “Do you like to feel my cock head

push past your pussy lips?”

She felt the pop as he inched forward with a quiet moan and she cried

out. “Or do you like the long stroke of my shaft as I push deep into you?”

He moved equally slow as he pushed toward her center and she moaned

at the tormenting pleasure.

“Or do you like that last impossible inch of depth as I push farther than I have any business going?” He practically nudged her guts as he sank deep, grinding his hips between her legs. He moaned through

gritted teeth.

“Yes.” Her body was shaking and her insides were clenching tight

around him as she spoke.

“You’re going to have to share that experience with me next time.

Right now I’m going to fuck you hard and fast and you better brace yourself or you’re going to get thrown into the step in front of you.”

He started pumping into her body, thrusting and retreating harshly as

she gripped a spindle in one hand and the step at her shoulder in another. She didn’t need her fingers to feel the swift and deep

penetrations. He scorched her channel with every stroke, doing his best

to bring her close to orgasm before pulling her back from the brink over

and over and over.

He was pounding so hard he was nearly lifting her knees to the step

above her. When he wrapped his arms around her waist, it was to lift her

body up the last couple steps and sink into her as he planted her on the

landing. Her chest was to the floor and she looked back to his foot braced

against the last spindle as he pistoned into her from behind at a violent

pace.

She’d thought he was deep the first time they’d made love. But this time he was so deep it felt as if he were crawling inside her body to consume her from the inside out. She was damn aroused, she was still dripping with need and his every swift and powerful invasion sent her just that much closer to losing control.

“Oh fuck, Kat!” She moved her fingers back down between her legs and let them touch his length as he passed into her body over and over

and over again and when she finally fell apart he did too.

He held still and deep as he came and she trembled and whimpered

as her knees threatened to give out. She eventually crumpled to the floor

as he did too. Lying on the man’s upstairs hallway floor wasn’t exactly how she saw this thing playing out when she knocked on his door

nervously but who the hell was she to complain? She was panting like a

dog and his chest rose and fell against the side of her body as he relaxed.

“And here I thought I needed to take a run later.” She smiled at his humor and he pulled her body so she was lying on her back. He looked

down at her, smiling gently as he met her eyes.

His gaze ran over her body, stopping at her mangled breast. His brow

flinched but he kept going. His fingers ran over her stomach and then moved lower to cup her between her legs. Fuck, she was sore. That was

apparently just the name of the game with him but he’d hear no

complaints from her.

She’d never had such amazing orgasms as she had with him. He was

generous with the pleasure he doled out and she was enjoying being the

center of his attention after months of pathetically lukewarm sex with Jason. This man knew what he was doing.

He stood, offering her a hand and he led her away to his bedroom and into the master bath. She’d not had a chance to comment on his home but she loved it. It was incredibly comfortable and masculine in a

warm, safe sort of way. She loved the earthiness of it. The warm colors,

the straight, authentic lines of his furniture. She’d barely caught a glimpse of everything there was to see but she loved it. It felt like him.

He started the bath and returned to where he’d left her standing by the sink. “Stay tonight.”

She nodded.

“Stay all week.”

She said nothing for a moment but then met his expectant and

demanding expression. She nodded again and he leaned to her mouth.

Lunatics aside, this might be one hell of a good week.

Chapter Twenty

She helped him with breakfast the next morning and when her cell

phone started ringing she snatched it up quickly. He knew instantly it was Smith or Terrell just by the way her eyes moved to his quickly.

“No, I didn’t stay at Imogen’s last night and I won’t be there much this week.” She listened as she chewed on the inside of her lip and fidgeted. “Just with a friend. I’d rather not say but I’m safe.”

More silence as she shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry but I’m not

going to tell you.” Her eyes met his as he poured her a cup of coffee. “I’ll make sure to call you whenever I’m going to Imogen’s house but I’m sorry, I don’t owe you any other explanation than that. No, you…”

She was struggling to maintain control of this conversation and he wanted to reach through the phone and bitch-slap whoever the hell was

talking to her. “I said no. I’m not… No! Shut up and listen to me.”

Apparently she wasn’t losing control of this one at all.

“My life has been in danger for the past month. I’m as safe where I’m

at as I could be anywhere. This is my damn life and quite frankly when

this fucktard finally kills me—” Fucktard? “it’ll be my death too, so you can just kiss off unless you have something constructive to say!”

And then she hung up on him, taking a deep steadying breath before

she looked back to Dillon, whose mouth was no doubt hanging open.

“Umm…coffee?” He held out a cup to her and she offered a weak,

apologetic smile.

“Sorry. That was wrong, wasn’t it?”

“It was …interesting. And what is a fucktard exactly?”

Now her cheeks turned pink and she shook her head. “I’m not

actually sure. I hear these words at school and I’m not always sure what

they mean but it seemed appropriate for some reason.”

He couldn’t stop smiling at her. He made them toast and joined her at

the dining room table and he just watched her. He had no idea if this woman could love him. He knew he loved her and he knew the idea she

was in danger was painful in a way he’d never experienced before with a witness.

It wasn’t pleasant knowing all the ways she could be hurt, destroyed

and taken from him. He understood the threat too well to ignore it and

he was prepared to lose everything to protect her from it.

He’d worked hard for his career but if forced to choose between her

and his career, there was no real question anymore how he would side.

He’d choose her hands down and never look back so long as he could keep her safe while doing it.

“Kat, would you take a self-defense class?” She looked up from her bite of toast and nodded.

“So long as you understand I can trip over my feet walking on flat ground barefoot.”

“And yet you managed to stay on your feet while I fucked you up an

entire flight of stairs yesterday. I’d say you’re a bit more coordinated than you give yourself credit for.” He smirked as her cheeks turned pink.

When the color in her cheeks died down, she looked out the window

for a moment and then back to him. “You should use me as bait, then pounce on the bad guy when he comes after me.”

She looked half serious which made him want to punish her for being

so naïve. “You realize I’m already mad at you for driving yourself to class, right? Now you’re really pushing it. Shit like that only works in the movies when everybody gets to go home safe and alive at the end of the

day. And if I’m not making myself clear enough, that was a hell no.”

“Fine, party pooper. Just an idea.”

“Self-defense, mace, that’s perhaps a better plan of action for you.

And one that won’t give me a coronary. I know an officer who teaches a

class and we’ll see about getting you in it but I’ll get you started today and go over a few things with you.”

“So, self-defense is on the agenda for the day?”

“Unless you have somewhere more important to be.” He smirked and

she shook her head.

“How about you make love to me first? Then, I’ll do whatever self-defense mumbo-jumbo you want me to.”

“Deal. Now get your ass upstairs to bed.”

* * * * *

She was quite sore—not to mention exhausted—by the time he’d

finished with her. It was also late in the afternoon by the time they even

felt like leaving the bedroom. Not that he was so insanely virile that he

could fuck for hours on end but it was just an incredible day spent watching TV in bed, making love a couple of times, countless rounds of

some type of foreplay and then finally a long hot shower.

He plucked the butterfly bandages from her breast as she stood under

the hot jets of water. He was careful and he gently traced the straight lines of already-healing cuts. However awful and disturbing the

crisscross pattern looked, the cuts were actually very shallow and she could already see pink scar tissue filling in.

“I think I’m going to buy you a new dildo. Either that or I’m going to

have to steal yours from evidence.” He was murmuring against her ear.

“I’d prefer a new one. Who knows what that wackjob did with mine.

And why might I ask are you wanting to buy me a new one?”

“I’ve been having incredible fantasies about watching you fuck

yourself. Sorry, but it’s true. I would absolutely love to watch you.” Her

entire body was prickling with a sudden flush of need.

“So long as you buy me a new vibrator too then, or fetch mine from

my house. It was never much fun without that.” She should probably be

shutting up right about now but then she wouldn’t be very Katrina if she

controlled her mouth.

“Odd Mr. Lunatic didn’t manage to get his hands on that too. Maybe

I’ll just break into your house for it.”

She was laughing as his hands ran over her skin. It might well be a quirky conversation but she was aroused…again. Seemed to be a

constant thing today.

“Well he wouldn’t necessarily have found them both because I didn’t

keep them together. The vibrator’s in my underwear drawer and the now

sadly inadequate fake penis was in the bathroom. Penises belong in bathrooms, vibrators belong in bedrooms. Everybody knows that.” She

was full of shit but the abrupt end to laughter stopped her dead in her tracks and she pulled back to look at him.

“Wait. Not the nightstand. You have a nightstand, but you kept it in

the bathroom?” She failed to see his interest but she nodded. “Where?”

“Under the sink in a little drawer unit that I use for storage. Why?”

“Fuck. Sweetie, your house wasn’t ransacked.”

“Okay? I don’t understand.” Her arousal was fading but her interest

was certainly piqued.

“We made the mistake of assuming you kept it in your nightstand or

somewhere easy to find. It would be one thing for a person to break in,

open a nightstand drawer and find condoms, sex toys, lube, you name it.

It would almost be expected. If not there, a dresser drawer perhaps. I’d

expect the man to find your sex toys someplace that is easy to speculate

where to find or even somewhere he’d seen you put it when he spied on

you.”

“And?”

“If he found it in your bathroom in the sink cupboard within a storage

drawer and he did all that without ransacking your house, then he knew

where the hell to look.” Her skin suddenly felt like it was crawling with

maggots and bile was suddenly churning in her throat.

“Well maybe he saw me when he was spying on me.”

“And if a person could see your bathroom from any exterior window

of your home that might be possible. Your bathroom is in the hallway halfway down the hall. It has no window and it’s not visible from any exterior windows. Who knew it was there?”

“Umm, no one. I mean…” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Did Jason know where you kept it?” She could tell he was trying to

keep the accusation from his voice but it was there and when her eyes found his, his jaw was tight and his expression was harsh.

“Yes. But it wasn’t Jason. Jason may have blue eyes but I heard this man’s voice. It isn’t Jason.”

Given the sarcastic angry expression on his face, he didn’t have much

appreciation for her opinion on the matter. “Yeah? Well you dated the asshole for months without realizing what a dick he was so I’m not sure I

have much faith in your judgment.” He was pissed and as he turned from her and stalked out of the shower without another word she

stomped after him.

“Well he knew where my vibrator was too. If he’s Mr. Psycho, why

didn’t he get that out too? Double whammy of Katrina humiliation, huh?” She was getting more pissed by the second. Dillon was standing dripping wet and naked in front of her and he just glared at her.

“Get back in the shower.”

“No!”

He rolled his eyes but it was without a shred of humor. “You haven’t

even rinsed your hair.” Suds dropped from the top of her head to the tile

floor as if on cue and he walked from the room, slamming the door.

She finished her shower, staying there for a long time just staring at

the tile walls surrounding her. She was trying to calm down. She didn’t

want to fight with Dillon. He’d made a valid point and it was as much a

clue as any they’d found and here she was overreacting. But what the fuck! If she was overreacting he was doing a damn fine job of overreacting too.

When she finally stepped from the enclosure, she sucked in a quick breath. He was standing up against the counter with his arms folded and

his ankles crossed. He was still just as naked as he’d been before but his

expression had softened marginally.

“This is why I can’t be a detective on your case. I’m at big risk of killing potential suspects because they’ve fucked you and happen to be complete assholes.”

He stared at her feet for a moment. “Nice loss of perspective, huh? I

hate that you’ve slept with that man. I hate that he knows you intimately

and he knows things about your life that I don’t—even stupid shit like where you keep your fucking sex toys.” He shook his head. He was irritated with himself and her irritation was dissipating.

He led her back to bed and crawled in next to her. So much for self-

defense. He held her for the rest of the night. They talked. He seemed intent on asking her everything under the sun about herself—her family,

her history, her life. She couldn’t complain. She wanted him to know and

she spent just as much time delving into his own past.

She was envious of his relationship with his family. It was obvious they meant the world to him and she missed it now that her dad was gone but she loved that he understood the importance. She didn’t like hearing about his past relationships, shallow as they appeared to be, any

more than he liked to hear about Jason. She understood. He belonged to

her in some sense and she really hoped he understood that she belonged to him if he’d have her too.

They fell asleep and when he woke her in the middle of the night it

was with his fingers exploring her body. He touched and caressed every

inch of her. He pushed slowly into her, first one finger then a second.

When he added a third, she groaned at the intensity. It wasn’t as intense

as making love but it was close enough to leave her trying to relax her muscles around him. He stroked the pad of his thumb over her clit and

she started writhing as he leaned over her body. When he stopped

suddenly, she almost sobbed.

“That man will never touch you again, do you understand?” He

wasn’t angry but the adamancy was undeniable.

“I made that decision a long time ago. I promise.”

He stroked her clit and she crumbled in his arms, gasping as her orgasm overcame her. She dug her nails into his upper arm as her insides

gripped his fingers. She was repeating his name against his neck like a damn broken record but he hummed against her skin in contentment.

“I have to tell Smith and Terrell.” He spoke into the darkness as she

lay panting beside him. “They need to know they should be looking for

someone who had access to your home before the break-in. They need to

start looking at repairmen and anyone else who could know your

personal habits. Stephens and I ran down as many of the workmen as we

could from the contractor information you gave us but I think they need

to dig deeper. We hit some dead ends due to turnover, layoffs and poorly

kept employment records but there’s gotta be something there.”

“But if you tell Smith and Terrell…”

“I’m going to tell Smith and Terrell.”

“Dillon…” He shushed her quickly and pulled her into his arms. She

didn’t need to see his face to see the concern. There was a weight sitting

on his conscience at the moment and he couldn’t hide that from her.

Chapter Twenty-One

Dillon had no idea why he was so enraged by her past with Jason and

he watched her sleeping beside him trying to figure it out. Dillon wasn’t

the jealous type—never had been. But when it came to her he was all sorts of jealous.

He wanted to know he meant something to her and he couldn’t stand

to think he was just another Jason to her. It was probably his own doing.

He’d kept his relationships casual since Shannon had died and Katrina was the first one since her he wanted to keep permanently. Yet he had this incredible fear she saw him in the way he usually saw his women.

She didn’t really seem built for such casualness but it didn’t stop him

from fearing it. He didn’t want to be to her what he’d made every relationship he’d had before her into be.

She was so beautiful. Her light-brown hair was long and straight and

her lips had that full poutiness. He caught himself licking his own lips just at the sight of hers. Her face muscles twitched occasionally as she dreamed and when she moaned quietly he ran his hand down her

shoulder and kissed her forehead. When he pulled back he could see her

open eyes glistening in the moonlight.

“I care about you too. I’m sorry I didn’t say it the other morning.” He

stared at her, trying to get his throat to swallow, trying to breathe, trying to get his tongue out of the way so he could respond. When she sat up,

shaking her head and turning from him, he knew he’d fucked up. He grabbed her around the waist, pulling himself up to sit behind her.

“Stop. Don’t you even think of running away from me.” He pulled

her hair over her shoulder so he could kiss her neck and he sucked gentle

kisses along her neckline. She dropped her head to the side and he nuzzled up under her ear. He still wasn’t saying what he needed to say

but then she wasn’t saying what he needed her to say either.

He pulled her back down to bed and she curled into his arms. They

stayed there until the next morning. He really did want to show her some

self-defense moves but every time he mentioned it to her that day or

brought it up, they somehow ended up in bed or curled up together on the couch. It was Sunday after all and they weren’t ready to deal with real life, real threat, real anything. His home felt safe to him—it always

had—and having her in it not only felt right and comfortable, it felt safe.

“I have to go feed Kitty and get some clothes.” He said nothing as she

looked at him, waiting for a response. If he said no, he had no doubt she’d tell him to fuck off. Perhaps she’d say it nicer than she said it to Smith and Terrell but she had no problem standing up to pretty much anyone and she wasn’t going to neglect her cat for her own safety.

“I’m guessing they’re not sitting on Imogen’s house as much as they

would if you were staying there, so you need to make sure they know when you’re going to be there. They’ll likely have an officer meet you there, and if they don’t I want to know because you shouldn’t be there alone. I think you should just bring your cat with you.”

Now he was expecting an argument and he got it.

“Kitty is over twenty years old. You don’t just tote around geriatric cats from one place to another for a few days. She’s not a dog. You just

can’t…”

“You could just stay.” He said it casually but inside he was freaking

the hell out. What the hell had he just proposed? He stood and walked from the room without giving her a chance to respond. He flopped down

on the couch and turned the TV on.

It didn’t take her long to find him and he muted the TV as she sat next

to him. He was lounged back on the sectional and he let his hand trail up

under the bottom of her shirt as he studied her eyes. Feeling so desperate

for a woman wasn’t something he was used to. It put her in an odd state

of control over him he didn’t usually—ever—give up so easily.

“I’m not sure what you’re saying.”

“Yes you are. But you’re right. It was a stupid idea. Forget I said it.”

She looked hurt for a moment but he was hurt that she was surprised he’d asked. Again, what wasn’t being said was fucking everything up but it just wasn’t the time.

Her life was in danger, their relationship was moving far faster than it

had any business going at the moment—hell, his own son wasn’t even fully aware of what was happening. None of the things that needed to happen for them to move forward had happened and until her life was

secure there was little point. Not that he was willing to lose her, not that he intended to but, fuck it, was hard to figure out how to move past this

until she was safe. Maslow was one smart-ass shrink who’d nailed it.

They were just stuck on a rung of a ladder, unable to take the next step

up.

Her lips were slightly parted and her expression was weary and

confused, all the things he didn’t want her to feel but since his words just seemed to complicate things he let his lips fix it. He took her mouth gently. He tasted her and held her lips to his with a firm hand on her cheek.

He could absolutely see a life with her. She might be younger than he

but she was mature, smart, a bit bold when she wanted to be. He could

see her home here with he and Seth and he knew his son well enough, even at thirteen, to know he could handle this. They could be a family together.

Family. That damn thing she lost a few years ago and he wanted to give her. He had no idea if she wanted children of her own but he wouldn’t balk at the idea of giving her that too. He was young enough at

thirty-five and she’d make an outstanding parent. There was no doubt of

it. Seth would also make an incredible older brother.

He was planning their damn lives out together as she sat nervously by his side. His hand was still under the bottom of her shirt but his fingers had stilled the moment the conversation got strained.

“I have to go to the precinct for a while. Don’t forget to call Smith and

Terrell before you leave. I’ll leave you a key on the table before I hop in

the shower.” He stood as her eyes followed him from the room.

When he’d finished showering and dressing she was already gone.

He’d worry until he saw her again but he wasn’t lying when he’d said he

needed to go to the precinct. He called Stephens, bracing himself for a shitstorm of irritation and minutes later, he was out the door.

* * * * *

She ended up doing two loads of laundry while she was at Imogen’s.

She spent the rest of her time snuggling with Kitty on the couch while she waited for the buzzer. The day was warm and the sun lit up the great

room of Imogen’s home. Katrina dozed as Kitty purred and by the time

her laundry was folded and she had a few outfits, clean underwear and a toothbrush crammed in a bag, the sun was just starting to set.

She decided to call Imogen, knowing where the conversation was

going to go even before she dialed but Imogen was her best friend and she needed to talk.

“You slept with him!” She was practically squealing into the phone.

“Yeah well I don’t know if it will happen again. I just keep screwing

this up. I literally can never say the right thing and I’m not even sure what the right thing to say is!”

“Did you ever think honesty might be the way to go?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous.”

“Do you love him?”

“Oh come on, Imogen. I don’t want to answer that question.”

“Why not?”

“Because…I can’t possibly know how he feels about me and I don’t

want to love someone who doesn’t feel the same for me as I do for him.

That would destroy me.”

“What makes you so sure he doesn’t love you too?”

“It’s been little over a month. The circumstances surrounding our

relationship are just…well it’s just chaos. What if what I’m feeling is the

result of this adrenaline, this life upheaval that I’m experiencing?”

“You can’t possibly believe that. I know you better than that. Mum and Dad asked me to tell you hi and that they’re thinking of you. They’re

also pissed I didn’t bring you with me. You know how much they love

you after that time you picked me up in college.”

“Imogen, I bailed you out of jail.”

“The charges were dismissed, duh. So it’s not like I was really

arrested.”

“The UK justice system isn’t so different from ours, Imogen. You were

arrested. I promise you. Listen, I’ll talk to you soon. I miss you.”

“Miss you too, Trink. Be careful.”

Moments later there was a knock on her door and she spoke with the

officer who’d met her at the gate when she’d arrived. He’d inspected the

interior of the house and then patrolled the property while another patrol

officer circled the block. She was starting to feel like a drain on the Seattle taxpayers but she was grateful. When she returned inside, her phone rang again. Apparently her lazy afternoon was over. It was Dillon.

“Can we have dinner downtown?” She said nothing for a moment.

She was actually just relieved he didn’t seem upset with her. “Kat? Are

you okay?”

“Yes. Yeah, sorry. Of course we can.” He gave her the address and told her which parking garage to park in. So apparently not all parking

garages were a no-no. And once she was there she found a space easily.

It was Sunday evening and the garage was deserted but it didn’t stop the

gears from turning in her head.

She started panicking the moment she turned off her car. The concrete

walls and low ceilings suddenly seemed so claustrophobic and she

couldn’t seem to open her door. But instead of letting her imagination get

away from her she dialed him.

“I’m here. But shit. I’m sorry. I’m just afraid to even get out of the car.” She felt ridiculous as she said the words.

“What level are you on? I’ll come to you.”

He pulled in next to her less than a minute later and as she finally unlocked her door and opened it he was there beside her, pulling her up

into a tight embrace. “You’re okay, baby.” He murmured against her ear

as she inhaled a lurching breath. Yes she was. So long as he was there she’d be just fine. He grabbed her bag from the front seat of her car and

tossed it in the backseat of his as she watched him curiously.

“We’re leaving your car here. Being all covert-like.” He smirked and

she shook her head.

“And what happens when I need a car?” She was challenging him.

“Well, we’ll just get yours if we need to. Otherwise you can take a cab

if you have to or I can take you where you need to go. Neither of us have

to work this week, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“You know leaving my car in this garage for a few days is going to cost me a pretty penny.”

“You’re a teacher. You make plenty of money.” She snorted at that one. “I’m paying for dinner to make up for it and you might just have to

let me pay to bust your car out of here too.” He took her hand, pulling

her toward the elevator.

The restaurant was quiet, quaint and perfect. It was Italian—you

could never go wrong with Italian in Katrina’s opinion. He sat across from her, watching her. He seemed to enjoy looking at her and frankly,

she found it sexy as hell when he studied her so seriously. He was obviously not upset about earlier and she certainly wasn’t either.

“How’s Kitty?”

“Alive. That’s about the most I can say about the old bat at this point.” He smiled.

“And an officer met you there?”

“Yes. Searched the house, patrolled the property. No sign of any

activity there from what he said.”

“Good.”

“Why did you go to the precinct today?” She was afraid she already

knew the answer to that question but she asked anyway. The overlong pause that met her question made it clear she was right on the money.

“I called Stephens and asked him to meet me there. I wanted to talk to

him about our conversation and the possibility the perp had been inside

your home before the break-in.” She just nodded as he talked. “I gave him the watered-down version of our conversation. I left out the fact we

were in the shower and a good portion of what I said to you leading up

to our conversation. I admitted I’d talked to you, which was bad enough

given his reaction and I filled him in on why I thought this perp has had

access to your home before.”

“You talked to Stephens about my dildo?”

“Everyone knows you have a dildo at this point, sweetie.”

“It’s humiliating.”

“I personally find it sexy as hell. I’m sorry you find it humiliating.”

He was smirking and as the waitress suddenly arrived with their food he

didn’t even bother looking up to her as she set their plates down. He was

back to studying her.

“So what did Stephens say?” She spoke around a mouth full of

eggplant parmesan.

“He called me a dumb fucking idiot, then he agreed with me. Smith

and Terrell were there and I let Stephens do the talking. He didn’t

mention when I spoke to you about it. He only filled them in on the conversation and when they asked when we’d spoken, he sidestepped

the question and I left before it could go any further. Doesn’t much matter and they know that. So long as they move their investigation down that path and follow up further on the contractor leads like they should, it’s none of their business.”

“You really think it could be one of the contractors?”

“There are an incredible number of scenarios to consider but they’re

right to delve into it further. I don’t want to talk more specifically about it than that with you but I can guarantee you Smith and Terrell will. You

need to be honest, you need to be open, you need to try really hard to remember the details they ask for. Your cooperation is a huge asset to them and it needs to stay that way.”

She nodded. He was putting a kibosh on the topic but she

understood. Having this conversation with him now would make it

redundant later. Best to just deal with the detectives who could use the

information she gave them and not put details in Dillon’s hands that would leave him in the position of having to pass clues along to them.

Scary how much she was starting to understand this conflict from his point of view.

“What if you just like me because of all of this?” Her mouth was feeling far too comfortable. It must be the Italian.

“This?” He mocked with a forkful of chicken saltimbocca halfway to

his mouth.

“This case. The anxiety, the adrenaline, the constant state of

craziness.”

“First of all I deal with this type of stress all the time. Second of all it doesn’t explain why I wanted to fuck you until you’d stop berating me at

parent-teacher conferences.” He chuckled warmly, still holding his fork midair.

“So it really has nothing to do with all of this?”

“If some adrenaline-fueled lust is why you are here with me, then we

need to talk. This is the biggest interruption to what I want to be doing

with you.” His face was suddenly quite serious.

“Which is what?”

“Getting to know you better. Figuring you out, I suppose. Making you fall in love with me.” His words and his eyes trailed off at this last

statement and Katrina’s heart was suddenly pounding.

“Do you love me?” She thought it sounded like a logical question in

her head but the second she uttered the words she was mortified. Her voice was quiet, she couldn’t swallow and for the life of her, she couldn’t

look at his eyes that were suddenly back on her.

“Yes.” He sounded as quiet as she did and when the waitress

appeared out of nowhere asking how their food was, they just stared at

each other, saying nothing—not even to the poor confused waitress

standing by patiently.

“Yes.” She was whispering again. She’d never whispered so much in

her life.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, ‘yes’? I asked how the eggplant was?”

“No, I mean, yes. I mean yes to him and the eggplant. It’s good too but, uh…” Shit, she was losing it but Dillon was smiling. He was amused

and his hand found hers on the tabletop, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“It’s nothing. She’s in love with me, that’s all. The food’s delicious too.” The waitress gave them an odd nod before leaving. They didn’t see

much of her after that but then they weren’t paying much attention to anyone but each other.

* * * * *

His admission had shocked the hell out of him about as much as it seemed to shock her. When she told him she loved him too, well that took shock to a whole new level. Then to top it off, she climbed into his

lap the moment he’d turned his Tahoe off and hit the garage door opener, closing it. Shock number three and while the first two melted his

heart, this one sent a different kind of heat through his body.

She was undoing the buttons of his shirt while he attacked her mouth.

She parted the fabric of his shirt with a ravenous jerk and her mouth moved down to his neck. He was too old for hickeys but he wasn’t going

to be stopping her mouth as she sucked on his skin. When she scooted back toward the steering wheel, it was so she could trail her mouth down

to his nipple. She nipped gently with her teeth and he groaned.

He pulled her shirt over her head and took in her black bra. She had incredible breasts—perky with the softest skin he’d ever felt. He pulled

the cups down below her breasts, pushing the perkiness up even more.

She had only small partial lines of scabbing at this point from where she’d been cut and most of the cuts were nothing more than thin scars.

He ran his fingers across the slightly raised pink lines and she leaned

back, watching him. When he leaned down and sucked her nipple into his mouth, his fingers kneaded the plump mound of her breast as his mouth worked. He squeezed, careful not to be too rough around the last

remaining healing lines and he pulled. He let his front teeth clamp down

gently and she moaned as she slid her pelvis back to meet his.

She was wearing pants and as his arousal continued to mount and her

hips pushed down to his desperately, he stilled her body gently with his

hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you wear crotchless pants today?” His voice was husky as he spoke in her ear.

“Sorry. What was I thinking?”

He smacked her ass playfully and she flinched, pulling her body even

closer to his. He kissed her, careful not to let things get too heated again before pulling his mouth from her and shaking his head in mock

disapproval. When he pulled the door handle, she dropped her head to

his shoulder.

“Hang on, sweetie.” He stood with her straddling his hips and her legs gripped him tightly while her arms hugged him.

He wasted no time carrying her into the house and planting her on the couch but then his cell phone started ringing. He contemplated letting it ring but her eyebrows shot up when it rang for the third time and he sat up between her legs, snatching it from the coffee table where

he’d abandoned it. She lounged back on the couch, watching him.

“Your girl’s house is on fire. What do you wanna bet it’s not

accidental?” Dillon was silent, fighting to control his reaction to Stephens’ words as Katrina watched him. “Fuck, she’s with you, isn’t she? That’s why you’ve got nothing to say and why Terrell was bitching

about her not telling them where she’s been staying.”

“I’ll have to talk to you later.”

“You stupid fuck.”

Katrina’s phone started ringing but she had a hard time pulling her eyes from Dillon to see who was calling. She was suspicious. She was right to be. He couldn’t seem to hide the shock from her.

“I’ll call you later.”

“Wait.” Stephens snapped at him.

Katrina answered her phone as he was waiting for Stephens to say

something more and when he saw her face fall, he knew she’d just been

given the news. Her eyes instantly filled with tears and she turned her face from him, reaching her hand up to cover her eyes as she started to

cry.

“I’ll stop by to pick her up. They’ll need to talk to her and I’m guessing it’ll be better if she shows up with me than you. No one thinks

I’m fucking her.” Stephens disconnected and Dillon reached for her.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. That was Stephens. He just told me.”

“Why? Why would someone do this?” She was sobbing as he pulled

her into his lap. She sank against him.

“I don’t know, sweetie. I’m so sorry. Stephens is going to come pick

you up and take you to the precinct. He’ll be here in about fifteen minutes. Can I get you anything?”

“No.” And he went back to holding her. There was nothing more he

could do for her and it was a helpless feeling.

“Will they let me see the house?” She kept shaking her head in

disbelief and she couldn’t stop the tears.

“Not tonight. Not until SFD and forensics have cleared the scene.” He

kept his voice low, soothing. It was the same voice he used when he spoke to pretty much any female witness and he hated the sound of it right now. There was nothing about her that he could allow to be anything like them but she responded to his voice and she snuggled in closer to him, relaxing against his body. This was definitely not how he

handled his witnesses.

When Stephens knocked on the door she stood and he followed her.

Stephens stepped through the door and regarded them both. He glared

at Dillon and tried for a sympathetic expression with her. Niceties just weren’t his thing—which was why Dillon was the front man in their team.

“You’ll be able to see the house sometime over the next couple days to see if there’s anything salvageable but I wouldn’t expect much.” She nodded but her tears were sitting precariously on her lower lids, just waiting for an excuse to fall again.

When Stephens reached a hand out to her shoulder, he spoke. “I’m

sorry, Katrina.” Hell, he didn’t even address her formally. Dillon was starting to suspect he knew why his partner was trying to protect him and it was far less to do with him and more to do with her. He liked her.

Not the like that would make Dillon want to knock his teeth out—he just

liked her, respected her.

Her tears started to fall and Stephens pulled his hand back, shaking his head in frustration. It wasn’t frustration at Katrina. It was frustration at this case, at the jeopardy her life was in, the threat that lingered over her head regardless of what they did to try to stop it. He and Stephens were on the same page for once and it was all about protecting Katrina.

He likely shouldn’t touch Katrina in front of Stephens but there was

no way he could stand idly by while she endured this and when he pulled her into his arms, she didn’t object nor did Stephens. “You have

your key?” She nodded as she pulled from him. “I’ll talk to you when you get home. I’m sorry I’m not going with you.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” She was trying to reassure

him. Odd. That was his job. He threw caution to the wind entirely when

he leaned to her mouth and kissed her. It was just one gentle sweet kiss,

though admittedly finishing it off by telling her he loved her was pushing things. Stephens harrumphed but said nothing.

“I love you too.”

He watched as Stephens walked her out to his car and he watched as

they backed from his driveway. Helplessness was beginning to take over

his life and he hated it.

Chapter Twenty-Two

By the time they reached the precinct it was nearly ten and by the time she waited a couple of hours for Smith and Terrell to arrive back from the scene it was after midnight. They asked her endless questions—

the same ones they’d asked her a hundred times before. They gave her status updates on just how destroyed her home was.

The fire department took the better portion of the night putting it out

and once it was safe, Detectives Smith and Terrell drove her by her home

so she could sob until she sank into a stupor. They wouldn’t let her get

out and she wasn’t sure she really wanted to. Her neighbors—people who she’d said hi to, waved to, chatted with—all stood around, staring at

her still-smoking pile of burned-out house.

When they brought her back to the precinct Stephens was still there waiting for her, looking annoyed and perhaps a bit exhausted. It was now the ass crack of dawn and for all the emotion coursing through her

like a raging river of confusion, she was still worn out and ready to slip

away to something more peaceful than real life.

As she sat and waited she tried her damndest to figure out what the

hell was going on in her head. She was numb one minute and then in a

nanosecond she was livid and wanted to scream.

Her rage was short-lived as the memories of the home she’d made for

herself started circling in her head. Then her sadness turned to outright

terror at just how truly fucked she might be. Relief she was at least alive

for the time being crept in after that and then the numbness took over again as she fought to wrap her head around it all.

“Can I take Ms. Page home now, boys?” Stephens seemed to be

friends with Detective Terrell, given their slightly more personable regard for each other but Detective Smith was another matter.

“What? You her escort now, that it?”

Stephens chuckled humorlessly. “Fuck no. Ms. Page and I run in the

same circles. She’s an educator and I’m just smart as fuck.” Stephens had

an odd way of defusing the situation and refusing to give a straight

answer. “We’re cerebral types, Ms. Page and I and we ain’t got time for your bullshit. Now can I get her outta here or do you two want to waste

more of her time?”

They were on the road less than ten minutes later. It was far too early

for Katrina’s taste and when she put it in the context of having not even

slept yet, it was just far too damn late. Stephens pulled through a Starbucks drive-through, ordering himself a grande dark roast with three

extra shots of espresso. Damn. “Whatcha want, Ms. Page?”

“Katrina. Please. I expect all my chauffeurs to call me by my first name.” He smiled. She’d never seen him smile before. “I’ll just have a sugar-free vanilla steamer.”

“A whater?”

Now it was her turn to smile. It was weak, likely unconvincing, but it

was a start. The light pink that was brightening the sky by the minute was much-needed medicine to her mood. Kitty was safe. She was too and

not a damn bit of what that lunatic had taken away from her had a heartbeat. She was lucky really. She was also homeless.

“It’s steamed milk with vanilla flavor. I intend to sleep when I get home, not stay awake for a week straight like you apparently intend to

do.”

Once they had their drinks in hand, he headed toward Dillon’s house

and she stared out at the slowly lightening sky.

“Can I ask what your first name is, Detective?”

“Marcus. Or Marc.”

“Why don’t you and Dillon get along? It’s not just me is it?”

“Humph…” She was getting used to his humphs. She seldom had any

idea what exactly they meant but she knew they weren’t malicious.

Nothing about Stephens was—not that it was easy to tell.

“Gettin’ along with people hasn’t always been my strong suit. Don’t

mean I don’t like the man. Like him just fine. And frankly I get along with him as good as anyone.”

“You’re…helping him with this situation. I guess I was just

wondering why.”

“By situation I assume you mean the fact you’re fucking him.”

“Now is that how us cerebral folk talk?”

Another humph. “What you two are doin’ is risky. It’s a good thing he’s not on your case anymore. And not ‘cause I think he’s not a capable

detective. He’s one of the best I ever known. We’re good at what we do

but he was losing his perspective with you.”

She nodded. She understood that much.

“Now it’s his career he’s gotta worry about. This case won’t always stand in the way. And he ain’t the first detective to fall for a witness. It happens. But discretion is the name of the game and this fucking perp put your relationship front and center with his photographic talents.”

She was being silent listening to him. He wasn’t a man of many words and if he was ready to talk she was going to listen.

“Truth of the matter is I get it. He can’t stay away from you. And frankly I’d rather see you living with him than anywhere else but it’s gonna be a risk to his career until this thing is over. The rules about conflict of interest are gray. What is and what isn’t considered a conflict

isn’t as cut-and-dry as you might think. He was told to stay away from

you and he’s not. Now that don’t mean he’s out a job. What it means is

he could be if the chief decides to make a big deal out of it. He could be if your relationship ever becomes an issue in court. It’s just a hell of a lot of could-bes he has hanging over his head.”

“You think I should stop seeing him?” It hurt to even consider and she wasn’t sure she could even do it.

“No.” And then he pulled over abruptly and turned to her. “No.” He

stared at the floor of the car at her feet with a perplexed look on his face.

He shook his head subtly and it was a ridiculously long time before he finally looked up to her again. “I like you. I like you with him. You’re good for him. The kind of good that makes this risk worth it. You asked

why I was stepping in and helping to take some of the heat off him.

That’s your answer.”

He put the car back in drive but before he pulled back into traffic he

turned to her once more. “You can keep that bit of information to yourself. Don’t need him thinkin’ I’ve gone all mushy and shit.”

“You got it, Detective Stephens.” She threw him an exaggerated wink

and clicked her tongue in her cheek for effect.

“It’s Marc.”

He walked her to the door when they got back to Dillon’s and Dillon

met them. He looked as exhausted as she felt and he was still dressed from the night before. He thanked Stephens and then he led her up to his

bedroom, pulling the curtains closed and crawling in next to her. She was

asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow with his arms tightly around her.

* * * * *

She woke him as she sat bolt upright in bed next him, screaming.

He’d had a few nightmares in his day. Seth went through a period of them after Jake and Molly were in a car accident that woke him nearly every night for a month. But this one took the cake. She was shrieking in

terror and it quickly turned to sobs as she realized the nightmare was her

reality.

“You’re okay, baby.” He murmured against her ear as she let him pull

her closer.

She turned to him, her eyes glistening in the afternoon sunlight that

was peeking in around the closed curtains. “He’s going to kill me.” There

wasn’t an ounce of inflection in her voice.

“No he’s not. That’s not going to happen.” He stroked the skin of her

back and she slowly stopped trembling and snuggled into him again.

“I’m going to call the officer who teaches the self-defense class I was talking about in a little while. Her class is on Tuesday nights at the Y. I’m going to see if she can either get you in tomorrow or make time for you

individually.”

“Can’t you just show me?”

“We seem to get sidetracked.” He tried to lighten her mood with a smile. “Besides, she has volunteers who wear protective gear so you actually get to practice hands on.” He smirked and she finally smiled.

“Because you’re afraid I’m going to hurt you?”

“I guarantee if I let you put your knee in my groin, you’ll put me on

the ground.” He kissed her. “How about we take a shower, make dinner

and I call Selena to see about her class?” She nodded and followed him to

the bathroom.

They stood under the hot jets and he held her against him, fighting with his body about whether to be aroused or not. It was impossible not

to. She was naked, after all, and he worshipped her incredible figure, for another. Flipping the off switch for his dick was just impossible in her presence but she didn’t mind his raging hard-on that was tight between

their bodies.

When he finally released her and turned to face the shower, she

reached around his waist and she pulled herself close to his back. She kissed along his skin as her fingers gently caressed his stomach and down farther to his hips and thighs. She was very intentionally ignoring

his erection but he wasn’t.

Her hands trailing so gently over his skin was not something his cock

could ignore and he stroked his length as her hands moved feather light

against his skin. When she finally let one hand work its way to his testicles and the other found his hand gripping his shaft, he groaned.

She laced her fingers with his against his dick as her other hand squeezed and worked his balls gently in her palm. They moved their fingers up and down his erection, taunting and torturing his arousal until

he was sucking in breaths of air, rapidly nearing his threshold. He came

as he braced himself against the shower wall with his free hand. She continued to stroke and palm him as he spasmed and pulsed through his

release.

She escaped quietly when he was recovering in the shower and he

found her downstairs raiding his kitchen shortly thereafter. He

discovered quickly that teaching wasn’t her only talent. She was quite an

impressive cook and after he let her have her way with his cupboards and fridge, she knocked out an incredible meal of white chili and soda bread.

“I want to talk to Seth about what’s going on.” He realized a bit too

late he wasn’t taking his own good advice by forgetting the statement should really be a question.

“He doesn’t need to know about all this.”

“No he doesn’t, but he does. He already knows something is going on

with you and he knows I am somehow involved. I’m not suggesting he

knows all the details or even most of them but I want to be able to have

you close—have you here and not have to make excuses.”

He could tell he wasn’t going to like her response even before she opened her mouth to say it. “When he gets back from spring break, I…”

She looked nearly nervous. “I don’t think I should stay here. I’m not even sure I should stay with Imogen.”

“What are you talking about?” He wasn’t appreciating a damn word

of what she was saying.

“I think I should stay in a hotel or find an apartment or…”

“No!” He didn’t mean to sound angry but he’d be damned if that

wasn’t exactly how he sounded.

“I’m afraid anyone around me could end up being in danger because

of me and I can’t…I can’t be responsible for that. I won’t have Seth in danger because of me, or Imogen for that matter. It’s bad enough I’m here running the risk that he figures out I’m here too, putting you in danger. What happens if he figures out who you are? What if he already

knows? He’s already seen you. I’ve already put you and Seth in danger.”

“You haven’t put anyone at risk. He has. This is his fault, Kat and you

can’t make yourself responsible.”

“No but I can sure as hell do what I can to protect the people I care

about! It doesn’t really matter whose fault it is. It would kill me if something happened to you or Imogen or God! Seth? No! How could I deal with that?”

“You can’t deal with this alone, Katrina!”

“I don’t see that I have a choice. I don’t have any other choice I can live with.”

“So what does that mean for us?”

She stared at him, swallowing harshly over a lump in her throat. He

really hadn’t intended on the conversation getting to this point. He wanted her to agree to move in but here she was threatening to pull them

apart because of this damn thing.

“I don’t know.” She suddenly couldn’t look at him. Their food was forgotten—their rather nice shower before dinner was gone now too.

This fucking head case wackjob was going to tear them apart and Dillon

wasn’t willing to accept that.

When there was suddenly a knock on the door, they both jumped.

Stephens strolled in the moment Dillon opened the door for him.

“Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Dining room. What’s up?”

“Well I’m a fucking messenger boy, don’t ya know?”

Stephens followed him to the dining room where Katrina was sitting

staring out the window. He hated the way things were between them at

the moment. It was starting to feel like a habit. They were riding some damn yo-yo thanks to the lunatic who was making it impossible for them

to just be a normal couple. Every aspect of this case somehow touched on

their relationship and tried to fuck it up.

Katrina finally looked up to Stephens. “Don’t you ever sleep, Marc?”

Marc? What the fuck is that about? Her voice sounded tired and exasperated.

“Nah. Who needs sleep? Tomorrow I’m going to take you over to

your house. The fire inspector and forensics are going through the scene

today and you’ll be able to see the damage tomorrow. I drove by earlier

and I’m warning you it’s a total loss. Smith and Terrell want you to meet

them there so I told them I’d bring you.”

“You can’t possibly have time to drive me around.”

He chuckled quietly as they looked at each other. She looked guilty and he looked oddly sympathetic. Dillon was just jealous. “I have all the

time in the world this week. I’m not on rotation until Adler’s back on the

clock Sunday night so I’m just following up on loose ends this week.”

“And what of Smith and Terrell? You’re taking a risk by shuttling Katrina around.” Dillon knew Stephens had mastered the art of either being rude enough to someone they gave up asking or simply refused to

answer questions that would incriminate him but it didn’t mean he

wasn’t endangering his own career by being involved.

Terrell might be his friend but Smith hardly was and if the chief found out, there’d be questions. Stephens’ dickhead approach would

only make things worse with Greenwood.

“Katrina and I have already talked about this and you don’t need to

worry about it.” Dillon’s eyes flashed to Kat, who was now sheepishly avoiding him. Dillon’s jealousy was ratcheting up with every passing word. What the fuck was Stephens doing talking to Kat instead of him about what was going on?

Dillon stood and walked to kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge.

He stood at the bar separating the kitchen from the dining room and he

watched them. Stephens sat at the end of the table and Katrina was

beside him. There was something odd about the casual and comfortable way they regarded each other and it left Dillon’s heart racing.

“I’m going to have to get to Imogen’s at least a couple times this week

to feed and water Kitty. And my car is in a parking garage. Maybe we should just get my car out. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about driving me. I could keep it in Dillon’s garage.”

“No.” Dillon snarled from his place at the same time Stephens

responded to her. Kat’s gaze caught on his quickly before returning to Stephens.

“No, Kat. You need to be seen as little as possible. He’s seen Dillon and that means it’s possible he knows who Dillon is, perhaps even where

he lives. It’s also possible he knows about Imogen and where her home is

as well. You don’t want to take the risk that he’s watching this house and

sees you leaving in your car. It makes it far too easy for him to follow you. He without doubt knows your car too and we don’t want him able

to follow you to Imogen’s. Even my driving you comes with risk. There’s

no perfect answer. Adler or I could meet you downtown and drive you

back from a parking garage. That way he couldn’t easily follow you back

here. We don’t want to give him any easy ways to follow you around. It’s

just a game to make it as difficult as possible for him to follow you or figure out where you’re at at any given moment.”

Dillon’s jaw was clenched tight as he listened. It wasn’t as if Stephens

wasn’t saying anything he didn’t already know but he was struggling.

He was angry at Kat for diminishing her importance to him.

He felt as though she were two seconds from walking out the door because she thought she was a danger to the people around her. He understood that but it also meant she was willing to walk out on him to

protect him and he couldn’t stomach that. Her easy regard for Stephens

wasn’t helping the situation and Dillon felt like a damn juvenile jealous

prick. He was an outsider at the moment and he didn’t like it—not with

her.

When his cell phone rang, he saw it was Selena. He’d left her a message earlier about the self-defense class and she was without doubt getting back to him about it.

“Hey Adler, so you’ve got someone you want in my class tomorrow

night?”

“Yeah, she’s a victim in an ongoing stalking case and I’d feel better if she was as prepared as she can be.” He had left the kitchen and was sitting on the stairs in the foyer with his beer in one hand and his phone

in the other.

He could hear Kat and Stephens talking easily in the dining room and

he had to force himself to focus on his conversation.

“Sure, but let’s do this. She can join the class tomorrow night. The class actually runs one night a week for an hour and a half for a month.

Tomorrow night is the second in our series but I could stay after and give

her a good condensed version of the whole series. I’ll see if Jeremy can stay as well to help. Maybe an extra two, two-and-half hours and we could cover the content one-on-one? Sound like a plan?”

“That’s great, Selena. I really appreciate it. Five o’clock tomorrow night, right?”

“Yeah and I’ll try to be done by nine.”

“Great. She’ll be there. Her name is Katrina Page.”

He disconnected quickly as he walked back into the kitchen. He

caught them laughing about something and when they looked up and

saw him, the laughter drifted off. Kat looked nervous and Stephens looked confused and annoyed.

“You’re set up for the self-defense class tomorrow night.”

“Kat, you should call Smith or Terrell and set up the time you meet them at your house for after lunch sometime, then I can take you straight

to your class from there.”

“Sure.” Dillon just watched them, unable to get a grasp on exactly why he was feeling so angry, hurt and just plain jealous.

Stephens stood slowly and Katrina followed him to the door as Dillon

stayed sulking in the kitchen.

When she returned she let out a deep sigh. “You’re upset with me.”

“No.” He looked at her for a moment as she watched him with a

furrowed brow. “I’m going for a run. I’ll leave out the back.” He brushed

past her as he left the room and ran upstairs to change and he didn’t see

her again before he left the house.

He pushed through ten miles, not even trying to pace himself. He let

his muscles burn, focusing on the intense pain instead of letting his mind

wander back to her. When he finally made it home, he peeked in on her upstairs. She was asleep in his bed. He went back downstairs and fell asleep on the couch.

Chapter Twenty-Three

When they said the house was a total loss they weren’t kidding. She

literally walked away with nothing—not a single article of clothing, not a

single picture, nothing. She’d called her insurance company on Monday

and arranged a time for someone to meet her there around the same time

as Detectives Smith and Terrell expected her. The man didn’t stay long. It

didn’t take a genius to see there was nothing salvageable there.

The house would be leveled as soon as it could be arranged because it

was more a safety hazard than anything. The insurance man left shortly

after he arrived with a grimace on his face. “Sorry, Ms. Page.” She’d heard that three times already. The fire inspector, Detective Terrell and now the insurance dude. She might sock the next person who said it to

her.

“Love what you’ve done to the place, kiddo.” Stephens elbowed her

in the side as he came to stand by her and watch the insurance agent leave. “But hey you’ve still got a completely intact chimney. Whataya know.”

She chuckled. At least he hadn’t apologized. She looked at him for a

moment. She needed Imogen here and the fact she was settling for

Stephens was almost comical. The fact she was so glad to have him there

and didn’t actually feel like she was settling at all was just plain surprising.

“Dillon is upset with me.”

He looked at her for a moment, saying nothing. She was sure this made him uncomfortable. Chick talk could not be high on this man’s talent list.

“I told him I thought I should get an apartment or stay in a hotel for a

while.”

His brow suddenly furrowed. “Why the hell did you say that?”

“I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me. How could I not want to remove myself from the people who could be hurt? Imogen,

Dillon, Seth. I can’t have their safety, or lack of, on my hands. Dillon

shouldn’t be in the position of wanting to protect me at the expense of Seth’s safety.”

“So was that why you two seemed like you were Jedi mind-fighting

with each other last night?”

She nodded. “We were arguing just before you got there.”

“That explains it.” He took a deep breath. “Listen, Dillon knows how

to protect you and how he chooses to balance you and Seth during this

ordeal is his choice, not yours. He’s Seth’s father and he’s a good father.

You don’t need to question that.” Stephens’ voice was demanding as he

spoke and it brought Katrina up short. “This isn’t a conflict that would exist between the two of you were it not for your case.”

“Just another reason it’s not a good idea for us to see each other, right?”

“I was going to say be patient. The case is temporary. Your

relationship isn’t. At least I was under the assumption it wasn’t a casual

thing. Maybe you should talk to him about it.”

“I was asleep before he got back from his run last night and he avoided me all morning.”

“It couldn’t have helped that you and I were talking so much last night moments after you practically said there were things more

important than your relationship and you wanted to move out. Try to see

it from his perspective.”

“You’re pretty good at chick talk.”

“Fuck off. I better get you to the Y for your class.”

She groaned. “This should be good. He really has no idea how

uncoordinated I am. I’ll probably end up doing more damage to myself

than anyone else.” Stephens chuckled as he walked her back to his car.

* * * * *

She decided quickly she actually liked self-defense. That’s not to say

she was any damn good at it but there was something about sweating her ass off while she tried to kill a man—a man safely concealed in bizarre-looking protective gear but a man all the same. It wasn’t hard to

imagine Mr. Lunatic under the layers of shielding and she enjoyed

herself immensely as she brought her knee up to his groin, put her elbow

into various places on his body and stomped her heel down on his toes.

She was ready to kill anything that tried to hurt her and do it with a

vengeance by the end of the four hours she spent with Selena and the unknown pretend bad guy. She showered quickly in the locker room,

changed into jeans and a shirt and when she re-entered the exercise room, she found Selena talking to a handsome man with blonde hair.

They were obviously a couple given their body language and as she approached Selena looked up to her.

“How do you feel, Kat?”

“Uh, great actually. That was a lot of fun.”

Selena laughed. “Well you should join us next week if you can.

Jeremy will let you beat the shit out of him a bit more, won’t you, Jeremy?”

He winked at Katrina. “Hell yeah, I will. You did great.”

“Ah, sorry about that. I pictured you as some creepy disturbed man

under there.”

Now he laughed at her. “Not so creepy. But then there are plenty of

creeps who don’t look creepy.” He cocked his head at her. “I’m not one

of them though. Can we walk you out?”

Katrina nodded and they stood, walking her from the building to the

nearly deserted parking lot. She spotted Dillon waiting in his Tahoe instantly and he eyed her impassively. His regard for her reminded her

very much of their first meeting at parent-teacher conferences when she’d pissed him off.

Selena gave her a quick hug. “So maybe we’ll see you next week, Kat.

Take care.”

Katrina thanked them before turning toward Dillon’s car. He watched

her and she couldn’t manage to hold his gaze. She didn’t really

understand what was going on between them but she hated it. It had been over twenty-four hours since things had turned to shit and she wasn’t even sure whose fault it was or exactly what had happened.

When she climbed in he said nothing. He pulled from the parking

space and headed home. “Are you hungry? We could stop for dinner

somewhere?” She hated the hopefulness in her voice. She didn’t know if

she should be angry, apologetic or downright defensive but her voice just

sounded needy and pathetic.

“I’ve already eaten but if you’d like to go through a drive-through, I

can.” He said it without the least bit of inflection to his voice and his eyes remained on the road in front of him.

“That’s okay. I’m not that hungry.” She was hungry actually, but

she’d just decided defensive was definitely going to be her approach—

angry too, for that matter.

They drove in silence and once he’d pulled into the garage, closing the garage door behind him, he climbed out and headed into the house

without even waiting for her. She followed as her anger built with each

footstep and when she finally caught up to him in the living room, she stopped holding her tongue and set it loose.

“Care to tell me why you’re being such a dick to me?”

“Because you’re being so much nicer?”

“You’re the one who’s ignored me for the past day.”

“And you’re the one who wants to walk away from this due to some

misguided notion that you’re endangering my life.”

“I am endangering your life! And not just yours. Seth’s…”

“And he is my responsibility!” He was glaring at her and she was doing her damndest to glare right back. “Wanna tell me why you’re suddenly so chummy with my partner?”

Her mouth dropped open, her brow furrowed in incredulity and she

suddenly felt guilty. He was watching her intently with his hands on his

hips. His nostrils were flaring and he was waiting oh so patiently for her

to give him a reason to explode. He was furious. She looked at the floor

between them, studying the rug as she tried desperately to figure out what to say.

When she finally looked back up to him she took a deep breath. He was all strength and height and masculine power standing in front of her

and she wanted that security wrapped around her. She’d pushed him

away. She’d done it for a damn good reason but she’d done it

nevertheless. And she wondered why he was acting jealous that she was

getting along with Stephens so well. She’d threatened to take away his ability to protect her and then confided in his partner rather than him.

When she approached him, his glare remained and he simply

followed her with his eyes, glowering down at her. She reached for his stomach, feeling his muscles flinch under the fabric of his t-shirt. The look on his face was almost terrifying but as she let her forehead drop to

his chest, he released a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” She wasn’t even sure he

heard her and she lifted her head to see him. “I’m sorry.”

“Have you done something to be sorry about?”

She nodded and watched as his jaw clenched and he looked away

from her. “I’m terrified I’m going to be the reason someone else gets hurt,

but I’m sure my insistence on leaving to protect you felt like I was taking

away your ability to protect me.”

His eyes returned to her and his forehead creased in confusion. He hadn’t expected her to say that apparently. “On top of that I talked to Marc about it when I should have talked to you. And because you

already felt like I was pushing you away it must have felt like quite a betrayal.”

“Did something happen with you and Stephens?” Her eyes found his

as she gasped.

“No! Not like that. He’s doing this to protect us—to protect you.” He

stared at her with no less confusion on his face than had been there since

she’d started talking. When he finally glanced away he shook his head slightly as he tried to wrap his head around what she was saying.

“I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”

“That I was attracted to him?” He looked back to her and nodded

slightly. He almost looked embarrassed. When she let her hands trail down to his hips and she pulled her body up close to his, peering up to

his guarded and dark eyes, she did her best to put him at ease.

“I’m not attracted him. I’m attracted to you. I’m in love with you.”

Then she took a deep breath and braced herself for yet another argument.

“I also think I need to move back to Imogen’s by the time Seth gets home.”

He took a deep breath and a step back from her as she kept her breathing calm and relaxed. She knew it would upset him but she knew

it was the right thing to do. “Dammit, Kat.” He spoke through gritted teeth.

“Please listen to me.” She was begging and the moment he looked at

her and crossed his arms across his chest, she launched into her speech in fast-forward mode.

“You know I would only be moving in here because of my safety. You

may love me, but the only reason you want me here this soon is because

you’re worried about me.”

She raised her brow, but he gave her no response but to sear into her

with his eyes. “I want a real relationship with you. The kind that won’t

rush Seth into getting used to me being around and used to the idea of us

being together. If our relationship is going to go beyond this case then we

have to think about what’s best for our future—not just what makes you

feel better right now.”

When he approached her he placed his hands gently on her shoulders

and watched her. She was certain she’d reached him. That was until he

responded. “How about the fact you have to survive the now to get to the future?” His eyebrows shot up but his mouth was a serious line. He

turned from her and walked out of the room and she just stared after him.

She was coursing with electricity as she climbed the stairs a few minutes later. She knew he’d gone upstairs but she wasn’t entirely sure

why she’d followed. He wasn’t giving an inch and she wasn’t sure she could either. Every time she imagined something awful happening to

Seth or Dillon it was like a knife to her gut. She loved him. She wasn’t lying when she said it.

She also believed he loved her too and while it perfectly explained why he was so intent on keeping her close, it just simply didn’t matter.

He believed he could protect her and she believed in him. But did she believe him enough to risk his life or his son’s? Hell no she didn’t.

When she opened the bedroom door, she was surprised to see he

wasn’t there. It took her a minute to find him in what appeared to be a

spare bedroom. He was lying on the bed, when she came in, staring at the ceiling.

“If I go back to Imogen’s this weekend, what does that mean for us?”

“Are you giving me an ultimatum?”

“No. I’m asking if you’re giving me one.” She retorted as he stared at

her. “And what’s this? You’re no longer going to sleep with me if you don’t get your way? Is that why you’re sulking in the spare room? Seems

a bit childish if you ask me.”

“Really? No more childish than refusing to do what’s best for yourself

and being a stubborn brat!”

“You’re one to talk. Have you met yourself? Stubborn should have

been your middle name, rather than—well what the hell is your middle

name anyway?”

“Bray.”

“Bray isn’t a name. Dillon Bray Adler? That’s weird.”

“And what is your middle name?”

“Anne.”

“Fine. That’s actually nice.” And they just stared at each other like idiots.

When she walked to the side of the bed, climbed up and straddled his

hips, he just looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “Are you going

to leave me if I move back to Imogen’s this weekend?”

He sighed, stared at her for a ridiculously long time and then finally

when she’d nearly given up on him he sat up, bringing his face right up

to hers. “No. I’m going to make love to you every chance I get, tell you I

love you every day and punish you by withholding orgasms and making

you beg for every last one you get.”

She exhaled a deep sigh of relief. “Well, so long as you’re not going to

be immature about it.”

“I’m dealing with a stubborn-ass girlfriend who’s going to give me a

coronary. I deserve an immature moment or two.” He sighed before he

kissed her gently and pulled back to look at her again. “I won’t make you

beg tonight if you do me a favor.”

“What?”

“Fly to San Francisco with me tomorrow. We can drive back with

Molly and the boys on Saturday.”

“Why?”

“I want to talk to Seth about us. Not about your case. He already suspects enough to worry himself and he doesn’t need the details but I want him to know we’re seeing each other. I don’t want to waste time making you part of my life. At the same time, you’re right that Seth needs time to adjust to that. For your safety, I may want you here but for

our relationship I do want Seth to have time and you for that matter. A life with me means a life with a teenage boy too—not that he’s not a great

kid but you already know that.”

She did know that. She nodded slowly. Her reaction might have been

calm but her heart was pounding. Going to San Francisco meant dealing

with his mom, dad, sister, son and nephew all at once and springing the

news on every single last one of them that they were dating too. That was enough to terrify anyone. Couple that with the fact it had been years

since she’d had to do the family thing and she was freaking the fuck out.

But she nodded. For him, she’d suck it up.

“Thank you.” His expression finally softened and his incredible,

delicious lips finally pulled up seductively. His fingers reached for the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. He kneaded her breasts

through her bra as he held her eyes and she gasped at the harshness of

his touch. The pressure was demanding as he groped but it was

possessive and she wanted him to possess her. She reached back and unclasped her bra and when it slipped down her arms, he released his grip and let his eyes take in her breasts.

He reached out to her nipples as he sank back to the pillows that were

propped up behind him. He pinched her nipples and pulled them away

from her body. She whimpered at the intense and sudden pain as his lips

parted and he studied what he was doing to her. He held his grip as she

panted.

His pinch was varying in pressure and the moment she thought the

pain was too intense, he’d release the pressure just enough that she’d groan in relief. Then the tightening would start all over again. It was intense, about as intense as the searing expression in his eyes.

But it ended swiftly when he sat up suddenly, lifting and rolling their

bodies until he was pinning her down on the bed. His mouth

immediately attacked one nipple soothing the raw and throbbing flesh before he moved to the other. He licked, sucked and hummed against her

skin. He left her breasts sore, abused and tingling in lustful desire for more of his touch.

He reached for the waist of her pants, undoing the button and

lowering the zipper. His fingers slipped beneath the waist of her jeans and underwear and tugged down as she lifted her hips. His mouth

stayed latched to her breast and she was moaning by the time he managed to pull her pants down to her hips.

He left them there, pulling back from her body and letting his gaze travel from her eyes lower to her chest and then down to her groin. She

was wet, she was needy and she felt sure her blood had been replaced with fire. It was coursing through her body in a prickling warmth that left her skin feeling flushed.

His eyes stayed glued to her exposed vagina and though her legs

were held tightly closed by her jeans that were just barely down to her hips, he still seemed to be enjoying the sight of her. He reached to her sex lips, parting them and exposing her tight and swollen clit to the cool air.

If she thought her skin was prickling before, it was damn near

vibrating now and it was sending all the warmth straight to her exposed

clit. He leaned down and she lifted her head to watch as he let just the tip of his tongue reach out and torment the peaked nub. She couldn’t help the curse that escaped her lips then and he chuckled before blowing a puff of air directly on her clit. She cried out and swore again.

“Now is that any way for a junior high teacher to speak?”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to make me beg?”

“I’m not making you beg but you’re more than welcome to if you’d like. It won’t get you where you want to be any faster though. I’m in no

hurry tonight.” His voice was controlled and deep. The kind of deep that

reeked of testosterone and lust.

He leaned down again, once more licking with the lightest touch with

only the tip of his tongue. She felt like screaming at the sensation. It wasn’t enough and he knew it but he licked, slowly tracing around the swollen peak of her clit and finally pushing up to hit the center at that one most perfect spot that shot spasms of pleasure out through her body.

But it still wasn’t enough.

When he leaned back from her body again he smiled. It was more a

taunting smirk than a smile, and she trembled. She couldn’t help but think this was payback for not getting his way.

“Lift your legs.” He watched her, waiting for her to comply. It was obvious he was done toying with her clit and she finally gave up hoping

for more of that and did as he asked. The smile he gave her was subtle.

“Thank you.” This was definitely payback.

She pulled her legs up letting her knees bend and resting the tops of her thighs to her stomach. Her vagina and bottom were exposed to him

and his gaze started roving over her as she shook. It wasn’t as though she

were frightened of him but he could see every inch of her in glaring detail.

He reached out and let his finger trail between the lips of her sex. She

was slick and she could feel the ease at which his finger glided through

her moisture. Her legs were tight together but the wetness allowed his finger to slip between her lips easily. He massaged back and forth with

his middle finger before pushing it past her lips and into her pussy. She

whimpered and he held her eyes as he thrust gently in and out.

When he pushed a second finger in with the first she groaned and he

kept watching her face. He was refusing to look away from her eyes in fact and as intimidating as it was in her current rather exposed position,

it was also an incredible turn-on.

“You like this, don’t you?”

She could barely breathe let alone answer but when he pulled his

fingers from her body, waiting for her to respond, she managed to speak.

“Yes.”

“And you wouldn’t want me to stop now would you?” He pushed his

fingers back in slowly as his words toyed with her.

“No.” Her voice managed to lurch even midway through her single

syllable response.

“Are we going to start getting along better?” He slipped a third finger

in and her stomach muscles started quivering. She nodded as her

breathing started to stutter and gasp. “Please answer me. I so enjoy hearing your voice when you’re being agreeable.”

“Yes.”

“That’s what I thought. Now how about a peace offering?” She wasn’t

at all sure what that entailed but at this point she was pretty much on board with whatever he wanted.

“Okay.” He pulled his fingers from her pussy and quickly finished

pulling her pants off her legs. When he pushed her knees apart, she just

watched and when he lay down between her legs, she sighed. She was so

ready for this.

“Now spread your lips for me—just like you do when we make love.”

She reached down, parting her sex with her index finger and middle finger and he studied her.

If she thought she was exposed before, this was just plain

gynecological, but he smiled at the view. He leaned to her, kissing one finger before running his tongue up and over to the other finger. He sucked her middle finger into his mouth, letting his warm tongue

massage the length of it.

He released her middle finger, pulling the other into his mouth as well and before long, he had both of her fingers in his mouth and he was

sucking and stroking with his tongue. The sight of him sucking on her fingers as he laid between her legs about undid her and she swallowed

over a lump in her throat as he released her and she parted her lips again.

He kissed her sex next, pulling her overly deprived clit into his mouth

and sucking hard on her sensitive swollen nub. She could feel his top lip

against the skin between her fingers and she could feel the corner of his

mouth brushing and working against the side of her fingers.

When he released her clit, he started licking. He lashed over the peaked skin over and over before moving down to her entry and

thrusting inside. Her fingers were digging inside her open lips, as she came close to losing her mind with every new touch. He was thrusting and tasting and when he pulled back, his lips glistened. She could feel the wetness drip down and trickle between the cheeks of her bottom.

The pad of his thumb gently spread and rubbed the moisture into her

anus. She clenched her bottom inadvertently until his eyes flashed to hers and he shook his head. It was by sheer force of will that she relaxed

to his touch and she let him explore her but when it pushed through, there was no control left and her muscles instantly seized.

“Relax, baby. I’m not going to hurt you.” She was whimpering as he

shushed her and kept thrusting his thumb little by little into her bottom.

The sensation wasn’t pain—at least not once he’d passed through the tight ring of muscles at her entry—but it was entirely new to her. He thrust, pushing completely inside and she could feel him wiggling gently

as he continued to push in and retreat just slightly, over and over. The fingers of his same hand were gripping the side of her bottom and she

dropped her hand down to clutch his. She held the top of his hand as his fingers dug into her skin.

When he attacked her pussy again, she started writhing. He was

licking, sucking and tormenting her clit and she could feel the wetness building and her fingers sliding through it with every movement of his

tongue or lips over her skin. His cheeks were brushing her fingers and his thumb continued to pulse and thrust in and out of her bottom as she

dug into the top of his hand.

She was losing her mind and in one blinding second, her nerves

exploded and she came harder than she ever had before. He sucked on her as her body pulsed and convulsed against his mouth. As her muscles

finally started to release and her body slowly came back under her control, he slipped his thumb from her and he pulled his glistening lips

away from her body.

She was gasping as he crawled from the bed and undressed. She

watched him pull his shirt off and drop his pants and underwear to the

floor. He was aroused and hard and the sight of his breadth and length

was an intimidating thing to behold. He crawled back onto the bed and

lay down beside her. Katrina rolled to him, propping herself up on her elbow to look at him.

He pulled her mouth to his and she tasted herself on his still-

glistening lips. He didn’t release her mouth until he’d pulled her body on

top of his to straddle his hips. Her wetness was coating the base of his cock and she couldn’t seem to help but push down on him. He gripped

her hips, pulling her hard to his groin just as desperately as she wanted

to seal herself to him. He slid her body up the length of his erection and

as the head teased her opening, he released her hips.

“Go ahead.”

She rose to her knees and he grasped the base of his erection, holding

his cock erect from his body. She slid down over the head, feeling him pass into her body. He stretched and pierced through her as she sank lower onto him. Every inch she lowered her body tested her threshold that much more and by the time she was sitting square on his lap she was whimpering. She leaned down to his mouth, kissing him. He

clutched her cheeks, holding her mouth to his and she started rocking her hips against his. As she lifted her hips, the deep pressure in her groin

eased but the moment she felt the emptiness she pushed back down along his length, impaling herself on him again. She cried out as he hit her depths and he watched her.

When Dillon wrapped his arms around her, he pulled her chest to his

and rolled their bodies as he pushed deep into her. He pushed and rolled

his hips between her legs as she dug her fingers into his lower back and

she didn’t let go until he pulled his knees up under her thighs and sat upright, lifting her to face him.

He was sitting on his heels with his knees slightly splayed and she braced the balls of her feet against the soles of his. Every time he rolled

his hips it drove his cock straight to her core. She used his feet as leverage as she grinded her hips against his, feeling him impaling her over and over again.

“Let go and lean back.” He spoke in her ear. She’d been clutching him

tight to her and at the sound of his voice, she released her hold and looked at him. He was still thrusting his hips into her and as she leaned

back, he held her lower back and eased her shoulders down to the bed as

he stayed upright. He held her, letting only her shoulders rest against the

bed as his hips rolled seductively between her legs.

“Rub your clit.” She focused on the sight of his clenching stomach muscles as she reached between her legs and did as he asked. When she

glanced to his eyes, his gaze was glued to what her fingers were doing between her legs and when he licked his lips and his brow flinched as his

hips humped, she fell apart and came as her muscles tensed and gripped

around him.

His groan was deep as she tightened on his length and he collapsed

over her, pushing her hands above her head, pinning her to the bed as he

drove into her. He was jolting her body forward with each powerful drive and when he came he buried his face against her neck as he held

himself deep and pulsed within her.

She listened to his breathing slow against her neck and she kissed the

side of his neck. “Was that a peace offering?”

He chuckled, sending a warm vibration from his mouth through her

skin. “No, sweetie. My finger up your ass was a peace offering. That was

just an incredibly good fuck.” And then he nipped her earlobe as he pulled from her aching vagina. She hissed at the pain and he pulled her

onto her side to face him. “Why do I feel like I’m hurting you sometimes when we make love?”

“It’s that good kind of hurt.”

“I find it hard to believe there is such a thing.”

“Well you don’t have a vagina.”

“You got me there. I do not have a vagina but I sure do like yours.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Now, can we please go to my bed? It’s far

more comfortable than this one.”

“You’ll remember you’re the one who came in here.”

“Don’t sass.” He rolled from bed, pulling her up to her feet and walking her down the hall to his room. He climbed into bed after her and

pulled her body into his. “I love you.” He whispered it quietly against her temple.

“I love you too.”

And then she was asleep.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“I’m going to be in San Francisco for the rest of week. I’ll be back in

town late Saturday night.” Then a pause. “No. I’m sorry but I’m not telling you where I’ll be staying. I’m going to visit friends and you can reach me by cell.”

Another pause. “What kind of emergency, Detective? I no longer have

a home to be broken into, you’re watching Imogen’s house and she’s safely out of the country, so what kind of emergency are you thinking would warrant knowing where I am?”

And yet another pause. “Like I said, you have my cell phone.” And then she hung up on Detective Smith. No wonder they’d gotten on so poorly the first time they met. The woman had no problem telling it like

it was to pretty much anyone and, yes, that meant cops—Dillon

included.

They’d packed that morning after she made breakfast, and after he’d

set their bags by the front door she’d called Detective Smith. He thought

she was perhaps hoping to reach his voicemail so she could avoid this conversation but she hadn’t been so lucky.

They needed to go to Imogen’s before they could call for a cab, so Kat

could make sure Kitty had what she needed for the rest of the week, and

so she could pack up a few final items she didn’t have at his place.

They’d call a cab once they returned to Dillon’s to get them to the airport.

When they reached Imogen’s, the officer stationed there eyed him

suspiciously. This was not going to go over well. He punched the

number into the security gate panel and then pulled up in front. He grabbed Katrina’s only partially packed bag and walked her into the house. The old mangy-looking critter that was supposed to be a cat found them instantly. She was staggering about like usual and Dillon loaded up her food and water while Katrina changed her litter box.

Katrina had a good portion of her wardrobe at Imogen’s house when

her house burned down, so she was fortunate enough to not be

completely left without a thread to her name. She finished packing her

bag with the clothes she had there, as Dillon lounged on her bed watching her.

It was hard to believe he’d managed to fall so in love with her. The very notion snuck up on him all the time and usually left his heart fluttering and his cock hard. Making love to her was like nothing he’d experienced before.

There was such an incredible added depth to what they did together

that simply hadn’t existed with the meaningless women he’d fucked

since Seth’s mom had died. He couldn’t seem to stop his mind from analyzing it every time he was inside her body. It was odd he should want to study their dynamic in the midst of sex but there was nothing more powerful than focusing on how much he loved her when he was plowing into her body.

She eyed him—or more accurately she eyed his erection that was

fighting with the fly of his pants. “What are you thinking about?” She looked at him seductively.

“You.”

“What about me?”

He studied her for a moment, deciding just how much he wanted to

let her into his head. He decided all the way in. “You know how you like

to touch yourself when I enter your body? You like to feel that spot where our bodies first meet?”

“Yeah?” She looked nervous, maybe even embarrassed and her

cheeks were scarlet. She wouldn’t feel that way if she knew just how damn sexy he thought it was when she touched.

“Well I’d like to think that experience for you is, I don’t know, kind of

emotional, right?” He was treading into girl-talk territory and he

couldn’t help but think he might just be out of his depth here.

“Yes it is. But it’s kind of hard to explain I guess.” She sat next to his

hip after she tossed the last of her clothes into the bag. She thought for a moment then shook her head as though she couldn’t quite figure out what she wanted to say.

“In the past, I think I did it to try to convince myself there was more

intimacy to what I was doing than there actually was.” She sounded terrified at what she was saying so freely to him but what she was saying

was so perfect and he understood completely.

“Is it different with me?” He knew it was or at least he expected it was.

“Yes. I’m not wishing for the intimacy, I just have it and touching…

it’s kind of a rush now.” He reached for her hand, sitting up to her. The

blush of her cheeks hadn’t died down a bit and he knew she was feeling

exceptionally vulnerable.

When he reached for her cheek and pulled her mouth to his, it was just to reassure her. Then he moved to her ear.

“I like to think about how much I love you when I’m inside you. At

first the thought just popped up when I was making love to you, because

it was so fucking new it caught me off guard. Now, I like to focus on it

intentionally, because it’s such an incredible high.” She smiled at him when he pulled back from her ear. “Sound odd?”

“No. Sounds sexy as hell.” She kissed him and he stood from the bed,

carrying her bag back down to the car.

They grabbed coffee on the way back to the house and as they hopped

in the cab he’d called to pick them up a bit later, she watched him. He could see her out of his peripheral vision, studying him. When he reached for her hand, she sighed.

“I’m nervous.”

“And if I tell you you shouldn’t be?”

“I’ll still be nervous.”

“Just as I thought. Well then, be nervous for no good reason and I’ll

tell you I told you so later when you realize there was no reason whatsoever to be nervous around my family.”

He smiled at her quickly, ignoring the cab driver’s watchful eyes.

He’d already bought and printed their boarding passes, so it was a fairly

uneventful stripfest at security before they had an hour and a half to kill

until they could board. He suggested a drink and she nodded quickly.

They grabbed a table, parking their carryon bags next to them and spent the next hour getting pleasantly buzzed. She managed to down three cocktails, and when they stood to leave, she swayed on her feet a

little and he chuckled. So long as it relaxed her he wasn’t going to complain. She was actually incredibly cute when she was a bit tipsy and

when they finally found an open pair of seats in the pre-boarding area she sank into hers lazily.

“Did I tell you I hate flying?”

“No you did not. Unfortunate since, you know, we’re going to be

flying.” That might explain her need to pacify her nerves with a bit of alcohol and here he’d just assumed it was fear of meeting his family.

“We should drive.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Yes. Well kind of. I really hate flying.”

He quickly figured out just how true that statement was. He ended up

with fingernail crescents gouged into the top of his hand and she likely

frightened a number of nearby passengers with her yelps and moans

every time she heard a new sound or the airplane shifted in any way whatsoever—impossible for airplanes not to, which made the trip one panic attack after another for her. Thank God they were driving home.

As they were standing in the aisle ready to debark, he leaned down to

her ear from behind her. “Remind me to never torture you in such a way

again. I truly had no idea someone could be so terrified of the safest form

of travel.”

She turned to him and smiled. It was the first smile he’d seen since getting her onto the plane, but as they grabbed a cab her smile faded and

her hands started trembling.

“Please don’t be so nervous. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

She glared at him as though he’d just sworn at her. He chuckled.

Couldn’t help himself. She wasn’t just cute when she was tipsy—she was

cute as hell when she was nervous too.

He’d lost his damn mind if he thought she shouldn’t be nervous and

she was two seconds from smacking him. Of course that would require

she let go of his hand and since it was the only thing keeping her sanity

anchored, she thought perhaps she should hold on tight. She couldn’t stop her fingers from trembling and as they rounded a corner onto a residential street, the tremble turned to violent shakes. He squeezed her

hand and scooted to the center of the seat, wrapping his arms around her.

They pulled upside an amazing three-story home smack in the middle of a hill that would likely give her an asthma attack regardless of the fact she didn’t have asthma. As the cab driver helped them get their bags from the trunk she stared up at the beautiful porch in front of them.

Dillon grabbed both of their carryon suitcases and led the way up to the

front door.

When the door was pulled open, Molly was standing there smiling

broadly at them both. Katrina was instantly glad to see her face. She at least knew Molly.

“Ms. Page! I’m so glad to see you!”

“Please. It’s Katrina and I’m glad to see you too.” And she was—

relieved more like it.

“Come on in. Mom and Dad are excited to meet you. Mom’s been

fluttering about cleaning since I got Dillon’s text message saying you were both coming. The boys are at the park so you won’t see them for a

while but I’m guessing you’re ready to relax anyway.” Molly was speed-

talking and Katrina’s heart was finally slowing. Dillon followed her into

the entryway and set their bags on the stairway landing.

Molly had already linked elbows with Katrina and was ushering her

farther into the house but Dillon came up behind them, resting a warm

hand on the back of her neck and his other gripped her free hand and squeezed gently to reassure her. She craned her head around to see him

behind her and he winked at her quickly.

“Mom! She’s here!” Katrina was escorted into a large and open

kitchen. The counters were marble, the floor was a worn and likely reclaimed plank wood flooring and the ceilings were as tall as they had

been in the living room. She was in awe. Dillon had a nice home but this

was incredible. It wasn’t lavish by any means but it was perfect and comfortable—so incredibly inviting. Dillon’s mother was standing at the

sink filling a teakettle and she turned to them instantly.

“Oh! You must be Ms. Page!” Katrina smiled instantly at the woman.

She was surprisingly short like Katrina was and her hair was wavy and

white. She’d obviously grayed younger than most but she pulled it off stunningly.

“It’s Katrina, please. You must be Mrs. Adler.”

“It’s Delphi but please just call me Del. Oh you’re just lovely. I knew

you must be but you…well, you are!” She pulled Katrina into a tight hug and it wasn’t until Dillon cleared his throat that she was finally allowed

to breathe again. “Oh, Dillon! You’re here too. Yes. How are you?” She grabbed Dillon just as tightly as she had Katrina.

“I’m well. Where’s Dad?”

“He’s out in the garden, watering. How was the flight?”

“Oh, ask Katrina. She loved it.” He smirked at Katrina who instantly

felt her cheeks burning.

Del turned to Katrina with a questioning look and she shook her head

in embarrassment. “I don’t fly well.” She said it sheepishly as Dillon held

his hand up, showing the claw marks she’d inflicted. Molly burst out laughing and Del gave her a sympathetic look.

“Well I have something that’ll take care of those nerves.” Del walked

to the fridge and grabbed an open bottle of sparkling wine. She grabbed

five glasses, handing a couple to Dillon. Turning back to the fridge, seemingly as a second thought, she grabbed another unopened bottle of

wine, passing it off to Molly. “Outside to the patio, I think. Oh I almost

forgot.” She started toward the back door off the kitchen. “I set up two

spare rooms for you two but if you’d prefer one, then just pick whichever

you’d like.”

“Oh no. Two is just fine. Thank you.” Katrina responded as Del

turned back and smiled kindly.

“Like hell it is.” Dillon muttered from behind her.

The patio was just as stunning as the interior. The backyard was small

but every square inch that was free was filled with greenery and flowers

that were just starting to bud. Narrow brick paving-stone walkways

meandered through the lush plants and she could hear a water feature somewhere—though it was hidden from her sight at the moment. There

was a large open paving stone patio just outside the back door and a roomy wooden table was situated with six surrounding chairs.

Molly took a seat and ushered her over to her side as Dillon hollered

for his father. She could hear the rustling of branches before she saw the

man and when he finally made an appearance, she was shocked at the resemblance between Dillon and him. He still had a full head of dark hair

that was speckled with gray. He wore contemporary glasses and even in

heavy linen gardening gloves he was tall and intimidating. That was

until he smiled at his son.

“Oh, Dillon! I’m so glad you’ve made it. Your mom has been acting like a lunatic all day, getting ready for you and your guest. And where is

she?” His eyes landed on Katrina as she stood and rounded the table to

meet him.

“Dad, this is Katrina. Kat, this is my father, Michael.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Katrina, and we’re so glad you’re here.”

She thanked him before returning to her chair.

Dillon quickly took the seat next to her and he reached for her hand

instantly. Molly noticed immediately and started to beam at him. It was

all very cute—nerve-racking for Katrina but Dillon obviously had a

wonderful family and there was something incredible about seeing him

with them.

Del brought out a loaf of bakery bread and some different spreads and a lime that she cut and offered for the wineglasses. Then she poured

a round of drinks.

As everyone settled in, Molly turned to Dillon. “So am I allowed to ask about what has been going on with Katrina’s case? You’ve refused to

say anything up to this point but well, I mean, the cat’s kind of out of the bag, right? No pun intended, Kat.”

Dillon answered immediately. “It’s entirely up to Katrina if she wants

to talk about it or not.” He looked to Katrina and she nodded.

“I don’t mind. They deserve some explanation as to why I’m crashing

the party.”

Dillon’s jaw tensed instantly but he regained his composure quickly.

He started explaining the events of the past month and a half. He gave the watered-down version of the telephone messages but aside from that

he held very little back.

His family listened intently, his mother’s gaze moving back and forth

from Katrina to her son, occasionally shaking her head. Molly was

equally enraptured with the story and her mouth hung open the vast majority of the time. When he got to the past week Molly cringed as he

related the fire and his mother’s eyes instantly teared.

His father listened intently as he spoke and when Dillon stopped

talking, his father continued to study them both. “And no evidence ever

turned up at Katrina’s house, nothing on the phone calls, no sightings near her home of anything suspicious? I mean it’s just odd that he could

go so unnoticed.” Katrina sat quietly at Dillon’s side, listening.

“I know. But the thing is this man isn’t careless. He’s cautious and he’s patient. I’m not sure I can even say he’s a smart criminal. He’s just

good at…well, hell, pacing himself for lack of a better word. It would be

one thing if this perp was so overzealously interested in Kat that he was

simply compelled to act, but he’s patient. He waits, oftentimes weeks, before reaching out again and doing something and those actions are often calculated.”

“Why burn down her home? When you think about it, it forces her to

move away and if she’s away she’s likely more cognizant of her safety, wherever that might be. In some respects she was more vulnerable in her

home. Now she’s not nearly so out in the open.”

“I don’t know. Anger, I wonder. After the failed abduction in the parking garage only days before, maybe he lost control for once. There’s

evidence suggesting this person has been in Kat’s home before.”

“An acquaintance?” Molly piped up.

“I don’t think so. Her friends and acquaintances have all been looked

at, but there have been several contractors and workmen in over the past

year or so working on various projects. That’s being looked into.”

“What makes you think this man has been in her home?” Dillon’s

father had a stern look on his face, much like Dillon’s own expression.

“Umm, certain familiarity with the layout of her home that the perp

wouldn’t have with an outside-in perspective only.”

“Such as?” It was Molly again.

“Such as personal information I’m not going to discuss, but which

makes it clear this man was intimately familiar with her home.”

“Hmm.” His father was steepling his fingers against his chin—again

it was a striking similarity to Dillon. “Well, Katrina, I have to say you are about the last person in the world to deserve something like this, not that

anyone does and I’m so sorry you’re having to endure it.”

“Thank you.” Dillon reached for her hand again and his expression

was as solemn as his father’s.

“Now if you don’t mind my asking, what of your removal from her

case, Dillon?”

He stiffened beside her. “What about it?” He sounded mildly

defensive.

“Do you have reason to think there could be disciplinary action or dismissal?”

“I don’t know, Dad.” She suddenly felt guilty again. She felt like the

center of attention all of a sudden—which was odd considering the past

thirty minutes was all about her—and now she felt more under the

microscope than any moment of that time.

She couldn’t seem to pull her eyes up from the table in front of her and she could feel her brow furrowed with stress but for the life of her

she couldn’t release the tension.

“And you didn’t meet Mom on the job?” She couldn’t help but look

up then. She had no idea Dillon’s father had been in law enforcement.

Michael chuckled for a moment. “That was a routine traffic stop when

I was still a patrol officer. Three traffic stops in a month. It was bound to happen—the woman couldn’t seem to stop speeding.” He smirked.

“She’s a hell of a bad driver, Katrina. Don’t ever get in the car with her if you can help it.” She smiled but she was having a hard time with this conversation.

Dillon’s grip on her hand squeezed gently. “I can’t say I’m not

worried but what I will say is this. I’ll never regret my relationship with

Kat. I’m in love with her. It’s just that simple.”

If Katrina thought her eyes were glued to the table before, now they

were literally cemented in place. What the hell was she supposed to do in

front of his family with that? She loved him. Of course she did but did it

mean she had any idea how not to act like a maniac in front of his family? Hell no. Fortunately Seth and Jake decided now would be a grand time to arrive on scene.

“Dad! Ms. Page! Aunt Molly said you were coming. We got to go to

Alcatraz the other day, Dad! And we went to a Giants game!” Katrina risked a look up to see Seth and Jake standing in the doorway. Dillon stood and when he met Seth coming off the steps he hugged him. Molly

clasped Katrina’s hand quickly and she took over where Dillon left off. It

didn’t escape her attention too that Del was smiling warmly at her. But

none of it saved her from the burning hot tears that were pricking the

back of her eyes. She didn’t want to be responsible for him losing his job or for any other awful thing happening to any one of them. And yet she

was the center of it all.

“Hey, bud. You guys go in and wash up. You smell like a locker room

and Grandma’s making dinner.”

“Okay. Can we go to a drag show before we leave?”

“Umm. No. That’s actually not going to happen at all. Definitely no.

Big no on that one.”

She laughed even as a tear escaped her eye. She was going to ruin this

man with her drama. She was being selfish. Why was she continuing to

set her own needs above his? She’d already lost this argument with him

once but if seeing him with his family weren’t argument enough that what she was doing was selfish she didn’t know what was.

“Kat?”

“Hmm?” She turned to his voice. He was sitting beside her again and

she could feel the warm tears in her eyes. “Baby, why are you upset?”

She shook her head. His family was walking inside and she angled her head toward him to hide the tears in her eyes. “Don’t hide from me.”

She met his eyes but the second she saw the worry she shook her head again. He sighed. “Come on. I’ll show you to your room, which is

sadly not mine thanks to that Amish conservative move you pulled when

we got here.” He smirked and she sniffed her nose.

“Kat, look at me.” His voice was suddenly serious and when she met

his eyes they were too. “You know I love you.” She nodded. “And do you love me too?” She nodded again. “Everything else will fall into place. Trust me?” She nodded again. She was starting to feel like a puppet with her head on a string. He was so good at getting inside her.

“Come with me.”

She stood, feeling his hand clasp hers as they moved back into the house, through the kitchen and back into the large living room. Their bags were where they’d left them on the landing and he carried both upstairs as she followed him.

He left his in the second-floor hallway and then he walked with her

up to the third floor with her bag. The bedroom was beautiful and cozy.

The bed was wrought iron and the quilt on top was an antique floral

pattern. There was a down comforter at the foot of the bed. The room had its own bathroom with a clawfoot tub. She couldn’t imagine a more

quaint and comfortable room.

Dillon opened the short French doors out onto a small deck that

overlooked the backyard and patio far below and when he turned to her

as she stared out at the harbor in the distance he smiled. “My mother was

an interior designer before she retired. Could you guess?”

She smiled. She was struggling to stifle the emotion that had crept up

on her and, as Dillon’s face fell for a moment, she was smacked with more guilt. “Molly’s across the hall. The boys are sharing a room on the

second floor and my room is there as well. My parents’ master bedroom

is on the ground floor. Will you be okay here alone?”

She nodded and he approached her. “You know this is entirely your

fault?” She cocked her head to the side. “They wouldn’t have cared if we

stayed together.”

“But perhaps Seth would have.” He watched her closely for a

moment before nodding subtly.

“Perhaps. I’ll see you downstairs shortly.” He kissed her and she was

so tempted to close the door to the room and sink into his body for a while. He was all man and that most manly part of him was hard and rigid against her body at the moment. His body taunted her—it told her

he could make her worry disappear for a while if she’d only let him. It promised a distraction, a reprieve, a break from the ugly things in her mind.

It guaranteed her ecstasy and hedonism that would leave her

complete and whole again but she let him step back from her. He

watched her carefully. He wasn’t buying her mood in the least. The suspicion in his eyes was pinning her to the spot, charging her with it.

When he turned from her, she shut the door and retreated to the

bathroom. She washed her face, flushing it with cool water she hoped desperately would clear her head. They were lovely. Every last one of them was precious, sweet and decent.

She couldn’t hurt that—even if it wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t her fault! It was an infuriating truth knowing this was being done to her and outside

her control and it could hurt the man she loved and everything in the world he cared for.

Seeing his family was an amazing thing. She was happy, she was jealous, she felt guilty and she just wanted to be one of them in a very immature pathetic sort of way. When there was a knock on the door, she

grabbed the hand towel and dried her face quickly as she pulled the door

open.

“Hi.” Molly looked nervous.

“Hi.”

“You’re okay, aren’t you?” Katrina nodded. “It must be a lot. All of us

at once. What about your own family? I mean, are you close?”

“No. My mother left my father and me when I was still in diapers and

my father passed away a few years ago.”

“Oh, Katrina. I’m so sorry. You’re completely alone in all this. I mean…you’ll never be alone with Dillon, or with us for that matter, but

you know what I mean.” She winked at Katrina. “He loves you.” She shook her head as a smile crept across her face. “Wow. I wasn’t sure I’d

see that again but he does. Something fierce too. Do you love him as well?”

“Yes I do.” There wasn’t a moment’s hesitation in her voice.

“Then why do you look so sad?” Molly studied her.

Katrina stared at the floor for a moment. She had no idea how to answer this. “Because I love him.” Molly cocked her head to the side in confusion. “I don’t want any part of this mess to touch him—to touch Seth. I’m worried all the time the people I care about are going to be hurt

because of me and I’m just not sure I could handle that.”

Molly’s eyes closed slowly as she soaked in Katrina’s worry. But

when they opened again it was with resolve. “And if the situation were

reversed? If Dillon’s life were in danger? Would you leave him just because he was afraid of the effect it might have on you?”

“No.”

“Then why should you expect anything less from him?” She watched

Katrina for a moment before she spoke again. “I’ll see you downstairs.”

Then she was gone.

Dillon watched her from across the table at dinner. She was having a

hard time shaking her funk. She understood it. She was tired of her life

being a drama-fest. She wanted to be normal, plain, boring and just

ordinary again. The compassionate eyes that watched her now made it clear she was none of those things. They were kind, generous and when

Dillon’s father had rubbed her shoulder as she’d entered the kitchen, it was made clear they weren’t the least bit resentful. But the suspicious eyes that watched her across the table said Dillon wasn’t buying it.

She tried to smile at him but he just watched her. He watched her, knowing she was trying to hide the ugliness from him. And he said nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Five

It wasn’t difficult to put himself in her position. He knew she carried

a load of guilt around most of the time these days. His only real hope was ending this thing, keeping her safe and giving her what she needed

to move forward with him. He needed to take away the guilt she felt and

he knew an end to this nightmare was the only thing that would.

Ironically her guilt was a wedge that threatened to pull them apart and

yet it was owed entirely to the fact she cared for him—heartwarming and

terrifying all in one breath.

Molly asked her to take a walk after dinner was finished and she agreed. He watched her leave with Molly. He’d seen few real smiles from

her since they’d arrived. She showed his family what she thought they wanted to see. She flashed a quick completely contrived smile when they

looked at her but he always saw it drop from her face quickly when they

looked away.

He saw it, he studied it, he hated it. She should at least be able to relax

here. She was safe—it was supposed to be a reprieve but her expression

said she’d carried every ounce of her worry with her. Of course she had.

She was going through hell at the moment and that wasn’t something so

easily forgotten.

“She’s really lovely, Dillon.” His mom squeezed his arm as she

moved past him in the kitchen.

“Yes she is. I’m worried about her though.”

“How so?” His father had joined them at the kitchen island.

“She’s just so worried about everything. So am I, but I hate that she is.”

“Seems understandable that she’d worry. She must be terrified.” Del

commiserated with a slight shake of her head.

“Of course, but it’s not just that. It’s us. It’s everything. She worries I

could be hurt. She worries Seth could be hurt. She worries I’m going to

lose my job. She holds herself so responsible for everything and none of

it is her fault.”

“I shouldn’t have asked you about your job in front of her this afternoon. I wasn’t thinking. I should have known she’d feel bad about that.” His father looked guilty.

“It’s okay. It’s just taking its toll on her. She’s been dealing with this

for a while now. She’s been attacked, terrorized, tormented and we haven’t been able to do a damn thing about it. Her entire life has been turned upside down. Everything she’s ever known has been threatened

or destroyed and everything she cares about has been jeopardized. I get

it. I just hate that she has to deal with it.”

“Can’t be easy considering you two haven’t been together long.” He

wasn’t entirely sure what his mother’s point was, but if she was going to

suggest they’d not been together long enough, it wasn’t going to go over

well.

“Meaning?” He tried not to sound defensive.

“Meaning that neither of you should have to spend your time

focusing on this instead of your relationship. I wasn’t suggesting

anything other than that, so just wipe that look off your face.” Well, she’d put him in his spot. “You love her. It’s obvious. And you’ll never hear a

peep out of me about it. I understand. And she loves you too. That’s obvious as well, by the way.”

“Yeah, well sometimes I’m not sure that’s enough for her. Or if it’s enough to make her walk away, thinking she’s doing me some favor.”

His mother pursed her lips. “You’re going to have to talk to Seth about this. He’s worried about her. He’s a smart kid and he knows something is going on with her.”

“I’m going to talk to him tomorrow.”

Molly and Katrina returned a short while later and the moment she walked in she smiled sheepishly at him. He didn’t approach her, but waited to see if she would approach him instead. She did, hesitantly looking up at him when she stepped up beside him. He kissed her on the

top of her head and she leaned into his side.

The boys had gone back to the park and they wouldn’t see them again

until dark, so they settled into the living room. Katrina sat close at his side and she made small talk for a while before excusing herself to bed.

She kissed him quickly before wishing everyone good night and then she

was gone and he wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

He followed the boys up to bed a few hours later and he spent the next couple hours tossing and turning until he finally fell asleep. He woke in a start shortly thereafter and as he gasped into the darkness, he

had to reassure himself she was okay just to keep from panicking. He wasn’t sure what the dream had been about but he knew it was about her

and it wasn’t good.

He stumbled up the flight of stairs to her room and he silently

crawled in next to her. Her body was warm and he instantly started to drift back to sleep.

“I love you.” He’d not realized she was awake until her quiet voice brought him back from sleep.

“I love you too.” He was hugging her body from behind and he let his

fingers slowly brush up her leg and under the gown she was wearing.

When he reached her waist, he slid his hand back down under her

underwear, rubbing down the round cheek of her bottom. He slid his finger between the back of her legs, finding her warm and wet.

“I can’t do this here. Not in your parents’ house.”

He groaned. “You’re killing me.” He took her hand, guiding it to his

hard arousal. “I need you. Now.”

She moaned. “You know I want to.”

“Yes I do. Your pussy is drenched. You’re ready.” He was nuzzling against the back of her neck and she was sighing and moaning quietly.

“Come with me.”

He rolled from bed and held his hand out to her. It was dark but the

moon was nearly full and shining in through the French doors. He

walked with her to the doors, grabbing a wooden chair sitting beside a small desk. The chair was antique and he was hoping for the sake of his

ass and his dignity that it was not just decorative and would hold together.

When he opened the doors, she stilled by his side. “Dillon, this wasn’t

quite what I meant when I said not in their house.”

“I’m well aware of what you meant.” He pulled her out onto the

small balcony and set the chair down. “Now this chair is old as hell and

you’re going to have to be gentle with me if there’s much hope we won’t

destroy it. And this is your bedroom so you’ll be the one explaining to

my mother why her antique is in pieces on the balcony. Nervous yet?”

“Dillon…”

“Unless you’re moaning my name when I’m inside you, stop saying

my name like I’m an insolent child.”

“I’m not sure that’s far from the truth.” He chuckled. It was a spark of

her humor—just a spark but it was enough to light a fire in his gut.

He stepped up close to her, inching the hem of her nightgown up

along her legs. Her breathing was ragged and nervous and when he

finally raised the hem above her panty line, he slipped his fingers under

the waist and slid them down her hips. His dick was hard as hell. He wasn’t lying when he’d said he needed her. He needed her to give herself

to him. She could be terrified or worried but she couldn’t keep herself from him.

He pulled down the front of his flannel pants, tucking the elastic under his testicles, tightening the building tension in his sac all the more.

His cock was touching her stomach and her hands instantly moved to his

length.

He moaned as her fingers moved down. She grazed her soft touch

over his tight balls. She toyed with his skin, trailing the lightest touch along his shaft just to tickle her way over his testicles again. She pushed

the elastic down farther, cupping him in her hand. She squeezed and his

head dropped back as he fought the moan.

He was no more interested in waking the house than she was, but she

tended to drive him over his edge of reason quickly, and her hands were

doing a great job of reminding him just how easy he could succumb to her.

He let her hands squeeze, glide, grip and torment him for as long as

he could handle before he stilled her and dropped his pants to his feet.

He reached up under her gown to glide his fingers between her lips. She

was silky wet and he could already imagine sliding his dick through her

moisture. He loved the feel of her come on his skin and his cock was twitching for it.

She gripped his biceps as he slid up and down her cleft. Every time his finger passed over her clit, she cried out quietly and her fingers gripped tighter on his arm. It was with intense difficulty that he pulled

his fingers from her body but he wasn’t going to last much longer like

this. He really was a bit leery about the chair that must surely be over a hundred years old but it gave barely a creak as he sat. Whether he would

end up with splinters in his ass was another question entirely.

He guided her body to straddle him and she sank down to sit on his

thighs. She kissed him, pushing her tongue into his mouth and her hands

found his erection again. His hands found her hips, lifting her and positioning her over the head of his cock. He was slow as he lowered her

and she used her fingers to guide him into her body.

She stilled as he passed between her lips and the tightness caused a groan to escape her. He gripped her hips, pulling her slowly but steadily

down to his lap. He could feel her warmth accepting him but the

tightness was intense. When she was seated on his lap, he pulled her gown off over her head.

“I didn’t appreciate it when you told my family the only reason you

were here was your case.” He held her hips firmly over his cock, keeping

himself buried inside her body as he chastised her. “Do you know why

you’re here?”

Her lips were parted and her breath was coming in short quiet gasps.

Her sheath was gripping and quivering around him. It was damn hard not to lift her and sink her pussy right back down over his erection again.

He was ready to feel the movement of her slick warm skin against his length but he’d been waiting to call her out on her insensitive comment

for a few hours now.

“Because you’re worried about me.” Her voice was breathy as she

responded and his dick twitched inside her at the sound of her desperate

need.

“You’re here because I’m in love with you. You’re here because I

want my family to know you. You’re here because my son needs to

understand us. Don’t forget there is far more between us than one pathetic lunatic. It isn’t why I asked you to come at all.”

She was quiet but eventually she nodded and he kissed her. When he

released his tight grip on her hips, she rocked and dropped her head to

his shoulder, moaning quietly against his skin.

The movement of her hips was intoxicating. She rolled against him, taking him deeper and when she rolled back it only released the slightest

depth before she grinded into him again. He let her move on his lap and

he listened to the quiet mewling whimpers coming from her mouth.

She sat up, leaning back from his body and bracing her hands on his

knees. And he watched her slowly humping him. When he touched her

exposed clit she hissed and her nails dug into his legs as he groaned.

He stroked over the tight swollen peak of her clit and she started panting. The moon was nearly full and bright and he watched her

stomach muscles contract as her body tried to curl in and capture her release. When she finally came, he could feel her buttocks tightening against his thighs as she pushed her pelvis up. She couldn’t stop the cry

and he leaned swiftly to her mouth, thrusting his tongue into her warmth

as she moaned around him.

He didn’t let up the pressure on her clit until she was trembling and

gasping for breath and only then did he pull her body back close to his

and let her settle her head on his shoulder. He gave her little rest before

he clutched her hips in his hands, held her hard to his body and started

clenching his buttocks, driving himself deep into her.

“Dillon!” She gasped his name against his neck.

“Tell me you love me.” He whispered in her ear as he drove to her core.

“I love you.” She could barely get the words out as he continued driving into her.

“Say it again.”

“I love you.”

He was thrusting hard and fast, holding her hips as tight as he could

to his lap. “Don’t stop. Say it again. I want to hear it when I come inside

you.”

She murmured it against his ear again and again, crying out quietly as

he pierced her body. She didn’t stop saying what he needed to hear and

when he thrust one final time, clutching hard on her hips and pushing his hips up into her, she started kissing his neck and murmuring the words against his skin.

He was spilling himself deep inside her body and he listened to her voice as he pulsed within her. He was left panting against her neck as his

body took its time relaxing again.

It was many minutes later that he found his voice again. “Lucky girl,

keeping this chair in one piece.”

He pulled her body to his, feeling her taut nipples against his pecs. He

didn’t let go of her body until he felt like his ass might fall asleep and when he lifted her from his lap she led him into the bathroom and pulled

him into the shower with her. He kissed her back slowly moving down

to her bottom as the warm water cascaded over them. He lifted her foot

to the side of the tub and he slid two fingers into her pussy.

He could feel his semen and her wetness around his fingers and he plunged while he sucked gentle kisses on the cheeks of her bottom. Her

pussy was quivering around his fingers and his dick was already waking

up again. He stood behind her, nuzzling against her neck. “I think I’ve gotten a bit too used to having you in my bed. Sleeping alone just doesn’t

quite do it for me anymore.”

She turned to him, wrapping her arms around him. “I know.”

After she was back in her gown and she’d toweled her hair as dry as

she could get it, he led her to bed and sat at her hip, watching as she snuggled down under the blankets. He was tempted to crawl in with her,

but he was quite certain he’d never leave if he did.

Instead, he kissed her. He lingered as his lips tasted hers and his fingers wandered down to her nipples. Her sigh and frustrated moan as

her nipples hardened into tight little pebbles was his sign to leave. He grabbed the chair from the balcony, returning it to the desk, kissed her once more and then left her.

* * * * *

“Dad, where were you last night? I got up and your door was open but you weren’t there.”

“Uh, bathroom.”

“You were not! I went to the bathroom!”

“Oh umm…uh…closet.”

Jake snorted and Seth just shook his head. “You’re weird.” They

grabbed the toast Molly had just made them and scooted past Katrina who’d just shown up in the doorway.

“Closet? Really? You couldn’t have said kitchen?” Molly sat down

beside him as Katrina poured herself a cup of coffee.

“What about a closet?” Katrina sat on the other side of him, pulling her leg up under her.

“Apparently Dillon spent some time in his closet last night and that’s

why Seth couldn’t find him in the middle of the night.” Katrina gasped

and by the time Dillon looked at her she was already blushing the most

incredible shade of pink. Molly laughed and Dillon shook his head.

Dillon caught up to Seth before he managed to get out of the house with Jake. “Take a walk with me.”

“Okay.” Said more like an annoyed question.

Once he and Seth were halfway down the block, Seth peered at him

with an expectant expression. Dillon was eating up his daylight after all.

“Kat…Ms. Page and I are dating. I wanted you to know.”

“No duh.”

“Really? No duh?”

“Uh, yeah. You brought my teacher to San Francisco with you, you

stare at her, she stares at you. That’s what people do when they like each

other.”

“They stare at each other, huh?”

“Yeah, Dad, duh. And they compensate.”

“You mean copulate.”

“Whatever. I’m taking health class right now and I know about the birds already.”

“And the bees too, I assume?”

“What bees?”

“Yeah. So, you’re okay with it?”

“Sure. Ms. Page is cool. She’s way cooler than you are.”

“Oh she is, is she?” They strolled on for another minute. Seth was becoming more impatient by the second. “So you know she’s been

having some trouble.”

“I know something happened to her. I mean somebody hurt her.”

Seth suddenly sounded far too mature for thirteen. He sighed a heavy breath. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Someone is trying to scare her and we don’t know why and we don’t

who but we’re doing everything we can to figure it out. And we’re doing

everything we can to protect her.”

“Scare her? Dad, I’m not a baby. I know somebody hurt her.”

“I know you’re not a baby.”

“But why would someone do this to her? She’s nice. She’s a good

person. I just don’t understand how anyone could want to hurt her.”

“I don’t know why, Seth. What people do to others doesn’t always

make sense. I wish it did but it just doesn’t. But you’re right. She doesn’t deserve it. I don’t want you to worry about it though. The police are doing everything they can to figure out who’s trying to hurt her.”

“Does the person doing this want to kill her?”

His heart hammered in his chest at nothing more than the words. The

frightened and confused look on Seth’s face didn’t help his reaction. He

couldn’t answer that question honestly without worrying Seth but at the

same time, lying wasn’t exactly the approach he wanted to take either.

“It’s hard to know what his intent is. We’re not going to let that happen though. Do you understand?”

Seth nodded and spaced off for a while as they rounded the far side of

the block and headed back around to the house from the other direction.

“So, you like… like her, like her? Like you love her, like her?”

“Yes I do.”

“And she actually likes you too?”

Dillon laughed. “She actually loves me too—hard as that obviously is

for you to believe.”

“That’s cool.” Seth was silent a moment but Dillon knew he had more

to say. “She should live with us. She’d be safe with us. She shouldn’t be

alone.”

“I don’t think she’s ready for that. And I’m not sure you are either.

That’s a big deal, Seth.”

“You said you love her. That’s what people do when they love each

other. They get married, they live together, they have babies, they get old

and wrinkly. I mean, you’re already old, Dad.”

“You don’t know what old is do you? I’m barely thirty-five.”

“So what? You’re going to wait until you’re like really, really old?”

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t feel better having her closer but it’s more

complicated than just that.”

“Then uncomplicate it!” Seth was getting that frustrated edge to his voice.

“It’s not my choice! She has to agree to move in and she’s…well, she’s

stubborn as a mule.”

“It’s stupid. Her being alone is just stupid. She doesn’t even have a house anymore.”

“You heard that?”

“I heard Aunt Molly and Grandma talking about it last night in the kitchen. You need to make her move in.” Dillon couldn’t agree more but

how the hell was he going to do that? He took a deep breath and sighed

as they approached the house.

Given his audience, Dillon couldn’t help but think the conversation went well. Seth liked Kat. He respected Kat. He understood the

importance of caring for someone who needed help and that likely

impressed Dillon more than anything else that was said. Seth was a good

kid. He always had been and Dillon had always known he was, and not

in the my-child-can-do-no-wrong sort of way. Seth could do plenty

wrong but he could do a heck of lot more right.

That wasn’t to say he didn’t escape from Dillon with Jake as soon as

possible exclaiming in a rather juvenile tone, “My dad is totally dating Ms. Page. They’re like, dating, dating.”

To which Jake responded, “At least he’s dating. Mom never goes out.

I bet they’re like, doing it.” Of course neither boy managed to wait to have the conversation until they were away from the house. Molly was

standing by two feet away with her head cocked to the side, chastising with her expression.

“That’s totally gross. They’re old. Eww,” Seth exclaimed to Jake’s

suggestion.

Dillon was watching Molly try hard to glare at the boys when she really just wanted to laugh. The boys didn’t stick around long enough for

a lecture and the second they were out the door Molly weighed in. “I do

too date. He doesn’t know nothin’.”

Dillon chuckled while Molly scowled. “Mom and I are taking Katrina

to the spa. You and Dad are in charge of the juveniles. If Jake says ‘doing

it’ again feel free to ground him for being an idiot.”

“Got it.” Katrina came down the stairs at that moment, smiling shyly

at him.

“Hey, Kat. You sure you’re up for spa time with Mom and me? My

mom plays a wicked game of twenty questions but I’ll run interference for ya—I promise.”

“Sure. It sounds great actually.”

“Oh and the boys were just talking about how you and Dillon are

‘doing it’ so the cat’s sorta out of the bag with the boys on that one, I’m

guessing.”

“Well at least they didn’t say ‘box grab,’” Katrina commented dryly as her cheeks started to redden.

Molly erupted in laughter and Dillon started shaking his head in

mock disapproval. When Katrina looked to him again, his eyebrows shot

up tauntingly. The red cheeks turned crimson as he watched and her gaze flitted from his for a moment before looking back.

She obviously hadn’t forgotten about their midnight tryst but he

certainly hadn’t either and he was just waiting, biding his time as patiently as his dick would allow to get his hands on her again.

* * * * *

Again unfortunately didn’t happen for the remainder of the trip and come Saturday morning when they were packing up Molly’s Traverse,

he’d decided sex deprivation might make him go insane. He simply

needed to get his hands on her before he lost his mind. Sadly the closest

he got to her was holding her hand as he steered Molly’s car northward.

Molly claimed the third row for herself, complaining about already

having had to endure driving the boys by herself for a day.

The second Dillon reached for her hand there was snorting and

sniggering from the second row. Dillon adjusted the rearview mirror, focusing its aim on Seth.

“Are you two going to laugh like idiots every time I touch Kat or could you maybe grow up a little?” He smirked and Seth rolled his eyes.

“Hey Ms. Page?” She turned to Seth. “You know my dad is like way

old, right?”

She laughed. “He is way old. There’s no doubt.”

“I’m thirty-five! Way old is at least thirty-seven.”

“I heard that! And I’m young at heart, jerks!” The voice came from Molly’s body which was buried under a blanket in the back row.

Eventually, Seth and Jake got over thinking it was weird that Dillon

was holding Kat’s hand in much the same way they’d figured out it was

really quite natural that he’d want to kiss her on the cheek occasionally,

or kiss her good night.

They’d had a few days to deal with it all at his parents’ house and while the sniggering had driven him crazy at first, it had tapered off a bit more every time he touched her, kissed her, whispered something in her

ear and even now as they joked about it as they passed out the city limits,

the tension was gone. It was just plain funny to junior high boys to laugh

at such things.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Leaving hadn’t been nearly so joyous or filled with laughter—at least

not on the adults’ part. Del had nearly sobbed as she pulled Katrina into

a tight bear hug. It wasn’t as if he ever questioned whether they’d like her or not—he oddly truly had never questioned it. But it was more that

they were worried about her. Hell they were worried about him too.

It was clear their lives were wound up tightly together and what was

done to her would affect him. Del would have rather Kat and Dillon just

moved in, quit their jobs, adopted new identities and hidden from the bad guy for the rest of their lives. She was just that worried and it showed. Del cried, Michael kept his hands on the tops of her shoulders to

calm her and reassure her and Katrina sniffed through her own tears as

Dillon held her hand.

They invited her to visit anytime Dillon came and she nodded. Her jaw was tight with emotion she was trying hard to rein in and he squeezed her hand, kissing her on top of her head.

Now they were headed back to their nightmare. He wasn’t ready to

go back any more than he supposed she was. The only real benefit was it

would be far easier for him to get her into bed at home than it had been

at his parents and regardless of the nightmare, it didn’t change his need

to consume her or apparently for her to be consumed by him.

It was a long day and it was dark by the time they pulled into Molly’s

driveway.

“Hey, Seth. You should come over for the night after you drop your bags off at your house.” Molly was eyeing Dillon as she spoke to Seth.

She’d done it for his benefit and he smiled and nodded at her.

“Okay. Is that cool, Dad?”

“Sure. I need to get Kat home so she can take care of her actual cat and I might just stay there tonight if you don’t mind.”

“Cool. I’ll be down in a few, Aunt Molly.” Seth grabbed his suitcase

and started lugging it up the sidewalk the short jaunt to their house.

“Thanks, Mol.” He pecked her on the cheek before he grabbed their bags as well. Molly hugged Katrina and told her she’d see her soon and

moments later they were headed up the sidewalk, trailing after Seth.

He made a quick pit stop in the garage and tossed Kat’s bag in his Tahoe and when he came back inside, he caught on the sound of Kat’s and Seth’s voices from the kitchen. They were comfortable around each

other, even more so now than before San Francisco and his heart

fluttered as he listened to them for a second, remaining hidden around the corner. They couldn’t see him and he stood still listening.

“Maybe you should just move in with us. I know he wouldn’t care.

He really, really has a crush on you.”

“That’s sweet, Seth but I’m really going to be fine. The police are doing a lot to figure out who is doing this and I’m going to be just fine. I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“You love him, so what’s the big deal? I won’t even tell anyone at school.”

“That’s not it. I won’t be your teacher after this year and there’s nothing wrong with your father and me dating, but moving in just

because he’s worried about me isn’t the right answer.”

“That’s crap! For a grownup, you’re not making very smart

decisions.” Seth sounded so much like Dillon in that moment that he had

a hard time stifling his breath that caught in his throat on a lurch, but their conversation was far too serious for him to interrupt it.

He listened to her sigh before she spoke again. “We’ll talk about it another time.”

“Fine.” Seth was muttering. It wasn’t until Seth told Katrina he was going that Dillon made his presence known and as he passed Dillon on

his way toward the front door he hollered over his shoulder. “Bye, Dad.”

“Bye, bud.” Dillon’s eyes followed Seth from the room before

returning to Katrina. “Ready, Freddy?” He was forcing himself to smile.

He wanted to finish the conversation Seth had started but he didn’t want

to start an argument and as though he knew exactly how such a

conversation would play out, he was becoming oddly irritated just

standing facing her. She’d done nothing wrong but the fact he knew the

argument existed whether it was a conversation they were having or not

didn’t seem to stifle his mood that was starting to sour.

“For you, always.” Her expression was the most understated

seductive look he’d ever seen and it slowly eased his tension and pulled

him back from the brink of irritation. There was nothing contrived or overt about her response. Just her need that so perfectly matched his etched on her stunning features.

He was just as aroused as he was irritated.

He inhaled deeply through his nose, knowing well she wouldn’t miss

the calming breaths and he approached her. Her eyes were hooded and

as she glanced up at him, he knew instantly he’d made a mistake

allowing himself to be so close to her after half a week of restraint.

He shook his head, forcing himself to step back before he ate her alive. “We have to leave now before I drag you upstairs.” She chuckled

warmly and he kept shaking his head. “You think I’m kidding.”

And he grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the garage before he

could change his mind and deprive Kitty more than the poor old animal

had already been deprived of her owner.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Walking into Imogen’s house was depressing. She loved Imogen’s

home but her week of normalcy was over and it was back to crazy town

now. She wasn’t ready. Dillon walked up to the patrol officer’s car with

her. He shouldn’t and she told him as much but he wouldn’t hear of her

even walking that short distance alone.

Oddly she knew damn well she’d have been anxious the entire way

and she couldn’t help but be relieved he was near her.

The officer confirmed it had been a quiet week and moments after

returning to the house Katrina’s cell phone rang. It was Smith and she groaned as she contemplated not answering.

“Heard you’re back in town. Everything going okay?”

“Yeah. I just got back.” He already knew that of course. She wasn’t stupid. The patrol officer was a snitch and that pipeline led one place—to

Smith and Terrell.

It was a risk to Dillon, but whatever wasn’t these days? Dillon seemed

to be refusing to worry about that risk. He left his Tahoe in the driveway

rather than pulling into the garage—not that it could do much good at this point and he very obviously intended to stay the night. It was probably more accurate to say he was passively aggressively telling Seattle PD to go fuck themselves.

“Well, nothing much to report on our end. We’re still running down

some leads from the list of contracting companies you gave us. There’s one in particular we’re interested in talking to. Plumber that popped up

on an invoice from over a year ago. We’re having a hard time tracking him down and given the access he had to the interior of your home, and

more specifically your bathroom, it makes sense to look at him closely.

We’re also still looking at your student Josh Grant but we’re striking out

with him too. There’s just not much history on him. We’ll keep you posted.”

She thanked the man before he let her go and when she disconnected,

she looked down at Kitty who was staggering around her ankles. Dillon

was just coming back in from fetching her bag from the Tahoe and as he rounded into the kitchen, setting her bag on the floor, he smirked and she shivered at the heat in his expression.

“That’s a nice rug Imogen has.” He was eyeing the red one on the kitchen floor. It was nice. Of course it was. It likely cost more than Kat made in a month.

“Uh…yes. I suppose it is. Umm, were you in the market for a rug or

something?”

“No.” He smiled. It was the lascivious one that made it clear there was only one thing he was in the market for. “It looks comfortable enough.”

“For?” She was getting nervous.

“For your hands and knees.” And she was getting wet.

Her focus shifted to the rug for a moment before returning to him.

She could feel a flush creeping into her cheeks, creeping over every inch

of her skin for that matter. He watched her carefully, calmly. She knew

he was ravenous. The glint in his eye betrayed his well-controlled composure but there was a seriousness to his expression too that

confused her. His arms were crossed on his chest and his head was set at

a casual angle regarding her, but his eyes were on fire.

Katrina didn’t wait for an invitation. She slipped her shirt off over her

head and his lips parted as his attention was drawn down to her breasts.

She unclasped her bra and let it slide from her arms.

His eyes fluttered as they stayed glued to her chest but when her fingers moved to the waist of her jeans, his gaze dropped farther and his

breathing became ragged. She dropped her pants and underwear to the

floor and when she approached him, she slipped her hands up under his

t-shirt. It incited a quiet moan and his stomach muscles started twitching

and contracting under her palms.

When she suddenly pulled her hands from him, she was really just

teasing him. She was actually incredibly nervous. There was one part of

her that knew there was no reason for her fear but then there was the part, the part with decorum and modesty, that knew she was being far too brazen not to be terrified.

She turned from him and as she stepped onto the rug, she sank to her

knees and then dropped down to her hands. He was standing behind her and as she listened to him release a slow and deep breath that sounded

as much a groan as anything, she dropped her chest to the soft surface of

the rug, angling her ass up even farther. She parted her knees and the

“oh fuck, Katrina” that he uttered in a desperate voice, gave her the only

ounce of nerve she needed to hold her position.

She listened to the quiet rustle of fabric as he slipped his shirt off, dropping it softly to the floor. The sound of him kneeling behind her sent

warmth pulsing through her body and wetness settling between the lips

of her sex. When his fingers trailed up the back of her thighs, her knees

started shaking. It did not go unnoticed and he shushed her as his fingers

kept creeping slowly toward her bottom.

She could feel every touch and she didn’t need to see what his fingers

were doing to know exactly what was happening. She closed her eyes, soaking in the touch and imagining his searing eyes studying her body as

he enticed her further into what he wanted.

When his lips met her bottom, she cried out in surprise. At first it was

sweet, suctioning kisses along the cheeks, but then his teeth nipped. It was controlled and every time he clamped down, an aroused ragged

breath was released from his throat as though it was as much his pleasure as hers.

He gripped her cheeks, spreading them and letting his thumbs gently

glide down over her anus. “I had thought…” She gasped at the sound of

his voice, so entranced by his touch she forgot he could actually speak.

“That I might be entirely too desperate to get inside you to be gentle, to

go slow.”

He bit as she flinched and groaned. His tongue flicked over the skin

he held between his teeth and she cried out again. She was just waiting

for her wetness to drip. She’d be mortified but she was falling apart so easily. “But now that I see you so prone and willing there’s no way I can

rush this.”

She felt a finger run up between the lips of her sex, gliding gently through her moisture and he hummed as his finger delved, stroking but

not penetrating. His finger started swirling around her clit, circling the swollen peak of nerves. His touch was neither light nor harsh—the

perfect pressure to drive her nerves insane with want quickly. He pushed

up, forcing the hood back to expose the most sensitive of those nerves, and as the pad of a finger brushed gently over the spot, she shrieked and

the tops of her feet kicked against the floor in rapid succession as she fought the need to collapse.

She started begging as her muscles tightened and quivered. His warm

chuckle was the only response she received but when he increased the pressure just marginally, her knees slid apart and her thighs trembled.

She fell apart and orgasmed with her tush pushed high in the air and her

muscles quivering.

She was nearly ready to collapse, but a new rush of electric desire coursed through her when she heard the zipper of his pants being

lowered, and she groaned loudly in anticipation.

She was fighting to stay in place as her muscles begged her to

crumple but he closed in on her body from behind and his hand reached

around her side, down her stomach and to clutch her sex, holding her in

position as her trembling muscles finally got a reprieve. His fingers parted her lips and when the head of his cock pushed gently against her

opening his breath started lurching against her neck. His chest was to her

back, his hand next to hers on the floor as his other framed her pussy, feeling his dick push past her splayed lips.

“Fuck, that is nice.” He muttered as he pushed and her body

accommodated his size.

When he groaned, it was against her ear, and when he cursed as he hit her depths, it was uttered with his lips to her neck. He humped, rolling his hips into her bottom and as his breathing started to lurch and

catch in his throat, he released his hold on her sex, righted his posture and gripped her hips tightly in his hands.

He jerked her back to his groin as he thrust and it sent spasms of deep

aching pleasure through her core. He used her hips, snapping them

roughly back as he slammed into her body. It was harsh and it was passionate and the moment she felt it was nearing too much, he held her

hips to him, grinding hard against her as she moaned.

“I want you in my home.” He plunged deep within her and she cried

out. “Say you’ll stay with me.” She was gasping as he slowly withdrew.

“I can’t.” She whimpered as he pulled from her entirely. This was not

the time to piss him off but there was no chance it wouldn’t.

“You can. Stay with me.” His voice had gone from seductive to demanding with this utterance and he let the head of his cock gently brush between her lips, refusing to enter her.

“Please.” She didn’t care if she sounded needy and pathetic.

“Stay with me.” His voice was louder and the demand was getting

vicious. He pushed and the head popped past her lips but there he stilled. The controlled movement of his body was a complete dichotomy

to the desperate and growling tone of his voice.

“Dillon, fuck.” She was whimpering, waiting for more but he was still

and tormenting her.

“Stay with me.” He pulled back out again and she started

whimpering again. She wanted so much to give in. She wanted to be nowhere but with him—his home, his life, his everything—but she knew

there was a damn good reason she couldn’t say yes even if she was having a hard time remembering what it was at the moment.

“I can’t. Please.” She was gasping. He rubbed the head of his cock over her clit and she hissed as her nerves were set on fire.

“Stay with me.” His voice was low and she didn’t need to see his eyes

to know they were searing into the back of her skull, unrelenting in their

intensity. She shook her head and he released her hips. She listened in frustration as he stood and walked around to kneel in front of her.

She pushed herself up to her hands and came face-to-face with his hand wrapped around his dick. He was slowly gliding his hand up the

glistening-wet shaft. “Say yes. That’s all you have to do.”

“Dammit, Dillon.” She tried to glare at him but her eyes dropped back

to his erection and his hand that was moving enticingly over it.

“Say yes and I’ll stop torturing you. I want you so fucking much, but I

need this.”

She glanced up to his eyes. They were dark, hooded, dangerously

demanding. When she righted her body and sat back on her heels, his breath was released in a frustrated huff. She understood that frustration

though for far different reasons.

He wasted no time snaking his hand between her legs and plunging

three fingers into her pussy. He was pushing, stretching and forcing her

body to accept his touch as her insides trembled and contracted around

him.

Her breath lurched and gasped as his fingers pushed and pulled and

his eyes held hers fiercely. “Stay. With. Me.” He was speaking through gritted teeth and he looked angry even though he was hard, long and looked two seconds from mauling her.

“Dillon—“

“No! Say it! Fuck, Katrina! Why do you have to be so fucking

stubborn?” He was practically yelling and his jaw was tight. He was panting as much as she was. His fingers moved within her. However harsh his demeanor, his fingers were slowly bringing her close to her breaking point and she reached out to his upper arms to steady herself as

her stomach muscles started to contract, pleading with her to double over and give into the desire.

“Oh God…” She should have seen it coming. He pulled his fingers

from her, leaving her panting and moaning on her knees in front of him.

“How long are we going to do this, Kat? You belong with me.” His hand, wet from her body, reached out to grip her cheek, pulling her mouth toward him. He kissed. And then he kissed again. He claimed her

lips over and over and she leaned toward his body. When he finally finished with her lips, he dropped his forehead to hers.

“Please. I’m begging you. I can’t have you anywhere but with me.”

His fingers that were on her neck behind her ear, curled against her skin

as his thumb brushed gently against her cheek.

She nodded. She could feel her forehead wrinkling even as she

agreed. She didn’t know how to feel about what she was agreeing to and

so she stared at his chest and took a deep breath. Her arousal wasn’t forgotten, not in the least, but she was stunned, terrified of what she was

willing to do for him—what she was willing to do for him regardless of

what might happen to him as a result.

His hand dropped from her cheek as he studied her and it wasn’t

until he reached to her chin and tilted her head up that she took in his expression—still serious and guarded. “We’re a whole. Do you

understand? We don’t do separate anymore.” She nodded again. Her

face had fallen—she could feel her muscles slack and shocked. Her

emotions were roiling and running through her but she couldn’t seem to

get a handle on them. Relief, fear, guilt, anger, happiness and all within

the same nanosecond of time. It left her feeling overwhelmed and confused. She was beaten. She was surrendered.

When Dillon sat back on his feet, she relaxed back on to hers too.

They stared at each other. Her lips were parted as she fought to grasp what was happening. His expression was unreadable. He just watched.

He waited. Waited for her to renege, waited for her to argue, who knows

—but she could see the distrust swimming behind his expression.

When he opened his mouth to speak, she sucked in a nervous breath.

“Believe it or not, it’s not hard for me to see this from your perspective. I get it. But I need you to start seeing it from my perspective too and you’ve been doing a damn good job focusing on how our relationship is

affecting you—your worry, your guilt.”

He studied her silently as his words sunk in. “I’ve had to endure your

comments, your worry for Seth and I, the guilt I catch on your face constantly. I’ve had to endure that, wondering when it would become too much for you. I know what’s going on in your mind but you don’t seem to have a fucking clue what’s going on in mine.”

His voice was even and controlled as he spoke but there was no

missing the quiet aggression in his tone. He let out a deep sigh as he stood from the floor, offering her his hand. She took it.

He walked with her silently to the stairs and as she stepped up the first, a tremor ran up her spine to tingle in her brain. It was that same warm electric feeling that consumed her whenever he touched her and she grasped for a briefest of moments just how much she owned him and

how much he owned her too.

It might look like nothing more than his fingers clasping hers from the outside in but from the inside, it was a powerful thing. She rounded

to him and kissed him. She held his face to hers, not wanting to feel even

the least bit of separation between them.

His hands gripped her waist and she groaned into his mouth. When

she kissed along his jaw, she could hear the subtlest sound of him swallowing and when she reached his ear, she kissed him one more time.

“I love you.”

She pulled back to see him watching her with a slightly stunned

expression on his face. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be selfish.” Tears were

pricking her eyes and she blinked them back furiously as his brow

furrowed.

“There’s not a selfish bone in your body. But I need you to

understand me.” She nodded. He stared at her, none of the seriousness lost for many long moments that left her biting her lip waiting for him.

When his lips pulled up in a very small seductive smile, she relaxed.

“Now how about we make up and finish what we started in the kitchen

—perhaps in the bedroom this time? It’s going to be the last night I make

love to you here. I intend to have you in my bedroom come tomorrow night.”

He kissed her before smacking her ass as she turned from him. She might not have known what to think about what she’d just managed to

agree to against her better judgment but that didn’t mean the idea of sharing his bed again wasn’t intoxicating.

They ended up in the same position he had her in on the kitchen floor.

He was behind her, pushing into her body. He pulled and plunged over

and over, hitting her depths every time. He pounded hard until she was

gasping and could only barely manage to brace her body with her hands.

Her knees left the mattress with every swift jerk of her hips and she

was being so thoroughly used by him that she simply shut her eyes and

let her body take from him every ounce of pleasure he was giving. It was

a ceaseless pace that eventually ended with him lying nearly on top of her collapsed body as his seed seeped around his still-imbedded cock.

She was panting like an animal and her skin was clammy and tingling.

His breath warmed the back of her neck and she lost track of just how long they stayed still and panting before he finally lifted himself from her and pulled her into his arms.

Katrina rolled to her back and Dillon stared down at her. His eyes were intense and dark and it was only when he finally reached a hand to

her cheek and caressed her skin that his expression finally softened and

he offered a subtle smirk. “Stay with me.”

“Yes.”

“Is it what you want?”

“Of course it is. That was never the problem.”

He smiled gently. “The problem belongs to both of us and we’ll deal

with it together.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

She was talking on the phone as she rinsed vegetables in the sink. He

was trying to follow the directions she’d given him before she decided to

pick up the phone and left him to his own devices. The scrunched brow

and shocked look she gave him when he stabbed a garlic clove with the

tip of the spoon she’d handed him was enough to get her off the phone.

“Imogen, I’ve got to let you go. Dillon’s trying to ruin dinner.” She hung up quickly, snatching the spoon from him and using the curved outer surface of the spoon to crush the clove on the cutting board. Who

knew you could do such things? “Seriously, Dillon?”

He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck as Seth walked in the

room cradling Kitty like a baby and scratching her belly.

“Ms. Page, your cat’s weird.”

“You know you can call me Katrina or Kat even. And yes, I know she

is.”

“Katrina sounds funny.”

“Just in general or just calling me Katrina?”

“Uh, you Katrina.” She laughed and Seth shrugged. He made fun of

the poor cat constantly—it was hard not to—but Seth had taken to the old lady immediately. Katrina had been with them for nearly two weeks.

Kitty was sleeping in Seth’s room already and Katrina was sleeping in Dillon’s—just where she belonged. He’d never been happier Seth slept with his TV on. He’d never been able to indulge in her so completely and

so constantly and he had no intention of slowing down with her.

Stephens, Katrina and he had moved her car from the parking garage

to Stephens’ outbuilding for storage the last Sunday of spring break. It wasn’t a forever solution but they weren’t going to be doing anything to

make it easy for their perp to find her.

Dillon had an unlisted phone number and he’d been smart enough to

value his privacy when he bought his home. His and Molly’s homes were

owned by a trust they’d set up to protect their identities. Dillon had

always seen it as sensible for his profession. Molly always thought he was just crazy but they’d grown up understanding the world was a scary

place and their father had instilled the importance of anonymity and protecting their privacy.

The alarm system was installed the Monday after Katrina had moved

in and he’d had floodlights installed on all the exterior doors. He didn’t

care if it was overkill. There was nothing he wasn’t going to do to protect

his family.

He drove Katrina to school every morning and Molly took the boys

separately. He didn’t want the man seeing Kat and Seth together. Imogen

drove Katrina downtown every day after school to some predetermined

building and either he or Stephens would pick her up inside an attached

parking garage. They switched it up regularly so she couldn’t be easily followed. It was all a bit cat and mouse but until they could safely do anything different, they were going to be cautious, more than cautious.

Smith and Terrell were still at it with their leads and they’d also still

not managed to get their hands on the plumber they were interested in.

Dillon was attracting attention at the precinct too but he’d expected it.

Chief Greenwood had called him to his office only three days into the week following spring break. The conversation had been strained to say

the least.

“So do you have anything you need to tell me?” Greenwood was

eying him suspiciously.

Dillon shook his head slowly. Having made the decision to put

Katrina ahead of his job had liberated him to some degree. He couldn’t

even say he really feared what might happen to his career. He was willing to accept it and so the man in front of him really couldn’t do much to threaten Dillon. “I don’t. Do you have anything you need to tell

me?”

“Don’t be a smartass, Adler. You’re a good detective, but I don’t need

the attitude.” Then he studied him. “And how’s Ms. Page doing?”

“And why are you asking me?”

“Oh I don’t know. I suppose because you’re fucking her.”

He stared impassively at Greenwood. He said nothing. He didn’t

deny or confirm what the man was saying, and once Greenwood’s face started burning in anger, he pushed it just a bit further. “I’d say you’d

have to ask her how she’s doing.”

“And why’s that?”

He held his composure calmly. “Because I’m not her so I couldn’t

possibly answer that question. Perhaps check with Smith and Terrell.”

“Smith and Terrell don’t even know where she’s living. I don’t

suppose you know anything about that?”

“Well, I heard the poor woman’s house burned down. Might explain

why she’s homeless.”

“Oh, I don’t think she’s homeless at all.” Greenwood was glaring at him.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. I quite respect Ms. Page and I’d hate to

think of her without a roof over her head.”

“So you don’t know where she’s living then?”

“Again these are really questions for Ms. Page. Not the detective you

removed from her case. I surely can’t be expected to keep tabs on ex-witnesses now can I?”

Greenwood’s lips were pursed together in a tight line. His hands were

clasped on his desktop and he was leaning forward, studying Dillon with

an intense expression. “What would your father think, I wonder, about your recent behavior?”

“My father knows everything about my life and remarkably he’s still

quite fond of me. Chief, I really do have some work to do. Is there anything else you’d like to ask about?”

“I don’t like being lied to.”

“And yet you’ve not asked a single pointed question and you’re

allowing me to sidestep each and every one. Unless you really want me

to be honest, I’d be careful what you ask. I should tell you my life is exactly as I mean it to be. There’s nothing anyone can say to me that would sway my responsibilities and focus.”

“That sounded dangerously like a threat.”

“I can’t imagine. You’re the only one in this room with the capacity to

threaten anyone.”

“I’m only concerned.”

“I appreciate that.” Dillon stood and turned to the door.

“Is it worth it?”

Dillon paused without looking back. “I wouldn’t waste my time

doing anything that wasn’t.” And then he left.

He took his time walking back to his desk. He wasn’t lying when he

said Greenwood had been easy on him. He’d not asked a single question

Dillon couldn’t easily avoid answering. Dillon hadn’t even had to lie to

get out of his office and not once did Greenwood hold his feet to the fire.

He could have point-blank asked Dillon if he was sleeping with Katrina

and yet he didn’t. There was no mistaking the man was livid at the position Dillon was putting him in, but there was also no mistaking the

man was holding back.

In the nearly week and half since then though Greenwood had said

nothing further to him. Dillon and Stephens had other cases they were working and when they’d give Greenwood an update on one thing or

another the man studied Dillon curiously at best.

It had been a stagnant two weeks since Katrina moved in and Dillon

was restless. It was insane that her case was dragging on so long, but it

was what it was. The man was just patient—incredibly fucking patient.

When the phone rang as Katrina was standing at the stove, Dillon

answered. It was Stephens.

“Just got off the phone with Terrell. Her creepy-ass student checks out. He’s not been in class because he dropped out of her class. But he had an airtight alibi on the night her house was set on fire and the night

she was attacked in the parking garage. He was out of town visiting a grandparent the night she was attacked and he was working the night her home was set on fire. It’s not him. He’s a total fucking fruitcake but

he’s not a psychopath—at least he’s not our psychopath.”

“Good to know. I’ll make sure Kat knows.” Her eyes flashed to his and he walked up behind her, gripping her hip with his free hand.

“Crazy student checks out.” He murmured against her ear before

returning to Stephens.

“But we still have a missing plumber with a background that’s getting

more interesting by the day.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me.”

“His name is Clint Lathrop. He only worked for this particular

contractor for about six months. He quit with no notice the week after

Kat was first attacked in her home. Could be coincidence, but we don’t like coincidences, now do we? His address on file turned out to be false

and the people who do reside there have never seen the man before. A criminal background check showed up nothing for the state of

Washington but you’ll never guess what they hit on in the state of South

Dakota.”

“What?”

“Stalking charge. And the victim was a young teacher. Could be he’s

got a hot-for-teacher complex, could be some weird retaliation for Ms.

South Dakota—who by the way is alive and well. But here’s another thing. Ms. South Dakota had gone out with Mr. Stalker a few times before she decided she just wasn’t so into him and when I pulled her driver’s license pic, there’s a resemblance. It’s not striking but it was enough to give me the heebie-jeebies. Struck me because our perp made

a comment about Kat being a tease or you’re all teases, something along

those lines on one of his phone messages.”

“Hmm.” Dillon was far too focused on the story to say much else.

“Could be the man fled South Dakota after he was released, took a job

in Seattle, came across Kat by coincidence, saw the resemblance,

discovered she was a teacher—which may have increased his draw to her

—and she became a way for him to retaliate. And one other thing.

Dude’s got a vandalism charge on his record for setting a fire in a trash

can on Ms. South Dakota’s front lawn. Pyro-fruitloop perhaps?”

“He sounds promising. And Smith and Terrell are tracking with your

train of thought?”

“Yeah. They’re on this man like a stripper on a rich man’s lap.”

“Huh. Just made that up, didn’t ya?”

“Fuck off. I’m off. Think we just need to keep doing what we’re doing

until they can get their hands on this wackjob. I feel good about this lead.

Now they just need to find the douche fucker.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.” When he hung up, Katrina was

watching him while she stirred something that smelled Asian in the pan.

He’d never eaten so well in his life. The girl could cook—she could also

fuck. Two of his favorite needs in the world were being satisfied constantly and the fact he was in love with her too made him feel like the

luckiest man on the planet.

When he hung up, she moved the pan off the heat and turned to face him. “I saw a picture of the plumber. Smith asked me if I recognized him,

remembered him.”

“And did you?”

She nodded. “Can’t say the man made much of an impression. I

mean, I remember him but that’s about the most I can say of him. I don’t

really remember talking to him or anything beyond just recognizing him

really.” She was biting the inside of her cheek as she stared at his chest

for a moment. “I remember him just being—I don’t know—normal.”

“Normal can be deceptive sometimes. We just have to be careful. A nondescript face won’t help us notice this guy if he gets close to us.”

It wasn’t two days later that the love of his life decided to challenge

that bit of advice.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Sorry, sweetie. Stephens is running down a lead on one of our cases

and I’m going to be stuck on a call with the DA for a while. I could have

Smith or Terrell meet you somewhere downtown and take you home?”

“No. It’s not a big deal. Imogen’s right here and she said she doesn’t

have anything going on. We’re going to hang out here for a while and work on the scenery for her spring play. The school stays pretty busy with after-school activities for a couple hours. The ball diamond and the

soccer field will be hopping and there will be people around. We’ll just

hang ‘til later. How about six o’clock? Will that give you enough time?”

“Yeah, babe. I’ll see you in a bit. Have fun with the scenery.”

“It’s Our Town. There’s not really that much to do. Also means there’s not much for us to screw up.”

“Love ya.”

“Love you too.”

“Aren’t you two just so adorable? You’re going to marry him aren’t you?” Imogen’s brow was up as she waited for Kat’s response.

“If he asks, absolutely.”

“I’m going to be your maid of honor.”

Katrina busted out laughing. Only Imogen could get away with

simply demanding the role. “Of course, Imogen. And what of your other

demands?”

“Well I’d like to wear a wedding dress too.”

“No.”

“Why not? I may never get married and if I’m going to take on the responsibility of planning your wedding I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”

“Planning! Who said anything about planning?”

“Oh, love, come on. Obviously out of the two of us I could definitely

plan a better wedding than you. Everyone knows that.”

“They do?”

“Sure. You’re, well, how do I put this delicately—you’re not very

creative.”

“That’s not true!”

“I’m in the arts and you’re, well—you help kids read.”

“You’re a junior high art teacher and drama coach. You must be

kidding.”

“Honey, I can’t help that I’m more talented than you.”

They were sitting on the stage in the auditorium and she was ready to

roll off the stage as she laughed at Imogen. She ended up lying on her back as her stomach heaved and she fought to catch her breath. “Oh, Imogen.” She pushed herself back up to sit. “You’ve lost your mind.”

“I have. There’s no doubt about it.” When Imogen reached out and

clasped her wrist suddenly, Katrina jumped and yelped at the surprise.

“I have a crush on your cop.”

“You know it’s poor form to crush on my boyfriend, right? I mean, did you really miss that day of friendship school?”

“Not him! The other one. The one who doesn’t smile and who’s kind

of scary and who scowls at me when I talk and then tells me I need to speak English if I’m going to live here, as though my people didn’t invent the language.” She was watching Katrina with a wistful

expression on her face. Katrina wasn’t wistful in the least—she was shocked and when she burst out laughing Imogen threw a roll of tape at

her.

“Oh shit.” She was trying to talk through her hysterical laughter. “I need a drink. That revulsion…” She erupted into laughter. “Divulsion!

It’s not a word but I don’t care. That deserves a drink.”

“Hell yes it does. It’s hard to secretly pine after someone who’s mean

to you and doesn’t seem to understand a word of what you say. I mean,

I’m from Kensington for God’s sake. It’s not as though I’ve got a bloody

Cockney accent.”

“Oh I’m sure you can hold your own. Really? Stephens?”

“He’s handsome in a roguish sort of way.”

He was in his own way. Katrina had always thought so and now that

she actually liked the man, she had no problem seeing the draw. But

Imogen? That was a hard one to wrap her head around. Imogen was something of a snob. Perhaps not with her poor best friend but when it

came to men…well, there were expectations to say the least. She’d once

ended a date because the man didn’t cover his nose with the crook of his

elbow when he sneezed. Apparently the poor man had allergies and after

three sneezes that he’d had the gall to stop with his hand, she’d made her

excuses and spent the next hour complaining to Katrina on the phone.

Hell, Stephens couldn’t even go one sentence without dropping the f-

bomb but, seeing as Imogen usually couldn’t either when they were out

of school, perhaps Katrina was judging too harshly.

“Well Godspeed and all that. Now I really do need a drink.” She

looked around the darkened auditorium for a moment. “We could. That

little Mexican place we tried a year ago is on the way and they make fab

fresh-made margaritas. We have to go that way anyway. It’s always

busy.”

Katrina was rationalizing and Imogen was watching her expectantly,

waiting for her to completely talk them both into it. It really was as safe

as anywhere. Hell, they were more alone in the school than they would

be there and it was on the way. It had been entirely too many months since she and Imogen had gone on a margarita run. “Okay. One drink.

Two max and Dillon should be ready by the time we finish anyway. And

hell, I’m hungry. I want nachos. He wouldn’t want me to starve now would he?”

“If you get in trouble I’m telling him it was all your idea.”

“The very fact you just said ‘get in trouble’ makes me want a drink all

the more. Since when have I let other people make these decisions for me? I’m not being reckless. It’s totally safe there. Busy is better and this place is always packed. Right?”

Imogen nodded.

Katrina was trying very hard to talk herself into it and she recognized

it full well but, damn, she was convincing and she believed every word

margarita-Kat was telling her. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”

They left as they always did at the end of the day to Imogen’s car parked in the parking lot. The lot butted up against the sports field and it was still busy with kids yelling and coaches doing the same. They pulled

out as they always did and they even took the very same streets headed

toward downtown they always did. It was easy for Katrina to convince herself and believe wholeheartedly this was any other day.

They pulled into the restaurant parking lot, seeing it full as they expected it to be. They parked close and waited five minutes for the staff

to clear a table by a window that would allow them to keep Imogen’s car

in sight. It was insane just how good she’d gotten at being conscious of

her surroundings at all times and she wasn’t letting her guard down.

They kept Imogen’s car in the periphery the hour they were there. She managed two margaritas and they might have just been the best

margaritas she’d even tasted.

When they stood to leave, she reached for her purse hanging on the

back of her chair and they walked from the restaurant no worse for wear.

They sat in Imogen’s car for a few minutes, laughing about some

random Imogen comment and when they pulled from the parking lot,

the clock said their timing was impeccable. Katrina popped a piece of gum in her mouth, pushing away the pang of guilt quickly and when Imogen pulled into the parking garage to drop Kat off on the fifth floor

as agreed upon, her nerves left her heart racing for a moment but she pushed them aside too.

He was standing by his Tahoe, looking beautiful and tall and an

incredible rush of warmth washed through her, pushing away her minor

indiscretion entirely never to be seen or heard from again. It was just a drink. A long-overdue drink with her best friend, all cautions heeded and her security and safety never far from her mind.

“Hi.” He smirked. She loved his smirk. It was a sexy thing seeing his

lip pull up in that way. She loved those lips and she especially loved watching them. She enjoyed what he did with them even more and his smirk was a reminder of just how good he was at doing things with that

mouth.

“Hi.” She waved to Imogen as she pulled away from them and she

pounced. There was no denying even two margaritas had been enough

to light a fire in her already-healthy libido and now that he was within

her reach, she wasn’t going to be keeping her hands off him. She kissed,

she thrust her tongue between his lips as he gasped in surprise but he had quite a healthy libido too and her kiss turned to their kiss very fast.

His tongue ran over hers as he pushed her body back to the side of his

Tahoe.

She could feel his arousal hard against her stomach through his pants

and her mind was trying to figure out how exactly she could convince him to screw her in a parking garage. When he pulled back from her, holding her at arm’s length, he chuckled. “What’s gotten into you

tonight?” That damn smirk again.

“Nothing at all but I’m hoping you can rectify that quickly.” It wasn’t

really Katrina’s style to be seductive but she was sure as hell trying her

hand at it tonight.

“Home.” She moaned at his word and he chuckled again.

“You’re no fun.”

He laughed. “I’m a cop. That does not mean I can’t get arrested for misbehaving in public. Now get in the car. You’re just slowing me down

and I apparently have to rectify your emptiness.”

They drove in silence. It was dark out and her body was relaxed and

content. It was the kind of peace she missed from her old life. She never

used to worry about her safety—not ever. Not that it wasn’t worth worrying about but there wasn’t a reason to and so she didn’t. The quiet

surrounding her now with him sitting strong and silent beside her

reminded her very much of the security she used to feel in her life. The

only difference was he shared it with her.

As he turned the car off once he’d pulled into the garage and closed

the garage door behind him, he turned to her. “So I noticed you wore a

skirt today.”

“I did. I wasn’t aware you had a thing for skirts.” She turned on the

seductive again and he smiled.

“I don’t have any particular preference one way or the other, but seeing as I can get my dick under your skirt, I do have an interest in it at the moment.”

“So…” He leaned toward her, giving her no chance to fully respond

before his hand pushed up under the fabric, slipped past the leg of her underwear and started toying with her already-wet sex. She gasped and

groaned and the second he gave her even one moment to contemplate, she launched herself into his lap as he chuckled.

She undid the button and lowered the zipper of his pants and he

pushed the waist of his underwear down as his cock sprang free. He was as aroused as she was and when she gripped the shaft, he hissed and reached between her legs again, plunging his finger into her.

It didn’t take him long to abandon her body to lift her hips and force

her down over his erection. His lips met hers and he pulled her hips tight

to him, sealing their bodies together as she focused on relaxing around his deep penetration. Their movements were restricted and subtle but she squeezed hard around him as he started clenching his buttocks and

pushing himself deeper.

He nipped at her neck as he pushed into her and when she fell apart

he was right on her heels, groaning with his mouth to her ear. He stroked

her back and she snuggled into his neck as they relaxed into each other

and it wasn’t until his phone vibrated in his pocket that he finally lifted

his head from her neck and she sat up straight.

“Hey, Seth.” He sounded breathy as he answered. “Tomorrow? Yeah

that’s fine I guess. I have to go to the precinct for a while late morning so I can’t go but as long Molly is with you boys and you’re somewhere busy, I’m fine with it.” His brow was furrowed though and she could see

worry regardless. “Love you too, bud. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

He hung up. “Kite Festival tomorrow at Magnuson.”

“I could go too if you want me to.”

“I don’t. No offense.” He looked nervous about what he wanted to

say and she guessed what it was before he even opened his mouth.

“They’re safer without you. There’s no evidence suggesting our guy even

knows you live here, much less who Seth, Molly or Jake are. I’d like to keep it that way.” She nodded. Of course it made sense. It also made her

feel guilty. “Someday, baby. Someday we won’t have to worry about any

of it. I promise.”

She climbed from his lap as he slipped from her body and she held her hand out to him as she stood by the driver’s door. Someday. Someday she wouldn’t feel guilty anymore. Someday she could have a real life with this man.

He woke her that night as he kissed her naked shoulder. He nuzzled

into her neck, purring a warm seductive hum against her skin. “I want to

marry you.” He whispered it from behind her as his lips met her ear.

She stared straight ahead into the dark as her heart rate started to

soar. She was in heaven just listening to his words and a smile pulled her lips up despite everything wrong with what he was saying. Actually his

words and desire were perfect—it was her life that was so wrong.

“Someday.” She whispered and he pulled her close, tightening his

arms around her. He understood what she was saying. She didn’t

question that for a moment.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

He was willing to accept someday. Someday meant yes. It meant

when the crazy was behind them, yes. He liked yes.

When his cell phone rang as they were making a late breakfast the next morning, he had to peel his eyes from her body. He loved watching

her in the kitchen. There was something so sexy about seeing her cook.

She’d lick her fingers to taste—that was nice. She’d bite her lips as she measured something out in a measuring cup and she’d hum while she putzed about.

“What’s up, Seth?”

“We just got here.”

“Good.”

“Why didn’t Kat just call us for a ride? I mean she could have just rode with us. I didn’t know she wanted to go.”

“She didn’t want to go. Who said she wanted to go?”

“She did. She just texted me. She’s supposed to be here any second.

I’m meeting her at the Brig.”

“Wait, what?” He stood straight up from his place slouched against the counter and he turned to her. “Kat, where’s your phone?”

“In my purse.”

“Get it.” Then to Seth, he spoke. “Seth, are you at the Brig alone?

Where’s Molly?”

“Dad, what’s going on?”

“Seth, listen to me. You have to—”

“Dude! Watch out!” Seth hollered to someone in the background and

Dillon fought to swallow as his panic started to set in. “Some a-hole just

tried to plow me over, Dad.”

“Seth—”

But before Dillon could say anything further, he heard another voice.

“Hey, kid. You okay? That jerk almost took you out!”

“I know, right?” Dillon could tell by the distant sound of Seth’s voice that his phone was no longer near his ear and Dillon was stuck unable to

do anything to get his attention.

Panic was no longer something he could control and near desperate to

get his attention, he yelled into his phone as Katrina’s eyes widened and

she clutched at her chest when she heard Dillon’s voice. “Seth!”

“Dillon, I can’t find my phone.” His eyes flashed to hers and she was

waiting expectantly for him to say something to her. Just then his landline rang. “I’ll get it.” She moved quickly to answer.

“Guy just plowed through the building on his bike. Seriously?” Dillon

heard his son speaking to the stranger and when he glanced up at Katrina, he saw her brow furrowing and a quizzical confused expression

on her face.

“Dillon, it sounds like Seth. I thought—”

“Seth!” Desperate didn’t even come close to the blind panic that was

taking over Dillon’s body. “Put it on speaker, Kat.”

She looked shocked. She couldn’t possibly even know why she was

shocked and she was trembling at nothing more than Dillon’s fear.

When she reached to the speaker button on the phone console, her

hand froze as she studied the console. “Dillon, it’s my phone number on

caller ID.” Her voice trailed off.

He hit the speaker button on his cell phone as Kat finally pressed the

same button on the console and he set his phone on the counter. “No doubt. I saw it, buddy. Some kids can be so rude.” The stranger’s voice

was echoing through both phones. The delay was off slightly and it was a

haunting sound that made the stranger’s voice sound as though it were

coming from every direction.

Dillon sank against the counter as the realization of exactly what was

happening hit him. His head hit his hands as he braced his elbows on either side of his cell phone and he just stared. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Seth!” He knew Seth couldn’t hear him but it still didn’t stop him from trying to get his attention.

“Uh…I don’t give my name out to people I don’t know. Sorry, dude.”

“Nah, it’s cool. I get it. Too many psychos out there, huh, Seth?” The

stranger’s voice had turned taunting and Dillon’s blood ran cold. He was

gasping for air.

“Oh my God.” Katrina moaned.

“What did you say?” Seth’s voice was loaded with suspicion. He

didn’t sound frightened but it didn’t mean Dillon wasn’t terrified. “Who

the fuck are you?”

“Just a friend of Kat’s. You make sure to tell her I said hi, won’t you?”

And then there was dead silence for a moment. Seth was saying nothing

and when the stranger started to whistle Katrina whimpered. The

whistling grew more and more distant from Dillon’s cell phone while remaining strong from the console and Seth remained silent.

“Dad? Dad?” He snatched his cell up from the counter.

“Seth? Jesus, are you okay?”

“Dad, I think it was him.”

“You get away from him now. If you’re inside, you get out. You find

people. You get out in the open. Now! And you scream your ass off if you see him again.”

“Okay.” Seth’s voice was a whisper. They were silent, listening to the

quiet rustling and shuffling coming through the cell phone. “I see Molly.”

Dillon started breathing again. “Get to her. You tell her to call 911 and

you tell her what happened.”

“Okay, Dad.” They listened to Seth holler for Molly.

“Is that you, Katrina?” She yelped and jumped as the voice came

through the phone console on the wall. “Of course it is. Did you see how

easy that was?”

Katrina was trembling and tears were sitting on the lower rims of her

eyelids.

“What can I say? You just made it so easy. Too busy guzzling

margaritas last night with the British girl to even notice me picking your

cell up off the floor. Not my fault you let it fall out of your purse.”

Dillon’s face started to burn in a fast-building torrent of fury that he

aimed at Katrina. “You can tell a lot about a person from their text message history. Like for instance your infatuation with a certain man named Dillon. He’s the cop, isn’t he? Seth’s dad too apparently. Naughty

naughty what the two of you are doing.”

“What do you want?” Her voice was quiet but furious and intense.

“Why, I’m going to kill you.” He was silent for a moment as Katrina

stared at the counter. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ll have my fun with you first but ultimately…well, ultimately I’m going to kill you.” If Dillon’s blood had been cold before it froze in his veins at the casual and almost

conversational way the stranger threatened her.

The sound of sirens was coming distantly through both phones,

echoing from different directions. He could hear Molly talking to

someone but Dillon had been forgotten at that point.

“Are those sirens for me? Too bad. I’m long gone. But don’t worry. I’ll

see you soon, Kat.” There was a click as he disconnected the phone.

There was nothing but silence and quiet distant murmuring coming

through Dillon’s cell phone. Dillon’s terror had passed but his fury was

building as they stood still. He was near critical mass when she finally opened her mouth.

“Dillon?”

“Shut up.” He was seething.

“Dillon, please?”

“Shut up!” He yelled it at her as she grimaced and cowered.

“Dad?”

He had to force himself to take a deep breath before he dared open his

mouth again. “Yeah, bud?” He wasn’t hiding the nearly out of control emotional turmoil coursing through him.

“Were you yelling?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing.”

“The cops are here.”

“I know. You’re going to have to go to the precinct to tell them everything that happened. You tell them to contact Detectives Smith and

Terrell. I’m on my way. I’ll meet you there.” He disconnected quickly as

he turned from the room, heading toward the garage.

“Dillon, please.”

“I’m warning you, you do not want to talk to me right now.” When

he reached the door to the garage he stopped on a dime and without looking at Katrina who was still standing in shock, he snapped. “We’re

leaving now!”

“I can stay.” Her voice was weak and quiet and when he glared at her

she glanced away quickly. She looked as if she were two seconds away

from crying and though it was like a knife twisting in his gut, he couldn’t

seem to stop glaring. His anger was like a red torrent of hatred.

It was the most confusing feeling in the world being so infinitely relieved Seth was okay and so furious with Katrina he wanted her to feel

the stabbing pain of his emotions.

“I said we’re leaving.” He turned from her. He slammed his hand on

the garage door opener mounted to the wall by the door and he stalked

to the driver’s door. He stood waiting for her to appear, stewing more the longer she kept him waiting.

She stepped out the door and into the garage. “Please, Dillon. I’m so

sorry.” She was trembling and the tears that had only barely been restrained in the kitchen were falling freely. He wanted to touch her so much it hurt but he also wanted to scream at her.

“You were out drinking last night?” He was yelling. He hadn’t even

managed to get in the car and he was already losing control. “What the

fuck were you thinking? No. No. You obviously weren’t thinking at all.

This was far more about getting loaded than anything else, wasn’t it? So

loaded you didn’t even manage to notice what the hell was going on around you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re an adult, Katrina. Not a fucking child.” He pulled the door open as she took a couple tentative steps toward the passenger side but

he didn’t make it far before a wave of fury overtook him and he slammed

the door shut again. When he turned to her, she was quietly sobbing.

“He could have died! Fuck! I’ve done everything in my power to

protect you both, keep you both safe and you managed to fuck it all up

just like that! How dare you! My son could have died!” He pulled the door open and then as he climbed in he yelled once more. “Get in the fucking car!”

She climbed in next to him and he threw the car in reverse. He

committed himself to not speaking to her again lest he have to pull over

to yell at her again and she sat quietly sniffling by his side as he drove.

He truly didn’t give a shit in that moment. He might care for her as much

as anyone in his life but she’d fucked up and she’d fucked up bad. She’d endangered his son and intentional or not the anger wasn’t fading. She’d

made a stupid mistake and Seth had almost paid for it.

Whether he was yelling at her or not, focusing on driving was nearly

impossible. He stewed, he ran through every nightmarish thought and image that came to mind of what could have happened to Seth and he blamed the woman sitting beside him for every awful thing that could have happened.

He pulled in at the precinct and when he stepped from the car he didn’t bother saying a word to Katrina. He ignored her as she followed

him into the building. He found Smith and Terrell quickly and Molly practically mauled him into a bear hug. Seth stood coolly by Jake as though nothing of concern had happened at all.

He knew it was just an act but playing it cool was just how Seth operated. It was oddly calming to see Seth looking around as though he

had better things to do. When they asked if he wanted to be present when they took Seth’s statement he nodded.

He sat silently through Seth’s interview. His heart rate spiked

continually as he listened to the events. Seth had received a text message

from Kat’s phone asking him where he was. When he responded the next

text asked him to meet her at the Brig at Magnuson Park. The building was nearly deserted with most people milling about outside by the water

and Seth had been approached just inside the vestibule of the building.

The man had disappeared within the building when Seth caught on to

who he was and Seth made his way quickly back to Molly and Jake.

Smith and Terrell asked Dillon to go over what had occurred at his house that morning and he gave them a detailed account of everything that had happened. He didn’t much give a shit he was admitting Kat had

been there with him and they didn’t bat an eye when he said it. It was an

understood fact if nothing else at this point and there were more important things to be concerned about than who he happened to be fucking. Dillon sounded bitter even in his own head.

When Smith and Terrell put a photo lineup in front of Seth, he picked

out Clinton Lathrop immediately. It was the first eyewitness who

implicated him in Kat’s home invasion, arson and stalking debacle, and

Smith and Terrell couldn’t seem to keep the smile off their lips.

Dillon was too deep in his anger to react at all. They asked Seth if he’d ever seen the photo of the man before, insinuating his subconscious could have been tainted by Dillon’s involvement in the case and as Smith’s focus shifted to Dillon as Terrell asked the question, Dillon sneered. He said nothing. He didn’t want his bad attitude on record so he

just shook his head in frustration.

“I assume you’ve tried to locate her cell phone?” He was still sneering

even as he spoke.

“Of course and we’ll continue to try but it’s currently off. Doubt he’s

stupid enough to power it on now that he knows we know he has the phone. Doesn’t mean he didn’t have free access to it for twelve hours.”

Dillon stood and Seth followed his lead. He returned to Molly and Jake, waiting patiently in the corridor. “Where’s Katrina?”

“She left for the restroom shortly after you went in. She was crying.

You going to tell me what happened with her?”

He didn’t bother answering Molly’s question. “Can you find her?

Smith and Terrell need to ask her some questions.”

Molly’s brow wrinkled but she stood and walked toward the

restroom without questioning him further. It was less than a minute later

that she returned with a puffy-faced Katrina at her side. Katrina refused

to look at him and since he couldn’t wipe the nastiness from his own expression, he couldn’t really blame her. He was itching to yell at her some more but it would have to wait.

Katrina walked back with Smith and Terrell as Molly watched her

with concern. Her focus shifted between Katrina and him, bouncing back

and forth as she tried to figure out what was going on and once they were finally out of earshot she turned her focus completely on him.

“What the hell is going on?”

“I’m not talking about this right now.” Then he turned from her as he

snatched up his phone and called Stephens. “Where are you?”

“On my way to the precinct. Got a call from Terrell a while ago.”

“Can you bring Katrina back to my house when Smith and Terrell are

finished speaking with her?”

“Sure.” They disconnected quickly after that and as he turned back to

Molly he found her glaring at him.

“We can wait for Kat.”

“No. We’re going.” He hollered at Jake and Seth and then walked

from the building with them in tow.

It didn’t take long for Molly to start grilling him once they were home. Molly and Jake came over to his place and as he and Molly sat down at the dining room table, the boys disappeared to the living room.

He started explaining what had happened in the kitchen and what

Lathrop had said about finding Katrina having drinks with Imogen the night before. Molly’s brow didn’t seem to unfurrow the entire

conversation and when he was finished speaking she didn’t seem to have

a clue what to say. Not very Molly-like at all. But she wasn’t forced to come up with anything when the door opened and Stephens and Katrina

walked in.

Her eyes instantly found Dillon’s but before anyone could say

anything she mumbled that she was going upstairs and she disappeared.

“You need to talk to her.” Molly had put her hand on his. She was concerned but it wasn’t just for him. Molly liked Katrina too much not to

be concerned for her too, regardless of the mistake she’d made.

“No.”

“Dillon—”

“No!”

Stephens raided his fridge for a few beers and passed them out when

he joined them at the table. “She made a mistake, Dillon.” He obviously

wasn’t going to be offering Dillon any support either.

“It was one hell of a mistake.”

Molly chimed in then, apparently having found her voice again. “We

all did. Me. Hell, even Seth. Seth never should have gone off on his own

and I should have been watching him closer.”

“Neither of you fucked up because you were busy getting drunk.

Seth’s a kid and he barely understands the severity of this situation. She

should have understood.”

“Yes she should have, but she’s not us.” Stephens was talking now.

“This is all pretty damn new to her. She didn’t realize just how reckless it was. She doesn’t have the same frame of reference we do.”

“Well she better figure it out pretty damn fast if she’s going to survive

this thing and not get anyone else killed in the process.”

He just wasn’t interested in having this conversation. It was obvious

Stephens and Molly thought he was being too hard on her but he

couldn’t shake the images of what could have happened to Seth and he

also couldn’t shake the blame he was placing on her. He just didn’t know

how to get past it at the moment.

Molly took a deep breath before speaking next. “How does this affect

the two of you, Dillon?”

He stared at the tabletop. It hurt to think of her upstairs alone. He could see her crying. He didn’t need to be up there to see her pain but it

didn’t soften his heart. He wanted it to, desperately. But at the moment,

he just couldn’t let it go.

“I don’t know, Molly.”

She took another deep breath and when he managed to look up to her

she had tears in her eyes. She stood and approached him, kissed him on

top of the head and squeezed his shoulder.

“I’m going to take Jake home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“You’re going to see patrol officers in the area. Don’t be surprised.”

She nodded and Stephens stood as well. He walked all three to the door

and once they were gone, he locked the door, set the alarm and sank against the door.

Chapter Thirty

Dillon didn’t come to bed that night—not that she’d been surprised—

and when she woke the next morning she could hear him in the kitchen.

Her heart was pounding harder and harder with every step that took her

closer to him and when she entered she found him staring out the kitchen window to the backyard.

“Where’s Seth?”

He didn’t turn to her as he responded. “At Molly’s. I have to go to the

office for a while.”

“Dillon?” He turned to her slowly. His face was expressionless and cold. She’d never felt more hated by him—even the first time they’d met.

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Then listen. Because I have something to say.” Her voice sounded

bold but she wasn’t at all. She’d lain awake nearly all night analyzing and picking through every last aspect of their relationship and this disaster.

She’d talked herself into circles until she was crying again in

frustration but she’d thought long and hard about how she felt. She didn’t care that the man facing her hated her guts at the moment because

she didn’t hate his and she needed to say what was on her mind before it

was too late. So she launched into her brain-drain speech as he studied her impassively. She was not at all impassive and with her first words her voice was already wavering.

“I love you and I’m sorry. I know this is my fault. I really do. But I’m

angry at you too.” His face flinched for half a second until it returned to

his dead stare. She could barely keep her voice strong as her tears started

to well up for the gazillionth time in the past twenty-four hours and she

finally gave up trying to hold it together and let her words mix with her

emotion.

“I never had any business moving in here. Or having a relationship with you for that matter. It jeopardized you both from the start. I knew it

would. I knew it but I agreed. My worry, my guilt, all those things you

convinced me weren’t my responsibility or problem, they would have kept you both safe. But I listened to you. I wanted to. I wanted you and I

wanted my life to be with you but it was still the wrong decision.”

She was crying as her words came out but her voice was staying

strong.

“You put the weight of the world on my shoulders by asking me to disregard my concern for your family. Because I’m a bomb just waiting

to go off and it put me in the position of trying to be perfect or be responsible for a catastrophe. I’m not perfect, Dillon. I made a mistake!”

She was sobbing, clutching at her stomach at this point and his jaw was clenched harshly. She saw the well-controlled emotion swimming in

his eyes but he wasn’t giving her any of it. He just glared but she was past the point of caring if he responded to her. This was about what she

needed to say.

“It was so inevitable. Something, whether this or some other mistake

or something completely out of my control, was inevitably going to happen and put you and Seth in danger. And that was all on my

shoulders. There was no chance I couldn’t be responsible for something

awful happening.” She dashed the tears from her eyes and pursed her lips to help stay in control.

“You set me up for failure. And now that failure is destroying me. I’m

so sorry. I am sorrier than you will ever know.” She was losing control

again as her tears started falling again. “And I have never been more heartbroken in my life.” She could barely get the last words out over her

lurching sobs.

He said nothing. His eyes were glassy but he stayed rooted to his spot

on the floor and after an uncomfortably long time of waiting for

something—anything—she shook her head and walked from the room

and upstairs to his bedroom. Her tears fell silently as she stared at the wall in front of her and when she heard the bedroom door open from behind her, her heart lurched and she held her breath.

She waited, she wanted, she was desperate for him—but she was too

afraid to turn to him. When the door closed quietly and she listened to his feet padding down the hallway away from her, her already-broken heart shattered.

She heard the garage door open shortly thereafter and she knew he

was gone. She was alone in a home she no longer felt at all welcome in.

She’d never felt so despised and before she could chicken out she rose, packed her clothes and lugged her bag downstairs. She thought she

heard the door to the garage open just after she’d dialed the number to

the cab service, but as she carried the cordless phone toward the hall that

led to the garage, the operator picked up.

There was no one at the garage door and after looking around for a moment, she returned her attention to the operator.

“Sorry, I need to have a cab pick me up.” She gave the woman

Dillon’s address and then Imogen’s before she disconnected. She sank into a dining room chair and it didn’t take long until there was a knock at

the front door. She left her key sitting on the dining room table. She slung her bag over her shoulder, cradled Kitty in her arms and carried her emptied litter pan with her.

She locked the door behind her after resetting the alarm system and

she left his home for the last time. She was a bit too numb to cry about it

but as the cab drove away from the home she’d come to think of as hers

her tears came again and she stared out the window.

She hadn’t bothered calling Imogen because she knew she would be

rehearsing the kids for their upcoming play all day. Opening night was

less than a week away and Imogen would be getting little rest until the

event was over.

When she entered Imogen’s house she set Kitty on the ground,

dropped her heavy bag of clothing and quickly set up Kitty’s litter pan for her in the laundry room. The old woman wasn’t going to survive too

many more moves.

She didn’t know how soon Dillon would be returning home or

whether he would even care that she’d left. She quickly set about numbing her nerves with wine and before long her body was lazy, she was staggering as much as Kitty, her emotions were running amuck and

she was far too sloshed to give a shit.

Even in her inebriated state, she knew what she was doing. She was

being childish, she was feeling sorry for herself and she was acting like a

damn idiot.

When there was a knock on the door, it took her far longer than it ought to make it to the door to answer it. She was horrified at the

thought of Dillon seeing her like this and she thought it must be him.

He’d no doubt suspect where she’d gone and the last thing she wanted

was to be caught making more bad decisions. But there was nothing to be done for it. If she didn’t answer, he’d keep knocking and so she sucked it up and forced her feet to move as evenly as possible as she crossed the space to the front door. Standing at the door, she took a deep

steadying breath and prepared herself for an emotional battle, not even

checking the peephole.

What she didn’t expect was for the battle to be entirely physical. The

man had light-blue eyes and she recognized him. Not just from a year ago in her home when she’d met him but from the pictures Smith and Terrell had shown her. Her phone was in his hand and he was dangling

it tauntingly in front of her.

“You keep far too much information in this thing. When I saw the five-digit number under Imogen’s contact information I was stumped,

but then when I checked out her address, it suddenly made perfect sense.

Keypad. Not the brightest bitch I’ve ever met but hey, who needs to be

smart when you’re cute, right?”

She stared for half a second before trying to slam the door in his face

but he kicked it back toward her as she turned and sprinted toward the

kitchen. He snatched her hair, yanking her backward and she fell to the

floor with a grunt of pain. He launched himself onto her body, grabbing

the sides of her head and slamming her head back onto the hard marble

floor. The pain radiated from the back of her head straight through to the

front of her eyes and she groaned.

Her hands were free and she reached up to his face, trying to push him back. It wasn’t the least effective but then she remembered to go for

the eyes. She struck out toward his eyes, poking one as he flinched and

released his grip on her head. Then she reached for the man’s crotch that

was sitting on her lower abdomen and she pinched down hard. He cried

out and pulled back from her as she wriggled out from under his weight.

She rolled to her stomach and started crawling toward the door. She

needed to get outside. She could scream, she could run, she could escape

but as she reached the front door still standing wide open, he came up behind her and threw her into the wall beside her. Her head smacked hard on the wall and the drywall gave way under the force. She could

feel her body slumping to the entryway floor and she blinked as her vision went fuzzy and her brain seemed to go into slow motion.

When he rounded her body and pulled her up to her knees, she

watched in slow motion as he cocked his hand back and swung it toward

her face, backhanding her and sending her head sailing through the air

again. She was losing consciousness. She could feel it happening but she

was powerless to stop it. It didn’t deaden the panic in any way, and she

knew if she passed out there was a good chance she wouldn’t wake up.

But there was no stopping it and as her eyes sank closed, a very pleasant buzz worked through her head and she drifted peacefully off to

sleep.

* * * * *

Stephens was sitting across from him just staring at him. The man didn’t believe him when he said he was okay. Of course it was a complete lie. He wasn’t okay in the least.

He was confused, angry, guilty, lonely and utterly lost. When his cell

rang his heart sped for a moment. He wanted it to be Kat. He knew it wouldn’t be but he wanted it to be. Not that he could figure out what to

say to her or actually pick up his phone to call her but he still wanted more than anything to hear her voice.

It wasn’t Kat, though. It was Molly and the second he answered she

started speed- talking. “I can’t find Seth. Jake said he ran to your house to pick up a couple games—”

“What! You let him—”

“I didn’t let him. I was in the shower. They didn’t tell me he was leaving and I’m sure it’s because I wouldn’t have let him go!”

“So, is he still there?”

“No. No one’s here. I’m in your house now. It’s empty. No Seth, no Katrina, just empty. The patrol officer has been circling the block occasionally but he said he hasn’t seen anything either.”

“How long ago did he leave?”

“I’m guessing about forty minutes. Jake came in and hollered at me after I’d been in the shower for about twenty minutes or so. He was worried because Seth hadn’t come back yet. That was the first I heard of

it. I jumped out, dressed, headed to your place and looked around. I’m guessing I left my house about twenty minutes or so ago.”

Dillon picked up his desk phone and started dialing Seth’s cell phone.

It rang but went to voice mail after a few seconds. “Fuck!”

“Dillon, your house is empty. Kat’s gone, Seth’s gone, there’s a key on

the table, Katrina’s cat is gone and I just looked in your bedroom and there are some drawers pulled open and I can’t find any clothing of hers.

It looks like she left on her own but I don’t understand where Seth is.”

“Okay, you and Jake stay put. I’ll let—” His phone beeped that he had

another call coming in and when he pulled the phone from his ear it was

Seth. “Molly, Seth’s calling. I’ll call you back.” He disconnected from her

and immediately switched over to Seth. “Seth? Where are you?”

“Dad, something’s happened to her. He took her. The same man. I

saw him. He took her.” Seth sounded frantic and he was as close to panic

as Dillon had ever heard him.

“Get Smith and Terrell over here.” He spoke in a rush to Stephens and Stephens scrambled to call the men over. “Seth, are you safe?”

“Yes! But Kat isn’t. She’s hurt, Dad!” Seth was nearly sobbing out the

words and Dillon could hear the desperation in his voice.

Smith and Terrell made it to his desk and he hit the speaker button on

his cell phone, setting it down on the desktop. “Seth. I need you to tell me where you’re at and what you saw. Are you sure you’re safe?”

“Yes.” Seth’s voice filled the space around the desk and the men

simply stood around staring at the phone. “I ran home. I know I

shouldn’t have but I thought it’d be quick. I came in and I heard Ms.

Page on the phone. She was calling a cab to pick her up. She gave them

an address on that road on Washington Lake that has all the really nice homes. When she hung up, she was crying and I knew she was upset but

I didn’t know what to say to her. I just waited. I waited for her to leave

because I didn’t know what to do and I took the bus to Mercer Island as

close as I could get to that street. I don’t know why. I just felt bad. I wanted to talk to her but I didn’t know what to say. I asked some guy on

the bus how to get there and he told me. I ran the rest of the way. It’s a

big house with a gate but the gate was already open. There was a black

car, an old one with a lot of rust and it was parked out front. When I started walking up the driveway, I heard her scream and then I saw the

man. The same man from the park. He was carrying her out to the car and he put her in the trunk. I was scared. I wanted to help her but I was

too afraid.”

Seth was crying into the phone and Dillon had sank into his seat again as he pictured what his son had witnessed. He was dying inside and he felt as helpless as Seth sounded. It was torture listening to this and knowing Kat was hurt and missing.

“Dad, she wasn’t moving. I mean, she was like unconscious or…I

don’t know but she wasn’t moving. He just dumped her body in the trunk and he drove away.”

“Seth, where are you now?”

“I’m still here by the garage. They just left a few minutes ago and I haven’t moved. Dad, I got the license plate number.”

Every last one of the men sucked in a breath of air.

“What is it?” Dillon held his breath as Seth listed off the number and

then repeated it for them. Terrell was writing down the number and the

moment Seth was finished speaking he darted away from the desk to his

own, snatching up his phone quickly.

“Seth, the house you’re at is Imogen Graham’s house. She’s the drama

teacher at your school. Is the door still open?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to go inside, close and lock the door. You don’t open the

door for anyone but the officer who comes to get you. I’ll call you back

with his badge number and you make him tell you his badge number before you open the door. Got it?”

“Yeah, Dad. Are you going to find Ms. Page?”

Dillon was suddenly silent. What if he couldn’t find her? What if she

was already dead? What if it was just plain too late?

Stephens leaned over the desk, talking into Dillon’s phone as Dillon struggled to breathe. “Seth, I don’t want you to worry. We’re going to find her.”

“Okay, bye. I’m fine. I don’t want you to worry about me. Just find her.” He hung up which was likely a good thing because at that moment,

Dillon couldn’t seem to figure out how to swallow.

He couldn’t lose her. He’d destroyed their relationship in his fury.

He’d broken her heart in a way that might just be irreparable but there was no way he could lose the chance to fix it.

Chapter Thirty-One

The dull buzzing sound seemed to be coming from every last cell in

her body but it was bringing her back from unconsciousness again. She’d

woken in the dark, being bounced and tossed around in what she quickly

figured out was the trunk of a car. She kicked and screamed but she had

something over her mouth and her wrists were restrained behind her back. It felt tight and sticky to her skin, just as her mouth felt and she was guessing it was duct tape. It didn’t stop her from trying to kick her way

out of the car.

The trunk smelled of exhaust and oil. It smelled like an old car, like an

old gas station. She spent an unknown amount of time kicking, panicking

and praying until the car finally stopped and she heard steps moving around to the trunk.

If she’d thought she was panicking in the trunk, she had no idea what

panic could even feel like until she listened to the key slowly unlock the

trunk. She was suddenly horrified of what lay beyond her dark cocoon and if she could have barricaded herself inside, she would have done so

willingly.

When the trunk was opened, she could see the sun was still shining

and it was an odd omen of just how not okay her situation was. The bright spring day was everything life was supposed to be, but her life was on the brink of ending and the beautiful warm day was a painful taunt.

He yanked her body from the trunk and directly into a cluttered and

garbage-filled garage that the car had been backed up to. Katrina

watched in dread when the sun disappeared slowly as the door of the garage was lowered and when the last of the real world was gone, she glanced to him.

He looked oddly normal in a boring sort of way. He was trim, dressed

just like any other person in the world and it was hard to imagine this man wanted to kill her. But he did. There was no doubt in her mind and

he was absolutely going to succeed if she didn’t do something to stop it.

She watched again as he cocked his hand back and his fist once more came flying to her head. And then there was more darkness.

But now she was rousing again just to find herself still bound, still with her mouth taped shut and still horrified this was how she was going

to meet her end.

She wasn’t ready and as tears pricked her eyes, she fought the

overwhelming urge to break down and give up. She was afraid to fight.

She was afraid to stand up for herself but she stomped her foot on the concrete ground she was sitting on and she kept on stomping until her foot hurt and her brain woke up.

She looked around. She was alone. The room was sparse and almost

empty. The uneven concrete floor looked old and it had the musty

mildew smell of an old basement but there were walls.

Dirty old unpainted drywall enclosed the small room and a single

lightbulb hung from the ceiling. There was a folding chair sitting along the opposite wall and a bucket sitting on the floor nearby. A small table

sat next to the folding chair and a roll of duct tape sat on top along with a box of garbage bags and a wound-up length of rope. The sight of those

items alone had the fear pricking her brain.

She tried to focus on what she’d learned in self-defense class but it was hard as hell. Every sound she heard convinced her the man was coming to kill her and concentrating on what she needed to concentrate

on was harder than it had ever been in her entire life. She closed her eyes, replaying the class in her mind, pushing the fear aside as much as possible.

She was fucked if she couldn’t get her hands free so she started working on the tape. She had nails and she whittled at the sticky strong

surface with the nails of her thumbs and middle fingers. She gouged at

the tape, one layer at a time. She’d stick her nail through, piercing one layer and pulling to tear through it. It was a slow, incessant process and

as her fingers worked through the layers, her hands started to cramp. She

forced her brain to go back to the training.

The eyes, go for the eyes. It doesn’t take much to throw a person off their game when it comes to the eyes. Just the slightest irritation could cause him to lose his defenses. The nose. The nose was also sensitive. The groin.

The hardest of all would be focusing if he choked her. It was

horrifying being unable to breathe but she had to concentrate. If he used two hands, it meant she had two hands free to defend herself and he couldn’t defend himself with his fingers wrapped around her neck.

She swallowed hard at nothing more than the thought alone. Could

she do this? Could she fight and live? Did she have a choice? Fuck no, she didn’t, and she wasn’t ready to be done with this life. Concentrate.

She just had to concentrate.

When the sound of a nearby door being opened startled her out of her

subconscious training session, she yelped and jumped and the panic

started setting in again. Her fingers were still working. She’d punctured

through a large section of tape but she’d been unable to tear through the

thickness and had to backtrack to tackle a smaller section.

She was trying to visualize what her hands were doing behind her

back, letting her mind see her progress. She had no idea if she was actually making as much progress as she hoped she was but she wasn’t

willing to consider that she couldn’t free herself. She had to free her hands. She had to have her hands.

Eventually there was a loosening around her wrists. She could feel movement that hadn’t been there before. It was subtle at first but the more punctures she made in the layers, the more movement she thought

she could feel until finally she was certain it wasn’t just her imagination.

She could do this. She had to do this.

When she heard feet moving toward her, her fingers instantly stilled

and her heart instantly pounded. She fought the panic but in the end panic won over and as she listened to the feet moving closer and closer,

her eyes filled with tears and terror squeezed her chest like a vise grip.

The doorknob turned and she watched the glint of the metal as it was wrenched slowly. She started fighting the restraint of the tape but while

her wrists were looser, she simply couldn’t break free.

The door was pushed open and the panic she felt before ratcheted up

to a level she didn’t know even existed. Then she glanced up, freezing in

place and holding her breath. The face looking back at her made her gasp

in shock.

“What are you doing here?”

* * * * *

“Hey, we just got the plates back.” Terrell was walking back toward them where Dillon was pacing, Stephens was talking on the phone to the

patrol officer who was on his way to Seth and Smith was staring at the

desktop. Dillon couldn’t seem to stop pacing and even as Terrell

approached, he kept walking back and forth. That was until Terrell spoke

again. “The plates are registered to Josh Grant.”

“What?” Dillon wasn’t the only one who said the word or who had shock plastered across their face. “Wait. You ruled this one out, didn’t you?”

Smith and Terrell both nodded and they looked as confused as Dillon

felt. Stephens hung up quickly, handing a slip of paper to Dillon, who grabbed his cell phone and stepped away to call Seth.

Seth still sounded rattled when Dillon spoke to him but he wouldn’t

even hear of Dillon staying on the phone with him when Katrina was missing. Dillon gave him the officer’s badge number that Stephens had written down and then Seth practically hung up on him when Dillon offered again to stay on the line.

He returned to the group of men. Greenwood had joined them and it

was the tensest group of men he’d ever seen. He was likely the tensest of

all and he stood by shifting from one foot to the other as they discussed

calling in SWAT. Smith ran to grab the file with Grant’s address in it. It

was mere minutes before Greenwood had given the okay to contact the

Incident Commander and request SWAT presence and as jackets were

grabbed and guns were checked and holstered, Greenwood grabbed

Dillon’s elbow.

“You’re not going in that house. Do you understand?”

“I’m not staying here.” Dillon’s jaw was tight and clenched as he spoke and he was struggling to keep his composure.

“You’re not going in that house!” And then turning to Stephens who

barely looked like he was breathing, Greenwood barked, “You keep him

in line or it’s both of your asses!” Greenwood stormed off in a rage but

Dillon was blind to it and more than that, he just didn’t give a shit about

it.

They watched Smith and Terrell leave after Smith hung up with the SWAT Sergeant and Dillon was back to pacing. He couldn’t seem to stop

pacing and as Stephens watched him, he swore under his breath,

grabbed his jacket and snatching Dillon’s up off his chair tossed it to him.

“You’re going to drive me nuts if I don’t get you out of here. Come on.

I’ll cuff you to the fucking car door if I have to but we can at least be there.”

Dillon breathed a heavy sigh and followed Stephens from the

building. Seth called as they walked to Stephens’ car. The patrol officer was driving him back to Molly’s house and they were only a block away.

The officer was to stay with them until he heard otherwise and when Seth commented that he could see Molly standing in the driveway

waiting for him, he was finally able to let go of one source of panic and

focus fully on the other.

“Dad, please get Ms. Page back. She has to be okay.” Seth’s voice was

barely a whisper and he could tell he was choked up. It broke his heart to

hear his son so emotional. Seth was the cool cat—he didn’t get emotional.

“We’re doing everything we can, bud. I promise. I’ll talk to you

soon.” He listened as Molly met him hopping out the car and then he was gone. Seth was right—she had to be okay. He understood the

desperation in Seth’s voice. It was the same desperation he felt. She had

to be okay.

* * * * *

Josh was eying her as he sat on the chair. He held a handgun in his lap and he kept staring at it as though he was confused by it. He’d not left the room in the fifteen or so minutes since he’d shocked the hell out

of her when he entered. She’d not expected to see his face.

He just watched her. He was as odd in this setting as he always had

been in her classroom. She tried to engage him in conversation but he refused to answer her. He just stared. She kept working on the tape, timing her questions to Josh when she was poised to puncture a

fingernail through a section of tape. Not that he would respond but she

hoped her incessant questions would be a good cover for what her hands

were doing.

“Josh, you don’t have to do this. You didn’t kidnap me, you’re not in

any trouble yet.” That statement left a large section of duct tape torn completely through and she wriggled against the wall as though she was

uncomfortable to hide the movements she needed to make. “Please, Josh.

You’re a good man.”

The fuck he was. He was a lunatic and she wanted to beat the shit out

of his creepy-ass self.

Then she heard it. More footsteps. It hadn’t escaped her attention they

couldn’t possibly be alone. The man who’d taken her from Imogen’s was

the man she recognized from the contracting company that had done

work on her bathroom, not Josh. How they knew each other was outside

her scope of reasoning and it seemed an unlikely partnership to be certain but it wasn’t her concern at the moment.

Josh seemed as weak and vulnerable even here as he always was and

it wasn’t he who concerned her most. It was the occasional footsteps above her that did. They were the other man, Clinton Lathrop. He scared

her—not that Josh didn’t but it was a different type of fear.

The footsteps she heard suddenly started moving around more and

when a door opened and the sound changed to footsteps coming down

stairs, her fear spiked and she started twisting against the restraints again and digging her fingernails through layers of tape, picking and yanking

at the fibers. If she pulled with the grain of the fibers there was little resistance and if she kept the sections narrow enough she could yank and

tear through the thin sections that went against the grain. But it was a damn slow process and she was struggling in her panic to hide her desperate movements.

She whimpered when Clinton suddenly opened the door and Josh

stood, looking at him nervously. “We ready to have some fun, kids?” His

voice was sickeningly jovial and she shuddered at just what that might mean to a fucking wackjob as himself. The erection that strained the front

of his pants almost made her gag but it was made all the worse when she

noticed a similar arousal in Josh who still looked nervously back and forth from Katrina to Clinton.

“You’ve met my dear friend Josh, I see. A pleasant reunion for you two? He’s sorry he had to drop out of your class but he was attracting a

bit too much attention for my liking.”

And then sauntering toward her, he spoke conversationally. “We met

a while back. He wasn’t difficult to find. Already a student in one of your

classes and he’d obviously taken a liking to you. Caught him jacking off

in his car to a picture of you and it was just instant friendship.” He

smiled brightly, as only a lunatic could in such a situation and Josh sheepishly looked away.

“Doesn’t say much but he’s proved helpful and I promised him a big

payoff. I mean, those photo creations alone were pure genius. I couldn’t

have done that. I clean pipes for a living, for fuck’s sake.”

And then walking to Josh, he placed his hand affectionately on the top of his head and continued in a whimsical voice. “Cleaned his pipes a

time or two, haven’t we?” When Josh started trembling and failed to answer, Clinton’s fingers curled and tangled in Josh’s hair before he yanked his head back to look up at Clinton. “I said, haven’t we?”

Clinton’s face was lascivious and his smile was pure lunacy.

“Yes…yes, Clint.”

“See, my good friend has had plenty of uses to me. We have a lot of

fun together. And since you’ve been so preoccupied with your cop,

we’ve had to be patient.” He looked down to Josh with a sympathetic, if

not sad, look on his face.

“But Josh isn’t you, dear.” His eyes returned to Katrina. “And I’m tired of making do with his ass when what I really want is yours.”

Katrina’s entire body started to tremble. She was digging into the tape but it was useless. She’d never make it in time.

He started moving slowly, tauntingly toward her. He tiptoed with a

completely contrived look of trepidation on his face. He was toying with

her, torturing her nerves, and he was good at it. The moment he’d get near her, he’d take a few steps back in a bizarre swaying dance. Katrina

started whimpering and crying as he tormented her and slowly closed in.

“All of you. I want you to scream, I want you to bleed, I want you to

beg and then I want you to die.” His eyes were wide and maniacal as he

glared with a sickening expression down to her. He was standing in front

of her, his crotch at eye-level. His arousal was quite obvious and Katrina

had bile rising up in her throat at nothing more than the bulge in his jeans. When he touched his crotch, she groaned in emotional agony.

The horrible tremble that was running through her body hid what her

fingernails were desperately trying to do behind her back, and she stared

straight at his pants as her mind focused on the tape. She gouged, she picked and she tore until she thought her fingertips must be bleeding.

When he kneeled down in front of her, he reached for her neck,

gripping with one hand. He was squeezing, slowly tightening his hold.

She couldn’t stop the panic from inching in as her air was cut off. Forcing

her fingers to work while his hand remained on her throat was nearly impossible but it was her only chance.

Her eyes filled with tears as he stared at her. She held his eyes as his

fingers tightened and then loosened and then tightened all over again.

He knew how to torment and every time she felt the constricting

pressure of his fingers around her throat the panic would cloud her brain

and her fingers would still. She used the occasional reprieve he gave her

when he’d loosen his hold to focus on her task. She’d cough as the air suddenly flooded back into her lungs and it was then she’d yank, stab and twist against the tape.

Josh remained sitting on the chair nearby. He looked terrified but he

also looked crazy and when she met his eyes she begged. “Please, Josh.

You don’t have to do this. He’s already hurt you but you can stop him.”

The moment she got the words out Clinton’s grip on her throat

tightened again and cut off her voice as she started struggling to breathe.

When he leaned his face down to her, he was close enough to kiss her and she wondered for a moment if he would. “Josh is mine and he knows his place. Now how about we get you out of those clothes so you

can show us what we’ve so patiently been waiting for?”

He released her throat and she gasped for air. When he grabbed her

elbow, yanking her up to her feet, she could feel the already partially torn tape tearing further and she instantly shrieked to hide the sound.

She was left standing in front of the men with her hands only loosely bound.

Her heart was racing. It was excitement, but terror, all in one breath.

There was little question she could yank her wrists free at this point, thanks to the weight of her body being pulled up by her arms but it didn’t mean she was ready to. She was terrified of what she needed to do.

Clinton pulled a long knife from his back pocket and though it sent a

driving urge to tear her hands loose and try to fight she held her ground.

She had to wait until he was distracted if there was any chance of keeping that knife out of her body. So she gasped and took as many tremulous breaths as she could. He started at her throat with the knife,

cutting through the fabric and when he’d finished with her shirt he reached a hand out to her breast, gripping her harshly through her bra.

He turned toward Josh, who appeared to be cowering as much as she

was. “Remember the fucking checkerboard I cut into her fucking tit?” It

was an opportunity. She might die taking it but it was now or never. The

knife was held slack at his side and he was turned from her. She was terrified—she was more terrified than she’d been in her entire life but if

she was waiting for a time when she wasn’t terrified to move she’d be waiting until this man killed her. And so she yanked.

* * * * *

The house was small and surrounded by overgrown bushes and trees.

It was obviously ill-kept and the bushes alone were going to make their

approach difficult. The black car was backed up to the garage and that was all the confirmation SWAT needed to enter.

There was a large bank of low-branching trees on the side of the garage and on the opposite side of the house. It was making it difficult for the SWAT team to circle the property effectively and monitor all sides

at once.

Dillon could do nothing but watch from a distance that made him

uncomfortable. Hell, the whole thing made him uncomfortable and he

was going to be on the brink of losing his mind until this thing played out.

Knowing she was in there and he couldn’t get to her was pure torture.

It was more torture than he’d ever felt and he knew, standing by Stephens’ car with him, that it had been a mistake to come.

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t stand by and let someone else try to

save her. She was too close and he was just too damn unhinged to sit back. The moment he took even one step toward the house though

Stephens was there with his hand on his elbow, pulling him back. “Fuck,

Stephens. I can’t…I can’t fucking do this.”

“Then you need to leave!”

They watched as Smith and Terrell approached the front door of the

house behind the SWAT team. The men were in position. It was time.

* * * * *

The moment Katrina’s hands swung away from her body Clinton

whipped toward her. The snarl coming from his mouth coupled with the

monstrous sneer on his face froze her in place and when his fist shot out,

hitting her square in the gut and throwing her into the wall behind her,

she was effectively stunned into immobility. She also couldn’t breathe thanks to the air he’d knocked out of her lungs.

Her face was down toward the floor as she tried in vain to suck in enough air. When his palm met her throat again, gripping tight, she clutched at his wrist.

She was panicking. She knew she was and she knew she didn’t have

the luxury of her panic if there was any hope of surviving but then she

was no longer holding out much hope of that happening. She was

gripping and clawing at his hand but it was to no avail.

When she saw him lift the knife, he was taunting her. He was holding

it so she could see it clearly. She couldn’t breathe and he was showing her just how much control he had and just how much control she didn’t

have. But the knife glinting in front of her lit a fire in her gut and when

his fingers tightened just marginally, she fought. She brought her knee up into his groin as hard as she could and as his breath escaped in a rush

of agony his grip was loosened and the knife clanked to the floor. She dropped to her knees, grabbing blindly for the knife handle as he grabbed the hair at the top of her head and yanked up. But she found the

handle and as she looked up into his furious, vengeful eyes, she brought

the knife up and plunged it into his side.

His eyes bulged, his mouth dropped open and he let out a god-awful

guttural groan as he sank to the floor in front of her. The look in his eyes was shock. He stared wide-eyed at her before he found his bearings and

started reaching for the knife still sticking out of his side. But she was faster than he was and she grabbed the handle again, wrenching it from

his body as he fell back.

Josh stood from the chair whimpering like a scared child, but

however scared he looked, he held the gun in his hand. It trembled as his

whole body vibrated and as she raised her hands in the air, she started

pleading. “Please. Please, Josh. You don’t have to do this. Please.”

“Shoot that bitch, you stupid fuck.” His voice was gurgling and blood

was bubbling up from his mouth as he spoke. “You fucking loser. Shoot her. What are you waiting for?”

“Please. Please don’t do this.” Josh stood trembling and whimpering.

He could barely hold the gun steady but as she watched in horror he adjusted his aim. She cried out at the last moment and he fired.

* * * * *

Stephens tackled him to the ground as he sprinted across the lawn.

The shot was unmistakable and it was discharged before any of the SWAT team had made it into the house. He watched the group storm through the front door and as they disappeared he could do nothing but

listen to the shouts coming from inside.

Stephens refused to release him and kept him pinned to the ground as

the shouts continued. Dillon felt as if he were dying. He couldn’t endure

it if she died and he’d never felt closer to insanity than in that moment.

He was pinned like a crazed animal to the ground, listening to the fight

for Katrina’s life play out without him.

The garage door opener suddenly activating shocked them both and

Stephens leaped from Dillon’s body, pulling his sidearm from its holster.

Dillon followed his lead the second he was up off the ground and they rounded slowly and cautiously toward the garage from their place on the

front lawn.

The front SWAT team was all within the house, storming through the

residence in response to the shots fired and he could hear the men in the

back, fighting to get through the foliage and branches that blocked their

path around to the front of the garage.

They had no idea what awaited inside the garage but the second he heard Katrina’s whimpers he threw procedure out the window and ran

out into the driveway as Stephens cussed and yelled after him. He came

face-to-face with Josh and Katrina standing within. Josh held a gun to Katrina’s head and he was whimpering and shaking as much as she was

—but as frightened as he might be he was threatening her life.

He pushed her out of the garage in front of him. Dillon’s gun was trained on his head, and Stephens’ was too from his place on the lawn.

He wasn’t going to lower his gun until the man was dead or gave up his

gun in surrender. Dillon glared at him, holding his focus within the sites

of the handgun.

He wanted so desperately to look at Katrina, see if she was okay, simply see her alive but he forced his eyes to remain on Josh.

“I just…I just want this to be over. I don’t want this. Please. Just let me

go.” Josh was whimpering, sobbing as he walked farther out into the driveway.

“Let her go now!” He bellowed at the man. Josh flinched and cried out at the sound of his voice but he refused to let her go. “You let her go

now or I will kill you!”

Josh started sobbing but the gun remained in place. The man was

breaking apart. He was losing his mind in front of them. SWAT officers

were just finally breaking through the trees to the front of the house, and

the moment they rounded the corner with their semiautomatics up,

Josh’s grip on Katrina loosened and he raised the gun to his own head.

“Kat, get down!” He yelled as the SWAT officers started barking

orders at Josh. She dropped to her knees and just as she did, Josh discharged his handgun, putting a hole through his head.

His body crumpled to the ground beside her and she started sobbing

with her hands over her ears. SWAT officers surrounded Josh’s body as

though he might reanimate at any moment. They trained their M-16s on

his lifeless body and Dillon ran to her, scooped her up in his arms and walked with her to the front lawn where Stephens was walking in circles

with his hands on his head.

Dillon melted with her in his arms, sinking to sit on the grass with her

in his lap. She was crying against his chest and she seemed more in shock

than coherent. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling at last the panic

start to subside. He stroked her hair as she quietly cried and he held her

chest close to his to shield her nakedness from the men milling about.

Paramedics approached once SWAT gave the all-clear and she was taken

from him again. But this time she was safe.

He watched the ambulance pull away and he turned to Stephens who

was on the phone. He knew it was Greenwood and he knew the hospital

was going to have to wait lest he give the man even more reason to fire

him.

She was safe, Seth was safe and for the first time since he met her, he

didn’t doubt she’d remain that way if he stopped worrying about her for

more than one second. It was over.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“We’re keeping you overnight. It’s just a precaution but you’ve taken

a few good knocks to the head today and I’m concerned you could have

a concussion. If you’re doing okay tomorrow we’ll release you. Do you have someone who can look after you for a few days?”

Doctor Jorgenson was a kind older man who looked at her in much

the way her own father had whenever she’d get hurt. His sympathy

alone left her in fresh tears every time he said something nice to her.

“She’ll stay with me.”

“And you are?”

“I’m Imogen. I’m her best friend and she lives with me sometimes.

Err…I don’t know. Do you live with me now, love, or…I mean, I really

can’t keep up with the drama anymore.”

Kat chuckled and then winced as her laughter caused her head to

shoot pain through her like lightning bolts.

“Yeah. I live with you. At least that’s the last place I remember being.” The doctor smiled at her before turning to Imogen.

“You can stay if you’d like. I want to keep visitors to a minimum but

if she’d like someone here I’m fine with it.” He excused himself, giving

Katrina a kind pat on her shoulder.

Smith and Terrell showed up a short while thereafter with Doctor

Jorgenson on their tail, threatening to kick them both out if they disturbed her. Katrina reassured him she could handle a little

conversation with the two most boring detectives in the world and he watched them suspiciously for a moment before excusing himself from the room again.

Katrina talked at length about the part of the story they’d not

witnessed and she cried a good portion of that time. Imogen sat beside her on the bed, rubbing her back or squeezing her shoulder.

She’d been so relieved to be alive she’d not really let herself think about the part she’d played in ending a man’s life. The life was

threatening hers and that ought to be enough to make it okay and vindicate her guilt—but sadly, she was learning it was just plain hard to

be responsible for sticking a knife in a man’s gut even if that man wanted

to rape and murder her.

In the end though it had been Josh who’d finished him off. She’d thought until the very last moment when his aim shifted down to the floor in front of her that it would be her life ending but Josh squeezed the trigger, plugging a hole through Clinton’s chest.

He’d sobbed like a baby afterward but had wasted little time pulling

her up and dragging her out of the room when he heard SWAT officers

storming the house. But the house was old and what they’d failed to realize was the garage was an add-on. The old cellar door still let out right into the garage and while the officers were storming the upstairs and just making it into the basement and searching through the cluttered

and dark rooms, he was dragging her up the cellar stairs and into the garage in hopes of escaping, though she couldn’t imagine he was holding

out much hope at that point.

When she started crying for the last time as she related the details to

the detectives, she couldn’t seem to figure out how to turn the

waterworks off and they finally stood and offered to catch up with her after she was released.

Imogen asked about Dillon and Stephens as she stood to walk them to

the door. Katrina cringed at the sound of his name and she wasn’t really

even sure why. Seeing him in front of her at the house had been one of

the most emotional moments of her life. He stood in front of her looking

as desperate as she felt but there was no denying she’d put herself in the

position yet again.

She’d made the decision to run away from him rather than face him in

all his fury and anger and it had nearly gotten her killed. She just didn’t

know how to feel about any of it anymore, least of all him.

“I’m guessing they’re both getting their asses reamed at the moment.”

There was a subtle smirk on Smith’s face as he spoke and Terrell glared

at him for a moment. Then they were gone and Imogen turned back to her.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“What?”

“Don’t play stupid. He’s going to show up soon to see you. You know he will. His family too perhaps.”

“I can’t. Not right now.” She looked up to Imogen’s eyes. She could

see unvoiced disagreement in her expression but she kept her peace—at

least for the time being. Imogen would always speak her mind and Kat

knew it would come soon enough but she meant it when she said it. She

just wasn’t ready to deal with him. And at the same time she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

She fell into a restless sleep that woke her constantly as she dreamed

of being raped, tortured, killed. The next round of nightmares, she saw herself killing him, she felt the knife plunge into his body, she heard the

sickening sound of slicing flesh and she felt the warm ooze of his blood

around her fingers.

Every time she woke Imogen was there to hush her. It became an

endless game of sleeping, waking in terror, being shushed like a baby and then doing it all over again. But she was alive. She was not going to

end up as some dead body in a ditch somewhere. At least not on this day.

* * * * *

He usually liked Imogen. He liked Imogen a lot actually but as she crept from Katrina’s room she shook her head. “She doesn’t want to see

anyone.”

“Anyone.” He mumbled the words as he contemplated what they

might mean.

“You.” Imogen looked a bit devastated as she spoke the word. “She doesn’t want to see you—” His jaw clenched tight at her words. “Right

now.”

“Right now.” He repeated her.

“Yet…”

“Yet…” He was incapable of any original speech and as he glanced

up to her feeling pathetic and stupid, she pursed her lips and cocked her

head sympathetically to the side. Stephens reached for her shoulder and

squeezed gently.

“I’m sorry, Dillon.” She was practically whispering.

“You’ll tell her I stopped by then?” She nodded and he turned from her to head back the way he’d come.

To say he was devastated was an understatement. He wasn’t sure

why he’d expected her to be happy to see him after his cruel treatment of

her over the past forty-eight hours.

He’d nearly forgotten all about it, having gotten so wrapped up in her

nearly dying and all, but there it was. She certainly had not forgotten what a prick the man who loved her could be. It didn’t much matter if he’d had a good reason to be upset with her or not. He’d been too upset.

He’d said too many cruel and awful things to her and he’d just been too

big an asshole for her to forgive.

He sat silently in the car as Stephens drove them back to the precinct.

He stared out the window. He was more relieved than he could even put

into words. She was finally safe. Finally—and yet he felt as though he’d

lost her in the process.

Balancing Seth and Katrina had been his undoing. Ironically, they

balanced perfectly with each other. It was he who’d fucked it up—

thinking he could handle Seth, Katrina and the threat that had loomed over her head.

She’d been right to say he’d set her up for failure. He had. Dillon had

been right to tell her she had no reason to feel guilty about her situation.

He was absolutely right about that. But right didn’t seem to change much

for them. It had fallen apart regardless.

When he walked into Molly’s house she met him at the front door and

gave him a hug. “The boys are asleep upstairs. How is she?” It was late—

well after midnight—and she looked as exhausted as he felt.

“I wouldn’t know. She won’t see me.” He stumbled past her and she

followed him into the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and she

grabbed her own.

“Give her time, Dillon.”

“No. I think I fucked it up.” He nodded in self-chastisement. It wasn’t

hard to remember the hurt in her eyes when he’d condemned her for being human. He could still easily hear her quiet sobs as she pleaded with him and he remembered every last word she’d spoken to him that

morning—the last moment he saw her before she nearly died.

“What did Greenwood say?”

“Three weeks unpaid suspension. He spent the better part of an hour

yelling but in truth he’s letting me off pretty easy. If I’d have shot the man, I’m not sure I’d be keeping my job, given my completely

inappropriate relationship with the victim. There’s no question she

stabbed Latham in self-defense and Josh Grant is ultimately the one who

put a bullet through his chest and killed him. The fact I had little bearing on how it played out is likely my saving grace.”

“That’s a relief. Mom and Dad are flying in tomorrow. I’ve been

talking to them all night. They’re really concerned about you both.”

“Yeah? Well unless they have better luck than I had getting in to see

Katrina they shouldn’t expect much.” He looked up from the spot his eyes were glued to on the table to see her sad face peering back at him.

He took a deep breath. “It was just too much.” She watched him,

waiting for him to continue. “Not the best way to start a relationship.”

“So take away psychopaths trying to fuck it all up—would you two

have worked? Better yet, would you three have worked?”

He didn’t need to think long to answer that one. “Yes. I love her. No

question. Seth loves her too. We’re both crazy about her and I saw our life with her.”

“Then maybe it’s not time to throw in the towel just yet.”

He spaced off for a moment. The first time he met her came popping

into his head. She’d been so angry at him. He’d deserved it and she’d held nothing back. And yet even with all her attitude and pissiness he’d

been completely drawn to her. He’d loved her spunk, her quirkiness.

Catching her staring at his ass in the parking lot before she’d sped off

had sealed the deal for him. He wanted her instantly and he’d wanted her more and more with every passing day since—even through his

anger at her he’d wanted nothing more than to get past it and move forward with her.

“I told her I wanted to marry her.” He mumbled the words as Molly’s

mouth dropped open.

“And?”

“And she said someday.”

“What does that mean?”

“Someday being after the psychopaths were all gone and we could have a life that didn’t revolve around this constant fight to keep her safe.”

“So…someday meaning today?”

“Like I said, I think I fucked that up.”

“And like I said, it’s not time to throw in the towel yet.”

* * * * *

He wanted to believe what Molly said but when he’d left Imogen a message asking that Katrina call him and that message went unanswered

the next day, throwing in the towel seemed to be exactly what Katrina wanted to do.

When he left two more messages over the next couple of days and

still received no response, he started losing hope Katrina ever wanted to

hear from him again. And on the fourth day when he’d still heard nothing from her, and Seth asked him where she was, he finally

conceded the woman he loved was done with him.

“Seth, I was pretty awful to Katrina when I found out how she’d lost

her cell phone. I don’t think I can fix that. It was my fault.”

“No duh, Dad. I know you were a dick to her.”

“Language.” He was trying to be stern but given his own guilt at having driven away the woman he loved he wasn’t doing his parenting

skills much justice.

“Stop being such a chicken. Go see her. It’s not like it’s any secret where she’s staying. She still has a sub for class, so she’s just sitting at Ms. Graham’s house being upset. If you like her, you need to go talk to

her. Tell her you’re sorry.”

Seth was looking at him in exasperation and Dillon’s parents who

were sitting around the dining room table were watching the

conversation with interest. “It’s what you’d tell me to do if I was mean to

someone!”

Dillon didn’t miss the smirk on his mother’s face.

“It’s complicated, Seth.”

“Stop saying that! Why do grownups always say that? Uncomplicate

it. What’s so hard about that?” Seth stalked from the room, leaving him

to fend for himself against his parents’ prying eyes. They said nothing, just telepathically kicked his ass with their chastising expressions.

But none of them quite understood his guilt. He’d hurt the woman he

loved in a way she could never deserve and she didn’t want him

anymore as a result. He didn’t blame her. He blamed himself. They had

everything they’d always needed and now it was lost. They’d waited for

this time, this time that was free of threat and now it was here and she

was gone.

And it was his fault.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Dillon called again today, Trink.”

Katrina’s brow instantly furrowed but she said nothing. She’d

replaced her phone already but she was guessing he didn’t know that.

Why would he? She was refusing to speak to him.

Oddly, it wasn’t even as though she didn’t want to speak to him or see him. She missed him so much it hurt. But she didn’t know how to go

back to a life with him. Maybe she’d been right when she’d suggested that adrenaline was fueling their relationship. Perhaps her desire for him

would fade away with time.

Perhaps she was just a damn idiot. She loved him. She didn’t question

it for even one moment. Adrenaline hadn’t fueled their relationship—

they had. And they’d done it easily. But so much had happened.

She’d fucked up and endangered his son and that was always going

to be there between them she feared. He’d lashed out and shown her just

how cruel and terrifying he could be. She’d deserved it but she wasn’t sure she could cope with it.

She was tired of feeling guilty. She’d never been prone to guilt so easily before, but it was a constant thing for her now and she was sick and damn tired of feeling as though her life was sullying everyone else’s

around her.

She’d met with a counselor earlier in the week at Imogen’s urging.

Apparently you couldn’t be part of killing a person—even a bad one—

and come out unscathed. She was going to be seeing the kindly older woman a couple of times a week for a while and she was oddly looking

forward to it. Daphne was her name. Of course, it reminded her of Dillon’s mother Delphi but she just had to push those thoughts from her

mind.

Daphne hadn’t thought she was crazy at all when she’d talked about

the incessant and ceaseless guilt that plagued her. She’d understood it fully. She’d even given her insight into it and explained it in such a way

that Katrina questioned why she’d ever been confused by it.

Of course it made sense. Her life had affected so many others—others’

lives who she valued as much as her own—and it was impossible not to

feel guilt for the pain and fear they’d been caused. Daphne applauded Katrina’s guilt. She didn’t think it was warranted at this point but she applauded Katrina’s depth of caring for those around her.

Naturally that brought her to Dillon. She avoided talking about him as long as possible but every avenue they explored seemed to lead back

to him. Eventually she gave in.

“Why do you think you’re avoiding him?”

She shrugged. It was their second meeting, five days after DOP—

death of psycho as she’d dubbed it. Psychos in her case. What had she done to attract two such lovely men? Katrina had struggled to attract even one decent man in the past and suddenly, she had one gold mine of

a keeper who wanted to marry her, and two psychopaths on her tail all at

once. Perhaps the two psychos were nature’s way of saying tut tut tut, you don’t deserve Dillon, little girl.

“I don’t know.”

“Sure you do. So, how about you explain it to me?”

She glanced out Daphne’s window before looking back to her kind

and motherly eyes—at least what Kat thought motherly eyes would look

like. She had no real frame of reference of course.

“I think he’s too good for me.” She hated the sound of her voice when

she said it. She hated the words too. There wasn’t a single person who cared about her who would agree with that analogy and yet it was what

she felt.

“Why?”

She thought about that for a moment. She wasn’t even sure how to put it into words. There had been something amazing about seeing

Dillon standing in the driveway with his gun trained on Josh. His focus

was singular and determined. His incredible need to protect her had overridden his own safety, his own job, everything. Everything for her.

She, on the other hand, had made one stupid mistake after another, ultimately landing her in the clutches of psychopath number one. She was back to guilt again. She knew that. But it was the truth.

She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again and then finally took a

deep breath and tried to explain.

“I’m almost mesmerized by his strength, his morality, his decency. He

really is all those things. He may not be perfect but he’s amazing. I guess

I’m just not sure what he could possibly see in me. I’ve screwed up. A lot.

I mean he was willing to give up so much for me and I couldn’t seem to

hack it. His own son’s life was jeopardized by me. That would never have happened to him. He’d have been too smart to let it.”

Daphne stared at her slowly shaking her head. “First of all, he’s a cop,

so no duh. He’s trained to think about these things in a way you’re not.

Second of all, you made a great man fall in love with you all while dealing with psychopaths and your life being in danger. And you did all

that without losing your mind.” She was smiling sweetly.

“Really?” Kat was being sarcastic.

“Yes, really. You’re not crazy, dear. You’re exhausted, you’re coping,

you’re learning what it’s like to not have to fear death literally every second of your waking life again. These things affect a person in a big way. Relief that you’re safe may be the obvious emotion you would expect to feel but that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing you should expect

to feel right now. I’ll say it again, these things affect a person.”

“See? Crazy.”

“Not crazy. Normal. Cut yourself some slack. You’ve been through

hell and back over the past couple months. You dealt with it and you survived it. Stop selling yourself short. This whole disaster has taken its

toll on you but it’s done now. It’s time to get your life back.”

Daphne’s eyes flashed to the clock on the wall and she cocked her head to the side. “Time’s up. So, Tuesday and Friday next week too?”

Katrina nodded as she stood. “Thanks, Daphne.”

Daphne hugged her before Katrina left. It was Friday and Imogen had

made Katrina promise to go out to a movie that night. She was looking

forward to it after a week of sitting at Imogen’s alone during the day just

so Imogen could bring home all the well-wishes from their coworkers every night.

But even as she pulled from her parking spot at the clinic with a small

measure of optimism, she lost it when she thought of him.

* * * * *

“Hi, Imogen.” She looked wary. She was going to turn him away and

she didn’t want to. That’s what she looked like.

“Hi.”

“Can I come in?” She glanced behind her as if looking to see if the coast was clear.

“I’m not sure that’s…I’m sorry. She’s just…I don’t know what she is.

Confused?”

“It’s my fault. Imogen, I really need to talk to her.”

“Do you love her?” She looked horribly concerned.

“You know I do.”

“I mean really love her? Like rest-of-her-life love her?”

“I told her I wanted to marry her, didn’t I? Yes, I do.”

“Then figure out some way to convince her she deserves that.” Her expression was almost pleading, worried. “She’s upstairs. I assume you

know where you’re going?”

He nodded as he stepped into her entryway. “Umm…Stephens asked

me to tell you hi.” The feisty Brit beside him was suddenly blushing and

a small smile crept over her lips. But Dillon had another destination in mind.

He hopped the stairs two at a time. He might have looked in a hurry

to get to her and he was—but he was also terrified and he was trembling

even as he moved forward. When he reached her door, he knocked.

“I said I’d be down in a few, Imogen. For fuck’s sake, woman. Don’t

you British bitches have any patience?” He laughed quietly before he could stop himself. She certainly sounded like his Kat.

He pushed the door open and caught her in a robe, sitting on a chair

in front of the French doors out to the balcony, rubbing lotion into her leg. She craned her neck around and sucked in a quick and shocked breath.

“Well I’m not British and the last woman to call me a bitch had handcuffs on and I was reading her her rights—but you nailed me on the

patience. Never has been my strong suit.”

She took a steadying breath as she stood. He could hear her breathing

tremble as she exhaled and he could see it in her diaphragm as he watched her chest fall. She covered her mouth with her hand and as she

did her brow furrowed, her nostrils flared and her eyes filled with tears.

He fought the emotion pricking at the back of his eyes and he stared

at her. She’d not said a word to him, and he wasn’t sure he could handle

it if she sent him packing.

When she turned back to the window, he saw her head shake subtly.

He approached her as his heart hammered and panicked. He couldn’t let

her destroy them. He loved her too much and he knew she loved him too. She’d have to do a damn good job convincing him otherwise if she

expected him to leave her in peace.

He reached for her shoulders, clasping them in his hands as he closed

in behind her body. The sun was setting out over the water and he wanted to be able to enjoy such an incredible view with her. But that wasn’t going to happen until they made it past this hurdle.

He leaned down to her and she turned slightly toward him.

“I told you once we don’t do separate anymore. We’re a whole, you

and I.” She took another deep and shuddering breath. “I may have tried

to convince you otherwise in my anger and you may have believed me in

your need to hold yourself responsible and guilty, but it changes

nothing. We are and always will be as whole as ever.”

He waited for something—anything at all—but she just stared

straight ahead. It wasn’t all she was doing though. She sniffed back the

tears that were falling silently.

“Please look at me?” She turned slowly toward him. She looked up to

him but her eyes dropped quickly to his chest. “Please, Kat.”

He cupped her chin in his hand and gently urged her face to tilt up to

his. When she finally held his gaze without looking away he spoke. “I love you. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

She let out a pained sob as her gaze shifted from him again but he pulled her face back again. “I love you.” He said it forcefully as though

he could only make her truly understand if she heard the power behind

what he was saying. “Tell me you don’t love me if you want me to go.”

He believed she loved him. From the bottom of his heart he believed

it, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified waiting to hear her say it.

“I love you.”

It was barely more than a whisper but the moment it was out of her

mouth he attacked her lips. He kissed the mouth he thought he’d never

get the chance to kiss again and he tasted her warmth as though he’d been deprived a lifetime.

Her body stilled in shock at first, but that lasted only a moment before

she turned the force of her lips on him. He pushed her body back to the

bed and when he turned her to face the bed he reached around her to undo the sash tied at her waist.

He quickly pulled his t-shirt off over his head and he splayed one hand out on her lower stomach, holding her body close to his. His chest

and stomach were tight to her back and he leaned down, kissing the top

of her shoulder before he undid the button at his waist and lowered his

zipper with his free hand.

He shoved his pants and underwear down, letting them drop to the

floor. When he leaned forward into the back side of her body she took the hint and leaned down to climb onto the bed.

He followed, keeping his body close to hers as he kicked his shoes off

and stepped out of his pants. He yanked his socks off quickly as he climbed behind her to cover her most incredible figure with his. He was

straddling her hips just below her bottom and he was so aroused it was

difficult to not simply push his way between her legs and into her body.

Instead of that he leaned down and kissed gently along the side of her

neck as she moaned and whimpered. “I love you.” He whispered the

words in her ear before he kissed her neck again.

He kissed a trail along the back of her neck as he moved her long hair

out of his way and when he ended up at her other ear he whispered again. “I love you.” He kissed along her shoulders and every so often he’d take a break to whisper it again. “I love you.”

When he rolled her over to face him her eyes were puffy and she still

had tears on her cheeks. He kissed them away. “I love you.” He couldn’t

stop telling her what she meant to him and she just watched him. He kissed her mouth. “I love you.”

He kissed a trail down to her breast that now had only the faintest of

scars running across it. “I love you.” Over to her other breast. He pulled

her nipple between his lips and she whimpered. “I love you.” He moved

farther down her body over her tummy and between her legs and he took a break from telling her how much he loved her, long enough to lie

between her legs and latch his mouth to her sex.

She started writhing beneath his mouth and her hands quickly found

his as their fingers wove together and gripped each other. He sucked her

clit between his lips, pulling and licking at it and he listened as she started to fall apart. It left her stomach muscles contracting as he watched her body twitch through her orgasm and when he finally crawled back up her body he kissed her once. “I love you.”

She bit her lip as he spoke and then she reached to his face. She caressed his lower lip, studying him as her fingers moved. She reached up and brushed a finger along his brow and hers flinched as she

watched. She trailed that same finger down the bridge of his nose to end

on his top lip and then she leaned up and kissed him. “I love you too.”

His cock was already nestled between the warm, wet lips of her sex and when he started to push into her he reached down, touching her spot

—the spot she loved to feel. He framed his fingers on either side of her

opening, pushing slowly into her body. He could feel his dick pushing past his fingers and into her tightness and he groaned until he’d finally

pushed all the way in.

He pulled his hand from between them just long enough to intertwine

his fingers with hers, pinning her hands above her head. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he started rocking into her.

He was slow at first. He watched her eyes, he studied her lips, he kissed her but when she started pushing up into him, their bodies started

moving faster. By the time she was coming again, he was pushing

powerful strokes into her and she was crying out with every deep

invasion but she held tight to his hips.

He came shortly after she did, and buried his face in her neck as he released his hold on her hands. She wrapped her arms around him,

holding him tight to her as he pulsed inside her. “I love you.” He whispered in her ear one final time before shifting their bodies so she lay

facing him.

“Marry me.” He brushed the hair from her eyes as she looked at him.

“Now marry me.”

“Yes.”

Epilogue

Five years later

“Marley, go give your brother a big hug and tell him

congratulations.” Katrina was whispering in Marley’s ear and Dillon was

chuckling beside her.

“You know she has no idea what ‘congratulations’ really means,

much less why she’s congratulating Seth.” He was taunting her as she settled into her spot by him on the blanket.

“Don’t underestimate our daughter. She’s smart for three and a half.”

“Yes she is. Takes after her mother.”

“Indeed.” He wrapped his arms around Katrina, pulling her between

his legs to sit. He started rubbing her shoulders as she stretched her neck.

She was wearing a sundress that made it very easy for him to slip his fingers under the straps and get his hands right down on her skin and she hummed as he massaged.

They were watching Marley as she ran up to Seth. He crouched down

to her level as she spoke. He laughed and picked her up, swinging her around in a circle. Seth still had his graduation gown on but it was unzipped and he’d lost his cap earlier in the day.

Seth lifted Marley to sit on his shoulders and as they made their way

across the large expanse of grass at the park to the large blanket Dillon and Kat were sitting on, he flipped Marley over his shoulders and down

onto his lap as he sat down on the blanket with them.

“Hey Dad, can Jake and I go out tonight?”

“I suppose it depends on whether you intend to act like the adult you

are or the obnoxious high schooler you used to be.”

“Hmm. Probably gonna act like a high schooler but I promise I’ll call

if we get arrested.”

“That better be a joke.”

Seth cocked his head in the annoyed manner he’d never managed to

lose and Kat laughed at them. “So that’s a yes, right?”

“Yes.”

The graduation party was in a park and it was a simple affair. Seth never cared much for big to-dos and he’d never hear a complaint from Dillon in that regard. Jake was playing Frisbee with his grandfather and

though Michael was slowing down some at sixty-three, Dillon couldn’t help but think the man was spry as hell for his age.

Molly was sitting at a nearby picnic table deep in conversation with Delphi about Brent, Molly’s fiancé. In truth, the conversation likely had

far more to do with wedding planning than anything else and Brent was

little more than a side note. He couldn’t make it to the party that afternoon, as he’d been called away. He was a firefighter with the city and he was literally the first man Molly had ever dated who Dillon actually liked—likely because the taxpayers paid both their salaries.

When Seth hopped up to join Jake and Michael, Marley chased after

him and left Dillon with his lovely wife and her very accessible sundress.

“Whatcha wanna bet the little miss is going to fall asleep on the way home?”

Katrina turned toward him. “I’m counting on it. If Seth is going with

Jake that gives us two hours of uninterrupted adult time.”

“Ah. So what shall it be, dear? A five-minute quickie and a one-hour

fifty-five minute nap or one hour of making love and a one-hour nap?”

“Hmm. How about fifty-five minutes of foreplay, one hour of making

love and a five-minute nap?”

“That’s my good little nympho.” He pulled her back against his body

and snuggled into her neck as they watched Seth toss the Frisbee to Jake

and Marley squeal as she chased after it. He chuckled with his lips to her

neck. “I love you.” He whispered it in her ear. He did multiple times most days and he’d never tired of saying it. Nor would he ever.

“I love you too.” Katrina seemed as fond of the words as he was.

Marley was fast asleep by the time they got halfway home and he

reached for his wife’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as she turned to look at their daughter sleeping in her car seat. She smiled at him. It was

her seductive smile.

He carried Marley upstairs, laying her gently down in her toddler bed

and closing the drapes. Kat stood at the door watching him and he crept

from the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Katrina pulled him to her the moment the door was closed, kissing him. He lifted her to straddle his hips and he took his wife to bed.

The End

Document Outline

• Blurb
• Title
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six
• Chapter Seven
• Chapter Eight
• Chapter Nine
• Chapter Ten
• Chapter Eleven
• Chapter Twelve
• Chapter Thirteen
• Chapter Fourteen
• Chapter Fifteen
• Chapter Sixteen
• Chapter Seventeen
• Chapter Eighteen
• Chapter Nineteen
• Chapter Twenty
• Chapter Twenty-One
• Chapter Twenty-Two
• Chapter Twenty-Three
• Chapter Twenty-Four
• Chapter Twenty-Five
• Chapter Twenty-Six
• Chapter Twenty-Seven
• Chapter Twenty-Eight
• Chapter Twenty-Nine
• Chapter Thirty
• Chapter Thirty-One
• Chapter Thirty-Two
• Chapter Thirty-Three
• Epilogue
• About Elizabeth Finn

Impressum

Texte: Deborah Pin
Bildmaterialien: Deborah Pin
Cover: Deborah Pin
Lektorat: Deborah Pin
Übersetzung: Deborah Pin
Satz: Deborah Pin
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 17.10.2017

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