She was blushing. Furiously. She should stop blushing but she couldn’t. There were feelings unraveling. Emotions long suppressed. Long denied. She felt drunk. A bit lightheaded. Maybe she’d sipped a bit too much pink champagne with her birthday cake? She felt like she had those times she watched him strutting down the hallway in his towel.
He was so cute standing there looking down at her. His dark gaze made her feel so weird and so good at the same time and his head was lowering. His wonderful smell played havoc with her senses. She wanted to run. She wanted to stay. She just wanted him inside her.
Then his hands were tenderly cupping her face and his lips melted over hers. At the soft impact of his mouth, she swore her toes curled inside her shoes. His kiss was featherlight and ignited sensations she’d never felt before. Feelings that zapped through her in sizzling lashes.
His hot mouth branded her, unleashing streaks of pleasure. She loved him so much. She whimpered, her arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him closer. His chest crushed her breasts and she could feel the wild banging of his heart.
At first, it seemed as if he wanted to break away, to stop the kiss, but she must have been mistaken. He uncupped her face, his fingers trailing down along the sides of her breasts to behind her back. His hands lowered in sensuous movements, fingertips massaging, until they settled on her ass.
A low growl erupted from him and sifted into her mouth. He pulled her hips against his, giving her a really good feel of the hard, huge heat between his thighs. The feel of his erection pushing against her lower belly electrified her. She shook with a wild need, gyrating against him.
He broke the soft kiss and breathed hard against her mouth.
“I came back because I missed you. I needed to see you. Needed to kiss you.”
Her senses reeled at his words. His mouth locked onto hers again. This time harder. He kissed her until her mouth was on fire and her body went feverish with a desire she knew of only one way to quench. Him fucking her.
His hips moved rhythmically against her, keeping in tune with her gyrations. She felt the storm of lust growing inside her, pushing her toward a climax that until now, she’d only managed to have by masturbating. But this was going to be different. Better. She could feel it.
Her head spun when he pushed his tongue past her lips and between her teeth into her mouth.
Wow! This guy knew how to make a girl feel good. No, she wasn’t a girl. She was a woman. His woman?
She smelled the power of his scent. Felt her blood racing through her veins as her tongue met his in a dance of lust. She unhooked her arms from around his neck and smoothed her palms over his strong muscle-laced shoulders, massaging his flesh, feeling his biceps flex as she dug her fingers into them.
On a low growl he lifted his head and cursed softly.
“Some kiss,” he breathed heavily. She opened her eyes and found him smiling down at her.
But he was shaking his head. His dark gaze looking so hot, she moaned.
“I better go before something happens that shouldn’t.”
Oh my God! Was he for real? She was on fire. She wanted him. Now. Up against the wall!
“Nick.”
He pressed a finger to her swollen lips. “Shh, we have time. I have to go.”
“No,” she muttered. She was so primed. So ready. He had to be crazy.
“It’s best this way.” He grinned that sexy grin that made her just about come.
“I can come to your hotel room,” she blurted in a desperate whisper that had him stiffening in her arms.
“There’s nothing more I’d like, Summer. Fuck, nothing more, but I can’t.”
He was pulling away, avoiding her gaze. The smile faded from his mouth and his eyes. He turned and took a few steps toward the stairs.
“Why did you come then?” she blurted, trying hard to see through the sudden swell of stinging tears.
“I told you. To see you.”
“Bullshit, Nick.”
He turned back around to face her and ran his hands through his hair. She knew he did that when he was frustrated about something. Good, she was glad he was upset because he’d sure aggravated her!
He nodded as if coming to some kind of conclusion about something.
“Give me some time. Can you do that?”
What the hell did he mean by that?
She wasn’t sure if she was shaking her head or nodding, but he turned around again, his broad back staring her in the face as he took the steps three at a time. Then he disappeared.
Who knew that would be the last time she’d see him? And she meant that quite literally.
Chapter One
Ten years later
“Hello? Is anyone there?” Summer called out as the nearby alcove door of her California Carmel-by-the-Sea art gallery creaked open. She turned to face the soft sound of footsteps padding into the room where she’d been setting up her newest exhibit of erotic woodcarving.
“Hello? We don’t open until Monday morning,” she called to the intruder. Her assistant, Mary, had left only a few minutes ago to grab them a late night snack so they could finish up tonight and take tomorrow off to do some shopping for more supplies for her next batch of art.
Whoever had entered, it wasn’t Mary because the elderly lady walked briskly, as if she meant business. Whoever was there didn’t respond, but she could hear someone breathing somewhere to her left. Could actually feel her skin crawl as someone watched her. Uneasiness lashed her and she suddenly wished for her assistant.
Gosh, she hadn’t realized how dependant she was on Mary. Ever since she’d come into Summer’s life several months earlier, she’d been her eyes, describing the quaint European story book cottages lining the town streets they shopped at or explaining how the blue-green ocean interacted with the rocky coastline when Mary drove Summer to and from her art gallery.
“Hello?” she called again, getting really nervous at the person’s rudeness for not answering.
Ever since the accident ten years ago that claimed her vision she’d learned not to jump at every little sound. Freaking out would only riddle her with unwanted anxiety. She focused on using her other senses. Her ears could pick up sounds a normal seeing person couldn’t hear and her nostrils were definitely picking up the sharp aroma of aftershave.
Okay. So it was a man and he carried a dark, dangerous scent she’d never smelled before. Despite not wanting to be, she suddenly felt frightened.
“Are you lost? My assistant can help you.” Despite her fear, she managed to keep her voice surprisingly calm.
Reaching for the pager she kept strapped in a waist holster, she fumbled with the tight clasp. As it snapped open and her hand touched the plastic pager the man’s harsh voice stopped her cold.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Ms. Colby.”
She froze. Whether it was because of the heavy way he was breathing or because of his thick, sharp, commanding voice—a voice she didn’t think she’d heard before—instinct told her this guy meant her harm.
Fear zipped up a few notches and for a brief instant, she couldn’t think of what to do, let alone which way to move.
“I’ve wanted you for too long, Summer,” the man whispered hoarsely. His breathing was getting heavier, quicker. She sensed him drawing closer. Moving very slowly like a cat getting ready to pounce on a blind mole.
Oh frig. He definitely meant to hurt her.
Mary! Where are you?
She heard him take another step closer.
She backed away. Felt the sharp corner of a table jab against the back of her thigh. Swallowing against her suddenly dry throat she tried hard not to panic as alarm bells slammed through her brain. This guy wanted to do very bad things to her.
“A sweet, angelic looking woman like you deserves to be captured, Summer. Fucked all day long and all night. Bound and gagged. Totally helpless and under my full control until I deem your punishment is over and I send you to the fiery gates of hell for what you did to
me you traitorous bitch.”
Oh God! This guy is nuts.
“Get out of here,” she said as she tried to yank the pager out of the leather holster. But the holster was so new and so tight she’d been having trouble with it ever since she bought it a couple of weeks back. Yet the leather had smelled so good, she’d put up with the tightness. Now she realized her mistake in buying it.
Oh sweet mercy! The pager won’t budge!
Reaching along the edge of the table she tried to remember where she’d placed her walking cane. In her haste, her knuckles grazed the handle and the stupid cane fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
The intruder shot her a casual chuckle that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand to immediate attention. He’d come closer now.
Too close. Cold horror grabbed hold of her.
“I said get the hell out of here,” she yelled.
Her assailant chuckled again. The awful sound sent icy curls up her back.
“I’ve paged my assistant,” she warned. “He’s on his way back. He’ll be here any minute,” she lied, figuring the creep would be frightened off more easily if she said a guy was coming back and not a sixty-year-old woman.
“Don’t worry, sweet Summer. We’ll be long gone by then.”
Oh frig! Run!
No. She needed to work on keeping her thoughts straight. Needed to remember her self-defense lessons. But nothing came to mind!
She finally managed to get the pager out of the holster and was about to press the button, but it slid from her trembling fingers and rattled to the floor.
Fuck! What the hell was with her sudden clumsiness?
“You are such a pretty thing, Summer. Red curly hair and summer blue eyes. Just the way I like my fallen angels. Your plump breasts will fit perfectly in my palms. That sinfully sexy body of yours…” He let out a slow whistle that sent icy shivers up her back.
“You’re too sinful not to be punished.”
“Leave or I scream,” she shouted, finding her last thin thread of sanity starting to slip. Maybe she was having a nightmare and was safe and sound in her bed?
He ignored her and kept talking. Kept stepping closer. Nice and slow as if he had all the time in the world. As if he knew Mary wasn’t coming back?
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
“When I first saw you I knew I just had to add you to my collection of punished sweethearts.”
His collection? Was he a killer? Oh Lord! Don’t do this to me!
Suddenly she was paralyzed. Unable to scream. Unable to run. He kept coming closer. She swore he was about two feet away, right in front of her, blocking her way to the front door.
“I want to see what kind of a spitfire that red hair makes you, Summer. I want to feel you struggle under my strength. Will you be my most challenging redhead because of your blindness? Or will you tremble like all the others? I need to get you naked and splayed out on a table so I can fuck your tight pussy. I want to hear you scream. Hear you beg.”
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. She was going to lose it. She was.
His breathing sounded so loud in her ears she swore he was right there inside her head. Something else, besides his aftershave, permeated the air. A rancid chemical odor. Chloroform?
The darkness she’d been living in for years suddenly seemed claustrophobic. Stifling, just as it had been right after the accident when she’d woken to find out she was blind.
Fragments of her life suddenly flashed in the darkness behind her eyes. The night of her nineteenth birthday party. Her mother and father driving her home from the restaurant where they’d thrown her a surprise birthday bash. She’d been upset at Nick’s desertion, snapping at her parents to leave her alone. Then the bright lights. Her parents’ screams. Then waking up to the devastating news of her parents’ deaths and her unexplained blindness.
She’d been overwhelmed. Unable to sort out her feelings. Her brother Ryan coming home from his bodyguard job in the Middle East and smothering her with affection and attention.
Oh, Ryan. Her brother would be devastated if something happened to her. She couldn’t leave him all alone in this world. She had to escape!
Her brain flashed a warning about the intruder and she came back to reality. Instinctively she kicked out to where she sensed he stood. Her foot impacted with hard solid flesh and the sound of an oomph followed. A hand grabbed her ankle, painfully twisting her foot, throwing her off balance. She fell backward, her right hip smacking hard with the edge of the marble table behind her. Pain flared and she cried out.
The bastard continued to hold her ankle. And he was chuckling. The overwhelming reek of chemicals assaulted her nose. She held her breath and struck out with her fists, meeting her assailant’s hard chest.
She screamed as he let go of her foot, sending her sailing sideways through the air. A burst of pain sliced against the base of her neck. Silver stars erupted behind her eyes. Blackness smothered her.
Terror Bodyguard Services
Kuwait
“Sorry I had to pull you out of Saudi, but you’re the only one that I know who has lots of ties back in the States. More than me. What did you find out about what’s happening with this serial killer who went after my sister?”
Nick frowned at Ryan Colby’s question and tossed several color photos onto his desk. Nick didn’t like the icy shivers creeping up his back as he watched his friend pick up the photos and sift through them. The women in the pictures all looked eerily similar to Ryan’s sister, Summer. Various shades of red hair. Blue eyes. Happy and cheerful smiles.
“The perp is a bad one,” Nick began. “From what I’ve gathered the guy has been around for a few months. Apparently, he was active about fifteen years ago for about two years. Killed six women that they know of and then he just stopped. He could have ended up in jail. Maybe got married. On meds. Who knows. Several months ago, something triggered him to start again. He’s not keeping the women for as long a period as his first time around. He’s already killed four. He targets redheads with blue eyes. Tall, slender, single. They’re always artists. He keeps the women alive for several weeks, tortures them, rapes them and finally kills them. He’s taken women from all over the States and Canada. There’s no real pattern. They think it’s one guy. They’re checking with the victim’s families for possibilities that the vics may have met him at art sales or workshops or maybe dating sites. In the meantime Summer is in serious danger and needs a bodyguard.”
Ryan suddenly looked up from the photos and his bold stare torpedoed Nick. “Glad to hear you say it, cause you’re him.”
Nick shifted in his chair, his leather coat creaking as he moved. His stomach turned with uneasiness. There was no way he was heading back to the States to see Summer. No fucking way. “Excuse me?”
“She would feel more comfortable with you. She knows you—”
“Hey, the last time I saw her, she made it clear she didn’t want me hanging around to help her out. I’m betting she still doesn’t want me around.”
“She didn’t want me around either back then. I mean it’s only natural you or I would show up as her bodyguard. We’re professional bodyguards and she knows I wouldn’t just trust anyone to protect her. Since she and I are currently fighting, like what else is new, she’d expect you to come and help her, right? Besides, she’s always liked you, Nick. She won’t fight this as bad if you show up.”
Nick shook his head, knowing full well she’d object. “The hell she won’t.”
“You scared?”
“Isn’t that why you’re sending me, instead of going yourself?”
His friend smiled dryly, but Nick noticed the man’s shoulders hunch in despair and desperation edged Ryan’s voice as he continued, “I’ve got some business that needs to be tied up. I’ll fly over in a day or two to see her and try to smooth things over. But I really need you on board with me on this, man.”
Nick stayed silent as guilt began to gnaw through him. How could he explain to his fri
end he wasn’t ready to see Summer again. Maybe he never would be ready, especially after the way things were left between them.
“Why the hell are you hesitating? This is Summer, for God’s sake! Is there a problem I’m not aware of?”
Nick shook his head, his uneasiness increasing a few notches. Maybe he should get his ass back to the States and check out things for himself. Ryan was right. This was Summer’s life on the line. He shouldn’t be letting what happened between them get in the way of her safety. He was extremely thankful Mary had walked in when she did and interrupted the freak. Summer had been lucky, but next time Nick wanted to be there to protect her. At that realization, all the walls he’d so carefully built up around his heart began to crack and crumble. Yeah, it was time to go back.
Sighing, he reached over, collected the photos from Ryan’s desk and pocketed them.
“No. No problem,” he lied. “Why don’t we get all the details ironed out while you drive me to the airport?”
Ryan sighed heavily. He seemed pleased and relieved that Nick had agreed.
“You won’t regret this, Nick. I owe you big-time.”
“Yeah, you do,” Nick said softly as he stood.
Ryan wasted no time in following him out the door.
Thirty-four hours later
Summer felt so warm and safe and relaxed. As if she were wrapped in a cocoon. She wanted to stay here forever. To enjoy this stress free environment. It felt so good. Yet a dull ache pounded through her head, preventing her from sinking back into oblivion.
The headache seemed to grow stronger and alarm shifted through her. The safe feeling she’d been floating in suddenly vanished and she tried to remember why she was suddenly so scared.
She remembered the footsteps, the intruder’s voice and the horrible threats.
“Miss Colby, can you hear me?” A woman’s voice slashed into her thoughts and Summer lay still. Who was here? Where was she? What happened with the intruder? She focused on bringing all her thoughts in line and remembered waking up to Mary’s panicked voice as she spoke to the 9-1-1 operator. She’d tried to tell Mary she’d only blacked out for a few minutes, but Mary had been adamant she stay still as per the operator’s instructions. Head injuries were nothing to fool with.
Whispers of Winter: A Limited Edition Collection of Winter Romances Page 45
