“You need some rest,” Dylan insisted, looping his arm around her waist. He led her in the direction of her suite.
Collena almost protested, because she didn’t want to be alone tonight. Not after what’d happened. But she went anyway since Dylan probably didn’t have the energy to play nursemaid for her. He’d tended her scrapes. He’d bullied Jonah into leaving and waiting on those statements. Now, he probably wanted time alone to try to come to terms with the fact that he’d killed a man.
“Rodney’s dead,” Dylan said. He opened her suite door and eased her just inside the room. “He can’t hurt you again.”
Not trusting her voice, she nodded. “Thank you for saving my life.”
Something went through his eyes. Not gratitude for her thank-you. It was something dark that went bone deep. Probably something to do with this latest incident bringing back old memories of his sister’s and fiancée’s deaths.
He reached out and skimmed his fingers over her chin. “Try to get some sleep.”
She nodded. But didn’t move.
Dylan didn’t move, either. Nor did he take his fingers from her chin. His touch was warm.
Comforting.
He groaned, the sound rumbling deep within his chest. “I should go,” he added. “You’re hurt, and you’re tired.”
But he didn’t go.
Collena just stood there, waiting, to see where this was leading. She didn’t have to wait long.
Dylan stepped closer. So close that she took in his scent. Sweat mixed with the cedars from the woods. And Dylan’s own scent was there, too.
She felt the shiver of heat before his hand moved from her chin to the back of her neck. She saw matching heat in the depth of his searing green eyes.
“This is wrong,” he admitted. Right before his mouth came to hers.
He kissed her gently, his lips shaping hers with soft pressure. His touch was equally gentle. A real contrast. Since she could feel his strength beneath the clever fingers that glided over her skin.
“This is wrong,” he repeated. “But unless you say no, I won’t stop.”
With that, he kissed her again, and Collena melted against him. Dylan was probably right—this was wrong. But she wasn’t going to say no. She wasn’t going to stop, either. She wanted him in her bed. In her arms.
She just wanted him.
So, Collena didn’t resist when he backed her into the suite and shut the door. And why should she resist? His looks alone could have seduced her. The bronze-colored hair tangled around his perfectly chiseled face. Those eyes, filled with longing and need.
Everything slowed down. Her heartbeat. Her breathing. Her thoughts. Even the emotions that’d had felt so raw and damaged just moments earlier spiraled down until they simply faded away.
Her body relaxed, and the pleasure of the kiss went through her like sips of fine, warmed whiskey.
Dylan didn’t hurry things. He took his time. Kissing her. Savoring her. Building the fire inside her by small degrees until it wasn’t enough. That was the problem with good, thorough kisses—ultimately they only made her want more.
Collena stepped closer to him. Pressing her body to his. She put her arms around him, to draw him closer, so that she could feel the solid muscles of his chest. That satisfied her for several moments, but then Dylan took his kisses to her neck.
He didn’t stop there.
Dylan eased off his shoulder holster and dropped it onto the table. Then, he slid his hand down the side of her body, all the way from her neck to her right breast. To her waist and to her hip. That’s when Collena knew it was time to do something about touching him.
She went after the buttons on his shirt.
“The scrapes on your hands,” he reminded her. “I don’t want you to be in pain.”
“Oh, I’m not in pain.” Though the scrapes and bruises were probably hurting, Collena couldn’t feel them. Need and passion were apparently great at numbing the body to anything unpleasant. And right now, the only thing she could feel was the ache of pleasure.
Collena opened his shirt. Found a solid man beneath. He was everything she thought he would be. Toned, naturally tanned pecs and abs. You couldn’t get that kind of body in a gym. This came from years of physical labor on the ranch.
A cowboy’s body.
Her cowboy, she said to herself. And she smiled at the thought of Dylan being hers, if only for tonight.
His shirt came off. He reciprocated by unzipping her dress and easing it off her shoulders. It fell to the floor.
He skimmed his gaze down her body, and the look in his eyes let her know that he appreciated what he saw. Collena did the same to him.
And she unzipped his jeans.
She kissed him on the chest that she’d been fantasizing about, and while she was kissing, she decided to sample his stomach, as well. She felt his muscles stir beneath her tongue and lips. She also felt his erection and knew that while the foreplay was incredible, that’s what she wanted from him.
Her stomach kisses obviously had an effect on Dylan. The intended effect. He made a husky sound of pleasure and sank down to her eye level. He went to his knees, gripped her waist and eased her down on the floor beside him.
The thick carpet was soft beneath her. That was the only thing her mind had time to register before he kissed her and everything went a little crazy. No more slow, soothing pace. Not this. His French kiss nearly caused her climax.
But the heat was just beginning.
With one hand, he unclasped her bra, and with the other, he removed her panties. It was an incredible sensation. Her bare breasts and sex on him.
But his jeans and boots had to go.
“Condom,” he mumbled, when she tugged off his boots and pushed the jeans down his hips.
Collena groaned.
Until he produced the wrapped condom from his pocket.
Dylan had obviously come prepared, and she rewarded his preparation with the best kiss she could manage. And she rewarded herself by running her hand into his boxers.
He was hot and hard. So ready. And she was ready, too. She stripped his jeans off him and arched her back so that their midsections would meet, his erection against the wet folds of her body.
Oh, mercy.
This had to happen now.
He put on the condom and entered her slowly. It was torture. She wanted all of him, and she wanted it now. Yet, Dylan held back. And he stayed gentle.
She had the feeling that he was treating her like fine crystal because of her injuries. And it was costing him big-time. She could see the battle going on beneath those clever touches and easy strokes inside her.
He wanted to take her hard and fast.
Which was exactly what Collena wanted.
So, she lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around his lower back. He made eye contact with her. His eyebrows lifted, questioning her about how far could he go.
“As far as you want,” she offered.
He understood her, and Collena nearly laughed that they were on the same wavelength, even when it came to the specifics of sex.
The next stroke inside her wasn’t exactly gentle.
But it was thorough. And extremely pleasurable.
Because she was watching his face, she saw the change in him. The savage was free, and she could feel the difference in the way he moved. The way he looked at her. The way he smelled. It was something primal. Something wild and untamed.
Something she wanted.
He plunged his left hand into her hair so that he controlled the movement of her head. He hooked his right arm beneath her thigh, lifting her so that she could take him deeper inside her. And he made sure that it was deep with each long, hard thrust inside her.
Her body reacted. Wanting more. Wanting it now.
Collena dug her fingers into his back, trying to force him to get closer to her, but the truth was, they couldn’t get any closer.
The sweat of Dylan’s body was slick now. It added to the friction alrea
dy there. Wet body and against wet body. Man against woman.
His grip tightened on both her hair and thigh. He moved faster. Harder. Deeper. Until the intensity and the pleasure was overwhelming.
Collena wanted to hang on to every second of the ecstasy. She wanted it to last. And the same moment, she thought she would die if he didn’t give her that final release.
Dylan didn’t disappoint her.
When he could take and give no more, he thrust into her one last time. Collena felt her body surrender. Dylan lowered his head, kissed her and surrendered right along with her.
DYLAN LAY THERE, trying to level his breathing. He didn’t even try to pretend he had regrets about what had just happened. The main thing he was thinking was that he had a sated body and the taste of Collena still in his mouth. He wouldn’t regret it.
But he was afraid she would.
She’d been through a horrible ordeal and had nearly been killed. Having sex was probably the last thing she’d planned. Still, it had happened. There was no turning back. All that was left were the consequences.
“That wasn’t good,” she mumbled.
It took Dylan a moment to process what Collena had said. “Excuse me?”
“That wasn’t good. It was phenomenal. And that’s a problem.”
Yeah. He knew exactly what she meant. Where did they go from here?
“Let’s just not analyze it,” Collena insisted, snuggling against him. “In fact, let’s have sex again tomorrow and not analyze it then, either.”
He bunched up his forehead, but he wasn’t about to veto the plan. In fact, he wanted her again tonight. “So, we just…float?”
She nodded. “It’s better than the alternative.”
It would probably be nice for a while, especially since they had a mountain of other problems to deal with.
Still, they couldn’t float forever.
“Will you want a divorce?” she asked.
Stunned, Dylan looked down at her. It was definitely an odd thing to ask a man while she was still naked in his arms. “What?”
“A divorce,” she said as if that clarified everything. He just kept staring at her until she continued. “Because with Curtis dead, there won’t be a custody battle. At least not between him and us.”
“There won’t be one between us, either,” he assured her. But he wasn’t the only one driving that, now was he? Collena had a huge say in it, and he wondered if that’s what she was trying to tell him now. “Do you want a divorce?”
Collena didn’t answer.
Because the lights went out.
There was the slight beeping sound that came from the security monitor. The entire system had a backup generator so the monitor stayed on, and its milky-blue screen practically lit up the room.
Dylan got up and, in the same motion, he reached for his jeans. The monitor beeped again. It was soft. Hardly alarming. But he had a bad feeling that those two little beeps meant big trouble.
“What is it?” Collena asked. She got up, as well, and reached for her clothes.
Dylan hurried to the monitor and switched it to the main panel so he could see which alarm had been triggered. It was the back door that led from outside into the kitchen.
According to the monitor, the door was open.
He pushed the intercom button into Ina’s room. “Did you leave the back door open?” he asked softly so that he wouldn’t wake Adam.
“No,” Ina answered immediately. Her voice was soft, too, but not so soft that Dylan didn’t hear the concern in it. “And I hear footsteps in the kitchen. Dylan, I think we might have an intruder in the house.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Lock the door, take Adam and go in your bathroom. Lock that door, too,” Collena heard Dylan tell Ina. “And call the sheriff. Call me immediately if anyone tries to break into the room. I’ll be there as soon as I’ve checked things out.”
Collena’s heart went to her knees. No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. They’d already been through so much.
“It’s probably nothing,” Dylan told her. He pulled on his boots and grabbed his gun. “Some of the ranch hands might have come back from the Thanksgiving break. They’re probably looking for a late-night snack.”
“Would they have known the code to disarm the security system?” she asked.
“One or two of them do.”
She latched on to that hope. But Collena knew it could be something sinister. After all, there’d been violence in Dylan’s life before she’d come into it. Violence associated with his personal relationships. It hadn’t surfaced in years, but then, he hadn’t been in a relationship in years, either.
Until now.
It was all over town that they were a couple. The wrong person could have heard that information and decided it was time to kill again.
While he shoved his cell phone into his pocket, Dylan scanned through the various camera angles of the house. Collena stood by him and watched, as well, hoping she would see something to help soothe their concerns. He went through each area, including the kitchen, but because the electricity was off, it was impossible to see if anyone was hiding in the shadows.
“Wait here.” Dylan reached for the doorknob, but Collena stopped him.
“You need backup in case that’s not a ranch hand out there.” A ranch hand would have called out to let Dylan or Ina know that he was in the house.
An intruder, or a killer, wouldn’t do that.
For a moment, she thought Dylan might argue with her and insist that she wait there, but then he nodded, probably because he knew that he did indeed need backup. “Stay behind me, and don’t you dare take any unnecessary risks.”
Collena returned the nod. “We’ll do what it takes to protect Adam.”
That was all she had to say to get him moving.
The kitchen was on the other side of the house, but it was much closer to the nursery. Too close. “Does Ina have a gun?” she whispered to Dylan.
“She does. And she knows how to use it. But I don’t know if she has it with her or not.”
Collena prayed that she did but that the woman wouldn’t have to defend Adam and herself. They had to make sure that didn’t happen.
Moving quietly and staying close to the wall, they started down the pitch-black hall. Unfortunately, the corridor was open on both ends, and both ends had L-shapes that opened into other halls or rooms. That meant the intruder could come at them from either direction. Collena turned and walked backward so she could cover one end of the area and Dylan could cover the other.
Outside, the wind was battering against the row of windows that lined the corridor. Shrubs rustled. Even her own breath contributed to the sounds. It was uneven and came out in rough gusts. She could even hear the swish of the pendulum of the grandfather clock in the foyer.
What Collena couldn’t hear were footsteps other than their own.
That wasn’t necessarily a good sign. If the intruder knew the layout of the house—and he or she likely did—then there were many ways to ambush them without being heard.
But who would do this?
Jonah, maybe. Or Ruth, Millie or Hank? Of course, there was another possibility—a killer that had already struck twice with Dylan’s fiancée and sister. A killer whose identity they didn’t even know.
The moonlight bled through the bare vein-shaped limbs of the shrubs outside the windows and cast eerie shadows on the walls like a skeleton’s fingers. The shadows moved and slashed with each new gust of wind.
Dylan stopped and lifted his hand so that she would stop, as well. Collena looked and listened, trying to pick through all those other shadows and sounds to see what had alarmed him.
And then she heard it.
Footsteps.
They were coming from the end of the hall that she was facing. Dylan whirled around in that direction and aimed his gun.
But just like that, the footsteps stopped.
They stood there waiting. Collena tried to figure out the be
st way to neutralize this person. The simple approach might work, especially if this was some ranch hand who’d come into the house and then gotten spooked by the electrical failure.
“Call out to the person,” Collena whispered.
Because Dylan’s arm was touching hers, she felt his muscles stiffen. But he obviously agreed with her idea because he stepped in front of her.
Get down, he mouthed.
She did. Collena crouched and then steadied her shooting wrist with her left hand. She didn’t want her aim to be off in case things turned ugly.
“Who’s there?” Dylan said. It wasn’t a shout, but his voice practically echoed through the corridor.
Silence.
There were no footsteps to indicate the person was running away. Nor was there any acknowledgment. So, they had their answer.
This wasn’t a ranch hand.
And whoever it was waited just around the corner, less than thirty feet away. But what did this person want?
For Collena, the answer was simple: the killer wanted her because she’d gotten involved with Dylan.
But so far, the other attacks hadn’t involved Dylan. So, if this was his blast-from-the-past killer, then why try to do this here at the house?
Unless the person fully intended to kill Dylan, as well.
“If you’re after me,” Collena called out, “then leave Dylan out of this.”
That earned her a nasty glare from Dylan.
It also earned her some movement from the intruder. There was a shuffling sound. Followed by a slight bump against the wall. And someone mumbled something. Collena’s comment had definitely caused a reaction.
Hopefully, it was the right reaction.
Collena saw the shadow then. The person didn’t step out from cover, but she saw the hand.
And the gun.
Just as the person fired at them.
THE NIGHTMARE HAD RETURNED.
But this wasn’t a dream, and the bullet that’d slammed into the wall just over their heads wasn’t some unconfirmed fear over what had happened in the past.
That bullet was real.
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