Normally he wouldn't have been that unpleasant to a complete stranger, not without much provocation, but something about the way his Kerry had reacted to her mere presence had tipped him off that today wasn't the first time she'd been at the end of that wasp's tongue. He guessed that was going to be part of his responsibility now, too, figuring out who the fuck the enemy was and breaking them down. Fuck! Like he had time for this small town bullshit drama. But since she was involved, he guessed he didn't have much of a choice. He hadn't dug too deep into the mechanics of the town. Mostly, the people he ran into were friends of his grandparents when he went to the pharmacy to pick shit up for gramps or went to one of their old hangouts on some errand or other for the old man. No one had ever mentioned her or what had happened to her in his presence. Why would they? He'd learned all he did about her from Lucille, but it looked like he was going to have to do some digging on his

He had yet to lay eyes on this ex-best-friend, but he was sure from what little he'd learned that she was of the same caliber as that Sarah person. Fucking succubus. He could well imagine that his princess was no match for her, not in that arena anyway. She didn't seem like she could hurt a fly if the fucker buzzed around her head all day. He'd just have to bring some of his own special brand of fuck you to the little town. There was no fucking way he was living here with that shit hanging over his woman's head. FUCK! It looked like she'd done in two days what his gramps hadn't been able to accomplish in weeks. One day with her and already he was thinking of staying. He didn't dwell too heavily on the change. Nothing was set in stone yet. But he accepted that walking away from this, from her, wasn't going to be as easy as he'd first believed. "You go back to your writing; I'll get the coffee." He stopped her from going into the kitchen. His mind was now going in the opposite dire

He wanted to go get her and bring her back there to see the house, but it was already getting late, and he was sure she hadn't eaten anything since he'd left her. So he nixed that idea in favor of picking up something to eat. Tonight he would begin his campaign to win her over completely. He liked being the one on this side for a change and had no doubt that he would have her heart in the palm of his hand before long. After today's little experiment, he figured he was gonna have to work on her some more to get her over her fear of facing the town again, though. She had nothing to be ashamed of, and he was gonna do everything in his power to prove that to her. But first, he had to completely take her over; that was more important. And maybe he could work on not wanting to commit murder every time the thought of her ex arose. It galled the fuck out of him that the other man was there first, but that was his shit to deal with; he couldn't hold that against her. That would be an assh

No kiss had ever felt like this. Nothing and no one had ever taken her over and under this way, and she was lost. She gave up thinking and just enjoyed. "Shh-shh-shh." She had no idea what he was talking about until she realized she was keening and mewling into his mouth as her body tried to climb his again. With abject embarrassment, she tried pulling herself from his arms, but he held on. "It's okay, sweetheart." He held her close and wrapped his arms tighter around her, the beating of their hearts trying to outpace each other. He fought hard not to do what he's always accusing her of, thinking of her ex. But he wanted to know had to know if she'd given the other man this much heat. Pulling her head back, he studied her clouded eyes. "Did you go up like this for him?" She shook her head before she gave it any thought. "No, never, I don't...." She was about to say she didn't know what had come over her but found her lips consumed once more. He took her under hard and fast,

She tossed and turned with him in the other room until sleep finally took her just after midnight. Her dreams that night were of him. There were no shadows, no dark cloudy skies, just laughter, and the two of them in some very compromising situations. They were so hot they felt real so that when she jumped awake just a few short hours later, she expected to find him in bed next to her. Her cheeks were flushed, and her body in heat. That secret place between her thighs throbbed with longing. She looked around the room, her breath short and choppy as if she'd run a marathon, but he wasn't there. She dealt with the bitter taste of a different type of disappointment, even as she asked herself if it wasn't better that it had all been in her head. Slipping from the warmth of her bed, she tiptoed to the door that she'd kept closed last night. Now that she was awake, her body had another pressing need that had nothing to do with the wetness between her thighs that had followed her from h