Love Bites Read Online Free PDF Page A

tattoo on his neck, and he’ll have a bad bite on his left calf. He was limping when he got away.” He drew a breath. “My neighbor…my female neighbor…is in the bathroom. Naked.”
    From the bathroom, he heard Cinder shriek again.
    She was unharmed— this time —he had to remind himself.
    Adrenaline continued to pump through his veins, and now, with the danger over, it surged into a riot of conflicting reactions—the uppermost being rage. “He’s the same bastard who attacked her at the hospital today. He must have followed her home.” Realizing that sickened Evan. He shouldn’t have let the guy get away. “She was in the shower when he broke in here. Her dog came to tell me.”
    After that rambling explanation, the smaller of the two officers lifted a brow, saying only, “Her dog?”
    As if he understood, Doug sat down and stared at the cops with sincerity. He swallowed some slobber, let his tongue drop back out and panted from the excitement.
    Evan scratched the dog’s neck to let him know he’d done well.
    The disbelieving officer watched Doug while giving some orders through a radio.
    The other cop took the gun off the chair and nodded at Evan’s head. “You’re okay?”
    “Yes.”
    Cinder stepped out. Shy. Still damp. Flustered. Now, thankfully. dressed in pajama pants and a dark T-shirt. But he’d already seen her, and now knew firsthand all the secrets of her amazing body.
    She could have been wearing armor and it wouldn’t have mattered to his throbbing interest.
    Ignoring everyone else, she carried a towel and came to Evan’s side. “Sit down.”
    “Do you need an ambulance?” one officer asked.
    “No.” Evan dropped into the seat. Doug leaned into his side, still twitchy. Evan continued to give him firm pats. “You did good, Doug. You’re a brave dog.”
    Leaning close enough for him to breathe in her scent, Cinder tipped his head toward her, parted his hair and checked his injury. “It’s not too bad. I don’t think he needs stitches.”
    Evan said to the cops, “She’s a nurse.” And he slipped his free arm around her waist.
    She went stiff as a board, but only for a second. Then she lurched away. “Cate!”
    “Who?” the cops asked. They looked around as if expecting more trouble.
    “My cat,” Evan explained. He pulled Cinder close again. “She was with Doug when he came to tell me what was happening. I closed her into my place.”
    “Oh, that poor thing!” Rushing past the officers, Cinder went out the front door and across the hall to retrieve the cat.
    Just like Cinder, to think of everyone and everything other than herself. Evan smiled at the cops. “My cat. Her dog.” He shrugged. “They’re close.”
    To prove that, Doug anxiously met her at the door when she returned. She set Cate down, and the two animals greeted each other as if they’d been separated for a year. Cate pranced on her tiptoes, rubbing her arched back along Doug’s muzzle. Ears forward, he lowered his head and snuffled her small body in excitement.
    Bemused, the cops watched until Doug urged the cat to his favorite spot in front of a window. Cate stretched out beside him. Doug put his face on his front paws and watched them.
    Just to add to the confusion, Brick and Jesse both showed up. Brick took one look at the cops and went straight to Cinder to embrace her. Jesse waited for his turn.
    Despite Evan’s bloody head, they both ignored him—thank God. He felt asinine enough for getting hurt. He could usually handle himself without a screwup, but it had left Evanclumsy—the combination of Cinder in the shower and a masked, armed intruder undoubtedly bent on hurting her, Doug, or both.
    Avoiding injury had been far from his mind—he’d thought only of protecting them.
    For the next hour, chaos reigned.
    Brick made coffee for everyone. Jesse cleaned up the mess in Cinder’s apartment, including the muddy footprints, once the cops said it was okay. After bandaging Evan’s head, she stayed