the chill away.
When
she’d caught her breath, she searched in the utility room and found a mop,
using it to clean up the rain that had come in through the open windows. As she
moved mechanically through the chore, images from her past clashed with those
created by the articles she’d read today. She had to get this done before she
turned into a complete basket case.
Tonight
she’d force herself to read again everything she’d brought home from the
newspaper. Tomorrow she’d hit the sheriff’s office and request copies of the
files of those old cases. She just hoped she could get through all the explicit
details without getting sick again.
Leaving
the mop to dry, she headed into her bathroom and turned on the shower full
force. With the hot water beating down on her, the tightness around her chest
finally loosened and her pulse rate slowed. Leaning against the tiled wall, she
willed the water to wash away both the memories and the ever-present dread.
Later,
dried and wrapped in her sleep shirt, she managed to get down a bowl of soup.
Finally, she crawled into the strange bed and tried to empty her mind. She
closed her eyes, but the image of the ominous black truck wouldn’t go away.
Others might say, in a small town like High Ridge, the man was just being
neighborly. He was harmless. What could happen in a nice town like this?
Dana
knew. Oh, yes. She knew all too well. So she’d run, just as she always had. Old
habits definitely died hard.
And
fear never went away.
Chapter
Three
He’d
had a busy day, taking care of his public business so he could take care of his
private activities tonight. In town, he’d heard all about the famous Dana
Moretti, best-selling true crime author, who had descended on his small town.
Gossip had her digging up old ghosts, but that didn’t worry him. Still it
wouldn’t hurt for him to check her out. Get a handle on her.
Meanwhile,
he had things to take care of. Things that satisfied his needs. He looked at
the small prepubescent girl in front of him, barely able to stop from smacking
his lips.
“Well,”
he drawled, “aren’t you just the sweetest little morsel. We’re going to have us
some fun.”
Watching
her cowering in fear only ramped up the lust blazing through him. When she
cried and tried to pull away, he just laughed.
“That’s
it,” he crooned. “You go ahead and cry. I love it when they cry.” Then he began
to sing. “There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle
of her forehead…”
Chapter
Four
Her
hair was spread out on his pillow like a silken fall, the low lamplight
catching the golden streaks. He could still feel the anxiety running like a
stream beneath her arousal, but the heat in her eyes told him she wanted this.
God, he hoped he didn’t fuck it up.
He
brushed his mouth over hers then traced the outline of it with his tongue,
licking the softness of her lips. When they parted, he eased his tongue inside
and glided it over the slick inner surface. Her small tongue danced with his,
tentatively at first, then exploding like a banked flame.
His
cock was so hard he had to grit his teeth to keep from ramming into her. Easy,
easy, easy. This is a frightened bird you’ve got here. Don’t attack like some
berserker.
He
kissed her cheeks, the line of her jaw, licked the soft spot behind her ear
before trailing his tongue down the slender column of her neck. Her skin was
like the softest satin, so smooth against his tongue. She moaned beneath him,
delicious little sounds that made his balls ache.
Her
hands fluttered against his back, then clutched at his muscles as his mouth
found one stiff nipple. He sucked it, hard, pulling it into his mouth. Scraping
it with his teeth. Nibbling then licking it to soothe the ache. When he had the
one fully swollen and pebbled, he turned his attention to the other.
Beneath
him, she moved restlessly, her thighs bracketing his, her body