Delaney’s face lost what little color remained in it. “What? How?”

Ethan read the rest of the text. “He had outside help. Investigators said he ditched his prison-issue orange jumpsuit and boots while working on the east side of Bozeman. Probably got a change of clothes from his accomplice.”

“I don’t understand.” She wobbled and the drinks fell to the ground, clattering and spilling liquid on the pristine hardwood floor. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

He grabbed a towel and mopped up the mess, then picked up the two cans and placed them on the counter. “Not sure,” he said, taking her cold hands in his while holding her steady. “But Pace is stupid. And I can deal with stupid. Does he know where your new place is?”

“Half of Eagle Rock was on my payroll when I built this house because Kerry Ann suggested we hire local since we grew up here. I totally agreed.” She leaned her forehead against his chest. “Plus, anyone can find out where I live if they put their minds to it.”

Her voice wavered and Ethan heard the tears in her words. She’d been through hell today. Acting on autopilot, he released her ice-cold hands and wrapped his arms around her. Just to comfort her. That’s all. Yeah man. Keep telling yourself that bullshit.

“You think he still has friends or family living here in Eagle Rock?”

She moved a little closer. “His parents moved to Arizona a few years ago, but I imagine there are few people living here who’d help him out.”

He stroked her back. “You remember any names?”

Man, oh man. His pants grew uncomfortably tight. She was perfect with curves in all the right places molding to him as if she’d been made for him. Focus on the damn situation. Not how hard she’s making you. He needed a serious dose of ice down his pants, but still, he didn’t let her go. Not when she needed him.

“Dan, maybe Wade,” she said. “They’ve had their own run-ins with the law. Mostly petty stuff when they were in high school. Though they’ll be hard to find because they live off the grid—they’re into that anti-government stuff.”

Fuck. That would make them hard to find, but he’d give Hank and the sheriff the information just the same. “Anyone else?”

“I don’t know,” she said, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist.

“What about Kerry Ann? Does she have a list of people who were on your house construction payroll?”

“Sure. She put everything in place while she was here a few years ago, and she keeps meticulous records.”

“Did she supervise the hiring?”

“No, a local construction company took care of that after she set the project in motion, then she returned to LA. She hasn’t been back until now. She had no reason to return after her parents died. Truthfully, she couldn’t wait to get to LA after we graduated. Eagle Rock wasn’t the place for her,” Delaney said. “We had so many plans. So many crazy dreams. We still laugh about the days of eating bowls of ramen noodles. We’ve accomplished a lot since then.”

“You got everything you wanted and more.”

“Everything including a nut job stalking me.”

The atmosphere in the room seemed to grow misty. Time slowed to an infinitesimal beat, yet his heart pounded loud as a drum in his ears. He wanted to do so much more than hold her. He wanted to kiss her, feel her move beneath him, feel their flesh sliding against each other.

The gentle slap of trees hitting the windows brought him back to his senses. “Tell Kerry Ann to get a list of the construction company’s employees. Also, have her include anyone who might have a grudge against you.” Briefly, he wondered if Kerry Ann held one. Doubtful. She’d been in the Jeep with Delaney and could have been killed in the accident. No way she’d risk her own neck. Besides she’d been the first to insist that Delaney hire him.

“Can it wait until morning?” She lifted her head, her beautiful green eyes glittered with unshed tears. “I just want one night where I can pretend no one is after me. That no one wants to hurt me. Please. Ethan. Just hold me. Don’t let me go.”

“You’re tired.” He didn’t break their fragile contact. But he should. He really needed to create some distance between them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from acting on every wild impulse he had about being with her. “You need to get some sleep.”

“I’m afraid. What if John comes here?”

“Don’t be. I’ll be right outside your bedroom door.” Fuck. She looked so damn vulnerable, but he couldn’t take advantage of her fear. “He’d have to get through me first.”

“I don’t want you outside my bedroom door.” She stroked her hands up his back until they reached the base of his neck. “I can’t stand the idea of being alone tonight.”

He shouldn’t. No. Nada. No way should he agree to be with her. There had to be some code in the Brotherhood Protectors’ manifesto against crawling into bed with their clients. But he understood all too well the aftereffects of dodging danger. The adrenaline rush followed by the realization that death nearly caught you in its snare.

“I’ll stay with you,” he said. “Hold you. But nothing more. I won’t take advantage of you.”

“That’s okay, as long as you don’t stop me from taking advantage of you,” she said, kissing his jaw and moving her lips closer, closer still to his mouth.

* * *

Ethan stiffened briefly when Delaney sucked in his lower lip, but he didn’t pull back. Thank goodness. She didn’t know if she could handle it if he pushed her away now.

Instead, he deepened the kiss, drawing her tongue into his mouth, hungry and as powerful as she’d expected he’d be in the taking. This. This was what she needed, wanted, craved. Over and over, their tongues tangled, danced against each other. Feasting. Exploring. Tasting.

Oh, the tasting. He tasted so good. She’d never been with a man like him: so big, so carnal, and so incredibly intoxicating. In his arms, she didn’t feel afraid. Or vulnerable. Or like a target.

He lifted her, still kissing her, and they bumped their way out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into her bedroom. She felt his erection when he slid her down his torso, still not breaking their intimate contact.

Words weren’t spoken as they removed their clothes, first kicking off their boots—then shucking their shirts, jeans, and underwear. Hands on each other, touching, exploring one another as every inch of their skin was exposed until they tumbled naked onto her king-sized bed.

They’d gone from avoiding their attraction to succumbing to it with a vengeance. Every sensitive, sexual part of her pulsed, throbbed and tugged exquisitely.

He scraped his calloused fingers over her nipples and she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Ethan. Yes. Don’t stop.”

“Tell me what you want.”

“This. More. I want it all.”

She arched her back and thrust her breasts into his eager hands. Electricity shot through her with ever tweak, pinch and tease. “You like it when I play with your nipples—what else do you want me to play with, Delaney?”

His sexy, growly tone and his dirty question made her insane. “Touch me.”

“Where, Delaney? Where do you want my hands?”

“I want to feel your fingers on me, in me down there.”

“Down where? Tell me what you really want me to do.” He tweaked her nipples one-by-one and then replaced one hand with his mouth, sucking her bud deep, swirling his tongue over it.

Heat pooled between her thighs and her clit throbbed with need. She hitched her hips, felt his cock’s length jutting into her thighs. She spread her legs, moving her wetness across his skin. “Here. I want you to play with my pussy,” she said. “Make me come. Make me forget everything but this moment. Please make me forget.”

She wanted him to touch her there. To touch her everywhere. Then she wanted him to take her hard, fast, deep.

Still sucking one breast and then the other, Ethan stroked his hand down her torso, gliding it between their bodies, parting her slick folds. She moaned, writhed on the bed beneath him, but he held her pinned with his strong body.

He dipped first one, then another finger, into her and she bucked against his hand, wanting. Needing him to bring her to the edge and then send her over it. Ethan pumped in and out of her, abrading her clit with his palm, then swirling her juices over it.

Waves began to build deep. They escalated, intensified, cresting and pulsing everywhere, bringing her higher, higher still. “Yes. God. Yes.” She clutched his hair, held him to her breasts and lifted her hips to bring herself closer to him.

She took, received everything he had to give her with total abandon. The sensations in her core ripped through her, shattering her until stars burst behind her eyes and she screamed his name.

The aftershocks of her orgasm rippled through her sex and still, she wanted more. She wanted him inside her. Pulling him away from her breasts, she brought him back to her mouth and kissed him deeply while spreading her legs to give him full access.

“Delaney,” he rasped. “We can’t. I haven’t got protection.”

“I’m on the pill.” She nipped his lower lip and stroked the length of his sweat-slicked back until she cupped his chiseled ass. “You get a clean bill of health after your last physical?”

“I’ve been pure as the driven snow for months.”

“I’ll guess that’s a yes.”

“You guessed right.”

He took her mouth with his and slid his tongue against hers while rocking into her with one long stroke until he filled her completely. She raised her hips and took him deeper, deeper still. And then there was nothing but the sound of their bodies slapping against each other, moving faster, faster, and faster.

Skin against slick skin, hands entwining as they held on for the ride, body sliding against body. She could feel his cock grow larger inside her. More pressure built down low, and another orgasm began to rise, heat and the exquisite tension coiling and tightening until she thought she’d explode.

She released her grip to slide her palms down his back and held onto his ass, pushing him inside her until she no longer knew where she ended and he began. Thought flew. Reason jumbled. There was only him. Only her. And the amazing sensation of him driving into her, completing her, making her wild, crazed.

And alive. Oh, so wonderfully alive.

Sensation built upon sensation. Sex, sweat, and her arousal scented the air. The taste of him on her tongue, the feel of him moving so deep in her made her hot. The blaze burned through her until her mind went blank and her orgasm crashed through her. She bucked beneath him until she felt him shudder. He went rigid, then thrust one last time, pouring himself into her, and they crested over the edge together.