Long patches of wet grass curl up around my ankles and weave over my Harley’s tires, trying to cling onto me like the cold, creepy fingers of a witch trying to capture children in a dark fairy tale. I shove the bike through the tangled mess while relentless rain pounds our bodies and seeps into our pores.

“You okay?” The downpour is so loud, like a roaring jet constantly ripping free from gravity’s chains and tearing across the sky. It’s impossible to communicate without yelling over the noise.

Red nods, but the cold is painting her lips a frosty shade of purple and she’s struggling to stop her teeth from chattering together. I need to get her inside and get her warm. Of course, that means I’ll have to strip off those drenched clothes and find ways to send a blazing trail of heat over her cool skin.

The image sears across my brain, leaving bright embers of desire burning inside me. Blinking hard, I squeeze the heavy rain from my eyes and get my mind back on the mission. Right now I need to concentrate on only one thing. Getting Red to safety.

The large barn has seen better days. With its doors broken off and the hole in the roof, it’s easy to see it hasn’t been used for years. Across the yard there’s a simple farmhouse in a similar shape. “That must be the owner’s house.” I draw Red’s attention to it. “We should probably let them know we’re on their property.” I force myself to be heard over the heavy rain.

She doesn’t look so sure, and after seeing what she’s been dealing with back in her apartment, I don’t blame her. I don’t know the details of her life, let alone her relationship with that asshole who broke into her place, but I’ve had enough experience in the SEALs to know the difference between an angry man spouting off a bunch of bluster about killing and a man who has killed. Wolfe wasn’t spewing empty threats. I know if he can find us, he’ll make good on every word.

Now I need to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” I try to reassure her. I wheel my motorcycle into the barn and pull off my bags. I’ll go to the house and talk to the owner of this place. I imagine, from the shape it’s in, it must be the property of some stubborn old farmer who would rather die on his land he can’t take care of than in a home somewhere. I just want to make sure he knows we’re here so we don’t frighten the guy and end up on the wrong side of a rifle trying to explain ourselves.

“Why don’t we just wait it out here?” Red’s voice is hopeful, but she can see how awful that would be as she searches the barn.

“Maybe we will, or maybe whoever owns this place will give us some towels and a warm bowl of soup while we wait it out. Come on.” I hold out my hand and she twists up her mouth. The deepening purple stains her lips like Kool-Aid, doing little to hide just how badly she needs to warm up.

Red’s fingers slip over my palm and I smile. It’s nice to see that after what she’s been dealing with, guys like Wolfe haven’t destroyed her spirit or her trust. I make a silent promise to make sure I keep it that way. It’s clear she hasn’t had an easy path so far, but I’m gonna do everything in my power to show her how she deserves to be treated. How a real man treats a woman.

I lead her through grass so high it’s almost brush. We finally get a break from the rain as we stomp up onto the porch of the darkened house. I thump on the door as Red shivers against the elements. Pulling her in tight, my hands rub over her arms in a feeble attempt to warm her up.

“I don’t think anyone is home.” Her jaw is tense as she tries to fight her teeth from chattering.

Peering through the windows, I can see the house is all but empty. There’s next to no furniture that I can see except a small table with no chairs and some dusty books scattered across the floor. “I don’t think anyone lives here at all,” I answer.

I knock so loud someone inside would probably think I’m breaking down the door and wait again for some slow feet to shuffle over and open it up, but no one comes. Turning the handle, I’m surprised when it opens, swinging open with a long squeak that reminds me of one of those old ghost shows.

“Hello?”

Nothing. Not a cough or muffled answer. There’s no noise at all as I cautiously walk inside and scope the place out.

“Stay here.” I hold up my hand and stop Red in her tracks. If there is some old crazy person shacked up in here, I want to be the one to explain why I’m breaking into their house.

Red crosses her arms and juts out her jaw like she’s gonna give me shit, but her gaze flickers into the empty space behind me and she just nods.

I explore deeper inside, calling out to anyone who might be here, “Hello?”

As I make my way through the empty rooms, it’s easy to see this place is abandoned. Still, I’ve seen too many horror movies to take that for granted. I do a room by room search that brings me back to my military days when we had to clear buildings. After checking every room and every closet, I’m confident when I tell Red to come in.

She steps inside tenderly, like she thinks she might step into a booby trap.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ve searched the place high and low. It’s just us. No one has been here for years.” I pull her into me and kiss her forehead as the tension melts from her body.

“It does seem better than the barn.” She looks around, clearly getting accustomed to our new shelter. “And the roof doesn’t look like it’s about to fall in, so I’m gonna put that in the plus column,” she jokes with a smile.

“I mean, I’m all for a skylight, but the ceiling not gushing water on us is definitely a bonus.” I smile back. Walking back into the living room, I jerk my head toward the far corner. “Here’s the real selling point.” I point at the wood stove. “Once I get this baby going, we’ll be able to get warmed up and dry out all our stuff.”

“How are you going to get a fire going? There’s no wood?”

Now that finding a safe place to get out of the storm isn’t my biggest priority, I notice how fucking sexy she is. The way the water smooths her wild red hair just makes her green eyes look huge. The way the raindrops are sliding down her face and collecting on her pale chin reminds me of the hot shower we shared this morning.

Damn. Was that only this morning? That feels like a lifetime ago.

“Not here, but there’s a bunch in the back hall. It’s nice and dry. I’ll grab some.” I drop my bags on the floor and breeze past her. If I let myself get lost in this haze of passion, if I get pulled into her irresistible orbit, we’ll both die of exposure. Mostly because I’ll never get around to making a fire when I rip all our clothes off and fuck her senseless.

An armful of wood will be enough to get us going. I carry my haul back into the other room and still force myself to ignore Red’s full pout and the way her wet clothes cling to her curves. Instead, my focus is solely in making the fire. I pull a newspaper and matches from my bag and get started. It doesn’t take long before I have a roaring orange flame heating my face and promising us comfort.

“Wow, that’s impressive.” Red smirks and even though her body hasn’t been touched by the heat yet, I can see I’ve managed to get her all hot in other ways. “Were you some kind of super scout or something? I’ve never seen someone get a fire going that quick. Not that I know much about it. I’m more of an electric heat girl myself.”

“Scout? Not my style.” I laugh as I try to imagine myself collecting badges or singing campfire songs. “Spent a lot of years in the SEALs, but I knew how to start a fire before I ever went to basic.” I shrug.

“SEALs? You were a navy SEAL?” Her eyes sparkle with the thought. She bites her lips and looks me over like she’s seeing me again for the first time.

“That’s the one.”

Her breasts seem to rise higher as she breathes in deep. I hold out my hand.

“Now get over here and get warmed up,” I demand.

Normally she’d have some kind of smartass remark, or at least give me a look, but she doesn’t this time. She obediently walks over to me, peering up at me from hooded eyes, and I wonder what else she’ll do if I tell her to.

“It’s still pretty cold in here,” she murmurs as I pull her in against my chest.

“It’ll warm up just in time,” I promise.

“In time for what?”

“Once I grab my sleeping bag and blankets and strip off all your clothes, it’ll be warm just in time for me to fuck you.”