I creep along the wall, edging toward the living room door so I can peer out toward the noise in the back hall. Red’s fingers circle my wrist, her nails cutting into my skin and forcing me to turn my attention to her.

“Ryan, wait.” Her eyes dart around the room wildly. “He wouldn’t track us without a gun this time. I know him. He’ll be prepared. We need to get dressed and go.” The panic quells up in her voice.

“Go? Where?” I jerk my head to the room. There’s no door leading to the outside in here. To leave the house we need to go toward the noise.

“Out the window,” she pleads in desperate whispers. “Please.” She begins to pull away, grabbing her still soaking wet clothes before glancing over her shoulder at me, cowering.

Holding the wood tight in my hand, I don’t lose the power in my grip in case Wolfe is sneaking through the house toward us. But I can’t let Red try to bust through one of these windows with wet clothes and no plan. She’s not thinking straight. Wolfe will easily track the noise and, if she’s worried about being shot, that’s about as sure of a way to end up dead as I can imagine.

“Red, I need you to breathe. I’ll take care of the son of a bitch, just trust me.”

“You don’t understand.” Her body practically convulses with fear as the certainty of her death dances in her eyes.

“Then help me understand.” I glance over my shoulder as I hear another snap in the other room. Is he sneaking in on us? Hoping to catch us by surprise?

“Wolfe is a biker, Ryan. I know he’s hurt people. He’ll kill us. He won’t even flinch. He’ll probably enjoy it.” A shiver overwhelms her.

I want to pull her in, to kiss away her fears and make this okay for her. But there’s only one way to do that. If he’s navigating his way through this abandoned house toward us, I need to control his attack. I need to catch him off guard.

I dig my fingers into the heavy wood and look Red deep in her frantic eyes. “I’ve killed worse men than big, bad Wolfe.” My lips twitch up in the corner, but my attempt to lighten Red’s mood fails. “Stay here,” I demand and silently creep across the floor, shifting my weight to the outside of my feet so I don’t make the floorboards creak.

I slowly stalk toward the door and hear Red try to muffle a cry of fear behind me. I don’t turn back to her, though. I can’t risk it. I steadily narrow the gap between me and the next room. Silently skulking toward the noise I can hear cracking and shifting in the next room. Peering around the corner, I force my heart rate to slow with my steady, deep breaths. I scan the room but don’t see Wolfe anywhere. He’s a big guy, like me, so he’d be hard to miss. Tilting my head, I listen intently for him. Is he in another part of the house?

Suddenly a scurry from under the lonely table in the kitchen draws my attention and the air I’ve been holding in my lungs bursts out of my mouth as laughter.

“What?” Red whispers, confused.

I drop the wood from my hand and double over as relief floods my veins.

“What’s going on?” She walks toward me, her curiosity growing larger than her fear.

“You don’t have to worry. There’s no Wolfe here.” I manage to get myself under control and a smirk steals my lips. “Just a fucking raccoon.” I point to the fat animal scrounging for food we don’t have in the kitchen.

Red follows my gaze and collapses against me. “Oh, thank God!”

I hold her in my arms, trying to protect her from the terror this man planted inside her. But it’s impossible to protect her from something that grows in the shadows within. Once my gut untwists and my head clears, I realize we might not be in any immediate danger, but the raccoon still needs to go. I drop my arms from Red and lift the wood again, this time charging into the room with is held high over my head like a naked maniac, yelling wildly.

The animal startles and then waddles to its escape, a hole in the floor near the back wall. Once it scurries out, I grab one of the cupboard doors already torn from the hinges next to the sink and lie it flat, covering the animal entrance. I need something heavy to hold it down. It takes a second to reach the table, and I lift it easily, plopping it down on the makeshift barricade to prevent the raccoon from coming back. At least for tonight.

Red watches me from the living room doorway, the embers of the fire cascading glowing orange light on half her body while the other half is hidden in shades of gray. It’s as if the light itself is showing me the eternal battle raging inside her small frame. How half of her is fiery, rebellious, and ready for an adventure while the other half is being wrenched back as the disturbing darkness of her past tries to cling onto her. I can see she’s finally shaken the demons swirling inside her, knowing she’s safe. At least for now.

I’m drawn to her, my feet obeying the demands of my body as I’m pulled into her. I lift her up, twirling her in a circle as a smile kisses her lips just a second before I do. She tastes like honey, sweet and so distinct.

“I promise you, Red, you’re safe with me. As long as I’m with you, I’ll do whatever I need to keep you that way.” I walk her back to our blanket pile and lay her back on the floor.

“I believe you.” She nods slightly.

She needs a distraction as much as I need to burn off this intense adrenaline high that comes from thinking I was going to be fighting to the death. I sit on my haunches at her feet and lift one slowly in the air, never breaking my eyes from hers as I lick a soft, slow trail up her ankle and over her calf.

The way her body relaxes as I kiss and lick her leg, I know she truly does feel safe with me. It makes me feel good to have something to fiercely protect again. As my tongue slides up her thigh, I know two things. The first is that I’ll die to keep her from harm. The other is that neither of us is going to catch a wink of sleep tonight until I’ve tasted every single inch of her.