She moved quickly to the bedroom door, locking it before pushing the large, wing-backed chair over to it, and tilting it until the back was forced beneath the brass knob. It was the only security she could think of. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she was buying a gun.

“They’ll be there fast, Marey, just stay calm,” Janey assured her quietly. “I want you to stay back from the door. Hide in the bathroom and lock the door there. Get as far away from him as you can until help arrives.”

She could hear her voice fade as Janey turned to the radio and called in to report to whoever was headed to the house.

She stood indecisively in the middle of the bedroom, staring around it in regret. She couldn’t stay here. Vince was evidently insane. First the attack at the motel and now this. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t live this way.

“I’ll kill you this time, you fucking bitch.” He was at the door, his fists hammering on the door as Marey began to tremble nervously. “What makes you think you can whore around on me? I’ll kill you for even thinking of letting another man touch you. You fucking slut. You’re a dead woman!”

Enraged, almost incoherent, his curses slammed into her, making her stomach knot in fear as she bit her lip to hold back the cry of rage that built in her throat. They had been divorced for years, and she had been careful. Very careful to make certain he had no reason to torment her as he had that first year after their split.

His fists hammered into the door again, shaking the panel. He was a brute of a man. The door was heavy but she had no doubt he would get through it.

“Janey, this is getting serious,” she breathed out, her voice shaking as she moved to the bathroom and locked the door there as well. There were no chairs to place against the door, nothing to hold him back. “These doors won’t keep him out.”

“Two minutes, Marey,” Janey promised her calmly. “You can hold on two minutes. Get a can of hairspray, anything harsh. If he makes it past the doorway, spray his eyes full. Do whatever you have to. Sheriff Richards and Deputy Carlson are almost there. You’ll hear the sirens soon and so will he. Maybe it will run him off.”

She was right. Seconds later the sound of sirens wailing in the distance could be heard. Relief poured through her as tears filled her eyes. Her nerves clashed as she felt the jolt of Vince throwing himself against the door.

“The gates are locked,” Marey told Janey, moving along the wall as she heard him crash into the door again. “The code is six, four, eight, three, two, nine. That’s going to delay them.”

Janey relayed the code to the sheriff before coming back.

“You hear them now?” The sirens were growing louder.

“You fucking whore. You slut,” Vince screamed then. “I’ll get you, bitch. When I do, I’ll kill you. That damned sheriff won’t save you every time.”

The sound of running feet down the stairs assured her he was leaving. Breathing a sigh of relief, she collapsed against the wall, a tired, nervous little laugh escaping her throat as tears tightened her chest.

“He’s gone,” she whispered then. “Janey, he’s going to fucking kill me. What the hell am I going to do?”

The house was a mess.

Evidently Vince had found quite a few ways to amuse himself before she woke up. Curses had been spelled out in lurid detail in black and red permanent marker across the walls. Her living room furniture was slashed, vases and heirloom glassware shattered. Some of the items Marey knew she would never be able to replace.

She stared around at the destruction, dressed in jeans and a sweater to ward off the chill that filled her body as the sheriff and his deputy filled out their reports and called the security company. Within hours, the house was filled with people, and all Marey could do was stand and stare around in confusion at the mess her ex-husband had made.

“You need to find a hotel, or stay with a friend for a few days, Marey.” Sheriff Richards stepped around the mess in the entry hall as he moved from the living room. “The security system is intact, but he obviously has the codes. You’re not safe here.”

Duh. No shit.

Marey kept the sarcastic comment to herself as she stared back at the sheriff.

“What are you going to do about him?” she asked him carefully. “They let him out on bail. He could terrorize me further, Sheriff. Now what the hell are you going to do about it?”

He sighed roughly, propped his hands on his hips and shook his head. As handsome as the man was, right now, she wanted to kick his teeth in. He was being of no help whatsoever.

“We’ll pick him up. He’s violated the terms of his release, so the bail will be revoked. But until we catch him, you’re not safe.”

“She will be.”

Marey froze at the dark, dangerous voice behind her. She turned slowly toward the open front door and stared back at Sax Brogan with a sense of fatal resignation.

Now, why hadn’t she guessed he was going to show up?

A man shouldn’t be so sinfully sexy, she thought. He shouldn’t steal a woman’s last breath with a frown, or make her knees weak from one of those hot little looks from dark, chocolate brown eyes. And he sure as hell shouldn’t make her pussy burn in the middle of a situation that was precarious to say the least.

“Hello, Sax, it’s good to see you again.” Sheriff Richards nodded back at him as Sax stepped into the house. “I hope you’re going to convince her to get out of here until we pick up Vince. She’s getting a bit testy on me.” He cast her an amused look.

Marey frowned back at him.

“I am neither testy, nor a child, Sheriff,” she snapped. “And I don’t need a man to take care of me. I can make decisions fine on my own.”

She hated it when men acted as though a woman was only safe if she had a man in front of her. In Sax’s case, if things went the way he wanted, she would have one behind her as well.

“Of course you can.” The sheriff nodded. “Which means you’re going to take my advice and get the hell out of here until I let you know we’ve caught Vince Clayton. Aren’t you, Marey?”

Why did men always think they were right and she was wrong?

“Pack some clothes, Marey,” Sax said easily, though she read the tense readiness in his body. “I’ll take you to Terrie or Ella’s, but you are getting out of here. If I have to carry you out.”

His dark face was set in lines of determination and resolve. Marey glanced away, knowing that if she left with him, he wouldn’t leave her anywhere else. She would be going to his house. His bed.

She glanced back at him knowing she was losing a battle she didn’t really want to fight any longer. She had set this in motion when she made that trip to the motel, when she had let her desires and her needs overcome her common sense. She had no one else to blame but herself.

“Go on, Marey,” the sheriff urged her. “We have an APB out on Vince, we’ll have him in custody soon. Until then, protect yourself. Get the hell away from the house.”

Like she had a choice at this point? She was well aware of the fact that she couldn’t stay at the house, and she wasn’t endangering her friends either.

Gritting her teeth in fury, she slanted Sax a fulminating look as she turned and stalked to the curved staircase.

“You’re taking me to a hotel,” she snapped, though she was careful to keep her back to him. “No questions, no alternatives. A hotel.”

“Whatever you want, Marey,” he called back, his voice carefully neutral.

Pausing, she turned back to look at him.

His expression was pure sin, sex in its most undiluted form. His dark eyes gleamed with it, his expression was filled with it. She was so fucked. Unfortunately, she had a feeling she was going to enjoy it. Too much.

Chapter Five

She knew he wouldn’t do as she asked. How had she known? She was psychic, she sneered to herself. She had known because she knew Sax Brogan. Three years before, he had claimed her with no more than a kiss. A dark, sultry earth-shattering kiss that had filled her senses with visions of hot, carnal delights and her mind with her own screams of lusty need.

She had held him off with a simple request. A plea. And for years he had abided by it. Until the day he was arrested because she was attacked during a meeting that she thought would involve him. She had known when she stepped into that motel room that she had made a grave, tactical error. Not only was she losing the battle with Vince, but she had known, if she survived, she would lose another, much more personal battle, with Sax.

He didn’t say a word after loading her large suitcase into the back of his Lexus and helping her into the passenger side. He had loped around the car, got into the driver’s seat, put the car in gear and driven away from her home. Straight to his. A beautiful two-story contemporary home on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by trees on two sides and the haunting melody of the ocean on the other. It was as rugged and strong as he was.

And she had kept her mouth shut. She hadn’t demanded he drive to the hotel. She had sat in the car, silent, watching the night pass by as her pussy grew wetter by the second.

“Nice place.” She finally found the courage to speak as he closed and locked the door behind them. The room they stepped into was huge. There was no entryway, just a large, open ceiling living room that was roomy and comfortable and at the same time as enduring as she had always thought Sax was.

“It’s home. The bedroom is up here.” He led her to the double doorway, stepping into a short hall with a tall, oak staircase that led to the upper landing.

Like the living room, the hallway had an open ceiling allowing her to glimpse the railed hall above. She followed him up the stairs silently, her heart thundering in her chest, knowing she wouldn’t, couldn’t fight him any longer.

The bedroom he led her into was obviously his. The stark masculine furniture, a huge king-sized bed, tall, wide dresser and a low, mirrored chest. One wall was open, with a sturdy railing and a view of the living room. Beside it was a computer desk, the computer sitting atop it was still running, the last instant message he had received still displayed.

From Wicked, Janey just called Tally. Vince hit the house. Get there now!

“Well, so much for confidentiality,” she remarked as she stared at the screen. “I thought dispatchers were sworn to secrecy or something?”

He moved to the computer and flipped off the screen with a snap before turning away from her and tossing her suitcase on the low chaise lounge that sat in front of the doors of the upper deck.

“You can put your stuff wherever you can find room,” he told her dispassionately. “We’ll go after the rest of your clothes tomorrow.”

“Will we?” she murmured. “You and whose army?”

She faced him fully then, aware of the tension whipping between them.

He shrugged out of his jacket as he turned to her, tossing it over her suitcase. He stared back at her, his gaze vividly hot as his fingers went to the buttons of his shirt.

“I don’t need an army, Marey.” His lips pulled back from his teeth in an elemental snarl. “Stop baiting me. You know you’re going to be here, at least for a while. Why not stop fighting it, and me, and we’ll see where the hell this thing is going.”

She drew in a short, quick breath.

“It shouldn’t go anywhere,” she snapped back. “Vince is insane, Sax. Do you enjoy placing yourself in danger?”

“The most danger I intend to face is that hot little pussy creaming between your thighs,” he snarled back, jerking the shirt from his broad shoulders as his words left her knees trembling.

If her pussy hadn’t been creaming before, it was now. Thick and hot, the juices seared the sensitive folds as her clit began to throb in an erratic, erotic rhythm. Her breasts became swollen, her nipples poking against her sweater, and she was certain every inch of her body was flushed from the heat rising inside her.