TER

Elena b

, winding private road, framed by ancient oaks wh

oo cinematic. White clapboard siding glowed faintly against the steel-gray sky, wide windows reflecting the restless

stepped out first, as always. He scanned the perimeter in a single, practiced sweep left to right, up

t her immediately..crisp salt laced with pine, carr

the edges of her coat. She pulled

home,"

d. "Feels more l

s the

wung open before they

ropped,eyes even sharper..She wore practical black from head

arrives tomorrow morning at seven sharp. Security s

e curt nod.

ed and alarmed. Infrared tripwires along the be

sideways at

rug. "Director's orders...Quiet before the

he disappeared back inside, leaving

lena's duffel withou

folded into wide, li

ose high, furniture expensive and deliberately untouched..a

canvas...gray water, gray sky, no clear line where one en

the foot of the s

the hall to the left. P

ak stairs. "You're not sle

ke a gue

ne bedroom with a proper lock. And you

ked once. "

d the house felt simultaneously too big and too quiet

ed the st

g bed dressed in crisp white linens, a sitting area angled toward

lstered bench at the foot of th

ss gray sea under an endless gray

nd her...soft

ms crossed, filling the fram

turn. "De

anyway...closed th

der than it should

You think Victoria did it? T

has access, m

s around herself. "Sh

ax's voice stayed even. "

ft temple caught the dim, diffused light from the win

me abo

tel smart, driven, ruthless when she needed to be. We got marri

she's wat

is eyes hel

-step closer. "She thin

"She thinks I'

forward. Elena could feel the heat radiating off him,She lif

dn't

en?" she asked aga

e knife slipped..i tho

he pale curve. "Yo

N

gh stubble rasped under her palm.

le

oes and pressed h

beat...long enough for do

s hands

ir. The other slid to her waist, pulling her flush against him.

sn't

very rule he'd ever followe

g darker..surrender, maybe,his fingers tightened i

mouth..half moan, half relief and he answered

e wall beside the window, cool glass aga

at and warm against her bare stomach. Sk

ax

enough to look at he

shoul

kno

her

shirt, tugged it upward. He h

ross his ribs, a puckered burn near his

th reverent finger

rn," he

ed her bra with practiced ease...Cold air hit

n lower. She gasped when his lips closed over her

g with nerves and need. He helped..

er legs wrapped instinctively around his

rehead pressed to h

me to

r head. "Don

r in one slow

oth gr

ing them both feel it the stretch, t

e pulling a new sound from her throat. She clung to hi

hers again, swal

arder. The window rattled fain

in her belly, tight an

ax

t you,"

e

ried out against his mouth. He followed seconds later, burying himself deep,

. Foreheads pressed. Breathing synced...The

thing

y. Pulled the covers over them both. Wrapped a

er fingers

?" she w

on

issed him softly this tim

eith

icked up. The house

dark, a tiny red

of the

eep, Jax's heartbeat st

dible..a single word dr

om the

om the

side th

ena

s snapp

around her instant

, intimate, like a lover

reams, d

electron

camera flared brighter for o

e lights

uffocati

.deadly calm...ri

ctly wher

eaked directly

already insi

asked softly. "About

n her hips..warm, s

issed

comfort..lips brushi

his hair, tugging lightly. They stumbled backward until her spine met th

He yanked it over his hea

silver lines across his ribs, the puckered burn n

everent fingertips. He

found her neck, her collarbone, lower. She gasped when his lip

motion. Her legs parted instinctively. His

desperate layers..jeans shove

r in one slow

ed. Felt the stretch, the

her throat. She clung to him...His mouth returned to her breast, sucking gent

The room smelled like them.. sw

ng again...tight,

moaned, voi

" he rasped ag

s the wave crashed through her. He followed seconds later, burying hims

gether, panting, hear

orehead...slow,

g her near you,

st his skin. "We

the quiet..three fast, delib

y f

and venomous...filtered

ax. I have the ph

th caught in

ened around her

rned...slowly

ck was

eat was alr