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Darcy was a confident wohly doubtful she would’ve picked up that level of sensual sophistication around a town of this size, where the dating pool had to be painfully small, he was even more curious about the tiht her back Maybe she was licking her wounds after a bad breakup, swearing offto a place where she’d be left alone

He stepped back "Wanna watch TV?"

Her eyes sparkled with silent laughter She knew da to hold off He needed to beout on hi you like," she urged "I’ll join you after I load up the dishwasher"

He went along with the suggestion only because he wanted to get a closer look at her place withoutroom, Jared took notice of all the details he’d been too lust addled to appreciate earlier His gaze went to the now infamous couch first Itswith how he saw Darcy, as was the sixty-two-inch flat-screen TV hung over the fireplace Both were out of place against dated wallpapered walls The coffee and end tables were sturdy wood pieces as retro in style as the dining table, while the knickknacks around the roo by the fireplace, he looked at the framed photos on the mantel Some were of Darcy with her parents, some were of her sister He could tell the two apart easily, a difference confirether The set of Darcy’s shoulders and the cant of her chin were unique to her, displaying a self-possession and boldness that wasn’t as evident in her sister’s shy smile

He turned away frory as it swept over her slender fraas she was sore But that didn’t stop her fro or hi her He’d experienced potent sexual attraction before, but this was inexorable Feeling his cock stir, he shucked his jeans but left his boxer briefs on

"Don’t get excited," he warned, when she caught her breath, "I’ her lower lip between her teeth, she gave hier down her throat to her cleavage

"Keep it up," he drawled, grabbing the re into the corner of the couch where he’d had her pinned just hours before He spread his legs and patted the spot between theainst me"

She came to him with a wry sirls"

"I like you" He wrapped an arainst his chest "And I don’t expect you to behave"

"You knowher short nails across his thighs

Not yet, but he would

Chapter six

The sun had barely risen when Jared finished poring over Darcy’s files Finding his cell phone a poor substitute for the big screen of his laptop, he availed hi she didn’t have it password protected Whether she always slept like the dead or he’d just worn her out, he figured she needed the sleep, considering the deth of his stay

When the co at an ie of Darcy and her sister, which served as the desktop wallpaper They were children in the photo, not quite teenagers Their hair was arranged in tails and they wore identical pale pink leotards A reflection of their backs in a wall of mirrors was behind them, with a ballet bar that traversed the full width

He tucked the i with the other bits and pieces he was collecting in his ot to work He accessed the Merkerson case files, co the information hat he’d just acquired from Darcy’s The similarities were irrefutable In fact, they were nearly perfect

The only anomaly he could pinpoint was the incendiary devices in relation to the rapidity of the timeline Merkerson had started out with smaller devices, such as soda cans, but he’d been more intermittent Months passed between arsons, until later in his ra paint can–sized devices and striking every seven days His illness had progressed to where he wanted the entire world to burn Fire was his obsession and his mistress This new combination of smaller devices and frequency melded his earlier ith his later freneticism, but whether that was evolution, devolution, or simply a poor fit to the pattern was debatable And any of those options left the field wide open

Jared drafted a quick report to his superior, giving a rundown of his thoughts and impressions She’d lived the case the first ti into He also asked for an update on the anonymous 911 call that alerted the authorities to the second fire Miller had ascertained that the call originated in Seattle and was placed via a burner phone But the sheriff had stopped investigating at that point, leaving the thread dangling Why?

With that question in mind, he powered down Darcy’s co back into the bedroohtstand and checked her alarh ti her just as luscious while resting as he did when hit with the seething sensuality of the way she moved She lay on her back with one arm bent around the top of her head and the other at her side The sheet was loosely draped over her, exposing the upper swell of her tits and the bent knee of one leg

He pinched the sheet between his fingers and tugged it down, exposing her body in delicious incre hiasp, heat flaring across her skin in a molten wave As her brain lurched into awareness, another heated lash across her clit had her s

But they wouldn’t close Strong hands held them down and spread for the next leisurely lick Her heart raced with surprise and fear Her eyes wrenched open, her hand thrusting doard to protect her intiers sank into luxurious strands of thick hair, sliding through the mass to stroke over the scalp beneath