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Her fingers uncurled and pressed against the tops of her thighs No choice "I-I think he attacked Burrows and Lee because he was…giving them to me as presents" Yeah, sounded sick and twisted as all hell--because it was

His knuckles tightened around the wheel but he didn’t speak

"He watches"If he sees someone that he thinks hurts me or disrespects me, then he attacks" And in the case of Burrows, leaves a body for her to find

Because that was the kind of present every girl dreaet diamonds She wanted mutilated dead men

No, no, even she wasn’t that broken

"One hell of a Prince Charine revved as he shot off the exit ra, deserted stretch of road

TellI don’t know "He hurt a man I dated back in Lillian My…friend was shot The bullet barely missed his heart" A huotten out, she’d stayed the hell away fro the city definitely counted as staying away The real bitch was…she’d cared for him, but she’d had to leave to keep hier in her world

"No one else but me You’re et that voice Whispering to her in the darkness

"The first tiuy," she licked her lips and said, "he sent me roses A dozen red roses"

Jude flinched

Roses Just like the ones that had been left in Lee’s parking spot The truck flew under the streetlights "I used to love red roses" He’d taken that from her, too Nohen she saw them, her entire body tensed up, and she could only think of blood and death She sed and looked out theat the blur of pine trees "He sentfor his whole life"

And she’d been flattered Excited Nervous Sure out who her secret adhts after that" A rough laugh broke frouy He was a kid, couldn’t have been more than fifteen, but I ith friends"

"Humans"

A nod, one she didn’t even know if he saw because she wasn’t ready to look back at hi in with her father, she’d always stuck with the huht fear her sometimes, when she slipped up, but at least they’d never thrown her away "I didn’t want theave the guyMaybe thirty bucks No credit cards

"Letroad Took a left "Roer"

"Used his claws to slice open his throat" She glanced down at her own nails Short now,and called the cops He didn’t get to finish the kid" The boy had survived, barely "I wouldn’t have even connected the stories I was ht "I mean stuff like that happens every day"

He pulled into his drive She could see his cabin Right where the woods and the swalittering stars and the glow of the et out of the truck Neither did she Get it over with Tell hi

A touch on her shoulder

Erin whirled around and found Jude staring at her with blue eyes that shone in the dim interior of the pickup

"How’d you find out it was your adain Nervous habit Erin saw his gaze drop, then rise, slowly, back to hers "When I-I got hoht, my purse was there Stained with blood He left h he’d never left a fingerprint on theuys in the lab had owed her a few favors back in Lillian

His note had been si

I made the bastard pay

After that, he’d broken into her house The first ti like she was, getting a dog, a really big,would have stopped hiaze and because she wanted to, she didn’t Lifting her chin, she stared into Jude’s eyes and said,

"Things escalated from there" The scar seemed to burn

Tell him

"And you ran" Flat Jude shook his head and dru wheel "No cops--"

"Lillian isn’t like Baton Rouge" Too small Not quite the atmosphere and size most paranormals craved "The cops there wouldn’t have had the first clue about how to deal with this guy"

The druot a clue"

Yeah, she knew that and Jude had given her hope Maybe the nightmare would finally end Maybe

Not alone now

She reached for hiers down his cheek She loved the soft sting of the light stubble on his flesh

Jude stilled His gaze held hers Then his heada good rub

The truck’s cab suddenly see at her with hunger and need and such lust on his face In his eyes

I want hi about hurting hi eyes and listening ears

Alone

One reedy? A little greed never hurt anyone

Her tongue swiped along her lower lip and she wished that she could taste him

Do it

She leaned toward him and heard the hard rasp of his breath Her lips hovered over his

"Don’t you know"--the words were a growl, so deep and rough they sent a shiver over her--"not to play with a tiger?"