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A knock sounded at the bathroom door and I looked over with furrowed brows

"Not yet," he said in warning, his fingers diving inside asped and clutched on to his wrist to push hi for release

He pressed his steely body against mine and leaned in until his mouth was at my ear "Stay with me," he said, his deep voice rich and smooth He released my chin, took hold of one of my hands, and led it down the solid wall of his abdo ripped away from him

"Dutch," he said as my hand encircled his erection, but water rushed up and around us like a flash flood until I was literally fighting for air

I bolted upright, sending bathwater splashing over the edge of the tub as I remembered where I was

"Okay?" I heard a voice say A water from my face "I didn’t hear you"

"I’ home My cell’s about to die and I have to call Samantha Her boyfriend broke up with her, and the world is apparently going to end"

I struggled to catch my breath "Okay, hon See you tomorrow," I said, et a grip on reality, to unclench ed into the bathtub at some point Then I eased up and perched hridiculous If I’d bound hi my dreams? What the hell was that about? Not to mention the fact that I’d fallen asleep in a bathtub I could’ve drowned

Freaking son of Satan

My phone chi I reached over with a shaking hand and grabbed it off the vanity My sister, Ge car trouble, couldn’t get a hold of Dad, and wanted me to pick her up at a convenience store just outside of Santa Fe I tried to call her as I stepped out of the tub, but an annoying voice cut in, saying her phone was either off or she was out of the calling area Wonderful She did say her battery was low Maybe it died

Having no choice, I patted dry, dragged on a pair of jeans, a Blue Öyster Cult sweatshirt, and my hard-won biker boots, and stepped out of the bathroo roonot to let strangers in as I did so A freezing rain pelted s holy if Geot there, I would beginwith hers I supposed I’d have to pick up a jar first

I drove to Santa Fe for the second time that day as sheets of icy rain cascaded downAt least it was easier to stay awake in Popsicleher best to warm me, and I had to adht a towel or a blanket What if so happened? What if Misery died and I froze to death? That would suck

I wondered if Reyes ever got cold He was so hot, as though his body generated heat from its own source inside hi label

When I was finally war was not due to the teures I forced my mind away from him and onto the case at hand My first order of business would be to use my supernatural connections to find out if Teresa Yost was still alive The odds were certainly against it, but with any luck, she’d survived whatever the good doctor had in store for her I needed more information on him as well

The rain continued to fall in a procession of thick angry droplets that sounded ainst Misery than raindrops It forced me to slow, to take the turns ressive dispositionof the windshield wipers lulled me into serenity, and no hts fro back to Reyes

Why did he cory, so reluctant to be withit each and every tiain, he was athey did was beyond me And they have the nerve to complain about women

I took the exit that would lead to the convenience store outside of Santa Fe It sat in a fairly remote area, and I couldn’t help but wonder what in the na out here As far as I knew, she rarely went spotlighting for jackrabbits A delivery truck ahead of me caused me to slow even more, but since the rain made it impossible to see beyond twenty feet, I actually felt safer behind it I focused on its taillights to stay on the road Rain in the parched deserts of New Mexico was always a good thing, but driving in it was becoerous Thankfully, the heavily lit convenience store came into view The truck continued on as I coasted into the parking lot, then stopped short Only one car sat off to the side, probably the night clerk’s I scanned the area for Ge with a stunned kind of anger She wasn’t there

Cla aloud, I tried her cell again, to no avail Then I checked the texts again to ht place I did Maybe she was lost, had toldconvenience store Before I could er’s-side door opened Thank goodness I figured her car was stuck somewhere out in this tempest and she’d had to hoof it to the store on foot But instead of e wet man crawled inside and closed the door behind him After an initial period of astonishh me in a delayed reaction I would later shake et killed in thefingers that could easily be mistaken for a Vise-Grip locked around my arm The fact that I knew the survival rate of abducted woht hi for the door handle When he jerked me toward him, I raised my feet over the center console and kicked But he bound s within a steel-like are hand muffled the screaht caused the console to grind into my back painfully, but I still kicked and squir I’d learned in the teeks I’d lasted in jujitsu No as I going to make this easy for him