| Police Say Serial Killer Stalking Women in Piper’s Grove.
Isabella Markham read the headline in the paper and swallowed hard. A cold
shudder ran up her spine and made the hair on her arms prickle. By old habit she
pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose.
For one unnerving moment she wondered if she couldn’t venture anywhere
without the specter of fear haunting her night and day. “Great. Just great.
I go on vacation and look what happens.”
She’d been here, cloistered in this luxury one story condo in this town
several miles south of Denver, for two weeks. In that time she’d read about
murder and mayhem in a town that never saw atrocities committed like this in its
hundred year history.
She reached for her coffee and almost knocked over the fat green mug. Her hand
trembled as she gripped the ceramic cup and brought it to her lips for a healthy
swallow. She read more of the disturbing article.
Police are baffled by the sudden and devastating series of murders that
began three months ago in Piper’s Grove. Three women have been brutally
murdered, and now the townspeople are starting to question whether the police
can protect them. Many young women have left this quiet town in the last two weeks
and headed for Denver, saying they actually feel safer in the big city than in
this normally secure hamlet.
Bella shivered.
All you need is a good jolt of caffeine. Everything will be all right.
As she sat there reading at the breakfast bar in the gourmet kitchen, she admitted
she had everything she needed and nothing to worry about. Yes, it was quiet here,
but she needed the time and the peace to think. She brushed her fingers over the
cool, dark blue granite countertop. Cooking for one in the light oak, brightly
lit, kitchen seemed lonely, but she couldn’t complain on the whole. She
laid the paper on the breakfast bar and tried not to let old memories explode
in her brain. Thinking about the murders and what happened at her father’s
estate in recent months would ruin her vacation and peace of mind. She’d
escaped to Piper’s Grove, Colorado, thinking it must be safer than Denver.
She would stay the entire month in the rented vacation condo or be out the money.
All she needed to do was be cautious, and she could still enjoy her time here.
Adjusting her glasses again, she inhaled deeply. That is that. She refused
to second guess herself.
After another sip of coffee she felt better. Today she’d take advantage
of the warmer temperatures predicted and soak in some rays. She shifted on the
bar stool and glanced out the kitchen window into her next door neighbor’s
window.
What she saw there made her mouth drop open and her eyes widen. “Boy
howdy, I don’t believe this.”
She didn’t often shuffle, half asleep, into her kitchen in the morning
and see a gorgeous naked man through the window. She praised whatever gods or
goddesses made her neighbor either uninhibited, an exhibitionist, or incredibly
unselfconscious about his body.
How could she be expected to maintain disinterest when the man paraded in full
view with nothing more on his body than a smile? No man had a right to be so damned
beautiful. No. Beautiful sounded too girly-girl for him. This guy didn’t
approach feminine in any way, shape, or form.
Hottie.
Hunk.
Edible.
Tasty.
Whatever she called him, she could stare at him all day and never have difficulty
explaining what made her want to spend the next twenty-four hours staring at him.
Or maybe licking him from one end to the other.
The man simply turned her on.
He looked just out of bed, tousled and maybe thoroughly satisfied by a night
of hard sex.
Her face flamed.
Now your imagination is running away with you.
She drank in details as he moved. His rich, wavy ebony hair tumbled around
his shoulders in disarray. Small, white streaks of hair touched his temples. Unusual,
but the white hair gave him an added mysterious lure. She imagined how it might
feel to slide her fingers into those thick strands and tug him down for two hungry
kisses.
Hah! Who says she’d stop at two?
His nose looked strong, almost hawkish from this angle. From this distance
she couldn’t see as many fine points about his incredible face as she would
like.
Yesterday she’d caught a glimpse of him in a muscle shirt and a pair
of ragged denim shorts. His butt, tight and perfect, had snagged her gaze and
refused to let go.
She’d pulled into the driveway as he’d leaned over to pick up his
paper. He hadn’t looked at her or waved in greeting, so for all she knew
he could be an unsociable bastard. A white picket fence surrounding his front
yard and hers didn’t keep him from seeing her front yard or vice versa.
As he’d walked back to his house, his incredible body had caught her attention
and held it. The way he’d moved suggested primal male animal, and a dangerous
man with an agenda.
Wrenching herself back to the present, she zeroed in on his form again. Her
neighbor opened his fridge and reached inside. Muscles in his naked back rippled
and bunched along his wide shoulders. She imagined running her fingers over smooth
skin and hard sinew. When he grasped a bottle of water and twisted off the top,
she watched his biceps and forearms move. He tipped the water to his lips and
took a long drink.
Her gaze slid down, down, down. She couldn’t see naked proof this man
had one world class butt, but Bella imagined it might be solid and oh-so-squeezable.
She flexed her fingers and smiled as she remembered the old commercial with the
funny man who squeezed toilet paper.
When he turned slightly towards Bella, her breath caught in anticipation and
her gaze coasted down his physique. She could tell he had a powerful chest and
that at least a sprinkling of hair covered his pectorals and down over a ridged,
flat stomach. Below that…
She couldn’t see the entire package because the bottom of the window
obscured her view. Unfortunately, her outstanding imagination conjured an explicit
image. She stood up on her tiptoes to continue her inspection. While nothing could
be guaranteed, she’d bet her next Alaskan cruise the man sported a healthy-sized
cock.
Cock.
Isabella blushed again. The brazen, hard-core explicitness of the word made
her feel…horny. Good deal, Bella. You’re spending valuable vacation
time staring like a love-sick puppy at a man who wouldn’t look twice at
you.
-top- |
