Out of Exile by Carla Cassidy

Author:Carla Cassidy
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2002-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Matthew stood beneath the shower, welcoming the hot spray of water that beat against his knotted muscles. He felt as if they were all under siege by an unknown enemy. The problem with unknown enemies was that it was impossible to launch a defense, impossible to know what to expect next.

The idea that somebody had sneaked into the house, silently stolen up the stairs and placed a rattlesnake in the middle of Lilly’s bed both enraged him and filled him with gut-twisting fear.

What if she hadn’t seen the snake in time? What if she had sat on the edge of the bed? The snake would have struck and the result might have been deadly.

As he thought of Lilly lying in a hospital bed clinging to life, her eyes glazed and empty, his heart snarled into a thousand knots.

He grabbed the bar of soap and stuck his head beneath the steamy spray. Lathering up, he thought of the frustrating hours he’d spent in town.

The first thing he had done was go to the hardware store to get keys made. It had galled him that suddenly his house was no longer the safe haven it had been, that somebody had impinged on his sense of security.

Inferno had always been the kind of place where doors weren’t locked and people weren’t afraid. Matthew couldn’t remember the last time he’d locked up the house. It had always been open to welcome friends, family and guests who might venture inside.

After the hardware store, he’d gone to the sheriff’s office, where he’d told Jeffrey Broder about the snake. He had no illusions that Jeffrey would get to the bottom of things. Hell, he had no illusions about himself getting to the bottom of what was going on around the ranch.

He rinsed off the soap, then turned off the shower and stepped out. He grabbed a large towel, dried off, then wrapped the towel around his waist and left the bathroom.

She was the first thing he saw in his room. Lilly sat on the edge of his bed, illuminated by the glow of the lamp on his bedside stand.

The pale-pink nightgown did little to hide the thrust of her breasts, and through the thinness of the material he could see the faint dark circles of her nipples. Instantly his body reacted, and he was grateful for the towel around him.

“Lilly, what are you doing in here?”

She stood and approached him, her eyes shining with an evocative light that made his breath catch in his throat. She said not a word, but instead wound her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him.

Despite the fact that he didn’t want this, told himself he couldn’t want her, his arms enfolded her. She leaned her head against his chest, and he bent his head to smell her hair, the fragrant scent shooting rich hot desire through him.

He closed his eyes, allowing her nearness to suffuse him with warmth, with a pleasure so intense it was almost frightening.

“I wanted you to hold me this afternoon.

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