forward, only to be startled by a dark shape to her right. She spun toward it, her heart beating in her throat. Then her shock ratcheted up even further when she saw what it was. Or who it was.
“Mark! What the hell?”
He was crouched in the corner, his eyes burning golden in the…she would have said morning sunshine, but he was in shadow. And yet his eyes were so clear to her. He was looking at her with that intensity that was as frightening as it was thrilling. And then his nose twitched and he opened his mouth. It took him two tries before sound came out, but eventually he croaked out a word.
“Coffee?”
“Uh…yeah. God, Mark, what are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer, and she already recognized the state he was in. It was the same version of him that had answered the door naked, and it wasn’t that he was half asleep. Crouched as he was, he looked like a wild animal. His clothing was plastered to his skin, and his hair was slicked straight down. As if he’d been siting just like that all night long, through the rain until the morning dried everything on his body. Without him moving an inch.
His nose twitched again, and she was grateful she’d made a full pot.
“I’ll get the coffee.” She started to move back to the kitchen but stopped long enough to look again at him. Whispers of the night’s eroticism filled her mind, showing her exactly what she’d dreamed about. A man who was more animal than human. More elemental than reason. More thrilling in his raw power than anything in the civilized world. She cleared her throat, suddenly uncomfortable with the lust pounding through her blood. “You’re freaking me out, you know,” she said. It wasn’t true. She was freaking herself out, but she couldn’t admit that to either of them just yet.
He didn’t respond, so she went for the coffee. Two mugs, poured and sweetened with shaking hands, and then she carried them carefully outside. Except when she stepped back onto the porch, he wasn’t there.
“Mark?”
She looked frantically around, disappointment blooming inside her belly. What the hell? Had she dreamed him? Was she going insane?
She moved to the porch railing, setting the extra mug down. Then she sipped her own drink, letting the heat burn her tongue and hopefully wake her brain cells. A sip. Another. Five more before she decided she’d gone insane.
Then he appeared on her opposite side, stepping up onto the porch in near silence. She didn’t see him until he reached for the mug on the railing.
She squeaked in alarm and jumped back. And when her heart steadied to twice its normal rate, she blinked hard and stared. Yup. He was still there and still looked like rumpled man in a handsome bad-boy kind of way. Even his morning beard looked sexy, and the lust-crazed part of her brain wondered where on her body she’d like to feel a beard burn.
“I thought I’d imagined you,” she said. She’d certainly dreamed about him.
His gaze never left her even as he drank his coffee. He was gulping it down, and she wondered if he’d just burned his throat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again.
He pulled the mug away enough to speak. “Perimeter check.” His voice had that gravelly texture to it that hit her happy button on a visceral level. He should do morning radio.
She blinked. Of course. That’s where he’d been when she went to get coffee. “And it was quiet all night, wasn’t it?”
He shook his head.
It took her a moment to understand what he was saying. It hadn’t been quiet? But she hadn’t heard a thing. She hadn’t even known he was there. Her gaze strayed to the woods around her. What sort of evil creature had been out there? And was he just making it up to freak her out?
“I scared it away,” he said.
“I didn’t hear a thing.”
“I smelled it. Before it made the property line.” He looked out at the woods and growled. Yes, an honest-to-goodness growl. “It’s fast. Couldn’t catch
“Mark! What the hell?”
He was crouched in the corner, his eyes burning golden in the…she would have said morning sunshine, but he was in shadow. And yet his eyes were so clear to her. He was looking at her with that intensity that was as frightening as it was thrilling. And then his nose twitched and he opened his mouth. It took him two tries before sound came out, but eventually he croaked out a word.
“Coffee?”
“Uh…yeah. God, Mark, what are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer, and she already recognized the state he was in. It was the same version of him that had answered the door naked, and it wasn’t that he was half asleep. Crouched as he was, he looked like a wild animal. His clothing was plastered to his skin, and his hair was slicked straight down. As if he’d been siting just like that all night long, through the rain until the morning dried everything on his body. Without him moving an inch.
His nose twitched again, and she was grateful she’d made a full pot.
“I’ll get the coffee.” She started to move back to the kitchen but stopped long enough to look again at him. Whispers of the night’s eroticism filled her mind, showing her exactly what she’d dreamed about. A man who was more animal than human. More elemental than reason. More thrilling in his raw power than anything in the civilized world. She cleared her throat, suddenly uncomfortable with the lust pounding through her blood. “You’re freaking me out, you know,” she said. It wasn’t true. She was freaking herself out, but she couldn’t admit that to either of them just yet.
He didn’t respond, so she went for the coffee. Two mugs, poured and sweetened with shaking hands, and then she carried them carefully outside. Except when she stepped back onto the porch, he wasn’t there.
“Mark?”
She looked frantically around, disappointment blooming inside her belly. What the hell? Had she dreamed him? Was she going insane?
She moved to the porch railing, setting the extra mug down. Then she sipped her own drink, letting the heat burn her tongue and hopefully wake her brain cells. A sip. Another. Five more before she decided she’d gone insane.
Then he appeared on her opposite side, stepping up onto the porch in near silence. She didn’t see him until he reached for the mug on the railing.
She squeaked in alarm and jumped back. And when her heart steadied to twice its normal rate, she blinked hard and stared. Yup. He was still there and still looked like rumpled man in a handsome bad-boy kind of way. Even his morning beard looked sexy, and the lust-crazed part of her brain wondered where on her body she’d like to feel a beard burn.
“I thought I’d imagined you,” she said. She’d certainly dreamed about him.
His gaze never left her even as he drank his coffee. He was gulping it down, and she wondered if he’d just burned his throat.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again.
He pulled the mug away enough to speak. “Perimeter check.” His voice had that gravelly texture to it that hit her happy button on a visceral level. He should do morning radio.
She blinked. Of course. That’s where he’d been when she went to get coffee. “And it was quiet all night, wasn’t it?”
He shook his head.
It took her a moment to understand what he was saying. It hadn’t been quiet? But she hadn’t heard a thing. She hadn’t even known he was there. Her gaze strayed to the woods around her. What sort of evil creature had been out there? And was he just making it up to freak her out?
“I scared it away,” he said.
“I didn’t hear a thing.”
“I smelled it. Before it made the property line.” He looked out at the woods and growled. Yes, an honest-to-goodness growl. “It’s fast. Couldn’t catch
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