Alone in the Dark by Marie Ferrarella Read Free Book Online Page A

as Uncle Andrew's girls,
    Callie, Teri and Rayne, she still took the lead whenever she felt something should move
    forward.

    She didn't know exactly where she thought this thing between them should go. Looking
    back later, she doubted that she'd actually thought at all. Reacted was more like it.
    Sometimes, instincts just took over.

    Maybe she'd been a vet too long and her patients had rubbed off on her. She didn't know.
    All she knew was that one second she was removing strands of her hair that were in his
    face and the next, her mouth had made contact with his.

    And what contact.

    It was something akin to the space shuttle taking off after countless delays. Lift-off was
    perfect, accompanied by anticipation, tension and a vast number of internal explosions that
    manifested themselves all around the shuttle.

    If she truly was the initiator, all she'd meant to do was to make simple contact. Just
    brush her lips against his.

    Maybe press a little.

    Again, it wasn't a conscious thought process. And after contact, a thought process was
    the first thing to go in the meltdown.

    Rising on her toes, feeling his arms tighten around her, pulling her closer to him, Patience
    let herself fall into the kiss. Into an endless, spiraling abyss. She was free-falling through
    space and it was the most exciting, delicious experience she'd ever had.

    Brady had no idea what had just happened. One moment, she was just standing there on
    her front step, the warm glow from the light inside bathing her face in seductive hues,
    making him feel things that he had no desire to feel. The next moment, life as he'd known
    it abruptly changed forever.

    He was here as a cop, not as a man. But it was as a man that he was reacting. And when
    the wind conspired against him, suddenly gliding her hair against his skin, making all hell
    break out inside of him, he felt as if he was fighting a losing battle.

    But curiosity and desire got the better of him. He gave in to the former, did his
    damnedest to reconstruct the latter—and kissed her.

    There had been many missteps in his life.

    At night he would lie awake at times and review them, thinking how different the course
    of his existence might be if he had just done some things differently. Even one thing
    differently.

    And now this could be added to the list. Because until he'd kissed her, he didn't know.
    Didn't know that this woman could break apart his carefully constructed fortress.

    At the moment of contact she made his head spin and his blood heat. It only became more
    so. The more he kissed Patience, the more he knew he wanted to kiss her. The more he
    wanted to take her back inside, to her bedroom and to find a way to release all this pent-
    up tension he was feeling.

    His body was hot against hers.

    She could feel the heat, feel the desire. What was she doing? She was breaking her own
    first rule, her own cardinal rule. How could she have just forgotten all about that?

    But pleasure had a way of outweighing guilt. And panic. She kissed him as if it were all
    that mattered in this world.

    And then, suddenly, air rushed all around her. And the night made her cold again.

    Brady had pulled back.

    She pressed her lips together, savoring the taste she found there, telling herself she
    shouldn't. He was a cop for heaven's sake and she wasn't about to get involved with a cop.
    Not ever.

    Very slowly, she let out a breath. It didn't help. She felt as if she was still trembling
    inside like some kind of vestal virgin.

    Damn it, what was wrong with her? It wasn't as if she were some kind of novice. She did
    go out. Just not all that often. Most of the time, she preferred the company of her
    patients or her family to a single, quite often awkward, one-on-one with a man.

    Patience cleared her throat before finally venturing to put her confusion into words.
    "What do you call that?"

    "A mistake." He took another step back from her and toward his car. Standing behind him, King danced away.