Into the Night(14)

“Are you trying to drive me crazy?” Macey whispered.

Maybe. She’d driven him to the brink more than a few times.

He withdrew, plunged deep—and they fucking wrecked that bed as control was lost for both of them. Harder, deeper, stronger, he took her.

She arched her back and cried out as she climaxed.

Harder, deeper—

The bed slid across the floor.

He came, surging deep into her and holding her as if...as if he’d never let her go.

*

WHEN DAWN CAME, she eased from the bed—and out of Bowen’s arms. She dressed quickly and then tiptoed to the door. Macey glanced back at him, helpless not to do so. He’d given her just what she’d needed that night.

Pleasure.

Oblivion.

Bowen was still in the bed. He was lying on his stomach, with his hand stretched out across the bed. That hand had been around her.

The covers were near his waist and she could easily see his broad back. And the scars there. Bullet wounds. She recognized them for exactly what they were. Bowen hadn’t lived an easy life. He wasn’t an easy man.

He’d been exactly the man she wanted.

She opened the door and crept outside. Moments later, she was back in her room. She stopped trying to be quiet as she headed straight for the bathroom. She could feel Bowen on her skin. His touch, his mouth.

He’d kept his word. His mouth had explored her, everywhere.

She wrenched on the shower faucet and the water thundered down. As the steam began to fill the bathroom, Macey turned toward the mirror and looked at herself.

What have I done?

*

HIS EYES OPENED the minute the door closed.

Dawn had come, and Macey had slipped away. She’d asked him for a night. Nothing more. Just the hours in the dark.

He rolled over. The bed smelled like her. Some sweet lavender scent.

Bowen rose and stalked to the bathroom. Then he paused because he could hear Macey’s shower through the paper-thin wall. Macey, in the shower. Wet. Naked.

Just hours in the dark.

His hand lifted and pressed to that wall. Macey might think they were one and done, but he wasn’t so sure. Because...the thing about the dark...

It returned again. Every night.

*

“I WANT TO see the body.” Macey squared her shoulders as she faced Dr. Lopez. “I need to study the marks on Daniel Haddox’s body.”

Dr. Lopez had her hair pinned at the nape of her neck. She wore her lab coat and she had a big mug of coffee gripped in one hand. “Figured you’d be showing up.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Though I thought you’d at least wait until eight a.m.”

“We’ve got two dead bodies in this town,” Macey said. “There didn’t seem to be a point in waiting much longer.” She’d barely been able to wait until the ME’s lab opened.

She’d taken a taxi over, leaving a note for Bowen. Because yes, she’d been a coward that way. But she knew he wanted to go and see the sheriff again. And she’d wanted—needed—to see Daniel’s body.

She’d also wanted to avoid an immediate scene with Bowen. Night-afters weren’t really her thing.

“Grab a coat and some gloves and let’s get to work,” Dr. Lopez said.

Right. Macey grabbed the coat and gloves and then she hurried to the table. The body was already in position. Just waiting—

“Is this weird for you?” Dr. Lopez asked, tilting her head as she studied Macey. “I mean, some of the stories say he was your lover.”

“He wasn’t.” Her voice was clipped. “He was just the man who tried to kill me.” Her gaze was on his face. And now he’s the man who is dead.

But she frowned as she stared at him. “Is that...blood...under his eyes?” His eyes were closed, but she swore she could see a faint line of red beneath his lashes. She leaned in closer to get a better view.

The ME did, too. “Looks like it. Could be spatter from his other wounds.”

Because he certainly had plenty of those. Macey’s gaze slid down his chest. His arms. She hadn’t touched him yet and...she was hesitant to do so.

It still doesn’t feel real. I’m standing over his body, and I still feel like this is a dream.

“I’d be glad,” Dr. Lopez announced.

Macey’s gaze jerked toward the ME.

“If it were me,” she added, staring at Macey from under the veil of her lashes. “If some guy had started carving me up like some freaking Thanksgiving turkey, I’d be glad when he died.”

“Not exactly like a turkey,” she replied even as her stomach clenched. Her hand hovered over Daniel’s wrist. The bruising there was so dark, a deep mix of blue and black. He fought against his restraints, tried to get free.

But there was no escape for him. Not this time.

“Sorry. I, um, sometimes I say things without thinking them all the way through.”

Macey glanced back at the ME.

Dr. Lopez gave a little wince. “It’s why I work with the dead. You know...they don’t care if I say something stupid. The living—they mind.”

Macey wasn’t sure what to say.

“Are you glad?” Dr. Lopez blurted.

Macey blinked. That was the only expression change that she allowed herself.