She Can Hide (She Can #4)(55)

They lay still for several minutes. The fire crackled. Wood shifted. Zeus snored.

Abby gave his shoulder a tap. “You’re heavy.”

“Oh, sorry.” Ethan lifted his upper body off Abby. “So, you didn’t answer my question.”

“Which one?”

“Am I a magician?”

Abby laughed. “You’re a regular Houdini.”




Ethan woke to a dark and empty bedroom. He swept a hand over the indent in the mattress next to him. The sheets were cool. Where was Abby? He threw back the covers and stepped into a pair of sweatpants. The hardwood was chilly under his bare feet.

He went downstairs and turned into the kitchen. Abby was standing at the window, but with all the lights blazing, she wouldn’t be able to see much except her own reflection. She was dressed in flannel pajamas and a heavy, floor-length robe. The dog at her feet stretched and sighed heavily.

Ethan stepped up behind her. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but her stiff posture stopped him. Their reflections were both visible in the window, but she was so lost in whatever she was seeing in her own head, she didn’t notice him. “Can’t sleep?”

She gasped and blinked, one hand rising to her throat as she whirled to face him. The fingers of her other hand clenched the edge of the countertop behind her. “I didn’t hear you.”

“I’m sorry I scared you.” Ethan paused. Something was off. This wasn’t the same playful, in-charge woman who’d thoroughly seduced him. Instead of confidence, fear and helplessness shone in her eyes. An internal alarm went off inside Ethan. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She leaned backward, putting more space between them, but there was no way Ethan was letting her pull away from him. He took two steps forward, bringing their bodies into contact. Her eyes misted.

“Bullshit.” He searched her face.

Her gaze shifted to the window. Her eyes closed. Her shoulders slumped. “I thought that maybe now that Faulkner was dead, it would go away.”

“You thought what would go away?”

“But tonight I was just as afraid as always, maybe even more.”

Ethan drew her closer. He stroked her back through her thick robe. “What are you afraid of?”

With a defeated sigh, she leaned her head into his chest. Ethan’s arms slid around her.

“The dark. I sleep with the lights on.” She lifted her head. “And I’m not talking about a nightlight. At home I usually keep every light in the house on all night. They’re set on timers. Even if I’m not home, it’s as bright as an operating room in there all the time.”

Ethan stiffened. “You said it was dark in that well.”

She nodded. “He’d nailed plywood across the opening. I couldn’t even tell if it was night or day.”

Ethan’s gut twisted. She’d spent ten days in a dark hole in the ground drinking out of a puddle to stay alive. How could anyone do that to another human being? How could anyone take a beautiful woman and treat her worse than an animal? If Faulkner wasn’t dead, Ethan would kill the bastard all over again. He ached to take away all her pain. But that wasn’t possible. The best he could do was help her through the night.

“Come back to bed,” he whispered into her hair.

“I can’t sleep in the dark.”

“Abby, we can light up the house like the Meadowlands. All I care about is having you in my bed.” He took her hand and tugged her toward the stairs. He flipped wall switches as they walked down the hall. In the bedroom, he turned on the lights on both nightstands and the overhead fixture in the bathroom. He made sure the blinds were closed tightly. Not that there were any houses nearby, but so that Abby wouldn’t be staring at the black windows all night long.

She stood in the middle of the room. Looking lost. Adrift. He went to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.

Pressing her cheek to his chest, she shuddered. “Make love to me, Ethan.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. Terrified women weren’t really his thing. “I’m perfectly happy just to hold you all night.”

“I need you.” Her voice cracked.

Those three words stirred his heart in a way he couldn’t articulate. The thought that only he could get her through the night was powerful. The need to chase away her fear coursed through him. With a gentle smile, he slipped the robe from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Then he slowly unbuttoned her pajama top. When he spread the fabric apart and looked at her, she blushed from head to toe, pink heat spreading across her pale skin and wiping away her pallor.

He voiced his male approval. “You are amazing. Why on earth do you hide under baggy clothes?”

“Because hiding is what I do best.”

Ethan silently cursed his stupid comment. “I didn’t mean—”

She put a finger to his lips. “It’s OK. It’s not your fault, and I’m working on it. No more hiding for me. But I could use some help.”

Ethan couldn’t form the words to express the feeling in his heart. He’d have to show her instead.

One hand splayed at the base of her spine, nudging her hips closer, letting her feel the evidence of his desire. “See what you do to me?”

Her answering moan sent more of his blood racing south. He skimmed her rib cage until his hand gently brushed her breast. One fingertip circled her nipple in a feather-light caress.