Free After the Storm by M. Stratton Page A

told herself over and over again. She kept looking back to the road to judge the distance until she got to the spot where she thought she’d seen the man. Looking around, she saw no footprints so she backtracked for about twenty feet and still nothing. All she’d found were animal tracks.
    Maybe it was all in my head.
    Feeling a little defeated, Lexi walked back home. She still needed answers from California and someone should be in by now.
    ~*~
    After a torturous climb down the rocks, he picked the lock and snuck into her home. He watched as the dog ran past him and out onto the beach. He breathed her scent in and shivered. Slowly, he turned back to the inside of her home, his eyes taking in everything as he scanned the room.
    He knew he had at least an hour before she returned. He made sure the back door was locked so that damned, filthy dog wouldn’t come in while he was there.
    Starting in the living room, he touched everything he knew she touched. He leaned down to sniff the cushion of the chair she always sat on. He thought about all the times he had watched through binoculars from the rocks or the boat he rented. He’d see her curled up in this chair, reading. With his face buried in the cushion, he jerked off and thought of smothering her while he pounded his cock into her. He smeared his cum into the carpet, picturing it all over her.
    In the kitchen, he opened her silverware drawer and licked the forks and spoons. It turned him on to think of her putting them in her mouth, savoring her food with his dried saliva on it.
    He ran his hands over the walls and railing going up to the second floor. He thought about chasing her up the stairs, how he would grab her and she would trip, falling so that he could climb on top of her. The space was tight. If he wasn’t careful she might be able to get the upper hand. He shivered with anticipation of feeling her fear.
    In her shower, he got naked and rubbed her loofah all over his body, thinking of their skin cells intermingling. Thinking of her washing his body, allowing her to wash him. It made him rock hard thinking about it. He wanted to dominate her. It was essential as breathing.
    He walked naked into her bedroom his hard cock pointing the way. He went to her closet and fingered every item. When he got to her dirty laundry, a whimper left his lips and his cock throbbed. He dug around until he found two pairs of silk panties. He held them with a death grip as he went to her bed and lay down. The panties and lying naked in her bed was almost too much for him.
    He stuffed the black pair into his mouth, sucking on them, and the white pair he put over his cock and began stroking it, first slow and then faster, imagining it was her mouth. He rolled around on her bed, imagining what he would have done to her last night if she had gotten out of her car and not called that bastard so quick. He had felt her fear from where he’d been standing. His muffled roar filled the room as he came again into the panties wrapped around his cock.
    He got up and dressed quickly, putting the soiled panties into his pocket. He walked away from her house with no one the wiser. Now that he knew what the inside of her home looked like, he knew what he would need to get.
    ~*~
    When Lexi arrived home, she saw Pepper outside and swore. She thought she’d left her in the house, but couldn’t be sure with all the thoughts vying for her attention right now. At this point, she wasn’t even sure if she’d locked up before she left. It was such a habit not to lock the doors. Sure enough, her backdoor was unlocked. She had an uneasy feeling as she walked in. She wondered if she should call Noah to help go through the house with her, but she wasn’t up for the lecture, which would be completely justified.
    She stood and listened closely, but all she could hear were the sounds of the surf and crying seabirds outside, nothing strange from inside. Plus Pepper was right there with her and she would’ve