Free Blood Kiss (Savage Security Series Book 1) by Karen Tjebben

hound from Hell as he paced like a sentry.
    Alisha’s adrenaline kicked in and her pulse pounded. She glanced over her shoulder towards the kitchen. Her Glock sat on the counter, screaming for her to pick it up. She stood quickly and strode to the gun.
    Wrapping her hand around the grip, she inhaled deeply and slowly breathed out, willing herself to calm down and think. This is probably nothing. She thought about racking the slide to put a bullet in the chamber, but she feared she’d accidentally pull the trigger and shoot. Instead she gripped the slide and prepared to rack it if she needed to.
    She tip-toed to the window and peeked around the blinds. She didn’t see anyone on the patio, but Forrest still barked and paced by the door. His anxiety only added to hers. She knew he could smell and sense things that she couldn’t.
    Alisha stared at her cell phone on the table. She thought about calling Mike, but she didn’t want to blow something out of proportion and humiliate herself or annoy him.
    A loud crash outside sent another wave of adrenaline through her. She took a deep breath and faced her fear, looking out the window toward the crashing sound. One of her flower pots had fallen from the potting bench and lay broken on the patio. Soil covered the stone pavers.
    The pot had been there, stable for weeks. She knew it didn’t just fall. Something knocked it. She kept her attention on the patio as she stretched to grab her cell. A dark mass sprung across the patio. She jerked her gun hand in surprise and dropped her cell back onto the table.
    She racked the slide, preparing the first bullet to be fired. Her heart raced. She could literally hear her blood pounding through her body. She tried to remember the shooting stance Mike had shown her. She held the gun out in front of her, her hands shaking slightly.
    Forrest circled in front of the door, barking and snarling. Then he quickly dashed to the window in the family room and growled as he ran the length of the sofa. She followed him, willing herself to be brave, reminding herself that she was brave. She lowered the gun to her side and peeked from the side of the curtain.
    The neighbor’s cat skittered across her backyard and disappeared from sight. Forrest settled down and circled on the floor.
    “Damn cat,” she muttered. She kept the gun pointed to the floor and cursed. Now she had a chambered round to worry about. Gun ownership was new to her.  So much had been thrown at her today that she struggled to recall how to remove the bullet from the chamber.
    She huffed and rolled her eyes. She was tempted to pick up her cell and call Mike. He’d probably come over and help her deal with the chambered round, but then she’d have to admit that she’d been terrified of a cat.
    Her pride won out. The cell remained on the table, and she didn’t call him.
    Alisha would ask Mike to walk her through the process of clearing the chamber tomorrow. She clicked off the television and went upstairs to her bedroom. Forrest silently followed her. She locked the bedroom door and set the gun on her nightstand. Then she walked to the alarm pad and armed the system to ‘night’ mode. The first floor was now off-limits. If anything moved down there, the alarm would sound.
    ‘Momma’s gonna take a bath,” she said, scratching behind Forrest’s ears. “You gonna be my guard dog?” she asked as she headed to the en suite bathroom.
    Forrest’s nail tapped against the tile floor. She sat on the platform around the garden tub and turned on the water. A bottle of her favorite body wash was near the faucet. This was definitely a bubble worthy night. She popped open the lid and poured the cucumber melon scented gel into the rushing water. Not wanting to waste time, she brushed her teeth and pulled her hair up into a messy bun. Then she watched the bubbles foam as she got undressed.
    Forrest barked a few times and stared at her as she slowly slipped into the water.  The water still