Free Hell to Pay by Kimberly Dean Page A

other time he’d gone on one of these little expeditions, he’d ended up in the last place she wanted him… the place where her knees went weak and her mouth went dry…
    That hot, dangerous dread flared higher in her chest, and she knew without a doubt where her delinquent puppy was.
    Rafer Long’s back porch.
    “Oh damn.” A shaky breath passed her lips. Then another. She forced her legs to start moving again, even though they weren’t quite steady. She could deal with Randy. Rafer was another matter entirely. Once she crossed onto his property, the feud somehow became more real. All the friction borne by the generations before them seemed to heat whenever they came face-to-face. The distrust, the sensitivity, the rawness… it just all came to life.
    Maybe she could catch Thunder before he was spotted.
    And maybe this feud was a curse.
    She bit her lip. She’d tried to stay out of it, but she kept being thrust right into the fray. And primarily by her own pet. The traitor.
    The woods opened back up onto her property, but she didn’t even try another look. She was focused on the other set of trees that separated her from those who did not want her there—the trees that had been planted to keep her family out. She rubbed her stomach as it tightened.
    Silently, she headed down the path to the south and crossed onto Long property once again. The copse of trees was much smaller than that to her north, and she crossed it much too quickly. Still, this time she didn’t try to hide. She stepped into the clearing and immediately felt her cheeks flare.
    Rafer Long was waiting for her. Watching and waiting…
    His muscled body tensed the moment he saw her. Sitting on the deck next to him was her dog.
    “I’m sorry,” Cassidy blurted. Instinctively she hurried forward, wanting to stave off his anger.
    “He wasn’t leashed.”
    The cool voice whipped across the lawn, sending a chill over her skin. Or something like a chill… Only it was hotter . H otter and, in its own way, invigorating .
    “I put in an invisible fence,” she explained quickly. “I don’t know why it’s not working.”
    “This is the third time this week.”
    “I know. I’m not sure how to contain him anymore. He seems to have found a way off the chain when I use it. I feel like I’m living with the Houdini of the canine world.”
    Rafer didn’t smile, and she was rambling. The words just kept coming faster and quieter the more he watched her. Finally, they trailed off to nothing. They stared at each other, two on-edge combatants waiting for the other to make the first move.
    Sensing something at play, Thunder rolled onto his stomach. He’d been using Long’s deck as a scratching post for his back, oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t wanted there. Propping himself up, he smiled at her, panting with his pink tongue lolling carelessly.
    “I’m sorry if he bothered you,” Cassidy said quietly.
    In one smooth rolling motion, Rafer pushed himself to his feet. “He seems to be spending as much time over here as he is at his own home.”
    “I know.” Her heart took off like a racehorse as her enemy approached her. Tall and lean, he moved in a way that was just… sexual. Or menacing. There was such a fine line between the two. Like a tiger on the hunt, he had a lethal beauty that she couldn’t tear her gaze from.
    And God, he was beautiful. Dark-haired, blue-eyed and hard-muscled.
    “I’m beginning to think you send him over here intentionally,” he said, stalking towards her.
    “No! I swear.”
    “Are you trying to rile me, Cassidy?”
    Her mouth went dry.
    When he stopped, he was in her space. “Because it’s working.”
    Pinpricks caught her skin. “He just seems intent on exploring. Something over here must have caught his interest.”
    Something or someone… Razor blue eyes suddenly focused on her, seemingly peering into her soul, and her stomach dropped to somewhere around her feet. She knew she had always had a fascination