Free Power of the Raven by Aimée Thurlo

scarier, isn’t he? I remember when I spotted him outside the restaurant, before you and I were supposed to meet for lunch,” she said in a whisper-thin voice. “Maybe he wanted me to see him. So far, at least, part of his strategy has been to keep me on edge, running from shadows.”
    “A purse snatcher, on the other hand, wants something specific, strikes fast and then is gone. His work is dependent on opportunity and speed, nothing more.”
    “There’s another way of looking at this,” she said slowly. “Taking my purse could be just one more way of getting in my head. I have all my credit and debit cards there, my keys, my wallet, all the things that are part of my identity.”
    She took a breath and continued. “If Bud’s goal had been to hurt me physically, he would have come at me differently from day one,” she said. “All things considered, I think Harrington’s playing with me, trying to make me sorry I ever turned him down. Or maybe he’s just hoping to goad me into doing something stupid, so he can get me thrown in jail,” she said, running an exasperated hand through her hair. “The problem is that I don’t know how far he’s going to take this sick game.”
    “Whatever the case, this guy’s taking a lot of stupid chances, which tells me he’s not a professional criminal.”
    “Maybe not, but he’s making me crazy.”
    “Let’s set all this aside for now. Maybe the answers will come to us tomorrow morning after we’ve had some sleep,” he said, wishing he could say something that would make Lori smile again.
    As they walked back to his pickup she looked over at him. “Let me be the one who sleeps on the love seat tonight. I’m smaller. I’ll be more comfortable even if it does fold out into a bed.”
    “I’ll be fine—but I’ll be even better if you invite me to share the bed with you.”
    She gave him a slow, sexy smile that made his blood turn into a river of fire.
    “Neither of us would get any sleep, then,” she said, standing beside his truck.
    He put his arms around her and pulled her close, letting her feel the heat from his body. He’d had many one-nighters, but the unrelenting need pounding through him now took him by surprise. He would have gladly traded ten years of his life for a night of slow, mind-blowing sex with her. “Losing a little sleep—would that be so bad?”
    “Bad? No, I wouldn’t say that. I’d probably love it,” she said. “Then, afterward, I’d be filled with regret because I’m not ready for that. To me, lovemaking should be just that—two people who care so deeply for each other that everything in them demands they become one. It’s about having two hearts with one steady beat.”
    “It doesn’t always have to be that way. I can make you feel things that will rock you to the core again and again,” he said, his voice low, his body hard with desire.
    She took a shaky breath and he felt her wavering. Her gaze drifted down to the center of his jeans and she licked her lips nervously. Just watching her made his body tighten to such an impossible level he thought he’d explode. “I’ll make it good,” he murmured.
    She swallowed several times. “You want me, and maybe I want you, too, but in here,” she said, pointing to her heart, “I need more than heat. I want to feel a yearning so intense that a union is the only way for me to find peace.”
    It took everything he had not to try and get her to change her mind. He knew he could pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. He knew how to make a woman melt in his arms. Yet what she really wanted wasn’t something he could give her.
    “Your choice, darling.” He brushed his knuckles on her cheek and heard her fractured sigh. “I’ll sleep in the living room and dream of you.”
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    As they reached Preston’s place, Lori saw a woman in her mid-fifties come out from one of the adjoining town houses. She hurried toward them, waving her arms.
    The