Free Dangerously in Love by Michele Kimbrough

home, he would have had every right to kill me.”
    “Adam doesn’t own a gun. You have nothing to worry about, Hill. Nothing.”
    Hill nodded, although he knew Adam didn’t need a gun to harm him. The element of surprise was all Adam needed, as he had already proven.
    “We could set up the bungalow with a mattress if you want,” she offered. “Adam never goes in there. And you could park your truck where it’s parked now. It wouldn’t be discovered back there. Nobody would see you or know you’re here.”
    “Then see to it,” he said, grinning and caressing her back.
    They heard something stirring in the distance. Caitlin tapped Hill’s shoulder so that he’d get up. He pulled out of her first, then raised his body, wishing it didn’t have to end.
    “Could it be Adam?” Hill asked.
    She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe. Or could just be a raccoon or something.”
    “I should leave.”
    “Take me with you,” she said before she could stop herself.

17

Hill jumped up, trying to wake Caitlin but unable to. Her arms flailed as she screamed and kicked. He grabbed her arms, but she kicked him in the groin. He bent over, writhing in pain. It took a moment for the aching to pass. She popped up, sweating, breathing heavily. Her face went red, a vein protruding prominently from her forehead. Hill got her some water, and she guzzled it down, choking a little towards the end. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and sat on the edge of the bed.
    “Are you okay?” Hill asked.
    “That nightmare. It had stopped for a while. Since I’ve been with you, I hadn’t had the bad dreams. But now they’re back.”
    He sat beside her and held her close. Her body trembled. She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed with her hands in her lap, chin to her chest. He caressed her arms, trying to calm her. She was clearly unnerved. She couldn’t stop shaking. Her heart raced, body quaked, and hands trembled. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. But it didn’t help—it only served to bring forth a vision of those raisin-like eyes staring at her.
    Caitlin pushed her hair behind her ears. Then without a word, she leaned into Hill’s arms, tears spilling onto his bare chest. He held her so close he thought he’d squeeze the life right out of her. Her voice, tremulous, uttered, “Hill, I love . . . how safe I feel with you.”
    “I’ll protect you, baby. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
    “Hill?”
    “Yes?” he said, caressing her back, comforting her.
    She kissed him tenderly and laid her head against his chest again. “Is it possible to love someone so deeply so quickly?”
    Of course it was possible, but she had admitted before that she didn’t even know what love was. So how could she possibly know if she loved him? He wasn’t sure how to answer her. I love you, too?
Did
he love her? He remained silent, holding her close, feeling her body finally relax. She hadn’t told him anything about what had her so frightened, but now that she was calm, he didn’t want to bring it up and cause her to think about it or relive it.
    “Hill?” She stood in front of him.
    “Yes, baby?”
    “Make love to me.”
    She let the robe he’d given her fall to the floor, revealing her nakedness. Hill licked his lips, imagining the things he would do to her. Before he could respond, she’d removed his robe, dropped to her knees, and had taken him into her mouth. He groaned, his hands cupping her head.
    ***
    A gruesome haze hovered, still, lifeless. Caitlin sat quietly at the kitchen table, sipping coffee across from Hill. She tried not to get lost in his eyes. The way he looked at her, even his voice, relaxed and soothed her. There was something about how he held her hand with such gentleness that calmed her anxiety.
    She looked into Hill’s thoughtful eyes. He reached out to her, caressing her arm.
    “I don’t know why anybody would have wanted to kill him. He was a good guy. A regular Joe,”