Free Pippa's Rescue by JJ Keller

hand. “We met before, when you and Harrison were eating at the little Mexican restaurant near his parents’ house. Remember?”
    Because she’d mentioned Harry, he didn’t protest when she took the weapon and placed it on the table. She acted quite comfortable around a pistol. If she knew Harry, and she’d yet to prove that, then she might know the location of his...Basil swallowed the horrible thought. “No, I don’t remember. Where exactly? What were we eating?”
    She should know. Basil always ate the same Mexican food; he never deviated.
    “Harrison’s home town, two hours north of here. He had a burrito and you, my lover, nachos. But you enjoyed the margaritas the most. Umm, salty and sweet. Citrus with a buzz.” She sat fully on his lap, her bare breasts in his face.
    Any given day he’d enjoy a free lap dance, but not today. Not after making love to Pippa. This felt dirty and wrong. He placed his hands under Skogul’s arms, trying not to touch boob. “I’m not your lover, never have been.”
    A loud knock and the squeal of the door opening brought him upright. Skogul fell flat onto the hardwood floor.
    “Basil?” Pippa, dressed in a light pink barely-there tank and shorts that showed her butt cheeks underneath, stood sideways in the doorway, half-in and half-out. The atrium chandelier, cranked up to full power, created shadows in the background.
    “Something wrong?” He didn’t mean to growl, but such was his reaction. A naked woman trying to ride him followed by the one he desired appearing at his door, nearly naked, made him painfully porn-star stiff.
    “I thought I heard talking and something else.” Her chest heaved, as if she’d run across the room. “Someone’s here. An intruder.”
    You’ve got that right . Basil glanced at Skogul, slowly rising, her back to Pippa. He wasn’t sure if he should cover his phantom with the blanket at the end of the bed or pretend she wasn’t there. He glanced at Pippa. She hadn’t seen the moving target? Only fright remained in her eyes and that fear brought out the knight-errant in him.
    “Don’t worry, lover, I’ve got your back,” Skogul said. Covers sliding against sheets sounded as loud as a freight train.
    “Pippa.” He stomped toward her, just in case the noise behind him needed to be masked. “I’m sure it was nothing. Come with me and”—he wrapped his arm around her waist urging her into the living room—“we’ll search under the beds and in the closets together.”
    “I’m not a child,” Pippa said, her tone filled with offense.
    “No, darlin’, you certainly are all woman.” Basil moved closer to her, trying to speed her exit, while her soft white skin caused his gut to clench in lust agony.
    “I heard talking. Were you on the phone?” Pippa glanced over her shoulder. “Don’t you need your gun?”
    “No.” He had to move fast, before she saw the dress bag. “You forget I’m with Special Ops. I can take down the strongest—even evil forces lurking in the bedroom wardrobe.”
    Skogul’s laugher rang clear, even as he kicked the door shut.
    ****
    Pippa tried to think of a way to postpone Basil from returning to his room. Their search through the house came out empty. Had she dressed in outdoor clothing, she would have suggested a little promenade. They’d ended their tour in her bedroom. How hard could it be to circle the queen-sized bed, with the creamy yellow sheets pulled down, and say Join me ? “It’s rather late. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
    Chicken! she scolded herself. How quickly courage had abandoned her.
    Basil hovered near the door. Arms crossed pulled the thin, tight tee, outlining the outrageous muscles of his chest. Part of the hem stuck in the waist band. He wasn’t eyeing the unmade bed either. “Yes, maybe the noise you heard was just electrical wires hitting the side of the house.”
    She twisted the edge of her tank. Coyness and assertiveness she’d forsaken to practice in her