No. She forced herself to take a breath. It wasn’t suffocating at all. Truthfully, it was relaxing and nothing like the other times she’d attempted to do a little cuddling."I'm sorry…. I…. I couldn't sleep," she said softly, "It's okay," Alaric replied, "I couldn't sleep either," There was silence for a while before Vanessa spoke again. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked, staring at the moonlight. “Anything.”Her heart sped up at his quick response. Alaric was…well, he was nothing she had expected.“The scar on your shoulder? Were you shot?”His thumb smoothed over her hip, and she liked the constant, idle motion. “Yes. About four years ago.”“How?” She winced, feeling awkward. “Sorry. That’s none of my business.”“It’s okay. I was doing a job. A white-collar was about to turn state evidence and wanted security before he met with the police. Thought the guy was paranoid, but turned out, he wasn’t.” His chest moved in deep, slow breaths, the effect lulling. “When I was taking h

The moment he said those words, he knew how true they were. She had him.Her mouth opened, but he snaked an arm around her waist and carefully hauled her up against him and kissed her.He kissed her in a way he’d never really kissed a woman before.It was a sweet brush of lips and tender pressure, a kiss of reverence, and it shook him to the core. His hand shook as he smoothed his palm over her cheek, slowly deepening to the kiss. He expected her to fight him, but her lips parted and her tongue flicked over his first. His arousal surged hard and heavy, but he slowed it down, not wanting to hurt her or to send her running again.But she wasn’t running now.Vanessa looped her uninjured arm around his neck, her hand delving deep in his hair, holding her to him. The kiss turned fiercer, harder, and it was all her.“Stay here,” he coaxed, letting his hand slip down, over the curve of her breast, to her hip. “Stay here and I’ll make sure you don’t think about anything.”Vanessa shuddered ag

Her mouth watered as she rocked her body closer, feeling him slide through her wetness and then retreat.“Naughty,” he murmured, his grip tightening on her hip, adjusting her right above him. Just a thrust away. “Tell me.”She wanted to continue to push, but she was burning up on the inside. Then he shifted and his head pushed in. A spasm lashed through her and she tried to bear down, to take him fully, but he stilled her.Vanessa wanted to punch the guy, but she wanted him inside her more. “I want you.”“That’s all you ever have to say.”He thrust up, and Vanessa cried out as he entered her in one deep and long thrust of his hips. The pressure of him filling her was nearly overwhelming, and he held still as her body adjusted to his size.“I’ve never felt something so…” He shook his head, eyes opening and fixing on hers. One hand curled around the back of her head, urging her down to his mouth. He kissed her, drawing her in as he moved his hips again. “You’re fucking perfect.”Vanessa

Shaking her head, she tried telling herself to snap out of it. While that hadn’t helped in the past and most likely wouldn’t now, she hated this perceived weakness inside herself.A plan of action. That’s what she needed. Except she had no idea what Christopher might have done with the money. If she couldn’t find it, she would be screwed.She decided to act as if the police or the FBI would catch the caller or find the money or whatever. Once they’d taken care of the threat, she could go on with figuring out a way to regain her life.When all this was behind her, the first thing she would do would be to sell the house she'd shared with Christopher. The place was too big and pretentious and had never truly felt like home. She’d move somewhere smaller. That way she’d be able to start over in her new life and finally figure out who she was meant to be. If Alaric crept into her thoughts here, she firmly pushed him away. As far as she knew, she and he had no future together. “Are you okay

It took every ounce of self-control Alaric possessed not to go to her. “Are you okay?” he asked, managing to keep his distance.She nodded but didn’t speak. He could tell by the wobbly set of her mouth that she was trying not to cry.“They’re awful people,” Paul said. “Don’t let them get to you.”“All of this is getting to me,” she said. “I miss how my life used to be. There’s three million dollars missing and I have no idea where it might be. Oh, and someone not only calls and threatens me, but they shoot out my window and mess up my properties. Now this…. I honestly don’t know how much more I can take. All I want to do after this is over is move away from everyone and everything and start over. It seems to be the only way my life is going to ever get normal again.” Alaric edged out of the room. He didn’t want to hear any more.—--------Vanessa watched Alaric withdraw into himself and fought back tears. She could take the Wesleys enmity and rancor, she could take the whole world kn