His hands drip down my body, heated and deliberate, as his fingers work themselves into my flesh, offering a soft massage, and it feels like heaven. Shep takes a gentle bite out of my lip, pulling it out and nibbling me senseless with his kisses. There is something intimate and moving about this moment between us. When you think about it, I practically grew up with Shep in my life. He was the annoying brother I never had—Marlin was already out of the house by the time I was ten, and for the record, he has never annoyed me—with the exception of this moment, niggling in the back of my mind while I’m with my dream man.
My dream man?
Wow.
Those are loaded words. But you know what? Shepherd Collins is—and if I’m honest—always has been the man of my dreams.
His tongue lashes over mine, and we both moan at the very same time, pulling away just enough to look into one another’s drugged eyes.
A terrible banging sound emanates from the front door, and on cue our eyes widen with horror.
Shep relaxes his lips back to mine. “They’ll go away.” He trails his juicy kisses right to my ear, but the knocking starts up again, and this time there’s the muffled cry of voices to go along with it.
“You’d better get that.” My adrenaline kicks in ten times harder at the thought of a lunatic trying to storm their way in.
Shep jumps to his feet, snatching his mask off and buttoning his pants in haste. “I’ll be right back.” He stalks off to the rhythm of the jackhammering taking place.
I can’t imagine who that could be. What the hell kind of friends does Shep have, anyway? That ex-girlfriend I met back at the Black Bear comes to mind. Was it really a coincidence that we met that psycho on the night of the murder? I’m beginning to think not.
The sound of voices float down the hall, and I lean in as much as my bound wrists will allow. Shep certainly paid attention in Boy Scouts when it came to his knots. It’s becoming painfully clear—I’m not getting out of these restraints on my own without losing my hands at the wrist. And, seeing that I enjoy the little things in life, such as wiping my own bottom and turning the pages of a paperback on occasion, in no way am I willing to sever an appendage.
A woman’s voice hikes to the ceiling.
Knew it! It’s the psychotic ex, and she’s here to finish off Shep like she tried but failed by a Barry-Larson-mile the night I accidentally stumbled upon a homicide gone wrong. Dear God, she’s going to smell the sex on him, and then she’ll sense my presence the way most psychotics do and come back and shoot me in the chest several times the way she did poor Dirty Boy! I’m going to die naked and tied to a bed with a silly mask fashioned of bird feathers—alone. Not even my dignity will be left to comfort me.
An involuntary yelp escapes me as the visual of my impending death replays like a B-movie gone awry. How is this my life?
“What’s that sound?” the female asks as her voice grows with intensity. “Is someone here?” The clatter of high heels heads in this direction, and in lieu of hiding under the covers, I opt to hold my breath. Dear God, don’t let this hurt. I swear I will spit shine your heavenly shoes, sweep the gold dust off your streets. Heck, I volunteer to be the caretaker of every peacock south of the rainbow bridge if you allow me to survive this fiasco!
Shep grumbles something, and it almost sounds as if he’s arguing with another man.
“Don’t you tell me what to do,” the woman snips, and the hair on the back of my neck rises as if trying to crawl right off my body.
Wait a minute—I recognize that snippy, hostile, bitter as brass balls voice.
A redheaded terror pokes her head into the room and lets out a hard groan before bouncing back out.
Holy crap. It’s not Shep’s psycho ex-girlfriend—it’s my psycho sister,Lex!
She shouts something garbled to Shep about a naked, masked coed tied to a bedpost before her heels clack back this way. “Wait a minute! Is that Serena’s purse?”
“No, I don’t think so,” he says it cool, yet evasive. “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen about twelve girls on campus with one just like it.”
Good going, Shep. Way to think on your feet.
“That’s Serena’s phone case.” Rumbling noises ensue. “So help me God, if this is Serena’s,” she roars as footsteps scurry back in this direction.
No, no, no!
I struggle to free myself as Lex storms into the room with Shep and Axel hot on her heels. Axel takes one look at the bouncing states just north of West Virginia and grunts his way right back down the hall.
“Serena?” Lex hobbles over as if she were injured and whips off my mask. “Oh my God!” she howls so loud one might think she just took a bullet. “Your brother is a pervert, Axel!” Lex is quick to toss a blanket over me and free my wrists in less than three seconds flat. When it comes to rescuing her baby sister, there ain’t no Boy Scout on the planet whose knot could prosper.
Shep drops his head as Lex plucks me off the bed and whisks me into the living room.
Lex gives my shoulders a good rattle. “What in the hell are you thinking?”
I grimace at the three horrified faces staring back at me. Of course, Shep is horrified for quite another reason. I’m pretty sure Lex isn’t leaving without his balls in her handbag.
