am?” His voice was deeper, almost a growl.
She lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “Yes.” Her own voice came out too husky, so she cleared her throat and tried again. “Yes, but you’re also...more.”
“Am I?” His gaze had locked on her mouth.
Her heart thundered in her chest. “You’re almost family.”
“No.” An instant denial. His hold urged her even closer to his body. “I’m not family. Don’t ever think that I am.” His eyes were still on her mouth. And his head was lowering toward hers, closing that last little bit of space. “I’m not your brother, and I’m not some safe friend.”
She trembled against him. “Mark?”
His gaze slowly lifted and met hers. “You should be careful with me.”
Her drumming heartbeat seemed to shake her chest. She’d never worried about being careful with Mark. Mark was good, solid and dependable. The light in the dark. He was—
“Because I’m not sure how much longer I can be careful with you.”
He was going to kiss her. Ava was sure of it. Mark was so close to her, the tension in the air had turned blazing, and she wanted him to press his mouth to hers. She’d wondered if he would ever actually—
He backed away. Again.
She suddenly felt very cold.
“You know the guest room is down the hallway.” He pointed to the left.
Yes, she knew where the guest room was.
Just as she knew that Mark’s room was on the other side of the sprawling ranch house. Far enough away...that he won’t hear me scream.
She thought about going out to the car for her bags, but figured she’d just save that for another time. Her car was parked near the entrance to Mark’s house, and the bags would be safe there for the time being.
For now, she’d crash...because she needed to slip away from Mark and his too-watchful gaze.
She turned on her heel and headed for the hallway.
“Tomorrow,” he called after her, “we call your brothers.”
She reached out and touched the door frame. “They don’t want me near you.” Not now. She didn’t know what had happened, but she’d been given that warning by more than one McGuire. Ava looked back at Mark.
He hadn’t moved.
Had he even heard her? Sighing, she took a step forward.
“What do you want, Ava?” His low, rumbling words stopped her.
And an instinctive response...you...rose to her lips. But she managed to choke that word back.
“Ava?”
“I don’t want to be scared anymore,” she said, and those words were the truth.
Or at least, as much of the truth as she was willing to share right then.
Ava kept walking, and Mark didn’t say anything else.
* * *
AVA WAS BACK.
Mark glanced down at his hands. There was a faint tremble in his fingers. He almost hadn’t been able to let Ava go. Not when her sweet lips were so close to his.
Once it had been easy to stay away from Ava. But...Ava wasn’t some scared sixteen-year-old girl any longer. She’d grown up and transformed into the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
When Ava was near, he ached. Because he wanted...what he shouldn’t have.
He sucked in a breath and could have sworn that he tasted her. The scent of strawberries seemed to cling to Ava. A light, sweet scent. She’d been in his arms, her body pressed tightly to his, and he’d wanted to devour her.
He’d also wanted to destroy whoever was out there terrorizing her. Because Ava had been afraid. Her body had trembled, her breath had caught in her throat and her green eyes had been bright with fear. Some jerk had been stalking her for a month, and she was just now telling him about it?
He spun away. Grabbed up his glass of wine and downed the contents in one fast gulp.
First thing tomorrow he’d be calling her brothers. Once upon a time he and Davis McGuire had been best friends. There was no way he’d let Ava keep this dangerous secret from her family.
First thing tomorrow...
But for that night, Ava would rest. She’d be safe.
He started to pace. He’d keep watch over her now, same as he’d done years ago.
The night she’d first run to him was burned in his memory. How could a man forget a night of death? It was impossible, as impossible as forgetting a woman like Ava.
She’d grown up before his eyes. That terrible night had destroyed the last of her childhood. At first she’d been so brittle, so very breakable. He’d wanted to pummel anyone who looked at her too hard, and there had been plenty of accusatory stares. Sure, he’d heard the rumors.
Some folks thought it was suspicious that Ava had escaped from the killers without even a scratch while her parents had died.
He paced toward the window on the right. Suspicious? No, there was nothing suspicious about her survival. She’d been lucky. He had no doubt that if the killers had seen her, Ava would have died, too.
Years had passed since that night. Bubbly, happy Ava had vanished. She’d become controlled, withdrawn and beautiful as she finished her college years. She’d gone to grad school, and she’d kept away from Austin.
But she’s back now.
Back with him. In his home, but not in his bed. Though for the past two years, he’d sure imagined her there plenty. Ever since the night he’d tasted Ava for the first time. It had been a kiss that shouldn’t have happened. A kiss that had changed everything for him.
His eyes squeezed closed. It was really going to be a long night.
* * *
AVA WAS IN the stables, stroking Lady’s mane. She was humming a bit as she groomed her horse. Working kept her mind off the fact that she and her boyfriend Alan had broken up just hours before the homecoming dance. Because he was a serious jerk with delusions. And now she was there, alone with her horse, while all of her friends were out at the party.
Ava stopped humming. There would be other dances. And plenty of other guys—guys who weren’t creeps and who—
Thunder cracked through the night. At the sound, Ava’s whole body jerked. There wasn’t supposed to be a storm that night. As the sharp crack died away, goose bumps rose on Ava’s arms.
Was that thunder?
