Page 31 of Ice Covered Heart

His hands tightened around the banister. If she kissed him again, if she said she wanted him, then he was done. She’d have him. Screw any consequences. Screw the hero wanna-be bullshit.

“Good night, Hunter. Thank you for the kiss.” She turned away. Began to climb the stairs.

His gaze fell to her ass. What a truly amazing ass.

His stare drifted to her legs. Shapely, tempting. They felt so good wrapped around me. “Shelby!”

A pause. She looked back at him. Down at him as he stood at the foot of the stairs. All he wanted was to lunge up after her.

Being the good guy sucked. Seriously freaking sucked. “Next time, I won’t be holding back.” A guttural warning. “Be sure of what you want before you come to me again.”

She gazed at him a moment longer, her expression unreadable. Then she turned away and climbed the rest of the stairs.

He did not move.

He focused on breathing.

On getting his too eager dick under control.

But he could still feel her. Smell her. Taste her. She’d been right there, offering herself to him. An actual fantasy come to life.

And he’d sent her back upstairs.

Forget being a good guy. He was a fucking idiot.

Three hours later, her terrified screams woke him. He lunged off the couch, shoving the blanket to the floor, and Hunter bounded up the stairs. “Shelby!”

Chapter Seven

Sometimes, you knew you were dreaming. You knew it wasn’t real, or at least, part of you did. But there was no way to wake up. So you had to just stay there and let the nightmare play out.

Nightmare. Memory. Same thing. Different name…Always hell.

In her nightmare, Shelby crept down the dark hallway. Her feet were bare, curling against the cold, wooden floor. She’d thought that she heard a scream, but she couldn’t be sure. The big house was silent. It was late, far too late for anyone to be up. And yet…

She kept creeping down the hallway. The hallway was dark, but she’d almost made it to the light switch. The light switch waited between her room and Margot’s.

Her hand reached out. She missed the switch at first, but on the second try, she turned on the light.

That was when she saw the body. Half in the doorway. The bedroom doorway. Margot’s doorway. Margot’s body, face down.

With a pool of blood spreading beneath her.

“I see you, Shelby,” a voice whispered in her ear. Because he was right behind her. Right there. She opened her mouth to scream.

And then something sharp and brutal stabbed into her ear.

“Shelby! Shelby!”

She jerked upright in bed. The covers trapped her legs, holding her down, trying to pull her under, and she kicked them away even as the lights blazed on overhead.

The lights had flashed on in her bedroom because Hunter was there. He’d thrown open her door. Hit the light switch. Now he stood in her doorway, all big and strong and shirtless with his jeans low on his hips, and he stared at her with worry clear to see on his handsome face.

I woke up screaming. Again.

“S-sorry.” A sheen of sweat covered her skin. “I, um…” She’d warned him this would happen, but shame blazed through her. After all this time, she was still a terrified victim.

“You’re bleeding.”