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With each flick of my tongue against her soft, fair skin, each suck of my lips, I dove deeper into her pull.

Mine.

The word pulsed in my brain over and over like a flickering neon light.

This delicate, beautiful, damaged soul would be mine—this innocent woman wrapped in a strawberry-blonde, freckle-faced package.

Strands of her hair tangled between my fingers as I tugged it out of the tight bun that held it back, urging her face closer.

Alta’s hot, erratic breaths brushed against my cheek, and mine caught in my chest. She felt it too. Every hot pulse between us wasn’t just me. No, she wanted this too.

I grazed my lips down her cheekbone toward her plump, pink lips, and our breaths mingled. Heart hammering against my chest, I shifted along the couch to pull her lips to mine just as a loud engine roared up the gravel drive. Lips hovering over hers, I peeled my eyes open to stare down at the most innocent face I’d ever been that close to.

Innocent.

Perfect.

Deserving.

Everything I wasn’t.

“We have company,” I whispered against her lips.

“Hmm” was the only acknowledgment I got in return.

Pulling back, I sat against the couch and lifted her from the floor. With Alta still lost in a lusty daze, I retrieved the iPad from where it had slid to the floor, set it on her lap, and flicked the screen alive just as a loud thud boomed through the living room and the front door shook.

I barked a laugh. She did it again. Locked the damn door.

My leg muscles protested as I stood to open the door. An angry Peters stormed through the second I unlocked it, that dipshit John guy hot on his heels.

“Where in the hell did you two run off to?” Peters bit out, even though a fraction of his temper eased the second he saw us both safe. Maybe there was more to this case if Peters was scared that something had happened to us, or perhaps just her. He knew I could handle my own, plus the deranged fucker we were chasing wasn’t after someone with my anatomy.

Before I could respond, John stomped to Alta and dropped to a crouch before her as she stared at the iPad.

“You okay there, Birdie?” When he didn’t get an immediate answer, his gaze shot to her disheveled hair before turning. “What the fuck did he do to you?”

His accusing tone must’ve sunk into the deep spell she was under—which I had to admit was fucking amazing, sinceIput her there with only a hint of a kiss. She mentioned it’d been a while for her; surely she didn’t mean… no, no way a man hadn't intimately touched her since she left Texas. That was ten years ago.

“I’m fine. Sorry, just lost in thought.” Alta looked everywhere other than where I stood as she rose from the couch. “Give me a second, but I want to show you something, Chandler. I think I found something.” At that she turned, walked to the small bathroom off the hall and softly clicked the door closed behind her.

Behind the furious John, Peters smiled, probably knowing full well he and John cock-blocked me.

“Calm the fuck down,” I grumbled to the man who was still glaring. “She wanted to come back here to look at something on that thing.” I hitched my chin to the iPad on the couch. “She fucking took off, ran here.”

“You could’ve left the keys, bastard. I had to bum a damn ride.” That mischievous smile of his grew. “Then what happened?” Peters prodded. “Once you two got here, that is.”

I shot him a glare and ran a calloused palm down my face. Peters was officially a bastard. “Fuck off,” I growled just as the bathroom lock clicked and the door swung open.

Calm and collected once again, Alta snagged the iPad and shifted to show Peters the screen. “When I saw the husbands today, something clicked. They’re both huge.”

Peters frowned. “Huge is a slight overstatement. I mean, they’re big—”

“To me they’re huge, just like you and Cas.” She gave him a patronizing pat on his shoulder. “There, does that make you feel better about your size?”

“Yes,” he said, seemingly satisfied.

Her hazel eyes rolled to the ceiling, but a small smirk twitched at the corners of her lips. “Whatever. Anyway, it got me thinking about the pictures I flipped through the other day when I was here.”