Page 1 of Inferno

Chapter 1

Coronado, Colorado

A suburb of Denver

November 1980

Prissy Wolf’s body glistened with sweat as she thrust her hips upward, feeling her stomach muscles quiver as she held the position. She counted silently to twenty,thenlowered her butt to the exercise mat with a grateful sigh.

“And up we go again!”

Prissy shot an aggrieved look at the smiling fitness instructor displayed on her television screen. The perky blonde hadn’t brokensomuch as a sweat, while Prissy was drenched from head to toe. And she’d barely made it halfway through the thirty-minute aerobics video.

“Well, what’re you waiting for? You heard the woman. Get those hips back up.”

Prissy whipped her head toward the amused voice.

Her husband stood in the doorway of her study, which doubled as her exercise room. He looked rumpled and sexy in black sweat shorts and a gray Coronado Fire Department T-shirt. The soft fabric clung to his broad chest and showed off thick, muscular biceps that Prissy never grew tired of admiring. Of course, when it came to Stanton Wolf’s looks, there wasplentyto admire. For starters, he was six foot five with rich mahogany skin and full, sensual lips framed by a neat goatee. His eyes were dark and heavylidded,and so damn piercing that Prissystillshivered sometimes when he gazed at her.

The man had the kind of looks that were made for gracing the glossy pages of a firefighter’s calendar—all twelve months.Which was why Prissy adamantly refused to let him pose for one.God knows he didn’t need any more women fawning over him than he already had.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked him.

Stan’s eyes glinted wickedly as he looked her over.“Long enough for me to gain a whole new appreciation for the female body—specifically,yours.”

Prissy guffawed, hyperconscious of her soft belly and thick thighs sheathed in black spandex that was supposed to be slimming—the color, not the material. For the past year, she’d been trying to lose weight by exercising regularly and cutting back on the unhealthy sugar and carbs that had helped her put on unwanted pounds over the years. She was making progress, slowly but surely getting herself down to a size twelve.

Four times a week, she dragged herself out of bed before the crack of dawn and crept to her study, where she changed into her exercise clothes and popped in one of the aerobics tapes from her growing collection. She was usually finished by the time her husband came home from his shift and her sons began getting ready for school.

“Why are you frowning at me like that?” Stan asked, his deep voice breaking into Prissy’s thoughts.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Because I could have sworn I locked that door, like I do every morning.”

Stan grinned, his teeth flashing white against his dark skin. “Guess you forgot.”

Prissy’s frown deepened. “Well, I’m not finished yet, so…” She trailed off pointedly.

Instead of taking the hint and leaving, Stan stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Suppressing an exasperated sigh, Prissy sat up on the mat and grabbed the remote control to pause the aerobics video as Stan sauntered over and crouched down beside her.

“Good morning,” he murmured, leaning down to brush a kiss across her mouth. His lips were soft, and he tasted like fresh, minty toothpaste.

“If you wanted a workout,” he murmured, nibbling her lower lip, “all you had to do was ask.”

“Maybe I would have,” Prissy retorted, “if you’d actually been there when I rolled over in bed this morning.”

Stan tensed, then drew back to meet her accusing gaze. “You’re mad because I slept on the sofa last night,” he said evenly.

“What doyouthink?”

He frowned. “Pris—”

“I mean, come on, Stan. You work over seventy hours a week. You’re only here half the time, so is it asking too much for you to sleep with me when youarehome?”

Stan heaved a ragged sigh. “Come on, baby. Don’t be mad about this. I couldn’t sleep last night, so rather than keep you awake with my tossing andturning,I got up and went to the living room.”

“Where you apparently had no trouble sleeping like a baby,” Prissy said bitterly.

Stan hesitated. “Not right away. It took me a while to doze off.”