Beautician Chanel Leroc can wield a pair of scissors like nobody’s business. After she witnesses a murder and lands on a serial killer’s hit list, she has to figure out how to protect herself—and fast. The killer tracks her down, but her sexy new neighbor, Dr. Ryan Naylor, drives the brute off.
The police dump the pair in a witness protection program, which doesn’t last long. Either the killer has a connection to the police, or he’s far more intelligent than they realize. All Chanel wants to do is get back to her safe life and get to know her neighbor better. Instead, she and Ryan hit the road and try to survive on their own.
How will they stay alive and keep their blooming romance intact with the killer hot on their trail?
-- A novella in the sexy romantic suspense series, Arresting Onyx.
Ryan came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her, and rested his chin on top of her head. “Dipper will be after us again if we return.”
“I’m enjoying our time here, but if we hide for the rest of our lives, then he’s won.” Please, God. Let Ryan understand. She leaned against her lover’s chest and teased the hair on his forearms. His warmth seeped into her. “Mackeroy and Detective Boyle promised to catch Dipper within a week, but they didn’t. Even after he shot up the motel and killed two people, they still can’t find him. Now, another woman has died. Who’s next?”
“I’m as disgusted as you are, but running back into danger won’t help us—or anyone. We’re only witnesses, not trained professionals who know how to locate and apprehend psychotics. Let’s give Boyle and the boys in blue a few more weeks.”
She sighed, stilling her fingers. He didn’t get it.
The married couple in the Lazy Pines Motel room next to theirs had died from stray bullets. Another motel patron had suffered a heart attack from the barrage of ammo ripping into the building, but at least he survived.
Bile burned up her throat. Those people would still be alive and whole if she and Ryan had never been there. How many more had to die before the police caught Dipper? Would the bastard ever stop searching for her? She couldn’t be indirectly responsible for another death—her soul couldn’t take it. She turned in Ryan’s hold and dipped her finger in his cleft chin.
He wasn’t a coward. No way.
He’d stood on the frontlines so many times—from facing down a gunman in the emergency room to fighting diseases and keeping a smile on a dying patient’s face. Some of the stories he’d told her damn near broke her heart.
Only one option remained. Her heart clenched from the sorrow sweeping through her. If Ryan knew the thoughts swirling in her head, he would probably tie her to the bed. She might like that under normal circumstances.
“Okay. I’ll stay.” The lie fell off her tongue like poison. She brushed her palm across the whiskers dotting his cheek. Oh, Lord. She would miss him. They lived in the same apartment building, so of course, they would see each other again after all this—if she hadn’t already made a date with a casket. The muscles in her shoulders cramped tighter. She would live. She had to.
“Let’s go to bed. I want you naked and safe in my arms.” He teased his lips over her hairline and down to her temple. “I’m going to lick the little button between your legs until you spiral into a thousand pieces.”
She shivered. He could do it too. Why couldn’t she keep her lover and do the right thing? Too bad life wasn’t fair. Mackeroy needed bait to draw Dipper out of hiding, so why not dangle what the lunatic wanted right in his face? Hell, yes. Two could play this game.
To save lives, Chanel would volunteer as bait.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.
(Google gives me a small commission if you click on ads)
Thank you so much for sharing my giveaway news.
ReplyDelete