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An Excerpt From: SEEING BLIND
Copyright © KATIE ALLEN, 2008
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
The nightmares were just that—nightmares. She was pretty
good at knowing the difference between a vision and an everyday,
run-of-the-mill nightmare, but, at one in the morning, Cassie didn’t really
care—she just wanted them to stop. As she moved through the house toward
the kitchen, she turned on all the lights she passed—nothing like banishing
the ugly, middle-of-the-night fears with some artificial sunlight, she
thought, switching on the overhead light in the kitchen.
This is definitely an ice cream situation, she decided,
pulling a carton out of the freezer. Nothing like a sugar high to ward off
bad dreams, she thought wryly, prying off the lid. Or at least keep her
awake.
She had just dug out her first bite when the doorbell
rang, startling her so badly that she almost fell off the side of her
chair. Checking the clock to make sure that it really was the ungodly hour
that she thought—it was—she moved to the front door. She couldn’t see who
stood on the porch, but the sheriff’s SUV in the driveway gave it away. Her
stomach leapt with nerves and a thrill of pleasure as she pulled open the
door.
“Something wrong, Sheriff?” she asked, leaning against
the edge of the door in what she hoped was a relaxed and casual pose.
“I was going to ask you that same question,” he replied,
his eyes passing down her body and back up again. “Are you having a party
that you didn’t invite me to?”
It was hard to concentrate on his words when his gaze
was making her nipples tighten against the silky fabric of her camisole.
“What?” she asked, distracted.
A smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. “The lights?
All of them? At—” He glanced at his watch. “1:26? In the morning?”
“Well, I wouldn’t need them at one in the afternoon, now
would I?” Cassie asked crankily. The initial rush of nervous excitement at
the sight of Ty had settled and Cassie felt worked up and off-guard and
exposed in her thin camisole and drawstring pajama pants—the ones with pink
frogs printed on them, of course.
Cassie’s lust-fuddled brain had cleared just enough to
realize that she hadn’t glanced in a mirror after nightmares drove her out
of bed. Only pure strength of will kept her hands from flying to her hair.
Pure strength of will, that was, and not wanting to know what tornado-esque shape the white-blonde strands had worked
themselves into. As much as she liked the sheriff, there was something to
be said about a little warning—and some prep time.
Despite her undoubtedly tousled look, Ty did not show
any signs of leaving. “Most people don’t need them at one in the morning,
either—because of the whole sleep thing.”
The memory of her nightmares distracted Cassie from her
less-than-perfect appearance. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and shrugged. “I
had some trouble sleeping.”
“Does this happen a lot?”
“I—oh, for God’s sake, this is silly. If you’re not
going to leave, you might as well come in.” Cassie stepped out of the way,
ignoring his grin at her ungracious invitation, and Ty followed her into
the kitchen.
“I don’t have any coffee—sorry. Do you want some tea
or…actually, unless you want water, that’s about all I’ve got. Guess it
must be time to get to the grocery store.” Cassie made an apologetic face
over her shoulder and caught Ty in the act of staring at her ass.
“Are you staring at my ass?” she asked. Apparently, a
lack of sleep made her thoughts-to-words filter disappear.
Ty flushed red and his eyes jerked back to her face.
“I—um…” he stuttered, and Cassie waved a hand at him.
“I’m not objecting, I’m just surprised,” she told him, twisting
so that she could peer over her own shoulder and see it herself. “I never
thought that it was stare-worthy.”
“Very stare-worthy,” Ty assured her. His voice had gone
gravelly again, and suddenly the kitchen felt tiny. Cassie hurried to sit
at the table, hiding the object of discussion. Pulling another chair out,
Ty settled himself down, stretching his legs out in front of him until they
were just inches from hers. There was just so much of him, Cassie
thought, curling her bare feet beneath her chair. He made the perfectly
normal-sized wooden chair look miniature.
“What are you doing out here at this time of night—and
not in uniform?” she asked, trying to distract herself as thoughts about
his large size morphed into thoughts about other potentially large body
parts, which did strange things to her breathing.
“Just checking up. I worked late tonight and thought I
would just swing by. Make sure you were okay, after your…problem
earlier today—yesterday, I guess it is, now.”
“Problem?” It took a few seconds to register what Ty was
talking about. “There was no problem. Honestly. And Dan’s blabbing mouth is
never going to see another piece of my rhubarb cake again.”
“Oh, come on now. No need to cut him off completely,” Ty
coaxed. “He was just worried, that’s all.”
Cassie shrugged and reached over to put the lid on the
ice cream carton. She got up to put it back in the freezer, grateful for an
excuse to move away from the sheriff’s sprawled form. Even with several
feet separating them, she could feel the heat radiating off him, tempting
her closer. The freezer air drifted against her heated cheeks and she used
the chilly moment to try to refocus. If she wasn’t careful, Cassie’s brain
warned her lusting body, she would end up curled in his lap. But what would
be wrong with that, her body wailed.
Okay, so frigid air was not going to work. Besides, the
idea was to convince the sheriff that she was not crazy, and this
would not be accomplished by staring into her freezer for endless moments
as her body and brain bickered. She turned back toward him as she shut the
freezer door, forcing a nervous smile as she headed for her chair. She
could feel the warmth of him as she passed, and her fingers twitched with
the need to touch him. Cassie kept her hands firmly by her sides. Logic and
reason were going to win out over lust, she resolved.
“Cass,” Ty interrupted her internal argument between
body parts, catching her hand with his before she could make it back to her
chair. Cassie could only look at him, focused on the way his fingers and
palm felt wrapped around hers, rough and hot and careful. The sting of
attraction shot up her arm, through her chest and down to her pussy in
small, electric pulses. “Cass, why won’t you tell me what is going on?” he
asked.
She struggled to breathe, to catch a few of her flailing
thoughts and straighten them into some kind of order, but everything had
narrowed to him, his clear, light eyes and the gentle trap of his hand
around hers. For a moment, she weakened, tempted to open her mouth and just
let the words pour out, but the idea jolted her back to reality. Tell him
everything, her mind warned, and he’ll leave. Immediately. And Cassie
realized that she really, really did not want Ty to leave.
In a desperate attempt to block the words threatening to
spill out, Cassie leaned in and kissed him. His lips were soft and full and
she felt his slight start of surprise. Cassie began to pull back, a little
shocked by her own daring and the actual feel of him. The reality of the
kiss, after two years of imagining what it would be like, was startling.
Cool air brushed between them for only a second before
he wrapped a thick arm around her hips, yanking her into him until she was
straddling his lap, feeling the rough press of his jeans through her thin
cotton pajama pants. His fingers drove through her hair and shaped around
her skull, ruthlessly holding her head in place as he took over the kiss.
CLOSE WINDOW
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