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  Heat burned through her the moment the discovery was made, and when he touched her intimately, her thighs automatically widened to allow him all the access he wanted. With quick and sure fingers he moved beyond her womanly folds to insert one finger inside her.

  His touch always had the power to send her over the edge, but for some reason she felt tonight he intended to toy with her, drive her crazy with desire, turn her body into a sexual frenzy before satisfying the need he was slowly stoking within her. He didn’t prove her wrong when his gifted hands continued their torment, using the rhythm of his fingers to stroke and spin her out of control. “Reese…”

  “Yes, baby,” he whispered softly against her ear while slowly walking her backward until she felt her back pressed against a solid wall. Her breath caught with the intense look of heat in his eyes when he pulled his hands free from her.

  “You have no idea how much I want you or how much I love you, Kenna,” he murmured before nibbling hungrily at her mouth.

  Then she felt herself being raised off her feet and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. She moaned when she felt her feminine mound rub against the hard erection tucked behind his jeans.

  “You want it?” he whispered against her moist lips.

  “Yes,” she whispered back without any hesitancy. “I want it.”

  He leveled his gaze at hers. “Are you sure?”

  Oh, no. He’s going to torture me. How could he be so cruel at a time like this? “Yes, I’m sure,” she uttered in agony.

  “Do you want it enough to marry me?”

  She blinked and searched his face, not believing what he’d asked her.

  “I know, it’s a hell of a way to propose, but I figured now is as good a time as any. So will you marry me, Kenna, and take me out of my misery just as I’ll be taking you out of yours?”

  Her joy was overwhelming. “Ask me again later,” Kenna said as she reached down and unzipped his pants. Probing him with her free hand, she worked her way past his briefs to take the fullness of his thick shaft into her hand. It felt hot, it was big and it was what she wanted. Pure, unadulterated desire ripped into her as she rubbed the massive head of his manhood with her fingers, awed by the smooth surface and the masculine scent that she inhaled through her nostrils.

  But that wasn’t enough. She adjusted her body slightly to lead him to her. The feel of him sliding through her hot wetness had every part of her throbbing and was sending sensations rippling through her all the way down to the soles of her feet. He used his knee to nudge her thighs apart even more to make the journey inside of her that much more titillating. He was hot, hard and huge, and as he made his way beyond her feminine folds her inner muscles began clenching him, milking him and priming him for what was to come.

  And then he was there, inside of her to the hilt, tightening his hands on her backside, pulling his manhood out and then surging deeply back inside of her. He began moving, rocking his body against hers as he thrust in and out, pounding into her body hard, driving her delirious with sexual hunger.

  “Now is later. Will you marry me?” he asked between thrusts while leaning close to her lips. “Will you take my name? Have my babies? Will you let me show you what love is all about?”

  He didn’t give her a chance to respond when he inserted his tongue into her mouth, taking hold of hers and kissing her deeply while he continued to grind into her, making her moan.

  “That doesn’t sound like a yes to me,” he said, after breaking off the kiss and using his tongue to lick around her lips, nipping at the corners. He continued to thrust inside of her and she thought she would go out of her mind. Then he tilted her body and thrust deep into her at an angle that she’d never felt before. She let out a screeching “oooh.”

  “That still doesn’t sound like a yes,” he persisted. His voice was too deep and heavy with raw sexual need for her to be unaffected.

  Then he reached down and touched her throbbing clitoris, sending waves of heat to the juncture where their bodies were joined. Instinctively, she parted her thighs for him to go deeper still. She could feel him all the way to her core as they mated in a torrid, undulating, pounding rhythm.

  “Come on, baby,” he urged against her wet lips. “Say yes for me.”

  As if her body was heeding his command, it began shuddering, triggering an explosion that made her scream and scream loudly. “Yes! Yes! Ohhh, yes!”

  “Now that’s what I wanted to hear,” he whispered, letting out a deep groan and climaxing with her in an orgasm that seemed to make the entire house shake. They were drenched in a tidal wave of pleasure that threatened to take them under, submerge them and drown them completely in their sexual juices. Their bodies continued to mate hungrily until there was nothing left to give.

  Reese stayed inside of her, refusing to disengage as he drew in a sharp breath before licking the sweat off her forehead. She breathed in deeply, taking in his masculine scent through her nostrils. She met his gaze. “That was some proposal,” she said, barely able to get the words out.

  He smiled cockily and responded, “And that was one hell of a yes.”

  Chapter 25

  Half an hour later, Reese was in his huge bed, holding Kenna protectively in his arms while she slept. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek while thinking, I am officially an engaged man. At his folks’ dinner tomorrow evening he and Kenna would not only answer his mother’s question, but they would have an even bigger surprise for everyone.

  Reese paused, thinking maybe it wouldn’t be such a surprise after all. Maybe it was the announcement his family had been expecting to hear. He smiled, realizing his family had been on to them long before they were even aware of their own feelings.

  He had definitely been a bit slow. And to think Kenna had given up a chance to study art in Paris because she hadn’t wanted to leave him. He hadn’t had a clue. Nor had he ever suspected her reason for moving to Austin when he was in grad school. He had wanted her near him and had never questioned what he’d considered merely a stroke of good luck.

  She was a gifted artist, and now that he knew the truth, he would encourage her to pursue her talent. The first thing he intended to do after they married was to lease one of the spaces in the Madaris Building for her art gallery. He could see her work being displayed there for everyone to see what a gifted artist she was. And he would also get Blade and Slade to build her a studio somewhere on Tall Oaks, so she could paint to her heart’s content.

  He knew if he remained in bed with her much longer he would be tempted to wake her up and make love to her again. He eased from her side to sit on the edge of the bed. He was surprised when he heard the sound of a car outside. Seemed like one of his ranch hands had a late-night date planned. He glanced at the clock. It was past midnight, definitely a late night.

  He moved toward the window in time to see Clark Lovell’s truck heading down the road. He was surprised to see the man had come out of his shell as much as he had with Lynette and her little girl. He’d actually seemed to enjoy having them around.

  “Reese?”

  He turned around at the sound of Kenna’s voice. He walked over to the bed and eased back beside her. “Yes?”

  “I had this wonderful dream,” she said softly, reaching out and taking the tip of her finger to run across the dark shadow covering his jaw.

  “What was your dream about, sweetheart?”

  A smile tugged at her lips. “This extremely handsome, sexy man asked me to marry him while we were in the middle of making love.”

  He chuckled. “Did you stop long enough to at least say yes?”

  “I said yes, but we didn’t stop. It was too good.”

  “How good?”

  “This good.”

  She pushed him back on the bed and eased on top to straddle him, determined to show him just how good it was.

  “Hey, sugar, you having car trouble?”

  Tori lifted her head from under the hood of her car and gave the m
an approaching her a long, measured look. So far he was the third man to stop to help a damsel in distress. And so far all the others accepted her, “No, thank you, my friend is on the way.” But from the swagger of this one, she had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case.

  He had an intense look on his face, and the tilt of his cowboy hat shielded his eyes in a way that kept his face hidden. What really raised her suspicion was when a car pulled up behind him and another man slowly got out.

  She drew in a deep breath. A part of her didn’t think either man was the Shoe Killer but two cowboys who’d come across a single woman at night stranded on a rarely traveled road. And from the look in the second man’s eyes as he got out of his car, they intended to have a little fun. If either thought they were doing so at her expense, they were wrong and might end up dead wrong if Drake had anything to do with it.

  “Drake, let me handle this,” she said, barely moving her lips, into the hidden microphone in her bra. She fought to keep from smiling at the sound of his grunt.

  “No, I don’t need any help. I’ve already called someone,” she said, speaking loudly when both men approached her.

  “Well, sugar, you didn’t have to call anyone.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  At that moment a car driven by a woman went by, slowing down after a quick glance at Tori, but kept on moving, even picking up speed. Typical, decided to mind her own business, Tori thought to herself. She couldn’t blame the woman too much, especially in light of all that was going on in the city.

  “Aren’t you a pretty thing,” the second man said.

  “She sure is,” the first agreed. “We want to have some fun.”

  Tori rolled her eyes. “Look guys, be nice and move on. I’m not in the mood.”

  “Boy, you’re kind of feisty, aren’t you? What if we told you that we don’t want to move on and that we are in the mood?”

  “Then I would tell you that kind of thinking could get you both killed. My husband is a very jealous man,” she warned.

  “Then he should have been smart enough not to let such a luscious-looking woman like yourself break down on the side of the road. You do know there’s a killer on the loose don’t you?” the second man said, grinning like it was a joke or something.

  She tilted her head to size them up. “Are you making some kind of confession?”

  “No, but we’ve been known to seize a few opportunities if given the chance.”

  “Seize a few opportunities like what?”

  “Like this.”

  She saw them coming and was prepared when both men tried to jump her at the same time. She went karate-crazy on them, and before they could blink she had knocked their legs out from under them. They found themselves flat on their backsides on the ground. And from the look on their shocked faces, they were pissed.

  But then so was Tori.

  When the first man made a move to get up, Tori put her hands on her hips. “I would stay down if I were you. In case neither of you noticed, your forehead has an infrared beam on it. And that jealous husband of mine has you in the scope of his high-powered rifle and is set to blow both of your brains out.”

  The two men quickly looked at each other and saw the red dot on their foreheads shift from one man to the other. They looked terrified. “Hell, lady, call him off. We were only joking.”

  She smiled sweetly. “It’s going to be hard to convince him of that, especially when there’s no telling what the two of you would have done had I not been able to defend myself.”

  “Like I said, we were only joking,” the second man said angrily, making an attempt to stand, but when a shot rang out that barely missed his ear, he quickly dropped back down to the ground.

  “Lady, can we go?” the first man asked in a cowardly tone.

  Tori glared at them. “I guess, but the next time you stop to help a woman, make sure your intentions are honorable,” she said, although she doubted these two knew what being honorable meant.

  “And because my husband is known to hold a grudge, I would suggest you look over your shoulders after tonight. No telling when he might show up, and trust me, he will show up again. He’s not through with the two of you yet.”

  The men swallowed, looked at each other and then practically crawled back to their cars. But not before Drake shot holes in both of their hats. They took off like the devil himself was behind them.

  Tori shook her head frowning. “You just had to show off didn’t you, Drake?”

  She heard his husky chuckle. “Yes. And what you told them was right. I’m not through with them yet. Go ahead and let’s call it a night. We’ll do it again tomorrow night.”

  Tori nodded as she got into her car. She had a feeling that the killer was out there tonight somewhere, and he was on the hunt.

  Alex looked up when Christy placed the file on his desk. He smiled, thinking he’d married a beautiful woman. “What did you find out?”

  She shrugged. “There’re a lot of Clark Lovells out there, but none fit the description of the man you described and none from Boston.”

  Alex leaned back in his chair. “I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember where I know him from.”

  “But you’re sure you know him from somewhere?” she asked circling his desk and sitting down on his lap.

  He quickly wrapped his arms around her. “Yes and that’s what bothers me.”

  He paused. “So does the information I’ve gathered about those murders in Minnesota and Miami that I’m going over with everyone tomorrow night. I might have found a connection. Also, I will have narrowed down that list of people in the Houston area who purchased police scanners recently by then.”

  She nodded. “I know where Sir Drake and Tori are tonight, but what about Trevor and Ashton?” Christy asked, snuggling closer into her husband’s arms.

  Alex smiled. “Both Trevor and Ashton are on patrol tonight.” He chuckled. “In other words, they’re hunting the hunter.”

  He entered the house and slammed the door closed. Tonight had been a bust, and he wasn’t happy about it. There seemed to be police everywhere. He’d run into several roadblocks, and officers had checked his driver’s license. It was a good thing he had several IDs, just in case they were keeping a record of everyone they stopped.

  He sat down at the table to think about tonight. He refused to let a few police officers derail his plans. He would try his luck again tomorrow.

  Chapter 26

  By the time Reese arrived at his grandparents’ home, he had decided how he would announce his engagement to everyone. Looking at the number of cars parked in the driveway, it appeared his grandparents had invited more than the usual number of guests.

  After opening the car door for Kenna, he took her hand in his as they strolled up the walkway. Two of the parked cars he recognized belonged to his cousins Corbin and Lee. It wasn’t unusual for the two to drop by his grandparents’ home on Sundays, especially when everyone knew how Grandma Carrie loved to cook, and how good she was at it.

  But then most of the women in the Madaris family knew their way around the kitchen—the men as well, thanks to Mama Laverne’s mandatory cooking classes. He’d been forced to take her cooking class. And although he had resented it at the time, he appreciated it later. He wasn’t the casserole chef that Luke was, but he could hold his own. Kenna always complimented him on the meals he made for her.

  He glanced over at her. As usual she looked beautiful, and he’d made sure she had gotten a good night’s sleep. He was glad of that.

  “You okay?” he asked her softly.

  She glanced up at him and smiled. “Yes. What about you?”

  He chuckled. “I couldn’t be better.”

  Even though they slept late, they’d dressed quickly and still made it to church before the preacher’s sermon. After church they returned home and took a nap before getting dressed to come to his grandparents. He felt good. No—he felt great. At the moment, he couldn’t be better.

  With
out warning he stopped walking and pulled Kenna into his arms. He kissed the surprised look off her face and deepened the kiss when he heard her soft moan of acceptance and surrender. He hadn’t realized until now how much he enjoyed kissing, but that was only because it was Kenna.

  He heard several family members clearing their throats, and for a while he ignored them. But when it seemed they wouldn’t stop, he gave up. He released Kenna’s mouth as he held her around the waist and glanced toward his grandmother’s doorway where Corbin, Lee and Nolan stood. From the looks on their faces, they seemed rather amused.

  “Aunt Carrie said not to give her neighbors something to talk about by kissing Kenna in the front yard, Reese,” Lee said, grinning. “I’ve heard of kissing cousins but never kissing friends—must be a new thing.”

  Reese glanced down and saw the blush that appeared on Kenna’s face and thought it was priceless. “Don’t mind them,” he whispered. “They’re just jealous. Come on. Let’s tell everyone our good news.”

  It was only when everyone was seated at the dinner table a half hour later that Reese, with Kenna sitting by his side, got everyone’s attention by tapping his glass with his knife. Everyone got quiet and looked at him expectantly.

  He smiled at the people gathered around the table who meant everything to him—his family. “I just want to say that a few days ago, when we met at Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Marilyn’s home, my mother asked me a question that I did not answer.” He smiled in his mother’s direction. “Do you want to ask me the question again, Mom?”

  Kenna sat next to Reese and tried to steady her heartbeat. They had talked about it earlier, and knew they wanted his parents, grandparents and brothers to know first. But it seemed fitting that his cousins, who were more like brothers, should hear the news as well.