Erotic Desire

Excerpt

Swallowing a moan, she opened her eyes when the elevator dinged, her face burning. “You like to tease, don’t you?”

Laughing softly, he guided her out of the elevator with a hand at her waist. “Oh, definitely.”

Making her way down the hallway with Bill beside her and eyeing her thoughtfully, she looked up at him. “Thank you for dinner.”

“You’re very welcome. Maybe I should get take-out tomorrow and we can go back to my house. I’d like to show you a few things.”

“I only agreed to calling you.” Reaching her door, Kim sucked in a breath and looked up at him over her shoulder as she curled her hand around the doorknob and started to put her key in the lock. “Stop say—”

Stilling when her door moved before she could even get her key into the lock, Kim whipped her head around, seeing that her door had opened several inches. “I didn’t—”

Before she could finish telling Bill that she hadn’t unlocked the door, she felt a hard band of muscle wrapping around her waist from behind, pulling her back.

Moving her behind him, he took her hand and lifted it. “Stay behind me. Flatten your hand on my back and keep it there.”

His steely tone brooked no argument, and swallowing heavily, she did as he demanded. He shoved the door all the way open, slamming it back against the wall, revealing that her apartment had been trashed.

She sucked in a breath at the sight of broken lamps, her sofa and chair cut and stuffing spilling out of it, her television broken and lying on the floor. Unable to see around Bill, she looked from side to side, her stomach clenching at the sight of all the damage to her apartment.

In the kitchen, dishes had been pulled out of the cupboards, the pieces of them covering the kitchen floor.

In the bathroom, he didn’t even have to pull her shower curtain back because it already lay on the floor.

With her hand pressed against Bill’s back, they made their way through her apartment with Bill checking every closet, around every corner on their way to her bedroom. Tears burned her eyes when she saw even more damage.

Her mattress had been pulled off the bed and sliced in several places, along with her pillows. Every dresser drawer stood open, the contents either on the floor or hanging off the edges of the drawers.

Silently, Bill made his way to her closet. Reaching back, his attention on the closet door, he slid his hand to her belly and pushed her against the wall. “Don’t move.”

For the first time since she’d noticed the door to the apartment open, he wasn’t touching her, and she felt the loss to her soul.

Glancing around, she noted that her wooden jewelry box had been taken out of the drawer and thrown across the room to smash, broken on the floor in several pieces.

He came back to her, gathering her close and leading her out of the room. “It’s okay. It’s only things. Let’s go out to the living room. You can sit down while I call the police.”

When she stumbled, he picked her up and carried her out to the living room himself, pushing back his rage and fear.

If she’d been alone…

Seeing no decent place to sit, he grabbed the only unbroken kitchen chair, dragged it into the living room, sat, and, aware that she trembled, settled her on his lap. Pulling her cape more firmly around her, he kissed her temple. “We’ll get through this. Do you know anyone who would do this?”

“No.” Her voice, almost too low for him to hear, shook. “Oh God!”

Gathering her closer, he pressed his lips against her hair. “I’m going to call the cops and make a few other phone calls. Once the cops check for prints and question you, I want you to pack a bag and come home with me.”

“No. I’ll just get a hotel room.”

“Do you honestly think I’m going to leave you alone tonight? No. You’re coming home with me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have a damn thing to be sorry for. I’m pissed off enough without you apologizing for something that clearly is not your fault.”

She jumped out of his lap while he made his call to the police, searching all over the living room. “My laptop’s missing.” Holding on to the back of the sofa, she pointed to the television. “They broke the television but took my laptop.”

Bill listened as he spoke to the dispatcher, hanging up shortly afterward. “Come here, baby.”

Holding the cape around herself, she looked around again and moved to stand next to him while she scanned the kitchen. “Why would someone trash my apartment just to steal my laptop?”

She rushed from the room. “I have to see if they took my jewelry! Shit. I have to call Susan. I’ll tell her I’ll be away for a few days. I don’t want her to come here. She’ll worry.”

Bill rosed, scraped a hand over his jaw, and blew out a breath, but it did nothing to relieve the tension inside him.

He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but if someone attempted to get to Kim, they’d have to go through him.

And that would never happen.