“Let me give you a word of advice, Mr. Jenkins,” she said. “I love Morgan like a sister, but if you say anything to her right now, I might end up having to pull her off you.”

Her smile was sweet as spun sugar, but her tone was utterly convincing. Jenkins looked unsure of himself and I almost felt sorry for him. If this had all happened to someone else, I might have said he hadn’t done anything wrong. But it had happened to me, and forgiveness isn’t one of my strong suits. Just ask my family.

Jenkins took her at her word and nodded curtly. He unlocked the stun belt without speaking to me. I clamped my jaws shut to keep myself from starting anything, then let Val lead me out of there as fast as my legs could carry me.

Naturally, I’d parked in a two-hour parking spot, so my car had been towed. Val drove me to the impound lot so I could get it back, along with my luggage, before finally checking into the hotel. The good news was the snow had stopped overnight, and the roads were all nice and clear. Val wanted to talk, but I insisted I needed a shower and a change of clothes first.

I met her at the dinky little hotel bar about an hour later. She’d changed out of her business suit and into a pair of gray wool trousers and a midnight blue turtleneck. This was her idea of casual wear. Me, I was feeling pretty ornery, so I changed into a pair of low-rise black leather pants and a low-cut emerald cashmere sweater. The sweater tended to ride up my rib cage and display my tattoo. There were only four other customers in the bar, all men dressed in business suits, and I felt each one of them take a good long look at me.

I’m not one of those women who pretends she doesn’t know she’s attractive to the opposite sex. My style might be a tad aggressive for a woman, but it goes well with my height and my bone structure, and I’m used to being stared at. I even enjoy it — though my boyfriend, Brian, hates it. He keeps asking me to tone down my wardrobe when we go out in public. We’ve been dating for a little over a year, and we have enough physical chemistry to set the bed on fire, but he still doesn’t know me well enough not to make that kind of request. I always wear my sexiest outfits when we’re going out. Funny how we end up staying in for so many of our dates.

Val had already ordered me my favorite drink, a piña colada. Yeah, I know I looked silly with a total of seven earrings in my ears, wearing black leather pants that showed my tattoo while drinking something so froufrou. But I hate the taste of alcohol. Whatever I drink has to mask the alcohol or I just can’t force it down.

Val laughed at me when I plopped down in the chair beside her and took a long, grateful swallow of my drink.

“Should I ask why you brought black leather pants on a business trip to Topeka?” she asked, still smiling.

I grinned back at her. “Call it a premonition.”

Actually, I’d brought them because they made me feel feminine and attractive. Yeah, I know black leather isn’t what most people consider feminine, but judging from the way guys look at me when I wear them, I beg to differ.

Her smile faded into a look of concern, and she cocked her head. “So tell me what happened.”

I told her. I didn’t enjoy reliving the memory, but after she flew out here to save my ass, I owed her the full monty.

She was frowning when I finished, and her martini glass was empty. She ordered another, and I stirred the melting remains of my drink.

“Why didn’t it take you?” Val murmured, biting her lip.

I sighed. “I don’t know, Val. I just don’t get it.” I’d spent most of the last twenty-four hours examining the question from all angles, but I hadn’t come up with any answers.

Her second drink arrived and she took a sip. A worry line creased her brow. “Maybe it was just slow for some reason. Maybe it hadn’t had time to take over before you hit it.”

I wished I could believe that. “It was pulling away before I hit it.” I shook my head, fighting an urge to hug myself. I’d never been so unnerved in all my life. Considering what I do for a living, that’s saying a lot. I forced a phony smile. “Look at the two of us — all somber and upset because a demon didn’t take me.”

Val laughed, but it was a tight sound. “Yeah. Silly, I guess.” She raised her glass and tried to look less worried. “Who cares why it happened? Here’s to you still being alive and whole!”

“I’ll drink to that!” I clinked glasses with her, and we moved on to lighter topics of conversation. But I was still unnerved.

After our drink, we went for a fabulous Midwest steak dinner. My appetite wasn’t up to the task, but I tried my best to enjoy it. We went back to the hotel right after dinner, and I called Brian to let him know I was okay.

I didn’t want to rehash everything again, so before he had a chance to ask me for details about my ordeal, I said, “I’m thinking of a number between one and one hundred. Can you guess what it is?”

There was a momentary pause on the other end of the line. Either his mind wasn’t as dirty as mine, or he was debating whether to let me distract him. My money was on the latter.

“Um…ten?” he said, but the mingled laughter and lust in his voice told me he knew exactly what number I had in mind.

“Strike one.”

A dramatic sigh. “Let’s see then…How ’bout thirty-five?”

I swear, I think I giggled. I am so not a giggler. “Strike two.”

“Hmm. This is a hard one.”

“Hey! Isn’t that my line?”

He ignored my protest. “Would that number be sixty-nine, by any chance?”

Nice to know we were on the same wavelength. My mouth suddenly watered at the memory of the taste of him. “Slugger, you just hit a home run.”

“Too bad home plate is in Topeka.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Guess we’ll just have to improvise.” With the phone cradled against my shoulder, I pulled back the comforter on the bed and fluffed up the pillows before climbing in.

“I like the sound of that,” Brian said in a low, husky voice. “Are you making yourself comfortable?”

I snuggled into the pillows. “Yup. And you?”

“Oh yeah,” he responded.

I heard the distinctive rasp of a zipper being dragged down. I closed my eyes, the better to picture what lay behind. I rubbed my thighs together, loving the mental image and wishing I could be there in person to see the real thing.

“You’re whipping it out already?” I asked in mock disapproval while I unzipped my own pants, fingers playing over the strip of lace between my legs. “I thought you had more stamina than that.” I pretended my fingers were Brian’s tongue, and my breath hitched.

He made a sound halfway between a chuckle and a growl. “Not when I’m imagining your mouth wrapped around my cock. And where, might I ask, is your hand at the moment?”

I laughed. Caught red-handed, so to speak. Awkwardly, I maneuvered my way out of my pants and underwear while still holding the phone. “Where I wish your tongue was,” I answered breathlessly.

He groaned, and I think I heard him lick his lips, but that might just have been my imagination.

I swear, Brian has the most amazing tongue in the history of mankind. Far and away superior to any other specimen I’d sampled. I squirmed, the touch of my own fingers inadequate in comparison. “What are you doing?” I panted.

“What do you think?” he asked in reply, and another distinctive sound came over the phone line. My mind’s eye filled with the vision of his fist wrapped around his cock, and my own arousal reached new heights. Watching him touch himself always drove me wild.

Just as I was really working up a head of steam, however, the sounds and comments stopped, replaced by a harsh breathing. I knew he hadn’t come yet — he wasn’t one to keep quiet about it when he did. Fighting against frustration, I stilled the hand between my legs.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.