It seemed like forever before she stopped laughing. “You’ll call the police on what; your dead cell?”
Terri frowned.
“Don’t tell me you’d actually expect me to loan you mine.” Ms. Klaas flicked her hand dismissively. Now that they weren’t in such close proximity, Terri could think of her as something more than simply Sin.
“I can walk to one of the neighbors.” Terri snatched up her jacket and gloves off the floor. The movement left her feeling off-kilter. She righted herself and stumbled in the direction of the foyer.
“Mmmmoooooowww,” which of course, translated into a long, plaintive “No” in cat language.
“Relax, she’s not going anywhere,” Sin said.
Terri looked from the clearly distressed cat to the woman now leaning with one shoulder braced against the doorframe leading from the den. Her arms were crossed over her ribs, emphasizing her breasts. Her legs were crossed at the ankles. She looked the picture of cool indifference; almost cat-like in her demeanor.
Terri felt like a mouse that was being played with before dinner.
“You can certainly attempt to walk to one of your neighbors’ houses. You might even find one that hasn’t gone out of town for the holidays. But,” she looked down at her nails and casually buffed them against her dress, “do you think one of them will actually let you use their phone?”
Terri approached the doorway, angling her body so she could squeeze past the other woman. Ms. Klaas didn’t give an inch. Terri felt the swell of breasts press against her. It was all she could do to keep from closing her eyes and moaning aloud. Despite everything this woman had done, was doing, Terri felt an intense attraction to her. More intense than any she could recall having to anyone. Ever.
She slid past Sin, yes she was back to thinking of her as Sin, and stumbled to the front door. She paused with her hand on the knob. Now that she had put some distance between the two of them, she felt better.
Her perfume? She had thought she’d identified all the scents of Christmas. But, now she recalled smelling something more…something spicier. Whatever it was, she was feeling more like herself. She looked back at the other woman.
“I suggest you find something…” Terri’s gaze raked over the form-fitting white sheath dress that did nothing to hide the outline of erect nipples, “…more suitable for prison. The police will be here before you know it.”
“Where they will find me with a bloodied nose.” She tilted her chin up, as if to emphasize the now dried blood coming from her nostril and leading to her upper lip. “I will look suitably vulnerable, the victim of a home invasion attempt.”
What? “I’ll-I’ll tell them that you…you…catnapped…stole…”
“My own cat that’s curled up in front of a cozy fireplace? He hardly seems the victim of a dastardly crime. What you did to me, however…” She gave her own version of the cat-that-ate-the-canary smirk as she leisurely approached Terri.
It struck Terri as being the exact way a cat would stalk its prey. She was reminded once again that she seemed to be the mouse being toyed with in this little game. Her tormentor sashayed toward her, forcing Terri to retreat one step at a time, not stopping until she was pressed firmly up against the door. She felt the knob digging into the small of her back. A hand was in her hair, fingernails were scraping her scalp and stroking down her cheek until her chin was being cupped.
Terri panicked, turning and yanking the door open, the solid wood hitting her in the knee. She bit back a curse and, clutching her jacket, darted out the door. She was hit squarely in the face with a wall of wet white. She couldn’t see anything, not even the front-porch steps that she knew were there only a short time ago. The wind blew harder, pelting her with sideways falling flurries.
She turned and looked back inside, past the tall, lithe blonde on the other side of the threshold. Trouble was still in there. But, he didn’t seem to be in any distress. As a matter of fact, he looked rather at home. And she chose to believe that he wouldn’t be intentionally harmed.
She felt a hand grip her arm. She shook it off. Without stopping to shove her arms into her jacket, she rushed forward, stepping off where she calculated a step should be. She had that momentary sensation of Oh, shit! as she felt nothing beneath her feet. Then she was falling, both legs sinking into the snow, giving out. Falling forward onto her hands, she face-planted, sinking farther into the wet white.
The sudden cold was like a shock to her system. She pushed up, making it to her knees. She swiped a hand across her face, brushing off the clinging wet. She crawled, on hands and knees, finding the porch steps. She tilted her head back and looked up. Up, up, up long legs that seemed to go on forever, over a flat stomach, beyond gravity-defying breasts, until she was looking up into a face looming over hers.
“Oh, my. Looks like we’re snowed in.” The twinkle in blue eyes coupled with a predatory leer caused Terri’s blood to run cold.
A hand was fisted in the front of her shirt and she was yanked up.
How the hell? There was no way this little wisp of a woman could physically lift a solid butch like her. Sin laughed as she hauled her to a standing position. Terri was dragged inside and the door was slammed shut and locked.