Ginny imagined Griff’s beautiful house being destroyed by fire, a house he’d practically built with his own hands, and nausea clogged her throat.
He’d lost his father in a fire, and now he was working to save his own house. What if Robert had started the fire and was there now? He could have set a trap for Griff.
She snatched her phone to call and warn him, but hesitated. She grabbed the burner phone but couldn’t remember his number. Panic setting in, she considered calling the sheriff’s office, but Jacob was at Griff’s so he would protect him.
At least she hoped he did, she thought as she paced the room. She could not allow Robert to hurt Griff or Mitzi or anyone else.
She’d promised Griff she’d stay inside the room, but how could she sit here and do nothing when Robert might be mapping out his attack?
A plan began to form in her mind. She had to take charge. Stop him herself.
Nerves tightened her shoulders as she retrieved her gun, pulled on her jacket and stowed the weapon in her pocket. Then she called the number Robert had phoned from in the burner phone.
The phone rang once, then twice, then a third time. Finally, Robert answered.
“I’ve been expecting your call, love.”
Her skin crawled. “Please don’t hurt Mitzi or Griff,” she said. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just tell me where to come.”
A long pause filled with his breathing. “Did he put you up to this?”
“He has no idea I’ve talked to you.” She just hoped he was okay.
“How about the police? Are you working with the sheriff?”
“No,” she said emphatically. “I’m alone. I just want this to stop. No one else has to get hurt, Robert.”
His heavy breathing echoed over the line. “All right. I’ll text you the address where to meet me. But it has to be tonight. And no calling the police or telling that damn fireman or Mitzi is dead.”
Ginny’s lungs strained for a breath. Now that she understood what made him tick, she’d play his game until she found Mitzi and confirmed she was safe. “I understand. I’ll do whatever you say.”
“You’d better, Reese. This is your last chance.”
A knock pounded on the door, startling her. “Send me the address. And don’t hurt Mitzi or the deal is off.”
She didn’t wait for a response. She ended the call herself.
“Ginny, are you in there? It’s me, Griff!”
She threaded her fingers through her hair, then rushed to the door and opened it. The sight of Griff’s handsome face sent relief through her.
Robert hadn’t managed to hurt him. At least not yet.
She intended to keep it that way. Which meant lying to Griff. Escaping from his watchful, protective eyes and facing Robert on her own.
“Thank God, you’re all right.” The strain on Griff’s face eased a fraction, then he drew her into his arms. “I was afraid he’d hurt you.”
“I’m okay.” She curled her arms around him. “I was afraid he’d hurt you or burned down your house.”
He eased away from her an inch, then brushed her cheek with his thumb. “My house is fine. But…”
“But what?”
“He killed the deputy watching the inn. I’ve already called Jacob.”
Emotions flooded her. Sorrow. Guilt. Hatred for Robert.
And a deep fear for Mitzi and for Griff that cemented her decision to meet Robert alone.
* * *
GRIFF’S HEART WAS hammering so fast he thought his chest would explode. He soaked in the sight of Ginny’s beautiful face riddled with panic and fear, and sadness twisted at his gut.
“Oh, God,” she choked out. “Another man is dead because of me.”
He regretted telling her, but he’d had no choice. She had to know the lengths Robert had gone to today. That it was imperative she stay with him so he could protect her.
“The deputy understood the dangers of the job, Ginny.”
“That still doesn’t make it right.” Tremors rippled through her body, and he hugged her tighter.
“I know it’s not right. He was a good man.”
She gulped back tears. “Did he have family? Was he married? Did he have children?”
“No, no and no,” Griff said. “He was divorced, had just moved here. I don’t think he had family either, at least not that I know of.”
A small cry broke from her, and he rubbed slow circles along her back. “Shh, it’s all right.”
“Nothing about this is all right.”
“I know,” he murmured. “But he did his job and we will find Robert. I promise.”
“How many more people have to die before he’s caught and locked away?” Ginny asked, bitterness darkening her tone.
“Hopefully no more.” Griff pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I need to go back downstairs and wait on Jacob. I just had to make sure you were safe first.” Although he’d left the body alone. That didn’t sit well in his gut either. What if someone messed with the crime scene?
“What about the innkeeper?” Ginny asked.
“She’s fine. The two guests who were registered checked out when they heard a policeman was stationed outside.” He squeezed her arm. “Lock the door and stay in the room,” Griff ordered.
Ginny shook her head. “I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t need to see the deputy like that,” Griff said. “I promise I’ll return as soon as Jacob arrives.” A siren wailed from outside, and she pulled away from him. “All right. Go. I’ll be here when you get back.”
He hoped to hell she was, and that she didn’t do anything stupid like try to leave without him.
* * *
GINNY LOCKED THE door as soon as Griff left the room. Then she walked over to the window, pushed the curtain aside and watched as Jacob climbed from his police car and hurried to the deputy’s car.
Griff met them just as a hearse appeared and parked. It had to belong to the ME.
God, the day kept getting worse.
The men gathered around the deputy’s car, but Griff’s body blocked her view of the man inside. A van veered into the parking lot, and a team climbed out, wearing jackets with ERT on the back. They would work the crime scene and collect evidence.
Her stomach knotted as they snapped pictures of the car and deputy, then began to take ones of the surrounding ground and area. She hoped they gathered conclusive evidence, although if she found Robert first, they wouldn’t need it.
She’d take care of him herself.
The thought made her feel sick inside, but she couldn’t live with people dying on her account.
Tears for the deputy spilled from her eyes, and she brushed them away angrily. Griff spoke to his brother, then glanced up at the window, and their gazes locked.
He was the kind of tough, stubborn strong man who made a hero. She could so fall in love with him if things were different.
She might even learn to trust again.
He left Jacob and the ME and search team and walked toward the inn.
The phone Robert had left for her taunted her from the nightstand. Griff would want her to confide about the phone call.
But sharing with him would only endanger him. Tonight, she’d meet Robert and take care of him then everyone else would be safe.
The thought of dying didn’t frighten her. Her life the past three years had not really been living. She didn’t want to go to prison, but justice for her sister and all the others whose lives had been destroyed by Robert would be worth it.
A knock sounded at the door. “Ginny?”
She inhaled a calming breath, then turned the lock. Griff looked so handsome and sexy and worried that she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Just one night with him.
Anything could go wrong when she met Robert. He might kill her. She might kill him and go to jail.
She didn’t want to do either without the memory of one blissful night in Griff’s arms.
Granted, she didn’t deserve to be with him.
But she reached for him anyway. “Griff?” Her voice broke. It was full of need and desire.
He pulled her to him and kissed her with such longing and tenderness that she used her foot to shut the door, then tugged him toward the bed.
* * *
GRIFF HAD BEEN so pent up with fear and frustration that he desperately wanted to hold Ginny and feel that she was alive in his arms. Her sweet lips moving against his triggered desires that heated his blood and nearly shattered his self-control.
No, he could control himself. If she wanted, he’d stop.
She teased his lips with her tongue, probing, searching, asking for more. Erotic sensations shot through him, stirring hunger and passion.
But the reminder of the dead deputy outside and how Ginny had suffered barreled through his brain at full speed, and he slowly ended the kiss and pulled away so he could look into her eyes.
“Ginny, I can’t do this.”
Her lips parted. Her breath panted out. “Why not? You don’t want me?”
God, she was killing him.
“I do,” he murmured. “But I like and respect you too much to take advantage of you after the way you’ve suffered.”
She threaded her fingers through his hair, then rose on her tiptoes and kissed him again. “You aren’t taking advantage.”
“But Robert—”
“You’re nothing like him and I know it.” She traced her fingers along his jaw. “Please, Griff. I want to be with you, to replace all those bad memories with sweet, tender ones. Give me that.”
He studied her for a moment. Felt the beating of her heart as her chest rose and fell against his. No woman had ever touched his heart the way she had.
Or stirred his body to such deep desires.
“Ginny, are you sure?” he whispered.
Her lips tilted into a seductive smile, and she kissed him again. This time he didn’t hesitate. He scooped her into his arms, carried her to bed then lay down beside her.
She curled into his arms, wrapped her leg around his thigh and pressed her body against his. Pleasure burst inside him, and he kissed her again, then plunged his tongue into her mouth, loving her the way she’d asked.
* * *
GINNY RAKED HER hands across Griff’s muscular back as he trailed kisses down her neck and throat. Her body tingled with erotic sensations, and she urged him closer, savoring the feel of his hard body over hers.
He moved his hand to her breast, and she moaned in pleasure, whispering his name in a plea for more. Her breath panting out, she lifted her fingers and pulled at his T-shirt. He raised his body enough to yank it over his head and toss it to the floor.
“I smell like smoke,” he murmured. “I should shower.”
“I don’t care.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I want you now, just like you are.”
The sexy smile he gave her sent tingles through her, and she pulled at his belt buckle.
His breath rasped out. “If you want me to stop at any time, just say the word.”
“I won’t want you to stop,” she murmured. She’d never been more sure of anything in her life.
He helped her remove his clothing, shedding it in seconds, then he slowly undressed her, teasing her skin with gentle fingers and lips as he peeled her garments away.
Finally, naked, he kissed her again, then lowered his head and traced his tongue over her nipple. She moaned a little sigh of pleasure, then rubbed her hands over his back. His thick muscles bunched and flexed as he tugged her nipple into his mouth and suckled her. He loved one breast, then gave the other the same titillating treatment, and she wrapped her legs around him and stroked his calf with her foot.
He groaned, then moved lower and flicked his tongue down her body, teasing her with erotic kisses until he spread her legs and dipped his tongue inside her. Pure pleasure shot through her in such waves that her body began to quiver with sensations. He cupped her bottom in his hands and lifted her hips to give him better access, then drove her over the edge with his fingers and mouth until a million butterflies burst inside her, and she cried out with her orgasm.
She whispered his name, begging him for more, and he climbed above her and looked into her eyes.
“Ginny?”
“Please.” She slid her hand to his hard, thick length and stroked him. Hunger and pleasure darkened his eyes, and he moaned her name. He rolled sideways and disappointment seized her. Was he was going to leave her?
Then he grabbed a condom from the pocket of his pants, ripped open the package and rolled it on.
She helped him, desire building again with the anticipation of having that hard length filling her. Seconds later, he stroked her inner thighs with his sex, then pushed her legs farther apart and probed her womanhood.
One touch, one stroke, and pleasure soared to life again. He thrust into her, then pulled out, then entered her again, teasing and pleasuring her and building a rhythm that soon turned frantic with raw hunger. Over and over again, he thrust deeper and deeper each time until they were both panting, and their orgasms came together.
Groaning, he lowered his head and kissed her again, deeply and intimately, as the waves of pleasure rocked through them.
Both sated and breathless, he rolled to her side and pulled her into his arms, then they fell asleep wrapped around each other.
Sometime later, Ginny woke to the sound of a small beep. Sunlight had faded and dusk was setting in, shadows filling the room. She glanced sideways and saw Griff’s handsome, protective face and his strong jaw, relaxed in sleep.
Her heart thudded. God help her. She’d fallen in love with him.
The beep punctuated the air again. The burner phone.
She hated to leave the warmth and safety of Griff’s arms, but Robert was calling. She could never have a life with Griff until Robert was out of her life permanently.
Not that she’d have one after she finished with Robert. But she had to finish…
Slowly, she extricated herself from Griff’s arms. He must have been exhausted from the last few days of firefighting and taking care of her, because he moaned slightly but didn’t wake. She slid from bed, grabbed the burner phone and checked the text.
Robert had sent an address, GPS coordinates.
Come alone or Mitzi dies.