“Hey, don’t forget to drop me off,” Ryan said.

TJ hit the brakes and pulled into Ryan’s drive. He slammed the truck into park, pushed the dark-haired beauty from his mind and stared at his friend’s house. “You ready for the storm?”

“As ready as anyone. Got storm shutters installed after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I’ll be locking them tight before I report to work tonight.”

“Need help?” TJ asked, not really interested in hanging around, but Ryan was his friend.

“Naw.” Ryan climbed down from the truck, closed the door and slapped the open window frame. “Get going, we’ve only got a few hours before the wind gets really strong.” He shook his head as he opened the door. “Tonight’s going to be one long one and tomorrow even longer.”

How many times had they had the hurricane warnings this year? Often enough to make TJ want to skip attaching storm shutters and go straight for the beer in his refrigerator.

The drive to his house five blocks away was completed in a surreal silence. The deserted streets were mostly still, only a few families, with cars loaded to the gills, hurried to flee the city.

In the short time involved in dropping off his friend, a line of clouds appeared in the southern sky, rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico. Trees shuddered as the first gusts of wind buffeted branches and shrubs, a little teaser for what was to come.

As he rolled to a stop in his driveway, a slight movement caught TJ’s attention and he glanced up at the bedroom window in the house next door.

The sun crept through the windows from the eastern sky, not a cloud in sight from this direction. Cassidy Jones stood in the shadows, away from the deadly rays. She stared at the truck below, her heart clenching in her chest when TJ climbed out.

His muscles rippled beneath his dark blue uniform. The fabric hugged his taut buttocks and framed his thick thighs to perfection.

Desire swelled in each molecule of her being, rising like a pulsing wave, engulfing her in a torrent of sensation. Her fingers clutched the cotton fabric of the curtain and her nails dug into her palm as she fought the overpowering surge of need-a need as debilitating as starvation to a refugee.

Not long ago, she’d have rushed out to greet him, inventing an excuse to ask him over so she could test her flirtation skills on the sandy-haired cop. Her college courses hadn’t been hard, but she’d insisted she needed his help, wanting his company more than the assistance while she studied. Not that she could study with TJ close by. His presence distracted her in the most delicious ways.

When they’d started the criminology class together last semester, they’d hit it off immediately. He was finishing his last few courses for his degree in criminology, and she was working toward one in forensics. Both were non-traditional students having decided to complete degrees after being in the workforce for several years.

A smile tugged at Cassidy’s lips as she recalled her own shy attempts at flirting and how TJ’s tender caresses worked into gentle kisses. When they’d finally consummated their relationship, Cassidy had worried her limited knowledge of sex, gleaned from clumsy groping in high school, would turn TJ off.

He’d been tender, trailing his lips and hands across her body, touching her in ways she’d only dreamed about, until he brought her to her first orgasm. That moment was a moving, almost spiritual, experience for Cassidy, and she dared to hope they’d be together forever.

But the night after their “date,” everything changed. She’d been giddy with happiness. So giddy, she didn’t pay attention. She snorted. Isn’t that how it happened to women who don’t consider all the factors-dark night, shadowy walkway, walking alone? Hell, as stupid as she’d been, she deserved her fate. She shuddered.

No. No one deserved her fate.

After the attack, her injuries healed, but her life had changed completely. Cassidy wasn’t the woman TJ had made love to only a few short days before. Hell, she wasn’t even human. She couldn’t undo her carelessness and because of it, they could never be together again.

Yearning coiled deep in Cassidy’s belly, pressing her to go to him. She hungered for the strength of his arms around her, the touch of his tongue against her breasts and the thrust of his cock filling her. Her panties moistened as the image of him leaning over her, naked and glistening with sweat, wavered in her fevered mind. An image forever engraved in her memories.

When TJ’s green eyes glanced toward her window, Cassidy backed away, dropping the curtain over the glass, shutting out the harsh sunlight and her hopeless dreams.

She couldn’t trust herself to be with a man again. Her urges were too powerful and she hadn’t found the strength to control them. The best course of action was to avoid temptation altogether. With her eyes pressed closed to the darkened room, she could feel the sting of tears pushing against her eyelids, demanding release. Anger knotted her chest and she slammed her fist against the wall, leaving a small indentation in the painted sheetrock. As with her sexual appetite, her physical strength was also a factor she hadn’t quite mastered, yet even that was fading with each passing day.

Since the incident on campus, she’d mourned the loss of her freedom, cursing her stupidity for walking alone in the shadowy path between buildings. Her lack of forethought and self-preservation techniques now doomed her to a life secluded from others-a life without TJ and without the ability to bear children.

The heavy weight of depression settled about her shoulders and she trudged down the staircase to the living room. Once a sun-filled space, the curtains were pulled tightly over the windows blocking out every last ray of sunshine-the most deadly poison to Cassidy’s body. Only a few weeks ago she’d lazed in the back yard, enjoying the scent of freshly cut grass, allowing the late-afternoon rays to soak into her skin. Now she could only relive those moments in her mind-memories that would have to suffice for the rest of her existence.

Her eyes filling with tears, she stumbled on the antique Persian carpet and knocked a lamp off the end table next to the couch. The lamp couldn’t have fallen onto the carpet. No, it had to fall backward onto the hardwood flooring, the bulb shattering into a million tiny shards of razor-sharp glass.

Instinctively, Cassidy bent to retrieve the pieces.

The moment her fingers closed around the largest shard, the doorbell rang. She jumped back, her hand compressed around the glass and the sharp edges pierced her palm.

The pain was sharp, but dissipated by the time she reached the door. Who would be calling on her? She’d cut herself off from all her friends and acquaintances.

Perhaps it was a salesman. She hesitated on the other side of the solid wood paneling, wanting contact with others, but fearing the stream of sunshine that would fill the entranceway.

The doorbell chimed again and Cassidy jumped, her nerves stretched to their limits.

“Cassidy, it’s TJ. I know you’re home. Please let me in.” The low baritone of TJ’s voice was barely muffled by the solid wood standing between them, and it poured over Cassidy like hot chocolate.

Cassidy leaned against the wall and sank down to her haunches. A surge of emotions threatened to make her forget herself. She wanted to fling the door aside to let the only man she’d cared for into her home.

No. She bit into her lip, the sharp pain a slim reminder of the control she needed to get through this encounter. If she ignored him, he would go away. Like he had before. Guilt had eaten at her when she’d refused to return his calls. Longing had built like a demolition ball repeatedly slamming against her chest. But she couldn’t act on it, couldn’t let TJ back in her life. She didn’t deserve him.

A soft sob caught in her throat and she willed TJ to go away. As silence settled on the hallway, Cassidy held her breath, straining to hear the sound of footsteps leading away from her front door.

Then the handle twisted and she remembered she hadn’t locked the door. With speed born of desperation, she leaped from the hardwood floor and reached her empty hand for the lock. But the door opened and TJ stepped in, bringing with him a flood of sunshine.

Cassidy winced, her eyes blinded by the brilliance. Where the sun lanced across her body, her skin seared.

She staggered backward into the shadows of the darkened hallway.

“Cassidy?” TJ frowned, moving forward to grab her arm. “Are you all right?” He sniffed the air. “What’s that smell? Is something burning?”

Her mouth moved, but she couldn’t form the words to answer him. The pain of the sun was intense, but no more so than the pain of seeing TJ again.

TJ’s frown deepened. “You don’t look well. Here, let me help you to the couch.”

No. Please go away, a voice screamed inside her head, but her heart refused to let the words past her lips. Fool! Don’t bringhim down with you. Despite her inner warning, she let him lead her into the living room and press her onto the cushions of her grandmother’s antique sofa.

All her senses were focused on where his hand held her elbow. The pulse beating in his fingertips pounded through her awareness like the bass drum of a marching band.

She should send him away. Now! Before she did something stupid. Her veins pulsed to the rhythm of his, as if they were one being, connected at a single point, sharing the same blood she so desperately needed.

“What have you done to your hand?” He grasped her other hand and leaned over her.

She hadn’t realized she still held the jagged remains of the light bulb. Blood oozed from between her fingers. “It’s nothing,” she managed. “I can take care of it myself.”