The cop then escorted Bella upstairs, where she took a quick moment to grab her mail, going still when she came to a plain piece of paper, folded in thirds.

“What?” the cop said.

Silent, she handed him the note.

I am the man for you. The others will be eliminated one by one.

Your cop is up next.

“Shit,” the officer said, and pulled out his cell phone.

Bella allowed herself a moment of panic, a full sixty seconds, before she grabbed her purse and keys.

“No, no one’s come or gone that shouldn’t be here,” the cop was saying into his phone. When he’d disconnected, he walked Bella to her car, his gaze vigilant and alert. “Where are you going?” he asked her.

She sighed. The only place she’d probably ever intended to end up tonight, in spite of the fact that she had no idea why he wanted her there. And at the moment, none of that mattered. The note had been a clear warning-he was in danger.

Because of her. “Jacob’s.”

He nodded, and as he watched her drive off, pulled out his cell phone again.

On the road, she pulled out her own cell phone and called Jacob.

“Jesus,” he said in clear relief. “I just heard from Ethan, and I’ve been going nuts.”

“I had protection.”

“Yes, but I still want you out of the apartment,” he said in an unmistakable demand.

“Already ahead of you.”

In the following beat of silence she could hear his anger that she’d left her protection behind. “Where are you? I’ll call an escort-”

“I’m halfway there. I’m on Highway 1 already.”

“Jesus, you must be flying.”

“Do you have a squad car there? Are you protected?”

“Yes.” His voice softened. “It’s going to be okay, Bella.”

“The eliminating part,” she managed to say. “That’s a little troublesome.”

“We’ll protect them.”

“You,” she said, throat tight. “I’m worried about you, Jacob. And here I am, on my way to your house, maybe leading someone right to you.” Oh, God.

She looked in her rearview mirror. Light traffic.

No way to tell if anyone was following her. “I can’t do this. I’m not coming to you.”

“Yes, you are,” he said in that same calm, even voice, and only because she knew him did she hear the undertone of anger and worry.

For her. “Jacob-”

“Listen to me. If you don’t come here, I’m going to get on my motorcycle to come get you, and I’m on narcotics, Bella. It won’t be pretty.” He softened his voice. “Please. Please come here. Now.”

Okay, so the domineering “now” ruined the “please” but she nodded. She would do as he asked, and once again she’d be with him, spend time with him-not because he wanted her to come and stay, but because his sense of protectiveness insisted on it.

Fifteen minutes later, she pulled up his driveway and parked next to the squad car already parked there. She saw Jacob move away from where he’d been talking to his protection. She got a quick glimpse of faded Levi’s low on his hips, the splint and nothing else as she opened her car door.

And then he was right there, pulling her in close against that bare, warm chest. His good arm tightened around her, his warm lips brushing her temple. “You’re safe now, Bella. I’ve got you.”

She slid her arms around his waist and felt the reassuring bulk of his gun in the back of his waistband. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

“I’m safe, too.”

Yes. Yes, he was, and she sucked in air for the first time since she’d found the note, rubbing her cheek over a hard pec. Melting into him, she let the rest of the world slip away, leaning forward until her head was tucked under his chin.

She was safe in his arms.

Or at least her body was.

She just wasn’t nearly so sure about her heart.

14

ETHAN MET THEM AT Jacob’s house, and took the note for evidence. Bella called Willow, to tell her about the latest development, and discovered her boss had gone to Trevor’s instead because her mother had been hosting bingo for thirty-five seniors. Trevor got on the phone and told Bella to come, as well, but she said she was fine where she was for the night.

And then hoped that was true.

Jacob had left her alone in the living room to give her privacy for her calls, and done with them now, she went to the kitchen. There she grabbed Jacob’s pain pills and a glass of water, because she hadn’t missed how pale and shaky he’d seemed during the meeting with Ethan, but when she moved down the hall to his bedroom, it was empty.

The bathroom door was open, and the shower was running. She stepped into the steamy room, and thanks to the glass tub enclosure, had a perfect view.

Jacob stood facing the water, his good arm straight out in front of him, braced on the tile, head bent so that the water beat down on his shoulders and back.

“What are you doing?”

He lifted his head. “Cleaning up.”

“You’ll get your bandage wet.”

“It has to be changed anyway.”

He reached for the shampoo, and she didn’t miss his wince. “Wait.” Peeling off her clothes, she stepped into the tub and met his hot, hot gaze.

“That should have been on my fantasy list,” he said.

“What?”

“Watching you strip.”

“Do you ever think of anything besides me naked?”

He smiled. “I think of me naked, with you.”

“Turn and face the water, perv, I’ll help you soap up.”

When he turned, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, and then, because she couldn’t resist, kissed first his good shoulder, and then moved to the other, kissing all around the edge of his bandaging. When she got to the center of his back and pressed her lips to his spine, he sucked in a breath and dropped his head forward with a moan for more.

Pouring some shower gel into her hands, she pressed her body against his so that there wasn’t a breath of space between them, and ran her soapy hands over his chest, his abs, and then guiding her fingers downward, wrapped them around his erection.

Another rough groan escaped him and he leaned back into her. “God, Bella.”

Her mouth continued to skim over his spine as she stroked the length of him in her slicked-up fingers, apparently applying just the right amount of pressure, because he actually whimpered.

“Okay?” she whispered, sliding her other hand down the front of a rock-hard thigh, then up again to cup him, gently squeezing.

“Christ.” His voice was thick and husky. “If I was any more okay, I’d be a puddle on the tile at your feet.” He covered her hand with his and stroked himself along with her, showing her how hard he liked it. After a minute, he groaned and pulled away. “Stop,” he gasped. “I’m going to come if you keep that up.”

She peered around his arm to take in the sight of him fully aroused, wet and glistening, and her mouth actually watered. “Sit.”

“What?”

She pushed him down to the tub ledge along the back, then straddled his legs and kissed him.

Gripping her hip with his good hand, he dived into the kiss, taking her mouth roughly, stroking her tongue with his while his one hand ran feverishly over her, gliding over her breasts, cupping and squeezing her ass. “You feel so good,” he murmured against her wet skin. Dipping his head, he pulled a nipple into his mouth at the same time his thumb stroked between her thighs, directly over ground zero, and that was it for her.

In that moment, she didn’t care what this was, or why she was trying to hold back.

She needed him.

“Inside me,” she gasped.

“But you’re not ready-”

“I was ready before I even got here.” Lifting up, she slid herself down onto his hard, throbbing length all in one motion, fully seating him deep within her.

“Oh, Christ, Bella.”

Her body clenched hard, making him groan again.

“Condom,” he groaned.

“It’s the wrong time of the month.” Then she gave him the line he’d so often given her. “It should be okay.” She listened to the sound of his quickened breathing, loving how his arm tightened on her as he kissed her throat, a breast, licking his tongue over her nipple as he thrust up within her.

Her arms tightened on him, too, and she shifted restlessly, feeling filled, feeling desperate, feeling so hungry and achy, needing him-

Needing.

God, she was half out of her mind with the need, and also halfway to heaven, and only partially aware that she was spreading hot, desperate kisses over his neck in tune to the hot, desperate words she was whispering, “Don’t stop, Jacob. Please, don’t stop loving me…”

“I won’t,” he swore, wrapping his good arm solidly around her back as he began to move, flexing his hips, doing his best to meet her thrust for thrust as he kissed, bit and sucked the skin of her neck and throat, all of it turning her on all the more, as if she needed to be any more turned on.

“God, Bella.” He paused to devour her mouth again, his tongue tangling with hers. “You’re so wet, so tight.” He was looking into her eyes, holding her gaze prisoner, and she couldn’t look away, didn’t want to.

“Mine,” she thought he whispered, but then she burst and could hear nothing but the blood rushing through her head and the faint guttural sound of Jacob’s rough groan as he came, his entire body contracting with hers, taking her over the edge yet again in a longer, protracted orgasm she wasn’t sure she’d survive. Then his mouth touched hers, sharing air, sharing everything he had, and there were no more thoughts.

FOR A WEEK NOTHING MORE happened on the case. No shootings, no notes, nothing out of the ordinary. The men on Bella’s date list were still watched and protected to the best of the P.D.’s ability, but every day that passed seemed to drain some of the urgency away.