Sara Reinke - Backwoods

“So are you going to invite me in now?” Dani asked, her voice low and breathless when at last, they drew apart. “Or do you want me to rip your clothes off and do you right here in the hall?”

Later that night, she jerked beside him with a frightened cry, her body wrenching so violently, so rigidly, at first he thought she was having a seizure. “No!”

Startled awake, he reached for her. “Dani?”

They had fallen asleep spooned together in his bed, the curves of her buttocks nestled in near-perfect complement with his groin and his arm draped across the slim indentation of her waist. Bleary and bewildered now, he started to sit up, but she struck at him, her hands balled into fists, her hair hanging in her face in a dark, disheveled tangle.

“No,” she cried, her voice shrill with panicked terror. “No, no, get them off, get them off, get them off me!”

“Dani.” He caught her by the wrists, and she struggled with him, wailing in frightened protest. “Dani!” Grasping her by the shoulders, he shook gave her a firm, forceful shake. “Dani, wake up.”

At once, she fell still and blinked at him, her dark eyes round and glistening in the dim light coming through his window. A light tremor worked its way through her slender body, and when she spoke, her voice came out quavering. “Andrew?”

She looked around, pushing her hair back behind her ears, getting her bearings. Slowly but surely, the frightened tension drained from her body, but the trembling remained, growing stronger, more insistent.

“It’s alright,” he said, touching her face gently to draw her gaze.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and when he drew her into his arms, she crumpled against him and burst into tears. “I…oh, God, I thought I was back in the lab, back when they had me. When Langley had grabbed me and those things were wrapped all around me…those horrible things coming out of his body.”

“It’s alright,” he said, holding her, rocking back and forth and kissing her head through her hair. “I promise, Dani. It’s over now.”

At length, her sobs subsided and he felt her relax. Her shudders waned to trembles, then dissipated altogether, but still, Andrew rocked her in his arms. Again he thought of the map he’d made, the line that seemed to be working its way north, heading with a deadly, brutal accuracy.

West Virginia, then Maryland, then on to Pennsylvania, he thought again . New York comes next, then east to Massachusetts. Hunting us down, one by one. First me, then Dani. Then Alice.

The ones who had stopped Prendick. The ones who had escaped.

He leaned down and kissed Dani’s brow. “It’s alright,” he whispered again. “It’s over now.” In his mind, he added: God, please, let it be over.

“Definitely an author to watch.” That’s how Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine describes Sara Reinke. New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards calls Reinke “a new paranormal star” and Love Romances and More hails her as “a fresh new voice to a genre that has grown stale.” Find out more about Reinke and her work at: www.sarareinke.com.

Published by Sara Reinke

Copyright 2010 Sara Reinke

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