Dani Harper - Storm Warrior

No way was she going to reveal that detail to the police, however. It sounded crazy, even to her. Jay, however, would likely believe her. Maybe I’ll tell him later.

Jay chose that moment to come bouncing into the room, charms and ponytail bobbing. He bounced everywhere it seemed, even at ungodly hours of the morning. His wife always seemed high energy too. Maybe it was that organic food that Jay was always bringing for lunch…Whatever it was, Morgan wished she had some. “This guy’s way too big for any of the recovery kennels,” he said. “What do you think about putting him on a blanket and some foam in your office? We can close the door, and then he won’t be in the way in the morning. He’s going to be dozy for quite a while, so I don’t think he’ll make much of a mess in there.”

“That’ll work just fine. I can sleep on the couch and keep an eye on him.” She rubbed both hands over her face and through her hair.

“Why don’t you let me do that, Morgan?”

“It’s okay, really. I’m way too tired to drive all the way to my place, and besides, you have a wife to go home to.”

“Are you kidding? Starr would kill me if I let you sleep here alone after being attacked tonight. I’ll call her again, and then I’ll take the couch in the waiting room.”

Morgan wanted to say no, it wasn’t necessary. But she knew, deep down, she was running on the last dregs of her adrenaline. Once it wore off, it would be a toss-up to see which would claim her first: exhaustion or the cold fear that swam just beneath the surface. “Thanks for that and for showing up tonight too. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Well, it would have been a helluva lot harder to get the dog into the clinic for one thing. When I drove up, it looked as if you were leaning over a moose calf, not a dog. He’s humongous. And that collar’s really something—straight out of The Lord of the Rings or something. Where did he come from?”

“I have no idea,” she said honestly, as her heart made a decision she hoped her brain could live with. “But if no one claims him, I’m keeping him.”

Morgan was certain she’d be too tired to dream, but no sooner had she closed her eyes than she found herself in a forest clearing by a fallen tree. Stars pinwheeled high above, and a group of horses milled about just within the trees. She could smell them, hear them as they stamped and snorted, making the sounds of animals settling for the night. She was far from settled. Instead she stood, naked, waiting, anticipating. Then she felt him standing behind her. He hadn’t made a sound, but she was as aware of this man’s presence as she was of her own.

She quivered as he nuzzled the back of her neck, planting kisses there. His broad, rough palms skimmed lightly over her shoulders and down her arms to her wrists and back up to her shoulders to begin again. Down and up, barely touching her, down and up. It sensitized her skin until every part of her body was yearning to be touched. His strong hands glissed the length of her back, their power leashed. He traced intricate circles and symbols there with the same maddeningly gentle touch, as a soft, warm breeze flowed sensuously around her legs, her face, her breasts.

Gradually his hands circled lower, grazing softly over her bottom, round and round, back and forth until she wanted to scream from the sheer tension. She could barely stand still. Her breasts were tight, her insides clenching until she could feel the moisture collecting between her legs. Touch me, damn it, please! Suddenly he gave her just what she’d been craving—he cupped her buttocks and squeezed them hard, kneaded them with his broad hands. It electrified her. The pleasure jolted her body, prickling her already hard nipples and tingling her through her clit.

He pressed lightly on her upper back, bending her until she had to place her hands on the fallen tree. His other hand slid between her legs, and she parted them readily. She was aching to be rubbed and rubbed hard, but again, the broad fingers barely brushed over her tight wool and swollen lips. She tried to rub herself on his hand, but it eluded her, softly stroking her inner thighs instead until she trembled all over, nearly frantic with arousal and need.

Without warning, he knelt behind her and began pressing soft, moist kisses to her buttocks. She was wriggling now, wanting more, but he threw a powerful arm around her hips and held her in place. Slowly, painstakingly, he kissed his way over every inch of her bottom, interspersing the kisses with light nips that were immediately laved with his tongue. Bliss shot through her like a hot current through copper wire. Her last coherent thought was to marvel that everything within her was so intricately connected that to be touched in one place was to be touched everywhere…

Then two strong fingers slipped inside her, and all thought vanished as she gasped aloud. She slid down them, praying he wouldn’t pull them away, and nearly cheered when he thrust them deeper. She could feel her own rush of moisture, feel him alternately crook and splay his fingers as she rode them faster, harder. Gradually he added part of a third. Yes, oh, yes, omigod, yes…just like that, don’t stop, oh, don’t stop …The pleasure ramped up, even as her legs began to get rubbery, and his thickly muscled arm was holding her up as much as it held her to him. Faster, harder. He rubbed his thumb over her wet clit and triggered an avalanche. She screamed out as the orgasm thundered down on her, overwhelming her senses until she tumbled bonelessly into her lover’s lap.

She looked up into his face just before she was jarred awake by the frantic peal of the alarm clock.

The X-ray lab was dark, cool, and fairly quiet, a welcome respite from the busy clinic. Too bad the developer fumes had such a pungent odor to them, Morgan thought. The exhaust fan was on full blast, but still her eyes stung a little. She swished the film frames in the vertical tank of developing fluid as she watched the glowing numbers on the timer click down to zero. Quickly, she dunked the frames in the rinse tank, turned the timer on again, and leaned on the counter. Two weeks, her supplier had said. Just two more weeks until her shiny, new digital radiography equipment would be set up and installed. Two weeks until somebody finally hauled off the last of the antiquated equipment and chemicals she’d inherited when she bought the practice. Two weeks and her clinic would be fully in the twenty-first century. Only a couple of decades late.

The satisfaction of achieving such a major goal and the prospect of never having to develop X-ray film again weren’t enough, however, to keep Morgan’s thoughts from straying to what had clearly been the hottest dream of her life. Not only had she had an intense orgasm, but she’d actually gotten off in her sleep! She’d awakened with her underwear damp, her body quivering and still clenching with little aftershocks of pleasure. Just thinking about it made certain parts of her body tingle anew.

Blissful gratification aside, what intrigued her more was the glance she’d gotten of her dream lover. She didn’t recognize his face, and it wasn’t a face that any woman would forget. Handsome but not in a pretty way. He could have been a cowboy or a Viking or a sea captain—the strong features were definitely on the rugged side. Dark hair, nearly black, long enough to shadow a strange bluish symbol on his collarbone, a creature of some sort. What she remembered most, however, were his eyes. They were the color of ale and old gold. And they had looked at her with incredible tenderness, perhaps even love—