STORY EXCERPT

Cora pulled into the parking lot of the Sunset Mini Mart, screeching to a stop. Two days of pleasant, uneventful travel, then a header into the twilight zone. I should have stayed home. I could have spent the week in bed with Jean-Paul, watching movies and...What the hell were those things? Hysteria threatened to overwhelm her. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, fighting back her panic before she got out of the car. Inside, she stopped at the counter. The place looked deserted.

“Restroom?” she called out in a breathless voice.

A woman poked her head out of the tiny room behind the counter, waving toward the back. “In the storeroom, second door on the left.”

Cora hurried through the storeroom of the little combination convenience store-gas station into the tiny bathroom. She turned on the water, splashing cold water in her face as she tried to think what to do. No way could she report what she saw to the police. No one would believe her. Hell, she didn’t believe it, and she’d seen it. Them. Besides, the men, or whatever they were that she escaped from, might be walking in the door any minute. This could not be happening. What she saw could not be real.

It hit her suddenly. Leaving her car had not been a bright move. She had reacted without thought, her subconscious sending her scurrying for somewhere to hide. How could I have been so stupid? She rubbed her temples, imagining what Jean-Paul would say when she told him about this. He was already unhappy over her taking this trip by herself. She needed to get out of there, back on the road into civilization before it got dark. Taking a deep breath, she glanced around for her purse. She would call Jean-Paul...Damn! Could I get any more stupid? Her purse with her phone inside still sat in the car, on the front seat right where she had left it. She reached out to open the bathroom door. The bell on the store’s door chimed as her fingertips touched the knob. Cora froze, holding her breath, listening to the silence. A strong feeling of foreboding swept over her. The place was too quiet. The sudden blood-curdling screams from the front of the store shocked her into action. Oh no, they’re here. Those things have attacked the girl at the counter.

She had to get out of there right now. Looking around herself in panic, her gaze fell on the tall, battered metal trashcan beside the door. It wouldn’t hold for long, but maybe it would buy her enough time to get away. She wedged it under the doorknob. The window looked small, but she thought she could squeeze through. She put the lid down on the toilet, stepping up onto it. The window pushed outward without any trouble. She climbed out, glad she’d worn jeans instead of shorts that day. Now if she could reach the overhang of the roof, she thought she could swing down, lessening the drop to the ground.

Cora made a grab for the edge of the roof. She missed, falling to the ground with a bone-jarring jolt. She scrambled up, ignoring the pain, running across the pavement toward an opening in the fence behind the store. She heard the bathroom door crashing open followed by shouts of rage as she reached the open desert behind the gas station. She knew she couldn’t make it back to her car when she saw more pickup trucks carrying more of the creatures pulling into the parking lot. Leaving her car was not good, but it could not be helped. Those things would be on her trail in minutes. Seconds if she tried to get her car. She didn’t kid herself that they hadn’t seen her. She refused to look back to confirm it. What she needed was a miracle.

ADULT EXCERPT

A twig snapped somewhere behind her. She jerked around to find Dale watching her from the brush a few feet away. “Rafe sent me to make sure you’re all right.” He had a quiet, solemn way about him. Cora wondered what made him so serious.

She didn’t try to analyze why she patted the rock beside her, inviting him to sit. He walked over to her, sitting on the ground at her feet. She gazed at his bowed head. The urge to touch him, to see if his glossy dark brown hair was as soft as it looked, refused to be denied. Cora reached down, brushing her fingers over the sun-warmed silk of his hair. Before she realized it, she found herself stroking Dale’s head. He sighed, relaxing under her touch, laying his head against her knee.

“I like you,” he said in a voice so soft she almost couldn’t hear him. He slid his hand over her calf. His gentle, hesitant touch sent a warm rush of desire through her, totally unlike the fierce need Wolf’s touch aroused or the heat Rafe caused. Before she half thought about it, she bent down, kissing the top of his head. He seemed like a shy boy.

Dale turned to face her, rising up to his knees. Cora moved her legs apart, pulling him closer. His lips touched hers in a feather-light kiss. She parted her lips, inviting him in. His shy acceptance sent a wave of pleasure through her as strong as any she’d ever felt. He stiffened when she pulled him closer.

“It’s all right,” she whispered. He sighed then slipped his arms around her waist. Cora gathered him closer. Dale relaxed into her arms. They kissed again. He moved down, planting soft butterfly kisses over her neck.

Her breath caught as he began to explore her body. His hands trembled as they cupped her breasts then moved to the fly of her borrowed jeans. She stood, allowing Dale to push the jeans down over her hips. He stopped long enough to pull off the old work shirt he wore, slipping it behind her before he urged her back down onto the rock.

She bit her bottom lip as he took the jeans off her, laying them aside. He placed her legs over his shoulders. Leaning forward, he kissed her, all traces of the shy boy gone. Dale flicked his tongue over her clit, brushing his hands over her hips and belly.

The tightness inside her needed release. He teased her, thrusting his tongue into her pussy, sliding a finger in as he kissed her inner thigh. “Dale, please,” she moaned, pleading.

He backed away and stood. Cora heard his zipper, and then he was inside her, fucking her.