'I hope you're right about Dundee, because if you're wrong...' Reece walked out of the kitchen, through the back door and into the small clearing behind the house.
If he had any sense at all, he'd take Elizabeth's Jeep and get the hell out of Newell. He'd leave her behind, her and her big brother Dundee. Did he dare stay and trust a man he didn't even know, a man whose primary interest in him was the woman they had in common? And could he really trust Elizabeth? Just because every time he looked at her, he wanted to take her didn't mean he could trust her.
What the hell was he going to do? Would he be a fool to stay and put his life and his freedom in Elizabeth Mallory's hands? Or would he be a bigger fool to run away from his one chance to prove himself innocent and from the one woman who'd ever really cared about him?
Elizabeth sat alone inside the Burtons' summer house. Reece had been outside for the past couple of hours. First he'd parked Sam's '65 T-Bird at the back of the house, beside the Jeep, then he'd taken off into the woods, saying only that he was going to take a walk down by the lake.
For the twentieth time she checked her watch, wondering when Sam would arrive and how long Reece was going to stay outside sulking. She wasn't accustomed to being alone; MacDatho was nearly always at her side. She wished she could have brought him with her, but where a lone woman might go practically unnoticed, no one would forget a huge black wolf-dog.
The back door creaked. Elizabeth tensed. Turning her head just a fraction, she saw Reece enter the kitchen.
'It's getting colder out there,' he said. 'I thought I'd make some fresh coffee, but it looks like you've already done that.' He glanced at the freshly filled coffeepot.
'It's going to snow before dark.' Elizabeth turned back around, focusing her attention on the fire.
'Does that mean Dundee will be snowed in here with us?' Reece picked up a clean coffee mug from the dish drain, grabbed a dish towel off the wall rack and lifted the coffeepot.
'There will be a light snow, just an inch or two. Sam should be here soon.'
'Maybe he couldn't get a flight out of Atlanta.' Reece poured the mug full of coffee, returned the pot to the coffeemaker and walked into the living room, sitting in a chair to the left of the wicker sofa where Elizabeth sat.
'Sam flies his own plane. A small twin-engine Cessna. He probably rented a car at the airport and is on his way here now.'
'Quite a man, our Mr. Dundee.' Reece leaned over, resting his hands between his spread knees, the warm mug secure in his grasp. 'Former DEA agent, owns his own business, flies his own plane. I can hardly wait to meet this guy'
'He's anxious to meet you, too.' Tilting her chin up, Elizabeth glared at Reece. 'You see, you're the first man I've ever run away with, and Sam doesn't trust you any more than you trust him.'
'Sounds like he's very protective when it comes to screening the men in your life.' Reece sipped his coffee. 'Does he warn off all men you show an interest in or just the ones who are escaped convicts?'
'There haven't been any men in my life for Sam to screen.' Elizabeth bowed her head, looking down at her lap where she'd laid her clasped hands. 'You're the first.'
Reece strangled on his coffee. The mug in his unsteady hand hit the wooden floor. 'Damn!'
Elizabeth jumped up, rushed to the kitchen for a towel and returned to mop up the spilled coffee. Reece knelt beside her, picking up the broken pieces of the ceramic mug. He threw the shards into the fireplace. Elizabeth wiped the floor clean.
She rested on her knees in front of him. He laid his hand on her shoulder. She froze at his touch.
'Clarify things for me, will you, Lizzie?' Taking her hands in his, Reece lifted her to her feet, took the soaked towel from her and threw it across the room toward the kitchen area. 'My mind has gone into overdrive here and I'm thinking some pretty crazy thoughts. I don't think you said what I thought you said. Or at least, I don't think I understood you right.'
'What didn't you understand? That Sam has always considered himself my protector? That Sam doesn't trust you? That there have never been any men in my life for Sam to screen?' Elizabeth's hands trembled.
Reece pulled her to him, holding her hands between their bodies. 'How old are you, Elizabeth?'
'Twenty-six.'
Reece sighed. 'Well, you've had boyfriends, dated, had a few experiences over the years. Right?'
'I dated some in college.'
Reece grinned. 'Good. Then I did misunderstand when you said I was the first.''
Elizabeth looked into his eyes, those lone-wolf amber eyes. They were so warm, so intensely inviting. 'I dated several silly boys who were scared off once they found out I could read their minds. Sam worried about me when I went away to school, but he didn't worry about me getting in trouble with boys. He knew how difficult it would be for me to control all the energy I'd receive from other people. He doubted any boy could sweet-talk me into something I didn't want to do, since I would be able to perceive his motive.'
'Okay, so you dated silly boys in college who couldn't deal with your hocus-pocus routine. What about after college? There had to have been men who didn't give a damn that you were psychic.''
'Does it bother you, Reece? That I'm psychic? That usually I can predict the future, that sometimes I'm aware of events occurring miles away, that often I can read people's minds?'
Dropping her hands, Reece grabbed her face and pulled her to him. 'I'm on the run with a virgin, aren't I, Elizabeth? There really hasn't been another man in your life, has there?'
'You're the first, Reece.'
Looking at her face, flushed and glowing with emotion, gazing into those pure, honest blue eyes was almost more than Reece could bear. 'Of all the men on earth, baby, why me?'
'You came to me, Reece, in my mind. I felt your pain and anger and hatred. I sensed your loneliness. I could see you locked in a tiny cage. You invaded my life.' Tears filled her eyes. 'You became the stranger in my heart.'
'Elizabeth?'
'It was meant for me to save you. I'm the only one who can. Aunt Margaret knows it. I know it.' Tears spilled from her eyes, streaking her cheeks. 'You know it, too, Reece. In your heart.'
'Can you read my mind? Can you see into my future?'
'I can't see your future, Reece. I've tried. Something is blocking my vision. Aunt Margaret says it's because our futures are entwined and I have never allowed myself to look into my own future. I've been too afraid.' She slipped her arms around his waist. 'And I can't read your mind. I told you that you shield your thoughts and your emotions from me most of the time. Every once in a while I pick up on a few things.'
'Do you know what I'm thinking right now, Lizzie? What I'm feeling?' His lips took hers in a wild yet tender kiss, his mouth covering hers, tasting, licking, savoring the sweetness of her innocence.
He cradled her head in one hand and ran his other hand down her back, pushing her forward, holding her against his arousal. Elizabeth clung to him, her arms lifting, her hands caressing the corded muscles in his back. When he slipped his tongue inside her mouth, she moaned, bunching the material of his shirt into her fist.
Reece ended the kiss quickly, his body still throbbing with need. He heard a car. Gulping for air as she pulled away from him, Elizabeth glanced toward the windows. The afternoon sun hung low in the cloudy sky. A gray Buick Regal stopped in the driveway in front of the cottage. Sam Dundee, all six feet four inches of him, emerged.
'It's Sam.' Elizabeth wiped the loose strands of her hair away from her face, took a deep breath and rushed to the front door.
Reece followed her, halting directly behind her when she opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. So that is Sam Dundee, Reece thought. About an inch taller than me, fifteen pounds heavier and a good five or six years older. And by the looks of his suit, overcoat, shoes and gold watch, a hell of a lot richer.
When Elizabeth started to go to Sam, Reece grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her in place on the porch in front of him. She stopped immediately, relaxing in his grasp.
Reece stared at Sam when the other man reached the bottom of the porch steps. Their gazes locked. Steel blue-gray eyes met cold gold-amber. Reece recognized the look in Dundee's eyes, the expression on his face. One strong warrior always recognized another.
'Come on inside, Sam,' Elizabeth said. 'It's freezing out here.'' She pulled away from Reece's hold; he let her
