Accidentally...Over? (Page 12)

Accidentally…Over? (Accidentally Yours #5)(12)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

But by then, it was too late. An overpowering curiosity had taken hold, urging her hands to stroll. What did he look like? He was a big pervy stalker so his face had to be all contorted and riddled with unsightly scars. Right?

She leaned in, trying to catch a glimpse of any distinctive shadows, but the sun hadn’t come up yet and the garden was a pit of darkness.

She slid her fingers to his forehead and worked her way down, expecting Klingon-like ridges or bony protrusions like one of those Sith Lords (yes, she watched way too much sci-fi). What she found, however, was anything but gross or intergalactic. Or pervy.

Smooth, warm cheeks, a thick growth of bristly whiskers on his jaw, a straight nose, and… She swallowed. Soft, full lips. She leaned down again and placed her ear directly above his mouth. His warm breath bathed her cheek. Damn. The man even smelled nice. Fresh and clean like mountain air, but with a hint of something else, the kind of something one might want to smell over and over again. Like homemade pumpkin bread with a hint of spice. Must be some pervy mouthwash. Holiday-scented Lister-perv! But still, it smelled really good.

What’s the matter with you? This guy just broke into your house, threatened to kill you, and here you are smelling him and exploring his pecs? You’re not so bright, are you, Ash? But the impulse to touch him was uncontainable.

How about your impulse to live?

Can I live with him?

Stop it. Get a grip, Ash!

Yes. A grip.

She slid her hand down his arm, which contained yet another enormous, bulging muscle, and found his wrist. She tugged him a few feet—damn, he’s heavy! Must be huge!—next to the palm tree. She wrapped his arms around the tree and tied his wrists together. The trunk was only about as thick as a basketball, but it was strong enough to hold him in place. For a while anyway.

He groaned loudly, and she stepped back, knocking herself into her garden chair. Crap. He was waking up!

He groaned again with a deep, penetrating voice, sending a shock wave of quivers through her trembling body. The sound sparked images of rolling in the sand naked, wrapped in a man’s big, strong arms, feeling his heat against her skin. Yes. This had been the other dream she’d repeatedly had. The dream of the faceless man who ravaged her body with his tongue and hands while he pleasured her in ways only possible in—well, dreams—and with a body so male, so perfect that she shuddered each time she thought of him. A c**k so large and thick that she melted with…

What. Is. The. Matter. With. You? Go get help!

Righto.

She reached out her hands and felt her way toward the beach to find Luis.

“Wait,” that deep voice called out. “Do not leave me here.”

Oh, shit. He’s awake. “You just tried to murder me!”

Dammit, if only she could see him. This was just too scary talking to someone she couldn’t see. She’d give anything for a flashlight.

“Gods be damned, woman,” he snarled. “I did not try to kill you. I am here to protect you.”

Yeah, right. “And I’m Mary. Didn’t you notice my little lamb? It actually looks like a giant shovel, but don’t let that fool you.”

“You think I jest,” he said, “but I do not. I am here to save your life.”

“Might I ask from what?”

“Yourself, apparently. You cannot deny, Ashli, that death has a thing for you.”

Holy crap. How did he know that?

He added, “Haven’t you felt it? The nagging sensation that your life is about to end? Perhaps had dreams about it?”

The blood in her veins turned to crushed ice. How could he possibly know that? The only person she’d ever mentioned anything to was her therapist, and she found it highly unlikely that Doctora Hernandez would share her patients’ most private thoughts with a pervy stalker with a workout obsession.

“I don’t know what sick game you’re playing, but whatever,” Ashli said. “You can explain yourself to the police. By the way, in Mexico, a fifty-peso bribe can make your prison stay a little extra horrible. I’m throwing down one hundred.”

She scrambled through the garden, feeling her way out to the beach, where the first rays of light came into view over the horizon. “Finally!”

She reached the neighbor’s property where Luis resided in a tiny guesthouse, and pounded on the door. “Luis! Luis!” He’d likely just gone to bed. “Despierta!”

Luis opened the door, groggy with sleep. “Sí?”

She explained how she’d caught the intruder, and Luis immediately went for his handcuffs, baton, pepper spray, and flashlight.

“Voy a asegurar que no se escapa la rata. Usted, se queda aca. Entiende?” he said.

Hell, yeah, she was staying put! She wasn’t about to go anywhere near her house until the pervy, nudist muscleman was detained.

She nodded and watched Luis charge off toward her house, but only several minutes passed before he returned.

“Señorita Ashli!” Luis wiped his sweaty brow and bent over to catch his breath. “No hay nadie.”

What? No one? Of course he was there. He had to be. “Lo dejé amarrado a mi árbol,” she explained.

Luis looked at her as if she were mad and then assured her he found no man, woman, child, donkey, or otherwise tied to her palm tree.

How could he have already gotten away? Ugh! That pervyworkoutbastard! She stormed toward her house, Luis on her tail, but he was right. When she got to her garden, there was no one there. She scratched her head. Now what would she do? The man had gotten away. What if he came back? What if he came after her again?

“I guess it’s time for that dog.”

Bloody deity infernum! Máax’s head throbbed with a pain so severe it reminded him of the time he’d accidentally been stepped on by Cimil’s unicorn. Giant f**king thing thought it was some sort of lapdog but weighed the same as an elephant.

So what had that bloody woman hit him with? A garbage truck? No way was that a simple shovel.

In any case, it knocked a few of his marbles loose because he didn’t recall freeing himself or making his way inside her house. But he had. In fact, he’d made it to her bed, and now Ashli lay beside him, sound asleep. How long had he been out, and how the hell had she fallen asleep without noticing a very large man in her bed?

Because you’re invisible and were lucky enough to pass out on the side of the bed she doesn’t use.

Carefully, he edged off the bed, trying not to disturb her. Ashli rolled over and flung her arm over his chest.