Cold fear wrapped its icy hand around my heart, and I reached for whatever I could grab on the counter. I’d just moved in two days ago and hadn’t put away the purchases from the big box wholesale club I’d visited. My fingers closed around a roll of the super soft toilet paper I’d splurged on. My ex had been such a tightwad he’d never let me get more than the industrial one-ply. Taking aim at the dark shadow, I tossed the roll.
“Get out!” My voice came out in some inhuman kind of shriek as I grabbed another roll.
“Ooof.” The shadow grunted as I pelted it with my stash of tp. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to get my dog.”
His what? Had Hippolyta’s owner somehow tracked her down and decided to stake his claim in the middle of the night?
“Nice try, asshole. I’m calling the police.” I started to retrace my steps to the bedroom, where I’d left my phone on the nightstand. Before I got out of the kitchen, something wet and slimy brushed against my leg. I screamed and tried to hoist myself up onto the counter.
On a good day, I might have made it. But holding a vibrator with a death grip in one hand and a roll of super plush tp in the other, I missed the counter and tumbled into a crumpled heap onto the floor. “Ow, oh hell.”
“Are you okay?” the head sticking through the dog door asked.
“No, I’m not okay.” Pain shot through my elbow. I must have banged it against the cabinet on my way down.
A flash of lightning lit up the kitchen. I caught a glimpse of a dark beard and head of jet-black hair. I gulped in a deep breath. Whoever he was, he wasn’t the man I’d been running from. Blake hadn’t found me. At least not yet.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” the dark-haired stranger said. “My dog ran through the dog door. I was just trying to get him to come home without waking up the whole goddamn neighborhood.”
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to think he wasn’t one of Blake’s goons who’d been sent to bring me back. “What’s your name?”
“Bison. I live down the street. This was my grandmother’s house and when she died, she gave me her dog. He must have gotten scared during the storm and come through the dog door.”
His voice was deep and a little rough around the edges. For some reason, it soothed my rattled nerves. Still, he was a stranger. And why was his head still sticking through my doggy door?
I pushed myself to my feet. “Get out of my house, and I’ll find your dog for you.”
“Trust me, I would if I could. Seems like my brothers were right when they used to call me Meathead. I appear to be stuck.”
“Stuck?”
“That’s what I said. Maybe you could help me by turning on the light and seeing if we can get my head out of this fucking dog door?”
3
BISON
Light assaulted my eyes. I blinked, trying to focus while rain dripped from my hair to splatter on the kitchen floor.
“Is that better?”
I twisted my head and looked out to find the source of the soft voice. Holy fucking shit. A woman stood a few feet away. My gaze started at her hot-pink painted toes and drifted up from there. She had on a short white nightie with a ruffled hem that barely covered her ass. Despite my awkward predicament, my cock rallied. Especially when I took in the deep V-neck and curve of her tits through the semi-sheer fabric.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked, in awe of the goddess in front of me.
She squinted at me, her dark brown eyes peering out between long, full lashes. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking questions?”
Her arm lifted over her head, and she clutched something in her hand. Something pink. Something rubbery. Something that looked a lot like a sex toy. “Hey, I’m just here for my dog...”
Dizzy chose that moment to prance by. The brown-haired beauty startled.
“See? I told you my dog got into your place. Do you think you could help me get my head out of the damn dog door now?” The rough edge of the cutout scraped my neck as I made another unsuccessful attempt to get free. My chain had caught on something sticking out from the edge and there was no way I could free myself without breaking it.
She came closer, an angel in white. “Are you sure that’s a dog?”
“He’s a Chinese Crested. His hair’s supposed to look like that.” I hadn’t been too impressed when I’d first set eyes on the scrappy little shit, but he’d grown on me. “Do you mind unhooking my chain?”
She set down the pink nub rubber, knelt down in front of me, and lifted her arms. The scent of cinnamon drifted off her skin. As she reached around my neck, I bent my head, practically nestling my nose between her full breasts. For fuck’s sake, this woman was going to be the death of me, and I didn’t even know her name.