Read Online SHATTERED by Alice Sharpe - Free Book Online

about gunmen and craziness and crashes in the night and being shot and bloodied. He even forgot about evasions and secrets and lies and uncertainty, all for one glorious minute.
    The next time she pulled away, he let her. She didn’t go far, and when he looked down at her, there was a speculative gleam in her eyes that wrapped itself around his heart. He’d been fighting awareness of her since the moment he’d met her and she’d made it easier by being so blasted contrary, but here it was, rushing through his blood, pounding in his veins. He kissed her again, softly, the need for her surging through his body.
    Nate wasn’t sure if Sarah allowed him this intimacy because she figured that was the best way to control him or if she’d been as jolted as he by the events of the past few hours. All he was sure of was that he’d kissed his fair share of women in his life, been married to one and engaged to another, and it had never, ever happened like this.
    “Do they teach you to kiss like that in police school?” she whispered, running her fingers lightly across his lips.
    “Basic interrogation 101,” he said.
    “I bet you aced the class.”
    He smiled to himself, and not just because the conversation was silly and he knew he was acting like a moron, but because the sound of her voice did that to him. He didn’t know a whole lot about her but he did know that on some level, he knew her.
    “I’m sorry I pointed a gun at you,” she said with a quick upsweep of her lashes. “Is it really empty?”
    “Yep. That’s why I didn’t take it with me when I went outside to scout.”
    “I thought you’d forgotten it.”
    “Cops don’t forget their weapons,” he said, ignoring the irony of the comment. He hadn’t forgotten his gun; he’d chosen to leave it behind in some crazy mind game he was playing with himself. He let that thought go when he sensed her leaning in toward him again. He lowered his head a little and she raised hers. Electricity arced between them as his lips throbbed with anticipation.
    They both heard the noise at the same time, a loud crashing and a crack coming from outside as the lights blinked out and the house plunged into silent darkness. Sarah’s gasp sent shivers down Nate’s spine. A second later, her footsteps pounded across the wood floor, away from him.
    He groped his way toward her, at a loss to remember exactly where the furniture was. He sped up when he heard the door open and a shade of lighter gray appeared. Was she choosing this moment to try to run away again? If she was, he was about ready to let her go.
    “Show yourself!” he heard her shout.
    He switched on the flashlight he’d pocketed when coming inside and found Sarah standing out in the middle of the yard, yelling into the night. If someone was out here, she made a perfect target, as a subtle break in the weather allowed weak gray moonlight to filter down through the trees.
    “Do you hear me!” she screamed again. “Are you out here? Answer me!”
    Something overhead made a creaking, groaning noise that captured Nate’s attention. He shone the light overhead, where he caught a glimpse of a sagging power line. He followed it along until the raw wood of a fresh break high in an evergreen laden with fresh snow stood out like a sore thumb. The break had sent a limb the size of a shopping-mall Christmas tree crashing down on the lines below, yanking on a utility pole, which now leaned at a crazy angle.
    Beside him, Sarah yelled again, all but shaking her fist, twirling around every which way. He caught her shoulder and turned her to face him. Tears sparkled on her cheeks. Her eyes looked huge and manic.
    “I can’t take it anymore,” she said, flicking the tears away, looking over his shoulder as though the marauders were close at hand. “Whoever he is, let him come out in the open and announce what he wants!”
    “Who?” Nate asked. “Give me a name.”
    “I can’t give you a name. I don’t know it. But he’s