Read Online Surrender the Dark by Donna Kauffman - Free Book Online

he slept. Taken from him before he had a chance to explain—
    That thought brought him up cold. Explain what?
    Biting back another curse, Jarrett closed off the chaos in his mind. He listened intently, but heard only the wolf pup, whose howls had turned to the whimpers of the lonesome. That struck a chord deep in Jarrett as well, and he ignored it this time too. He knew he didn’t have the energy or the strength to check out the rest of the house. If there had been an intruder, the pup would either have been barking his fool head off, or permanently silenced. There was no immediate danger.
    Unless he counted the woman asleep at his feet.
    He couldn’t just turn away and leave her there. He told himself he should at least make sure she really was okay. His thigh and taped ribs made kneeling or bending down impossible, and once again he was forced to swallow his frustration. He didn’t want to wake her, even if it was the simplest solution.
    Waking her meant talking to her, watching her face, wondering what she was thinking, wondering what in the ever-living hell he was going to say to her. He didn’t want to deal with that right now. To be honest, he’d be perfectly happy not to deal with it at all, ever.
    With a deep sigh and a grunt at the ache in his leg and ribs, Jarrett moved back into the bathroom and anchored his hip against the sink. Leaving the light off, he searched with his fingers until he found an endpiece of tape. He’d get the tape off his ribs, check on Rae, hopefully without waking her, then he’d go back to bed. And stay there. At least until he figured out what to do next.
    He tugged hard, the tape pulling and tearing the hair from his skin. Jarrett clenched his teeth to keep the hiss of pain locked in his throat. He was starting to lose his balance on his good leg and knew he should sit down for a few minutes. But it was as if a demon were driving him to get this done and done fast. The longer he took, the longer his mind had a chance to think about Rae, to mull over the possible reasons why he’d found her as he had, to wonder if she’d been there all night long, and if so—
    The light suddenly blinked on. “What in the hell are you doing?”
    Jarrett spun around, too fast. He lost his balance and flung an arm out for support. He missed the shower curtain rod and barreled forward, directly into Rae, who was standing in the middle of the open doorway.
    The force of his motion landed them both in a heap in the hallway. His grunt of pain underscored her curses. Seconds later they both stilled. Except for the heavy panting breaths they were exhaling, there was no sound. Jarrett thought absently that even the wolf pup had finally shut up.
    He wasn’t sure who was the first to become aware of their landing position, but within a moment there was no doubt that they were both vitally aware of it.
    Rae was on her back, one shoulder pressed up against the wall. Jarrett was simply pressed on her. All of her.
    Wincing, he shifted his bandaged thigh off her leg. “Are you okay?” he asked.
    She looked up at him and blinked.
    Her lips were parted. Her eyes were heavy-lidded from sleep, dark and unfocused, still reflecting her surprise at the sudden impact. Her hair was tousled. She looked warm, and soft, and vulnerable. He wanted to touch her skin, feel its heat. But even more he wanted to drop his head down an inch or so and claim her mouth, to drink from the solace he somehow knew he would find there.
    Struggling to ignore the poorly timed demands that his body was making on his mind—not that there would ever be a good time to act on them—Jarrett shifted slightly to free his hand. Rae gasped. He went completely still, then quickly pulled his bandaged hand free from where it had been pinned between them.
    “Did you hit your head on the wall?” he asked, her gasp bringing him at least partially back to his senses. When she still didn’t answer, he lifted his hand to her forehead, intending to brush