Read Online The Darkness Beyond by Alexis Morgan - Free Book Online

badly shaken. Jumping in a tub of ice wouldn’t be enough to quench this fire.
    What the hell had he been thinking?
    He had no idea. One taste of her lips and he’d frozen; in fact, one part of his anatomy had definitely been stiffer than the rest. Still was, in fact. If Reggie hadn’t called a halt to the fiasco when she did, he would have for the sake of his own sanity.
    Maybe he’d started off wanting to get a little of his own back by kissing her. He had to admit knowing she was capable of besting him at his own game smarted a bit. A lot, in fact, but that didn’t give him the right to seduce the woman for a little bit of payback.
    He was a better man than that. At least he liked to think so. For now, he’d get a room someplace close and crawl into bed. Alone—well, except for the memories of how she’d felt in his arms.
    He’d been right about one thing, though. Reggie was hiding one hot little body under all that clothing. She definitely had curves in all the right places.
    He almost spun around to head right back up those stairs to her apartment but managed to stop himself. Outside, he drew in a few deep breaths, trying to regain control by clearing his lungs of any lingering vestiges of Reggie’s scent.
    It didn’t work.
    He trudged across to where he’d left his truck. Maybe after a few hours’ sleep, he’d be better able to decide what to do next. When he opened the door, he risked one last look up at Reggie’s apartment. Just as he suspected, she stood outlined in the window, watching him from above. She might think the shadows prevented him from seeing her clearly. She would be wrong about that.
    Paladins all had exceptional night vision. His allowed him to see the frown on that luscious mouth and the sadness in those pretty eyes. He could even see the slight tremble in her hand as she waved to him.
    Rather than stare, he climbed into the truck and started the engine. When he pulled out of the parking spot, he rolled down his window and waved back. She nodded and stepped back out of sight, leaving him no choice but to drive away.
    Alone, as usual.
    D.J. seriously hated telephones. Especially ones rude enough to ring at . . . what time was it anyway? He groped on the bedside table looking for his cell phone and squinted at the screen. Okay, the sun was already up. That didn’t mean he didn’t hate the person on the other end of the line for disturbing his beauty sleep.
    He punched the On button. “This better be damned important.”
    Devlin’s voice was little better than a growl. “Care to explain to me why your worthless ass is parked down in Portland rather than here on duty?”
    Oh, crap. He should’ve checked the number first. Obviously Devlin had finally opened his e-mail and then tracked him by the GPS chip in his cell phone. He sat up and considered his options. Would disconnecting the call be the smart thing to do or the coward’s way out? Maybe a little of both. Eventually he’d have to face the music. Might as well hear the opening strains long distance.
    â€œI had business down here. Personal business.”
    Silence. Long, heavy silence followed by more of the same. Okay, so Dev wasn’t going to make it easy for him. He could try to wait him out, but they both knew who would break first.
    â€œI should’ve told you I needed some downtime to take care of a problem, Devlin.”
    More silence, then a heavy sigh. “Does this particular problem have something to do with whatever has had you acting so twitchy lately?”
    D.J. rubbed his forehead, anticipating the headache that was sure to follow this call. “Yeah, it does. I’m doing my best to fix it.”
    â€œAny chance it will blow up in your face?” Devlin didn’t sound as angry as he did resigned.
    No use lying at this point. “Maybe, but I can’t be sure.”
    â€œWhen you get back, we’ll have a long