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admitted, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Knox’s fists were already clenched and his expression murderous.
    He stood and pulled an ice pack out of his first-aid kit, cracking it to get the cold flowing. Crossing to Natalie, he held it up to her neck.
    She let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”
    “Anything else hurt?”
    She shook her head. His washing of her was so thorough that he would know better than she would. Tingles raced through her blood at the memory of his touch. The tingles turned to fire when she thought of his mouth on her skin.
    She closed her eyes briefly to revel in the memory, then she took a deep breath.
    “I think we should call the police.”
    “Why?” Knox frowned. “We just ran from them.”
    She traced her finger along the fraying seam of the bedspread. “I just killed someone, Knox. Yes, it was self-defense, but I
murdered
someone. I have to turn myself in.”
    He paced in front of her. “That’s not a good idea.”
    “I won’t be able to hide what I’ve done forever.” She had been perfectly prepared to run and hide from her father, but the situation had escalated.
And fast.
    “Would you believe me if I told you there were dirty cops in this city?” He sat next to her and rested his elbows on his knees.
    She frowned. She’d never even considered that the police might not be trustworthy, but they were people, just like everyone else. They were susceptible to corruption.
    Right and wrong and good and bad were no longer black and white areas. She was swimming in a sea of gray where her trust needed to be closely guarded.
    She never would have thought she’d trust someone like Knox with her life, but she did. Unequivocally.
    And now knowing the lengths her father would go to get her home made her nervous. He could more than buy someone off. Besides, she didn’t know exactly what would happen if she turned herself in. Thinking about it more, she realized if she turned herself in to the police, then she might as well just return to her father.
    Either way, she’d end up separated from Knox, and that bothered her way more than it should. Though he’d played the Good Samaritan and risked his life for her, he didn’t mean anything to her. He couldn’t. She’d just met the man.
    Still, her gut clenched.
    She sighed and rested her face in her hands. It was four in the morning, and she wasn’t thinking clearly. In her sheltered isolation, she’d had a lot of time to prepare for her escape. Meticulous plans made and remade and tweaked until they were perfect. Every contingency had been considered. Or so she’d thought—she definitely hadn’t planned for murder. And now that she was on the run, she didn’t have time for that kind of planning or second-guessing, and she hated how vulnerable that left her.
No matter.
She lifted her face and rolled her shoulders. She’d made it this far. She’d just have to figure it out. And now she had something—
someone
—on her side she definitely hadn’t planned on.
    “Let’s get some sleep,” Knox said. “We don’t need to make any decisions tonight.”
    What he wasn’t saying was in the way he was looking at her—he wouldn’t let her go to the police. It seemed she wasn’t the only one reluctant to separate.
    She nodded, barely able to keep her head up, and crawled up toward the pillows. He lifted the blankets over her, and she held them up for him to climb in beside her. With no hesitation, he lay next to her and pulled her body against his.
    There were two beds in the room, but it hadn’t occurred to either of them to make use of the second.
    Wrapped in his muscular arms, for the first time since her mother died, Natalie felt safe.

    Natalie blinked as dingy curtains and cheap particle board furniture came into focus.
Where am I?
    She sat up straight, pulling the sheet up around her neck. Mercifully, she’d slept a deep, dreamless sleep, but now in the stark light of day, the events of last night came crashing back.