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wanted to give her something with which to erase images of Allen.
    If so, it worked for her! The sooner she forgot about Allen, the better.

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    Luke Denton awoke with a start, his heart thudding against his chest.
    “Maggie?” he whispered, his hand reaching out to her. Empty mattress. He squeezed his eyes closed. The dream had been so real, as if she were right here in bed with him again.
    When was the last time he’d experienced this hollow, sinking feeling after reaching out and realizing she wasn’t there? That she’d never be sleeping beside him again?
    All because of his stupidity and failing to take charge.
    He looked around, not sure where he was. Dark room, strange bed, haunting images.
    “ It’s time. I’m sending you an angel. She needs you .”
    Maggie. Her voice was as clear now as it had been in the dream. Images of a woman he didn’t know—long dark hair, olive skin—near a stand of golden aspens quaking against an intense blue sky. Man, did he ever dream in color.
    Luke blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He began to make out a desk beyond the foot of the bed, a small round table near the window, and a nondescript stuffed chair in the corner. Motel room. He raised his head and looked at the bed next to him.
    Covered only in a sheet, his bare torso half exposed, Marc slept on his side, turned away from him. Then he remembered where he was and why. Aspen Corners. They’d rescued some hikers late yesterday up on the slopes outside town. He and Marc had been asked to stick around and do the media circus thing later today. They’d drawn the short straws because they’d been the ones to find the group of hikers.
    Aspen Corners. Of all places, why’d it have to be here?
    Marc insisted on staying over, rather than drive the three hours to Denver only to turn around and head right back. His partner didn’t have another overnight wilderness trek to lead until Tuesday and had found someone to cover for him at the club. Luke didn’t have anything urgent he was working on that couldn’t wait till Saturday.
    Still, he’d have walked to and from Denver if he could have avoided staying in this place. But then he’d have had to explain why the town caused him so much anxiety. He’d never told Marc the real reason he’d joined SAR.
    He just hoped to get out of this damned town before he ran into any of the Giardano brothers. Tony and Rafe also worked on mountain search-and-rescue teams, but had been in Colorado Springs training this week. That left only two, but they wouldn’t know Luke or his dubious connection to their family.
    The obituary had been branded onto his brain seven years ago. The fatal decision he and Maggie had made that day—one that had cost Maggie and a decent family man their lives—had haunted Luke every day since.
    Veteran search-and-rescue worker, Antonio Giardano Sr., 58, lifelong resident of Aspen Corners, died while trying to rescue an injured hiker on Mt. Evans Wednesday. The hiker, Maggie Denton, a biologist from the University of Texas, also died in the accident.
    Giardano is survived by his wife of twenty-seven years, Angela; four sons, Raphael, Franco, Matteo, and Antonio Jr.; and by one daughter, his youngest child, Angelina .
    No matter how many lives he saved since joining SAR he’d always be haunted by the man whose death he’d caused—and that he hadn’t been able to save his own wife.
     
    * * *
     
    “ Voli, cara. Fly apart for me .”
    Fly, dear.
    Angelina awoke with a start, her heart and clit pounding in alternating rhythm. Once again, her dreams had been filled with erotic images that had haunted every night for the last month, ever since she’d woken up in that bedroom at Allen’s kink club in Denver.
    Her nipples grew hard, aching for the touch of the man who dominated her dreams. His image was never clear, but often came to her as a wolf or an angel—sometimes both. How could someone who felt so