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it’s me.” I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t know why that happened. It was the storm. It was how sad you are. You tear me up.
    I want you.
    She crawled for her house. Then before he could catch her, she was running, her gown half falling off as she changed direction toward the street.
    Taz ran after her and every terrified sound she made was a spike to his heart. He was scaring her. He knew it. But he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t just leave her.
    He barreled into her and swept her off her feet.
    She fought. Teeth and slaps until she seemed to run out of strength.
    Chest aching, he carried her to her front door. He put her on the swing.
    She erupted from it and ran to her door, tearing at it, her hair whipping around her.
    He shoved it open.
    Her eyes burned him and then she disappeared inside, slamming it behind her.
    Taz sagged to the porch on his knees, scratched, bleeding and horrified with himself. He hadn’t meant to scare her. She hadn’t pushed him away, not at first. He’d been sure he’d felt the brush of her tongue, her fingers pulling him closer.
    He couldn’t go back to his house.
    He didn’t know what to do.
    Shivering, he went to her porch swing, huddling on it, watching as more lightning stabbed down from the sky like angry knives.
    He hung his head, not knowing if the warmth on his face was blood or tears.
    * * * *
    Jenny woke on her living room sofa.
    She grimaced as she sat up and saw the pretty floral upholstery smeared with mud…
    Whoa .
    She rubbed her forehead, trying to put together the pieces of last night. She had no memory of going outside, but that was typical.
    Taz?
    Kissing her, inhaling her, licking her mouth while she clutched him closer…
    She sprang to her feet and raced for her front door, opened it, looked outside.
    It was still raining, but not storming as it had been. Now the curtain of water made a soft world.
    And Taz was asleep on her porch swing, his huge body curled in on itself.
    Cool air against her chest made her look down. Holy! She stepped back inside and pulled her old robe from the closet, belting it on and feeling immediately more in control of herself.
    Pushing back her rat’s tail hair, she went to Taz, knelt beside him.
    There was dried blood smearing an angry scratch on his right cheekbone. He looked exhausted, pale and shivering in his sleep. When was the last time he’d slept through the night?
    She reached out and brushed his hair off his forehead.
    His green eyes snapped open and she sat back with a gasp.
    He studied her. “Are you okay?”
    Throat too tight to speak, she nodded.
    He touched her arm, she cupped his cheek and she was pressed against him, breathing in wet man and earth. He held her so tightly she almost couldn’t breathe, but she needed it.
    “I was so worried about you.”
    She lifted a shoulder. “I thought after we went out to the mall, after you helped me with the fence, I wouldn’t come out here anymore, but last night…” She squeezed her eyes tight. “It was worse than ever.”
    “Hey, it’s part of healing, right? You don’t—bam!—get over stuff. Sometimes you even get worse for a little while.”
    Her eyes widened. “That’s what the therapist said to expect.”
    “Well, you know, she’s right.”
    Jenny dropped her head and Taz rubbed her neck, easing the tension. “Jenny, how much, ah, do you remember about last night?”
    “You mean about you kissing me?”
    A muscle ticked in Taz’s jaw. He nodded.
    “I remember everything.”
    He dropped his head. A second later she lifted it, cupping his face so he was forced to look into her eyes. “It wasn’t you. I got scared because… Something about you on top of me… I got scared.”
    “I brought back your attack.”
    Reluctantly, she nodded.
    Taz balled his fists. “I want to kill those men.”
    She sighed. Yeah, she’d been there, but she’d only be killing shadows, since that’s all she remembered. “Taz, will you come inside so I can make you