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anyone’s ever said to me. Well…” her brow scrunched as
she began walking again, “besides when Bobby Rivers told me I had the best
boobs in the sophomore class.”
    Tamar snickered. “Resa, hear me when I say you should never
drink again. Okay?”
    “You’re right.” Her sigh could have parted George
Washington’s hair on Mount Rushmore. “I get a little emotional.”
    Now there is an understatement. Tamar chuckled wryly.
    “Hello, ladies.”
    She staggered then drew up short.
    He materialized out of nowhere. One minute the sidewalk in
front of them had been empty and now a tall, lean stranger blocked their path.
Over six feet in height, he towered over Tamar and Resa. The street lamp behind
him cast shadows over his face, concealing his features and lending him a
sinister appearance. Her nerves jangled a warning and Tamar cast an uneasy
glance over her shoulder. But the entire sidewalk and street were void of
people and sound. It seemed as if an evacuation order had been issued and
everyone but Resa and Tamar had heeded it.
    They were alone except for this man who set off an alarm
clamoring in her head.
    Resa beamed up at the stranger, the alcohol apparently
lowering whatever defenses she may have had. “Hi. I didn’t see you there.”
    “But I saw you. Aren’t you lovely?” The soft tone reminded
Tamar of a stalking panther—dark, beautiful and lethal. Her sense of foreboding
increased, streaking toward full alert. He shifted forward and, for a second,
she caught a glimpse of his angular features, reminiscent of a bird of prey.
Hawkish…yes, that was the word. On this summer’s night he wore a long-sleeved
black shirt and pants, solidifying her impression. Tamar also wore a shirt with
sleeves, but she hid her scars. She highly doubted this man was concealing
anything.
    His obsidian eyes followed the pretty, loose lines of Resa’s
face with unsettling focus. He moved another step forward and Tamar received an
up-close-and-personal view of him. She gasped. He was gorgeous. With full lips,
a patrician slant to his thin nose and a wide brow, he wouldn’t have looked out
of place standing on the steps of a sweeping Italian villa atop a craggy cliff,
sensual and masterful all at once.
    But Tamar could name several predators that used their
beauty to lure unsuspecting prey into their clutches. His face didn’t disarm
her, but set her further on edge.
    Her heart tripled in pace and the bitter tang of fear
flooded the back of her throat and spilled onto her tongue. They had to get out
of here.
    “If you will excuse us,” Tamar murmured.She shook
loose Resa’s clasp on her hand to grasp the other woman’s upper arm and urge
her forward and around the man.
    His gaze slid from Resa and settled on Tamar, his bottomless
eyes unnerving in their intensity.If she’d thought his contemplation of
Resa had been troubling, the way his steady black gaze seemed to drink her in
was downright disturbing.
    “The likeness is uncanny,” he whispered, the tone
breathless, awed. He studied her, seeming to track every feature of her face,
lingering so long on the cleft that dented her chin she almost reached up and
brushed a finger over the genetic characteristic. “Part of me wants to wait
until he gets here. But I gave him a chance.”
    He smiled.
    Terror coursed over and through her with the speed of an
out-of-control freight train headed toward a cataclysmic and explosive end.
That terrible, beautiful smile promised pain, horror and death.
    She stumbled back and took Resa with her. The teacher
squealed in dismay, but Tamar ignored her.
    “Where are you going?” he purred, claiming the space she’d
placed between him and them. “Oh I’m going to enjoy this.” The unmistakable
glee in his tone—like a child who had discovered a piece of candy—chilled her.
Tamar wouldn’t have been surprised if he clapped his hands and jumped up and
down. “You,” his eyes narrowed on her, “I will save for last and take the