Peppermint Creek Inn Read Free

had finally come back. Returned to the scene of the crime.
    And he knew she was alone!
    She swallowed at the bile churning up her throat. The hot blood pounding in her head made her think of only one thing. Confronting this son of a bitch before he did her in. At least she’d die saying her peace.
    She jumped in fright when his faceless voice suddenly asked, “Who are you?”
    “Don’t play games with me!” Sara spat. “You know perfectly well who I am. Just do it!”
    “What?” he gasped in surprise, a dangerous tenseness swooped through him.
    “Finish the job. Get it over with. Put me out of my misery,” she cried.
    “Listen, lady. I…I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you I wouldn’t hurt you.”
    “Oh? And I’m imagining the gun pressing against my back? Go ahead, damn you, shoot me!”
    She wanted to beat her fists against his muscular chest and cast out the demons of hatred and anger she’d been holding inside for so long. But he continued to hold her captive.
    Her senses swirled as his masculine scent swarmed all around her. God, he smelled so good. A delicate combination of leather, spicy soap and a hint of tangy wood smoke.
    She almost laughed. The guy was about to murder her and she liked the way he smelled?
    She was nuts!
    “Where would you like to start first? A bullet in the back?” she spat. “Pull the trigger. I dare you.” Hysteria sharpened her voice, but she couldn’t stop. She’d waited so long for this confrontation. “Or maybe you’d rather do it point blank between the eyes. That’s your specialty isn’t it? Right between the eyes. So you can see the pain a split second before the back of the brain gets splattered all over the walls.”
    He didn’t say a word. His warm breath raked her face. His hold loosened a little. A tiny seed of hope bubbled somewhere in the back of her mind. She drew in a deep breath in an attempt to steady her racing heart. Maybe the murderer had a conscience after all? Maybe she could talk him out of killing her? And turn himself in?
    Suddenly the shadow let go of her and her pulses roared with fear as she saw nothing but the gun in his hand, its one black eye gleamed hideously at her. Her fledgling hopes plummeted.
    He was going to shoot her!
    Right between the eyes, but she wouldn’t go down easily.
    She prepared to nail him where the sun doesn’t shine when the stranger lowered his weapon and moved into the harsh beam of light spilling through the doorway.
    “Easy,” he whispered softly. “I really won’t hurt you.”
    For one brief, sweet moment, time stopped and Sara gazed directly into the most wonderful emerald green eyes she’d ever seen in her life. In that split second, she experienced the craziest idea she’d finally met her soul mate, the man of her dreams.
    But something else haunted him. Something that made Sara jolt with recognition.
    Confusion and pain shone in his eyes. Excruciating pain. Whether it was physical, emotional or spiritual, she couldn’t be sure. But he definitely gave her the impression he was living in the same some sort of hell she’d been living in, and he was desperately trying to find his way out of there.
    The thought that she had something in common with this madman sobered her and she abruptly sized up her opponent, gathering any information she could use to her advantage.
    He was a big man. Strong. Well-built. Wide shoulders donned in a tattered black leather jacket covered in mud. Slim, sexy hips with tight, dirty blue jeans, which hugged his muscular legs like a cozy glove.
    He appeared to be around her age. Most of his pale face was camouflaged by a good week’s growth of scruffy, dark beard and a mustache. The rest lingered beneath a bounty of various sizes of scratches and bruises.
    She found herself staring dumbly at the drying crust of crimson streaking from beneath the tangled hair draped over his right temple. The blood caked his slightly swollen eye, dribbled over his bruised