A smile tugged at Cassidy’s lips as she recalled her own shy attempts at flirting and how TJ’s tender caresses worked into gentle kisses. When they’d finally consummated their relationship, Cassidy had worried her limited knowledge of sex, gleaned from clumsy groping in high school, would turn TJ off.

He’d been tender, trailing his lips and hands across her body, touching her in ways she’d only dreamed about, until he brought her to her first orgasm. That moment was a moving, almost spiritual, experience for Cassidy, and she dared to hope they’d be together forever.

But the night after their “date,” everything changed. She’d been giddy with happiness. So giddy, she didn’t pay attention. She snorted. Isn’t that how it happened to women who don’t consider all the factors-dark night, shadowy walkway, walking alone? Hell, as stupid as she’d been, she deserved her fate. She shuddered.

No. No one deserved her fate.

After the attack, her injuries healed, but her life had changed completely. Cassidy wasn’t the woman TJ had made love to only a few short days before. Hell, she wasn’t even human. She couldn’t undo her carelessness and because of it, they could never be together again.

Yearning coiled deep in Cassidy’s belly, pressing her to go to him. She hungered for the strength of his arms around her, the touch of his tongue against her breasts and the thrust of his cock filling her. Her panties moistened as the image of him leaning over her, naked and glistening with sweat, wavered in her fevered mind. An image forever engraved in her memories.

When TJ’s green eyes glanced toward her window, Cassidy backed away, dropping the curtain over the glass, shutting out the harsh sunlight and her hopeless dreams.

She couldn’t trust herself to be with a man again. Her urges were too powerful and she hadn’t found the strength to control them. The best course of action was to avoid temptation altogether. With her eyes pressed closed to the darkened room, she could feel the sting of tears pushing against her eyelids, demanding release. Anger knotted her chest and she slammed her fist against the wall, leaving a small indentation in the painted sheetrock. As with her sexual appetite, her physical strength was also a factor she hadn’t quite mastered, yet even that was fading with each passing day.

Since the incident on campus, she’d mourned the loss of her freedom, cursing her stupidity for walking alone in the shadowy path between buildings. Her lack of forethought and self-preservation techniques now doomed her to a life secluded from others-a life without TJ and without the ability to bear children.

The heavy weight of depression settled about her shoulders and she trudged down the staircase to the living room. Once a sun-filled space, the curtains were pulled tightly over the windows blocking out every last ray of sunshine-the most deadly poison to Cassidy’s body. Only a few weeks ago she’d lazed in the back yard, enjoying the scent of freshly cut grass, allowing the late-afternoon rays to soak into her skin. Now she could only relive those moments in her mind-memories that would have to suffice for the rest of her existence.

Her eyes filling with tears, she stumbled on the antique Persian carpet and knocked a lamp off the end table next to the couch. The lamp couldn’t have fallen onto the carpet. No, it had to fall backward onto the hardwood flooring, the bulb shattering into a million tiny shards of razor-sharp glass.

Instinctively, Cassidy bent to retrieve the pieces.

The moment her fingers closed around the largest shard, the doorbell rang. She jumped back, her hand compressed around the glass and the sharp edges pierced her palm.

The pain was sharp, but dissipated by the time she reached the door. Who would be calling on her? She’d cut herself off from all her friends and acquaintances.

Perhaps it was a salesman. She hesitated on the other side of the solid wood paneling, wanting contact with others, but fearing the stream of sunshine that would fill the entranceway.

The doorbell chimed again and Cassidy jumped, her nerves stretched to their limits.

“Cassidy, it’s TJ. I know you’re home. Please let me in.” The low baritone of TJ’s voice was barely muffled by the solid wood standing between them, and it poured over Cassidy like hot chocolate.

Cassidy leaned against the wall and sank down to her haunches. A surge of emotions threatened to make her forget herself. She wanted to fling the door aside to let the only man she’d cared for into her home.

No. She bit into her lip, the sharp pain a slim reminder of the control she needed to get through this encounter. If she ignored him, he would go away. Like he had before. Guilt had eaten at her when she’d refused to return his calls. Longing had built like a demolition ball repeatedly slamming against her chest. But she couldn’t act on it, couldn’t let TJ back in her life. She didn’t deserve him.

A soft sob caught in her throat and she willed TJ to go away. As silence settled on the hallway, Cassidy held her breath, straining to hear the sound of footsteps leading away from her front door.

Then the handle twisted and she remembered she hadn’t locked the door. With speed born of desperation, she leaped from the hardwood floor and reached her empty hand for the lock. But the door opened and TJ stepped in, bringing with him a flood of sunshine.

Cassidy winced, her eyes blinded by the brilliance. Where the sun lanced across her body, her skin seared.

She staggered backward into the shadows of the darkened hallway.

“Cassidy?” TJ frowned, moving forward to grab her arm. “Are you all right?” He sniffed the air. “What’s that smell? Is something burning?”

Her mouth moved, but she couldn’t form the words to answer him. The pain of the sun was intense, but no more so than the pain of seeing TJ again.

TJ’s frown deepened. “You don’t look well. Here, let me help you to the couch.”

No. Please go away, a voice screamed inside her head, but her heart refused to let the words past her lips. Fool! Don’t bringhim down with you. Despite her inner warning, she let him lead her into the living room and press her onto the cushions of her grandmother’s antique sofa.

All her senses were focused on where his hand held her elbow. The pulse beating in his fingertips pounded through her awareness like the bass drum of a marching band.

She should send him away. Now! Before she did something stupid. Her veins pulsed to the rhythm of his, as if they were one being, connected at a single point, sharing the same blood she so desperately needed.

“What have you done to your hand?” He grasped her other hand and leaned over her.

She hadn’t realized she still held the jagged remains of the light bulb. Blood oozed from between her fingers. “It’s nothing,” she managed. “I can take care of it myself.”

“Like hell.” His voice was gruff as he pried her hand open and removed the offending glass. “Damn, Cassidy.”

Yeah, she was damned all right. Instead of staring at where his hand touched hers, she could only see the suntanned length of his exposed neck, the jugular vein thumping just beneath the skin.

“Where do you keep your first aid kit?” he asked.

She couldn’t think past the thrumming of the blood in his veins.

When she didn’t respond, he turned her face up to his and spoke slowly, “Cassidy, where is your first aid kit?”

With all the control she could muster, she concentrated on his words. “In the medicine cabinet in the downstairs bathroom.”

By the time the last word passed her lips, he’d left her.

Without the warmth of his hands on hers, or his nearness scrambling her wits, she regained a semblance of balance and stood. She had to get him out of the house as soon as possible.

His life and her sanity depended on it.

Two

TJ rifled through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, his heart beating hard in his chest, forcing blood to slam through his body charged with adrenalin.

As he’d walked across the lawn to Cassidy’s house, he’d told himself he only wanted to make sure she left the city. She should have evacuated today. As a cop and protector of the population of Houston, he was only as concerned about her as he was anyone else still left in the city.

So he’d thought.

When she’d refused to answer her door, panic seized him. Was she sick? Was that why she hadn’t contacted him? Had he been nursing his bruised ego while Cassidy had been laid up, unable to answer the telephone?

He gripped the edge of the counter and steadied himself. God, if he had been wrong all this time, would she ever forgive him?

Hell, she was bleeding and he was standing in the bathroom berating himself, wasting valuable time. He shook off his thoughts and grabbed a red pouch marked First Aid. As he loped back into the living room, he dug through the package for antiseptic, gauze and adhesive tape.

When he rounded the corner of the hall leading into the living room, he had his head down and didn’t see Cassidy until too late.

He plowed headfirst into her. Tossing the first aid kit to the floor, he grabbed her arms to keep her from falling to the floor. The forward momentum didn’t stop them and they ended up slammed against the wall.

A puff of minty air blew into his face when his chest crashed into hers and a soft fragrance wafted up to tease his nostrils. Every nerve ending clamored beneath TJ’s skin, sending urgent messages to points south. His uniform trousers tightened, his cock springing to attention at the softness of her belly beneath the rigid row of his fly.

A groan escaped him and he pushed against the wall, bracing his hands on either side of her. “Are you okay?” His gaze fell into her bottomless brown eyes, and he was immediately struck by the longing he could swear was shining through. Then she blinked and lowered her gaze to his mouth. Had he only imagined it?

Her tongue darted out tracing a line of moisture over her lower lip, highlighting the deep rose hue with a glistening sheen.

TJ leaned closer, drawn to her despite his resolve to play the unaffected cop. Cop who? He was a man, she was a woman-an extremely desirable woman and all he wanted was to kiss her. To thrust his tongue deep into her mouth and taste the woman who’d been part of his thoughts every minute of every day since he’d made love to her.

For a moment, her chin lifted as if to accept his kiss, then her hands inserted themselves between them and she pushed. “No.”

He stood in a sensual daze for a few seconds after her firm refusal. While TJ mentally pulled his brain out of his briefs, Cassidy ducked beneath his arms and stepped out of reach.

Forcing a smile, he straightened, his arms dropping to his sides. “I saw you in the window and wanted to make sure you plan to evacuate soon.”

“Evacuate?” Her confused stare looked genuine.

“You must not have been watching the news.” Who in this day and age didn’t watch the news?

She twisted the fabric of her sundress, crimping wrinkles in the thin cotton. “No, actually, I haven’t turned on the television in days.”

“You haven’t?” He shook his head.

“No.”

“Then you might not be aware, the mayor issued a mandatory evacuation order.”

“Why?”

“A category five hurricane is headed straight for us.” TJ’s brows pushed together. “Have you been sick?”

She turned her profile to him, avoiding eye contact as she answered. “Yes…yes, I’ve been ill.”

TJ’s chest tightened. So she had been sick and he hadn’t done anything about it. “Do you want me to drive you the hospital?”

“No!” Her gaze darted toward him, her eyes widening.

He held up his hands. “Okay, okay. So, maybe we won’t take you to the doctor.” Why was she so spooked by the prospect? Had she had a bad experience with a doctor or hospital in the past? TJ realized just how little he knew about Cassidy’s past. At the time he’d taken her to his bed, he didn’t think it mattered. In every other way, she’d been his perfect mate. And she made him laugh. Surely he could reach her again, push past this barrier she’d erected between them. “Then tell me, Cassidy…what’s wrong.”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Again, her gaze swept the vicinity of his knees.

When he moved to take her arms, she backed away. “I think you should leave.”

“What happened between us, Cassidy?” God, he hated the pleading in his voice, but he couldn’t help it. He’d missed her, and he wanted her so much he was willing to plead a little.

Her bunched fist rose to her mouth and her eyes glistened. “Nothing. It just wasn’t meant to be.”