They were nice temporary digs except that he was bored. He had too much time on his hands, worrying about whether King Bobby would find him and break his legs-or worse. He knew he could stay underground as long as he needed to without being found. What he wasn’t sure of was whether he could trust Amber to keep her mouth shut about their scam if King Bobby managed to track her down first.

Marshall let steam fill the shower stall and thought about Amber. He didn’t feel too bad about letting her take the heat. King Bobby was a southern gentleman. He wouldn’t hurt a lady, he’d only bully her into telling him Marshall’s whereabouts. Since Amber didn’t know where he was, she couldn’t reveal a thing.

She could, however, tell King Bobby he was a class-A con, confirm the King’s hunch about Marshall cheating that night, and cause him to go on the run. Because King Bobby wouldn’t mind calling out his goons to hurt him.

Marshall could call Amber back on her cell and warn her, but she was already furious with him. She’d never believe him and she’d sure as hell never tell him where to find her.

So he wouldn’t call her.

Yet.

Nor could he look around for her. She had too many contacts. If he asked questions, he was bound to arouse suspicion. Or run into King Bobby, who was on the same path.

But Marshall wasn’t stupid and there was a much easier way to find his beautiful Amber. He’d just let King Bobby do all the work. The man was already hot on her trail. All Marshall needed to do was keep an eye on King Bobby without being seen. The Texan would lead Marshall right to Amber.

He’d show up, remind her of how special their bond was, how lucrative their partnership could still be. By the time he located her, she’d be bored with her cop husband and ready to come back to Marshall.

If not, he’d just have to make her see the error of her ways.

MIKE WASN’T AVOIDING AMBER. He wasn’t. The fact that he’d volunteered to cover someone’s shift tonight when he could have gone home to his wife didn’t mean a thing.

Except that by the time he got in around midnight, Amber was fast asleep and he didn’t have to talk about her visit to the station today. Instead, he walked into his bathroom, and could only marvel at how quickly she’d made herself at home.

His countertops were now filled with feminine things-creams, shampoos, conditioners and other assorted items he didn’t recognize.

He picked up one bottle, opened it and sniffed, inhaling an unfamiliar, feminine scent. An arousing scent.

As an only child, he’d never had to share his space before and Amber’s takeover should have felt like an intrusion. Except it didn’t. She’d made herself at home and he didn’t mind.

He found an odd sense of peace being part of a couple, even though being alone had never bothered him before. While he and his cousins, Derek and Jason, had had to deal with the stigma of being a Corwin man, the women-like Jason’s sisters-had married and thrived in love and life. In Mike’s father’s mind, that fact had also proven the curse was alive and well, kicking male Corwin butt.

Mike headed back to his bedroom to discover Amber had claimed her night table with a box of tissues, a paperback book, what looked like lip gloss and a stack of papers. He grinned and settled into bed, wearing nothing but boxers. He wasn’t about to change his routine for the female sleeping beside him. He propped one arm behind his head and stared into the dark, not at all tired despite the late hour. As he breathed in deep, her scent wrapped around him, awakening him even more.

Go figure. Mike hadn’t been determined to remain a bachelor, but until now the lifestyle had suited him fine. So why did he like all the feminine touches Amber provided in his apartment?

He punched up his pillow and rolled onto his side, hoping to somehow take the edge off his arousal and fall asleep. Suddenly Amber sighed and wrapped her arm around his waist. From behind, she cushioned him in head-to-toe contact and warmth, snuggling in with another deep sigh.

He shut his eyes, but how could he even think of sleep when he was surrounded by a new female in his bed and his life?

An enigma named Amber, full of surprises and secrets.

MIKE AWOKE with a morning hard-on and Amber’s hand on his groin. Helluva wake-up call, he thought. The woman was obviously put on this earth to make him a very happy-but insane-man.

Mike knew he should get some answers from Amber while he had her cornered here, but he couldn’t think about anything except the warmth racking his body. He rolled over to find Amber staring at him, sultry heat in her gaze and a smile on her lips.

“Morning,” she murmured.

“Morning,” he said gruffly.

“How was work last night?”

She wanted him to think, let alone have a coherent conversation while her hand was wrapped around him?

She slid her grasp up and down the length of him and he groaned.

Amber grinned. “I take it you like that?”

He pushed her hair back off her face. Even first thing in the morning, while tousled and sleepy, she was too damn appealing.

“What’s not to like?” Encouraged, she picked up the pace, making damn fine use of her palm and her fingers, taking him closer and closer to the edge of climax. He knew it wouldn’t take much for him to come.

But he didn’t want to fall alone. “Hang on.” He reached for his nightstand, opened the drawer and retrieved a condom, making quick work of the foil and sliding it on.

He turned to Amber, who had pulled off her soft negligee and now lay naked and waiting for him. One of the things he found special and refreshing was the honest way she gave herself to him each time they made love. She seemed so open and honest with her body and even her soul. It made the lies and omissions seem out of character. Every time he touched her, he wanted to believe in her again.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he straddled her and looked into her eyes. Warm, welcoming eyes that matched the softness of her body as he slid inside. She was wet and ready, as he knew she would be, accepting all of him quickly, her gaze never leaving his face.

She bent her knees and pulled him in deeper and the sensation was so incredible, he couldn’t keep his mind focused on anything except the building friction between their bodies. Heat licked at him like rising flames attacking him from all sides.

He threaded his hands through her hair and began to glide in, then out again, possessing her, taking her faster and faster still.

Amber was lost. Everything inside her was concentrated on the pressure point between her body and Mike’s. His every thrust brought her closer. Waves pummeled her, bringing her higher as the feelings inside her tightened, coiling, building with each hard, demanding push.

She matched his rhythm easily now, knew what would make her feel best as she rolled her hips, seeking deeper, more intimate contact until suddenly she was there.

Climaxing.

Milking Mike’s body so she could prolong the exquisite sensations, never wanting them to end. And they didn’t. Her orgasm seemed to go on and on until he collapsed on top of her. Even then, she was able to wring one last wave of pleasure from her body before his breathing evened out.

Finally he rolled off her.

By the time she caught her breath and opened her eyes, he’d returned from the bathroom and climbed back into bed.

“You’re something else,” he said, pulling her into his arms.

He no longer seemed to fight their closeness and she snuggled in beside him, wanting this connection as much, if not more, than she’d wanted sex.

“So how was your night?” she asked.

“Pretty routine.” His hand brushed the back of her hair.

She liked the feeling.

“You never did tell me why you decided to become a cop.” Amber was fascinated by this man she’d married.

He shrugged. “I never really thought about why.”

Amber laughed. “Liar. I have a feeling you think most things through.”

He wondered how she knew him so well. “I wanted a career that made sense, something that had rules, where things were black and white.”

Amber swallowed hard. “Why?” she asked, wishing he’d confide in her. Trust her.

For a few painful seconds, silence created a cavern between them. Until he finally spoke. “Because things at home were anything but stable.”

Thank you, she said to herself, grateful he’d opened up. “I understand.”

He cleared his throat. “You were out cold by the time I got home,” he said, changing the subject.

She laughed. “Yeah, I made your life pretty easy. You didn’t have to come home and deal with your wife.”

“And you made sure I didn’t have to deal with you first thing this morning, either.”

She glanced at him.

His hot gaze conveyed pure sexual heat, but clear understanding, as well.

Cornered, Amber thought. She’d hoped to distract him with sex. Keep him happy and he wouldn’t think about things like divorce.

“Well, I think you dealt with me pretty well,” she said coyly. The man did know how to satisfy her.

“Very funny.” But his arms around her squeezed tighter.

So far, at least, he wasn’t letting her go. “I called to check on your father last night,” she said, hoping she wasn’t about to destroy the peace between them.

He groaned. “You didn’t.”

“I did.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “He’d asked us to call and I didn’t know if you were too busy, so I did. I tried the number in your phone book and it had been disconnected. So I tried the other number you had listed and got his cell. Did you know he disconnected his home phone?”

“I knew. He has some crazy notion about spirits traveling through the phone lines.”

Amber disagreed. “Actually I think he’s just looking for attention.”

“Excuse me?” Mike stiffened at her suggestion and she patted his chest to calm him.

The warmth of his skin nearly distracted her into picking up where she’d started this morning. But she needed to bond with him outside of the bedroom. They needed to talk about things that were important to them both and he’d begun bridging the distance by admitting how hard his childhood had been. She was merely drawing some deeper conclusions, things someone close to the situation wouldn’t be able to see as easily.

“Your father has been alone for so long, he thinks that’s the way it has to be. But the crazy things he’s doing to your cousin Derek and his wife, and cutting off his landline…” Amber drew a deep breath. “It looks like a cry for attention. I don’t think he really believes in voodoo.”

“And the curse? Are you telling me he suddenly thinks it doesn’t exist?”

She let out a sigh. “No, after talking to him, hearing his concern about you not falling in love, I can tell the curse is real to him.”

“Just not the other things, like voodoo?”

She shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. But he kept me on the phone for an hour last night, asking a lot of questions interspersed with long silences that told me he didn’t want to hang up or be alone.” She paused, then asked, “Did you ever get yourself into a situation you couldn’t undo, no matter how much you wanted to?”

“Well…”

She nudged him in the side with her elbow. “I do not mean our marriage. I think you like being with me, no matter how much you’re fighting it.”

He didn’t immediately argue the point, giving her a real flicker of hope.

“I’m talking about backing yourself into a corner like your father has done by isolating himself,” Amber clarified.

Mike cleared his throat. “It’s more than isolation. My father hasn’t spoken to my Uncle Thomas in over thirty years. He blames the curse, but he’s willingly retreated behind walls for years.”

Amber heard his voice crack. Her heart in her throat, she rolled over and stroked his cheek. “I believe he’s lonely. I think he does the crazy things he does because it’s the only way people notice him.”

“And you know this from a quick meeting and an hour phone call?”

She smiled. “I know this because I’m good at reading people. It’s what I do-I mean, what I did for a living for years.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Keep talking. I want to know more about you. Like what kind of partner this Marshall was to you, why you ended your association, anything and everything about you,” he said.

He was as interested in knowing her as she wanted to understand him, but unlike Amber, Mike’s curiosity ran deeper. She’d told him why she’d left him in Vegas, but her answers only scratched the surface. He clearly wanted to understand why she’d associate with Marshall in the first place, why she was being followed, what she was still hiding from him.