The Hunted Girls by Jenna Kernan (best book club books for discussion txt) 📕

“Where were you hunting before this? Where’s your home territory?”

She came to another conclusion. This man would not release Jo Summerville. That was not part of his game. He had taken a risk to recapture Linda because she had the audacity to escape him. He would not be making that mistake again.

So why have her read this on air? Was it entertaining for him to have control of her?

Nadine thought about the women in the periphery of her circle and the ones closest to her heart. They all had only one thing in common. Her.

Was this a battle of wits or something more? Skogen believed the Huntsman was goading her. That did not quite fit the pattern that was emerging.

At four in the morning, the light began to change. Weariness settled over her and she thought that she could at last sleep. Nadine drew off her nightshirt and tossed it beside the bed. But once she crawled beneath the covers and snuggled up close to Demko’s warm solid body, she found herself thinking of other activities.

Demko roused to make a humming sound in the back of his throat. He stroked her shoulder and arm and tugged her close. Both of them slept naked, allowing a wonderful pressing of flesh to flesh.

“Can’t sleep?” His voice was gravel.

“Hmmm. Not sleepy.”

“You need to rest,” he said.

“I know,” she whispered.

His hand slipped down her back, cupping her bottom. He turned his head, and she lifted her chin, angling to meet his kiss.

Mouths met and opened. Their tongues began a slow dance of arousal. Even after she had pushed aside all his efforts to move their relationship forward, and stalled and hesitated, he did not withhold what she needed most, the underpinning comfort of his body. As he rolled her on top of him, Nadine understood how much she needed him and how very fortunate she was.

She paused, reaching for the side table and retrieving a condom. He waited as she tore the package and rolled the contraceptive over his erection. Then she straddled him, hungry to take what he offered.

They moved in opposition as they deepened the kiss. She relished the liquid heat and friction, the way his body moved with hers. Her thoughts and worries faded like the sounds of the night creatures at the approach of dawn. All her attention now focused on reaching satisfaction. It was close and he knew how to coax her body to yield.

Her release began with a rippling wave, cresting and crashing into a curling torrent. She threw herself upright upon him, arching back as the pleasure rippled outward, staring down at him, her mouth open and her eyes wide. He gripped her hips. His face showed the strain of a man waiting for his woman’s release. Their gazes locked. She groaned as the waves ebbed, feeling him vibrate with the tension to remain still, to hold on just a moment longer.

She lifted and then rocked her hips down on him. He cried out and arched, his eyes pinched closed as his expression mixed pain and ecstasy. The erotic sight and the surging of his body brought her a second release.

Nadine collapsed on his slick chest. He withdrew and pulled her to his side. They panted, staring at the ceiling and the orange light of dawn creeping along the edge of the closed blinds.

“You’re so good at that,” she murmured.

“We’re good together. Amazing.”

She lifted a hand to his chest and her head to his shoulder. Then she closed her eyes. He settled against the pillows as the light stole between the slats of the venetian blinds.

She needed to tell him about her connection to Jo Summerville and her belief that this killer was circling her like a wolf.

“Not a game,” she murmured and forced her eyes open.

But Demko’s snore told her that this would have to wait a bit. Nadine’s body stilled with her slowing heartbeat and she melted into slumber.

The aggressive buzzing of Demko’s phone alarm woke her in what seemed only a moment later but was actually six-thirty in the morning.

She was dizzy from lack of sleep and her body ached in all the right places. Something important, she needed to remember. What was it?

Demko flicked off the alarm. She groaned.

“How late were you up?”

“Till four.”

“Oh, Dee. You should rest.”

“Can’t. Got stuff.”

She retrieved her nightshirt, sat on the edge of the bed, and dragged it on. When her head popped through the opening, she discovered Demko on her side of the bed on both knees.

“Lose something?” she asked.

“I hope not,” he replied and cast her a lopsided grin. He didn’t move and she frowned, sensing something was happening but too dim-witted to work it out until he lifted his hand. In the center of his large, calloused palm was a small black velvet box.

The meaning of this crashed in on her like a falling anvil.

Her mouth dropped open as he lifted the lid. Inside the jewelry box was a gold solitaire ring, the square-cut diamond glittering in the morning light like a thousand rainbows.

His timing was way off, she thought.

What she said was: “I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet.”

He made a sound that might have been a chuckle.

“I know you have concerns about moving forward. I wanted you to understand what the next step looks like for me. This is it.”

She stared down at the glittering offering, speechless, as he continued.

“I wanted to do this before you went to DC and then again when you came back and every Friday night since you stepped off that plane. I’ve been carrying this ring in my pocket for months waiting for the perfect time. Finally it struck me. There’s never going to be one. What we do, our jobs, shows us very graphically that life is uncertain. So I’m not waiting any longer. Waiting is a mistake.”

She understood that. And he was right, this case alone showed her not to take even one minute for