The Abandoned by Amanda Stevens

seemed like forever.” She stepped back from him. “I took a shower. I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to get out of those bloody scrubs. This was all I could find to put on.”
    His gaze dropped, taking in the cotton shirt she’d dragged out of his closet. The hem hit her below midthigh, longer than some of her skirts, but for some reason, Ree felt exposed in it.
    “I don’t mind.” Now he was staring into her eyes. He had the strangest expression on his face. Bewilderment? Astonishment? She couldn’t quite read him.
    “What is it?” she asked in alarm.
    “I was just thinking about that night in Oak Grove Cemetery.”
    “What about it?” The way he kept looking at her—as if he didn’t quite know how to read her—was a little unnerving.
    “Do you believe in fate?” he asked.
    “Fate?” She hadn’t expected that question.
    “Do you believe that out of the entire population of the world, there are two people who are meant to be together?”
    “I don’t know. I guess I never thought much about it before.”
    “Think about it now. What were the chances that we would both end up in an abandoned cemetery at exactly the same time?”
    “When you put it that way…”
    His arms were lightly around her. Ree could have stepped from his embrace at any time, but his eyes—as dark as a midnight sea—held her enthralled. He seemed so…different.
    “I think I was meant to find you that night, in that cemetery. I think the past ten years of my life led up to that exact moment.”
    “You’re scaring me a little,” Ree said. “You seem…I don’t know.”
    He bent and put his lips to her ear. “Don’t be afraid. This is meant to be, too.”
    As his warm breath feathered over her, Ree went very still. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. Could barely even think.
    Hayden turned her and pulled her against him, one arm wrapping around her breasts as the other hand lifted her hair. She felt his lips against her neck and everything inside her stilled. She recognized the moment. It was time to move forward or take a step back.
    Her head fell against his shoulder. “Are we crazy? We barely know each other.”
    “Time is a relative concept,” he murmured.
    Ree turned, wound her arms around his neck and they kissed for the longest time. When they finally broke apart, she saw that he was looking—not at her—but at something beyond her shoulder. With a shiver she glanced back. They were standing in front of a window and she could see the barest hint of frost creeping over the glass.
    She could feel something in the air, too, but Hayden was lifting her so that her legs were around him and they were pressed so intimately together, she could hardly breathe. He carried her into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her legs were still locked around him as she fastened her mouth to his. On and on they kissed, Ree’s fingers threading through his hair, his hands sliding up the shirt to grasp her hips. She began to feel anxious and feverish and she thought she might shatter into a million pieces if he didn’t stop kissing and touching her. And if he did stop, she would die.
    “No,” she whispered in protest when he lifted her off him.
    He went to open the window and a breeze blew in, cool and moist and feather-soft. She lay back on her elbows, letting it skim over her as Hayden began to shed his clothes.
    He came to her and she sat up, resting her cheek against his hipbone. It was so marvelously sensual, being so close but not touching him, not yet. His hands curled in her hair and they stayed that way for the longest moment. Then very lightly Ree traced a fingertip along the length of him. He shuddered, said her name. And shuddered again as she encircled him.
    They fell back against the bed and she saw the gleam of silver around his neck as he rose over her. She reached for it, but he dropped his head to kiss her, tugging on her bottom lip with his teeth. Then nuzzling her head to the side, he tasted