She shook her head violently. "It's okay. I'm fine now."

"But I'm not." Dev looped an arm loosely around her waist to guide her gently back to the clearing. With her teeth firmly clenched, she ducked away from his touch and took a step deeper into the woods.

"The lights are still there." Did they seem dimmer now? Farther away? Her body quaked at the thought of following them.

"Ramsey." Dev's voice at her side was as gentle as she'd ever heard it. And the sound of it made something inside her wither in shame. "You don't have to do this. Neither of us do."

"Are you coming?" Her foot felt like it was encased in lead as she lifted it for a step forward. Her breathing shallow, she forced herself to take a second step. And then another.

It took everything she had not to flinch at the slight noise he made coming up slightly behind her. To not cringe away when he slid his arm through the crook of hers. This was Tennessee, not Mississippi. It was Dev, not . . . them.

And she was no longer fifteen.

"The lights are drawing away," he muttered, his stride beginning to quicken.

"Almost like whoever is holding them is running away."

Dev reached up to push a low-hanging branch out of the way. "Doesn't make sense. If the lights are from some man-made illumination, they'd have to be on a person's back to be visible if they're running."

There was a low croak from somewhere to their side, and her flesh prickled. There wasn't a swamp in the area, she assured herself. And they were a good distance from Ashton's Pond.

"Maybe it's clothing with some sort of reflective strip attached," Ramsey suggested. It was a fraction easier to keep placing one foot in front of the other when she was distracted from where she was. What she was doing. She couldn't imagine what someone could wear that would cause the lights either, unless . . .

"Or fiber optics." She gave Dev's arm a jerk where it was linked with hers. It helped to focus her attention elsewhere. Eased nerves a bit that were already raw. "Like those Christmas trees that have different-colored lights fading in and out. Or what about those novelty sweatshirts that have little light-bulbs flashing on them? How do they work? Watch batteries or something?"

The screech that sounded behind them then was inhuman. The echo of prey meeting predator. And it was so close that Ramsey all but jumped in Dev's arms, startled obscenities tumbling from her lips.

"Shit, they're gone. God dammit!" Dev swung his head from one direction to another, temper emanating from him like steam off a boiling pot. "Do you see them anywhere?"

Ramsey shook her head, clenching her teeth to keep them from chattering. The only illumination came from Dev's camper's light on his cap and the beam of her flashlight. She swept the area in front of them with its beam slowly. Once. Back again.

And barely caught the swift movement of long shadow joining with shadow. For an instant, everything inside her froze as she beat back fears that had been born well over a decade earlier.

"Ezra T., c'mon outta there." Dev's voice as he reached for her flashlight was firm. "I know it's you. Heard the animal noises you've been making for the last little while. C'mon now. We're not gonna hurt you."

Ramsey held herself stock-still, her limbs thick with tension. She felt like if she eased them, she'd fly into a million pieces.

There was a drawn-out silence. Then finally a voice sounded. "Ain't Ezra T."

"Yes, you are. Now come on out. I'm not foolin' 'round with you."

Even in the shadows, Ramsey immediately recognized the man who slipped from behind a tree trunk to sidle a bit closer to them before taking cover behind another stout oak. If she didn't miss her bet, he was dressed exactly as he'd been the first time she'd caught a glimpse of him behind the Tibbitts' house. His brown hair was stringy and matted and stuck up in odd tufts over his head. With his several days' growth of whiskers, he looked older than his years.

"You din't know it was me."

"I've seen you before. You were watchin' me down at Ashton's Pond a few days ago, weren't you? Those bird calls of yours sound just like the real thing."

"Yer Stryker. Duane told me all 'bout you." Ramsey could feel the man peering at her in the darkness. "You been bad, missy?"

Despite the chills still skating over her flesh, she stepped forward. She'd been wanting to talk to this man since she'd first heard about him. "My name's Ramsey, Ezra T. You know these woods pretty well, don't you?"

"Gonna get butt sex if you're bad," he babbled. Dodging around the other side of the tree, he disappeared from sight for a moment. "Yessiree."

"Have you seen anyone in these woods lately, Ezra T.?" Dev had warned her about the man's intellectual capacity. Rollins, too, when she'd asked him whether he'd questioned the man. But even a child could give valuable information if it was extracted properly.

The other man didn't appear, but he stabbed a finger around the trunk in Dev's direction.

"So you saw Devlin when he was at the pond. Did you see anyone else before you saw him?"

"Saw the cops." The voice seemed disembodied, floating as it did from his hiding place.

"I'll bet there were a lot of them at the scene." Without conscious thought Ramsey moved closer to the tree trunk he was hiding behind. "How about before the cops were there?"

"Dead is dead. She be dead. She bad."

Ramsey stilled. "Who, Ezra T.? Who was bad?"

"But now she back. All the time screamin'. Can't you hear her screamin'?"

Dev's voice was low. "Ramsey, he can't help."

But she was unconvinced. Keeping the flashlight pointed at the ground, she moved around the tree until she had the other man in her sight. "Did you see the woman dumped in Ashton's Pond, Ezra T.? Did you see who put her there?"

"Make her stop screamin'." His voice was growing shrill, both hands clapped over his ears. "Make her stop."

"You heard her screaming? Was she crying for help? Who was hurting her, Ezra T.? Did you see who put her in the pond?"

"Only one way to make her quit screamin'. Make her dead. Make her stop." His words were coming faster, more frenzied. And the expression on his face had the ice forming anew in Ramsey's veins.

"Did someone make her stop screaming, Ezra T.? Did you see who it was? Did you . . ."

Suddenly, he lunged for her. She dodged too late. Stumbling backward, Ramsey caught her foot on her tree root and nearly fell. His arm was around her throat in an instant, hauling her back against his chest with a surprisingly strong grip.

"Yer bad, too!" He smelled of body odor and the faint scent of decay found in the woods. Grimacing, Ramsey fought to break his hold without hurting the man. "Yessiree. You gonna get dead. But don't you start screamin', hear? No more screamin'."

Dimly she was aware of Dev at her side, shouting, trying to break Ezra T.'s grip. But spots were beginning to dance in front of her eyes as he pressed more tightly against her windpipe. And any remaining concern about the man abruptly vanished.

She jabbed her elbow into his gut with all the force she could muster. He gave a surprised mewl, the sound oddly child-like, and his grasp loosened. Dev wrested Ezra's arm from around Ramsey and pushed her farther away.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Ezra T.? You know better than that!"

"She bad, she bad," he jabbered, his finger pointing in Ramsey's direction. "She gonna get dead."

"Ezra T. . . ."

The other man bolted then, his movement as swift and sudden as a bird taking flight. And when Dev started after him, Ramsey said, "Let him go."

He glanced back at her, his expression as grim as she'd ever seen it. "You were right. He's got some explainin' to do. Now more than ever."

Wearily, she shook her head. "No, you were right. You and Rollins both said he was useless to question. He can't help. Let's go."

His reluctance clearly showed as he moved back toward her. But then he paused in front of her, his fingers gentle as they brushed her neck. "Did he hurt you?"

His tenderness, on top of the other blows tonight, turned her bones weak. To stiffen them, she shrugged. "I've had worse than this chasing down a pissed-off crack whore."

"A vivid mental image." Placing an arm around her waist, he headed with her toward the clearing. It occurred to Ramsey that the events with Ezra T. had completely distracted her from her reaction to the woods.

Somehow she couldn't feel it in her heart to be grateful to the man for that.

"I've told you, I'm fine. And as . . . unforgettable as this date has been, I need to get back to work."

Imperturbably Dev waited for the microwave to ding and then opened it to extract the mug. "Marshmallows?"

"I said . . ." She stopped to look harder at him. "Marshmallows?"

"As a kid, I never did think hot cocoa quite hit the spot without a few marshmallows melted on top."

"I'm not six, Stryker."

Taking that as a no, he picked up the Bailey's, gave the contents in the mug a stiff shot, then stirred the concoction before setting it in front of Ramsey.

She eyed it suspiciously before transferring her jaundiced gaze to him. "What'd you put in it?"

His mouth kicked up. "As an adult, I never did think hot cocoa quite hit the spot without a belt of a li'l hundred proof." To allay her fears, he reached for the mug and sipped from it before setting it back down in front of her. "Drink." Her fingers clenched around it, as if soaking up its warmth. Given the chilliness of her skin, she still needed it.

"And I thought Cripolo had some colorful characters."

"I'm sure they do. We've got our share here, too." Because she seemed to need the reminder, he nudged her hand until she brought the mug to her lips for a swallow. "I never expected Ezra T. to go off like that. I'm sorry he hurt you."

"I'm embarrassed he got the chance." Her tone was disgusted but stronger than it had been before. She took another drink. "It was just sheer stupidity on my part to let my guard down like that."

He'd be willing to bet it didn't happen often. Her guard was as much emotional as physical. Both were equally daunting. "You were distracted."

"All around, not one of my finer nights."

"You don't have to be invincible all the time, Ramsey. Leastways, not 'round me. Bein' vulnerable once in a while doesn't make you weak." The sight of her vulnerability, though, had weakened him, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it. His gut still twisted when he recalled the panic that had filled her. He couldn't help wondering about it. Couldn't help feeling protective.

Which made him short a couple screws, because until tonight, he couldn't imagine anyone in less need of protecting than Ramsey Clark.

She sipped in a contemplative silence for while. When she finally spoke, her voice was low. "Once you've been at another's mercy, you swear to yourself it will never happen again. That you'll get stronger. Smarter. And history will never repeat itself because you've grown and changed and you're not the same person anymore."

Dev nodded, reaching for her mug. He took a long swallow before handing it back to her. Her words resonated deep inside him, where memories of himself as a young preteen still lingered. His stepdaddy's idea of teaching him to box had just been a semi-civilized excuse for beating the hell out of him whenever he took a mind to. He could still recall the vicious burn of bitterness as he'd lie across his bed, nursing his latest bruises. He'd worked out twice as hard. Practiced every spare minute he had. Just for the moment he could lay that bastard out for the first time.

"They have a saying in Cripolo, Mississippi. If you're born in the gutter, you grow up smelling like shit. I guess I've spent most of my life trying to get rid of the stench. Even ran off and got married when I was seventeen, determined to leave Cripolo and the Hawkins name behind."

Her smile was self-mocking. "In our three months of wedded bliss, he punctured one of my eardrums, broke my nose and two ribs, and knocked out my top right bicuspid. When I walked out on Marlin Clark, it was with the intention of never seeing him again. But I kept his last name, because even the name of a lying, cheating, wife-beating lowlife scum was better than being Ramsey Hawkins." She brought the mug to her lips again. "So, yeah. Invincible is good."

He didn't respond right away. Couldn't. Not with this boulder-sized knot of rage lodged in his throat. His fingers clenched and unclenched while he battled back a primitive wall of fury that was as unexpected as it was overwhelming.

Long minutes passed before he could speak. His voice was tight. "It'd be easy 'nough to find out where the guy is these days." His smile was feral. "Maybe pay him a li'l visit." Discuss old times. Settle old scores on her behalf.

She looked at him over the rim of the mug, her gaze puzzled. "What for?" Something in his face must have alerted her then, because astonishment quickly followed. "You don't even know him."

"I know you."

It was, he thought, one of the only times he'd seen her at a loss for words. Their gazes held for long moments before hers softened imperceptibly.

"He's dead. In a bar fight several years ago. He's not worth wasting time thinking about. I rarely do."

But Dev knew he would. Knew he'd mourn the opportunity to make the son of a bitch bleed, just a little, for what he'd put Ramsey through all those years ago.

Just as he knew that whatever had shaped her, her ex-husband was only part of it.

She pushed the mug aside and rose. She'd want to leave now, and he couldn't think of a single way to stop her. Wasn't sure it would be wise to try. Not with all this emotion crashing and wheeling inside him.

He stood, too. Made to turn away. But then Ramsey was there, her hand on his arm. Her manner more tentative than he'd ever seen from her.

"I don't know that I've ever had someone come to my defense before." The wonderment of it still showed in her expression. She came up on tiptoe and brushed her mouth over his, first lightly, before returning to press more firmly. His arms went around her of their own accord, and he returned the kiss without any of the restraint he'd shown to date.

There was no holding back at any rate. The events of the evening, the revelations Ramsey had made, unleashed something primal that Dev had no idea how to contain. He could no longer recall why he wanted to.

Cupping the back of her head with one hand, he returned the kiss with all the hunger that had been building inside him for days. Every last bit of self-discipline he possessed abruptly went up in smoke.

The taste of her whipped through his system, amped up his heart rate. Created havoc with hormones that had been under "down boy" command since meeting her.

A command that was currently being ignored.

Without releasing her, Dev moved her backward until her back was against the fridge. His mouth eating at hers, he ran his free hand over the rounded curve of her bare shoulder. Traced her arm, firm with muscle beneath the sleek skin. Slid his hand inside the slinky material of her top to cup warm soft flesh.

Her nipple was a tight knot, and he rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. Felt her fingers tunnel into his hair as she pressed closer. Heard the hum of pleasure she made in response.

He'd spent some time thinking about just this moment. Thought about every inch he wanted to taste. The way he'd take his time to touch and stroke until he'd explored every part of her body. But his desire was an uncaged beast, recklessly lunging forth, and it made a mockery of any efforts at control. Slow wasn't going to be an option.

Their mouths did battle, lips and tongues and teeth clashing as the kiss deepened. Took on an edge of frantic.

His brain fogged with lust. But he could still register a vague sense of alarm at how quickly the taste of her rocketed through him. Left every part of him quivering and straining.

His lips cruised a path up her jawline before closing, not quite gently, on her earlobe. "If this is only about gratitude, better tell me now." Every muscle in his body clenched in anticipation of her answer. Made a mockery of his unspoken intention of bringing a halt to this.

Her eyes opened slowly, the eyelids heavy. And what he saw in their depths had his gut tightening into a hot ball of need. "I'm not that grateful." She tugged his shirt loose to skate her palms up his sides.

His hands lacked their usual finesse as he dragged the straps of her top down her arms to free her breasts. Then he swallowed hard at the sight of them, high and firm, smooth white globes tipped with pink nipples. And need clenched in his gut like a fist.

He'd never been a man to take intimacy lightly, but he couldn't recall ever feeling this urgency before. His blood was churning with it. A more sensible man would take a step back, just long enough to calm his pulse. Regain a measure of reason.

But he'd never felt less sensible. In a primitive quest for the taste of flesh, he lowered his head to take one nipple in his mouth even as he continued to tease the other.

Dev lashed the taut bud with his tongue before sucking strongly from her. Her hands grew just a little frantic as she slid them up his chest, her nails scraping lightly before her fingers clenched on his shoulders. Dimly he heard something clatter to the floor before he felt her knee bend to tighten around his thigh. And he knew that this time, Ramsey wasn't going to stop him. Wasn't going to draw away. For some reason, the knowledge helped him regain a measure of control.