Page 50 of Crash and Burn

Just let it last …

Sebastian pulled back, giving her a moment of panic, but then his mouth found the spot beside her belly button and he pressed a soft kiss there. Her breasts lifted at the shock and she couldn’t fight the small noises she made as his kisses slowly trailed up her body.

Her head rolled to one side, her limbs limp under the onslaught of sensation. As her ear pressed into the mattress, sound magnified.

Maggie went still.Had she heard something?

Sensing the change in her reaction, Sebastian pulled back. He was clearly worried that something was wrong, and he was opening his mouth probably to ask, when they both heard it.

Sebastian found words before she did.

“That sounded like a door opening.”

Chapter Forty-One

Sebastian jolted, moving backwards off the bed, suddenly on high alert.

Was someone in the house?

They had changed every lock. Only he and Maggie had the keys—unless this was another firefighter? But that would mean someone had managed to duplicate the keys this evening while they installed the new locks. That didn't make any sense. Besides, Sebastian trusted the guys.

Though he knew he should be scared or alarmed, he was only angry as fuck.

Maggie scrambled up right, and he watched as she pulled her night shirt down, covering her gorgeous naked breasts and ending what should have been the singular most spectacular night of his life.

He yanked at the ties on his pajama pants, hastily making sure his pants stayed up, and jerked open the nightstand drawer. He should have been reaching for a condom, instead he was pulling out a nine-millimeter.

Maggie's eyes went wide.Shit.

He should have told her. Bringing a gun into someone else's home was not acceptable without permission. But he’d brought it the other day, and things had just been busy. It was too late to do the right thing now.

As his hands automatically went through the motions of feeding the magazine into the butt of the gun and racking the slide, he looked her in the eyes and prayed she wouldn’t be upset. “I should have told you I had it. I meant to, but …” there was really no excuse, so he didn’t offer one. “I have a concealed carry permit. I'm trained. And I'm not letting anyone get to you.”

Hell, he should have gotten the gun sooner. He should have gotten two of them, and taught Maggie how to use it—if she wasn't already trained. There was a damn serial rapistanda serial killer associated with this house. But he could admit it still wasn’t his decision to make. It wasn’t his house.

He watched as Maggie seemed to decide it was a conversation for another time and bolted off the bed. As she ran into the other room, he shoved his feet into sneakers, trying to be as quiet as possible.

He could hear the invader moving around downstairs. Though Sebastian still hadn't yet figured out how that person had gotten inside the house, it was clear from the noises that he’d gained access relatively easily. Sebastian hadn’t heard any glass break or locks give way … then again, he’d beenoccupied.

Maggie appeared in her doorway as Sebastian stepped into the hall, her own feet shoved into winter boots. She’d zipped them up and looked disturbingly sexy with the fuzz that peeked at the top around her calves. In her hands, she held the Louisville Slugger and her phone. “Should we call 9-1-1?”

“If someone is here, yes.” They began creeping down the stairs. Though Sebastian was in front he was pretty certain she had pressed 9-1-1 and was ready to send the call through if the noise was real.

Though they tried to move slowly and softly,the creak of the old wood slats gave them away. At the first loud sound they made, the noise downstairs paused.

Then they heard the sound of someone scrambling away.

The sound of a door slamming into the wall echoed up the steps and Sebastian knew then—there was no mistaking it. This wasn't his imagination and it wasn't paranoia and he wasn’t going to be able to sneak up on it.

Bolting down the stairs now, all semblance of attempting to be quiet gone—he held the newel post and swung around the bottom step. His eyes spotted movement and he caught a glimpse of the intruder disappearing through a door on his right at the end of the hallway. He could only hope Maggie had pressed the button and put the call through.

The old house was designed for a life before air conditioning. So, the bottom floor had a circular layout. Which sucked, because it meant until Sebastian trapped the man in a room, the intruder could always get away simply by running the opposite direction.

Maggie was right behind him, the two of them giving chase.

Sebastian sprinted across the back room, an old sitting room that spanned the length of the back porch and connected through to the laundry. Whoever this person was, they knew Maggie's house.

As he saw the laundry room door swing shut, he skidded to a stop, barely missing having the door crack his face. But his hand was on the knob and he threw it open and came to another screeching halt. There was a gaping hole in the middle of the floor.

---