Page 52 of When He Hunts

“Luna!” Not in the den. Or the narrow kitchen. A sliding door led from the den to a small deck attached to the back of the house. He bounded toward the sliding door. Unlocked. He yanked it open. Rushed outside. “Luna!”

And there she was. Lying face down on the edge of the dock.

Face down.

He could feel all of the blood pouring from his head. His body actually swayed for a moment.

Then she yanked her hands out of the water.

What in the hell?

She shoved up onto the dock. Onto her knees. Then to her feet and even as he raced toward her, Luna spun around with a bright, sunny smile on her face. “Ronan! Ronan, you won’t believe them—they arebeautiful!”

He grabbed her arm with his left hand. Hauled her close. Had to be absolutely sure she was alive.

Sprawled face down on the dock. Thought she was dead. Thought I’d lost Luna.

“Ronan?” Her bright smile faltered. Her gaze had whipped to the gun he held. “What’s wrong?” She sucked in a breath. “Is there trouble? Did someone find us?”

“You’re alive.” Gritted.

A blink of her long lashes. “Well, I think I’m supposed to be dead, but yes, thanks to you, I am still very much alive.”

“You’re alive.”Why was he repeating those words?

Oh, right. Because he’d just been scared as hell.

“I’m alive,” she said softly. “And you have a gun really close to me.”

He shoved the gun into the back waistband of his sweats. “You left the bed.”

“I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so cute.”

What? No, he’d never lookedcute.

“And I was on top of you again, which, you know, awkward. So I tried to slip out without disturbing you. Then I came outside and saw them. I just had to get closer.”

“First, it’s not awkward for you to be on top of me.” It was awesome. “Climb that sexy ass on me any day. Night. Whatever. And second—who are you talking about?Who did you see?”

Her gaze darted to the left.

His followed hers.

The water was incredibly clear. Almost like something out of a dream. Wooden steps from the side of the dock actually led into the water, but she hadn’t been near the steps. Instead, she’d been reaching out and touching…

“Manatees,” she sighed. “Aren’t they beautiful?”

Was that the right word for them? Beautiful? He was pretty sure they were known as sea cows. And there were about three of them bobbing nearby.

“They are so gentle and just gorgeous.” Excitement hummed in her voice. “They just swam right up. This place is incredible.” She scampered away from him. Only this time, she did go for the stairs. She didn’t sprawl on the edge of the dock in that terrifying dead-body style that had stolen several years of his life away. “It’s magical,” she told him as she kicked off her tennis shoes and crept down the steps toward the water.

It took a moment too long for the truth to dawn on him. “You’re going into the water?”

What was it? Seven a.m.? And she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

“I always wanted to visit the springs in Florida. I read that in this area, they’re supposed to stay around seventy-two degrees.” A delighted laugh escaped her. “This is the clearest water I’ve ever seen!”

The three manatees had drifted away.

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