But as he worked his magic to give her the kind of pleasure she’d never known, she sensed the dark fire inside him that she had recognized from the start.

She wondered if that fire would incinerate them both.

* * *

Kade felt the mattress dip as Ellie slipped out of bed. She grabbed her robe off the floor and dragged it on, then moved quietly to the door and disappeared into the hall.

Kade let her go. He’d had her three times last night and again before dawn. Beneath her reserve, he’d discovered a wildly passionate woman whose needs matched his own. Just thinking about the things he had done to her, the things he still wanted to do, had him hard beneath the sheets.

He hadn’t gotten nearly enough of Ellie Bowman, wasn’t sure he would anytime soon. But as much as he wanted her, a voice inside warned him to be wary.

Kade didn’t trust women, hadn’t since Heather had played him for the perfect fool. For years, he’d been the laughingstock of Coffee Springs, so busy building the ranch into a bigger, more powerful empire, he’d blindly ignored the signs of her betrayal. They’d been together since high school. No way would she cheat on him. Or so he had thought.

But the web of lies and deceit could only go on so long. He’d ignored the truth the first time, convinced himself it would never happen again. The second time, he’d confronted her, and Heather had admitted her betrayal. The men she’d been with thought she was beautiful, she’d said. They wanted her in a way Kade never had.

Kade had filed for divorce the next day. No amount of tears or begging could convince him to forgive her. Kade had watched her drive off that night filled with an anger that still hadn’t left him.

But he’d never thought it would be the last time he’d see her. Never expected that she would be brutally murdered and the sonofabitch who killed her would never be brought to justice.

One thing Kade knew. He would never be free of the guilt that rode him like a ravenous beast until Heather’s killer was dead.

Alone in the room, he glanced at the clock on the nightstand and rolled out of bed. Catching the scent of sex in the sheets, his morning hard-on returned. He still wanted Ellie—maybe more than he had before.

And he needed her. He’d hired her to help him find Heather’s killer. That hadn’t changed.