The vicious edge of the bottle sliced into the Reaper's neck like the teeth of a shark, his skin resisting before it gave way and the glass embedded itself in the carotid artery. Warm blood gushed over my skin, and I twisted to get away. But I couldn't move. Could. Not. Move.

"Shh. It's okay."

I slowly joined the land of the living and realised it wasn't blood covering me but sweat, and I was stuck because Will had his arm wrapped around me, snaking under the shirt I was wearing so it cupped my breast. I stiffened as his thumb brushed across my skin, but while my head told me to run, to get away from this violation, my body relaxed against him while he caressed my nipple. A nipple that hardened under his touch because it knew what it wanted, even if my mind didn't.

"Tell me what happened last night was just a nightmare," I said.

"Don't talk about it. Today, you're going to rest and I'm going to spoil you."

Will shifted his hand to my stomach, holding me tighter as he pressed a soft kiss into the crook of my neck. I wriggled a little, kidding myself I was trying to get comfortable when really I just wanted to be closer to him.

Hang on. Why wasn't I wearing knickers?

More memories came back. The ride home, the shower, Will tucking me into bed and holding me all night long. RJ and Shannon, naked on the sofa downstairs. Shit!

"Did RJ and Shannon...?"

"Sure looked that way. But I haven't heard him scream yet, so I've got to assume she didn't relieve him of his balls when she woke up."

And speaking of balls, I could feel Will's resting against my ass, along with his cock. He didn't move, didn't press into me. They were just there.

Will was just there.

He'd been nothing but kind to me, and I knew at that moment that I'd never want any other man the way I wanted him. Sure, he took liberties—the thumb stroking the underside of my breast was proof of that—but he'd never intentionally hurt me or push me too far.

But I owed it to him to push myself if we were going to have a future together.

"Will?"

"Yes, beautiful?"

I took a deep breath, half-tempted to keep the words inside. "Will you sleep with me?"

"I am sleeping with you, sweetheart. There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"No, I mean will you sleep with me?"

His turn to stiffen, and I didn't mean his cock.

"Nia, you've been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours. Why don't you just rest today?"

He was turning me down?

"Are you seriously trying to talk me out of sex?"

"Reckon I've gone crazy, but yeah. You don't need any more stress right now."

"But what if I want to?" Now I'd had the idea, I was determined to go through with it. "You know, like ripping the Band-Aid off."

"Ouch. You're really expecting it to be that bad?"

"Well...yes."

Sex had never been good before. At best uncomfortable, at worst agonisingly painful. But I knew Will would want it, so getting the first time over with seemed like the best idea.

"Thanks."

Shit. "That's not what I meant." Dammit. Think before you speak, Rania. "Please? Can't we at least try?"

Will twisted me around to face him, and I resisted the urge to look away.

"Tell you what. We'll fool around, and if you're enjoying it, I'll make love to you. Deal?"

Bargaining over sex? Well, at least we weren't arguing over the price as I had in a previous life. "Deal."

I thought Will would go straight for the good bits, but instead, he feathered soft kisses across my lips and down my jawline. With each sweet touch, the darkness that had plagued my dreams grew a little lighter.

He lay beside me, using the lightest strokes to keep me prisoner rather than his body weight. A giggle escaped as he ran his fingers down my side.

"That tickles."

He grinned and did it again, but I could only laugh. Then he shifted so his tongue followed his fingers, lower, lower, lower... Oh!

"Will, you can't!"

"Do you want me to stop?"

I wasn't sure. Did I? He blew warm air over my most sensitive spot as I considered my options. Finally, I shook my head.

"Don't stop."

So he didn't. He licked and sucked and kissed and caressed as...as...all that was right with the world gathered in my stomach then exploded outwards like an overstuffed firework, leaving me gasping as I clutched at his hair.

"What happened?"

He looked up, smug. "You've never had an orgasm before?"

"Not if that's what that was."

"Shit, Nia. I'm gonna make you come every night if you smile like that."

Will crawled up the bed and kissed me, and the taste of myself on him didn't gross me out the way I thought it would. Probably because I was still floating on a cloud somewhere near the ceiling. It was only when Will guided my hand downwards and wrapped my fingers around his cock that I drifted back to earth.

With one hand, he smoothed my hair away from my face.

"That's what you do to me, Nia. But if you don't want to go any further today, we won't."

"I do."

"Sure?"

I nodded, even though I wasn't. Nothing could be as bad as the sex I'd had before. Sweaty, flabby bodies that pounded into me for a few euros. This was Will. I loved him.

Wait. I loved him?

Yes, I did.

"Yes, I'm sure."

He rolled on a condom, and from the moment he pushed inside me, I knew it would be different. He slid in smoothly, easily, as if he was meant to be there, not like the previous intrusions which had always felt forced. Then he waited until I smiled before he moved again.

My eyes were opened that day, to love and happiness and new possibilities. Will wrapped me tightly in his arms as he came, and it was only when he wiped my tears afterwards that I realised I'd been crying.

"Are you okay? Fuck, tell me you're okay?"

"These are good tears."

He buried his face in my hair and muttered something I didn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

"Maybe I'll make you cry every day too."

I drifted off in Will's embrace, and for once, I didn't dream. Not a snippet. Nothing but smooth, delicious darkness.

Oh, Mr. Lawson, you certainly know how to turn a girl's life upside down.

***

And...back to reality. This afternoon's shower with Will hadn't been nearly so innocent, but now his phone had forty-seven missed calls, the police wanted to ask me yet more questions, and there was still the small matter of Helene's killer walking around free. Plus Shannon. What had happened last night between her and RJ?

The man himself was in the kitchen when we went downstairs for a very late breakfast, engaged in a standoff with Aisling, who absolutely didn't want to eat whatever he was offering her on a fork. Every time he moved it close, she clamped her lips together and turned her head away.

"Is there a secret to this?" he asked.

"Yup. You need to use a pink fork. Aisling thinks she's a princess."

A look of alarm crossed RJ's face. "Pink? We don't have pink cutlery." His head swivelled between Will and me, and he broke into a smile. "Holy shit. About time."

"Huh?"

"You forget how long I've known your boy. That self-satisfied expression means he got action last night."

My cheeks heated, but Will only laughed. "At least we got as far as the bedroom."

Now RJ turned red. "Shit."

"Look on the bright side—you survived the experience."

"Barely. And if she'd chopped my knackers off, it would have been your fault."

"How do you work that one out?"

"You told me to distract her."

"I meant make her a cup of tea or something."

"Well, I panicked."

"And? What did you do?"

"Kissed her."

Will doubled over laughing. "Brave."

"Then she slapped me. Then kissed me back. And I'm not telling you the rest."

"Don't worry, I don't want to know. She's at work?"

"I'm picking her up in half an hour. Fingers crossed she's still speaking to me."

I hoped so too. RJ would be good for Shannon, even if she hated to admit it. And he was trying hard with Aisling, which was more effort than her father had ever made. Yes, RJ was one of the quiet heroes in this world, and he'd helped me too. Will had told me what he'd done.

"Thank you for sending your lawyer last night. I didn't know what to say when the police started with all the questions."

"It was nothing."

No, it was everything. I'd never had friends other than Shannon before. "Still, thank you. Do you want me to help with Aisling?"

"Please."

He held out the fork, but I shook my head and rummaged through the cutlery drawer instead. I was sure I'd seen... Yes! A white plastic spoon. Let's hope it was good enough for Aisling.

"Try this." I crouched to her level as RJ aimed again. "It's an angel spoon, sweetie."

Hallelujah, she opened her mouth, and RJ looked beyond pleased that he'd managed to feed her. Yes, Shannon would be crazy if she let this one go.

"Thank goodness," RJ muttered. "She chewed up my iPad stylus earlier, but she wouldn't eat a banana."

I choked back a laugh, and Will coughed into his sleeve.

"Can you do me a favour once you've finished playing happy families?" he asked.

RJ paused to peer over his glasses at Will. "Pretty sure you've used all your favours up." But he was smiling, and I knew he and Will would always have each other's backs, just like Shannon and me.

"We think we know who killed Helene Weston, but now I need to prove it."

"Really? Who?"

"Geraldine Canning. She teaches yoga at Daylesford Hall, and she had a fling with Helene's fiancé. I'm betting she got a serious case of the green-eyed monster."

RJ gave a low whistle. "Is everyone at that place shagging a colleague?"

"Seems that way."

"Well, I'll have a dig. You think Mrs. Weston will pay your bill?"

"Doubt that. But I'm not letting a murderer get away with her crime on one of my cases."

"Then let's hope we can put her away."

Will arranged my follow-up police interview for first thing the next morning, citing exhaustion, and while RJ went to collect Shannon, we took Aisling out for a walk. I desperately needed some fresh air after a night in a cramped interview room that smelled of body odour and fear, and Aisling always settled better after she'd felt the sun on her face. Plus I think she had a little crush on Will, much like me, because when he picked her up seeing as we hadn't replaced her stroller yet, she snuggled against him and gave him the smile she usually reserved for chocolate.

"I'd like to take you out for that dinner I keep promising you," Will said to me, "but that'll have to wait until I've landed more work. Someone must have told Mrs. Weston we were together, because she gave me a right earful on my voicemail. Blamed the pair of us for the fact that her husband was a greedy fucker who thought he was above the law."

"Sorr—"

Will pressed a finger against my lips. "Stop apologising."

"I'll get another job. Agency work, maybe. It doesn't pay as well, but for now..."

"And I can hunt for lost dogs again. It pays surprisingly well."

"I can't talk to dog ghosts, just people."

Will chuckled. "Maybe I should specialise in grisly murders?"

"I've had enough of those to last a lifetime, thanks."

He took my hand, still holding Aisling in his other arm. "We'll be fine. We've got each other, so we'll be fine."

We would. If I'd been on my own through the Daylesford Hall fiasco, I'd most likely have been in a jail cell right now, and quite honestly, I'd have been relieved about that. No worries about day-to-day survival, just a plain box to live in and square meals served up morning, noon, and night. But now I had a nice albeit temporary home, Shannon's cooking to look forward to, and a hot, sexy boyfriend.

Who was currently staring in horror at the dark-green Jaguar parked outside the house with its engine running.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "What is it?"

"It's my father."