Stripped Bare Read Online Free

“Chloe was fourteen.”
    “Her parents had just been killed and her sister came home only long enough to pawn her off on someone else,” Shep said.
    “Nah.” Stace shook her head and smiled. “Chloe had a mad case of hero worship on me back then. Thought it was the bomb that I was in the Marines, bragged about it to all her friends. She was a good kid, smart. She was the one who approached me with the idea of living with Nicole and her family while I finished out my time.”
    “You weren’t going to?” Shep asked.
    “I didn’t want to leave her,” Stace said. “She told me I had to.”
    “Smart girl,” he said.
    “Incredible,” Stace agreed. “And, yeah, she probably could have easily kept secrets from me.”
    “Is Nicole still around?” Shep asked.
    “Yeah, they still hang out all the time,” Stace said. “They’re both in school together.”
    “Have you talked to her since you got back?” Shep asked.
    “Yeah, but not in detail,” she said.
    “Then I think maybe after we do a thorough look through of your sister’s stuff, we should set up a time to talk to Nicole about what was going on with Chloe,” Shep said.
    Stace nodded her head. Her mind was buzzing with different thoughts. “Another thing to consider is that they didn’t care if her stuff was found, didn’t care who she called,” she said. “They were either confident that it wouldn’t matter.” She paused unable to voice the other possibility.
    “Or they didn’t plan on keeping her that long,” Shep said. “Meaning they either killed her or sold her.” He reached a hand out to take Stace’s and gave it a squeeze. “I don’t mean to upset you or sound cold. I’m just trying to say that we need to think about every possibility. At this point we know nothing, so we can’t omit anything.”
    She nodded. Chloe’s death was a possibility she had to face. Her sister had been missing for a month.
    Shep turned back to the wheel and put the truck in gear, pulling back onto the road. Neither of them talked while he headed toward the farmhouse.
    “Here,” she said pointing to the winding drive that would lead to her house.
    She jumped out as soon as the truck came to a stop reaching into the back for her bag before turning toward the house. She felt Shep on the steps behind her as she unlocked the door and opened it. Pushing inside she dropped her bag and turned to face him. He stepped in and shut the door behind him placing his bag beside hers.
    “It’s hard to be here without her,” Stace admitted. The house was too quiet, too empty. It seemed to settle on her shoulders like a mantle of guilt for all the times she hadn’t been around. Everywhere she looked she saw signs of her sister. This was more Chloe’s house than it ever would be Stace’s.
    “I can’t imagine,” Shep said reaching out to take her hand and give it a squeeze. The man really was gorgeous with all that shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. What she could see of his body let her know that he took care of himself. She wanted to get him naked. Soon.
    His eyes flared as if he could read her thoughts and in moments she found herself trapped between him and the wall. He leaned in and kissed her, stroking his tongue inside and exploring every crevice of her mouth. She batted his tongue with hers and he scraped his teeth over it before sucking it. She could feel her pussy flooding and contracting, eager to feel any part of him there.
    He leaned in and rubbed her body with his. She felt the hard bulge of his cock and rubbed her hard, tight nipples against his chest. Her arms reached for him eager to grab, hold and touch. But Shep eased back from her putting distance between them.
    “I want you,” he said softly. “You want me.” There was a wicked twinkle in his eyes now. “But don’t think I won’t make you work for it.”
    She laughed, just burst out and laughed. He’d managed to break the tension that held her in place just inside the entryway.