She glanced at the wall that separated the two rooms and to her horror realized that the shell of a wall was missing large pieces of plaster. In some places she could actually see into the next room through the narrow cracks. At that moment it occurred to her that maybe she’d been wrong, maybe this wasn’t the Blu Devil’s home, after all. But she’d followed him here yesterday after he’d pulled himself to his feet in the alley, and the day before that.

Oh, God, what if it had all been a trap? What if he had known she’d been following him? What if he’d gambled on her coming back?

Worse, what if it wasn’t the Blu Devil at all? What if Salva had been on her trail from the moment she’d left the island?

It was him. It was the Blu Devil.

Kristen covered her mouth as she peered through the crack in the wall, another dose of fear lodging in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think of a way out of the building without being seen. At the very least, heard.

As scared as she was, she felt an overwhelming amount of relief that it wasn’t Salva.

It was strange to fear the Blu Devil and at the same time want him to be her savior. His wild hair was so black it looked almost blue, she thought, squinting through the crack. It appeared stubborn, too, as stubborn as his ruggedly built jaw. His good looks were understated by his fierce, dark eyes and serious, hard mouth. It gave the impression he had never smiled a day in his life. His broad shoulders were as intimidating as his long muscular legs and the size of his hands.

Kristen didn’t like big men, didn’t like their forceful natures. She knew her fear was irrational; not every man enjoyed dominating a woman with force, but she had suffered so much at the hands of a big man over the past three years that she’d become jaded. And, she reminded herself, she’d seen this man in action—the Blu Devil wasn’t just strong, he was as quick as a bolt of lightning. Not even his limp seemed to slow him down.

He peeled off his white sleeveless T-shirt in one complete motion and tossed it onto the mattress in the far corner. He was beautifully put together—bodywise there would be few men who could equal him. Even Salva didn’t compare, Kristen decided as she examined every exposed muscle in the Blu Devil’s broad back.

She continued to stare through the crack, determined to find something about this man that might spark her memory. But she found herself again distracted by the sight of him—afraid one minute, in awe the next.

He rolled his head side to side. Stretched. When he reached for the zipper on his jeans, Kristen sucked in her breath and held it. Suddenly his hands stilled. A second later, he lifted his head and slowly turned to stare at the wall she was hiding behind. The crack she was peering through was tiny. He couldn’t possibly know she was there. Still, Kristen jerked her head back and flattened herself against the wall. Surely he hadn’t sensed she was watching him, not unless he had the predatory instincts of a wild animal.

A long minute passed. Then another. More minutes came and went. Kristen took several calming breaths, and shook off her paranoia. Still, she needed to get out of there. It was going to be tricky, but she was going to have to try.

She was still debating her dilemma when something hit the wall with such hellish force it literally bounced her into the middle of the room—something hellish, like an angry oversize fist.

Oh, God! Kristen let out a wild cry, then scrambled for the door. As she thrust it open, she came face-to-face with the Blu Devil. She screamed and slammed the door shut, at least she tried to—the door flew back open, nearly shearing off her nose. She turned to run, her gaze darting around for an alternate escape route. But she already knew there was none, not unless she dove out the second-story window.

She hadn’t made it halfway back into the room before a powerful arm curled around her waist and hauled her off her feet. It happened so fast she was left peddling air.

The power that snaked around her and reeled her in was double that of Salva’s. The realization that he was ten times stronger than her husband, sent total terror flooding through Kristen’s veins. She’d suspected he was strong—but…my God!

She swung her arms and flayed her legs, relieved when a solid kick netted a grunt of displeasure. Encouraged, she remembered his limp and swung her fist in the direction she hoped his thigh would be. The second swing hit its mark. He swore crudely and loosened his hold on her for a split second. Kristen spun around and kicked in the direction of his groin. Anticipating her move, he jerked sideways.

A second later he charged her.

She shrieked as he drove her backward. Following her down, she ended up sprawled on the smelly mattress in the corner with the Blu Devil on top of her.

Momentarily dazed, Kristen blinked, then focused on a pair of fierce dark eyes studying her long and hard. A minute passed then he said, “I think we’ve already had this dance, fille. Oui, now I remember.” And to prove that he did, his hand reached up to touch the cut on his temple.

Blu could feel her frail yet shapely body beneath him—feel every inch of her. And whether he wanted it to or not, the perfection that had been hidden by the black robe yesterday put a new slant on everything; his little nun had enough curves to sober a career drunk.

A perfect package, he mused—beautiful eyes, a sexy mouth, angel hair and a killer body.

Killer?

“Where is it?” Blu demanded, quickly coming to his senses.

“Where’s what?”

“The gun, dammit?”

“I didn’t bring it with me.”

“Sure you did.” Blu shifted his weight and ran his hand over her left hip. He felt her body tense.

“Please,” she pleaded, “don’t hurt me.”

Blu ignored her plea, reminded of how easy it had been for her to aim that .22 at him yesterday. Determined it wouldn’t happen again, his hand kept moving as he watched her. Her eyes were wide, her fear stealing her air. “Breathe, dammit, or you’re going to pass out,” he warned. “If that happens, you’ll wake up not knowing what I did to you.”

His words made her cry out, and the air rushed back into her lungs.

“The gun,” Blu insisted. “I want it.”

“Please! I—”

Blu got to his knees and flipped her over so quickly she didn’t have time to fight him. And that’s when he saw the bruises covering the backs of her arms. He’d seen hundreds of bruises, in all shapes and sizes; had been responsible for more than he cared to remember. Good at his past job, he knew just how much pressure to inflict to cause a man’s skin to discolor, and to what degree. There was no question about it, his little nun had been manhandled, and it had been fairly recent.

The small bulge in her back pocket caught his attention, and he shoved his hand inside and retrieved the derringer. Confident she would have better manners now that he had disarmed her, Blu shoved to his feet.

“Get up.”

She rolled over, scrambled to her feet and took several steps back. With shaky hands, she shoved her sleeveless blue blouse back into the waistband of her jeans, then brushed the length of her hair away from her face.

Blu watched as her fairy-tale hair drifted over her shoulders, then past her arms, then past her waist. Hell, he’d never seen hair that long or that satin-smooth in his life.

Yesterday, dressed in nun’s clothes, she’d pulled a gun on him and given him one huge headache. Today, dressed in street clothes, he’d caught her spying on him like a little pervert. What the hell was she after?

Blu waved the gun at her. “So we’ve established you’re not a nun. And you like skin.”

“Skin?”

“Yesterday you were ordering me to get naked.” Blu motioned to the wall. “Now I catch you copping a peek through a crack in my wall.”