Her head fell forward as his hands worked her weary muscles over, digging in and kneading.
With each touch, everything in her—all of the worry and tension softened into peace. She was still standing, but she might as well have been floating.
Leaning close, Sawyer kissed her neck while his fingers unclasped her bra. Then he spread his hands over her skin, cleverly brushing her dress and bra straps over her shoulders so that her clothes fell away from her body.
“Feeling better now?” he murmured against her neck while his hands skimmed her lower back, climbing their way down to her underwear.
“So much better,” she whispered, shuddering in rapture at the way his hands knew her body.
“God, I never thought you could get any sexier,” Sawyer said, tugging down her silk undies. “Then you got pregnant.” He slipped in front of her and ran his hands over the small swell of her belly, circling his fingers around her belly button. “I love you so much, baby.” His hands moved to her bare hips and tugged her closer, which gave her the perfect opportunity to start undoing the buttons on his shirt.
“I love you, too, Officer Hawkins,” she teased, continuing her way down the buttons until she could tear the thing off of his shoulders. His chest. Oh, mercy, his chest. Tossing the shirt aside, she pressed her palms against the hard muscles, moving them over the dents and bends.
Heavy breaths broadened his shoulders, and she loved seeing that look on his face, the one that proved she could seduce him, too. She loved the hard beat of his heart beneath her palm, the feel of his erection pressing against his jeans.
“I love your body,” she said, in case she hadn’t already made that clear. Lifting her lips to his neck, she climbed her way up to his ear. “You know what else I love?” she murmured, undoing his pants and shoving them down.
His breath hitched. “What?”
“Making love to you.” She slipped her hand into his and pulled him toward the bed.
He stepped out of his pants and left them behind. “You’re amazing,” he breathed against her lips. Then he tilted up her chin and kissed her mouth in a teasing preview. The heat of his tongue, the strong grip of his hands against the back of her head, anchored her in that moment, stilling her in the sea of stress and worries that’d had her floundering all day. The intimate connection carried her away from everything else until it was only the two of them breathing, kissing, touching.
“How long has it been?” he whispered in her ear before nipping his way down her neck and over her breasts, grazing his tongue across her skin. “It feels like forever since I kissed these.”
A titillating shiver overtook her. She threaded her fingers into that beautiful mess of thick dark hair. “I believe it’s been…” Her lungs caught. Ohhhh…She swore his tongue possessed some sort of magic. “Two days since you came over for lunch.”
He grinned, hugging her against him. “That was the best lunch ever.”
“The best until the next lunch,” she promised, pushing him down to the mattress. He caught her hand and pulled her with him.
They hit the bed, bodies tangled together, and he rolled onto his side next to her, sliding his hand up her thigh, then higher until her entire lower half was clenched with want. His fingers danced over her hip bones in long, teasing strokes.
She let her head fall to the pillow, feeling that anticipation mount into a seductive pressure that pulsed through her. “I need you,” she breathed. “God, Sawyer, I need you.”
His wet mouth kissed her neck while the heel of his hand parted her legs until his fingers stretched into her. She moaned as he fingered her center, unleashing the sensations that made her hands grab at the sheets.
“Mmmm,” he murmured, obviously fascinated by watching her lose herself in the ecstasy of his touch. But as much as he enjoyed turning her on, she had other plans. Shifting, she turned on her side and swung her leg over his waist so she could stroke him.
“Oh,” he sighed, shoulders going limp as she thoroughly rubbed both hands up and down the length of his stretched flesh. He convulsed against her, straining his hips closer.
“Come here,” he growled, his hands gripping her hips and guiding her over his body.
She straddled him, clasped their hands together, and pinned his against the mattress, leaning over to kiss him. And maybe to torture him just a little.
He groaned, lifting his head to kiss her breasts. But that wasn’t enough. Not even close. He’d already pulled her body taut—pushing her right to the edge—and there was only one thing that could finish her, that could satisfy the craving he’d stirred up inside of her.
Moving her body down onto his, she hitched her hips and his thrust met hers. The feel of him sliding so deep into her released a cry of pleasure from her lips. Eyes wide, she pressed a hand over her mouth. Unlike their little lunchtime rendezvous, they had to be quiet.
“I love that sound,” Sawyer whispered, lifting his hips until she rode him, each thrust so hard and fast that the friction heated her core. She bit down on her lip to keep quiet, but a moan of pleasure snuck out. She couldn’t help it. Sawyer made it very, very, very hard to stay quiet.
His hands clasped hers as he kept their rhythm, the one they’d found together. The one that made her heart pound and her lungs burn and her body let go.
Oh God, she loved how he made her let go.
Thrusting her body higher, he grunted her name, and that was it; she couldn’t hold on. She arched her back, pressing into him at an angle that broke her apart. Pleasure surged, wave after wave, rendering the rest of her body useless. She collapsed over Sawyer and buried her face in a pillow so she could cry out the way her release demanded.
He came right behind her, locking her tight in his arms, body thrashing beneath hers, a low moan radiating from his throat.
She tried to move, to let him breathe, but her body had been encased in a lovely, lazy warmth that made everything too heavy.
He shimmied to his side and settled her against him, kissing her temple, then wrapping his arms all the way around her so that his hands met at her belly.
“You’ll always be enough for me, Ruby,” he said, resting his cheek against hers. She snuggled in closer, believing again that everything would work out, that they could manage whatever came their way.
They would always be enough together.
* * *
Someone was screaming.
Sawyer bolted upright in bed, heart tumbling like a boulder down a rock wall. Was it a dream? He held his breath.
“Sawyer! Oh God!” Ruby screamed from someplace distant and muffled.
Not a dream. The sound of her fear gripped him. He shot off the bed and tore out of the room, nearly colliding with Ruby in the doorway.
“She’s gone,” she wheezed, then bent over as though she’d been running. “Brookie is gone.”
“No.” That was crazy. She wasn’t gone. She couldn’t be gone. He’d checked on her at one o’clock this morning and she’d been peacefully sleeping in her bed. He took Ruby’s shoulders in his hands to settle her. Getting worked up like this couldn’t be good for the baby. “She’s here somewhere,” he said, choking back his panic. She had to be here. “She probably went next door to Aunt Elsie’s for doughnuts.”
But Ruby’s head shook. Tears streaked her cheeks. Her body shuddered. “I just called. Elsie hasn’t seen her this morning.”
His field of vision shrank. All he could see was Ruby’s face, pale and terrified. “She took Nellie for a walk, then,” he wheezed. Panic throbbed in his heart.
“I found Nellie curled up by the front door,” she sobbed. “It was unlocked, Sawyer. And her coat is gone.”
The room turned into a narrow tunnel. He stumbled around Ruby and jogged to Brookie’s bedroom. Everything was neat and girly. The frilly white bedspread. The purple paint and flowery curtains she and Ruby had picked out one month ago.
He walked around, noting the details. Her pajamas were piled neatly on the bed. The coat
that usually hung in her closet was gone. His pulse screamed in his ears as he ran back to the living room, passing Ruby and charging out the front door. Her bike had been propped up against the front porch last night…
Gripping the railing, he tripped down the steps, unable to find his footing.
It was gone. Which meant no one had come in and taken her. She’d left on her own.
“Ruby! Sawyer!” Aunt Elsie ran toward him, still in her bathrobe. “Did you find Brookie? Is she okay?”
“She ran away,” he said, the shock of it rooting him to the ground. He couldn’t move, couldn’t turn back to face the brokenness on Ruby’s face. How could she walk away from them?
“It’s because of the baby,” she sniffled. “I knew she wasn’t ready. She needed more time to adjust…” The words dissolved into a cry of agony.
Sawyer inhaled deeply enough to stop his own torment. Think like a cop. He had to think like a cop right now and take action. Every second that passed meant she got farther away from them, and he knew the statistics. The more time that passed the less chance they had of finding her.
He sprinted up the porch steps, an adrenaline-fueled fire burning through him. “We need pictures of her.” He caught Ruby’s hand in his and tugged her back into the house. “Recent pictures. Print some out.”
“I’ll help you,” Aunt Elsie said, rushing to Ruby’s side while he took off to the bedroom to pull on a sweatshirt and snatch his cell phone off the bedside table. When he came back out into the living room, Ruby was slumped on the couch holding her face in her hands.
Aunt Elsie stood nearby, talking on the phone. Had to be Thomas, from the sound of things.
“Hey.” He knelt in front of his fiancée, searching for her eyes, attempting to fill her with the hope and confidence he was so desperately trying to grasp.
“We have to find her,” she moaned. “We have to find her right now. We don’t even know how long she’s been gone…”
“I’ll find her,” he promised. He would fucking mobilize everyone he knew. Every person he’d ever had a conversation with in this town. He’d beg for their help until they had an army out searching. He shot to his feet and snatched his keys off the coffee table.
Ruby clawed at his shirt. “Where are you going?”
“I’m gonna call the station and start searching. They can get the word out.” They could organize and set up perimeters and call out the search and rescue dogs. But he had to get out there now.
Ruby flailed to her feet. “I’m coming with you.” She started to fly past him, but he caught her in a bear hug.
“No.” He gazed down into her eyes. “Ruby, honey, I need you to stay here.”
She fought his grip. “I can’t! I have to come with you. I have to find her…Oh God, our sweet girl…”
“She might come back on her own.” God, please let her come back. “If she does, you need to be here for her.” He steered her to the couch. “And you need to think about the baby. Too much stress isn’t good.” She already looked weak and sick. He felt it, too, a raw fear taunting at the back of his mind, pounding through his pulse points. But he couldn’t let it take over.
“I have to go.” He nodded toward Elsie. His aunt would have to keep Ruby here and do her best to keep her calm.
“Come on, dear,” Elsie said, taking her hand. “Let me make you some tea. Everything will be fine. They’ll find her,” she reassured in that wise, comforting way. “Thomas is already on his way to the station, too.”
Ruby allowed herself to be led a few steps, then stopped abruptly. “Oh God. Oh my God.” Sobs racked her upper body until she bent over. “I can’t believe she’s gone.” The expression on her face gutted him. Her eyes were wide and hollow, her mouth twisted with pain. “So many things could’ve happened to her.” She gripped his shirt in her fist. “We can’t lose her, Sawyer,” she gasped, swaying as though she was about to faint.
“We’re not gonna lose her,” he said firmly, holding her up, letting her sob against his chest.
“Okay, honey. Everything will be okay.” He lifted her into his arms and lowered her to the couch, smoothing his hand over her hair until she raised her eyes to his. “I need you to have faith in me, Ruby,” he said, his own raking fear taking his voice low. “I’ll find her. Trust me.” He rested his hand on her belly. “Take care of our little peanut. That’s your job right now. To wait for Brookie to come home and take care of this baby.”
Leaving her in Aunt Elsie’s capable hands, Sawyer sprinted out the front door and called dispatch to report a runaway. God, a runaway. He’d heard too many stories about the terrible things that happened to girls who ran away. Traffickers picked them up. Or they got hurt. She was on her bike. Crossing streets…
Shutting it all out, he climbed into his truck and peeled down the driveway, straining his eyes to see through the early-morning haze. Nothing. He saw nothing but deserted streets that were just as empty and dark as his heart. God, where was she? He didn’t know. He had no idea where to start looking, but he would find her. He would walk every square mile of this town until he got her back.
They couldn’t lose the daughter they’d only just found.
Chapter Six
Ruby had experienced terrifying nightmares before—dreams where she’d felt the fingers of darkness curl around her neck, suffocating her with fear. She’d wake, heart racked with convulsions, pearls of sweat rolling down her temples. Though stuck in a state of chaos, all she had to do was inhale the familiar reality of her new life—the laundry-fresh scent of her comforter, the melon candle she kept on the nightstand. Then she could exhale the terror. But now every breath she took in, every breath that left her lips, kept her suspended in a cold and complete darkness.
On the outskirts of everything, she was vaguely aware of the concerned whispers rebounding between Paige, Avery, Julia, and Elsie, but she couldn’t seem to bring the world into focus so she could hear what they were saying. She could only picture Brookie’s sweet face, those bright innocent eyes, the curious quirk to her mouth.
My God. Ruby thought she had already been through hell—the victim of neglect in the foster system growing up, coming out of it only to find herself tangled in an abusive relationship. But she didn’t know it was possible for her heart to hurt like this.
Their little girl had walked away…
“Ruby, sweetie…” Paige wedged herself next to her on the couch. “Can you try to eat something? Please?” She held up a plate. “Elsie made scrambled eggs and bacon. You need the protein.”
The salty scent made her stomach clench with a nauseating shudder. She pressed her fingers against her lips, shaking her head slowly back and forth, that small movement making her dizzy. “I can’t,” she whispered. Her body—her heart—felt completely empty, but she couldn’t fill it with anything besides the joy of holding Brookie in her arms again.
“You need energy,” Avery said gently. She sat on the coffee table across from Ruby, knees touching hers, bouncing a squirming Lily on her lap. “And so does the baby.”
Looking right through them, she searched the other side of the room for Elsie. “Has Sawyer called?” she asked, wringing her hands to alleviate the strain in her heart.
“Not yet,” the woman murmured. “But he’s only been gone for a half hour, dear. They’re likely still getting organized.”
A half hour? Was that all? It seemed more like a year the way the minutes had stretched out, tormenting her with their never-ending silence. Each one gave her mind cause to wander farther and farther into the realm of ugly possibilities. “What if she went into the mountains?” Brookie was so small, so vulnerable, and she had no one to protect her out there…
“Then Sawyer will find her,” Julia insisted, wheeling herself over. “Along with Isaac and Ben and Bryce. They’re all out there searching. They won’t stop until they find her.” She said it with such confidence, such unwavering hope, that it buoyed her, giving her a better grasp on her waning strength.
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“I should be out there, too.” They were all out searching for her daughter while she sat here helpless. She was so sick of feeling helpless. There was a time in her life when she’d let weakness take her over, when she’d believed she didn’t have the power to change things. But she thought she’d left that scared woman behind.
“You need to rest,” Avery insisted, settling Lily on the floor.
“Rest?” The wisp of strength sparked anger and built within her until it fortified every cell. “I’m not dying of cancer. I’m pregnant,” she spat. Why had Sawyer made her stay at the house? Why the hell weren’t they out there searching together?
I need you to have faith in me.
She didn’t know how. She didn’t know how to hold on to that faith when a chunk of her heart was missing.
“How about some tea?” Elsie set a steaming mug in front of her. “It’s chamomile. Your favorite.”
Though the anger boiled, she tried to force herself to smile and say thank you. These women had been with her through the worst of everything. Through the time when she’d gone back to confront her abusive ex-fiancé, through the months of counseling and dealing with the lingering pain after. They had befriended her when she had no one else in the world. They’d become her family. They’d made her strong enough to face anything.
Even this.
Hands trembling, she lifted the mug and sipped. The warmth blazed a trail down her throat, warding off the cold fear that had encased her heart. Inhaling, she straightened, stacking her shoulders, even under the unbearable weight. She’d had to dig deeply to find her courage before, and now she was braver and stronger than Sawyer was giving her credit for.
After another sip of tea, she plunked down the mug on the coffee table. “I can’t sit here and wait.” She started to stand, but Paige tugged her back down.
“Whoa, chica. We all know you’re Superwoman, but right now you have to think about the baby.”
“I am thinking about the baby,” she shot back, not caring that her voice had risen. “I’m thinking about my entire family, damn it.” Things wouldn’t always be easy. There would be battles, moments of darkness and despair. Life had already taught her that. And she refused to hide from them. She refused to let Sawyer take this on by himself.
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