by Jewel E. Ann
She squeezed her legs together, dropped her chin to her chest letting her hair fall like a curtain over her face. Then she bit her lips and closed her eyes as an orgasm pulsed in rippling waves along her sex, clear to her toes curling them in her flip-flops.
How did he do that? Some guys could fondle a woman’s body for hours and—nothing. Luke texted where and when, wet your finger, then sucked said finger for less than ten seconds. Bang!
With his hand in the bag he went ahead and retrieved an apple before releasing Jessica’s wrist and sitting up straight again.
“Those are so good.” Kelly looked back at the apple in Luke’s hand.
“Mmm … yeah, my mouth is already watering.” He took a big bite with a smirk on his face, eyes on Jessica.
She narrowed her eyes. Cocky wasn’t becoming of him. Well, maybe it was.
*
The restaurant bathroom did not have a locking door. Just as well. Luke wasn’t entirely certain how he and Jessica’s first time would play out. The close call in the shower at his parents’ was the weakest moment he’d experienced in years, a real diving-into-the-shark-tank move. He had been ready to bleed again if it meant being with her, until she cried and his selfishness hit him in the chest like a wrecking ball. How could he have lost sight of the regret she would feel?
Gabe let Kelly and Jessica off at the hotel entrance while he and Luke looked for a parking spot.
“So who’s the girl?” Gabe asked.
Luke glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “What girl?”
“Our parents had dinner the other night. I heard you took a girl home for the weekend.”
Luke nodded. “I did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
Gabe laughed. “That’s not how your parents described it.”
“What did they say?”
“They said she’s the one.”
Of course they thought that, whether it was true or not. She was the girl you hate to love and love to hate; either way she was nothing short of an addiction. He was out of control with her and desperate without her.
“So who is she?”
Such a simple question.
“A friend of a friend.”
“Really? I know most of your friends. Maybe I know her.” Gabe pulled into a parking spot.
That seemed one hundred percent probable.
Luke got out and slipped on his sunglasses. Gabe shut the door and rested his hand on Luke’s shoulder. A shit-eating smirk not-so-elegantly graced his lips.
“I’m giving ya shit, man. God, it’s exhilarating for once to watch the great Dr. Jones squirm a bit. I know you took Jessica home and you have some serious explaining to do.”
“Does Kelly know?”
“Nope. She’d be pissed that Jessica hasn’t said anything.”
“How long have you known?”
“About a week.”
“Why didn’t you say something before now?”
“I assumed you’d tell me. You were going to tell me, right?”
“It’s complicated.”
“I don’t get it. We fixed you two up. Why the secrecy?”
Luke turned and started unloading their gear. “As I said, it’s complicated.”
“Listen, dumb ass, I have a PhD in physics. I can handle ‘complicated.’ You won’t even have to talk slow or use elementary vocabulary.”
Luke sighed. “It’s … it’s not that you won’t get it or understand. It’s that I can’t tell you everything.”
They weighted themselves down with bags and bikes. The car beeping when Gabe locked it was like a lightbulb going on in his head.
“Oh fuck! She’s your patient, isn’t she?”
The guy really was too smart for his own good.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Knight
Day two on their journey back to Omaha went much better than the previous one. AJ ate the salty peanuts and diabetic Twizzlers then washed them down with bottled tap water.
“There’s a rest stop coming up. Want me to pull off?” AJ asked.
“Sure.”
There was only one other vehicle as they pulled to a stop. They stretched and hobbled a bit toward the bathrooms, legs stiff from so many hours on the road. AJ was already in the truck by the time Jillian came out.
She froze.
Two of the lights along the walk were burnt out, leaving her nearly blind to anything on either side. Someone was lurking in the distance. She closed her eyes so she could focus on the faint rustling of footsteps in the brush.
“I know you.”
The initial fear that clenched her heart was replaced with a killer’s rage the second she processed the voice.
“Your hair is different, but I’d recognize that body anywhere.”
The truck was twenty yards away. She could see the outline of AJ from the light of his phone screen. His chin was tilted toward his chest. Jillian needed to keep walking, but Jessica could not.
“You killed my friend. I know it was you. He wouldn’t have committed suicide.”
It was Jessica Day’s opportunity for closure. She could walk away and let him decide his fate, but the license plates on the truck would lead him to AJ’s family. Her identity could lead him to Omaha. Nobody wakes up and decides to be a killer, certainly not Jillian Knight, but Jessica Day was trained to defend herself and that training had made her a killer.
He laughed. It was the same sadistic laugh that filled Jessica’s ears as Four cut her friend, Claire.
“I think this is fate. Of all the rest stops in this goddamn big ass country, what are the chances of us reuniting here, tonight? What are the chances of your boyfriend over there saving you before I put a bullet in your head?”
He moved closer and she closed her eyes again, hoping AJ couldn’t see her in the shadows.
“I’d fuck your tight little ass first, but I don’t trust you. I saw the news. You died and I don’t trust ghosts.” He inched closer.
Knox had blindfolded her over and over, sharpening all her other senses and removing the humanly guilt that came from taking the last blink of life from a victim’s eyes.
It was too easy. All those years later, she remembered everything with exact precision. Two moves in less than five seconds later, he was disarmed and limp on the ground with a broken neck.
Her heart pounded as one lone tear trailed down her cheek. It wasn’t for him. It was for her—for Jillian. Jessica died a killer, but Jillian would have to live as one.
Taking a deep breath she balled her fists that were a bit shaky, opened her eyes without looking at the body even once, and walked to the truck.
AJ glanced up from his phone as she got in the driver’s side. “You okay?”
She started the truck and nodded.
“They need to replace some lights around here. It’s black as sin.”
Jillian didn’t acknowledge him. Some things were better left in the sinful dark.
They managed the last twenty-four hours of their trip without any more casualties. It was an awful thought, but Jillian was oddly grateful for the migraine that seized AJ on the last night. As hard as she tried to be herself, whoever Jillian Knight was supposed to be, it felt too forced. AJ would have noticed had his head not been dealing with such a pounding distraction.
As soon as they arrived home, AJ nearly overdosed on pain meds and collapsed onto his bed. Jillian went home.
“I’m so unbelievably pissed at you,” Jackson scolded her the second she walked through the front door.
She dropped her bags and looked up at him, tears racing down her cheeks. The strength it took to make it home without falling apart in front of AJ almost killed her.
The anger in his eyes vanished the second he saw her pain. “Jesus! What happened?” He pulled her into his arms.
She fisted his shirt while sobs wracked her whole body. “I k-killed him.”
Jackson gripped her arms and held her back. �
��Who?” he yelled, eyes wild.
“T-T-Trigger.” She sagged in his hold.
“What? How? Look at me!”
“H-he was at a-a rest stop.”
Jackson lowered them both to the floor and brushed his thumb over the mark on her lip from AJ.
“He hurt you. Where the fuck was AJ when this happened?”
She shook her head. “He didn’t hurt me.”
“Your lip—”
“That was AJ.”
Jackson’s body went rigid. “AJ hit you?”
“I told him to—”
“You what—”
“Stop!” She grabbed Jackson’s face “Listen to me…” she sniffled “…this isn’t about AJ. We stopped at a rest stop in Wyoming last night and AJ returned to the truck before me. It was dark and I heard someone in the distance. It was him, Jackson … it was Trigger.”
“You saw him?”
“No.” Pain washed over her face. “I heard his voice. He recognized me.”
“But you didn’t look at him?”
She slowly turned her head side to side, keeping her eyes locked to his. She didn’t have to say it. They both knew.
“He had a gun.”
Jackson nodded once.
“AJ didn’t see anything.”
“He was following you?”
“No. His car was there before us. He was just as surprised to see me.”
“Come on, you’re smarter than that. There’s no fucking way it was a coincidence.”
“His car was there before we pulled off. There’s no way he was following us.”
“Did you see him get in or out of the car?”
“What?” Jillian tried to shake the confusion from her mind.
“What was the license plate number?”
“I-I don’t know.”
“There was only one other car in the lot and you didn’t get the license plate number?”
“No! I didn’t. It was late at night and we were in the middle of nowhere. Why the hell would I need to sweep the area?”
“Because that’s what you were trained to do. It’s been ingrained in you.”
“It was him!”
Jackson held her head, forcing her to look him in the eye. “But was it his car? Is it possible he did in fact follow you? Could he have parked somewhere else?”
“Oh God!” Her jaw trembled. She couldn’t say for sure if it was his car. It was just an assumption—a hasty, bad assumption. “We should call Knox.”
“I’m sure he already knows. It’s been almost twenty-four hours. They have eyes and ears everywhere. Knox knows what move you’re going to make before you do. I’ll search it up.”
Jackson stood and pulled her up then grabbed his computer. Jillian turned her back to him. She didn’t want to see any photos.
“Man found dead at Wyoming rest stop along I-80 East Wednesday night. The thirty-five-year-old male has been identified as Matthew Green from San Diego, California. Investors don’t suspect foul play but are waiting autopsy confirmation. Green has been on the FBI’s most wanted list for over a decade. He is believed to have been the accomplice of the infamous serial killer, Edwin Harvey.”
“Enough,” Jillian whispered as one last tear rolled down her cheek.
“The autopsy report will say heart attack.”
Jillian swallowed. “I know.”
“But you broke his neck.” It wasn’t a question.
She shook her head. “I didn’t. Jessica Day did.” It was what she had to believe to keep her last shred of sanity.
*
Taking the life of another never came without permanent sacrifice. Everything had a balance. In exchange for Trigger and Four’s last breaths, Jessica had to let a piece of her soul die, a soul that she shared with Jillian.
She left Jackson to deal with Knox and the high probability that she had been followed. None of it made sense. Extraordinary coincidence was more comforting than the idea that their identity and whereabouts had been compromised. But how and by whom?
“Welcome back!” Dodge greeted Jillian as she stepped inside their house escaping the blistering temperature and suffocating heat index.
“Thanks, it’s good to be back.”
“So you and AJ huh?” Dodge grinned.
Jillian felt an uncharacteristic blush heat along her neck and cheeks. “Yes, we’ve become … close.”
“Well, Lilith and Char talked the other day and they’re both real smitten with you. Said they haven’t seen AJ looking this happy since he returned from his last tour before the divorce.”
Of course Lilith and Char talked because Lilith could hear just fine out of one ear.
“You must have a lot of things to catch up on since I’ve been gone.”
“Mainly drinking in peace, but yeah, a few other errands too.” He winked and waved before leaving through the back door.
Lilith sat in her chair reading a book.
“Why did you let me believe you’re deaf?”
Lilith raised her head an inch and placed her bookmark inside. “I hadn’t planned on it.”
Jillian sat down on the sofa beside Lilith’s chair.
“But then you started telling me a story … your story.”
Jillian couldn’t hide the pained look on her face. “No one was supposed to know … I shouldn’t have—”
“I’ll take it to my grave, sweetie.” Lilith held out her hand and Jillian took it.
Her heart squeezed with anguish, thinking how close Jackson had come to ending Lilith’s life to save theirs. “If you ever tell anyone it would put your life in danger.”
“It’s not my story to tell. I promise.”
Jillian nodded.
“Why are you in Omaha? I have to know why you left the love of your life,” Lilith pleaded with her own pained expression.
Jillian felt the burden of Lilith’s sympathy and knew the right choice, the only choice, was to never say another word to Lilith about Jessica Day.
However, Jillian thrived on bad choices.
“I didn’t leave the love of my life. Jessica did because she died.”
The soft wrinkles around Lilith’s eyes deepened with confusion.
“It’s complicated.” Jessica made lemonade and then made Lilith swear on the lives of her grandchildren that Jessica Day didn’t exist.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Day
“I swear to God … if you say a fucking word—” Luke glared through narrowed eyes at Gabe.
“You’ll lose your license. I get it. Once again … not stupid. Wish I could say the same about you,” Gabe mumbled as they trekked to the hotel like oxen hauling full loads.
“For the record, she’s not my patient anymore, and we’ve never had sex.”
“Thanks for that, but just so you know, I’m not keeping record. I’m your best friend. I know more about you than you know about yourself. But I think Kelly might be my one, and I don’t want to screw it up because our best friends can’t get their shit together.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Well, work faster. And tell Jessica she needs to say something to Kelly about your trip to Tahoe before she hears about it from my parents when we go to visit them next week. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
Kelly and Jessica were waiting in the lobby.
“So, Jess and I were going to share a room, but she said we could stay together.” Kelly leaned up and kissed Gabe. “The other room has two queen beds, are you okay with it too, Luke?”
“Yeah, are you two okay with staying in the same room?” Gabe gave Luke a tightlipped grin.
Luke looked at Jessica who was staring at her feet. “We’ll survive.”
Jessica looked up, wetting her lips then rubbing them together.
“Let’s go then, ladies. We’re not going to stand here holding all this shit forever,” Gabe said.
“Oh … here, babe.” Kelly took a few bags from Gabe as Jessica jumped to ease Luke’s load as
well.
They took the elevator to their rooms and made plans to meet up for carbo-loading after Kelly and Gabe took a “nap.”
“So…” Jessica shoved open the curtains to their ocean-view window “…I think I’m ready to talk about the bag you left at my place.”
After weeks of the silent treatment since he’d left that bag, Luke was rethinking his unconventional plan to find intimacy with Jessica that didn’t involve him losing blood.
“Is this the point in our ‘relationship’ that you confess you’re into kink?” she asked, turning back toward him.
He grinned with his lips twisted to the side. “Yeah, about that …”
She plunked down in the swivel chair, throwing her feet up on the desk, reminiscent of their time at his office—minus the leather chair.
“No. I’m not into bondage. You were going to be my exception.”
“You’re afraid of me?”
“No.” He leaned against the wall, hands shoved in his pockets. “It was intended for you not for me.”
“So … you thought after my experience with Four that I might like to be restrained during sex?”
“I thought you might want to be with me and not feel guilty for making me bleed. I thought we could use the idea behind bondage to establish trust.”
“I see. So you don’t trust me?”
“I trust you implicitly.”
She drew in a slow breath. “How can you say that?” she whispered.
“Because I believe you.”
“What do you believe?”
Luke pushed off the wall and bent over, resting his hands on the arms of her chair—his face inches from hers. “I believe you love me.”
He looked at her lips and she looked at his.
“Kiss me, Jones.”
*
How could he trust her when she didn’t trust herself? His lips met hers and it didn’t matter. Jessica needed him beyond passion, beyond reason, beyond breathing.
Her hands went straight for his hair as she dropped her feet to the floor. She fell so deep into his kiss her lungs screamed for air, yet her tongue reached for more. The harder she tugged, the louder he moaned. His taste brought her to life. His smell drowned all thought. His touch felt like a whispered promise.