“So we’ll just wait until Derrick’s out of the house and go in and take Abby. Since we’ll have proof of Derrick’s threats by then, I doubt you’ll catch any legal flack for doing whatever it takes to protect your little girl.”
“Oh, and I know exactly when to do it!” She vaulted into a seated position, treating Jackson to a very distracting view of her breasts.
“When?” Nicky noticed the direction of his stare, but didn’t move to cover herself. Instead she just smiled, a secret little smile that made his cock even harder.
“There’s this new BDSM club Derrick was visiting pretty regularly before I left. It’s out in the Valley, but a lot of the girls who go there don’t mind partner swapping or performing with another man for their dom.” Nicky’s expression left little doubt how distasteful she found the practice. Good. Jackson wasn’t into sharing and had never understood doms who got off on watching their submissive partner perform sexually with other men. “We can stake out the club. Then, when he shows up, we head back to the house and get Abby. By then she and the night nanny will probably be asleep, so we can just sneak in and out without anyone even knowing we were there.”
“Sounds like an excellent plan,” Jackson said, reaching for Nicky in spite of himself.
With all the doubts still swirling in his mind, the last thing he should be doing was making a move to continue their sexual relationship. They should be friends and nothing more until her little girl was safe and they’d had time to talk about what they each wanted for the future.
But then Nicky took his hands and pushed them above his head, straddling him with that naughty smile. One look at the heated look in her eyes and he knew he was a goner.
“It does. Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.” She leaned over him, teasing him with her breasts, brushing the soft skin against his face as she lifted first one wrist and then the other to the headboard.
Jackson didn’t fight. He let her cuff him, figuring she deserved the chance to turn the tables after all he’d done. After he’d manhandled her and tied her down without permission.
The thought was nearly enough to make his cock soften, but then Nicky was kissing him, pushing her tongue into his mouth, making him groan. She tasted so fucking sweet, like everything he’d hungered for in his entire life. He met her strokes with his own, exploring every inch of her mouth. Both of them were breathing fast by the time Nicky pulled away with a quick nip at his lower lip.
Seconds later she was busy at his belt buckle, tearing off his belt, fumbling with his fly, her hands shaking like she hadn’t been laid in years.
“No foreplay?” he asked, groaning again as his swollen length sprang free.
Nicky shoved his jeans and boxer briefs to his knees and then made quick work of her little black panties. “No foreplay. I want you inside me. Now.”
She rose up over him in one smooth motion, spreading the lips of her sex and positioning his cock at her entrance. Seconds later he was inside her silken sheath, encased all the way to his aching balls.
“God, Nick.” He moaned as she leaned forward, her hair spilling in silky waves around his face as she captured his lips once more.
They kissed for what seemed like forever, a slow, sensual meetings of lips, teeth, and tongue that communicated so much more than words. Less than a half hour ago, he’d thought he’d never know this kind of connection with Nick ever again. That sense of loss was still so close to the surface, intensifying the pleasure of every kiss, setting every place they touched on fire.
And slowly driving him even further out of his mind.
Of course, it didn’t help that Nicky limited her movement to tiny circles of her hips, grinding against him so only the base of his cock felt the friction of sliding in and out of her tight heat. The slight movement made him impossibly thicker, harder, until things low in his body cramped with an almost painful pleasure.
It was a sweet breed of torture, lying there beneath her. He was dying to buck his hips, to drive inside her, hard and fast. But he only hummed into her mouth, forcing himself to follow her lead, to let her set the pace.
“Jackson.” She breathed his name, the arousal clear in her voice making his jaw clench.
Damn, it was hell to hold back, to force his movements to mimic Nicky’s own. But he could feel how her pussy clenched each time he nudged against her clit. She was close to the edge, her muscles strung tight and her breath coming in desperate little pants. The arms braced on either side of his face trembled and her hands fisted in the pillow beneath him. She only needed the slightest push and she’d shatter, her cunt clenching around his cock.
Thankfully he had just the perfect push in mind. “I want to suck my tits. Move for me.”
Nicky obeyed with a moan, shifting on top of him so that her breasts and her tightly puckered nipples were within easy reach. Jackson’s breath caught at the erotic beauty of her flushed skin. She was so perfect, the only woman who had ever literally taken his breath away.
He captured one rosy tip in his mouth, sucking and nibbling, tracing the pebbled flesh with his tongue until Nicky writhed on top of him. She picked up the pace of her movements, more wet heat gushing from her sex as he transferred his attention to the other breast, dragging his teeth over her nipple before licking away the sting.
“Are you going to come for me?” he asked, in between flicks of his tongue. “Are you going to come on your cock?”
“Oh, god. Oh, god, yes.” She moaned, the circling of her hips growing more and more frantic until finally she threw her head back with a wild cry. Her back arched, pressing her breasts closer to his face as she came.
Jackson sucked even harder, pulling at her sensitized flesh until she screamed his name and began to move again. In seconds she was coming a second time, fingernails digging into his shoulders with enough force for it to sting, even through the thick fabric of his sweater. The feel of her slick, hot pussy clutching at him a second time was almost more than he could take.
“Fuck, Nick,” he mumbled against her soft, damp skin. “Ride me. Ride my—”
She sucked in a deep breath, braced her hands on his chest and lifted her hips, slamming them back down before he could finish his sentence. Without the slightest urging, she set a brutal rhythm, sheathing him inside her again and again, as if she’d read his mind and knew exactly what his body craved.
The sound of flesh slapping against flesh filled the room as her ass made impact with his thighs, underscored by the grunts and groans as each of them neared the edge. Jackson arched to meet her as she dropped her hips, intensifying their connection, reaching all the way to the end of her and still not feeling as if he’d ever get close enough.
The smell of her arousal spun through his head, making his hands itch to reach between them, to gather some of the wet heat dampening her thighs and bring his fingers to his mouth. He wanted to taste her at the same time he lost himself inside her, wanted to drown himself in every aspect of Nicky.
“Jack. God, Jack,” she gasped, her rhythm starting to falter.
“Harder, faster. Don’t stop.” He watched her breasts bounce as she began to ride him once more. His swollen balls ached, throbbing with the need to come, but he forced himself to hold back his release, to savor every last moment of being inside his girl.
“I’m going to come, Jack. I can’t, I—”
“Come,” he groaned, the sound transforming to a cry of surrender as orgasm hit them both at the same moment. His cock jerked inside of her even as her pussy clenched around him, milking every last drop of seed from his body. Things low in his body twisted in ways that didn’t feel natural, but they sure as hell felt good. He couldn’t remember ever coming so hard his vision blurred and his skin felt too small to contain the pure pleasure exploding inside his every cell.
His ears were ringing by the time body and soul finally reconnected, the blood pounding through his veins making him decidedly hard of hearing.
That was the only expl
anation as to why he hadn’t noticed the men in the door sooner.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” he asked, his voice at its deep and most threatening best despite the fact that he was cuffed to a bed and not in a position to be doing anyone much damage. He must have forgotten to lock the door. A pretty stupid call out in the middle of nowhere, where they had more than their share of backwoods crazies.
“Shit!” Nicky shrieked and leapt off of him, burrowing under the covers before poking her head back out. “You scared the hell out of me,” she said, breath coming fast as she flipped one edge of the blanket over Jackson’s now exposed cock. Still, she didn’t sound afraid.
Probably because the men were cops. After a second look at the door, Jackson too noticed the khaki uniforms and the holsters, complete with walkie-talkies and standard-issue firearms. Shit indeed. Nicky had hit the nail right on the head.
“We were just leaving, ma’am,” the younger man said, tipping his hat and directing his eyes to a spot somewhere on the ceiling. “We’d gotten a report there might be a woman in trouble up here, but obviously we were mistaken.”
“Unless you’re the one in trouble, sir,” the older man said, a grin on his face, though he too had the decency to avert his eyes from the bed.
“Nope, no trouble.” Jackson willed his voice to be calm and collected, to not betray the anxiety he felt. If Nicky was going to turn him over, she would have done it already. Right? “At least not any trouble I don’t want to be in.”
“And you, ma’am? If you want out of here, we can wait while you get dressed and escort you back down to town.” The younger man stepped a little farther into the room and let his hand stray casually to his gun, making it clear he was ready to do whatever it took to protect and serve.
“No, I’m fine. We were just having a little argument earlier. Disagreeing about wedding plans.” She laughed, such a genuine sound Jackson would never have guessed she was lying if he didn’t know better. “You know how stressful that kind of thing can be.”
“All right, but keep the arguments in the privacy of your own home next time. You had a few people worried.” The older cop sighed, but didn’t seem overly annoyed. He and his partner probably hadn’t had much else to do tonight in a community like this one.
“Will do. Thanks, Officers.” Nicky smiled and actually waved as the two men turned and tromped down the stairs.
Jackson lay beside her, holding his breath until he heard the door slam below them. That had been entirely too close. What if he hadn’t stopped modifying Nicky’s tat in time? What if the policemen had entered the room to find a sobbing woman tied to his bed and him jabbing at her with a needle? Getting arrested wouldn’t have been anything he didn’t deserve at that point, but still. . . .
The enormity of his risk finally hit him in the face. Christian had been right. It had been a form of suicide to go ahead with his plan to kidnap Nicky. Even the fact that she seemed happy to be with him most of the time they’d been together didn’t make up for it. He was a madman, a criminal, and not nearly good enough for the woman giggling as she rolled over him to fetch the hand-cuff keys.
“Ohmygod, that was hysterical. I’ve never been caught in the act before. How embarrassing. I nearly peed myself I was so scared.” She unlocked the cuffs and then hurried into the bathroom, still laughing.
Jackson heard the water running and then the toilet flush, but not even those normal sounds could thaw the cold fear in his heart. He was going to have to watch himself very, very closely. Whatever madness had driven him to this point was probably still swirling around in his brain, waiting to come out and play. His job now was to make sure it didn’t get the chance, that he never committed another criminal act around Nicky or anyone else.
He’d help her, make sure she and her daughter were safe, and then he’d get the hell out of her life. It was the best thing he could do. There was no doubt he loved her, but she deserved a sane, rational man who would never think of doing half the things he’d done the past two days. Including taking advantage of a woman in a vulnerable position.
“So, I’m starved. What about you?” Nicky asked as she plucked her clothes from the floor and dressed. “Do you think that pasta you made is still good?”
“We can reheat it, and eat it on the road. Let’s get everything packed up.” Jackson rolled from the bed and tugged his pants up around his waist.
“Okay,” Nicky said, her tone wary. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just . . . I think we should get back to L.A. The sooner we get things moving, the sooner we get your daughter back.”
She nodded and walked toward her room, but stopped in the door to the bath and turned back to him. “I was never going to tell the police, Jackson. Even if you’d forced me to change the tattoo, I wouldn’t have. I care too much about you to ruin your life.”
Jackson’s heart lurched in his chest as he watched her disappear. Her words only cemented his decision. He had to get out of her life, as soon as possible. He didn’t deserve a woman like Nicky. Never had, never would.
Chapter Fifteen
So we’re all straight on where we need to be when?” Jackson asked, pacing around the luxury hotel suite where they’d been staying since their return to L.A. He’d thought it would be best if they stuck close to plan their strategy, which had been more than fine with Nicky.
The suite was twice the size of her studio apartment and she still couldn’t get enough of Jackson. Even after the sex marathon they’d had at the cabin, she’d been eager to get back between the sheets with the man. Making love to him was swiftly becoming an addiction.
Too bad he didn’t feel the same way.
He hadn’t touched her in three days. Instead of joining her in bed, he’d sacked out on the couch, leaving her one of the suite’s bedrooms and his partner, Christian, who had flown in from Miami, the other. Something was obviously bothering him, but she hadn’t had the chance to talk to him about it. Christian or his other friends always seemed to be around. They hadn’t had ten minutes alone together since the ride back to L.A.
But if she was honest with herself, she’d felt him pulling away even then. Ever since their brief and embarrassing encounter with the police, he’d been acting differently. He was still committed to helping her get her daughter back, but he didn’t seem interested in continuing what they’d begun up at the cabin.
Nicky knew she shouldn’t let that hurt her so much. Three days were nothing in the scheme of things, and saying you loved someone didn’t necessarily mean you were ready to settle down and live happily ever after. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she was ready. She only knew she missed the connection they’d had, missed it so much it made her feel strangely hollow inside.
But she had to pull herself together. Jackson had his own life, his own plans for the future, and they had nothing to do with her. She should just be grateful he was using his connections to help her get Abby back.
And she was. But she was also disappointed. Profoundly.
“Christian, do you remember where you’re supposed to wait for the call?”
“Jackson, we’ve been over it a hundred times,” Christian said, reaching for the television remote and sinking farther down into the overstuffed couch. “Let’s check out what’s on pay-per-view and relax for a couple of hours, man.”
His blasé attitude bugged Nicky. A lot. This was her daughter’s life on the line, after all. “If you don’t want to help out with this, Christian, I totally understand. We can change the plan. Jackson and I can do the bit at the club then—”
“Of course I want to help, and I’m your man for breaking and entering. Believe me,” Christian said, turning his attention back to where Nicky and the two cameramen sat at the mahogany dining table.
The monstrosity was bigger than her bed back at her studio apartment, and reminded her way too much of the ostentatious furnishings in her former home. Derrick had picked out all their pieces himself and his tastes ra
n to the large and overly embellished. Just another thing they hadn’t had in common. Nicky had felt more at home in Jackson’s cabin after two days than she had in three years of wandering Derrick’s garish showplace.
“This isn’t breaking and entering,” Nicky said. “I have a key and the code to the security system.”
“And what if the code has changed? What would you do then?”
“I don’t know,” she said, trying to keep anger from her tone. The man wasn’t trying to be argumentative, he just rubbed her the wrong way. “I’d figure something out.”
“Figure something out. Good plan.” He snorted, a derisive sound that made her grit her teeth.
Maybe the bastard was trying to be argumentative. Fine with her.
“Well, what are you going to do if Abby starts crying and wakes up the nanny?” Nicky asked. “She doesn’t know you, and I’m betting she’s not going to like you very much.”
“I’ll have you know I’m good with ladies of all ages,” Christian said, that smirk on his face she knew most women would find sexy, but only made her want to strangle him. “You want references? I’m sure Jackson would be willing to testify to my many successes with the fairer sex.”
“Christian.” He spoke his partner’s name, but Jackson’s tone was a warning to both of them to cut the crap. He was right. They didn’t have time to argue.
Nicky sighed, all the anger flooding from her as the cold reality of what they were planning set in once more. She was placing way too much trust in a man she didn’t really know, and it scared her. “Listen, I’m grateful for your offer to help,” she said in a softer voice, “but I honestly think it would be better if I went.”
Christian met her eyes, the hard look on his face softening for one of the first times since she’d met him Sunday morning. She’d been surprised to find Christian fairly hostile toward the woman his best friend had promised to help, but tried not to take it personally. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was here to get Abby back.
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