by Lisa Durkin
“What do you mean?” She had doubled over and wrapped her arms around her midsection, sobbing hard. He ran his hands over her back, trying to comfort her any way he could.
She looked up at him. “He asked Daddy if he knew I was pregnant. Daddy said I wasn’t. Then he asked me and I lied too. I said I wasn’t pregnant. I just wanted to save the baby. I wanted it so much…” She trailed off, sobbing again.
After a moment she continued, crying and hoarse. “That’s when he…he stabbed Daddy in the chest because somehow he knew. He knew all along that I was pregnant and we were lying. I don’t know how he knew. But he stabbed Daddy and he wouldn’t stop! I couldn’t get to him because I couldn’t get up. Oh God, the blood, Jackson…and then he came for me.”
Jackson grabbed her and held her against his chest. He closed his eyes and remembered the pictures he had seen in her file. She thought herself responsible. No wonder she hadn’t recovered.
“Rory.” He leaned back and looked into her eyes, his hands on either side of her face. “Rory, did your dad know you were pregnant?”
Tears streamed down her face as she stared at him with those big brown eyes. “Yes, he knew. I told him,” she sobbed.
“He must have wanted to save the baby too. He tried to convince Aidan that you weren’t pregnant. He lied too, Rory, not just you. This isn’t your fault.” He held her tightly.
She stilled as she thought about what Jackson said. He pressed her head onto his shoulder.
Jackson held her for a long time. After her sobbing eased, he stood and gently lifted her into his arms. He took her into his bedroom and laid her in the middle of the big bed. He returned to the guest room and retrieved his gun, tucking it back in the drawer. He went into the bathroom and got a wet washcloth and glass of water. Returning to Rory, he gently wiped her face and waited for her to finish drinking. She watched him solemnly.
After putting away the washcloth and glass, he returned to the bed. He lay back and pulled Rory to his chest. He held her tightly and kissed her head.
“Try to sleep, baby.” He kissed her head again as he felt her muscles relax and melt into him.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rory didn’t have to open her eyes to know exactly where she was. She had missed waking to this. She loved the feel of Jackson’s warm skin, his masculine scent, and the sounds of his calmly beating heart. She snuggled against his side and ran her hand slowly over his rock-hard chest.
She rather begrudgingly admitted to herself that he had made sense at dinner last night. It helped to hear that his feelings for her had developed separately from his political plans. She didn’t know why something so simple had to be said out loud for her to believe it. But she did believe him. Especially when he said he loved her. She was on the committee, it was done, and he was still beside himself declaring his love for her, standing by her through this bullshit. She didn’t want to be without him again. She was in love with him.
And she felt…happy about it, joyful even. This gorgeous man was in love with her. A smile spread across her lips even as she cursed herself for not listening to him the first time he tried to tell her. She had been stubborn and stupid, so convinced it was hell raining down on her again. Although she still didn’t relish the committee.
Her breath caught at the memory of her nightmare. She played it back in her mind. Why had she never thought of her father’s denial of her pregnancy? Both of them had lied to Aidan about the baby, not just her. Aidan had said not to lie to him or he’d kill them. Daddy had lied too. They had both tried to save the baby. It didn’t feel like absolution, but it was different, as if she weren’t alone with what happened.
She was terrified Jackson would be hurt. And he had read her file. It made her sick to think of it. He knew how bad it had been, and about the pregnancy. Her forehead wrinkled as she winced at what he must have thought, the photos he had seen. He had read it before they had spent their first night together, before he had touched her. But he had still wanted her.
Her hand caressed his chest and lightly followed the dark line of hair down his stomach. She felt the velvet skin covering hard muscle there. She also felt his very erect cock bobbing up and down. Such a beautiful body. Such a beautiful man, and yet she thought she was most attracted to his heart. That was how she knew.
“I do love you,” she whispered.
She felt him start in surprise. He reached down and tilted her head back, his look awestruck. He searched her face with his eyes before taking her lips in a soft, warm kiss. When he pulled back, he searched her face again.
“Can you say that again?”
She smiled brightly. “I love you.”
He stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and squeezing her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. When he pulled back he had a wide grin on his face.
“Thank you…I mean, I love you too… Are you sure?”
“Well, I could reexamine my feelings if you want me to.”
“No, no, I mean, I just didn’t know if you felt the same way… God, I’m so in love with you.” He kissed her deeply, his body engulfing hers. He rolled on top of her, his hands cupping either side of her face. He looked into her eyes. “You make me so happy,” he breathed, before taking her mouth again.
He held her pressed against his body as if he didn’t want to chance her getting away. His kiss was deep and slow. She instinctually spread her legs to feel his erection against her silk-covered sex.
Jackson lifted and looked at her. “I have missed you so much. Don’t ever leave me again.” Her heart leapt at his plea as he kissed her passionately, rolling his hips into her. “Tell me again, please. I want to hear it,” he begged as his lips went to her neck.
“I love you, Jackson.”
“Oh God, I love you too, Rory.” He grinded into her as he kissed her hard. “You know what I want to do?”
“I have a pretty good idea, and I’m totally onboard.”
He looked deeply into her eyes. “I want to make love to you. I don’t just want to fuck or have sex. I want to make love.”
It was her turn to look into his eyes with awe. She had long ago given up hope of a man, let alone one who understood the difference.
“Yes, let’s make love,” she said, lifting to his lips, tears slipping free as she closed her eyes. A lovely feeling of relief and arrival stirred her emotions.
He gently tugged her shirt up and over her head. He caressed her skin, his eyes feasting on her naked breasts. Their lips met and he palmed her breasts gently, sensually rubbing across her nipples until they rose and puckered.
He leaned to the side and ran his hand slowly down her body. She wasn’t ashamed or alarmed when he touched her scarring. She didn’t give it a thought. He worshipped her with his eyes and hands, warming her skin. Her entire focus was on him and his on her, as he so gently set every part of her on fire.
“I missed your gorgeous body,” he whispered. “I missed you.”
His hand dipped inside her panties and her hips lifted to his touch. He slowly caressed her sex and impaled her, stroking her. She cried out and he covered her mouth with his as he continued to finger her, his tongue meeting hers slowly. She was quickly pulled to the brink of orgasm.
Just before she would have burst with climax, he abandoned her and moved to the side.
“I don’t want you to come alone, baby. We’re going to come together.” He moved back and peeled her panties off. He replaced his arm underneath her and held her body to his again as she felt the blunt head of his cock press into her, almost throwing her over the edge.
“Oh God, Jackson,” she gasped, and he looked into her eyes. He pressed forward, inch by inch filling her until she held all of him inside her. He groaned and hugged her to him tightly.
“Rory, I love you,” he breathed, pushing into her harder.
She felt worshipped and wanted him to feel the same.
“I love you too, Jackson.” His eyes closed in reverence and he captured her mouth a
s he churned into her harder and quicker. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of him inside her.
“Please, Rory, open your eyes. Look into my eyes.” She did as he asked and saw the love in his gaze. “Come with me.”
“Let’s get married.”
Rory’s head shot off his shoulder and he smiled into her shocked face.
“Are you nuts?” she said.
“I’ll say it again, only for you. Why shouldn’t we get married? We’re in love, aren’t we?”
She lay on the pillow next to him, their faces inches apart. She looked into his eyes and could tell he was dead serious. She had to smile. The idea of him proposing was crazy but made her heart sing. Such a beautiful man. Yep, she was in love all right.
“Don’t you think you’re jumping the gun a little? We’ve only known each other for a matter of weeks, and one of them we spent apart because you weren’t honest with me. Don’t think you’re off the hook for that one. We have some things to work through here.”
“Namely?”
“Namely the fact that I now sit on a committee I hate because of your manipulation. There’s also my late husband’s crazy brother following us around. Oh, and don’t forget the FBI, Homeland Security and Secret Service agents practically living with us. All in all, I’d say this wasn’t the best time to be making any major life decisions.”
He leaned up on his arm. “Actually, I don’t think there’s ever been a better time. Everything is crystal clear to me, especially after the last week. The thought of losing you is worse than almost anything else I could imagine. I know what I want, Rory. I haven’t felt like this…ever,” he said with a wave of his hand. “You remember when you said you were a means to an end for me? Well, you are, my complete happiness.”
Tears filled her eyes. Nobody had ever said anything so romantic to her. She leaned up and kissed him gently, burrowing into his chest as he took her into his arms. She was trying to hold back her tears that were of both happiness and fear.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he whispered.
“I don’t know,” she breathed. “I just feel like there’s so much shit right now. I just want to get rid of all this bullshit.” She ran her fingertips through his chest hair as she examined how she felt.
“We can only fix what we can control. We can’t control the crazy bastard who’s stalking you, but we can go along with this and try to get him out of our lives. They’ll get him and you’ll never have to worry about it again.”
She snorted. “I’m glad one of us is sure.”
“Well, I am. And about the committee, I am sorry, Rory.” He rolled over her so he could look directly into her eyes. “If I had it to do over again, I would have told you what the party was after, what I was originally after, right away. It just changed for me so quickly. I started having such strong feelings for you that I was afraid you’d walk away if I told you. In the end, that obviously backfired…” He trailed off. “I just didn’t want to lose you, and I was stuck with what I had to do.”
She looked at him, considering what he was saying.
“Is it really that bad? Why do you hate that committee so much?”
She was tempted to let his question go unanswered. But in the interest of the full disclosure she needed with him, she made herself respond. Besides, she should probably let him know everything.
She closed her eyes and spoke. “I guess it’s not the committee that I hate. It’s the idea of being so close to those topics.” She inhaled hard. “I don’t want to talk about what happened to me. I don’t want to have to share it with the world.”
“You don’t have to talk about what happened to you.”
She snorted again. “You know as well as I do why your party wants me on that committee. They want to use my story.”
“We can work around that. I’m going to take care of that for you. I’m going to take care of everything,” he said emphatically.
She smiled indulgently at him. “Jackson, you know as well as I do that’ll only go so far.”
He leaned back again and held her tight.
“You read my file,” she said meekly.
“Yes, I did,” he answered carefully and she was quiet again.
Finally she spoke. “Everybody knows my husband killed my dad and tried to kill me. But only a handful of people know that I was pregnant.” She closed her eyes. “I didn’t want anybody to know. I still don’t.” She wiped away a loose tear.
He held her tightly, surrounding her small body with his.
“I don’t want the world to know that he took my baby.” She forced herself to look up at him, her chin quivering. “Jackson, he took my ability to ever have a baby.”
She watched as his eyes showed the realization of what she was saying, and slowly reflected her sadness. He closed his eyes and held her, squeezing her hard.
“I’m so sorry, baby, I didn’t know that,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.” He held her quietly until they both had control over their emotions again.
“You know, it’s not your fault. You have no culpability in that.”
She sat up and rubbed her face. She needed to move away from this conversation. “Yeah, I have a hard time with that.” She looked at the clock. “It’s Saturday. I should check on the men in my condo.” She started to get out of bed and he grabbed her around the waist.
“Will you think about it?” He nipped her naked hip with his teeth.
“Think about what?” she teased.
“Don’t make me spank your ass, baby…about marrying me.”
“Will you still spank me if I marry you?” she teased, running her hand down his stomach and grasping his erection.
“Will that make you say yes?” he breathed, groaning and pushing his hips into her hand.
“It’s certainly food for thought,” she said, pumping his cock. “Speaking of which, I’m so hungry.”
He hissed as she took him into her mouth.
Jackson wouldn’t let Rory out of his sight. He insisted she shower with him, not that it took much convincing. And he was sure to thank her properly, on his knees with her thighs wrapped around his head. After they finally dressed, she sat at the counter while he made them both breakfast. She was wearing those jeans again, the ones with the ripped knee. The ones that drove him insane with the way they hugged her shapely ass.
This was quickly turning into one of the best days ever, even with the FBI crap. Now that he had her back, he admitted how scared he had been that he had lost her. He was going to make damn sure he was never without her again. He’d get her to marry him, and soon. She would be his forever.
As the bacon fried, he leaned over the bar and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, nudging her nose with his. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, sinking her fingers into his thick hair.
“I need something from you,” she whispered, her forehead resting on his.
“I’d give you anything.”
“I need a promise.” She peered at him with her big brown eyes.
“Me too, that you’ll be mine forever.”
“Well, think of this as the promise that could lead to that. But I’m very serious. And I need you to be dead serious with me. And honest.”
He stood up straight and looked at her. “Anything,” he said. “Anything for you, Rory. I want you to be able to trust me.”
“I need you to promise me that you’ll be honest with me and never involve me in any politics ever again. Unless we do something together that we both want to sponsor or something.” She looked at him with her steely gaze. “You can never use me again. I have to be able to count on that. I have to know that you’re always honest with me and telling me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
He looked adamantly into her eyes. “I promise you will never be used again, by me or anyone else. I promise you I will always be honest with you. I promise you will be able to trust me to take care of you for the rest of our lives.”
He walke
d around the bar and gathered her into his arms.
“Look at me,” he said as he lifted her chin. Her lips were quivering and he caught a stray tear with his thumb as he held her face. “I promise you all of that and more. I am completely serious. You are my girl, forever. I want your trust and faith. I will never do anything again that would hurt you or make you doubt that you can trust and count on me. I love you, Rory.”
She couldn’t hold back the tears and he held her tightly until she stilled. “I know this is hard for you, and I made it harder,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she offered in a hoarse voice.
“No, it’s not. But I’ll show you. I’ll make it better.”
She sniffled and wiped her face with her hand, standing back from him.
“Good,” she stated. “Because I do love you.”
“And that makes me so happy,” he said, pulling her in again and kissing her. He held her close, rocking her back and forth.
“I need one more thing, Jackson.”
“Anything, baby.”
“Breakfast. Your bacon is burning.”
“I’m going across the hall and checking on those guys,” Rory said, handing him her plate. “I want to know if there’s been any progress with this mess.”
“Wait up, I’ll go with you.” He turned off the water and wiped his hands on the dishtowel. Rory was making her way to the door when she heard her cell phone and grabbed her purse off the dining room table. Jackson watched as she answered.
“Hi, Landon.” She held her finger up and moved to the couch in the living room. Jackson leaned on the kitchen island and watched as she propped her feet on the coffee table. He scanned her body. She was so sexy in those jeans and sweater. It made him hard just watching her talk on the phone. The doorbell rang and he moved to answer it.
“Can I help you?” He recognized Agent Sutton from Rory’s office.
“Good morning, Congressman. I’m here to collect Rory for a briefing in her condo.” He tried to look past Jackson into the room.