“You okay?” I asked, wiping the sleep away. “Did you find anything about my sister?”
He stepped into the bedroom, his gaze raking over my camisole. He looked like he wanted to consume me, and I knew if he tried, I wouldn’t stop him. I needed some sort of comfort, some sort of love. I wanted the endless pain to stop, even if only temporarily.
“You were right.” He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, his hair still wet from a recent shower.
“About what?”
“Missy’s murder had nothing to do with the others. It was a copycat.”
His words punched me in the gut. My body felt empty and my mind even emptier. We were starting all over again from the beginning. We weren’t one step closer to finding her. Even though my hunch had been right, it didn’t make me feel happy.
I wanted to be wrong. I wanted to track down the murderer and find Sadie alive, hidden somewhere.
“What do you mean?” I slid closer to Jax.
“We found the guy who killed those other women.”
“You found him?” My brows scrunched together. “How do you just find a mass murderer?”
“Because they’re never as smart as they think they are.” He took my hands in his, and his mere touch made me feel more connected to life. “He confessed.”
“To the police?” I questioned, knowing the answer.
“To the people who count.” His jaw tensed for a moment. “He wrote a letter. He committed suicide. In his confession, Missy and Sadie were not on his list of victims.”
“How can you be sure he didn’t just forget or leave them off on purpose?” I flipped on the light.
He let out a long sigh, and I glanced at his knuckles. They were slightly bruised.
My eyes connected with his. “You heard the confession directly.”
He didn’t answer.
“You’re positive Sadie is still out there and so is Missy’s killer.”
“I’m positive that Missy’s killer is still out there, but we are no closer to finding your sister, and every second that ticks by…”
My entire body went limp. I felt nothing, not even his hands holding mine as I sat back. I didn’t want to believe that Sadie was gone. That she wasn’t coming back.
I wanted to believe she was still out there, just waiting to be found.
“The guys are still working on leads downstairs, and I should really go back down there.” His voice was more gruff than usual.
“Please don’t leave me. Not yet.” I sat up and squeezed his hands, pulling him toward me.
The emptiness and raw pain pulsing through me made me feel lifeless. Everything in my life felt meaningless. My blog, the life I’d created, friends I had back in New Hampshire—none of it mattered.
“You’re going to get through this,” he said softly, letting go of my hand and moving a piece of hair back behind my ear.
His touch was so gentle and comforting. It was hard to reconcile that with the man who’d gotten answers tonight the only way he could, with bloodied and bruised fists.
“I really need to go downstairs.” His eyes fell to my lips as he stood to leave.
The sheer thought of being alone right now was agonizing.
I needed him more than even I understood.
“Please don’t leave.” I sucked in a breath, feeling the desire to be with him overwhelm my senses. It no longer mattered if the timing was right. I needed to be touched.
“Elena, I—”
“I don’t need any promises that you’ll call or that there will be a next week. I just need to be held.”
Jaxson was now standing next to the bed, towering over me as I lay back against the pillows.
“I just need to feel something,” I whispered.
His gaze touched mine with a force I wasn’t expecting. Heat and longing pushed away the worried look from only moments before.
“Elena, are you sure?” His voice was raspy with want.
“I’ve never been surer,” I said breathlessly as I sat up to undress.
I went to remove my camisole, and he shook his head, reaching for my hands.
“Wait. Take it slow.” His eyes held me in place, and I stopped whatever I was doing as he took control, exactly like I needed.
There had been so few times in my life that hadn’t been planned or meticulously studied or investigated that I didn’t even know if I’d be able to give up control like this.
“Okay.”
My gaze stayed on his, and I watched him take a step back, studying me closely as if I were the most beautiful woman in the world.
And I was fully clothed.
My heart skipped a trillion beats as I put aside everything I’d built up about this man and just saw him for who he was, standing next to me. He was beautiful, strong, capable, and smart.
Jaxson’s lips parted and his tongue ran along his bottom lip. I didn’t think he even knew he was doing it, but it made my stomach tighten with anticipation.
“You’re making this hard on me,” I murmured, reaching out for him.
“Lie back.” His eyes flew up to mine.
Without a word, I did what he said as I watched him pull off his shirt, revealing the most chiseled body I’d ever seen. His broad shoulders led to perfectly sculpted pecs and a stomach that looked god-like, especially in the shadows.
“I’ve wanted to make love to you since the first night I saw you,” he said hungrily.
His eyes held the same craving that swelled inside me.
Jaxson bent over me, caging me in with his muscular forearms as he brought his mouth to the crook of my neck, letting his warm breath caress my shoulder, cascading shivers over my entire body.
My nipples hardened as he slowly traced his tongue along my neck, sending me to the faraway place I begged to go. He brought his mouth to mine, and I moaned with pleasure as his hands ran under my camisole, his fingers finding, teasing, and taunting me with what was to come.
I parted my lips, feeling his teeth lightly graze my bottom lip before he kissed me.
My mind clouded with pain and desire as I looped my arms around his neck, but the pain quickly dissipated as his mouth opened onto mine.
I tasted the sweetness I’d tasted before, but this kiss was different from the others.
More possessive, more need-filled than I understood, it sent me to another place, one where I was floating away, forgetting all the worries here.
I let my fingers explore the bare skin of his stomach, feeling the muscular dips of his abdomen as his fingers slowly worked their way out from under my cami and down my belly.
He rested his hands just along the waistband of the flannel PJs, and my stomach tensed with anticipation.
He broke his mouth from mine, leaving my lips tingling with want. I blinked my eyes open to see him admiring me. He brought his gaze to mine and smiled before his fingers found the hem of my camisole, which he gently tugged over my head, exposing my breasts.
He circled his fingers around my nipples, sending an electrical current through me as his hands moved down to my bottoms. He quickly moved them down my legs and dropped them to the floor before securing my hands in his as he climbed over me.
“You’re even more perfect than I’d imagined,” he said softly, his body still hovering over mine.
“It’s the lighting,” I teased.
He brought his mouth down to my breasts and gently bit the tender part, sending me into an orbit of ecstasy. He broke away.
“Say it again. I dare you.” He smiled.
“It’s the lighting,” I giggled, and his mouth found my other nipple. “It’s definitely the lighting.”
He tugged gently, letting out a gruff moan that made my insides clench. I wanted to hear that sound again.
Without waiting for an invitation, I slipped my hands away from his and found the button of his jeans, which I quickly undid and attempted to work down his legs. He kicked them off the rest of the way, and I learned he wasn’t wearing an
y boxers or briefs when he brushed against my thigh.
My breath caught.
“You like that?” His hooded eyes held mine as I squirmed under him, demanding more.
“I do,” I whispered, taking him in my hands.
Everything about this man was pure perfection, and tonight, I refused to hate myself for feeling that way as his length rested in my palm and beyond.
His breath hitched as I slid my hand along, attempting to guide him, but he grabbed my hands and crushed his lips to mine.
The ache inside me was growing more and more as I felt him grind into me, teasing me as our kisses became feverish with need.
Jaxson was making me feel tonight in ways I didn’t know were possible.
I let out a gasp as his fingers slid between my legs, and I felt him smile just as his mouth parted from mine. His eyes held onto mine as he dipped lower. The warmth of his breath scattered across my bare belly, his soft kisses along my stomach slowing as he grabbed my hips.
Fear clattered through my bones, but not because I was afraid of what he was going to do to me, but what I would feel for him after he did it.
His tongue slid lower, and my eyes fluttered closed as he found the perfect rhythm, bringing me close to ecstasy time and again, but letting off at the perfect moment. My hands curled through his hair when I almost couldn’t take any more.
Jaxson slid up my body and entered me, his fullness wiping me out as I wrapped my legs around his hips. My hands ran down his back with every movement, and I felt like my world was his. I’d never felt this connected to someone and I couldn’t understand it.
As he layered kisses along my neck, the electricity charging through my body brought me to the edge just as he let go.
“I’ll always protect you.” The low, gravelly promise escaping from his mouth made me feel again.
Chapter Twenty
Jaxson
I woke up holding Elena tightly in my arms. I’d planned on sneaking off once she’d fallen asleep, but being here felt so right that I succumbed to the exhaustion too. I held her for a few more minutes, thinking about last night and knowing the real reason we’re in one another’s lives.
My mother caught me when I came back, filling me in on what she’d found out about Elena. I’d already known it myself, but I didn’t bother to tell her that.
Besides, it didn’t matter. Not now.
I had a job to finish. We needed to find Elena’s sister before it was too late, and I wasn’t sure it wasn’t already. Seeing the pain in Elena’s gaze last night nearly brought me to my knees.
I knew what it was like to not feel anything, to be detached and disconnected from the world around me.
My world had been like that until I’d met Elena.
She let out a little noise and my chest tightened. She was so beautiful and kind, yet feisty and brave. It was a combination I’d never experienced before, but I loved every second with her.
Elena stretched and slowly rolled over, her eyes blinking open.
She wrapped her arm over my waist, which pulled the sheet away from her bare breasts. It took everything I had not to make love to her again.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her beautiful eyes resting on mine.
“You’ve made me a happy man. There’s nothing to thank me for.”
“There is.” She nodded sleepily. “You made me feel. You took away the pain, even if only for last night.”
I nodded, knowing there wasn’t anything I could say that would make her world right again. To keep the pain away.
I was somewhat surprised my brothers hadn’t come barreling in to find me, but they must have known that what I’d planned and what actually transpired were two very different things.
“I need to get downstairs.”
She laughed, and it sounded lighter than it had in a long time. “I vaguely remember your saying something like that last night.” She tugged the sheet over her breasts and I held in a sigh.
“You tricked me.” I winked.
“I tricked you.” She smiled.
“Totally took advantage of me. I was helpless.” I grinned, loving to see her smile.
I knew it wouldn’t last long.
“In your dreams, big fella.”
“Big, huh?”
She rolled her eyes and blushed.
I grabbed my jeans and slipped them on, my phone falling to the floor at the same time.
A call had come over from Captain Jenkins this morning. I picked up my phone and glanced at Elena, who looked like she had no plan on leaving the bed, which was probably for the best.
“I’ve got a call to make. I missed the Captain’s call earlier.”
“Why not make it here?” She sat up, still holding the sheet over her body.
I nodded and dialed Jenkins.
He answered before a full ring.
“Thank you for that tip. Did you see the news this morning?” he asked.
“No. I haven’t had the chance to turn it on.”
The moment Elena heard that, she flipped on the television, keeping the volume low.
“You’ve saved us a lot of time and money by pointing us in the right direction.”
“Not a problem. I only wished it led where I’d hoped.”
“About that.”
“Yes?”
“We’ve got a guy we brought in for questioning, but we couldn’t hold him. We didn’t have enough evidence to keep him, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to reveal anything to my guys, so we had to let him go free.”
“Who are you talking about?” My pulse quickened.
“There was a guy we saw on some surveillance footage near the time Missy’s boyfriend died, yet he lives here in the city.”
“Yeah? Like a dealer?”
“Well, he does have that on his record, but that’s not why we were interested in him. But like I said, we didn’t have enough to keep him for questioning or charge him.” Jenkins cleared his throat. “I gave Devin the information I have on the guy. I wouldn’t put it past this dick to be involved somehow with Missy, and you never know, maybe Sadie too, but I’ll let you make your own assumptions.”
“Thanks for this.”
“After what you did for the department? Please, it’s the least I could do.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Jenkins didn’t hang up. “But boy…that suicide was a real mess, wasn’t it? But the letter was perfection.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Watch the news and you’ll learn all about it.” Jenkins laughed and hung up.
I glanced at the television.
“What did he say?” Elena was sitting on her knees, the sheet barely hanging on as she waited hopefully for my answer.
“He gave us an interesting lead. The team is probably downstairs, already working on it.”
Hope flashed through her gaze and my chest tightened.
“We’ll investigate every solid lead we can until we find answers.”
“I know.” She nodded and looked at the television. “Interesting that the guy killed himself.”
“He did?” I turned to look at the screen to see what the media had been fed by the police.
“Is that what usually happens? A guy confesses and then kills himself?” Her head tilted.
“Sometimes. I’d imagine there are all kinds of scenarios that occur.”
Her gaze focused on my knuckles. “So that’s how you do it. You feed the department a little and they feed you a little more.”
“When it suits us.”
“I’d guess that.” She glanced at the television again, but this time, her shoulders fell into her. “Aren’t you worried about what else they’ll find on this guy, killer or not?”
“Well, if the ME does a thorough examination, he’ll see the guy was one hell of a klutz with all the bruising on his torso and elsewhere.”
“And that doesn’t worry you?”
“Not in the least. Why don’t y
ou try to get a little sleep again? This kind of stress is exhausting, and you really didn’t get much rest last night.”
“I suppose I didn’t.” A blush stained her cheeks.
I walked over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be headed out today to check out this lead. I’ll call when I can.”
“Can I come?”
“I don’t think that would be a very good idea.” I was standing at the door. “Especially with your parents here. I don’t think they’d appreciate my taking you out with us.”
She nodded in agreement.
“I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Jaxson?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful. I’m getting kind of fond of you.”
“I’ve passed that with you a long time ago, Elena.”
Her smile widened, but I saw sadness touch her gaze.
“Jax? What if Harner is involved?”
Her question was one that had been tumbling around my mind since we left that guy last night.
“Then we’ll deal with him as we would anyone else.” I tapped the door and took off to the study.
“Well, how much longer are we going to let loverboy get his beauty—” Drake stopped when he saw me walk into the study.
“Excuse me. It’s unlike me to actually sleep at night,” I said sarcastically.
“We thought we’d let you rest” —Devin used air quotes— “when we realized you weren’t hurrying back.”
“I heard from Jenkins this morning,” I said, ignoring my brothers. “He said he’d already spoken with you.”
Luke came into the study behind me, holding a cup of coffee.
“He did.” Drake nodded. “We’ve had some time to look the guy up, and I think this is a solid lead. Truthfully, I’m not sure why they couldn’t find enough to keep him for questioning.”
“Continue.”
“He was seen on security footage loitering around up in Rochester from about the time the girl went missing. He was also seen there around the time of her boyfriend’s overdose or whatever the police are calling it.” Devin glanced at Blake.
“Now, we didn’t see any footage of him around the area where Missy was found, and we’ve been combing it for the hours leading up to her death,” Blake added. “So that might make this a dead end.”
Jaxson: A Romantic Suspense (V Mafia Series Book 3) Page 17