by Taylor Lee
Mac forced a nervous laugh. “Not that I don’t have a darn good idea of your intentions, Mr. Justice. Look, as tightly as we’re both wound up at this point, as an exercise addict, I’m wondering if a ten mile run wouldn’t serve us both well?” She added with a grin, “That is, if you’re willing to shuck your GQ garb for a pair of runner’s trunks and a t-shirt.”
Jorden looked over at her and in a split second, his frown morphed into a grin.
“Hmm. Is that the psychologist talking, Mac? Or is the woman beside me aware of what kind of exercise her sex-starved lover had in mind for this afternoon and is trying to prolong my anticipation?”
“Hmm, indeed. Sorry, Mr. Assistant United States Attorney, you and I are a lot of things, but sex-starved is not one of them. That is, if starved implies restraint on either of our parts.”
Jorden guffawed. “Fine, I’ll grant you that we can’t be together ten minutes before I have you in a compromising position—usually on the floor! And when that isn’t possible and distance is an issue, we’re engaging in phone sex or sexting.”
His jaw tightened at his inadvertent mention of the text messages that Chloe had stolen from his phone. Mac was glad when he grabbed her hand and acknowledged the painful episode.
“Look, Mac, I’m still reeling, as you are, from my daughter’s duplicitous actions. She intended to wound us both and she did. But sweetheart, nothing will ever take away from my excitement at any of the things we have done. I can’t get enough of you, McKenna Durant, in whatever mode I can have you. In person, over the phone, or even over the ether. I lust for you, Mac.”
“Ditto, Jorden. But how about it? I need to work off some of the angst that has my gut in knots. Before you and I hooked up, the way I used to deal with stress was by hitting the running trail. Not that I’m suggesting that we replace our monkey sex with running, you understand.”
Jorden broke in. “I hear you, Mac. Nothing will ever replace our ‘monkey sex’, as you cogently describe it. But, given our present circumstances, a ten-mile run may be what we both need. Besides, I can’t think of a better appetizer than chasing after you in those booty-baring running shorts of yours and that revealing halter you wear. Hell, baby, it makes me hard just thinking about it.” His grin widened. “Although, I’ll confess, I’ve been hard since you first ambled out of the school and threw yourself at me.”
Mac shrieked, “I threw myself at you, Mr. Justice? Sorry, but I have at least one hundred nosey voyeurs who clearly saw you attack me first.” She added in mock disgust, “And I do not wear booty shorts and revealing halters…at least when I run. However, I will admit doing anything with you brings out the vamp in me.”
Jorden laughed heartily. “Listen up, Coach, you ramp up that vamp any time you choose as long as it is with me. And, yes, my smart, intuitive woman. Ten miles on the trail is precisely what I need as an appetizer to the outrageous things I intend to do to you when I get you to the closest floor”.
****
After six miles of hardcore running, Jorden marveled at Mac’s wisdom. During the first three miles, he’d admitted just how uptight he was. As his feet pounded the trail, he allowed the painful memories of the god-awful custody hearing to skitter through his brain. It had been useless to try to forget it, so Jorden consciously considered it. And yes, it had been as difficult and painful as he remembered. At the three-mile mark, his mood began to change. He’d been at this place many times in years of distance trail running. With a grateful exhalation he gave into the hormonal magic beginning to free his spirit from the depression he’d been fighting. Over the next three miles, he allowed the endorphins to do their work and moved happily into that glorious euphoria known as a runner’s high.
Focusing on Mac’s lithe body eating up the trail in front of him, he admitted it was hard to feel anything but good given the gifted athlete setting their challenging pace. At his insistence she’d donned the “booty shorts”, as he called them, that did wondrous things to her curvy hips and tight buttocks. In addition to cupping her sweetheart ass, they were brief enough to make her toned thighs and calves even more drool-worthy if possible. Granting his lecherous request, Mac had conceded and was wearing a low cut halter that confirmed that the naughty minions at Victoria’s Secret knew as much about enticing exercise wear as they did the sexiest lingerie. By the time they’d reached mile eight, Jorden was casing the woods around them for a secluded resting spot. He admitted the only tension he was feeling was in a more than familiar place and was definitely welcome. Christ, he thought, so much for not making it to a bed. Hell, it was obvious they weren’t going to make it to his house, so much for the floor. At least if his throbbing cock had anything to say about it. Which Jorden acknowledged that when it came to Mac, his little head was unquestionably more powerful than his educated brain could ever be.
Seeing a pond nestled in an upcoming copse of trees, he called out to her. “Slow up, tiger. Have pity on this old man.”
Mac shot him a surprised glance over her shoulder and slowed her championship pace to what normal runners would have considered arduous. “What’s the matter, Mr. Justice? Can’t keep up with a girly-girl?”
Jorden laughed as she slowed down, allowing him to stride comfortably beside her. It was a mistake. As enticing as her ass had been to his obsessed gaze, the sight of her bodacious breasts fighting to escape the VS miracle of sexy spandex confirmed that a rest stop was definitely in order. If there had been any question about his intent, it was clarified when he saw the trickle of sweat glistening on her cleavage. Knowing that licking off that enticing moisture was only the first place he intended to lick, he caught her arm and tugged her next to him.
“Yeah, hotshot, I confess. You’re making a pussy out of me. Or at least you’ve made me think about pussies. To be precise, yours!” Ignoring her shocked gaze, he grinned at her and pointed to the glimmering pond peeking out from among the trees. “Hate to be crass, Coach Durant, but I’ve been sniffing at your backside for about as many miles as I can manage without relief.”
Not allowing her to respond he hugged her sweaty body next to his. Scooping her up in his arms, he nuzzled the sensitive place below her ear. “How about it, tiger-woman? Think you can put aside your Tori Bowie doppelganger for a spell and give this panting, sex-starved male animal a taste of the sweetest nectar known to man?”
“You have to be kidding, Jorden.” She glanced quickly around the quiet forest. Clinging to his shoulder, she looked toward the dappled surface of the pond partially hidden by the trees. “We can’t do it here…can we?”
He chortled, “Hell, honey, you have to admit that the only thing we haven’t been able to do so far is make love like normal people instead of sex-starved hedonistic animals.”
Not allowing her to twist free, he strode to the secluded tree-shadowed enclave and knelt down next to the softly lapping water. Laying her on the grass, he stretched out beside her and drawled in her ear. “C’mon, tiger, admit it. It’s time we gave the floor, my deck, and your dining-room table a rest. How about adding the bare ground in broad daylight to our seductive repertoire?”
Mac gazed up at the smiling man positioning himself on top of her. She was startled that she had gone from horrified to hungry in ten seconds flat. Which was hardly a mystery given that Jorden’s strong thighs straddling her hips were accentuating the enormous bulge tenting his trunks.
Seeing her focusing on his burgeoning cock, Jorden’s eyes danced mischievously as he nodded to his straining member. “A little hard to keep my feelings to myself when he’s intent on giving me away. But I gotta tell you, Mac, you have the sexiest body in the world and the only thing that can make it more enticing is to see it flushed and bathed in sweat.”
At Mac’s surprised gasp, Jorden laughed as he leaned down to press his lips against her chest, then licked the moist skin between her breasts. When she moaned in response to his sexy initiative, he groaned.
“Oh yeah, baby, licking this luscious moisture off y
our body is only the first wetness I’m going to attack. Do you have any idea what a turn-on it is to see the woman you love bathed in sweat and know that the only thing more enticing are the heady scents and sexy moisture collecting in her oh-so-fragrant recesses?”
Mac might have been horrified at Jorden’s tribute to her sweat-bathed body if she didn’t feel exactly the same way about him. Being around athletes most of her life, Mac wasn’t immune to the erotic draw of sweat glistening on powerful muscular bodies. Why else would every athlete-based commercial pay homage to the power of sweat-drenched bodies, especially coupled with laughing eyes and a salacious grin? But as hungry as she was for Jorden’s tongue on her “hidden recesses”, she admitted that she was more than a little concerned about making love in the middle of the day in broad daylight, not to mention a national forest. It wasn’t as though they needed any more public attention.
She twisted under him, needing to voice her concerns. “Are you sure, Jorden, that we can do this? Here?”
“What are you referring to, Mac? The fact that I’m going to strip you bare and gorge on every beautiful hill, valley and crevice of your stunning body? And that after I’ve licked and sucked on every part of your lusciousness, I’m going to drive my iron-hard cock into that gorgeous pussy of yours? And when I’m there, I’m going to thrust deeper and harder into you than you knew was possible? Balls deep doesn’t begin to describe where I’m going to be, Mac. I promise you, honey, the birds and the bees are going to be buzzing with envy. We’ll be breaking news on the wildlife network tonight. Every nocturnal animal will be crowding the stage, amazed at the erotic show we put on. The only thing more powerful than our actions will be the moans, groans, and ultimately cries of joy at the climaxes we wring from each other’s bodies.”
He stopped for a moment then grinned broadly. “Is that what you were concerned about, Mac?”
Knowing that her cheeks had to be as red-hot as the rest of her body was, Mac gave into his animated recital. Shoving at her nervousness, she met his challenging gaze and said blandly, “Yes, Jorden, I think you’ve captured the scene I was concerned about.”
Stripping off her halter and tugging at her shorts, he asked, “And your answer, Coach Durant, is?”
Cupping her breasts in her hands, Mac lifted them up to Jorden’s eager mouth and shrugged. “What’s holding you back, Attorney Justice? Nervous about the show we’re about to put on?”
At his chortling guffaw contorted with an erotic groan, she whispered hoarsely, “Lick away, counselor.”
****
Long after they made good on every promise that Jorden had made and more, he lifted her sex-soaked body into his strong arms and waded into the placid twilit pool. Sinking under the water Mac reveled in the seductively cool water bathing her overheated body. To her delight, Jorden reached into the water and grabbed handfuls of nature’s exfoliate, and scrubbed every crevice and crack of her body with the sweet smelling sand. For the next half hour, unconstrained by the cares and concerns of their challenging lives, they frolicked in the water like sleek porpoises freed from a fisherman’s net.
It was dark when they arrived at Jorden’s house. They’d stopped at Vincent’s to pick up an extra-large, fully-loaded pizza and a triple order of kale and goat cheese salad. Jorden was unlocking the front door when he heard his phone vibrate. Yanking it from his gear bag where it had been since he and Mac put on their running clothes, he saw a message from Emma and one from Jake. Make that three messages from Jake, as well as one from Jared and two from Jude.
He muttered, “Jesus, what the hell?”
Playing Jake’s message on speaker so Mac could hear, Jake’s tense voice was a rifle shot to Jorden’s gut. “Damn, Jorden, where are you? We’ve been trying to reach you for hours. Call me, man. Now!”
Jorden hit the speed dial and in seconds heard Jake’s serious greeting. “What is it, Jake? Chloe, Emma?”
“Sorry, bro, it’s both of them. Hang in there, buddy. They’re okay, but hear me out. I got a call a couple of hours ago about a wild party on Superior. And yeah, it was at Francine’s splashy condo. We raided it and found scores of illegal drugs and alcohol…as well as underage girls.”
Jorden didn’t know how he managed to speak given his grossly constricted chest, but he choked out two words. “Chloe? Emma?”
“We found Emma hiding in a bedroom closet. She’s okay, man. But Chloe…” His heavy sigh was audible. “Sorry, bro, but she was drunk out of her mind. Can’t tell if it was drugs or alcohol, likely both.”
Jorden’s words were hard, cold chips of ice. “Where are they, Jake?”
“Skylar has Emma in my office here at the precinct. Hailey and the Judge are with them. Jorden and Jared are here with me.”
“Chloe?”
Jake’s voice was resigned. “Chloe is with the rest of the group in booking.”
Chapter 26
Jorden strode into the precinct with Mac at his heels. He’d given up trying to catch a decent breath. Rather, he resigned himself to grabbing what gulps of air he could and fought to keep from choking on the fury billowing up from his gut. He didn’t know when he’d ever forgive himself. Never in their lives had he been unavailable to his daughters. Now, with a major crisis involving them both, he had been unreachable, MIA. Agonized, he’d said as much to Mac. He saw her distress. Christ, she had to be feeling as shattered as he was.
“Where are they?” He barked at Sgt. Griffin, Jake’s desk sergeant.
The stout, unsmiling woman rose to her feet and nodded to Jake’s closed office door. “Emma’s inside with the Judge, Mr. Justice. Commander Justice and both Detectives Justice are at the...jail.”
Jorden slammed his eyes closed to shut out the revulsion he felt. Yes, Jake, Jude and Jared were at the jail—with Chloe. Where he should be, but wasn’t.
Shoving open the door, he rushed into Jake’s office. Ignoring everyone else in the room, he focused on Emma. His lovely little girl was sitting on the sofa, leaning against the Judge, with Skylar on the other side of her, holding her hand. She looked pale, shaken, younger than her ten years by far. When she saw him, she jumped up and ran toward him. He caught her mid-rush.
“Daddy, Daddy! I thought you’d never come. Where were you? Great Grandfather said they were trying to reach you but they couldn’t. I needed you, Daddy. I was so scared…” With that she burst into tears, throwing herself at him, sobbing as if her heart would break.
Jorden sunk to his knees and captured the distraught young girl in his arms. “It’s okay, honey. I’m here now, short stuff, and I’m not going anywhere.” Leading her over to the settee, he sat down and pulled her up next to him. “I’ve got you now, Emma. Everything is going to be okay.”
She shoved him back and looked up at him, her tear-streaked face taut with anguish. “No, Daddy, it isn’t okay. It will never be again. You don’t understand. You don’t know what happened.”
Rather than try to convince her or even comfort her, Jorden grasped her chin and lifted her face to his. “You’re right. I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what happened.”
Her teary eyes were wide with fear, and her expression was strained. She took an audible breath, then closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to look at him. Finally, she whispered, “They took Chloe, Daddy. Uncle Jake and Uncle Jude had to take her to jail.” She burst into a fresh flood of tears.
Jorden let her cry for a few minutes, forcing his heart not to shatter at her distress. When she seemed somewhat under control, he tried again to reach her. “Honey, I know Chloe’s in trouble, and in a few minutes, I’ll leave and go see her. But right now, Emma, I need to know that you’re okay. Can you tell me what happened? There was a party at your mom’s condo, right? And the party got out of control?”
When she gave him a watery nod, he pressed on. “Who was at the party besides you and Chloe? Any of Chloe’s friends?”
“Just Maggie and Christie. They’re always there. And a lot of other people, but th
ey were all old as Mom.”
“Men and women?” When she nodded, he said matter-of-factly, “And they were drinking and partying.”
Emma nodded, then buried her face against his chest. In a muffled voice, she continued, “It was really bad, Daddy. Everybody was drinking and other stuff. It…it was loud. Then Bart and Micha got in a fight because of Chloe.”
“Why, Emma? Why were they fighting about Chloe?”
“Because…because, Bart said she was too young for him and Micha got mad and they started to fight. Chloe was screaming and crying, then more people were yelling and throwing things. I tried to get Chloe to come with me, but she wouldn’t. She said I was a baby and she wished I hadn’t been born.”
Jorden tightened his grip around the shaking girl and managed to keep his tone neutral. “What did you do then, Emma?”
“I went and hid in the bedroom because I was scared. I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer. I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared, Daddy. Everyone was yelling and throwing things. Glasses were breaking. Even furniture was crashing. When you didn’t answer, I called Uncle Jake because I knew he would stop the fighting.”
“That was a smart thing to do, Emma. I’m proud of you, honey.” Jude sucked in a deep breath, then asked the question that had his gut tied in a Gordian knot. “Where was your Mom, Emma?”
Emma looked puzzled, then said with a frown, “I’m not sure, Daddy. She was out on the patio when the fight started, but when Uncle Jake got there, she was gone.”
“Honey, if you’re okay for a little while, I’m going to go check on Chloe. Will you be okay here with the Judge and Skylar, and Coach Durant?”
Emma pressed her lips together, but nodded. “Yes, I’ll be okay. But, Daddy, when you come back, can we go home?”
“Yes, honey, you and I definitely will go home.”
Emma looked relieved, then her brow tightened. “What about Chloe, Daddy? Will she be able to come home with us?”