In Her Sights (19 page)

The child ran toward the grove.

Intent hands rolled the red ball onto the grass a few feet from the trees.
Come to me. Come closer.

The little girl veered off toward the ball and picked it up.

“You found my ball. Thank you. I thought I’d lost it.”

“It’s pretty. I like red,” the child said.

Sweet voice, innocent voice.

“Do you? You can have the ball if you’d like. I have more at home.”

The girl’s face lit up. Joy. That was her name. It fit. For now.

“Thank you!” Joy said, coming closer, until the trees blocked the grandmother’s view. “It’s red like your hair.”

“And your dress.”

Joy smiled brightly. “Can I show it to Gamma?”

“Of course, dear. You should definitely show it to your grandmother. Your daddy too.”

“Joy Marie Montgomery!” The grandmother’s worried voice split the air. “Where are you?”

“Here, Gamma!” Joy called. Then she turned back. “Do you want to play with us?”

“Not today. But I’ll see you again. Very soon.”

Perfect.

This had to be a dream. Luke still wanted her. Jasmine hadn’t told him everything, of course, but she’d been so certain he would turn from her in disgust. He hadn’t. He was here. With her.

He
wanted
her.

A weight lifted, freeing a desire she’d clamped down for too long. She craved his touch, his caress. Her body screamed for the sensation of his lips and hands exploring her, making her body sing songs only Luke could evoke. With a sigh of anticipation, Jazz kissed his neck as he carried her to the bed.

A low growl rumbled in his chest. He gently laid her down, and she sank into the soft mattress. Unwilling to relinquish his touch, she drew Luke down with her.

He let her.

His finger trailed down the side of her face, and she shivered at the intensity in his eyes. He wouldn’t look away. He held her gaze as if staring into her soul.

She couldn’t look away. Everything she’d ever wanted was buried in his gaze. No doubt, no judgment, just desire.

Her body trembled in eagerness, her nerves vibrating with expectation. He didn’t move. He simply watched.

“Aren’t you going to kiss me again?” Jazz didn’t recognize her voice, husky, longing, needing.

“I’m memorizing you,” he said. “The green flecks in your eyes, burning for me. The flush of your cheeks. Your lips.”

Ever so slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. “Are you sure?” he whispered, his mouth hovering above her lips.

Her body on fire, Jazz shook. “I want you. Now.” Her hand traveled down his shirtfront, slipping the buttons free, past his waist and lightly over the bulge in his jeans.

His chest rumbled and he cupped her face in his hands. “I’m happy to oblige.”

Her lashes fluttered closed as Luke lowered his mouth with a kiss full of promises. His lips demanded entrance, parting hers with a sweep of his tongue, reminding her why she’d finally succumbed to his seduction. Two years ago, and now.

He demanded without hurting, celebrated her without doubts. He wrapped her in his arms, cradling her body, but plundering her mouth. She could barely think; she only knew she wanted more. Now.

Jazz’s hands circled his torso and she slid his shirt down his shoulders until it fell to the floor, leaving his bare chest for her to savor. She ran her fingertips down the spiderweb of scars at his shoulder. Her mouth skirted the ridges of his old injury, and Luke let out a slow, fervent moan.

Yes. She could make him groan, make him tremble. She let her hands roam down his chest, fingertips brushing his nipples. He shuddered at the touch. She knew where to touch him.

He nipped at her collarbone. A quivering breath escaped her.

He tugged off her top. “Beautiful,” he whispered, his voice reverent.

He cupped her softness in his hand as he tasted her skin. Jazz reveled in his exploring kisses. She wanted him to taste her, to touch her, to give her what she’d missed. She was so tired of being alone.

Luke teased her breast and his mouth toyed with the peak. He latched onto her softness and her body purred in response. “I’ve missed this, Jasmine,” he said. “I’ve missed you.”

He pushed at her clothes and yanked at his own until finally they lay skin to skin. She stared at his strong body, his hard desire.

“I’d forgotten how beautiful you are,” she murmured as she caressed him intimately, relishing the way he surged into her palm.

“Don’t go too fast.” Luke let out a groan. “I’ll never last.”

“I don’t know if I want you to.” Jazz smiled and squeezed him gently.

“Believe me, sweetheart, you don’t want this to be over too soon.” He held her wrists captive and moved over her, parting her legs and settling between her thighs. His body probed until he slid against her wet softness. She clasped him to her and drew him in.

In one stroke he settled deep inside her body. He filled her as if they were made to be together. He sighed as if he’d just come home. Jazz wrapped her legs and arms around him to hold him there. They fit. Perfectly.

“I don’t want you to move, ever. I want you to stay just as you are,” she whispered.

“Sorry, honey.” Luke shuddered beneath her hands. “I’ve got to have you. I’ve waited too long.”

With a groan, he withdrew and pressed back into her again and again, until they were wild with the passionate friction he created. She gripped him to her, desperate to hold onto him.

He folded his fingers through hers and raised them above her head. She couldn’t think; she could only feel. He drove her higher and higher, his every thrust lifting her to a place she’d never been. With one last thrust, the world turned bright, and she shattered with the force. They were one.

When the blinding intensity slid away, all she could sense was the quivering rhythm within her and an aura of utter contentment. Luke turned his head and kissed the hollow where her pulse still pounded. “Mmm. You okay? I didn’t hurt you?”

She shook her head. “That was better than I remembered.”

“We’re not finished yet,” Luke smiled. He opened the nightstand drawer and she peered over his shoulder. Stashed next to the box of condoms was a roll of butter rum Life Savers. He palmed it and handed it to her. “Just like I promised.”

The side of her mouth twitched upward. “I didn’t really believe you.” She opened up the end and popped one in her mouth. Her eyes closed. “I needed that.”

He stole another quick kiss, and butter rum sweetness mixed with the taste of Luke exploded on her tongue. He pulled her hips to spoon her to the curve of his body. So right. They fit together.

The shrill ring of a cell phone shattered the moment.

“I have to answer in case it’s the family.” Luke kissed her cheek as he leaned over the side of the bed and dug in his pants for the small phone. “Montgomery.”

Jazz watched as Luke’s face went pale. He jerked back and scanned the room as he pressed the speakerphone button so they could both hear every word.

“I hope I didn’t catch you with your pants down, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Who is this?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I can’t see you and your whore. You have plenty of privacy.”

The mechanized voice curdled Jazz’s blood. She wrapped the sheet around her and swallowed. Luke reached for his pants, and she could see him fighting for control.

“You’ve made your point,” he said. “Now what do you want?”

“Me? I don’t want anything. I just thought I’d tell you how adorable your daughter looks today. The red polka dots really make her blond hair shine in the sunlight. You should tell her grandmother not to let her swing so high, though. Little girls are so easily hurt, especially ones who accept gifts from strangers.”

Luke’s face lost all color. “If anything has happened—”

“You’ll what?” The laugh turned maniacal. “You don’t know who I am, but I know everything there is to know about you, your slut, your daughter, your entire family—including your poor, unconscious brother. His heartbeat was a bit erratic today. You should watch him more closely, I think.”

“Anything happens to my family, I’ll hunt you down. Nothing will save you.”

“I doubt it. You want a scoop, Mr. Montgomery? You decided to align yourself with Jane. Now someone you love will pay the price, and I guarantee it’ll make the front page.”

The phone went dead.

Luke stared at the receiver in his hand, and Jazz sat frozen in shock. She couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. Joy and Gabe were in danger. Because of
her.

Jazz glanced at Luke, and he didn’t waste a second. His jaw clenched, and he pressed two on his speed dial. “Come on, Mom. Answer.”

“This can’t be happening,” she said, unable to think or to feel, only knowing that somehow she’d put Luke’s daughter in danger.

The speakerphone’s ring echoed through his bedroom. Each time the sound repeated, his breath hitched. He sagged on the bed as if bracing himself for the worst.

“Hello?” Anna Montgomery’s voice echoed in the room, unhurried and unconcerned.

“Mom. Listen to me. There’s someone at the park, watching you and Joy. You’ve got to get out of there.”

“Oh, my God!” Anna yelled out, the panic in her voice hard to listen to. “Joy…Joy! Run to the car, we’ve got to go.”

Jazz grabbed Luke’s arm. “No,” she whispered. “Not the car. There could be a bomb. They need to take cover and wait for the police,” she said, and then snagged Luke’s landline to make the call to send a squad car to the park and the hospital.

“Mom. Don’t touch the car. It might be tampered with. Find some cover near the parking lot and stay there. Jasmine’s calling the cops.”

Jazz didn’t know how he kept his voice composed, but he was a rock of calm.

“Luke?” Anna said, her voice close to cracking. “What do I do?”

As Jasmine hung up, Luke grasped her hand and squeezed so hard it hurt, but she didn’t complain. She wasn’t the one in trouble. Why did they have to be so far away?

“Mom, help is on the way, and I’ll be there soon. Just keep talking to me.”

As Luke worked to calm his mother, Jazz threw on her clothes. Who’d been on the phone? Who would go so far to hurt a child? Her mind went blank. Why couldn’t she think?

The sound of sirens filtering through the telephone came as sweet relief.

“The police are here, Luke. Hold on,” Anna choked out.

He breathed a sigh. “Thank God.”

Random voices mumbled from the speakerphone, and a few seconds later his mother came back on the line. “We’re in the police car, safe now. They’re taking us to the Lake Arbor precinct while they search the area.”

“Jasmine and I are on the way.” Luke’s voice had gone hoarse with emotion. “Put Joy on.”

“Daddy?” The little girl’s voice wavered a bit.

Jazz could barely restrain herself. She wanted to leap through the phone and hug Joy. She couldn’t imagine what Luke must be feeling.

She placed her hand on Luke’s shoulder as the innocent voice came through the line. “Gamma and me are going in a police car. Are they gonna put us in jail?”

Luke’s hand turned white as he gripped the phone. “No, munchkin. They’re taking you for a ride, and I’m coming to get you at the station. Do what the policemen say, okay?” His voice broke. “I…I love you, baby.”

“Me more, Daddy.”

Luke flipped the phone closed. His narrowed focus and rage were palpable—that of a man who would fight and die for those he loved.

He yanked on a knit shirt and old leather shoes while Jazz tugged on her sneakers, keeping up with his frenetic pace.

“Let’s go. I’ll call my brothers on the way. Gabe can’t be left alone.”

Jazz snatched Hero from the floor. Joy would need him.

One thing she knew for certain as they raced out the door. Whoever had done this was dead. If Luke didn’t kill them, law or no law, she would.

The drive to the Lake Arbor Police Station took forever. Luke wouldn’t truly believe Joy was safe until he saw her for himself. “What was I thinking, ignoring the dangers, putting Joy’s life at risk for an article in a newspaper?”

“You were trying to fight for justice, for a woman who couldn’t help herself,” Jasmine said quietly.

“Well, I could’ve helped her in some other way. I was selfish. Wanting to prove myself as some kind of warrior with a pen for a weapon.”