by Elle James
Electric current raced from his cock throughout his body, rippling in waves of sensation all the way to his extremities. He closed his eyes, dragging in a ragged breath as he eased out of her mouth and back in. She pressed hard on his ass, forcing him to glide deep, until he bumped against the back of her throat.
His control shattered, and he pumped in and out of her mouth, anchoring his hands in her hair.
The faster he went, the hotter he grew, igniting a passionate flame that sent him spiraling to the top. Just before he launched, he jerked free of her mouth, and sucked in a lungful of air.
“Protection,” she said, through swollen lips. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, unhooked her bra and slid her panties down her legs.
Lust firing his neurons, Dustin dove for his jeans, removed his wallet from his back pocket and flipped through until he found a foil package. Tossing the wallet aside, he tore open the envelope and slid the condom over his throbbing cock.
Holding tight to his release, he flipped Jenna on her stomach.
She squealed in surprise and tried to rise up on her hands.
Before she could, he gripped her hips and raised her bottom into the air. In the next second, he drove into her from behind.
Her fingers curled into the couch cushion, a moan rising from her throat.
Her smooth white bottom tempted the saint out of him and he slapped it, leaving a light pink mark on her skin.
“Oh!” Jenna flinched.
He smoothed his hand over the pink imprint. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” She chuckled. “You surprised me.”
“Do you want me to do it again?”
“Yes, please.” She arched her back, presenting her ass for his pleasure and he complied, popping her again with a light smack that was more noise than pain.
“Mmm. Yes!” Planting her face on the seat cushion, she reached ran her hand between her legs and fondled him, rolling his balls between her fingers.
Dustin bent over her back and cupped her breasts, settling into a fast, steady rhythm, building tension until he rocketed into the heavens. He straightened, grabbed her hips and thrust one last time, holding himself deep, deep, deep inside her, his cock throbbing, pulsing with his release.
Minutes later, he pulled free, shifted her legs off the couch and sat, dragging her across his lap.
She lay nestled against him. “Even better than when we were kids learning how to fit part A into slot B.”
“You’re amazing.”
Jenna laid her cheek against his chest. “Your heart is racing.”
“You do that to me,” he murmured.
She leaned up and kissed him, her mouth musky with the scent of him.
Again, she rested her cheek against his chest, her fingers toying with one of his hard brown nipples. “Is there any future for us?”
He didn’t answer, afraid if he said yes, she’d contradict him telling him she wasn’t in it for the long haul.
Jenna sighed. “It doesn’t matter. We have this moment. That will be enough for now.”
Across the room, a cell phone dinged, announcing a text message.
Jenna’s fingers stilled on his nipple and she raised up, her brows knitting.
“Let it go.”
She shook her head, pushing off him to rise to her feet, glancing from him to the cell phone. “I can’t let it go.” Jenna hurried to her purse on the kitchen counter, yanked out her phone and read the text. Her lips thinned and she tucked the phone back in her purse. “I have to leave.” Without looking him in the eye, she gathered her panties and bra, left her skirt and shirt on the floor and ran for her room.
Dustin rose from the couch, dragged on his jeans and boots.
Before he could find his shirt, Jenna emerged from her bedroom dressed in black jeans, a black shirt and tennis shoes. She carried a bag stuffed with what looked like a wad of light green and white fabric. As she reached the door, she turned. “Will you be here all night?”
His lips pressed into a line. “Not if you aren’t.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
He reached out a hand. “Stay with me.”
For a long moment, she stared at that hand, and then she shook her head. “I have to go.”
Dustin didn’t try to stop her again.
Jenna left the apartment, closing the door softly behind her.
Dustin waited, hoping she’d change her mind. When the door remained closed, he yanked the T-shirt over his head, strode to the door and yanked it open.
Jenna’s black SUV pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.
So much for their loving reunion. He’d offered to stay. She’d refused. End of story.
Dustin gathered his duffle bag, dropped her apartment key on the table by the door, walked out of Jenna’s apartment and stomped down the stairs to climb into his rental. As soon as he closed the door, he regretted his anger and his knee-jerk reaction to Jenna leaving him. What if the text had been an emergency? What if someone she knew was in trouble?
Dustin rested his forehead against the steering wheel.
Damn.
Why couldn’t he do things right the first time? If Jenna came back to her apartment, found his bag gone and the key on the table, she’d jump to the conclusion he’d intended.
Only now, he wished he hadn’t done it. How in hell was he going to convince her he wasn’t through—that he wanted to continue their relationship to the end of the week and longer. He’d have his work cut out for him.
First, he needed to check in at the hospital. Then he had to find Jenna.
Chapter Eight
‡
JENNA CALLED TOBY as she sped toward the farmer’s market.
“Damn, Jenna, I was sound asleep, dreaming about a big beautiful…uh, pepperoni pizza. Just when I was about to take a bite, you called. Way to kill a great dream.” He yawned into the phone. “What’s up?”
“Rebecca contacted me.”
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”
She snorted softly. “You were too busy complaining. I’m meeting her at the farmer’s market. Can you get there in the next fifteen minutes?”
“I can. Bring the camera?”
“Yes and no,” Jenna said.
“Huh?”
“I know you have one of those mini cameras.” Jenna slowed her car and turned at a corner. “Bring it.”
“Please tell me you’re not going to infiltrate the compound,” Toby moaned.
“Okay, I won’t tell you. Just bring the mini-cam.”
“What will I tell your mother if you don’t come out?”
Jenna snorted. “My mother’s in China with husband number four. She won’t care.”
“Well, I do,” Toby grumbled. “I’m going with you.”
“You can’t. You don’t have the clothing they wear.”
“And you do?” Her cousin snorted. “I’ve seen those baggy dresses. I don’t picture you wearing one.”
“Rebecca made one for me last year. It’ll help me blend in with the others.”
“Darlin’, it’s a small community. Everyone knows everyone else. They’ll notice you.”
“I’ll wear one of those bonnets. It’s hot and sunny outside. I’ve seen them wear them to the market.”
Toby paused and then said, “I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it anymore than you do. I could be back at my apartment in the arms of the man I love. Instead, I’m chasing after family members who’ve made some poor choices.”
“You and the SEAL got it on?” Toby chuckled. “Good for you.”
“It’s only good if it lasts more than this week.”
“You’re a babe. He can’t help falling in love with you.”
Jenna wished that was true. With a family member in crisis, she didn’t have time to test the theory. If all went well, she’d get into the compound tonight, find out what they were hiding and get Rebecca and her mother out of there before the su
n rose. And if the elders were hiding something illegal, she’d wait until they were all safe before she turned the police, sheriff or ATF loose on them.
With a shorter distance to go, she pulled into a parking space near the farmer’s market and got out. The hot sun broiled her in the black T-shirt and jeans she wore. She almost regretted her choice, but she’d wanted to come prepared for covert operations, whether she would be moving through the shadows of night or playing the chameleon and blending in with the residents of Sweet Salvation.
Jenna glanced at the sky. The white-hot sun shone down on the market. A cloud flitted by and several more gathered in the western sky. She could only hope they would form into rain clouds. Sneaking into the compound would be easier under the cover of a storm.
But then, this was Texas in the late summer. It could go months without a drop of rain, or it could rain so hard in one hour it would cause flooding. She’d seen the Brazos River rise so high it covered bridges and pushed entire trees over.
She wandered through the booths with their tents erected to shade their occupants from the sun. The Sweet Salvation booth was at the far end of the market. When Jenna was close enough to make out faces of the women manning the booth, she didn’t find Rebecca’s among them.
Jenna’s cell phone vibrated in her back pocket. She pulled it out and turned her back to the women in gingham and calico dresses and read the message from Toby.
I’m here, where are you?
She responded and walked back the way she came. When she spotted Toby, she pulled him behind a stand selling kettle corn.
Toby’s brows furrowed. “I really don’t like that you’re thinking about going in. We have no idea what they’ll do to you.”
“Relax. They’re supposed to be peace-loving and benevolent.”
“Didn’t you tell me Rebecca reported that they were whipped when they didn’t follow the rules?”
“That’s the people in the cult. I’m not a member. If I’m found, they’ll just escort me to the gate and boot my ass out.” She hoped her self-assured statement would satisfy her cousin, even though it sounded pretty weak to her.
Toby shook his head, dug in his pocket and pulled out a miniscule mini-camcorder. “You press this little button on the back when you want to record. If you have it pinned on your person, you can smash your hand over it and it will depress the button against your skin.”
Jenna slipped the device into her pocket.
Toby handed her a flat metal disk. “Stick this in your bra.”
She held the disk up and studied it. “What is it?”
“A GPS tracker. I have a handheld gizmo that will find this little bad boy anywhere.”
“I’m going to the compound, not the jungles of Central America.”
“Just put it in your bra. If I don’t hear from you by morning, I want to be able to find you.”
She smiled. “I’ll wear it, but I doubt it’ll be as bad as all that. Like I said, if they discover me, they’ll likely march me to the gate—at which point, I’ll call you on my cell phone.”
“If they don’t confiscate it, and if they don’t lock you in a basement where no one will hear your screams.”
A shiver rippled down her spine. She’d made light of being caught to spare Toby from worry. Yet, the whole reason she was going in to the compound was because she feared for Rebecca’s and her mother’s lives. Some cult leaders were sociopathic nut jobs, looking for the moment to light up the powder keg. Hell, it had happened before with David Koresh and his brainwashed minions. Many lives had been lost, putting Waco on the map as an example of how ATF should not storm a compound full of women and children and crazy cult leaders.
Jenna hoped she wasn’t blowing Rebecca’s troubles out of proportion and that the teen was over-exaggerating what was going on inside the Sweet Salvation community.
Tucking the GPS tag into her bra, she met Toby’s gaze. “I’ll be all right. I’m just going in to help Rebecca convince her mother to leave with us. Can you be on standby when we come out? We’ll need transportation back into town.”
“You bet.” Toby touched her arm. “Jenna, don’t try to be a hero. If Rebecca’s mother won’t come out, grab Rebecca and get yourself out before sunrise.”
She nodded.
“Promise me,” Toby insisted.
As scared as Rebecca was, she hadn’t left the Sweet Salvation community, making Jenna think bringing Rebecca out would be completely contingent on getting her mother out as well. If all else failed, Jenna might come out alone, but at least she’d have answers about what was really going on behind the compound fences and walls. “Okay. I promise.”
Toby’s lips pressed together. “I have a bad feeling about this, but I know how you are.”
Jenna laughed. “How’s that?”
“Like a bull dog with a bone in his mouth. You won’t let go until you get to the bottom of it.”
“I know my limits,” she countered.
“Yeah, sure.” He pointed to the bandage on her temple barely covered by her hair. “You know your limits.”
She raised a hand halfway to her injury. “How was I supposed to know he’d get out and start shooting so erratically?”
“Exactly,” Toby said. “You can’t predict how or when a situation is going to go south.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. “I like having my cousin around. Keep your head down and stay away from trouble.”
She hugged him back then pushed away from him. “I’ll be fine,” she said with more certainty than she felt. Sliding the bag with her dress over her shoulder, she patted her bra where the GPS disc nestled and touched the pocket with the mini-cam. Setting her cell phone on silent, she was ready. “Wish me luck.”
“I feel like I should say break a leg.”
“Whatever.” Jenna kissed his cheek and left him behind the kettle corn stand while she pretended to shop one booth to the next, working her way toward the Sweet Salvation booth. It was almost time for the vendors to pack up for the day. She paused in front of a rack of bonnets and selected one that would go with her dress, handing over a twenty. Rebecca straightened from behind the booth, a box of jams and jellies in her arms. Her eyes flared and her face flushed. Her gaze darted around to the older women. Thankfully, they were busy packing their wares into other boxes.
Rebecca tilted her head just enough to indicate Jenna should follow, but not enough to draw attention from the others.
Jenna tucked her bonnet into her bag, smiled and walked past several booths before ducking between two and making her way back to where Rebecca had headed. She found her rearranging the boxes, watching out of the corners of her eyes for any movement.
When Jenna reached her, she yanked her down behind the tailgate.
“Something’s going down at the community,” Rebecca whispered.
“What?”
“Last night, the men were called into a meeting that lasted well past midnight.”
“So?”
“Late yesterday afternoon, I was out at the garden and heard the sounds of gunfire. Lots of gunfire. It sounded like a war zone, but at specific intervals.”
“Like target practice?”
Rebecca nodded. “I tried to get my mother to come with me today. We could have walked away from the market and no one would have been able to stop us. But she wouldn’t come. She won’t listen to me and thinks everything is fine.”
“Sounds to me like it isn’t. Why would a peaceful commune need to learn how to fire guns?”
“My exact thought.” Rebecca’s brows puckered. “I could understand, if it were for hunting, but then why would all the men be missing when they should have been plowing, fixing fences or building stuff?”
“Have you seen Rebecca?” a female voice called out.
Rebecca ducked lower. “I have to get back to work or they’ll come looking for me.”
“I’m coming with you when you leave,” Jenna said. “Maybe I can make your mother see that it’s not safe at
Sweet Salvation.”
Her cousin shook her head. “No, no, you can’t. They don’t allow strangers on the compound.”
Jenna smiled. “I’m not asking permission. I’ll stow away in the back of one of the trucks.”
“I don’t know what to do about that girl,” the woman said. “Every time I turn around, she disappears.”
“Should we tell the elders?” another voice asked.
“No, no. You and I will take care of it.”
The other woman snorted. “When we find her.”
Jenna lowered her voice to a soft whisper. “Distract them while I climb in.”
“But—”
“Shh.” Jenna pressed her finger to her lips.
“Do you need help getting that box in the back of the truck?” a woman’s voice said and the shuffle of feet sounded on the pavement.
Jenna laid down on her back and rolled beneath the truck.
Rebecca straightened.
“There you are,” the woman said. “Here. Take this box and stack it with the others. Rose and Martha are bringing the booth. Leave room for it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rebecca’s feet left the ground as she climbed up into the back of the truck.
Jenna lay beneath the truck counting pairs of shoes as the women loaded their boxes into the back. Two more pairs of serviceable tennis shoes appeared, and the women hefted the booth into the back of the truck, the wooden platform clanging against the metal bed.
“Just a few more boxes and we can leave,” the lead woman said. “Rebecca, you can start covering the boxes with the tarp so that the sun doesn’t cook the jelly.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
All four pair of feet walked back toward the farmer’s market. The sound of Rebecca shifting items in the truck bed was followed by the rustle of canvas. Then Rebecca jumped to the ground at the tailgate and bent to peer beneath the vehicle. “If you’re determined to do this, you better get moving now.”
Jenna rolled from beneath the truck and came up on her haunches.
