Forgiven Justice (Cowboy Justice Association Book 14)

by Olivia Jaymes

  “I’ve got this?”

  “Yes, those words right there. It’s like roses, champagne, and a thirty-minute back rub all rolled into one sentence. Say it again, handsome.”

  Chuckling, he leaned down so his lips were near her ear, getting a whiff of her coconut shampoo. “I’ve got this. Just sit back and relax.”

  “Oh baby, just like that,” she cooed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. It was quick, hot, and dirty. Just the way they liked it.

  He glanced at the clock on the wall. “The kids won’t be home for hours. Can I interest you in some bedroom fun? All you have to do is sit back and relax.”

  Her eyes lit up with mischief. “I’m gonna want a back rub.”

  “You’re going to get it. But first you need to get naked.”

  “You, too.”

  Ava hopped up from the lounge and sprinted toward the bedroom.

  Maybe the kids getting older wasn’t such a bad thing after all. They certainly had more private time these days.

  Time to act like newlyweds.

  Ava hit the ground running, tossing her clothes aside as she went. She’d need to pick up her bra and panties before the kids returned home but until then they were part of a short trail straight to the bedroom. She ripped the covers back and slid between the sheets, the smooth cotton cool on her already overheated skin. When Logan was in this mood, she knew she was in for a pleasurable time.

  Her husband had stalked after her more slowly, but he was just as careless, his shirt and pants in a heap on the floor. He had that look on his face that she loved, his attention only on her, as if they were the only two people left on the earth.

  “I meant it about that back rub,” she warned him with a teasing grin. She turned over on her tummy, and he positioned himself next to her, his much bigger frame curving over hers. She ran the sole of her foot down his calf, while she pressed a quick kiss to his fingers that were currently gliding around her jaw and neck. He loved to tickle her a bit, getting her to giggle as he teased and tormented.

  “Your wish is my command. One back rub coming up.”

  Levering up on his knees, he straddled Ava, his talented fingers finding some nasty knots in her shoulders. Always working on her laptop, she was riddled with aches and pains in her hands and shoulders. Logan had a knack for finding them and working them over until they were history.

  His hands glided up and down her spine, pausing every so often at her hips or her shoulders to massage an extra tight muscle. Ava could feel her body beginning to relax, her bones turning to jelly. Her eyes drifted closed and she slowly exhaled, a groan escaping from her lips when he found a particularly sensitive spot.

  This was sheer unadulterated heaven. The roughness of Logan’s hands, the citrusy scent of his skin, coupled with the softness of his lips as he kissed a wet trail down her back, nipping and licking at her ribcage. She could feel how hard and ready he was against her thigh. A part of her wanted him to do her now - right away - and another part wanted to drag this out as long as possible.

  It didn’t really matter, though. Either way, she’d be a winner.

  She wriggled and sighed, her skin heating up with every caress. One of the best things about being married was having a partner that already knew all the right places to get her warmed up. There was no guessing or fumbling around, no weird awkwardness.

  Logan moved to the end of the bed, lifting one of her feet and massaging every inch, including her toes. She moaned in delight as his strong fingers encircled her ankle and then slid up her calf.

  “That feels so good,” she gasped as he switched to her other foot. She could hear him chuckle and then pressed a kiss to her instep.

  Heat flowed through her veins like liquid silk as he dropped kisses from her toes all the way up her body and ended at that spot on her neck that had her saying his name over and over.

  Ava loved this man. If for some reason they could never have sex again, she’d still love him more than anything. But…when they did make love it was something far more than mere sexual pleasure. It was as if their bodies were talking to one another in a special language all their own.

  Yes, you’re my one. My person.

  As much as Ava liked him kissing her back, she liked it even more when he kissed her front. Twisting on the mattress, she moved to her back. Logan seemed to take the hint and began working his way up her body, pausing at her belly button to dip his tongue inside.

  “Maybe you should get your belly button pierced,” he teased, nibbling at her hip. “That might be kind of sexy.”

  They’d joked about this before. Logan seemed to love the little cushion on her lower abdomen that had taken up residence after birthing two children. He always said it was the perfect place to rest his head after his mouth and tongue made her come a few times.

  She, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as fond of it, although she well aware that of all the things she’d been through during pregnancy and childbirth, a tiny roll of tummy wasn’t really that big of a deal.

  “Maybe I’ll do it when we’re on vacation,” she joked back. “A few frozen margaritas and you can probably talk me into just about anything.”

  “Interesting…tell me more about what I could talk you into.”

  This smooth son of a gun could talk her into robbing a bank and going on the run if he wanted to. She was putty in his hands at a moment like this.

  “What do you want to talk me into?”

  “Anything,” he said, his lips net her ear, his warm breath caressing her cheek. “Everything.”

  His lips captured an already hard nipple, his tongue circling as his teeth scraped the sides. She cried out as he switched to the other side before heading south, his wide shoulders nudging her legs apart.

  Logan pressed tiny kisses to her inner thigh before pushing two fingers into her channel. There was no resistance as she was as wet and ready for him as she’d ever been. His tongue drew circles around her clit and that was all it took. He knew just the right spot and rhythm. She flew into the stars, her fingers clutching the sheets like a lifeline as white lights danced behind her eyelids.

  She came down slowly, her entire body still quivering with lingering pleasure.

  Logan had slid up her body, his hard length nudging at her entrance. His forehead rested on hers as he pressed forward, entering with one easy thrust. She sighed at the delicious sensation, reveling in the way he filled her so completely. He didn’t move immediately, content to stay in one place for a long moment as they caught their breath.

  When he did start to move, it was with slow, almost lazy strokes but the thrusts sped up and became more desperate as they both dangled on the edge of the precipice. The room was filled with the heavy scent of sex and the sounds of their ragged breathing and tortured groans. Her nails dug into the skin of his back as they tumbled off the cliff together, her name on his lips.

  At one point, Logan threw his head back as he came, his expression a mixture of exquisite pleasure and pain. Did she look the same? She couldn’t say, but surely nothing was as beautiful as her husband as that moment. She could stare at him forever, studying every centimeter of his visage and never get tired.

  When it was over, he curved his larger body around hers, the big spoon to her small. She could feel his heart galloping against her back and the gentle rise and fall of his chest as their breathing returned to normal. She entwined her fingers with his, pressing a kiss to his rough palm.

  “What time will the kids be home?” he asked sometime later.

  Ava had a feeling they’d both dozed off for awhile, but she didn’t want to move to check the clock.

  “What time is it?”

  “Nine forty-two.”

  “They have to be home by eleven. I’m guessing they’ll take every bit of that if they can. Unless they have a bad time at the dance and I hope that doesn’t happen.”

  “Then we have time to raid the freezer and eat all the ice cream?”

&n
bsp; This man. This brilliant, fucking man.

  “Yes, we do. But don’t eat all the cookie dough. I want some, too.”

  “You got it, babe.”

  Marriage. It wasn’t for the faint of heart but when it was good…it was great.

  A man who could make love and share the cookie dough.

  Life was damn good.

  When the dance was over, Daniel drove Brianna home. It was quiet in the car, Brianna thinking about the dance and the end of their first date. Would he try to kiss her? She wanted him to. Surely, he would. They’d had a good time and he seemed to really like her. He’d had a certain look in his eyes whenever he’d gazed at her tonight. It wasn’t like love or anything but he liked her. A lot. She could tell.

  The porch light was on when Daniel pulled into her driveway. She prayed that her mom and dad weren’t sitting up in the living room watching out of the front window. That would be mortifying beyond belief.

  He walked her to the door and the tension between them seemed to build. She almost wished that she’d kissed him first thing when he’d picked her up earlier. Then she wouldn’t be thinking about it now. It would be over and in the past. No tension, no wondering.

  “I had a really good time tonight,” Daniel said as she unlocked her front door.

  “I did, too. It was great. You’re a good dancer.”

  Daniel chuckled. “I’ll tell my mom you said so.”

  She wasn’t sure how to respond and he didn’t say anything either. It was…weird.

  Finally, he spoke up. “Next Friday night a bunch of us were talking about going out to a movie, maybe getting some pizza after. Do you want to go?”

  The breath rushed out of her lungs. “Yes, that sounds great.”

  “Cool.”

  More silence. This time she placed her hand on the doorknob but took a step closer to him. He seemed to get the idea and their bodies swayed forward until his lips were touching hers.

  He was a good kisser; not too wet, which she’d had in the past. Eww.

  When they pulled apart his cheeks were flushed and her own felt warm as well.

  “Well…goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.”

  She pushed open the door and entered the house, locking the door behind her. At the window she watched him drive away, butterflies still going crazy in her stomach.

  She couldn’t wait to tell Katie all about it.

  7

  He knew it even before he was done descending the stairs into the basement. There was a stillness in the air that hadn’t been there before. There wasn’t a sound except for a few branches battering against the side of the house when the wind kicked up.

  The man was dead.

  He’d left him handcuffed to the chair and gone upstairs to sleep. The man had been alive then -barely - but had passed in the last couple of hours. His body had already gone cold, his face pale from death.

  Anger gripped his gut and he slashed at the man’s dead flesh anyway, ripping it wide open. But there wasn’t a moan or scream or even a flinch to feed the hunger inside of him. It was too late.

  With the knife, he sliced open the man’s thick jeans, exposing the unmarred skin of his thigh. Carefully, wanting to make sure this was perfect, he carved first a J and then an M into the skin before tossing the knife onto the table.

  He’d need to dump this one tonight. After the sun went down in a few hours.

  He walked over to the leather album and opened it to the photograph. There were already Xs there and this was one more.

  Reed Mitchell was next.

  The next morning Logan was still working on his first cup of coffee when his cell phone rang. Checking the screen, he was surprised to see that it was a call from his former deputy in Corville. He hadn’t seen Drake in years, although they regularly exchanged Christmas cards and school pictures of their kids. Logan didn’t go back to his hometown unless he had a damn good reason. So far, only visiting Ava’s parents had been a good enough reason to get him there.

  He sat down in a chair on the back porch and slid his thumb across the screen. “Hey, Drake. I didn’t expect to hear from you today. Is everything okay?”

  It had occurred to Logan that perhaps something was wrong. A few years ago, Drake’s wife had been fighting cancer but the doctors had said she’d beat it. Still…it could have come back. Or maybe something worse.

  “It depends on how you define okay,” Drake responded in that cautious tone that he always had.

  “Are your wife and children okay?”

  “They are. This is actually a business call.”

  Business? Logan’s only business these days were murderers and stalkers. That didn’t bode well for the subject of this call.

  “That doesn’t sound good. What’s going on there?”

  “I’ve got two dead bodies,” Drake said. “I’m sure they’re linked and I could use your help.”

  Logan took a sip of his coffee before replying. “You say you’re sure they’re linked. What makes you think that?”

  “Cause of death, for one thing. They were cut to ribbons from the waist up and they bled out. There is barely an inch of flesh that isn’t sliced. Then two letters are carved into their thighs. Both of them were dumped in the area just outside of town.” He heard Drake juggling the phone. “I just sent you the pictures in an email.”

  Jesus, Mary, and the camel. That didn’t sound like any garden variety murder where someone got caught in bed with someone else’s wife. That sounded like…brutal torture.

  “I think we might have a serial here, Logan,” Drake said. “And I don’t know anyone better at catching one than you.”

  Corville was a tiny piss-ant town in the middle of nowhere, its population falling as people grew older and moved away due to lack of opportunities. How could a little hamlet like Corville produce not one, but two serial killers? The odds had to be astronomical. Like getting hit by lightning and winning the lottery in the same day kind of odds.

  “Could be drug-related,” Logan said as he opened the email and launched the photos. “They can be nasty as hell, especially when they’re trying to send a message.”

  “We haven’t had much drug activity up here lately. We’ve been fortunate.”

  That and Drake ran a tight ship. Criminals tended to stay away from towns that didn’t have any patience for that crap. There were other places they could go where they could buy off the lawmen cheap than to bother with a place where they would be hassled.

  “You might have a new problem then,” Logan replied, sucking in a breath at the pictures that popped up on his phone screen. What humans could do to other humans was tragic. This was a prime example. Drake hadn’t been exaggerating one iota. This was definitely torture. Logan couldn’t help but wonder how long the victim had lived through a hell on earth before finally succumbing to death. “Christ, this is ugly. I’ve seen some cartel stuff like this. I’d like my partner Jason Anderson to take a look at these photos if you don’t mind. He knows drug cartel behavior better than anyone.”

  He studied the two pictures of the letter carvings in the men’s thigh. One was “TM” and the other “SR”. That didn’t ring any bells with Logan but they might run it through the computer and see if anything came up.

  “I’ll talk to my partners and see who we can send,” Logan said. “How about I call you in a few hours?”

  “Sounds fair.” There was a moment’s hesitation before Drake continued. “I have to admit, my friend, that I thought it would be you that showed up.”

  “I don’t do much field work anymore,” Logan confessed. “I’m getting too damn old, to be honest. But I can vouch for every one of my guys. They’re good and professional. I’ll be working the case from here, too. Don’t worry, I’ll be involved. You just won’t get to see my pretty face.”

  Drake laughed. “I have complete confidence in all of you. In the meantime, I’ve taped off the dump sites until someone gets here to look at them.”

  “I appreciate
that. Take as many pictures as you can. Hopefully, I can have someone on a plane this afternoon.”

  They talked for a few more minutes and then bid each other goodbye. Logan forwarded the photos to his laptop. He wanted to see them in more detail.

  But he sure as hell didn’t want to go back to Corville. Too many memories. Most of them bad.

  He’d let the young guys handle this.

  “Who called earlier?” Ava asked, placing the last breakfast plate in the dishwasher. The kids had managed to talk her into pancakes this morning, and she’d let them mostly because she had a craving for them, too.

  They must have been good because between Colt and Logan she was sure they’d eaten over a dozen. She and Brianna had a far more reasonable amount - three each.

  “Drake,” Logan answered, leaning against the kitchen counter. He’d promised to handle lunch and dinner in return for her making pancakes. Even if she hadn’t had a craving, she would have taken that deal all day, every day. “They found a couple of bodies dumped outside of Corville. They look like they were tortured.”

  This was not what she’d expected her husband to say. Bodies in Corville?

  “Tortured?” she echoed. “I’m afraid to ask what you mean when you say that.”

  “Cut to ribbons. Looks like they bled to death.”

  “That’s a painful way to go. Does he want you to work on the case?”

  “I told him I’d talk to Jason about it. It’s probably the work of a drug cartel. We’ll know more when they identify the victims. Anyway, I think we’re going to send Eli to work on it. He knows his way around a murder investigation and a small town.”

  Logan sounded far too casual.

  “You aren’t going?”

  He shrugged and turned to open the refrigerator, pulling out a soda. “Why would I go? Eli can handle it. I can do anything I need to do from here.”

  “Because we have a killer in Corville, husband. Another one.”

  “It’s probably just drugs.”

  “Or a serial.”