Moving_Violations (19 page)

He tightened his grip on his control, easing back shakily as she moaned at the desertion.

“Damn, baby,” he sighed, laying his forehead against hers as he stared down at her.

“You burn me alive.”

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He touched her cheek gently before releasing her. Her skin was soft, though still pale. But the pain was gone from her eyes. They were slumberous now, and rich with passion. That look made him want to eat her live.

She drew a deep breath, causing her hard tipped breasts to push against the fabric of his shirt. Damn. He wanted to rip the shirt from her and immerse himself in the heat and fiery passion that belonged to Becca alone.

“Jackson…” He saw the emotion in her eyes, the words trembling on her lips and waited breathlessly. “Nothing.” Disappointment raged through him as she shook her head and moved carefully away from him.

“Sure?” Damn her, she was stubborn. Or was he merely indulging in more wishful thinking than the situation deserved?

He loved her. There was no damned doubt about it. He had loved her when she was a kid, loved her when she was sixteen, and he was so damned crazy about her now he could hardly see straight for it.

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat, moving back to her suitcase. “Do whatever you need to do. I’ll be ready in less than thirty minutes.”

Jackson sighed. “Okay, baby. I’ll finish out things with Sandor and Gray. We’ll be waiting on you in the living room.”

He left the room, his cock hard and ready, his heart and mind whirling in confusion.

Dammit to hell, she had to love him, why was she being so hesitant? He shook his head, promising himself he would find out soon. As soon as he had her safe.

* * * * *

God help her, she’d almost ruined everything. Rebecca wanted to tell Jackson she loved him. She always had. She always would. There had been something in those eyes of his. Something mesmerizing and powerful. For a moment she thought he might…but she couldn’t let herself believe that. She’d made a fool of herself over Jackson Montgomery too many times. She wouldn’t do it again.

Her heart was still pounding, her nipples ached, sending pulses of need radiating through her. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. Her pussy throbbed and every step caused a silken sliding friction that made her want to plead for release. With her love came this all-consuming lust, hunger, desire. Whatever the hell it was, it wasn’t like anything she’d ever known and it wasn’t something she could ignore.

She pulled off her shorts and with a grimace, her underwear. She was gonna need panty liners with Jackson around all the time. Quickly she found some clean panties and pulled them on, followed by her jeans. She stuffed her dirty clothes into the back pocket of her suitcase and then zipped it close and set it beside the bedroom door.

Todd certainly hadn’t made her yearn like this. Todd…what in God’s name had she seen in him? She’d thought maybe she loved him once. She had admired his strength, his intelligence, his independence. He had never demanded of her time, he had his thing and she had hers. She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed and dug through her purse for a ponytail holder.

At the time, it seemed the perfect relationship until the abuse started. Rebecca shuddered at the memory of his tirades, the threats and accusations, the name-calling, 98

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deriding her in front of fellow officers. It had been too much so she broke it off, or tried to. She swallowed the knot lodged in her throat, clenched her teeth, ran her shaking hands through her hair vigorously and fastened it loosely with the blue scrunchie she found. All this time he was a traitor. A fucking traitor!

And now he was trying to use her. Had she been used before? It made her skin crawl to think about it. She wanted the weasel to feel pain. Lots of pain, hideous, gruesome, tremendous pain. And she wanted it to be at her hand. Although she was pretty sure if Jackson got to him first there would be very little left of him to hurt. Well, she thought as she stood, she’d just have to get to Officer Lawrence first now, wouldn’t she?

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Chapter Twenty-One

Jackson stood with his back to her, his hands on his hips, talking to the state cops.

Damn…his ass looked so good, she wanted to bite it. Rebecca gave herself a mental head slap. It didn’t matter what was going on, just the sight of him turned her into an inferno.

Her insides melted, her vagina clenched. She nearly moaned out loud. Damn. Sandor and Gray didn’t look bad either.

“We intercepted a transmission reporting another delivery,” Sandor said. His voice was a commanding deep bass.

“From where was it sent?” Jackson asked.

“Morocco,” Sandor answered.

“Let me guess, the report was meant for Lawrence.”

Gray nodded. “They’re moving major players in the terrorist ring this time. ”

Sandor glanced briefly at Gray then fixed his gaze on Jackson again. “We’re not sure if there will be family involved with this one or not but we know there’s a family in Jericho now that will be moving on. We’re expecting activities within the next day or two. Just lay low and watch. If you observe anything, report it immediately.”

Jackson’s back stiffened. Rebecca would be willing to bet his gray eyes were narrowed.

Gray sighed, reading Jackson’s body language. “Look, I completely understand how you must feel, but if you go ‘Rambo’ out there you’ll blow the whole thing.”

“I’m not a ‘stand by and watch’ kind of guy but I’m not wet behind the ears and I’m not an idiot, either. I’ll do what needs to be done,” Jackson bit out.

“Good.” Sandor’s frown deepened. Did the man never smile? “We’ll be heading to Nashville today to coordinate with the taskforce being prepped there.”

Rebecca cleared her throat and their gazes shifted past Jackson to focus on her. With their closed expressions, broad chests, and massive biceps they were an intimidating sight to behold. Even without the wide shiny black gun belt hanging low on their narrow hips. She suddenly felt sorry for anyone who tangled with these boys.

Sandor stood just a little taller than Gray, his black hair was wavy and a bit mussed from the wide brimmed olive hat he held in his hand. Those vivid green eyes of his were revealing. There was a story there. The corner of Gray’s mouth lifted a bit and the half smile made his blue eyes sparkle. Did he just wink? She could have been mistaken.

Maybe he had a twitch. Jackson turned and frowned at her. What had she done now?

Sheesh.

“Ready?” Jackson’s tone was a bit strained. He took her suitcase and pulled her firmly to his side as she walked up and stood beside him.

Rebecca lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”

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“Good.” He grunted and nodded to the troopers who turned and walked out ahead of them.

* * * * *

The back seat of a patrol car was not designed for comfort. Rebecca shifted, trying to relieve the cramp in her thigh. “Will someone fill me in now?” she snapped. She met Sandor’s gaze in the rear view mirror and when he didn’t say anything she lifted her brows and he looked back at the road. She turned to Jackson sitting beside her. His long legs made him decidedly more uncomfortable than she was.

“We believe they’re using the rest stop off the interstate as a pick up and drop off point. There’s a network of caves right above it. You and I are going to camp there and stake it out. Sandor and Gray are taking us to pick up another vehicle then we’ll take an old back road up to the caves,” Jackson said, holding her gaze. “Everything’s already set up.”

“We expected they’d try to take you out, Officer Taylor,” Sandor interrupted. He didn’t like explaining himself, she could tell by his tone. “So we had things put in place to send you and Sheriff Montgomery on the stakeout. That way you’re safe and you’re useful at the same time.”

Useful? Ha. He had no idea. She hated being underestimated. “And we will be in communication with those two?” She nodded toward the front seat without taking her gaze from his. She couldn’t look away from the storm brewing in his eyes.

“Yes and others working on the case.” He lowered his voice a bit. “Are you up for this?”

Rebecca snorted. “I am so up for this.” She finally turned away. Her tone did nothing to hide her desire for revenge. She could still feel Jackson watching her. Sandor too. She knew they were concerned. They probably thought she was too emotionally involved. But she didn’t care, there was too much at stake here. She never thought of herself as overly patriotic but since September eleventh everyone had become more passionate about America. She was no different. And the fact that she’d been used, was still being used by that little piss ant of a man…it made her livid.

So the baby was part of a family being smuggled out of the Middle East. But he sounded so young, just an infant and that had been a cry of pain. Was he sick or injured?

Was he being abused? She jumped when Jackson enveloped her hand in his, linking his fingers with hers.

The warmth of his hand, the caress of his thumb, soothed her building irritation some. She closed her eyes. When had she let her guard down and fallen all the way?

God, she loved him more than she thought she was capable of loving anyone. If he didn’t love her back, she was really going to be hurt. Real serious pain.

She squeezed his hand, shifted again and frowned out the window. The road began to narrow and the homes became farther apart. They turned off onto a wooded dirt road. It wasn’t long until the woods became denser, the road rougher. Finally they came to a stop. Gray got out and opened the door for them. Sandor continued to watch in the rearview mirror.

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Rebecca got out of the car and stretched her arms up over her head. Out of the corner she saw Gray’s appreciative gaze. Jackson didn’t try to hide his scowl as he went to the back of the car and lifted her suitcase from the trunk. She lowered her arms and quickly pulled her shirt down, clearing her throat.

Gray’s eyes were bright with humor. Rebecca could tell Gray enjoyed pressing Jackson’s buttons with his subtle flirting. “Follow this road about five hundred feet then turn right onto an overgrown path. The jeep will be sitting there. It’s loaded with everything you’ll need. Follow the path about three miles and you’ll see a stick in the ground with a neon orange tie on it. Pull it up and turn there into the wooded area.

Around the corner and almost on the edge of the cliff you’ll find the mouth of the cave,”

he said as he got back into the patrol car. “Be sure and watch for it or you’ll pass it right up.” He smiled at Rebecca and winked. She was sure of it this time. “Be careful. We’ll be in touch.”

Jackson nodded. “Thanks,” he said blandly and began walking.

Gray got back in the car and Rebecca heard them backing up as she jogged to catch up with Jackson. They walked in silence until they came to the jeep. It was painted camouflage green, black and gray; and it was fully loaded. They had night goggles, weapons, two-way radios, a cell phone, food, matches, lanterns…everything they could possibly need was there.

She climbed in next to Jackson. “You okay?” she asked, laying a hand on his forearm.

He looked at her as he turned the ignition. She felt a shiver slide up her spine. A mixture of heat and anger gathered there, then softened. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’m fine.”

She kept quiet for most of the teeth rattling way. She held on tight to the roll bar to keep from being thrown out. Gray was right; the marker was inconspicuous. She hopped out and pulled it up, throwing it in the back then walked around the rest of the way.

The mouth of the cave was secluded, shielded by bushes and undergrowth. Jackson drove the jeep as far into the brush as he could and did his best to secure it.

The mouth of the cave was small, so Jackson had to duck. Rebecca didn’t expect there’d be as much space inside as there was. It opened up into a room big enough for all their equipment and a fire if they needed one. Someone had already swept it out and kindling was piled along one wall with a stack of firewood.

“This will be pretty comfortable.” Jackson scanned the room then glanced at her.

“Let’s hurry and unload the jeep.”

When they had everything they needed unloaded and stored in the cave, Jackson put the top up on the jeep and it seemed to dissolve into the foliage. Inside the cave, lanterns sent shadows and light dancing over the walls. It was cool, but not cool enough for a fire. The sun was going down and Rebecca was thankful for the bug repellant. She sat cross-legged on her thick bedroll loading her pistol.

“Come here,” Jackson said without turning. She pulled herself up and went to where he stood right outside the cave. He put his arm around her. “Look, down there is the rest stop. You see?”

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“Yeah, pretty clear view.” Even with the dim light she could see the block building through the trees and the people walking back and forth from the building to the various cars, trucks and campers. “Shouldn’t be difficult to get what we need,” she muttered.

“We have a video camera with infra red.” Jackson nodded.

“Cool.” Rebecca grinned up at him. “A new toy…I get to use it.”

Jackson chuckled and kissed her nose. “We’ll see.”

She scowled at him. “Oh yeah. You’ll see.” She looked back down at the rest stop.

“What about Todd, will he be showing up here?”

“I don’t know.” She felt him watching her now. His touch heated her blood, her nipples hardened in response as his hand moved down over her hip and up again, but she tried to ignore it. “Becca.”

Conflicting emotions swirled in her stomach as she kept her eyes on the rest stop.

Jackson turned to stand in front of her, blocking her view. He lifted her chin and waited till she met his gaze. What she thought she saw in his eyes made her breath hitch.

Before she could say anything his mouth closed over hers, his tongue stroking the tender inside of her lips. Desire bloomed in her womb and spread through her body like a flash fire as he pulled her close, his hands holding her body tightly against his. Her nipples hardened against his chest, his thigh moved between hers and she swallowed his groan. His hands moved over her ass, kneading, lifting her against his hard thigh, then his bulging erection.