Sexual Games [The Heroes of Silver Springs 8] (Siren Publishing Classic) (31 page)

“Well, get him, and me, out of your head,” Adrien ordered. “You’ve got a challenge to win today, sweetie, and I have no doubt you can come out on top.”

“Done.” Thaddeus smiled as he cut the connection and stashed his phone in his gear bag.

“Better?” Terri lifted a brow, a smile of her own playing with the corner of her lips.

“For now.” Talking to Adrien had helped. He raked his gaze over the firefighter course, his attention landing on the five-story tower. He had only to make it to the top of that thing and back down again in the best possible time to hand the rest over to Terri. He could do it. He
would
do it. But deep down he knew that tower wasn’t the only obstacle he was battling to win.

Trouble came in also knowing he was no longer certain if the other hurdle he wanted to conquer was Adrien or Cameron.

* * * *

“How are you feeling?” Jackson eased onto the edge of the sofa where Mallory lay with her head on a pillow and her feet propped on the armrest on the opposite end. She looked like shit. Amazingly beautiful shit, but it was obvious the last twenty-four-plus hours had taken their toll.

“Great. Like I’m in Heaven on earth.” Her smile reached her incredible eyes as she gazed up at him. “I’m happy and relieved. My head hurts like a bitch. My throat is still a bit scratchy. My solar plexus is bruised and my tummy aches, but all in all, I’m peachy.”

Jackson angled his head. “All that isn’t peachy, Mal.”

“It is when you consider the cause and the fact that it will all go away.” She sighed, the sound one of pure contentment. “Those girls are safe now. Sophie is out of that place. Lexie and the others have been found. They’ll all get the help they need, both physically and mentally, so they can move on with their lives after what has been done to them. Every ping in my head and pang in my body was well worth it for that.”

Five of the six missing girls that they knew of had been found. The pervert whom they believed to have purchased the sixth, Leah Gibbs, one of the first strippers to go missing from Stardust, was in custody, but so far, the bastard wasn’t talking.

A shadow moved through Mallory’s expression. “Do you think there are others out there we don’t know about?”

“If there are, we’ll find them. This isn’t over. Not until we’re certain we have them all.”

“It won’t be over even then. There will always be some sick bastard out there stealing women, attempting to make them into sex slaves, and sadistic perverts out there willing to pay for them.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right. And it’s our job to catch and stop as many of them as we can.”

Mallory lifted a finger and poked Jackson on the tip of his nose. “And you, slick, are right about that.” She let her hand fall to her belly. “I’m still having trouble grasping the fact that Cinderella’s was a part of this all along.”

“You and everyone else. Cooper is pissed that we didn’t catch that sooner.”

“We’ve checked the place out before. Of all the clubs in Waterston, we all believed it to be the squeakiest.”

“Between Forbes and Kyle Zyler, they did a hell of a job at covering up the club’s involvement, making it look like a class-A establishment when, behind the scenes, beneath the club floor, women were being held and tortured.”

“I didn’t recognize him, you know? Zyler, he was there in the office at Stardust and in the van they put me in when they took me to Cinderella’s. I thought he was just some goon Forbes had hired.” Mallory rubbed her forehead. “I had only seen him once or twice, but God, you would think I would have recognized him.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. The important thing is we got all of them.”

Mallory narrowed her eyes at him. “I still wish you wouldn’t have pulled me off Forbes. Doing that bastard some real damage would have really made my day.”

Jackson laughed. “I bet it would have.”

“So, do you think Cooper is going to ream our asses for not figuring out the Cinderella connection sooner?”

“Not before he reams his own. He went there last night and didn’t get a clue himself.”

“He went to Cinderella’s? Why?”

“To watch after Jennifer Moss. This is going to sound crazy, but I think he’s got a thing for her. Did you notice the way he looks at her?”

Mallory barked a surprised laugh. “Are we talking about the same Cooper? Adam Cooper, our big, bad, ferocious boss has the hots for a woman?”

“Shocked me to my toes, too.”

“Wow!” Mallory laughed again. “It might be good for him, though, you know, to fall in love with someone?”

Would it? Was falling in love good for anyone, especially those who lived on the edge of danger day in and day out the way they did? Jackson was no longer sure anymore.

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to go to your place.” Jackson changed the subject. After their debriefing, he had offered to drive her home, but she told him she wanted to come to his apartment instead.

Mallory grinned, her eyes glinting with pure mischief. “Chef Jackson’s is closed at my place.”

Jackson smiled. “Is that so?”

“Yep, seems the restaurant supplier went on strike or some such nonsense.”

Jackson pushed to his feet, turned toward her, and bowed. “Welcome to Chef Jackson’s, madam. What can I get for you this afternoon?”

Mallory beamed at him. “Anything hot, tasty, and in
very
large quantities.”

“Want some ibuprofen for your headache?”

Mallory shook her head. “No, it will go away on its own. I’ve had enough drugs to last me a lifetime.”

* * * *

Something is up.
Mallory rolled onto her stomach, stifling a grunt at the pain in her belly and solar plexus, and watched Jackson walk to the kitchen. Her gaze immediately landed on his perfect ass clad in what she always thought of as his trademark black Armani slacks. Her mouth watered, her belly growling for nourishment that had nothing to do with food or drink and everything to do with the man walking away from her.

Is he walking away?
It suddenly felt like it. Oh, she knew he was merely going to the kitchen right now to fix her something to eat, but the sense she had gotten when she had looked into his eyes made her wonder if she might be losing him.

She pushed herself up and slid off the couch as he disappeared into the kitchen. She had been in his apartment numerous times over the years and practically knew the layout, its furnishings, and other contents as well as her own. That didn’t stop her from perusing the living room now.

Nothing had changed much. The same photos sat in frames on shelves also occupied by the same books. Her attention paused on one of the photos. She laughed quietly and shook her head.

“Will it ever stop amazing me how you and Jason look exactly alike?” The brothers stood side-by-side in the picture, turned slightly away from each other, the backs of their shoulders touching. She could tell them apart simply by the look in their eyes. Jason’s eyes glinted with a boyish mischief. He was always the twin getting into something. Jackson was smiling in the photo, but his eyes were serious, contained.

“We’re identical twins, Mal,” Jackson said from the kitchen. “We’re supposed to look exactly alike.”

“Got any plans of seeing him anytime soon?” She shifted her gaze to another picture, this one of an early morning at the docks in Silver Springs. The sun had just begun to rise in the distance, painting the water with streams of pinkish-orange light.

“He’s trying to get me to come down for the Fired Up For Kids benefit in a few months. I told him I would make it if I could.”

“Fired Up For Kids?” Mallory shot a look over her shoulder and swallowed a groan. Jackson was moving around the kitchen gathering ingredients for whatever he planned to cook. Every move was decisive yet graceful. The muscles in his forearm tightened as he pulled open the refrigerator, and her waist tingled in remembrance of that strong arm wrapped around her. He ducked, leaned into the fridge and—
Holy hormones
—that perfect view of his ass made her panties wet.

He chuckled, the sound muffled by the refrigerator. “It’s a benefit the local fire departments are putting together to raise money for area kids.” He straightened with what looked like celery stalks and a bag of carrots in his hand and moved to the nearby counter. His shoulder muscles flexed as he situated the celery on a cutting board. She didn’t know what he was putting together, but it was certainly entertaining to watch. “Kind of like the calendar they did a few years ago for the hurricane victims, except this will be a strip show.”

“A strip show. Wow!”

“That’s pretty much what I said.” The noise of an electric can opener put a pause in the conversation. “Why were you asking if I planned to see him soon?”

Mallory shrugged and looked back at the photo of the beach. “I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a beach. I thought I might go with you.”

Jackson didn’t comment, his attention seemingly snagged by the meal he was preparing. Then again, maybe he didn’t want her to go with him.

Stop it, Mallory. You’re being ridiculous.

Wasn’t she? Something definitely seemed off between them today.

She skimmed the spines of the books on the shelves, attempting to convince herself the out-of-sorts feeling she was getting was her imagination working overtime. They hadn’t talked about the scene she made in his office before all the shit had gone down at Stardust. Maybe that had something to do with what was going on now. She had been pissed at him for leaving her, for doing the same thing to her she had done to him the night before. Tarantino had pegged it on the head. Jackson had finally gotten to her. And there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

She didn’t want to do anything about it. She had come to that realization at some point during all those hours Forbes had held her captive. Though the drugs he had given her had knocked her out most of the time, apparently it hadn’t put her mind to sleep. In her efforts to battle the terror of what Forbes might do to her, that he would likely kill her, a fear she had lived with most of her life had diminished.

She loved Jackson with every ounce of her heart and soul. She could admit that now, to herself and to him when the time felt right. She still feared losing him, being left alone in the world as her mother had been, if and when anything happened to him. She also knew no man would ever replace him.

She started to turn when a title among all the crime thrillers caught her eye. Okay, so apparently they weren’t all the same books, after all. She lifted a brow as she pulled the book from the shelf.
Sex Games? Nice.
An inscription was written on the title page, and she immediately recognized the name.
Interesting book for a girl to give her brother-in-law.

Mallory scanned the table of contents.
Escort and Client, Bar Pick-Up, Kidnap Time, Menu for You
… She glanced at Jackson in the kitchen.

Hmm, what exactly is he preparing in there?

She went back to reading.
Adult Twister, See the Mirror, The Bedroom Dance, Truth or Dare
…

Now those could be fun and useful.

She read through several more, flipped to the appropriate pages, and her mind spun with ideas. Grinning to herself, she put the book back on the shelf.

“Do I have time for a quick shower?” She had taken one mere hours ago at HQ, but she still felt grimy. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t dirt making her feel that way. It was her body’s memory of that sadistic bastard’s touch, a recollection her mind was trying desperately to forget.

“Sure, this needs to simmer for at least thirty minutes.”

“Got anything I can wear?” The clothes she had on were the spare outfit she kept in her office. While still clean, the dress skirt and blouse wouldn’t serve for what she had in mind.

“I’m sure you can find something in my bedroom. Help yourself.”

* * * *

Jackson glanced at her as she disappeared down the hall. He figured he had twenty minutes tops to prepare himself for the sight of her amazing body clad only in one of his shirts. He didn’t expect her to find anything else in his closet that would fit.

He sighed and dumped two cups of egg noodles into the pot already simmering with onions, celery, carrots, and chicken. They needed to talk. He knew that. How to broach the subject was what he hadn’t quite figured out. They were dancing around it again, but this time was different. This time, he understood her more than ever before.

And now you’re the one with the fear.

He braced his hands on the edge of the counter, bowed his head, and closed his eyes.
Big mistake.
When he did that, he saw her bound to that bed, naked and more vulnerable than he had ever imagined she could be.

Except, she hadn’t been helpless. She had been fighting back and doing a damn good job of it, too. But would she have succeeded if they hadn’t gotten to her when they did? The realization that she had come so close to ending up like Lexie, or worse, Erin Griffin, still sent horrified chills down his spine.