He stared at her for several seconds, and then caressed her cheek again. "I've been waiting... I wasn't sure..." He pressed his forehead to hers and she held on, treasuring this moment that was for the two of them alone.

"I never thought I would hear those words from you again."

As he smiled at her with hope shining bright, it was suddenly vital to give him more of her heart. "I never stopped loving you. A day hasn't pa.s.sed that I haven't thought of you and wanted you."

"Alex," he whispered as he touched his lips to hers. The kiss drew out with tenderness before he eased back. "I'm so glad we're here again. I'm so glad we've been given this chance."

She smiled. "Me too."

"I love you." He captured her mouth and began to thrust slowly. They clung together, stroking, touching, enjoying the simple pleasure of having each other back. The rain stopped as suddenly as it started, but she didn't notice as sighs intermingled and breathy moans filled the disheveled cabin. He took her up and over and held her close as he followed.

CHAPTER 17.

Jackson guided the cruiser to the dock as Alex hung up with his mother. "You ready to tie us off?"

"Yes."

"Careful. The dock'll be slippery."

Alex jumped from the back of the boat to the wooden planks with ease.

"You good?"

"Sure."

He hurried to the bow and sent the st.u.r.dy rope sailing in her direction, smiling as she caught it. "Nice hands."

"Just one of my many talents." Tugging, she crouched and twisted the rope around the tie-down the way he'd shown her long ago.

"Great memory." He walked to the stern as she secured the next tie in place.

"What can I say?" She shrugged and grinned, then held out her hand to him.

Delighted with the world in general, he helped her back on the boat and pulled her close, staring into her deep blue eyes. Alex loved him. He'd been waiting, hoping, but now that she'd told him... "How's Olivia?"

"She's fine. Grammy said they barely heard the thunder. The aquarium was pretty loud. Livy didn't even know there was a storm. If she did, she didn't say anything to your parents."

"See? All that worrying for nothing."

"Worrying's a mother's prerogative." She kissed his cheek. "I'm going to get started on the mess down in the cabin."

He ran his fingers through her soft hair, stalling, not wanting the afternoon to end. The time away with Alex had been everything he'd wanted it to be. Her eyes were bright again and her shoulders relaxed. They'd laughed and had fun. "I'll give you a hand."

"Good. It'll go faster." She stepped from his easy embrace. "I think everything spilled from the drawers and cupboards."

He pulled her back, locking his hands around her waist, effectively trapping her in place. "What's the hurry?"

She pushed at his shoulders. "Jack, your parents will be home with Livy in another hour or so. I want to get the mess cleaned up and dinner on the stove. Poor Grammy and Grampy are probably exhausted."

"I had fun with you. I don't want today to be over yet."

Her eyes instantly softened, and her hands moved to frame his face. "That's very sweet."

He kissed her brow.

"I love you, Jack."

Would he ever get used to hearing her say that? He'd taken her feelings for granted all those years ago, but never again. "I love you too. I want more days like this. I want us to laugh again. I love watching your eyes light up when you smile. You're so beautiful."

"Do you want a tear or two as well? Because you're about to get a few."

He smiled as she did. "No. I didn't tell you enough before. There are so many things I didn't do right the first time around. I don't want to make the same mistakes."

"Things ended badly. What breakup doesn't? You've never been anything but wonderful to me."

"Not always."

"Yes, always." She kissed his chin. "I've made my own mistakes and have my own regrets." As she spoke, her fingers tensed against his skin and the bright light left her eyes. "I never want to hurt you, Jack. Ever. I want you to remember that."

He frowned at her serious tone. "Okay. I didn't mean to b.u.m either of us out here. I just wanted to tell you I love you." He pressed his lips to hers. "And maybe take advantage of our alone time," he added with a wiggle of his brows, wanting the easy moment back.

She gave him a small smile, and then looked down.

"Hey." He nudged her gently. "Hey."

She met his gaze.

"Third times a charm you know," he whispered next to her ear.

"So I've heard, but I'm pretty well satisfied with the first and second time." She smiled fully.

He chuckled, relieved that she could still find the light mood they'd traveled home with. "Let's go to my room, then we'll come back and clean. Promise. I'll even help with dinner, because I think magical number three might take a while. I didn't have a chance to do nearly half the things I wanted to. I have a lot of time to make up for." His hormones were already raging as his imagination got to work on all the ways he planned to send Alex over the edge. Maybe it was caveman-like but there were few things-if any-that brought him the satisfaction he felt when he sent Alex over the brink. Watching her eyes go wide and hearing her call his name as she lost control was freaking amazing. He picked her up, and she gasped.

"Jack."

"Let's hurry." He stepped from the boat with a wobbly hop, only stopping long enough to steady himself. "In about thirty seconds, I'm going to take you." He pressed his lips to hers in a demanding promise as he walked up the small, gra.s.sy hill to his parent's home. "If we don't make it to my room, that'll be too d.a.m.n bad."

She made a purring sound in her throat and attacked his mouth with teeth and tongue.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n," he puffed out as he rushed up the steps. "Screw the bedroom. I'm taking you in the entryway. We'll get to all those things I plan to do in a few minutes. Looks like four is your lucky number today." He set her down and leaned her against the door, kissing her, palming her small, firm breast with one hand as he reached in his pocket for the house key.

"Hurry up, Jack," she urged as her hand snaked into his shorts, torturing them both.

He struggled to put the key in the lock as Alex revved him higher. "Oh my G.o.d, I'm going to-"

Without warning, Alex yanked her hand away as if he'd grown thorns. Their breath heaved out, mingling, and she clutched at his t-shirt. "Tucker's home."

Jackson glanced over his shoulder as Tucker pulled in the drive. "f.u.c.king-A. I'm going to kick his a.s.s."

Tucker got out and shut the door. "Sorry for interrupting."

"Is this payback for waking you up the other night? Go drive around the block a few times." Jackson snapped out of his haze when Tucker didn't smile or give some sort of crude comeback. "What's up, man?"

"There's been another kidnapping."

Alex's rosy cheeks paled, and her swollen lips trembled. "Livy? They took Livy?"

"Not Livy, Alexa. She's with George and Carol."

Alex sagged against him, and he wrapped his arm around her. "Where?"

"On the outskirts of Servena Park."

Alex straightened. "Servena Park's not that far from here."

"There was a van involved. The victim was visiting with a friend. The friend ran in to her house to tell her mother they were heading to the mall. When the friend came out, two men were yanking the victim into the back. Just like that, they were gone."

"Not again," Alex whispered as her body tensed and her hands clutched together at her waist.

"Come on. Let's get inside." Jackson had no trouble sticking the key in the lock this time. He twisted the k.n.o.b and let Alex and Tucker in.

"The media's all over this one. Amber Alerts were blaring over every station on the way back from DC. I put in a call to Canon, but we won't be hearing from him for awhile." They hurried to the living room, and Tucker picked up the remote. "What's the local news station?"

"Channel 12." Jackson walked up behind Alex and settled his arms around her waist.

Her clammy hands clung to his forearms as Suzette Martin, Baltimore's friendly anchorwoman, filled the screen. "-we follow this developing story. Again, fifteen-year-old Margaret Stowers was pulled into the back of a white Chevy work van by two unknown a.s.sailants at 3:09 p.m. today in the upscale suburb of Servena Park." A picture of Margaret Stowers replaced Suzette Martin's pretty face, and Alex gasped as Jackson's stomach turned.

"G.o.dd.a.m.n," he muttered as he stared.

"No. No." Alex tore herself from his arms. "This isn't happening."

"The girl from Club Jerhico... The picture you took," Tucker chimed in.

Helpless rage iced Jackson's veins as he nodded, unable to believe it. "I think we can officially connect Timothy Monroe to the s.e.x ring. It's a pretty big coincidence he spotted this girl, talked to her, gave her a card, and now she's missing. I want to get Ethan in on this. Let's play this out and see if we can find a profile on Baltimore Dates-see if there might be a link. Kristen Moore snuck into clubs, had a profile, and disappeared. Let's see if Margret did too."

Tucker glanced at Alex as she stared at the floor. "I'll get on it. Come up when you can. I need to talk to you."

"I'll be right there."

Jackson struggled to relax his jaw as Tucker disappeared up the stairs. How many more young women's lives were going to be destroyed before the taskforce found their connection?

He curled his fist, wanting to punch something, then flexed his hand. Destroying his parents' wall wouldn't fix the situation. He glanced at Alex and sighed. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not." She looked up from the floor with tears pooling. "Why aren't the police taking this seriously? How many more girls have to disappear?"

"They're taking this seriously, Alex."

"How can you stand here and say that when we both know their only interest is in nailing Zachary Hartwell? There's so much more to this than the d.a.m.n CEO of Starlight Entertainment." She turned away, took two steps, and whirled back around. "Margret's just a baby."

He jammed a hand through his hair, unable to deny anything Alex said. "We've got Ethan on this. If he finds something, we'll go with it and get Miranda in on it as well."

Alex scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Surprised, Jackson stared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shook her head and went to the stairs. "Nothing."

He followed and pulled her around. "Alex."

"I'm sorry. I'm just tired, frustrated, and very, very sad for Margret and her family. They have no idea what they're in for."

He skimmed her jaw with the pad of his thumb, knowing this was eating her up. "Why don't you lie down for a few minutes before Olivia gets home?"

A spark of heat snapped into her eyes but quickly died away. "That's a good idea."

Puzzled, he held her gaze.

"I'll catch a nap, Jack. Go ahead and talk to Tucker." She walked up the steps, and he stared after her. What the h.e.l.l was that? Seconds later, he headed upstairs, glanced at Alex's closed door, and went into the office as Tucker hung up the phone.

"Ethan's on it."

"Good." Jackson leaned against the desk and rubbed his fingers over the sudden throbbing in his temple. With a sigh, he dropped his hand. "f.u.c.king-A, man."

Tucker leaned back in the chair and crossed his feet. "He said he'll call us back in an hour. He was scanning Margret's photo into his computer."

"Hopefully he'll find something. The club is officially one of their avenues for luring these girls in, so is the website, but does one have anything to do with the other?"

"Good question. Maybe we'll have a better idea when Ethan gets back to us." Tucker eased back further until the chair squeaked. "So, what does Alexa think about all this?"

Something in Tucker's tone had Jackson on alert. "She thinks it sucks. Why?"

He shrugged.

Jackson's eyes narrowed a fraction. "What's up?"

Tucker shrugged again. "I met with Miranda's old partner today-lead s.e.x crimes detective down in DC. Seemed to know a lot about Abby's case and the ring. I toyed around with a few theories. Brought up the other victims and our thoughts on Baltimore Dates. He was intrigued."

"Okay."

"He and I spent a good hour doing some perusing of our own, trying to get things moving again. We found something." Tucker sat up in front of his laptop and started typing. "Does JennyLove ring any bells?"