Bare Witness (15 page)

The one thing he’d never wanted for her.

He’d worked hard to ensure she’d always be safe and never have to take care of herself the way he’d had to. But now he prayed Piper had the same instincts he’d had. That she was able to keep it together and stay alive until he got to her.

“The road is out up ahead, and I think they had to abandon their vehicle as well. The signal is still moving, but the pace is slower,” Charity said.

“How do you feel about a jungle trek?” Justine asked.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“I thought you’d say that. Will you look in that black bag in the backseat for a machete?”

“Why do we need a machete?”

“It’s the only thing that really works in the jungle. Paths don’t really last long.”

“Have you been down here before?”

“A few times Sam has taken a job where we go in and rescue missionaries, or kidnapped college kids. Stuff like that. I know a good bit about the jungle,” Justine said.

“I know the cement jungles of the world, and can handle my own in them, but this kind of place—Wait—

“What?”

“Don’t follow the trail they are leading us on. We can go another twenty miles south and take the new access road.”

“Are you sure it’s open?” Justine asked.

“Positive. I paid extra to have that area filled in and paved. Charity, will you check the coordinates on the satellite?”

Nigel gave her the longitude and latitude of the new road they’d just had built.

“It looks open. In fact, my security team says they’ve been using it this morning.”

“Good,” Nigel said.

“I’ve got an idea,” Justine said. “A way we can stop being the followers and get a jump on Piper and her kidnappers.”

“You don’t think it’s Marshall anymore?” Nigel asked.

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to make any more mistakes. And I know that the Baron men are capable of unspeakable things.”

Nigel knew there was a lot more to this conversation than what Justine was letting on. There was real malice in her voice when she talked about Baron Industries, and he remembered when they’d first met at the Baron offices.

What was the connection to Baron and Justine? Or was it simply that she didn’t like big business. He wasn’t going to let this rest until he found out everything he could.

“W
hat kind of unspeakable acts?”

Justine shook her head. “Just dirty business dealings.”

Nigel got very quiet and still. “How do you know that?”

“It was in the file,” Charity said. “Sam’s information is top rate.”

Justine hadn’t realized that Sam had included past practices in the file he’d given them. She should have, though. He was thorough. The only reason she hadn’t read the file was because she couldn’t tolerate anything that had to do with Baron Industries.

She glanced at Nigel and realized that wasn’t true anymore. She did care a great deal about Nigel, and it didn’t matter to her that he was a part of Baron. She knew that Nigel wasn’t doing anything illegal, and that he wouldn’t. She had learned the measure of the man Nigel was, and he was someone she could respect.

“What?” he asked, looking up at her as she stared at him.

“I just realized that you are the kind of man I didn’t think existed anymore,” Justine said.

“What kind of man is that?” Charity asked.

“I’m going silent for a few minutes.”

“Don’t. There isn’t time for you to have a personal conversation with Nigel,” Anna said.

Nigel was looking at her now like she’d surprised him.

“You guys are right. What’s the plan?”

He put his hand on her thigh right near where the bandage was. Muting the microphone on his earpiece he looked at her. “You surprised me, too.”

“I…”

“Justine, we are almost to your location. We will meet up and discuss in person.”

“Sounds good,” Justine said. She took her earpiece out and shut it off, realizing this might be the last time she was alone with Nigel. She looked at him and there was still so much she had to say. Parts of her past that she should probably tell him about, but the past didn’t seem important just now.

She remembered the way he’d been earlier when they’d been searching the compound for Piper. She admired the way he’d kept cool under pressure. She leaned across the seat and drew him to her. This time, there was no reason why they couldn’t embrace.

She didn’t feel trapped in the car the way she had beside that hut. Here, she just kissed him and held him close to her, trying to convey without words all that she was feeling.

She liked the feel of his hand against her face. He made her feel cherished and beautiful, two things she could safely say she’d never experienced before.

Even now, when she’d just come back from doing things that most men would find repulsive, he held her close to him. He made her feel womanly just being in his arms.

She knew they didn’t have time for this, but she needed something from him. Needed to feel his body pressed against hers, even here in the front seat of the Humvee, while Anna and Charity were on their way.

Nigel drew her more fully against him, kissing her slowly, thoroughly, and very deeply. He caught her earlobe between his teeth and breathed into her ear as he said, “I want you now.”

“Here?” she asked, but it was what she wanted and needed, too. There was something about Nigel that made her forget that she wasn’t a physical person, that she didn’t need sex or intimacy, because with him she needed it all.

Nigel didn’t waste time on slow seduction. “Get your pants off.”

She reached for her zipper and noticed he did the same. He lowered his pants enough to free his cock. She pushed hers down her thighs and to her ankles, the fabric trapped by her boots. He lifted her onto his lap so that she sat facing away from him.

The movement thrust her breasts forward. The T-shirt and Kevlar vest still completely covered her torso, but a moment later she felt his hand on her shirt, drawing it up and off her body, and then the vest and bra followed. Soon he was cupping her bare breasts in his hands. She parted her legs and he groaned her name. Blood rushed through his veins, pooling in his groin.

“Yes, love.”

She shifted on him and he felt her moisture on the tip of his cock. Her legs shifted restlessly around his hips. Though it had been just last night when he’d had her, it felt like an eternity since he’d last held her in his arms.

He’d been aroused since they’d both escaped the compound with their lives. He had come so close to losing everything and to having everything tonight, and he needed to make love to Justine to remind himself that he was still alive.

She twisted her head so that their lips could meet. Her mouth opened under his and he told himself to take it slow, but slow wasn’t in his programming with this woman. And they didn’t have time for extended lovemaking. He should just thrust into her and come, but he wanted—no, needed—to ensure her pleasure first.

Justine was pure feminine temptation and he had her in his arms. He slid his hands down her back, caressing the long smooth line of her back. There were two small scars on her back. Little pucker wounds that looked like they had been caused by a gunshot.

He rubbed his finger over them a few times, then let his hands drop lower, caressing the full cheeks of her buttocks.

He rubbed the crown of his cock against her feminine mound from behind. He felt the humid warmth at her center on his flesh and moaned out loud. He reached between them to caress that slit between her legs. She was creamy and hot with desire. He caressed the edge of her body. She shifted more fully into him.

Her breasts rose and fell as she breathed heavily. He saw the barest hint of the rosy flesh of her nipples as he looked over her shoulder. He wanted to take those nipples in his mouth, but contented himself with caressing them with his fingers.

Her nipples stood out. He ran the tip of one fingertip around her aroused flesh. She trembled in his arms.

Lowering his head, he bit gently at the back of her neck, suckling the skin there. She brought one hand up to cup the back of his neck and held him to her with a strength that surprised him, but shouldn’t have.

Her fingers drifted down his arm and blood roared in his ear. He was so hard, so full right now, that he needed to be inside her body.

God, she was soft. She moaned as he neared her center and then sighed when he brushed his fingertips across the entrance to her body.

The area was warm and wet. He slipped one finger into her and hesitated for a second as she glanced back over her shoulder at him.

Her eyes were heavy-lidded. She bit down on her lower lip, and he felt the minute movements of her hips as she tried to move his touch where she needed it.

He was beyond teasing her or prolonging anything. He plunged two fingers into her humid body. She squirmed against him.

He needed her
now
. He shifted her on his body and thrust upward with his hips. She pushed back against him, but he wasn’t ready to enter her yet. Their naked loins pressed together and he shook under the impact.

He had to have her.
Now
. He cupped both of her breasts in his hands, plucking at her aroused nipples. He slipped one hand down her body, testing the readiness of her desire for him. He found her wet and ready. He adjusted his stance, bending his knees and positioning himself, and then entered her with one long, hard stroke.

She moaned his name and her head fell forward, leaving the curve of her neck open and vulnerable to him. He bit at her neck softly, and felt her reaction all the way to his toes when she squirmed in his arms and thrust her hips back toward him.

A tingling started in the base of his spine, and he knew his climax was close. But he wasn’t going without Justine. He wanted her with him. He caressed her stomach and her breasts, whispered erotic words of praise and longing in her ears.

She moved more frantically in his arms and he shafted her deep with each stroke. Breathing out through his mouth, he tried to hold back the inevitable. He slid one hand down her abdomen, through the slick folds of her sex, finding her center. He stroked the aroused flesh with an up-and-down movement. She continued to writhe in his arms, but was no closer to climax than before.

He circled that aroused bit of flesh between her legs with his forefinger, than scraped it very carefully with his nail. She screamed his name and tightened around his cock. Nigel pulled one hand from her body, locked his fingers on the cool railing next to her small hand, then penetrated her as deeply as he could. Biting down on the back of her neck, he came long and hard.

He caught her chin in his hands and turned her toward him. Bringing her so that their eyes met, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to walk away from her when this was over. No matter what happened with Piper, he couldn’t envision his future without Justine by his side. But he hadn’t gotten to be the CEO of Baron Industries by being a stupid man, and he knew Justine was never going to be content to be his wife. That was what all the worrying about cooking was about. But at this moment when he held her in his arms, he didn’t worry about anything but holding her.

Justine hurried back into her clothes, realizing once again that Nigel had come inside her. She probably should have said something to him the first time he had. She was on the pill, so pregnancy wasn’t a problem, and she was disease-free.

A part of her liked having his semen inside her. It was a part of Nigel that she’d carry around with her.

Her cell phone rang and she answered it.

“Why did you take off your earpiece?”

“Because I wanted to have a conversation without you and Anna listening in. Where are you guys?”

“Almost to the factory. We will meet you there.”

“Okay. We stopped for a moment, but will be right behind you.”

“Is everything okay with you?” Charity asked.

Justine had no idea. She hadn’t ever really been okay; she’d just found a way to live in a kind of numbness, but now all that had changed. Nigel had knocked her out of that numbness, and a part of her was scared that she’d never find her way back to it.

“I’m fine. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Anna is on the phone with Emile.”

“What’s up?”

“I don’t know. Let me call you back.”

Justine got back into the driver’s seat.

“Was that your mates?”

“Yes. We need to get moving.”

He nodded. She reached for the keys to start the car, but he stopped her with his hand on her wrist. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“No bad moments?”

“None at all. Thanks, Nigel. I can’t…it means a lot to me.”

“What does?”

“That you care,” she said before she could censor her thoughts. But it was very true; it did mean a lot to her, the way he cared about her.

“I’m glad, and you’re very welcome,” he said. “Did Charity or Anna find out anything about Derrick?”

“No. They had nothing new to report. Just wondered why we were both silent.”

“I notice you didn’t tell them you were making love with me.”

“Um…no. I’m not really the pour-your-heart-out kind of girl.”

He tipped his head to the side, studying her for a moment. “No, you are definitely more of the cards-close-to-your-chest girl.”

“What about you? How are you emotionally?” she asked.

They were both dressed again, and she put the car back in gear and finished driving up the road to the factory.

“I’m a guy…I don’t do heart-on-my-sleeve. Except maybe where Piper is concerned. She’s always known she owned me.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Wasn’t it that way with your father?”

Justine thought about that tough old marine who’d been her daddy, and she knew it had been true. “I guess you’re right. I thought my dad hung the moon, and when he died, I was inconsolable.”

“You mentioned a stepdad. Did he fill your father’s shoes?”

“No. He wasn’t anything like my father. I didn’t get along with him at all.”

“Why not?”

She took a deep breath and realized she was going to tell him about Franklin. She couldn’t believe it, but she wanted him to know. Then, if he was disgusted by her past and what she’d done, she’d know it before things went too far.

“He wasn’t a very nice man. He had a thing for little girls.”

Nigel cursed under his breath and reached for her, then hesitated. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “There’s more to it, but it just gets uglier.”

“Tell me,” he said.

“My mother wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to tell her what was going on. So I just stopped talking about it. Then he turned his attention to my younger sister Millie, and I knew I couldn’t…I just couldn’t let him do to her what he’d done to me.”

“What did you do?”

“I got my father’s old military-issue knife, and waited for him to come to my room. When he did, I stabbed him in the heart. I was always this small, but my daddy used to make Millie and I defend ourselves, so I knew how to fight and fight dirty.”

Justine stopped talking and the silence in the car felt awkward to her. But hearing the words out loud made a difference. She hadn’t told anyone about that night since the judge had asked her what happened in juvenile court.

“Did you kill him?”

“Yes. My mom was horrified, and my sister was scared for me. I was arrested and tried as a juvenile. I was placed in a juvenile detention center and Millie was placed in foster care the next year.”

“When did you get out of jail?”

“It was a juvenile sentence, so it meant I didn’t have to serve time in a correctional facility. I was released from the detention center on my eighteenth birthday.”

“How’d you get from there to here?” he asked.

How had she? She didn’t really remember much of those first months out of the facility, but she’d had a hard time fitting in with other kids. She had become even more of a loner than she had been before she’d gone into the juvenile center.

Her life really changed when she’d started working in Jack’s bar.

“I worked in bars as a bouncer. No one ever expected me to be able to do the job given my size, but I did. And one day I got a call from Sam. He knew about my record, but he’d also heard about some of the other things I’d done, like helping street kids and stuff like that, and he offered me training and then a job.”

Nigel didn’t say anything else and she was glad. She didn’t know why she’d suddenly started talking. Oh, that was a big fat lie. She knew why.