That man whispering dirty talk into my ear causes my stomach to flutter with unsettled need. Maybe I should listen to my friends and let completely loose. Hell, if nothing else, there is no denying that this man turns me right the hell on with those snug fitting jeans and powerful arms. And what better way to get over being jilted than to be the one to leave after a round of hot sex? At the moment, that sounds pretty damn good to me.
I contemplate that as he spins me around, but once my mind is set, there’s not much to think about. A slow song comes on, and he takes my hand to guide me from the floor, but I’m far from done with him. “How are your slow moves? As good as you dance?”
Mason raises his eyebrows. His hand snakes around my waist, and he draws me into the hardness of his body with one swift move. “My slow moves would have your panties in my pocket in no time at all, Priscilla Jean.”
His words and the way he says my given name, while his thumb rubs those little circles near the sensitive flesh of my nape cause my nipples to harden and center to clench. Good lord, this man is hot. I wait until the song is almost over, wrap my hands around his neck, and pull his face down so that I can whisper in his ear as the song ends. “Show me your moves, city boy. Follow me, and you can make good on your promises.”
I walk toward our table, grab my jacket, and head for the door and toward the trail that I know like the back of my hand. All the while, my heart is racing with the thought of what I’m about to do. It’s been so very long since I’ve been this turned on. So long since I even thought about wanting a man like this.
His boots crunch the dried winter sticks under the light layer of snow as he follows me over the trail.
I inhale the crisp wind of winter’s edge in the air, surprised at how breathless I am when I reach the secluded little arbor that overlooks the bluff.
Mason’s hand on my shoulder spins me around. Those eyes penetrate me like they do. “It’s cold out here, sweetheart. I don’t want to be responsible for you getting sick.”
I don’t answer because if I do, I might never be able to do this again if I don’t take the step tonight. Not one time has someone ignited a desire this strong and most definitely not since my heart got crushed. I shouldn’t be doing this, I know it, but still, I take the chance. “I thought you were going to take my panties?”
Mason is quiet for a minute longer than it should take, and already my chest squeezes tight knowing what’s coming next. “Oh, sweetheart. The thought of taking your panties off that sweet little ass is definitely on my mind, but you’ve had way too much to drink to make that decision. Besides, I promised Cole that I would get both you and Jules home tonight. I’ll have to take a raincheck on that offer. When your head is clear, sweetheart.”
My chest beats hard with embarrassment, and tears threaten at the back of my eyes. I will them to stay right where they are and not to fill my eyes, because getting turned down is bad enough, but crying? Damn it all, why the hell did I let myself drink so much or think that I could do this with a complete stranger, no matter the attraction?
I turn away from him and look down the hill toward the bar. The wind bites into my skin, sobering me a little but not near enough to make this colossal mistake go away. “I’m sorry for coming onto you like that. I seriously do not know what’s gotten into me. I never act this way. Ask anyone. I’m not that type of girl. I’m really sorry.”
He strokes a hand down my hair and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Stop, PJ.”
I inhale a deep breath. “It’s just that I’m usually a very low-key, keep to myself kinda gal. I don’t usually flirt; I don’t drink. Well, at least, not like this since my younger days, and I certainly do not dance or tease men about giving them my panties. Tomorrow’s look in the mirror is not going to be pretty. For some reason it’s important that you know that about me even though you’ll probably be half way across the country.”
Mason’s arm wraps around me, and he turns me to face him again. “Look at me.”
Those hazel eyes connect with mine. I’m not so drunk that I don’t know what comes next. I feel the connection, almost in slow motion. Whether from the drink or just the attraction, I know what’s coming. I want it more than I’ve wanted anything in a very long time.
His lips lower and capture mine in a kiss that takes my breath away. When he finally breaks our kiss, he strokes a finger down my cheek. “You have nothing to be ashamed of; attraction is the most natural thing in the world. When you look in the mirror tomorrow, all you’re going to see is a beautiful woman who was having a great time and had the attention of every red-blooded male in the bar tonight.”
“Except you.”
“Not true, sweetheart. If you hadn’t had so much to drink, you’d have found yourself waking up in my bed tomorrow morning. Know that.” He kisses me again and pushes my hair from my face. “I think you owe me a souvenir of the night, beautiful.”
I inhale, feeling immensely better about the situation and me as a human. “What do you want?” I ask, my eyes narrowed as he contemplates his question.
He smirks. “Your panties. Take them off and give them to me.”
My mouth gapes. “You can’t be serious.”
He shrugs. “Maybe, but I am. I can’t think of a more perfect souvenir.”
I shiver as the wind blows right through my light jacket, and my face stings from the wind. “The moisture in the air is turning to ice. We need to get back.”
“Your choice. You take them off now and give them to me, or I get to take them off later on.”
My stomach dances with butterflies, and I feel like a girl about to embark on my first date, but it’s not really a date. In fact, it’s nothing of the sort. “I think I’ll hang on to my panties for now, kind sir.”
He smirks and takes my hand as we walk down the trail toward Eagle’s Swallow. The light snow is starting to feel a bit more wet but looks glossy on the ground. I gesture to the ground. “It’s getting icy.”
His jaw tightens as he guides me into the bar with a hand to the small of my back. He looks around, and neither of us see Jules anywhere. He gestures to the dance floor. “She was dancing with a big, beefy tall guy in a black hat just before we left the bar.”
Even in my condition, her leaving the bar without texting me and being with that guy means trouble. “She was with Bobby Ray. Jules had way more to drink than I did and was probably just dancing with him to be nice or keep the peace.”
Mason’s hazel eyes go hard, penetrating me with their intensity. “Tell me what you mean by that, PJ.”
I swallow hard, my blurry mind already swirling with a thousand scenarios of where they could be or what could be happening to Jules. “He’s been hanging out with buddies of Jake Eldridge. Cole, Garrett, and your bodyguard friends may have sent Jake packing out of town a while back, but his friends haven’t forgotten that Lacy is the one who got him run out of town or that we are friends with her. Mason, we really need to find Jules.”
His jaw locks tightly as he leaves my side, moving in and out of the tables before stopping to talk to the waitress who was taking care of us tonight. It doesn’t take long before Mason’s walking quickly back to me and takes my arm. “Where would he have taken her? His place or hers? She said they left together a short while ago. Let’s go.”
My chest tightens and intuitively, deep in my soul, I know something is wrong. “Wait, coffee. I’ll be more help to you with a strong black coffee.” I walk to the counter of the bar with Mason at my heels. Jared, the barkeeper I’ve known all my life, gives me a long glance. “You okay?”
“No, Jules left with Bobby Ray. We’re going to find her. Can I get two large coffees to go, really fast, please?”
Jared nods and turns to the coffee pot on the back counter, then pours two large while I toss some bills on the counter. Mason takes a long, hard look at the county map that’s under the glass of the bar until Jared walks over with our coffees. “Bobby Ray wouldn’t hurt Jules,” Jared says.
I narrow my eyes at the well-meaning but naïve bartender who is friends with everyone in town as I take the cups. I don’t answer him because there’s no time to get into an argument about it with him. “Thanks for the coffee.” I catch up to Mason who clearly has no patience for what Jared does or does not think and follow him out to his SUV.
Mason opens the door. I hand him his coffee before climbing in with mine, while he closes the door and walks around to the other side. He places the cup in the holder next to mine and cranks the heat before rubbing his hands together as he settles in. “It’s getting colder; you see the moisture swirling in the air. “Where does Jules live?”
I take another drink of coffee, never feeling as helpless as I do right now as he pulls out and heads to the main road. The one night I decide to let loose a little and get absolutely loaded something like this happens, leaving us to depend on someone I barely know. A stranger who doesn’t know his way around town or anything. “PJ, I asked you where does Jules live?”
I look at him. “Sorry, I’m just worried. Jules lives all the way back in town.”
He looks both ways down the long, dark road. “Where does Bobby Ray live?”
“He lives farther out this way somewhere. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been out this way. I vaguely remember driving by his place before, but I’m pretty sure I can get us there. Take a left, and it’s about three or four miles before you turn off toward his house.”
Mason peels out and then veers down the long stretch of highway. “Call Garrett.” The dashboard lights up as the connection between the car and his phone links. “Garrett here, I was just going to call you, Mason. Do you have PJ and Jules?”
Mason’s hand clenches on the steering wheel. “I have PJ. Jules left the bar with a man named Bobby Ray. PJ told me he’s friends with Jake Eldridge. We’re heading out to his house now. I was calling you to make sure you had Lacy and Patti.”
“We have the ladies, but only thanks to Tommy’s men and the fact that we haven’t let up on her security since Jake Eldridge left town. There were too many red flags that kept popping up and too many of his old buddies still running around this town for me to be comfortable loosening up her security.”
“Good thing you didn’t, Garrett. Damn, I hate like hell this is happening on the night before your wedding. How’d it play out; anyone hurt?” he asks, watching the road ahead intently as we drive.
“Jake Eldridge had some of his friends try to pick the ladies up at the new bar they were at, but thankfully Tommy’s guys intervened before they could snatch Lacy. I’m just glad they were here so we could enjoy the night. Him and his boys took the guys who tried to snatch the ladies with them when they left.”
“They’re going to be in for a long ass night answering to Tommy and his boys. I’m sure the Larussios are going to want to know what the hell they were doing back in this town because I’d put a good wager on them being sent by the Chicago boys.”
“Exactly,” Garret says. “I’ll let Tommy know we need Bobby Ray and Jules’ location asap. In the meantime, I can have some of the guys head out your way and come myself.”
Mason clears his throat as the wheel of the SUV pulls to the right, and he corrects course. “No, the temperature’s dropping out this way. The roads are getting slick, real slick. I don’t like the combination of temps and moisture on the roads. We’ll find Jules, handle Bobby Ray, and get back to town. PJ doesn’t know the address, but she knows the area. We’ll find her. You just take care of Lacy and Patti.”
I continue surveying the area, watching for something familiar, anything that will tell me we’re getting close to Bobby Ray’s place. But there’s absolutely nothing but desolate trees that have lost their leaves in a swirl of white, while visibility gets harder and harder. I wait until after he’s disconnected his call. “We’re never going to find them.”
He points up ahead. “I think we just did. The farther away we get the worse the weather is. They’ve been driving in this sludge. You see the tracks up ahead?”
I turn my eyes to the front of us and take in the tire marks ahead. The sludge and accumulating ice pulls the vehicle again. Mason does something with the gears and keeps control of the wheel, bringing it back in line. “Not all SUVs are created equal,” he says. “This one could use a little more weight in the back, but in all fairness, not many vehicles are good on the ice. It’s going to turn into an ice-skating rink soon.”
I point to the fork in the road. “There. They went right.” I have never been so thankful for bad weather as I am tonight, realizing there’s no way I would have remembered which way to go to Bobby Ray’s place without the tracks.
Mason takes a right and slows, following the trail but cutting the lights. “I’m not sure how far ahead they are, but we’re going to take it nice and easy and err on the side of caution to make sure we don’t spook him.”
My heart is still racing with what I heard on the phone, but everything muddles around in my mind right now. Lacy and my other friends are safe. All I can focus on now is the fact that we need to find Jules. I drink some more coffee, hoping it starts to clear this self-induced foggy brain. “I’m so sorry for everything. If I hadn’t gone outside, Bobby Ray wouldn’t have had a chance to take Jules. This is all my fault.”
Mason takes my hand. “It’s not your fault. We didn’t have a security detail on you and Jules, like we did on Lacy. That’s the only reason Jules was taken, and Lacy wasn’t. No one thought Jake Eldridge would come after her friends. Did Jake ever put pressure on you or her other friends when he was trying to persuade her to sell her house?”
I shake my head. “No, Jake left us all alone. We grew up together. I mean, we were never real friends, but he never bothered us when he was harassing Lacy.”
Mason nods. “This is a new pattern of behavior. The timing of it with Lacy getting married to Garrett tomorrow tells me it’s more of a personal vendetta than a business one. Probably a little of both, but it’s just too coincidental.” He slows. “Anything look familiar? Are we getting close?”
I nod, because the clearing and barren field that was bursting with corn in the summertime finally looks familiar. I can picture exactly where we are now and what it looked like then. “Right around the corner to the right. He lives in a one-story log cabin. The road takes you to the side of his house, and there’s a long gravel drive that leads up to the garage on the other side.
Mason turns in and then pulls off to the side of the road. “Keep the engine running and stay put. But if I don’t return in twenty minutes, I want you to get out of here. Get back to the highway as quickly as you can, and call 9-1-1. Understand?”