Kendra ate slowly, her eyes half-closed, and Grayson thought she was beautiful. He pulled a wet curl away from her cheek and smiled.
She smiled at him. “This is mouth-watering.”
“I agree. Delicious, just the right seasonings, nice and tender, and perfectly grilled.”
They continued to eat beside the churning river. When they were finished, they sat for a long time watching the sky turn orange and gold, drinking the last of their water, saying nothing, letting the evening fold itself around them in a glorious, golden, satisfying way.
Then it was time to return to their cabin and stay the night. They would leave the cabin in the morning and return to her house. Or maybe his home so he could pack up more of his possessions and take them home. And start their new life together.
27
As soon as Grayson and Kendra returned to the cabin, they peeled off their damp clothes covered in the grit of the river. They showered together in a stall barely big enough for one, so that their bodies kept colliding, hip against hip, shoulder to chest, slippery and needful, sliding soap and water all over their naked bodies. Once they were squeaky clean, they dried off and left the bathroom.
He hadn’t had such a fun short vacation in a long time, and Kendra made it all possible. When they finally fell into bed, the sheets were cool from the fan swirling overhead, the air heavy with the scent of skin and earth, and neither remembered who kissed whom first.
Making love was inevitable—a hungry, grateful act, not the slow savoring of long-time lovers, but the urgent, embrace of newly mated grizzlies. For a while, the room was nothing but heat and motion, mouths pressed to necks and thighs, fingers tracing skin and muscles, until their bodies slackened, they climaxed, and their breath slowed.
They lay entangled, her head tucked under his chin, his arm draped over her waist, both savoring the hush that followed the wildness of the day. He felt the rise and fall of her chest—so steady, so alive—and marveled at how the adrenaline of making love had settled into something softer, completely satisfying. She pressed her palm flat against his heart and traced random shapes, each touch grounding him more firmly in the present.
When sleep finally crept in, they were twined together, legs and dreams perfectly tangled in united bliss.
Early the next morning, Grayson kissed Kendra, and she smiled and returned the kiss. The sun was just beginning to rise, and they could see it shining through the bedroom windows.
“I guess we should check in with Rowland, your dad, and George to see if we have any news on Younger and if they had any fugitives to handle,” Kendra said, stroking Grayson’s bare chest.
He kissed her mouth with a sensuous kiss. “Yeah. As much as I want to just stay with you and keep enjoying the time we have together in this lovely bubble, we have to get back to work. But the nice part is we have all our spare time to enjoy with each other, and we can certainly do this again.”
“I agree.”
Then they checked their phones, and both smiled, shaking their heads. Everyone needed them!
“Marcus says he wants help with a fugitive tomorrow,” Grayson said.
“So does George.” She got a call from Rowland and put it on speakerphone.
“Are you done with your vacation?”
“Yeah, we’re going to grab breakfast and then check out.”
Rowland said, “We had a high-speed chase in pursuit of Younger, but it turned out to be some guy he picked up off the street who was supposed to feed the kidnapped victims at the house, and so naturally, the police tried to take him into custody.”
“Did they?” Grayson asked.
“Yeah, but he didn’t even know Younger’s name. He just needed the money for drugs.”
“This is why Younger hasn’t been caught yet. He’s too wily. Has the word gone out about the guy getting captured?” Kendra asked.
Rowland said, “No. It was all hush-hush and kept secret. He’s sitting in an interrogation room now, but he doesn’t know anything more. He was mad that he didn’t get paid.”
“Did he see that the women weren’t there?”
“No. He never made it inside the house. The police had been staking it out ever since we found the girls there. So when he’s released, if Younger gets a hold of him, he won’t be able to confirm if he saw the girls.”
“Yeah, but he would most likely tell Younger that he was arrested at the house, and then Younger would be alerted that the police knew about the setup there,” Grayson said.
She sighed. “It’s too bad they couldn’t jail the guy he sent to feed the women and keep him away from the press and from Younger.”
“I wish,” Rowland said. “The guy wanted half pay and the rest after he fed the girls. Younger didn’t trust him to get the job done. He figured he would take the money and get drugs and be out of it.”
