Page 47 of Lone Star Hostage

And Billie didn’t have to ask why he was upset. Jesep would be there. Possibly Ari and Olivia, too, and since none of them had been cleared from involvement in the kidnapping, it would be like the woman walking straight into the lion’s den.

“Angel won’t let anything happen to Victoria,” Billie said. At least, he would try to make sure nothing happened anyway.

Billie moved on to the second text.Mop up in progress, Ruby informed them.Stay put until you hear from me. Am forwarding a report you should read.

Within seconds, there was another dinging notification, and the report loaded. “It’s from the crime lab,” Billie commented, and she began to scroll through it. “Holy crap.”

“What?” Presley asked, keeping his attention on the curvy road.

“The lab analyzed the recordings of the phone calls from the kidnappers to Ruby and us, and they cleaned them up enough to detect and analyze some background noise.” She looked at him. “It’s Hattie’s voice in the background.”

It wasn’t surprise that flashed through his eyes but more of that anger. “They’re arresting her,” he stated. Not a question.

“Yes, SAPD is heading out to do that now.” She paused, continued to read. And her heart and her hopes dropped. “The lab says they can’t tell if the voice is live or a recording.”

“Shit,” Presley grumbled. “Her lawyer will use that as a way for her to worm her way out of it.” He paused, cursed some more. “And she could actually be innocent.”

Billie had to make a reluctant sound of agreement. She wanted all of this to end. She wanted some hard justice to be served to the person or persons responsible. But she also didn’t want an innocent woman being charged so the real perp could walk free.

She could feel Presley continue to stew as he drove, and Billie knew it was being fueled by what was left of the adrenaline and the hellish crap he’d had to deal with since he’d gotten news of the kidnapping. In that short span of time, he’d learned the identities of his birth parents and had nearly been killed twice.

“I’m okay,” he said, and that’s when Billie realized he’d noticed her staring at him. “How about you?”

“Fine, other than…” She nearly spelled out all the unfinished business, all the unanswered questions. But Billie merely added a weary sigh. That about summed up their current situation.

Presley matched her sigh with one of his own as he threaded his way through the winding roads of the Texas Hill Country to his house. Even though they’d stayed the night here, she hadn’t noticed much about the place as they’d driven in. Hard to observe the scenery when you could barely stay awake. But she did some observing now. It was secluded.

And beautiful.

The white stone and log cabin perched on one of the limestone bluffs that dotted the area. The house was positioned to capture some amazing views. A far cry from her place in the city.

Presley gave the voice command to open a garage where she saw another SUV, a motorcycle, and a van. No doubt work vehicles that he used for the various ops. She had a similar set of vehicles in her own garage.

Billie grabbed her go-bag, which thankfully still had one clean set of clothes left. A set she’d have to use since it was hard to find a spot on her current outfit that didn’t have dirt and, heaven help her, squashed bugs on it.

“Shower,” she muttered, heading in the direction of the guestroom.

“Same.” Presley went toward his bedroom suite that was just across the hall.

They stopped outside their respective doors, and their gazes connected and held for the first time since before the explosion. She saw exactly what she’d expected to see. A swirling mix of anger and frustration.

At first anyway.

That all changed in a blink, and they moved toward each other at the same time. He reached for her. She reached for him, their bodies meeting as his mouth came to hers for a scalding kiss that heated her from head to toe.

Billie forgot all about the dirty clothes. Forgot about the explosion. Heck, she forgot how to breathe and decided air was overrated. It couldn’t hold a candle to Presley and his amazing mouth.

She didn’t stay passive in the kiss. No. The need was already claiming her, driving her to make the kiss deeper. Hotter. So, that’s what she did. She kissed and took. Then took some more, and she let him do the same to her.

In another blink, the urgency kicked up many notches, and the touching started. Not groping. Too many bruises for that, but at the moment Billie certainly wasn’t feeling any pain, especially when Presley slid his hand beneath her top and touched her breasts.

She heard herself moan. Felt more of that hot pleasure. Felt a whole lot more of the urgency and need.

In the back of her mind, she did consider the lousy timing of this. It was likely adrenaline sex in the making, but her body didn’t care about the reason. It only cared about the outcome. And thankfully, Presley seemed hellbent on giving her the outcome that would lead to release from this pressure cooker heat.

Somehow, despite the kissing and touching, she managed to take off her holster. Presley did the same, and without their weapons, they came together. Body against body, and she moaned again when he pressed against her center.

The ache grew. Demanding. Needing. Shouting for her to do something about itnow, now, now.

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