“Can we make decisions with our pants on, please?” Jessa asked, frowning Burke’s way.
Burke shrugged. She hadn’t minded when they were sleeping. Despite her warnings, after she’d dropped off, she’d rolled into Cole’s arms. They’d slept entwined until it was Cole’s watch. Then she’d merely cuddled back against Burke. She might not trust them when she was awake, but when she was vulnerable, she sought out comfort and the security of their embrace.
“It would have been too hot with my pants on. ” He declined to mention that it would have been too hot because her body had been pressed to his. He could be a gentleman.
“Burke, those tight little boxer briefs don’t do much to hide the fact that you have an enormous erection. Am I the only one this bothers?”
Cole grunted out a laugh, but Burke simply turned to her, giving her a full view of what sleeping next to her had wrought. She wasn’t going to let him be a gentleman. “Well, sweetheart, that’s what happens when I sleep with my cock nestled against your beautiful ass. ”
She gasped, sounding a little like the virgin she’d been before she met them.
Cole smiled her way. It was the smile that always let Burke know his brother was about to throw him under a bus. “Don’t let him fool you, baby. He wakes up like that every morning. ”
“Fucker. Like you don’t. We both have the same dreams. ” He pinned Jessa to the bed with his intent stare. “We dream about you, sweetheart, and we wake up hard. ”
Her gaze slipped back and forth between the two of them, then dropped. “Could I have some coffee please? From someone wearing pants. ”
Damn it, he should have kept his fucking mouth shut.
Cole brought her a cup and a sandwich. “Cream and sugar. Two spoons. And please eat, Jessa. You didn’t eat on the plane last night. ”
Burke knew that Cole wanted to demand, order her to eat, but they didn’t have the right to command anything of her that didn’t pertain to her immediate safety. Curbing himself, holding back from Jessa, hurt Cole like hell. Burke didn’t like it any better.
She accepted the coffee but put the sandwich down. “I don’t feel much like eating. ”
Burke didn’t either. He wanted to work through their problems with Jessa somehow. But now wasn’t the time. And he wanted to see Caleb. God, a single day as a dad, and he was already freaking out about his kid. He shook it off. Their son was safe with the James family. They were insanely wealthy and very powerfully connected. They would take care of Caleb. But the James brothers weren’t the only powerful people they knew. “Did you get Rafe or Kade on the phone? I tried last night, but no one answered. ”
Cole nodded, finally looking away from Jessa. Thankfully, the question directed his brother’s attention elsewhere. “They were…busy last night. ”
Burke took a long sip of the fast food coffee. Swill, but still better than some he’d had in the past. He could bet how Rafe and Kade had been occupied. They had business interests in the States, but they loved American women. Lots of them. And they loved to share. It was just one reason they had all bonded as friends. “What did they say?”
“They’re in town. They have some meeting with Black Oak about the new refineries in Bezakistan. They’re going to come out here and bring some equipment with them. Sat phone, better computer equipment, new car, and a whole lot of cash. And cell phones. I don’t want Hilary to know our number after we get out of town. It’s better for all of us. They’re bringing some credit cards, too, and passports in case we want to leave the country. I know we can’t stay in one place too long, but I think it’s worth the wait to meet with them before we move. ”
Jessa turned, her eyes wide. “I can’t leave the country without my baby. ”
“Jessa, we’ll do what we have to do to keep you alive. ” Burke didn’t want to leave her again. He was sick at the thought, but she stood the best chance of staying alive somewhere far away.
She shook her head frantically. “No, I can’t leave the country. ”
Cole frowned. “You’ll be surprised what you can do when I tie you up and shove you on a private jet. ”
Burke looked at Jessa for a moment. She was still tired, despite her sleep. It was written in the circles under her eyes. She was still the most beautiful thing in the world to him, but she looked fragile, haunted. And very afraid. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “What haven’t you told us, sweetheart?”
“How did you know?” Jessa asked.
Because he’d made a careful study of her. He had a brilliant mind and a very good memory. Every exchange they’d ever had, he’d kept vibrant and alive in his brain. “You wring your hands when you’re upset or unsure. ”
She also did it when she didn’t want to admit things. Like she had that night she’d admitted she was a virgin.
Jessa unclasped her hands. “Damn observant men. Someone texted my phone last night. I had my purse in Caleb’s diaper bag, and when we had to leave him, I grabbed it. The phone has pictures of Caleb, and I thought keeping it was harmless. I wasn’t planning to call anyone. I thought if you knew he’d contacted me, you’d take the phone away, so I didn’t say anything. But then you started talking about what sounded like leaving the country…” She sighed, then reached into the small bag Hannah had given her and pulled out her phone. Jessa held it out, her eyes full of tears. “I knew I needed to say something. I just want my pictures. ”
Cole grabbed the phone.
Burke sat beside Jessa. He would let Cole do the investigative work while he handled their woman. Even if she refused to be, he still thought of her that way. This was one of the joys of sharing. There was always one of them to handle the necessary business, which freed the other to comfort or protect the female.
“Sweetheart, no one’s going to take your pictures, but we’re going to turn off anything that sends or receives a signal. You’ll still be able to look at the pictures and use a few apps. ”
“Motherfucker!” Cole’s curse reverberated through the room. “Goddamn it. I’m going to kill that dog-fucking son of a bitch. I’m going rip him into little fucking pieces with my bare hands and shove them down his shit-sucking throat. ”