As he glanced down to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, now full, rosy tips budding, he shook his head. "That thing doesn't hurt?"

Giggling as she grabbed his firm jaw with her hands, "Believe me, having them bounce around when I'm working out would be much more painful."

Taking her word for it, he allowed her to pull his mouth back in, the bra long forgotten as her nipples poked into his chest. He moved his thumbs over the peaks, alternating between pinching and gently rubbing.

Throwing her head back against the wall, she felt his lips leave a wet trail of kisses from her throat, down her neck, to the tops of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She thrust them forward as an unconscious offering, and one that he was more than willing to take. Sucking a nipple deep into his mouth, he licked, nipped, bit, and sucked until she was writhing wildly. Moving over to give the other nipple the same attention, his hand slipped down her yoga pants and found her panties soaked. Pulling the pants and panties over her hips, he jerked them off her legs then picked her back up.

Lips locked once more, he hefted her up in his arms long enough to unb.u.t.ton and unzip his jeans, freeing his swollen c.o.c.k. Having lost all control, he held her over the tip, finding her slick folds ready for him. His mind, filled with the pounding need that roared through him, was barely conscious of her small hands holding him closely. Needing to be inside of her was more important than his next breath.

"Sweetheart," he mumbled against her mouth. "Are you on the pill?"

Leaning her head back, she held his gaze. "Yeah," she whispered with a smile. "And I'm clean."

"Me too," he promised. "We have to get physicals working for Jack-"

"I trust you," she interrupted. "Please." Her mind was equally filled with desire and longing that drowned out all the worries she had faced. She only felt. Experienced. Every fiber of her being tingled with the need for him deep inside. I've waited forever for someone like you. No, not like you. Just you.

With one swift plunge he seated her firmly and completely on his c.o.c.k, barely hearing her head bang on the wall behind her. Jesus, she's perfect.

She moved on his c.o.c.k, trying to ease the ache from deep within her core. With one hand on the wall beside her head to maintain his balance, he thrust up and down.

Her short fingernails raked his back as she felt the tingles that had tempted her as she rubbed herself on his jeans now intensified as her entire s.e.x clutched at him. Strung tight as a bow, she was aware of every movement of his thick c.o.c.k stretching her tighter.

Luke could not remember the last time he had felt like this. Barely aware of anything other than the roaring in his ears, he pressed his pelvis against her c.l.i.t as he continued to thrust deeply.

Finally, with his name screaming from her lips, she felt her s.e.x clench and electric jolts moved from her core, spreading outward in all directions.

As her incredibly tight inner walls milked his c.o.c.k, he found himself pouring his seed deep into her. Continuing to stroke the inside of her until every last drop was emptied, he rested all of his weight on the arm against the wall, holding him up, unsure his legs were up to the task.

Sweating and panting together, her head was resting next to his arm, eyes tightly closed as the sensations flowed over her. I've wanted him for so long. Opening her eyes to see his face, she saw that he was looking down as he pulled out of her, their fluids mingled.

He lifted his warm gaze, his chest still heaving with exertion. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he said as his lips curved into a smile. "You. Me. The evidence of us together...beautiful."

Kissing her lightly, he gently lowered her legs to the floor, making sure to hold her until her tingling legs were steady. "You okay?" he asked, tucking her silken hair behind her ear.

She peered up, smiling as she touched his dimple, and nodded. "Yeah. I'm perfect." Deciding to take a chance with her heart, she added, "With you, I'm perfect."

His wide smile was the answer to her unspoken question. He feels the same. Thank G.o.d...he feels the same.

Chapter 20.

Luke stood in the kitchen, stirring the ground beef, the scent of spices in the air. Deciding on simple tacos, he moved to the counter to chop lettuce and tomatoes while Charlie took a shower.

Her laptop lay open on the dining room table and the constant dinging of messages had him curious. Walking over, he scanned her message board before leaning closer to see exactly what he was looking at.

He was still in the same position a few minutes later when she walked into the room, her hair still wet and streaming down her back.

"Hey, sweetie, what smells so good?" Instead of answering her, she watched as Luke turned toward her, his face tight with anger.

"You want to tell me what the h.e.l.l this is?"

Her eyes dropped to her laptop, but without her gla.s.ses or contacts she could not see the page he was on. Walking over, she squinted at the screen, seeing the numerous messages popping up and hearing the annoying ding of each one.

"Oh, my goodness! I had no idea I'd get so many hits!" Turning her smiling face toward him, her smile drooped slightly as he continued to glower. c.o.c.king her head to the side, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I want to know what you're doing. I left you here to do some research and now see that you've reached out to try to get more information from...from...from whoever the h.e.l.l these people are!"

Placing her palm on his chest, she said, "Luke, it's okay. I just had a brainstorm idea and followed through, trying to see if I'm right."

"Oh, h.e.l.l no!" he shouted. "I'm trying to keep you safe and out of the light and here you are putting yourself right into the middle of the investigation. That was never your role."

Dropping her hand as she stepped back a foot, she pressed her lips together tightly, her eyes narrowed. "My role? My role? Who are you to decide what my role is? I've been trying to find things out for the past five months while making sure to stay out of the light. I was only discovered once and took care of that situation on my own, I might remind you."

Dragging his hand over his head, his glower still firmly in place, he began to speak but Charlie cut him off.

"No, you don't get to tell me how this is going to work, Luke. You said yourself that I'm not officially employed by Jack even though I'm working on this case. So I get to make my own rules."

"G.o.dd.a.m.nit, Charlie," Luke cursed, holding her stare, quickly realizing she was not planning to yield.

"You don't even know what I'm working on so how can you be so against it?" she asked.

Scrubbing his hand over his stubble, he closed his eyes for a moment, the fear of something happening to her crawling over his skin. Feeling her soft touch against his chest again, he opened his eyes to see she had moved closer. Roaming his eyes over her face, he reached up to cup her jaw, his thumb sc.r.a.ping gently over her cheek. Sucking in a deep breath, he nodded slowly.

"Okay. You show me what you're working on and why the h.e.l.l all these people are sending you messages. And...what you're doing to keep them from knowing you and where you are."

The corners of her mouth turned up slowly as the anger slid from her eyes. "Thank you," she said, lifting up on her toes to kiss his lips. "Turn off the stove and I'll show you."

A minute later, the two sat at the dining room table as she began to explain her theory. "The information I got from Eli before he...well, before...wasn't enough to tell me exactly what was going on and where. He never gave me the clinic name, but did indicate that they were local. He only sent some partial databases and, while I've narrowed them down, I'm not getting anywhere definitive. Or at least not fast enough."

Tucking her legs underneath her, she continued, "And there are too many clinics in the northern Virginia, Washington D.C., and Baltimore area for me to try to comb through. So I tried a different tactic. I began researching illegal organ harvesting and the one thing I kept coming up with was the Chinese government killing prisoners and taking their organs to sell on the black market."

At this p.r.o.nouncement, Luke's eyebrows lifted. "I've looked into-"

"I know, I know," she gushed, "that's over there, but the Chinese mafia has a big presence in the United States, so I wondered if that was something to consider."

Shaking his head slowly, he said, "Sweetheart, just because-"

"Please hear me out," she begged, waiting until she gained his slow nod. "Okay, so then I started doing some research into the Chinese mafia, but what I found was that they were big in human trafficking." Satisfied that he was no longer interrupting or arguing, she continued. "So then my research led me to who were the likely victims of trafficking. The young. Runaways. Homeless youth. And then it hit me!"

Luke watched her face become animated as she explained her process of her investigating. Her hands waved in front of her as her voice rose an octave. As much as he hated the reason for her energy, he loved seeing her joy at her accomplishments.

"What hit you, babe?"

Charlie almost stumbled over her words and was sure that if she had been standing, her legs would have gone out from under her. Babe. I've never been anyone's babe. And with some guys, it's such a throwaway. But with Luke...it's so real.

Smiling, she kept going with her explanation. "I realized that the same group of people who are at risk for human trafficking in this country are at risk for someone dealing in illegal organ harvesting. The poor. The youth. Runaways. Homeless."

Luke's mind began quickly sifting through her words and he was unable to find fault with her logic. "Okay...so what did you do?"

"I sent a message to every homeless and rescue shelter that I could find within the area that we're looking at and said that I was interested in speaking to anyone who had used a free clinic. I also pulled up a preliminary list of free clinics in the area, so I can start to comb through their information to see what I might find." Shrugging a little, she said, "It was Jude that gave me the idea."

"Jude?"

"He told me that when he first became a Saint, his SEAL training was good, but he really didn't know anything about investigating a crime. So he said he learned that you can't always try to find the big picture. Just take a piece of the puzzle and begin connecting it to other pieces."

Nodding, Luke had to agree. "To be honest, only Cam, with his background as a detective, and Monty, as an FBI agent, really have the investigative instincts down. The rest of us learn as we bring our skills to the group."

"So what do you think?"

Luke sat still for a long moment, unable to find fault with her logic, but wanting to make sure she understood the long shot it was. "I get what you were doing, and your reasoning is sound as far as the investigating goes." He glanced over to her laptop and then pierced her with his stare again. "I don't want to insult you, but you did encrypt your messages?" Seeing the roll of her eyes, he added, "I just wanted to be sure. So what's been coming in?"

"I only checked a few before I went to work out and then you came home." At the mention of his homecoming celebration in the garage gym, she blushed to her roots.

Chuckling, he reached out and tucked a still-damp strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I guess that took precedence over the investigation."

Pretending to slap his hand away, she grinned while turning back to the laptop. "Wow, I've got quite a few comments." Scrolling through them, she said, it looks like many people are just telling which clinics they went to and how nice they were...or, well, here's a few that are complaining about the free services."

The two spent the next fifteen minutes scanning the messages, until Charlie's stomach growled loudly. Slapping her hand on her tummy, she tried to silence it.

"Come on, sweetheart, we can do this later. Let's get you fed." Luke walked back over to the stove to reheat the seasoned meat while Charlie gathered the salsa, cheese, and taco sh.e.l.ls.

Stuffing themselves, they left the topic of the investigation alone while they ate. Once the kitchen was cleaned, they retired to the living room, where she settled on the sofa with her laptop, snuggled up to Luke while he turned on a football game.

He kept glancing to the side, observing her brow crinkled and her bottom lip worried between her teeth. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, his fingers twitched on her shoulder and he said, "You gettin' anywhere?"

She twisted around to look into his face. "Yeah, but I guess I hoped I would find easier clues."

Chuckling, he nodded. "Can't tell you how many times I had that very thought while on a case." As he sobered, he said, "Let me help, okay?"

She closed her computer, shifting it off her legs. "Let's just chill for tonight and let more messages come in. Tomorrow we can work together on collating what we have with what we know."

Grinning, he pulled her across his lap while turning the TV off. "That sounds good. Got anything in particular you'd like to do while we're chillin', sweetheart?"

Eyes sparkling, she dropped her eyes to his mouth as she ran her tongue over her lips. "Yeah, I can think of one or two things to occupy ourselves."

With a whoop, he stood with her easily in his strong embrace and headed toward the bedroom.

Penny sat in the small lounge of the clinic, knowing this would be her last night to stay there. Two nights were all they would offer since she was not sick, unless David agreed to the surgery. Her heart ached over David's decision to consider donating a kidney. Rubbing her hand over her face, she fought back the tears. Knowing she had no one to talk to about the decision since she was not supposed to know made it worse.

Tucking the wayward blond strands behind her ears, she moved to one of the computers for their use, pulling up a list of shelters in the area. Maybe I can find something for us. Clicking on several sites, she noticed that a few of them had a post referencing someone wanting to speak to anyone who had used a free clinic. Curious, she clicked on the pop-up.

Biting her lip, she sent a message about the clinic she was currently in. Her fingers hesitated, wondering how much she should say, but she finally decided that maybe if the person asking really cared they might give her some advice. Hitting send, she leaned back and clicked the computer off as the night nurse called for lights out. She walked swiftly to the dorm room, not wanting to give the night staff any reason to distrust her. Lying in bed, waiting until it was late enough to sneak another visit with David, she prayed someone would actually read her message before he had to make his decision about the surgery.

Jian Cheung sat in his opulent office, his email open to the latest missive from his superiors. Rubbing his hand over his face, he grimaced at the tone they had taken with him. Do they not realize who I am? That I am doing the best I can?

Irritated at the notification to increase the number of organs to transplant, he sat back heavily in his chair. His nostrils flared in anger at the impotence of his situation. He was torn between the different factions-some wanting more discretion and others wanting more organs. Slapping his hand down on his mahogany desk in frustration as he stood, he stalked over to the credenza. Pouring a drink, he walked over to the large window overlooking a nearby park. The street lamps provided an illuminated pathway that meandered through the area.

Heaving a sigh, he walked back to his desk and sent a cryptic email to his a.s.sociate asking for more products to sell.

Finishing the rest of his drink, he wrote another email-this one to Yeng, demanding a meeting. His fingers hovered over the send b.u.t.ton, twitching with indecision. Changing his mind, he altered the wording-instead of demanding, he wrote requesting. Afterall, Yeng was powerful, having the ear of the amba.s.sador. And the ever-present threat toward his sons back in China. Pinching his lips together once more, he hit send.

Chapter 21.

"Umph," Charlie grunted, landing on her back on the mat. The wind was only slightly knocked out of her, but the early morning workout was rigorous. She had lost count of the number of times she had landed on her back.

A large hand came down toward her, palm up, and she eyed the huge man extending the invitation to a.s.sist her up. She considered refusing his offer, but as she stared into his twinkling eyes, she decided to take him up on it.

As he pulled her upward, she grabbed his wrist, quickly twisting around, and managed to kick the back of his knees, throwing him off balance.

As Marc's laughter rang out, he tumbled forward onto the mat. Rolling over, his smile was even bigger than before. "Good job, Charlie."

Grinning down at him, she allowed herself a little happy dance at finally besting him. Maybe it was a cheating maneuver, but he's been telling me that in a real fight, use everything I have. Flinging her arms over her head as she jumped around, she shouted, "Got him!"

Marc stood up, taking in Charlie's goofy dancing before glancing over to the door of the Saint's workout room, noting Luke leaning against the doorframe. The two men shared a grin, before Luke stepped into the room.

Seeing him, Charlie took a flying leap, jumping into his arms. "Did you see me? I finally knocked him down! Well, not really knocked down...but I surprised him!"

Kissing her swiftly, he lifted his gaze to Marc. "She doin' okay?"

Marc nodded, ruffling her hair as he walked past the couple. "Oh, yeah. Her teacher was good and I'm just showing her more street fighting moves." He stopped and turned back to watch the couple as they kissed once more. Grinning at his friends, he turned and headed to the showers.

Later, Jack stepped into the conference room, not surprised to find Luke bent over his keyboard, but Charlie as well.

"You two are at it early today," he said, carrying his cup of coffee over to his desk.

Luke looked up and explained, "Charlie's been here practicing with Marc already," pride evident in his voice. "Plus she had an idea yesterday and we're following up on it." He eyed his boss and added, "I hope it's okay that she's here."

At that, Charlie's head shot up, a slight blush creeping on her face as she stared at Jack as well. "I'm sorry if I shouldn't be here."