Her heart sang. Fireworks exploded in her mind. It was everything she’d ever wanted to hear, and their lips met. A touch. A kiss. A confirmation. “I love you too. Have since I probably shouldn’t have.”

“There’s nothing more I want to do”—he reached for his wallet, removed a condom, and sheathed himself—“than hear you say that again.”

Asher pressed against her sex, and her eyes closed. “I love you.”

He inched in then out. Kissing her. Holding her. Jenny wrapped arms and legs around him and let him work them both together. He was thick. Forceful, but still taking his time.

Asher explored her mouth. His hands caressed her curves. They moved as one. Breaths interchanged, interweaved. His heart beat against her breasts. His scratchy cheek rasped her neck, and hot breaths crawled across her skin.

Perfect pressure and precision. Wrapped into his embrace, she’d given herself over to him completely. He owned her body, even if he didn’t know it. But he did know she loved him, that he loved her. That magnitude hit with each stroke and drive. His words burned into her memory. She could recall them forever; that she knew.

Jenny caught his mouth, bit his lip, and a tornado of bliss swept her into a frenzy. Her muscles clenched; a climax so deep and emotional wracked through her. Her sex spasmed, and her hopes exploded.

“I love you.” She moaned while she came. She cried his name, and he stole her breath, finishing with her. Asher collapsed over her, and they lay, spent, connected, together on so many levels.

Drifting to sleep, he said it again. “I love you too.”

CHAPTER NINE

Six weeks later

The lights and the crowd were enough to make Asher hot under the collar. As were the impending election results. He’d gone into Election Day knowing that polling and nightly tracking were on his side. But, despite what his consultants said, there was always the chance that voters wouldn’t behave as they should. Asher didn’t trust that he was a shoo-in.

He didn’t trust anything today. Today was Maxwell’s deadline, and Asher hadn’t heard a thing from the man since Jenny had been abducted and released. Even if he had, he wouldn’t negotiate through threats, and he had no control over the highway expansion or government’s claim of eminent domain that had seized the Bowie Estate.

The FBI hadn’t found any sign of Maxwell. The silence ate at his nerves, and he tried to trust in his resources. Titan had focused on Jenny. She’d been under constant surveillance. They handled her transportation between Washington and New York and oversaw security for Tassels and Tangos.