ES_ebook_8.2.19 Page 24

Before she could respond, he said, “They’re wet, and we don’t need a wet blanket or for you to catch a chill.” He hoped she didn’t think about their hair being damp, or his justification flew out the window.

  After a moment where she appeared to be mulling over all the world’s problems, she stood and went through a hilarious dance of removing them.

  His breath quickened, watching her struggle with her black sports bra as she pulled it over her ample breasts. At one point, her arms appeared stuck and based on her body tensing, she’d heard him laughing. Saying something probably blasphemous at him, she tugged and grunted until she removed it. Her narrowed glare at him had been just as comical.

  Her sexy black underwear shorts slid off easier. With deep regret, he hated he hadn’t been the one to remove them.

  Once finished, she shivered, and he tossed back the blanket again. “Come on.”

  With no hesitation this time, she slid under the covers and turned close to him. As she slid to his side and snuggled in for warmth, he put his arm around her and pulled her close, urging her to rest her head on his shoulder.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered.

  There’d be no way around that, but it wouldn’t stop him. “I told you I’ll be fine. Just watch the ribs and leg.”

  “Won’t… if I’m astride, won’t moving your hips hurt your leg?”

  Like hell. But right now, the thing that hurt stood like a flagpole in front of them. “That’s why I won’t be moving my hips.”

  She chewed on her lower lip and his wood turned to granite.

  They shouldn’t even attempt to make love with his current condition and killers on their trail, but he wouldn’t lose out on having her naked beside him. “How about we just play around a little? Like teenagers in the back seat of a car. You know, that kissing and touching thing.” A chuckle escaped before he could stop it.

  She laughed again. “It was more like pickups in the woods.”

  “You southern girls always have to be different.”

  Lifting herself, propped on her arm, she softly touched his face, the whispering of an affection he didn’t know existed. “I’m so sorry about your face. Well… everything.”

  “Shh, it’s okay, honey. You didn’t do this and it’ll all heal. Can you look at me like this and know this is the man you’ll spend the rest of your life with?” It hadn’t been the right time to say that, but he had.

  “I—”

  Since he couldn’t take back the words, he took her next words from her. With a hand on her face, he directed, “Kiss me.”

  Even realizing he didn’t ask, he didn’t stop. His lips glided over hers in a featherlight kiss until hers moved in a loving connection that even before they opened their mouths and their tongues explored, fireworks had shot through his body.

  Her taste… her soft lips… her tongue… her boldness all drove his body to crave more of her. “God, I want you,” he breathed against her lips as a tremor slid through his body.

  “No.”

  Every muscle stiffened. Had he heard her correctly? He leaned back and looked at her. “No?” Christ, he hoped she hadn’t changed her mind about them.

  Lifting herself on her arm in a sideways sitting position twisted toward him, she pushed her damp hair over her shoulder and exposed what he hoped would be his playground.

  Gliding her fingers around his chest, avoiding the injured areas, she sighed. “I thought I’d stop it before you did, or before you got too far to keep your right mind.”

  “Stop?” He gulped at the idea. Would he have? Truthfully, he’d set his mind to sex without thought or concern about anything else.

  “Yes. You’d have remembered our situation or your injuries at some point.”

  “I don—”

  Her finger slid over his lips to halt his speech. “I think you would’ve and you’d have groaned about it. And,” she pointed out, “probably left me with a fire that needed quenching.”

  Relying upon the team hadn’t bothered him. The men wouldn’t enter the cave without alerting him and Sam somehow, and with enough time to take a protective stance. His body would’ve been the problem. Even his turning to the side earlier had taken something out of him. Refusing to admit that, but not wanting her to think he’d made it worse with her, he nodded. “You’re probably right.”

  She narrowed her eyes, disbelief plastered across her face.

  “Okay, it would’ve been tough to pull away from you, but maybe… no, probably… I think more than likely, I would have. As for leaving you burning”—he winked, finding he’d done that playful action more often than ever before—“I can take care of that right now.”

  “Actually, I was thinking about taking care of you.”

  The hand he’d been reaching up to touch her breast stopped, suspended in midair. Blood pumped faster to his groin, almost making him lightheaded with desire. “What’re you saying?” His heart hammered. From his experience, clarity in situations such as this was necessary.

  With blue eyes that brought pleading to a whole new level, she said softly, “You’re hurt. Let me do this.”

  When he didn’t speak, she went on, “Although not to diminish how you’d feel, if we have trouble, our response would be no different than if we slept.”

  Still, he didn’t speak. He’d had oral before, but he and the woman participated fully. If he allowed her to give him pleasure without returning it, well, it felt selfish and a bit cheap. Granted, the thought of her mouth on him heightened his driving need for her. Could he settle for only that though? He wanted to be inside her so badly it almost made him insane.

  Not waiting for a response from him, she brushed her fingertips over his naked chest, sending sparks flying to each nerve ending. When she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his neck, then asked, “Am I hurting you?”

  Fire shot through him and his arousal grew harder, shutting off the blood flow to other parts of his body. Including his brain. “What?” he asked breathily as she licked and tugged on his lower earlobe.

  Whispering in his ear, she repeated, “Am I hurting you?”

  Before he could answer, she skimmed her hand down his torso and below the blanket to grab his throbbing cock. He had waited a long time for her and wished he could do their first time justice being inside her the entire night.

  Slowly lifting her head, her breath quickened, she asked, “You have to tell me or I can’t do anything else.”

  In slow-motion, his mind muddled through what she’d asked. Her lovely breasts had that little glow from the moonlight glistening off them, and the fire in her blue eyes had his heart beating fast, just for her. Reaching a hand to her cheek, he wondered how he’d finally gotten lucky enough to have her by his side.

  When the lust in her eyes morphed into what he thought was concern, he remembered her question. No, she didn’t hurt him. He already hurt. “No,” he assured her.

  After a quick kiss on his hand, she used butterfly kisses across the bit of his chest not wrapped or slathered with ointment and descended to his swollen dick. At his indrawn breath, he thought she laughed. The touch of her hands… her breath… her lips… her mouth allowed a raging inferno in him to run wild and unmanaged.

  The wet warmth of her tongue as she licked him from base to tip, as her hand glided up and down sent an erotic shiver through his body. He dropped his head back and exhaled on a lust-filled sigh. Selfishly—like he’d worried he’d be—he craved her mouth taking him in deep. So deep.

  He caught his breath when her mouth slid down, stopping at her fisted hand. Picking his head up—screw any pain from his chest—he reached down and lifted her hair to see her face and her loving him. He’d never last. He took a deep breath, fighting to keep from embarrassing himself and spilling early.

  Trying to kill him, she added her tongue as she stroked up and down on him, her mouth
keeping a tight hold. When she reached down and grabbed his balls, a primal groan tore from his chest as naked desire rushed through his veins.

  “I’ll never forget this sight. Your head between my legs… your hair spread across my thighs… my balls nestled in your hand… my dick in your mouth.”

  She mumbled something against him and the vibration while she sucked on his cock had him tossing his head back and gritting his teeth to forestall his release. At this point, and in other circumstances, he’d toss her over and pound into her wet heat without mercy.

  Sucking in a few deep breaths, he leaned back to watch her love his body.

  The remaining blood settled in his groin, his balls drew tight, and that tingling at the base of his spine told him he was ready to explode. He clenched his hands into the blankets and closed his eyes to control the near ecstasy riding his body. He wanted it all. “Sam, my angel.” He waited until she peeked up at him. “I’m gonna come real soon.”

  With an impish grin, she leaned back down. “Good.”

  They were going to enjoy their years together.

  Ah, hell. She did some swirly thing with her tongue, and, with a guttural groan, that ecstasy he’d searched for but hadn’t reached grabbed hold of him and tossed his senses into a round of weightlessness as his orgasm ripped from him. It shook him to the core. A depth he’d never achieved with anyone else but expected with her.

  Sam stayed with him and didn’t move until he couldn’t take it anymore. Smiling with a sly satisfaction he wanted to kiss off her face, she kissed his neck, then snuggled beside him, appearing as sated as his body.

  Once his limbs regained some semblance of control, the aches and pains that he’d been oblivious to during the lovemaking returned. Worse, he’d obviously tried raising his hips and his thigh throbbed from it. All said, he still wouldn’t have stopped.

  Finally together—heart rate, pulse, and breathing back to normal—aches and pains in line, and ability to speak returned, he prepared to say something to Sam but had no idea what. “Thank you” seemed awful selfish. That damn word again. When he healed, he’d give her something to feel selfish about to ease his pain.

  As he contemplated his options, knowing the first words after something so personal were critical, he peered down to see the expression on her face to gage a possible reaction.

  She slept. With his worrying about what to say, he hadn’t noticed her breathing evened out or her relaxing.

  Smiling, at both his reprieve and her lovely form, he listened as Franks did another check. While their comm had been spotty, he knew the cadence and timing of what’d been said. All that mattered was he knew they’d been safe while she’d done mind-blowing things to his body.

  Knowing tomorrow would suck, he needed a true night’s rest. Weapons at the ready, HIS having his six, and having Sam next to him, comforted him.

  He sighed contentedly. With her head nestled on his shoulder, he kissed her on the forehead before he fell into his post-coital stupor and slept.

  29

  Shafts of sunlight peeked into the little retreat he and Sam had created. They had to move before one of his men climbed down and surprised them.

  If he hadn’t trusted the men wholeheartedly, he’d never have let his guard down and had the erotic night with Sam where she’d opened to him. While he felt entirely selfish already, he’d never press her to move to the next step. Having her love his body like she had filled him with renewed hope they could move forward, and soon.

  Being warm, well rested, and hungry, he took inventory of his body. His ribs were survivable.

  Shaking some sense back into himself to finish his assessment and keep his mind off last night, he closed his eyes and focused. While sore and throbbing, his leg shouldn’t prevent him from keeping up if they moved at a slower clip.

  He glanced over at the beautiful woman curled into his side. Her relaxed features made her appear so peaceful that he hated to wake her with a reminder that her lunatic friend had been chasing them—and not to have afternoon tea.

  He’d never cared for Beverly much when they’d all hung out together, especially him being the fifth wheel unless he got bored and found a date. But he’d dealt with the woman since she’d been important to Sam and Adam.

  While Sam had been angry with her friend, he’d noticed her suppressed rage whenever she caught his injuries paining him. He wanted her to only worry about her own safety and stay focused. He’d get through the hike. There was no alternative.

  When they completed this op, he expected Sam to release her pent-up feelings about Beverly and the situation. He’d be there for her even if he had no idea of what to do besides hold her. Making Beverly pay would be right on his list after Sam’s emotional needs.

  He’d worry about that later.

  While he’d rested, he slept lightly and hadn’t heard a peep outside. None of his men would’ve gone down without a fight, and if trouble had happened, one would’ve rushed to guard the cave entrance, alerting them.

  Maybe they’d get lucky and Beverly had abandoned her mad scheme. Ken couldn’t fathom how Alejandro had bought into Beverly’s plan considering she wanted them dead because of her late husband. No piece of ass was worth someone else’s life.

  Ken woke Sam with a kiss and her warm lips moved under his. When she opened her eyes, they widened with surprise, then a smile filled every feature, and she greedily accepted his mouth moving over her.

  “Time to move,” he whispered with their lips an inch apart. With great will, he pulled back and sat. The sudden jolt to his body almost had him dropping back to the ground in agony. He sat for a moment and breathed through the throbbing pain.

  Beside him, Sam dressed but stopped when she saw him sitting. Like before, she came, crouched and offered her shoulder for support. He wanted to decline because he needed her to not focus on his injuries. Though he quickly realized getting up would be his biggest challenge and he couldn’t fool her otherwise. Already he’d shown too much weakness with her. He was supposed to be the protector… the hero. Yet she’d come to his aid the entire time.

  This mission left them injured, betrayed, tortured, and starved, and she’d remained steady on their path to escape and elude. With all that and his relying on her for support and cover, he liked being by her side and not just because he wanted to protect her. He just had to figure out how to explain to her how much he wanted her to stay on the team because hiring her had been the right move from the start.

  “It’s just stiff from sleep, but I admit putting on my pants will be tricky. Help me get them on while I lie down. If you pull them up, I won’t have to bend my knees trying to get in them and fall on my face.”

  She reached for his BDU pants and laughed. “That’s a sight the team would love. Why don’t I have my camera ready?”

  “You’d best be careful there, you little minx.”

  The team had commented on how he smiled and laughed with them more often. Obviously, they’d figured out that Sam had been the cause of the positive change.

  After he suffered the humiliation of Sam dressing him with his growing erection—undressing would’ve been much more fun—they grabbed a crap-tasting bar Doc had left, drank some fluids, and quickly prepared to leave. As she watched with concerned eyes—what he’d hoped to avoid—he made a couple of rounds inside the cave to loosen his leg muscles.

  Feeling good about his ability to travel on his own, he clicked on his earpiece. “We’re on our way out.” He heard nothing but static, but he knew that meant someone was responding. Going with his gut that all was well, he clicked off the mic, they snatched up the weapons she’d readied and shown themselves to the team.

  Within minutes, the five of them—Sam, Danny, Cowboy, Doc, and himself—hiked up the uneven trail that hadn’t been the piece of cake he’d hoped. Once he steadied in a regular, albeit slow stride, with Franks in the lead and C
owboy in the rear, they continued to the extraction point.

  On their journey, Franks updated him, but he didn’t have much new intel. Cell signals were spotty inside the rainforest due to the thickness of the cover and he didn’t have the sat phone. Damn, Bev and her goons. He wanted his gear. Devon will be apoplectic about needing to replace it along with everything else.

  He stumbled over a tree root and faster than he could imagine, Doc grabbed his arm to steady him. He nodded his thanks. There was a time when he would have been mortified to need the support, and no doubt looking to see if anyone had seen his near miss. His ego was well past concern about such things. Survival was all that mattered.

  The pulling of muscles when he’d tripped amped up the pain in his thigh. He bit through it until it settled again—something he could easily work through. They hadn’t gone far so he couldn’t allow it to affect him this early in their trek.

  With his weapon in his hand, he ignored the tug on his chest. He searched the area—as they all did—but he’d been limited in turning. Doc whispered to him to keep forward so he could watch his step better and not injure himself worse.

  Ken nodded his understanding and trekked on.

  But when he looked forward, his heart swelled with love and pride. While he’d still prefer she not put herself in danger, he knew this was what she was made for. His little warrioress sent a thrill of excitement through him when she slipped into that mode. Focused and fierce, she looked so damn hot in her BDU pants and long-sleeve T-shirt.

  Sweat trickled down his spine and his temples. Tossing a glance over his shoulder to confirm Doc remained behind him—as he’d done to Cowboy—didn’t settle his nerves. His team had outstanding skills, but with them on an open—albeit narrow—path, they’d passed too easily. Preferably they’d continue unscathed, but unease clenched his gut.

  Less than five minutes after those thoughts—as if he’d summoned trouble—noticeable movement in the jungle with trees and brush moving, spurred them into action. Franks leaned back to Sam and said something Ken didn’t hear. As Doc and Cowboy split off to intercept the potential threat, Sam dropped to the rear.