He stepped off the porch and strode toward her, stopping a foot away. She pushed up from the ground and leaned against his body when he reached for her.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
Their glances met, but Jamie’s fell away first. “Reaper says we should throw things at each other.”
Sky’s chest moved with his short laugh. “Did he now? He’s offering relationship advice?”
She wrinkled her nose. “We spent a lot of time together on the road. You know him. He gets chatty.”
“Men are such gossips,” he murmured.
“That’s what Lacey says, too.”
They shared smiles, and then Sky’s melted away as his gaze heated.
When his head bent toward hers, she rose on tiptoe to meet his kiss. He thrust his fingers into her hair, and his thumbs cradled her jaw. Even though she wasn’t a delicate flower by any stretch of the imagination, the way he held her made her feel intensely feminine.
His mouth rubbed then rotated, drawing her lips along with his. When arousal made her gasp, he thrust his tongue between her lips, and she clutched his bare sides because her knees went a little weak.
When he broke away to draw a deep breath, she asked, “Do you have to be anywhere soon?”
His mouth twitched. “Are you asking if I have time to fuck you?”
Jamie wrinkled her nose. “Reaper must be rubbing off on you, too.”
His eyes narrowed sexily. “Reaper best not be talkin’ about fucking around my soon-to-be wife.”
The word “wife” instinctively made her stiffen, but if Sky noticed, he didn’t let on. He palmed her ass and gave it a squeeze. “We’ve got time. Come to bed.”
“Will I kill the mood if I say I need a shower?”
“Don’t care. I woke up like this,” he said, rubbing an impressive erection against her belly. “But you weren’t there.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Guess, for once, my timing is impeccable.”
Sky moved away but caught her hand inside his and led her inside the house. Tessa gave a whine but headed toward the kitchen and her food bowl. Once inside their bedroom, Sky stood still as she pulled off her clothing.
“You wouldn’t believe the skip we caught,” she said, remembering the moment she’d faced Carlito’s ass and flailing legs. However unpleasant shoving him through the window had proven, her photo of their skip, looking as though he was swooning in Reaper’s arms, was going on the bulletin board.
“You were with Reaper. I’m sure it was epic,” he said, then bent to shove his jeans down his thighs.
Good Lord, she’d never tire of looking at the man when he was naked. Ripped from his shoulders to his toes, she was breathless by the time she kicked away her jeans and underwear.
Sky fell back onto the bed and placed his hands behind his head as his gaze roamed her frame. She always felt like she came up short when she was nude, because she really wasn’t all that special. Not tall and long-limbed, not slim enough. But the way his breaths accelerated as she crawled over the end of the bed toward him, and the way his cock jerked as it stood away from his body proved he was into her—and soon to be way into her.
Walking on her hands and knees, she paused when her face hovered over his groin and she breathed in his musky, masculine scent. Her heart thudded in her chest, its rhythm quickening, and she couldn’t resist leaning down to swipe his balls with the flat of her tongue then trail the tip up his impressive length. Before she continued moving upward, she sucked him into her mouth and gave his cockhead a wet stroke of her tongue, but she was too desperate now to play with him.
Sky must have felt the same way, because he slipped his hands beneath her arms and hauled her up his body. “Do you really think I don’t still love you?” he asked as he smoothed his hands over her back.
She gave an exaggerated groan. “We had two weeks to get things done. It seemed like the harder we tried to find things we agreed about, the further apart we drifted.”
His fingers clamped on the notches of her hips, and he moved her, lifting her over his cock. She wiggled until the tip nudged against her opening.
“We also spent a lot of time doing this.”
“Because when we talked everything went to shit, but when we—”
He stroked upward, entering her, and her eyelids drifted downward.
“Here, like this,” he whispered, “we communicate just fine, don’t we, baby?”
“Yessss,” she hissed as he stroked upward again. Flattening her hands on his chest, she pushed up and leaned backward, taking him further inside. Once he was as deep as could be, she began to circle her hips, dragging his cock around and around with her movements.
“Fuck, yeah,” he muttered.
She ground against him, scraping her clit against hair and bone, exciting herself so much she forgot about pleasuring him.
Until he tweaked her nipple. “Now, that I have your attention…” he said and arched an eyebrow.
“Sky…?” She slowed her movements.
He twisted both nipples hard. “Yes, baby?”
Her inner muscles squeezed around him. Moisture flooded her passage. “I need it fast.”
Jamie gasped when he pushed her off his cock and to his side. He moved over her, his knees on either side of her body, and forced her to roll to her belly. Then he scooted down her thighs and molded her buttocks with his hands. He moved lower and placed kisses on her ass, followed by nips that made her jerk and sigh. When he pulled at her hips, she pushed up and raised herself.
His tongue slid between her folds, long luscious strokes followed by pointed thrusts inside her. Too much. Not enough. She widened her knees and sank her belly, inviting him to continue to play.
When his fingers slid inside her, she clutched the bedding and moaned. “More…oh, please…”
Two fingers, then three, thrust inside her, fucking her, while he flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue. When he rubbed his thick thumb against her asshole, she whimpered. “Fuck me, Sky. Now. Fuck me!”
His fingers withdrew, and then he was there, his hands clutching her hips, preventing movement as he nudged then slid his cock inside her. He pulled free, nearly all the way, then slowly pushed forward again. He repeated this pattern, letting her savor every inch of him as he sank over and over inside her slick channel.
“Jesus,” he breathed. “I wish I could stay in this moment,” he said with another long glide. “You’re so wet, and I can feel you tremble inside.”
She squeezed around him because she was ready for more. “Faster,” she whispered, then pushed up, bracing her hands apart on the mattress. For added measure, she tossed back her hair and glanced behind her, giving him a pointed stare as a challenge.
His eyes narrowed, and his strokes shortened and sharpened, coming faster, harder. She turned away, pursing her lips to draw air in breathy huffs. As he rocked against her, the moisture he elicited from her pussy added an aural texture with lewd, slippery sounds that accompanied the sharp, staccato beats as his groin slapped against her flesh.
His movements quickened again, and she gave another whimper, this one followed by a moan as pleasure built inside her. “Almost there,” she gasped.
Abruptly, he pulled free and pushed her to the mattress. Then he rolled her again. When he came down on top of her, she couldn’t get her arms and legs around him fast enough. She was desperate to pull him inside her, ravenous for what he would give her.
His cock sank deep, and he thrust his arms beneath her, cradling her close to his body as he jerked his hips and gave her short, harsh strokes that heated up her channel. The rapid pounding forced out her breaths in sharp gusts. She reached for his buttocks and raked her fingernails over his hot skin. She reveled in the powerful flexes that drove him deep again and again, and then her back arched and her jaw sagged. Colors exploded behind her eyelids, and she gave a thready cry.
When his orgasm hit, she felt every jet of come bathe her channel in
rhythmic pulses. Grateful for his efforts, she kissed his shoulder, his neck, the edge of his jaw. She hugged him with her arms and legs, wanting to keep his skin against hers, his cock deeply embedded. Only when they were like this did she feel as though they shared the same breath, the same mind.
Sky hugged her and tucked his face into the corner of her shoulder. “I love you.”
“I love you.” Like him, she didn’t dare say more. She’d leave it at that. Because, for the moment, she knew that was all that mattered.
Sky pulled a clean T-shirt over his head and followed the scent of fresh coffee. He hoped that after they’d touched the damn stars during sex that the tension haunting them of late had dissipated. He’d let Jamie shower in the master bathroom, while he’d taken one down the hallway. They’d grinned when he’d suggested it because they both knew he’d never get to work if he joined her.
He entered the kitchen, feeling relaxed but also a little guarded. He hated that he felt that way. Something had to change.
Her back was to him as she poured two cups. He slipped his arms around her and bent to kiss her shoulder. “I hate leaving you today.”
She chuckled. “I still have to get some sleep. You’d just be watching me snore.”
“You don’t snore. Much.”
She gently elbowed his gut. “Not nice.”
“It’s cute.” He reached beyond her for his cup of coffee then moved away to lean against the counter. He took a sip as she closed her eyes and drank from her cup. “Shouldn’t you be avoiding the caffeine? You have to sleep.”
She opened her eyes and gave him a wink. “This is to make sure I can make it to the bed.” After another sip and a satisfied hum, she locked her gaze with his. “So, you haven’t mentioned what this job is that Hank wants you to do.”
He frowned. “It’s an escort job for some Norwegian tanker.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Where?”
“Strait of Hormuz.”
She was silent for a moment.
Sky hadn’t traveled that far for work since they’d met. He hoped she wasn’t reading more into this than the fact Hank needed him.
Her mouth thinned. “Are they worried about pirates or the Iranians?”
“Both.”
“How many men is Hank sending?”
“Five. We’ll be operating a skiff accompanying the tanker. Another outfit’s providing security aboard the ship.”
“I didn’t know Hank did this sort of work.”
He nodded. “He doesn’t, or at least, not often, because there are plenty of European outfits who provide this sort of service, but since the US has been making noise about their warships no longer providing protection to international carriers…” He blew out a deep breath. “This gig’s like a job interview. The insurance company hiring the Brotherhood Protectors will be assessing the team. So, it’s not more than one or two runs through the Strait. I’d be in and out in less than a week.”
She nodded. “I didn’t expect that you’d be going so far away.”
Sky locked his gaze with hers. “Look, I don’t have to accept.”
Jamie glanced at her coffee. “But he wants a crew of SEALs, right? Ones who’ve done this work when they were active. That’s you,” she said, shrugging. “I get why he wants you, and why you would want to go.”
“Jamie…I know the timing sucks.”
She waved a hand. “No, I promise I don’t think this has anything to do with…us.”
“It doesn’t.”
She swallowed. “How long before you leave?”
“I’d fly out to Qatar tomorrow.” Sky hated how a curtain seemed to fall over her eyes. He sensed her pulling away, and by the way her hands moved, plucking at nonexistent lint on her T-shirt, he knew she was trying not to freak out. Jamie didn’t freak out. She might panic inside, but she’d square her shoulders and power through any fear.
She cleared her throat. “Guess I better let you go. I imagine you and the team Hank’s assembling have a lot to talk about.”
“We do.” He grasped the hand not holding her cup and interlaced his fingers with hers. “Walk with me outside?”
She nodded, placed her cup on the counter, then let him tug her out of the door to the front porch.
“Think we should sod the front yard?” he asked looking at the patchy grass. Not that he really gave a shit about the yard, but he wanted her to know he was serious about being here, with her.
“I like it natural. Just like it is.”
“I could remove more rock, flatten the ground out a bit.”
“Why?” she asked, turning her head to look at him.
“I was thinking about Reaper’s koi pond.”
Her eyebrows shot upward. “You want to sink a koi pond? You’re as crazy as he is. Do you know how much propane they use to keep it heated in the winter?”
He grimaced. “A gazebo then?”
She tilted her head. “What’s this all about?”
He shrugged. How could he explain that he was trying to come up with some romantic gesture? Something as crazy and cool as the pond Reaper had installed for Carly. A ridiculous folly, but something Carly still smiled about every time anyone mentioned her pond.
“Will I see you tonight?” He hated the thought of leaving tomorrow without spending the night lying beside her, even knowing he’d barely sleep. He never did before a mission. Still, anything could happen when he got back to that part of the world.
Tonight, he’d keep away from talk of the wedding, so there’d only be happy thoughts to sustain them both for the next while.
Chapter 3
Jamie had Tessa on a long lead, letting the Malinois do her thing. They’d been following a trail for nearly half a mile, having left Anna Cummings’ neighborhood in the outskirts of Libby. They now moved toward forested hills. The ten-year-old had been missing since the previous evening, over eighteen hours ago. Early this morning, Fetch Winter, the owner of Montana Bounty Hunters, called to tell her that she and Tessa had been requested, by name, to assist with the search by the sheriff in Libby.
Jamie hated the reason for her being pulled out of the office for the day but was also grateful for the break away from the goodhearted people she worked with. Since Sky had left on his current mission, they’d been doing their best to help her solve The Wedding Problem.
The ringleader of the effort was, of course, Lacey Jones. The woman hadn’t met a party she didn’t want to organize, and the thought of planning a wedding nearly had her salivating. Not that Lacey had been any more successful getting Jamie to commit to “colors” or a theme. She may have gotten the hint that Jamie wasn’t on board with wedding plans when she’d asked Jamie where she wanted to post a registry, and she’d quipped, “PetSmart.”
Well, she was in the field today, so she had a short reprieve. A deputy trailed her, crashing through the brush, but Jamie tuned him out, watching Tessa as her nose moved left to right. She’d lost the trail twenty feet back. Maybe she needed the scent refreshed.
Jamie dug the baggie with the little girl’s nightgown balled inside. “Tessa, fuss!” she said, giving the German command for her to heel.
The dog ran back to her side and sat next to her with her body hugging Jamie’s leg. Jamie knelt and unzipped the baggie, and then held it beneath Tessa’s nose.
The dog sank her snout in the bag and breathed.
Jamie pulled the baggie away, stuffed it back into the pocket of her jacket, then stood and unclipped the leash. Raising her arm, she pointed toward the trail. “Voraus, such!”
Tessa moved out, her nose once again searching for the girl’s scent. When her nose sank to the dirt and her tail stiffened, Jamie prayed that she’d found it again.
Tessa moved quickly now, and Jamie had to sprint to keep up. The dog had found the trail, and by the Malinois’ little whines, the trail was a good one, rich in scent. Hopefully, that meant fresh.
They climbed a hill covered in cottonwood and lodgepole pine trees. At the crest,
Jamie paused to stare down into a dark ravine Tessa was rapidly approaching. It was deep with rocky ledges.
Tessa halted atop one ledge and barked.
Saying more prayers under her breath, Jamie raced downward, sliding sideways on the steep hillside until she reached her dog. “What did you find, girl?” she said, kneeling beside the Malinois to peer into the shadows below.
A splotch of white that didn’t belong among the gray rocks caught her eye. She searched for a safe way into the ravine and found a deep crevice with grasses she could hold onto and made her way down to the bottom.
“Anna? Sweetie? Are you here?” she said as she moved below the ledge where the deputy had joined Tessa. Beneath the ledge, she saw the little girl huddled, her arms around her bare legs.
She was dirty and tears streaked her cheeks. “Not supposed to talk to strangers,” the little girl said.
“It’s okay. I’m with the deputy,” she said, not moving any closer but pointing upward.
The little girl moved from under the rock and stared up at the deputy and the dog. “That your dog?” she asked, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
“Yes, that’s Tessa. She found you.”
“I got lost and fell down,” the girl said, and looked at her knees which were scraped. “I couldn’t climb back up.”
“That’s okay.” She shrugged off her backpack and set it on the ground. “I have some water and a bandana. I can clean your knees. Are you thirsty?” She unclipped her canteen from her web belt and held it out to the girl.
Anna grabbed it, unscrewed the top, and took a long draw of the water before handing it back.
Jamie glanced up at the deputy. “How about you radio that we’ve found her. We’ll need a rope.”
While the deputy called to relay the news, Jamie pulled a bandana from the bottom of her bag, along with her small first-aid kit. Gunshots rang out in the distance, the signal that the girl had been found. She cleaned the girl’s wounds and covered them in Neosporin and Band-Aids. “Hope you like Spiderman,” she said, patting down the edges of the adhesive strip.
Big Sky Wedding - Brotherhood Protectors World Page 2