Mission: Her Rescue

by Anna Hackett

And then Seth was hammering into her, pinning her to the door. He slid a hand down, thumbing her clit.

  “Oh.” Her legs tightened on him.

  And then, with two more thrusts, she was coming hard. Seth kept thrusting. He couldn’t stop now if an entire platoon of enemy soldiers invaded the base.

  Her body clenched down on his cock, and he gritted his teeth. He wanted to take her there again.

  Her legs tightened. “Seth.”

  “Again, January.”

  “I…”

  “Come again, baby. Get there.”

  He felt her nails slide down his back, scoring his skin. Yes, his little hellcat.

  “Seth.” Another sharp cry, and she shuddered against him.

  As she rode out her second orgasm, Seth couldn’t hold back anymore. His thrusts turned harder, wilder.

  He came in a long, overwhelming rush. He poured himself inside her, groaning her name.

  And he kept his arms locked around her, holding her tight.

  January was breathing heavily, little shudders of pleasure still rippling through her body.

  And Seth Lynch was still lodged deep inside her.

  God, she’d just let Seth fuck her—hard. And she’d liked it. A lot.

  She’d wanted this. Needed this. But now what?

  “Seth—”

  “Quiet.” He lifted her away from the door. She gripped his shoulders. God, he was strong. She wasn’t exactly as light as a feather.

  “Ah, I need to clean up,” she said.

  He carried her into the bathroom and set her down on the vanity. She figured he’d leave, but instead, he grabbed a washcloth, wet it, then gently wiped between her legs.

  Her chest locked. No one had ever taken care of her like that. The gesture was intimate, caring.

  She turned her head and caught her reflection in the mirror on the wall. She looked flushed and well-pleasured. Seth Lynch, a man who drove her crazy, had just given her the best orgasm of her life.

  Two of them, in fact.

  She blew out a breath. She’d survived a horrible situation, and it wasn’t just the plane crash and attack of the last few days, but the horrible event that had stolen her mother and her innocence from her.

  She’d long ago vowed to make every moment, every action count. For her mom. And now for those who’d died on the plane. For herself.

  She lifted her chin and met Seth’s ice-blue gaze. But she was instantly distracted by his chest. God, that bronze skin and those defined muscles. Her belly quivered. He was so well-built. Just how she liked a man.

  And that handsome, fascinating face.

  She looked in the mirror again…and saw the terrible bruise on his back. Her belly dropped. She gripped his arm. “Turn around.”

  “January—”

  “Turn.”

  With a sigh, he obeyed. Oh. She ran her fingers gently over the purple bruise. He’d gotten it when he’d taken the bullets in his vest. Bullets meant for her. She leaned forward and kissed his abused skin.

  He stood stock still.

  She lifted her head and cleared her throat. “Well, I guess—”

  Seth spun and picked her up.

  “Lynch,” she squeaked.

  He turned and strode out of the bathroom. He crossed the room and dropped her on the bed.

  “What are you—?”

  He leaned over her. “Not done with you, yet.”

  She sucked in a breath. He reached down and tugged the shirt off her shoulders.

  She smiled. “Really?” Desire was already building in her belly.

  He pushed her legs apart, and boldly stroked his hand between her legs. He caressed her, seemingly fascinated with a tiny strip of dark hair above her sex. She lifted her hips.

  “I’m going to eat you until you come on my tongue.”

  Her belly spasmed.

  “Then I’ll fuck you again.” He slid a finger inside her.

  “Um…” Her brain wouldn’t work. “So far I’m onboard with your plans.”

  “Most agreeable I’ve ever seen you.”

  She narrowed her gaze on him. “Don’t ruin a good thing, Lynch.”

  His smile was sexy as hell, and he slid a second finger inside her. “Guess I have to put my mouth to good use.”

  He leaned down and bit her inner thigh.

  She swallowed a moan. “Again…no complaints.”

  She got another bite.

  “And later, I want to see that sassy mouth of yours wrapped around my cock.”

  Their gazes met. She was already hungry for a taste of that. It must have shown on her face, because his gaze darkened.

  Here, there was just the two of them, and the pleasure. There were no ecoterrorists, or potentially dangerous artifacts, or dead friends.

  “That can be arranged,” she murmured.

  “You want to feel me, January?” He lowered his head and licked her.

  She cried out.

  “You want to feel me for days?” He slid his hands beneath her and lifted her up to his mouth.

  Her eyes fluttered closed as he feasted on her. God. It felt so good.

  “Open your eyes.” His voice was guttural.

  She obeyed, that handsome, scarred face filling her vision. She watched his mouth on her as he devoured her, and watching drove her desire up several more notches.

  He dragged his tongue over her swollen flesh, and then his lips brushed her clit. She bucked against him. It was all too much.

  She slid a hand into his hair and fisted it.

  He growled against her tender skin and pleasure vibrated through her.

  “Seth.” She jerked in his hold and he lowered her down, sliding two fingers back inside her. His mouth closed over her clit.

  It was like a detonation. January’s back arched off the bed, and her orgasm scorched through her. She screamed this time, and squeezed his head with her thighs. His tongue kept working her.

  Finally, she collapsed back on the bed, panting.

  Seth stood, towering above her. God, he looked like some dark god, come down to Earth to pillage. His cock was rock-hard and rising up against his six-pack stomach. He reached down and lifted her off the bed.

  “Seth—”

  “I’m going to fuck you on my desk next. Going to do you in every part of my room.”

  Her belly clenched. Oh, God.

  He crossed the room, and January felt her butt hit the cool edge of the desk. Then he flipped her over, and her hips pressed to the wood.

  “Need to be inside you, hellcat. You are so damn hot.”

  “Do it.” She pushed her ass back against him. He palmed her cheeks.

  “You push me to the edge, January.”

  She glanced back over her shoulder. “Right back at you, Seth.”

  He buried his cock in her with one thrust.

  January moaned and pressed her cheek to the desk. “More.”

  He started moving, flesh slapping against flesh. “You love this.” His breath was hot on her ear.

  She pushed back to meet his thrusts.

  “Tell me,” he demanded.

  “Yes. I love it.”

  His hands pressed to the desktop beside her, and she watched the sexy muscles in his forearm flex under his scars. She pushed harder back against him, impossibly feeling another orgasm growing.

  He was going to kill her.

  One of his hands moved and squeezed her ass. Then, he held her hips as he started hammering faster.

  Her orgasm hit hard and she screamed. His fingers gripped her skin, and she didn’t care if he left marks.

  Seth pumped harder, growling through his own release. January turned her head and sank her teeth into his forearm.

  Moments later, they both collapsed on the desk, not moving. She couldn’t move. One, because she was pinned beneath his weight, and two, because her legs were suddenly boneless.

  She felt something shiver through her. A hint of fear. Sex, she could handle. Amazing, mind-blowing sex, she could handl
e. But January wasn’t entirely sure what this was.

  She tried to pull in a breath and Seth’s weight lifted. His arms enfolded her, pulling her back against his chest.

  “I’ve got you, James.”

  No one had caught her and held her safe for a long, long time. She relaxed. But with this man wrapped around her, she believed him.

  Chapter Nine

  Seth turned in the tangled sheets. Damn, his body was loose and relaxed. He pulled in a breath, and with it, the scent of January from his pillow.

  He opened his eyes.

  It only took him a second to realize that she was gone.

  He sat up in his bunk, scanning the room. Yep, he was alone. His jaw clenched. She’d snuck out.

  Seth fell back against the pillows, not sure how he felt about that.

  God. The hours they’d spent here in his bed, and everything they’d done to each other, moved through his head in bright Technicolor. After the first few frenzied times he’d taken her, he’d then had her in the shower, on the floor, and then she’d gone down on him back in the bed. And she’d done it with a whole lot of enthusiasm. He suspected she got off on sucking his cock more than he did her doing it.

  He smiled. She was the best he’d ever had, bar none. It seemed January James was passionate about more than just her work.

  His phone rang, and he reached over and snatched it up. “Brooks?”

  “Hey, Seth. Hope you got some sleep.”

  Hell, no. Not that he cared. He grunted wordlessly in reply.

  “Meeting in the lab.”

  Seth straightened. Work called. He didn’t waste any time taking a quick shower and dressing. As he shaved, he kept thinking of January. He hated that he hadn’t woken up with her. Which was weird, because he never hung around long enough to wake up with a woman.

  He rinsed his face and reminded himself that he didn’t do relationships. He’d had a girlfriend in high school, but once he joined the Agency, relationships had become impossible. He’d had an agreement with a fellow agent for a while. She’d been good in bed, but it hadn’t taken her long to try and screw him over in order to get a promotion. He’d also tangled with a foreign agent in more ways than one once, and gotten in too deep. He’d never been in love, but he’d been in lust. She’d burned him badly when she’d tried to steal top-secret data from him.

  But on top of all of that, as he’d done his job, he’d watched people betray their friends, family, and country over and over again. He’d watched agents lie, steal, and kill. Hell, he’d lied, stolen, and killed.

  He’d quickly learned that no one was who they seemed, and that everyone was out to get themselves something.

  His jaw locked. It had been one of his own agents who’d sold him out to the enemy and gotten him tortured. Seth had considered Agent Roger Lawley a friend, until the fucker had sold Seth out for money.

  Everyone had secrets, and with the right motivation, anyone could be turned.

  Seth headed for the lab, stopping in the rec room to grab something to eat. Axel was already in there, and his friend paused to look him up and down.

  “Why do you look so relaxed?”

  “Took a nap.”

  Axel looked suspicious. “You don’t look like you slept much.”

  Seth wasn’t up for an interrogation. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a protein shake. “We need to get to the lab.”

  Axel lifted his chin, and Seth downed the shake. Together, they headed to the lab. The others were already there.

  He glanced over and saw January, shoulder-to-shoulder with Ty, looking at the artifact on the bench. She was wearing black cargo pants and a black T-shirt. These fit her better than the shirt he’d torn off her, so he guessed that she’d borrowed something from Blair or Callie.

  He got closer. “Hey.”

  Her head jerked up and she looked at him. She lifted a hand and shot him a small smile. “Hi.”

  Friendly and distant, like they were acquaintances. He frowned. He didn’t like it. At all. There wasn’t a single hint on her face that said she’d let him fuck her brains out and she’d enjoyed every second of it.

  “We’ve been testing the artifact,” January said. “Ty had some brilliant ideas.”

  “Because I am brilliant,” Ty said.

  “He’s also very shy and extremely modest.” Blair rolled her eyes from where she sat on a stool. Beside her, Callie smiled and shook her head.

  “Watch this,” Ty announced.

  He pulled the cover off a box and Seth saw what looked like a fish tank. The glass box held a small layer of dirt that contained tiny plant seedlings.

  With a gloved hand, Ty grabbed the jade sphere and set it into the tank.

  “You think the sphere is a garden ornament?” Axel asked.

  Ty scowled. “No.”

  Suddenly, Seth saw movement in the tank. He moved closer, and watched the seedlings start to unfurl. He inhaled a sharp breath.

  “Hell,” Axel muttered.

  As they watched, the sprouts grew, rising up inches at a time.

  “Hell.” Lachlan frowned, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at the tank.

  The vines grew and tangled around each other.

  “Unreal,” Blair murmured.

  Ty reached through the runners and pulled the sphere out. The tank was now packed with tangled vegetation.

  Lachlan leaned a hip against the bench. “Tell us what’s going on here.”

  “I ran a battery of tests while you guys were lazing around,” Ty said.

  Seth’s gaze moved to January. Their eyes met, and he saw the faintest touch of color along her cheekbones.

  “The sphere is emitting an electromagnetic field.”

  “And that stimulates plant growth?” Lachlan asked.

  Ty nodded. “There have been various studies into the effects of electromagnetic fields on plant growth, and the effects are positive. Seeds have a higher germination rate, plants grow taller, larger, and are healthier.”

  “Oh, my God, I’ve tried something like this,” January said. “A colleague showed me how to set up a solar root stimulator. It had a small solar panel, and sent electrical stimulation to the plant roots.”

  “Got a green thumb, James?” Seth asked.

  Her nose wrinkled. “I keep trying to grow things, but they keep dying.”

  “Brown thumb.” His gaze dropped to her mouth.

  She licked her lips, which he felt in his cock, then turned away.

  “Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy has been around for a while,” Ty added. “It’s used to increase the healing rate of certain types of bone fractures. It was mostly used in Russia and parts of Europe, and vets used it in the US to help heal broken bones in racehorses. FDA approved it for human use more recently. PEMF therapy was used by the Russians to help slow bone density loss suffered by cosmonauts. NASA’s poured money into the therapy as well, for not just bone, but tissue repair, as well.”

  “So,” Lachlan said. “You think the Maya discovered that electromagnetism stimulated plant growth?”

  “I think the Snake Kings discovered it,” a female voice said.

  Seth turned to watch their archeologist enter. Dr. Natalie Blackwell wore a long, fitted skirt in fawn brown, and a navy-blue shirt with a faint pinstripe. The woman was always dressed to the nines. Her high heels tapped on the tile floor, and dark hair spilled around her shoulders.

  “Nat.” A smile broke out on January’s face.

  “God, January. I’m so glad to see you.”

  The women hugged tightly, and Seth’s brows rose. He didn’t know they knew each other. He didn’t think they’d ever met on any of January’s trips to Area 52.

  “We worked on some digs together,” January told everyone, before smiling back at Nat. “We both managed to survive Professor Horton.”

  Nat wrinkled her nose. “That old coot. He was always looking down my shirt.”

  “Mine too.” Then January’s face turned serious. �
�You think the Snake Kings discovered this tech?”

  Nat nodded. “Likely. My guess is they stumbled on an earlier device and worked out how to use it.” Nat smiled at Ty. “Can I borrow a screen?”

  Ty scowled. “I guess.”

  “Gracious as always, Ty.” Nat grabbed a remote. Two images appeared. One was a perfect Mayan step pyramid. If Seth remembered correctly, it was from the famous site of Chichen Itza in Mexico. The other picture was a Mayan image of a snake with the head of a man, complete with elaborate headdress.

  “This here is the Mayan snake deity called Kukulkan,” Nat said. “He was also known as the feathered serpent and his image is found all through Mesoamerican cultures. We don’t know everything about him, thanks to the Spanish conquistadors and Catholic priests destroying Mayan codices.” She pulled an unhappy face. “But he was the god of the wind, sky, and sun. Legends say he gave mankind learning, knowledge, and laws. We do know he predates the Maya, probably originating in the older, mysterious Olmec culture.”

  “The main pyramid at Chichen Itza, El Castillo, is dedicated to Kukulkan.” January was staring at the image of the pyramid, then looked at Nat. “You think he’s linked to the Snake Kings?”

  Nat nodded. “It fits. The cult of Kukulkan spread to Guatemala and they use a serpent as their emblem, and their friezes are filled with feathered serpents. The feathered serpent represented fertility and leadership.”

  The lab was silent as they all absorbed the information.

  “What’s Kukulkan got to do with the spheres?” Seth asked.

  Nat swiveled on her heel. “What I know about Kukulkan is limited, but he was known as Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs. We know much more about Quetzalcoatl.” More images appeared on the screen. These were Aztec, showing different depictions of the god. “The god of wind and wisdom.”

  Seth felt the tension in the room. Nat was working up to something.

  “When Cortes and the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, there were stories that said the Aztecs welcomed him as the returning Quetzalcoatl. Not all historians believe the accounts, thinking the Spanish embellished this as propaganda.”

  “Why would the Aztecs think a European was their god?” Lachlan asked.

  January stepped forward. “Some depictions show Quetzalcoatl as a bearded man.”