Danger Zone (Delta Force Echo: An Iniquus Action Adventure Romance Book 2)

by Fiona Quinn

  “Copy that.”

  They didn’t hold hands, didn’t walk too closely. They were professionals on a work assignment, not giddy kids returning from a frat party to their dorm. Decorum was important to Remi. Though, she hoped the magic she’d experienced trapped on the elevator with T-Rex wasn’t a mirage.

  When they shoved through the stair door, the lights went out again. “Huh,” was T-Rex’s only reaction.

  They crept up the stairs, casting pink monster shadows on the cream-painted walls.

  Pushing through the door on the sixteenth floor, Havoc watched Remi and T-Rex make their way down the hall.

  “All’s quiet?” T-Rex asked Havoc when they reached his room.

  “The senator’s snoring,” Havoc said. Havoc had his own light stick in his hand. There were more laid at intervals down the hall. Havoc would know if anyone were trying to sneak up on him to get to the senator.

  Tipping her ear closer to Blankenship’s door and concentrating, Remi could make out Blankenship’s snores drifting from between the cracks.

  “We’re starved,” T-Rex said. “I’m making MREs. Can I fix you one? I’ll take over your post while you eat.”

  “Thanks, man, but I ate while Ty was at the door. It’s all good.”

  T-Rex lifted a hand, then pulled a key card from his pocket.

  “No electricity. Can we get in?” Remi asked.

  “Batteries.” T-Rex turned to her. “Three syllables.”

  She sent him a self-conscious grin.

  Swiping the card, T-Rex pushed the door wide, allowing Remi to go in first. As the door shut behind him, she whispered, “I could hear the senator snoring. The walls must be thin like in London.”

  “Not as bad as in London, the senator snores loudly.”

  Remi nodded. She stepped forward and pressed herself against T-Rex. “I want to be with you. Would you be okay with that?”

  T-Rex’s slow smile did magical things to her libido. “Are you asking for my consent?”

  “Checking boundaries.” She rose on her toes to whisper, “And to see if you have condoms handy.”

  T-Rex frowned his disappointment. “I don’t have a need to carry them. No.”

  Remi reached under her tunic and unclasped her utility belt, laying it on the lowboy. Her fingers tugged a foil packet out from the center-left pouch. She twiddled it in her fingers for him to see, then laid it next to her belt.

  And lest he thought she was promiscuous and always ready to bang one out, she added, “They’re a handy tool in a dirty situation.”

  “Yeah?” He cocked his head to the side. “Is this what you call a dirty situation?”

  “I meant like explosion debris in the air, I can put my phone or my recorder in it to keep them safe.”

  He picked it up. “Then this can’t be lubricated.”

  “Not an issue,” Remi said.

  When she turned toward him. T-Rex brushed her hair out of her eyes. “You are somewhere between Mary Poppins.” He kissed her. “A Boy Scout.” He kissed her. “And Mata Hari.” He pressed her against the wall, dragging her hands over her head. Holding her there as their kisses grew more demanding.

  He leaned his hips into her, his knee pressing between her thighs. She moaned.

  With a chuckle and a glance toward the door, T-Rex locked his lips on hers then lifted Remi off her feet, moving them farther into the room, away from Havoc’s hearing.

  When T-Rex set her down, she whispered, “Music, so we don’t have to be so conscious of noise, maybe?” She lifted her brows.

  Taking advantage of T-Rex’s scrolling an app for music, she slid off her shoes and socks. Classic rock filtered through his speakers with its heart-thumping beat, mimicking the thrum of her blood.

  When he lifted his gaze to hers, checking that this was acceptable, Remi nodded.

  T-Rex placed the phone on the nightstand and leaned his shoulder against the wall.

  Remi unwound her scarf and dropped it to the floor. “I want to watch you undress.” Had she imagined him correctly during last night's attempted stress relief with her vibrator?

  The electrical outage and pink light added a sense of romance and maybe a little danger. Remi was bright with anticipation. She smiled, feeling deliciously taboo.

  T-Rex gamely moved toward the lowboy where she could see him head to foot. He lifted his shirt and tugged off his conceal carry holster. Opening a drawer, he slid his service weapons inside. Every move was smooth and graceful. No ego. No posturing.

  They seemed to sync, the two of them.

  This level of comfort wasn’t something that Remi had anticipated. It baffled her; it made her nervous that he didn’t make her nervous. She sat on the bed, and he let her just look at him. Drink him in. She wanted to know every inch of this man’s body.

  Bending, he simultaneously untied both his boots. He toed them off, kicking them out of the way.

  Grabbing his shirt, dragging it over his head.

  Remi’s fingers itched to explore the ridges of his abs, the breadth of his massive shoulders. Remi had only seen muscles like this in sports magazines, romance novel covers, and in her fantasies.

  As she made her way over to him, T-Rex flexed his pecs, making them bulge rhythmically to the beat of the music.

  A delicious lusty laugh bubbled up, filling the room with Remi’s joy.

  He was glorious.

  This wasn’t how she’d anticipated their first time together. She’d imagined him tossing her around like a rag doll, all testosterone, and need. She’d been with someone who’d acted like that before. It wasn’t like it looked in the movies. It was actually pretty unnerving, and she never slept with that guy again. He’d frightened her too badly. She’d felt too vulnerable in the face of the guy’s strength. She hadn’t trusted him to exercise self-control.

  T-Rex was nothing if not sublimely in control of himself.

  Remi couldn’t imagine him trying to hurt her. He just didn’t need that to bolster his sense of self.

  On her part, Remi wasn’t quite sure what to do. Awkwardness—new was always a bit fumbley. And yet, she’d never felt excitement like this before. Her libido had never roared this loudly.

  This felt…inevitable.

  Her eyes drifted down, watching T-Rex’s fingers, unbuckling his belt. His cock tented his zipper. “Good?” He was checking in.

  “More.” The anticipation sent a wave through her body, making her weak in the knees. She put her hand on the wall. Her bottom lip dropped open as she panted.

  Slowly, slowly he tugged down the zipper. His thumbs slipped into his waistband, and he slid his trousers and boxers off at the same time, catching the tops of his socks. One graceful flourish, and he stood free and proud. His heavy dick pulsing in his palm.

  “Now you.” Sitting on the slipper chair where his towel had been draped to dry, T-Rex stroked his cock as he watched her.

  Remi closed her eyes, feeling the rhythm of the driving beats in the music. Letting the thrum sync with her heartbeat, Remi swayed. Her head fell back as she let the experience of this moment take hold of her. Let her body bask in the sensations of desire, the hot neediness of it.

  Slowly she slid her tights off, grateful that this morning, when she was dressing, she eschewed her normal gym-styled undergarments and had chosen, instead, a lingerie set that made her feel wonton with its satin and ribbons.

  As she stood, she let her fingers slide along her legs, showing off their length, their smooth curves. Yeah, when she was trying to low-key seduce him the other day in her room—lying there with her legs stretched out before her—T-Rex had had a hard time dragging his attention away. He’d followed their lines up to the hem of her shirt, his tongue slicking a quick lick over his lips. Remi had wished he’d focused that swipe of tongue on her skin.

  The thought of his mouth on her made Remi’s body convulse with need. And no, that wasn’t lost on T-Rex either. He leaned forward and stretched a hand toward her. Reeling her gently in. He laid
his forehead against her stomach, petting his hands up and down her legs. When he looked up, she cupped his cheeks in her palms and leaned over to kiss him. Pressing her lips hard against his, then opening them to him.

  His hands explored under her tunic as their tongues tangled. Hooking into the sides of her panties, he drew them down her legs, the rasp of the elastic…now, he’d know just how wet she was for him.

  One foot then the other, he slid Remi’s panties off.

  Remi was in no mood to wait. Slow just wasn’t going to cut it here. She’d been lusting for this man’s body since she walked across the empty bay at the airport in Washington. “Just desserts,” she whispered so softly, she knew T-Rex couldn’t hear her.

  Remi reached for the foil packet, biting and tugging to open it and release the condom.

  With his hands under her tunic cupping her ass, Remi leaned over and painted the condom onto his cock. “I can’t wait,” she said as she stepped a foot out to either side of him.

  He held the base of his cock steady as she slid herself down the length of his shaft, feeling the delicious sensation of fullness.

  Hands resting on his shoulders, eyes shut, head dipping back, she let T-Rex take over her senses.

  He groaned as he gripped at her hips.

  “Sh-sh-sh.” She giggled. Nodding toward the door where Havoc was feet away.

  Reaching for the hem of her tunic, Remi tugged it over her head and cast it to the side.

  T-Rex kissed her neck. His breath was hot on her skin. He licked at the sensitive spot behind her ear then caught her lobe between his teeth.

  As his thumbs traced rings around her nipples through the satin of her bra, Remi balanced herself with her hands on his shoulders, riding him into oblivion.

  His giving her control when he was Echo Actual, the alpha amongst alphas, was intoxicating.

  Remi dropped the straps of her bra.

  T-Rex’s lips found her pebbled nipples. He squeezed her bra hooks to release the closure. Casting the garment to the side, giving his mouth full access to her breasts, swollen with lust, a shiver ran the length of her body.

  Nipping and licking, sucking and kneading, her breasts were adored.

  Remi rolled her hips.

  Kissing his way back up to her mouth, T-Rex’s hands gripped into her ass, squeezing and releasing.

  The room grew hot, their skin slick with sweat.

  T-Rex drew her hand between her legs, pressing her fingers onto her clit. Their foreheads rested against each other as they both looked down, watching the erotic act.

  Lost in the sensations, Remi masturbated, undulating her hips.

  Her body tensed.

  Her toes curled into the carpeting.

  She gasped.

  As an orgasmic cry rose up her throat, T-Rex caught it in a kiss.

  Her muscles pulsed around his dick.

  Pressing her arms around his neck, T-Rex reached under her thighs, stood, and walked them to the bed. There, cradling her head, he put a knee into the mattress and laid them down.

  Remi lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around his back, crossing her ankles with pointed toes, feeling herself elongating and tightening around him.

  One hand pressed into the mattress to hold his weight, the other fisting her hair, tugging it just enough to give her a bite of pain, T-Rex slid in and out, building, building, building toward an orgasm.

  Waves rippled through his abdomen. Heat bloomed from his chest.

  “Please,” she whispered, unwilling to come a second time without him.

  “Please what, Remi. Tell me.”

  “Come. Please come,” she gasped.

  His head tipped back, his eyes squeezed shut, his mouth rounded and tensed as the orgasm thundered through his system.

  T-Rex lowered his forehead to hers.

  They gulped at the air.

  “Oh, man,” T-Rex finally said as Remi’s legs fell heavy and quivering to the mattress.

  “Yeah,” Remi replied, closing her eyes. There weren’t really any words to describe just how mind-blowing fucking T-Rex had been.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Remi

  Friday, Beirut, Lebanon

  Remi laced her fingers with T-Rex’s in a post-coital haze.

  They’d had sex without discussing what it meant to be together.

  Was it a one-and-done?

  Had he satisfied his curiosity?

  Did he want more?

  She did. Most definitely. She was contented by her orgasms, but Remi couldn’t imagine being satiated. The longer she touched T-Rex, the more she craved him.

  But since they hadn’t said anything about a tomorrow, she felt self-protective, realizing her heart was vulnerable to T-Rex and these new sensations. So she rambled, “Sex is an escape vehicle. Almost meditation.” She lifted their hands, contemplating their laced fingers. “That being in the here and nowness….”

  T-Rex watched her through heavy lids.

  She dipped her head to kiss his chest. Remi could feel herself falling for T-Rex. She’d never experienced love before. These thoughts, these sensations, they were overwhelming her sense of control. The phrase ‘head over heels’ was making sense to her now. Remi went fishing. “This was probably not even a thought for you.”

  “Because…”

  “Of the number of women in your rearview.”

  “One was my number.”

  Her eyelids held without blinking.

  “Jess.”

  “Four years ago…”

  “Exactly.”

  Remi loosened her grip on him. “That makes me feel weird. Oddly like I’ve stepped on someone’s toes.”

  He rolled over on his stomach, posting his chin on his stacked fists. He looked at her for a long moment. Reaching up to twist a piece of her hair between his fingers, he said tentatively, “I wasn’t trying to break the ice with you and launch into a new phase of my life. I’m not a one-night stand guy.”

  “No. Obviously.” A sucky answer, but her nerves were ripe. She had no idea where this was heading. None.

  “Sex for you, is it what you just said? Stress relief?”

  Honesty, Remi, she counseled herself. “It can be.”

  “With me? Is that what this was for you, stress relief?”

  She swallowed.

  “Seriously, if that’s what this was, it is what it is.”

  She rubbed her lips together.

  “Okay, I’m asking you to walk out on a ledge by yourself. I apologize. Let me go first.” He paused to take a breath. “I think you’re amazing. I’m attracted to you, intrigued by you, drawn to you. I want to share more with you. All of you—your mind, your body, your spirit. And I have no idea how to make this work, zero, but I want us to take a stab at a relationship.”

  “That’s a very violent way to go about a relationship.” She smiled.

  His brow drew together.

  “Stabbing… I’m nervous. I’ve got a lot of big feelings for you that I’ve never experienced before. This kind of conversation doesn’t happen in my life because I’m always heading out the door to the next assignment.”

  “The next mission. Go. Go. Go. But two people who want to badly enough could be creative and committed. It’s possible the effort would take them somewhere good. Us. Take us to something that works for us. We don’t have to fit into a neat box. We could be unconventional.”

  She breathed out through pursed lips.

  “Am I scaring you off?”

  “No. I’m actually feeling better. Relieved. I thought that saying goodbye to you would be a very painful end to this—what do you call it? FUBAR? mission.”

  “It’s not FUBAR. Messed up beyond all repair? Nah. It’s had its challenges. The senator is safe. You’re in my arms. It’s actually going great right now.”

  “Yeah, well, when I get home, my fellow wombats will find this whole adventure highly entertaining. Sans sex. I’ll leave this part out.”

  “Fellow wombats? What�
�s that exactly?” T-Rex reached out. As he turned to his back, he tugged Remi’s hand until she crawled on top of him, her knees bent on either side of his hips. Her head resting on his chest.

  “Oh, it’s what a group of my friends call ourselves.”

  “Why wombats?” He stroked her hair sleepily.

  “A group of wombats is called a wisdom.”

  “Ah. Wisdom is so much better than a wake of vultures and a shiver of sharks.”

  “Hugely better. Wombats are spectacular.” She sat up, and his dick hardened beneath her. Sadly, she only had that one condom. “Did you know that wombats poop square-shaped poops?” She laughed. “I can’t believe I just said that.” Sliding her hip to the mattress, Remi stretched out, propping her head up with her bent arm. She let her other hand paint over the satin smoothness of his shaft. Lazily playing with him.

  “Poops?” His eyes were laughing.

  Remi smiled at him, no longer needing to hide her affection. “They poop about a hundred blocks out each day.”

  “Why?”

  “You think they have a choice?”

  “Evolutionarily speaking, sure.”

  “They stack them.”

  “Like a poop barricade?”

  “Ha, well, they stack them to mark their territory. And that also helps wombats attract a mate.”

  “If only it were that easy.”

  She giggled at his tone. She could tell he liked her giggles from the gentle smile that tweaked the corners of his mouth.

  “Wombats,” he said.

  “Are my favorites. I love them.”

  “Are they dangerous?”

  “Depends. They do have killer asses. How did this even come up? Why are we talking about this?”

  “It started out as you had a ‘wisdom of friends’ and seems to have degenerated quickly from there.”

  “Yeah, that happens to me after sex. When I’m relaxed and buzzing, my brain shuffles around like a guy who needs a midnight snack. Just rooting around in the cupboard, pulling out random things to look over and reject before reaching for the next.”

  “You have an image of this guy?”

  “Boxers and T-shirt, oversized raggedy robe, slippers. Sometimes a cigarette dangling from his lips. Balding.”