Under the roaring in her head, she heard his muttered, “Let’s see if we can go for another.”
Giving her no time to recover, Declan pulled out, threw her legs over his shoulders and covered her sex in a hot, openmouthed kiss. Sabrina zipped back to full arousal. Arching her body, offering herself freely, totally, she soared toward the heavens and then fell off a steep cliff into ecstasy.
And still he wanted more.
How could he have forgotten how delicious she tasted? Delicate and salty, musky and sweet, Sabrina throbbed around his tongue as he lashed at her, licking inside and out, and then nibbling lightly on the knot of nerves at the top of her sex.
She put her hands in his hair, and fearing she planned to push him away, he grabbed her hands and placed them on her knees, spreading her even more. “Stay just like that.” He pressed a kiss to the inside of each thigh and said, “Don’t move.”
Her eyes, dark pools of green, were dazed with heat and arousal. “Declan, what are you doing?”
“Pleasuring both of us once more.” She was open to him. Swollen, wet with arousal, with need. He lowered his head and openmouthed kissed her center again.
She arched and screamed his name.
“Not yet,” he growled. Her entire body was shaking with need. He knew she wanted to let go, but he wanted to bring her back up slowly. He tongued her delicately, licking, enjoying himself. When he felt her body loosen, surrendering once more, he took her hips, held them still, and then began a hard thrust and retreat of his tongue. The soft tissue of her folds gave, moistening his way. When he felt the tension in her increase, he backed away.
“Declan, please. I can’t wait much longer.”
“Almost there,” he murmured, and went back to licking her. Then, using his fingers, he penetrated her as he suckled her hard. She screamed hoarsely and came, her body arching into his mouth.
Giving her no time for recovery, he rose over her and buried himself as deep as he could go. The pull of her orgasm squeezing him like a fist, he pounded hard, relentlessly into her tight softness. Her eyes locked with his, and he felt the connection he never thought to have again. Never losing eye contact, he plunged, retreated, plunged again. His impending release zipped like an electrical charge up his spine. With a shout for his own surrender, Declan let go, emptying himself into her beauty.
Breath shuddered from Sabrina. Declan lay beside her, his own breath labored and deep. They were still and quiet for several long minutes, simply holding each other.
“It was even better than I remember.” she whispered.
“You haven’t been with anyone in a long time.”
“Not since our last time together.”
He raised himself on his elbow to frown down at her. “Why, Sabrina? You thought I was dead. Why didn’t you move on?”
How could she explain that she’d intended to never let anyone touch her again? “Before you, sex was either painful or degrading. I knew whatever came after you would never be you.”
“And Thorne?”
“He’s my partner, my friend. Never my lover.” She swallowed and opened her vulnerable heart. “Only you, Declan. Always, only you.”
If she was waiting for a declaration of devotion, she knew it wasn’t coming when he dropped his head back to his pillow and remained silent.
Disappointed but not surprised, she let a shaky breath shudder from her as she dealt with the blow. Yet she refused to give up, refused to believe he would let all of this go.
“Tell me this is a turning point for us, Declan. That you won’t just up and disappear on me again.”
Instead of answering, he drew her back into his arms and began loving her again. This time, he was all tenderness, as if giving her physical pleasure was all he had left.
Sabrina took everything he offered, knowing that someday soon this might be all she had again—memories. They might still have the physical chemistry to burn up the sheets, but without love, they wouldn’t survive.
Chapter Twenty
Declan woke to an empty bed. She was gone. Even though he hadn’t heard her leave, he recognized the lack of life, the emptiness in the house.
Making love to her last night had been a mistake. He’d known that the moment he’d walked toward her with the intent to devour. But the instant he’d touched her, all those feelings and emotions came rushing to the forefront. How he had loved her.
Knowing it would do no good to continue to regret something that had already happened, he rolled out of bed and got dressed. He was meeting with Angela and Jake early this afternoon to go step by step through all of the Agency’s employees. At least one of them, maybe more, had sold him out.
He grabbed the Jeep keys from the hook in the laundry room and then stopped in the kitchen for a slug of coffee before heading out the door. He found the note on the counter from Sabrina:
I hope to be home in about a week. If you need to get in touch with me, let Noah know. SS
The simple note clutched at his heart. Instead of giving him access to her, she’d made McCall their go-between. A deliberate move to keep the distance between them. Her signature said something else. It had been the way she’d signed her notes from the moment they married. She hadn’t taken his name—that would have been too complicated with their clandestine lifestyle—but for him, she had always referred to herself as Sabrina Steele, or SS.
Something about the note snagged at his memory. His subconscious grasped for meaning, insight. He shook his head. Dammit, it had felt like an important thread and now it was gone. What the hell was it?
Shaking it off, hoping it would come back to him at some point, Declan headed out the door. He would meet with Angela and Jake at LCR as planned, but he had a detour he needed to make first. It was time for Declan Steele to announce his presence and return to the land of the living.
Caracas, Venezuela
Riley Ingram sat on the hard, tiled floor, her expression one of both dejection and fear. Shifting slightly, she tried to ease the numbness from her body. They’d been sitting here for what seemed like hours, waiting for “the boss” to arrive. When and if that happened, she’d have to move fast. She needed everything in good working order.
She’d certainly been in much more uncomfortable positions. Compared to the life she had escaped from, this was nothing. She’d take a numb butt or human stink over a luxurious prison any day. Despite that assertion, her nose did take exception to the two sweaty fellows by the door. They had the manners of swine. Between one guy’s constant belches and the other one’s unfortunate flatulence, her sense of smell might never be the same.
Without moving her head, she cut her eyes over at Sabrina. The scrunching of her fellow operative’s nose said she was having the same thoughts. No wonder these creeps felt they had to steal women. No woman in her right mind would ever willingly be in the same room with them.
Getting kidnapped had been more difficult than anticipated. Two young, female tourists flashing obscene amounts of money while cluelessly shopping in a high-crime area should’ve been easy pickings. Instead, it had taken two days before she and Sabrina had attracted their target.
Once taken, though, things had worked out as planned. After being bound and gagged, they’d traveled in the back of a van for over an hour. During that hour, while acting suitably terrified, she and Sabrina had learned what they needed. These were the same men who had kidnapped the Dentons.
Andrew Denton was an American businessman living with his family in Caracas. Four days ago, his wife, three children, and their nanny hadn’t returned from a shopping trip. Only hours after their disappearance, a ransom demand had been made. Venezuelan authorities had recommended paying the ransom.
Denton had contacted LCR with a request for assistance.
Though kidnapping for ransom had become almost too commonplace worldwide, the most well-known and organized group in Caracas was the Bracho family. Known for kidnapping and ransoming wealthy tourists, they had a reputation of returning t
he victims but not always in the best shape. Though Denton had indicated he would pay whatever was necessary, he had wanted LCR’s assistance and expertise. Understandably, he didn’t want his family injured in any way.
The mission was clear: recover Denton’s family and protect them from harm.
Riley twisted her head slightly and took in the other captives in the room. Three children in one corner, two women in another. The Denton children, two girls and a boy, sat huddled together, quiet except for the occasional sniffle. The women in the corner were Marsha Denton, Andrew’s wife, and the family’s nanny, Cecile Poole. Marsha sat with her back to the wall and, despite the horrid bruise on her face and a puffy lip, maintained a cool arrogance. She had sneered more than once at the human pigs who had kidnapped her family, clearly showing them she would not be intimidated. Riley already liked her.
The nanny was a different story. In the hours since Riley and Sabrina had arrived, Cecile had been statue still. Riley got the feeling she saw everything. She had no emotion on her face, and Riley hadn’t decided if that was a good thing or not. Could be she was in shock.
So far, other than a few shoves and some groping, the kidnappers had been surprisingly hands-off with her and Sabrina. Hopefully, they would remain that way, but if they didn’t, both of them were more than capable of teaching the creeps some manners.
Sometimes, it amazed her that she was doing this kind of work. Having been born to do nothing other than look pretty and do what she was told, who would have thought she could actually be of use in this world? One thing her old life had trained her for was to show absolutely nothing of what was going on inside her. If the world had been able to see behind her facade, they’d have been shocked, appalled, and possibly entertained. She would take being able to make decisions for herself—choose her own clothes, food, friends, and who she married—over that kind of luxury any day.
Justin and Aidan were on their way. While everything had gone seamlessly with her and Sabrina’s abduction, their backup had encountered a minor glitch. The two operatives had been trailing the van when the vehicle they’d been traveling in suddenly stalled and refused to restart. It had taken them almost two hours to find a replacement ride. During that time, she and Sabrina had arrived at the house. Their earbuds were well hidden and hadn’t been detected by the kidnappers, so she and Sabrina had been treated to creative and colorful language as the guys worked to catch up to them.
When they arrived, the fun would begin. Hopefully, that would happen before “the boss” showed up. Even though it’d be nice to take down a few more of the creeps, LCR always put the victims first. They were here to rescue the Dentons. Catching the bad guys would always come second.
“We’re finally here,” Aidan growled. “Ingram, clear your throat if you’re okay. Then, Sabrina, you sigh.”
In response, Riley cleared her throat, catching the eye of one of the creeps in the corner. Uh oh.
A long, sorrowful sigh came from Sabrina, so loud that the guy whose attention Riley had gotten was distracted. She knew the other operative had done that on purpose.
“Heard you both loud and clear,” Aidan said. “We’re about—”
Another growl, this one from Justin. “Ah shit. You’ve got company. Black SUV is parking in front of the house. Three guys, one armed to the teeth. Other two look like they’re headed to the Ritz for a tea party.”
Justin’s voice, even with an irritated edge, soothed Riley. Not that she would ever let him know that. After that one huge blowup their first year as partners, he rarely spoke to her unless it was regarding an op. But that was okay. As long as they could work together, he didn’t have to “like” her. She could choke that feminine part of her that wanted a different kind of attention from him. He never needed to know the truth.
“Hmm. The two suits,” Aidan mused. “Dressed damn nice for this kind of job.
“They’re coming toward the house, front entrance. As soon as everyone’s inside, we’ll join the party,” Aidan said. “Sabrina, if you get the chance, take down the guy with the gun. The other two might be armed, but looks like he’s the muscle.”
“Ingram, once Fox moves,” Aidan continued, “gather all the hostages in one corner. Kelly and I will handle the other five.”
She shot another quick glance at Sabrina, wondering what the supremely confident operative was thinking. If there was one woman she could have emulated, it would have been Sabrina Fox. As if certain of every decision, the self-possessed operative never appeared to worry or hesitate. Did she ever question herself? If so, it never showed.
Riley knew nothing about Sabrina’s background. She must have had some incredible training before she’d arrived at LCR, since almost from the day she’d started, she had been on the most dangerous ops. It had taken Riley almost three years before Noah had put her on anything but the most-routine rescues. Admittedly, she had been untrained—probably the most untrained operative he’d ever taken on. But Noah being Noah hadn’t hesitated. Once he’d heard her story, did research on her background, he had become her champion. He had promised that no one would ever find her.
Without Noah’s support and Samara McCall’s counseling, Riley knew without a doubt that she would have been dead.
Sabrina adjusted her body slightly…Riley recognized that she was preparing for battle. Taking an inner breath, Riley did the same thing. Hopefully within the next few minutes, these scumbags would be lying unconscious and hurting on the floor, and this family would be headed home.
That is, if nothing else went wrong.
Sabrina mentally braced herself for what was about to happen. The hostages were acting suitably terrified and cowed. As long as they stayed out of the way, no one should get hurt.
Even though she was prepared for the takedown, her mind kept veering to what had happened three nights ago in her apartment. She and Declan had made love. She still found that hard to comprehend. He’d gone out of his way to convince her that their marriage was over. But he had been insatiable. Tender, passionate...like the old Declan. As if nothing had changed between them.
No, one thing had definitely changed. The words hadn’t been there. No declarations of love, no assurances of forever.
She’d left without waking him. Probably a cowardly act, but a part of her had feared that if he’d woken, he’d have been back to his coldness. After having spent a passionate night in his arms, she couldn’t have taken that detached attitude of his again. When she returned would be soon enough to find out if anything had changed.
A movement to her left brought her eyes around. Finally, this thing was about to go down. Three men entered the house. Hmm. Aidan and Justin were right. Two of the men were snappy dressers—Brioni suits and ties, Berluti shoes, Patek wristwatches.
No. Wait. Alarms clanged in her head. Something was off. The Bracho family didn’t get involved in the day-to-day activities of kidnapping. Their business model was to hire the muscle, then sit back and reap the rewards. So why would two men wearing six-thousand-dollar suits come along on a routine job?
The guys they’d been expecting should have been only a level or two above the creeps who had nabbed them. These guys were far above that. Why would the Brachos risk coming here for a routine kidnapping? Had they been wrong? Were the culprits not the Brachos after all?
She swung her gaze to Riley again. The operative had the same confusion on her face that Sabrina felt. This was just not right.
On the surface, the Rambo wannabe was the one to watch. Armed with an AK-47 strapped to his shoulder, a pistol in a side holster, and a long, evil-looking knife in a sheath attached to his left thigh, he was a big fellow, nasty sneer on his lips, cold eyes.
Still, the other two might be even more dangerous.
Sabrina let things settle in her mind. All they could do was play out the scenario as planned and adjust if necessary.
“Which one’s the wife?” one of the suits asked.
“Dark-haired one in the corner.”
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br /> The suited men went over to the corner where Marsha Denton and her companion sat. “Your husband better come through with the money or you’ll all be killed.”
Instead of looking terrified, Marsha stared up at him with disdain gleaming in her eyes. The look of hatred was fine and understandable, but hopefully the woman would stay put and allow her rescue to take place.
The other suited man turned to Riley, tugged at her hair. “I heard about you. You and your friend will make a nice profit for us on the open market.”
So instead of trying to ransom them, she and Riley were to be sold? Another oddity. The Brachos kept their business dealings simple and streamlined. Kidnap and ransom only. Human trafficking was not in their evil bag of tricks.
Riley had some of the best acting skills Sabrina had seen—she was a chameleon. “Please, sir, I...I don’t know why we’re here, but if you let us go, we won’t tell nobody. Will we, Dina?”
Sabrina shook her head. “We promise, mister. Just let us go.”
Instead of answering, he yanked Riley up by her hair and slammed his mouth over hers.
Son of a bitch. Sabrina jumped up to go after the guy. A gun pressed against the back of her neck. “Move, and you get it.”
Sabrina froze. Fury and hatred gathering into a storm, she watched helplessly as the man groped her fellow operative. Dammit, until she could get behind the bastard holding the gun on her, she could do nothing but watch. Where the hell were Aidan and Justin?
At that thought, it happened. The door burst open, and the two LCR operatives entered. Sabrina saw Justin’s eyes target Riley, who was still enclosed within the man’s arms. With a growl, he flew at the man, and as if they’d synchronized it, Riley slipped from the man’s arms, rolled away.
Sabrina whirled, knocked the gun from the big man’s hand, then threw a kick to his stomach. While he teetered on his feet, she followed it with an uppercut to his nose. He staggered back and reached for his other gun. Sabrina caught his arm, twisted quickly until she heard a satisfying crack. He yelled a vicious curse and punched her face. Ignoring the pain, she jabbed her elbow into his stomach and followed that up with a hard, targeted kick to his groin. Then, for good measure, as he teetered unsteadily on his feet, she sent a hard, fast fist into his groin again. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he went down.
Running On Empty: An LCR Elite Novel Page 21