Crystal Clear

by Serena Zane

  “What?” Her chin came up ready to defend herself, and her lips stopped a scant inch away from his.

  “This,” his mouth swooped down and took hers before she could protest.

  Cindy was shocked for a minute, and then passion overrode her good sense and she kissed him back. Jack groaned and moved the pack off her shoulder. All reason seemed to have fled.

  He picked her up and moved her legs around his waist. She pressed into him, her hands dug into the muscle of his biceps needing to feel his strength. Slamming her up against a tree Jack braced her there. His hands moved up her body and under the tank top she wore. The rough calluses of his palms came into contact with her breasts. Her nipples turned into hard peaks as he kneaded the sensitive mounds between his fingers.

  Cindy’s breath came in short gasps. She couldn’t think.

  Suddenly, he released her. Cindy slid towards the forest floor, and she caught herself before her weight came down on her bad ankle. Jack took a step back.

  He glared at her. “I’m not sorry.”

  “What?” She shook her head dazed.

  He continued to glare. “I’m not sorry. I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you, and much more. So, I’m not sorry.”

  “Good. Neither am I.” Cindy reached out, grabbed his shirt drawing him to her, and took his mouth with just as much intensity as his first kiss. Her senses smoldered like hot coals in a fire pit. She’d never had this reaction with any other man.

  Jack was caught off guard. Her hands skimmed up his chest and under the flannel shirt he had on. He felt her fingers curl in the hair on his chest, and he moaned in pleasure. Reaching down he lifted the tank she wore and slid it over her head without breaking contact. The tiny red bikini top she had on posed a problem, she’d knotted the ends, and his fingers couldn’t undo the knots. He growled in frustration and reached down flipping out the hunting knife he kept in his boot and sliced the thin strings. It fell from her.

  Cindy didn’t flinch when he stabbed the knife into the tree beside her head and he felt her muscles clench in response, God she was sexy. His hands skimmed over her soft skin, it felt so smooth and warm. She made a small noise. He paused.

  “God, please don’t stop now. I might start thinking.” Cindy grabbed the knife from the trunk of the tree behind her head, and she reached for the bottom of his shirt. His erection swelled when with one swift movement she sliced the blade upward and the flannel cut cleanly in two. She pushed the shirt down over his muscled arms tossing the knife to the ground behind them.

  Jack couldn’t stop. She was everywhere, her mouth like a branding iron. He groaned as she unbuttoned his pants. Her hand found him as he spilled out to meet her. She went to her knees. His shaft pulsed in anticipation. The warm heat of her mouth found him one teasing inch at a time.

  “Oh yes baby. That feels so good.” His hand reached around the back of her head and guided her mouth as she pumped him, sucking hard. Her tongue doing devilish things inside the warm sheath of her mouth and he grew harder.

  “Stop, enough, or I’m going to leave you behind.” He pulled her up and bent her backwards over a fallen log. Savagely taking her pants down around her legs, he placed a hand on her sweet spot. His fingers rough as they pinched her nub.

  She gasped.

  He smiled wolfishly, “Yeah baby, you like it rough don’t you.” He grasped the tip of her nipple and twisted the sensitive flesh hard between his calloused fingers. She was amazing. She arched into his hand. His fingers became slippery with her wetness.

  He drove two fingers deep inside her and her body arched like a taught bowstring. Bending over her with his fingers still deep inside her, his thumb pressed into her clit. Jack turned her so she was twisted at the waist and bit down on the hardened peak of her nipple. He began to tug and she started to moan in pleasure. Her nails raked his back leaving deep grooves. He didn’t care, the pain only served to turn him on more. Jack moved to the other breast and licked the tip blowing on it; he reached up and twisted her mound.

  Her body shook with an orgasm. She screamed, “Oh God, yes!”

  Cindy quivered and shook under him when he took his hand from her. He flipped her over. The rough bark of the fir tree harsh under his palm, and he knew it would be rough against her bare breasts, the deep grooves in the bark pinching her and pulling in all the right places. She gasped as her breasts made contact with the bark. Jack grinned. He yanked open her legs and rubbed him self on her warm slick entrance.

  “Yes!” She screamed.

  He moved back and rammed three fingers into to her, she reared backwards to meet him. He moved up behind her looking at the pinkened flesh of her entrance. His other hand found her and tweaked and pulled on her sweet spot until she came in his palm. Jack stood directly behind her and drove into her tight channel with force while she was still shook from her climax.

  Cindy yelled in pleasure. “Yes, oh yes harder!”

  He thrust himself into her driving her against the bark scraping against her skin every time as the tension built and built.“Jack!” She screamed.

  Jack felt the rush of cream as she came all over him. He could barely hold himself back.

  “Stop, turn around.” He roughly pulled out and flipped her back over. Jack shoved her back to her knees. “Take me baby, take it all.” He grabbed her hair and she opened taking him deep into her mouth.

  “Yes!” He came spilling his seed down her throat she swallowed it all like her favorite drink. She licked him dry.

  Cindy looked up at him smiling.

  He pulled her up and kissed her again. Tasting himself on her lips, salty sweet. “You’re amazing, Trouble.” He still looked at her with heat in his eyes.

  “Thanks.” Cindy suddenly became aware that she was naked on her knees in front of this man that she barely knew. She grabbed her shirt and jeans and quickly slipped them on.

  Jack buttoned his pants. His shirt was ruined, and he flung her pack over his shoulder then swung her up in his arms.

  “We’re going back to the cabin. We can leave in the morning if you still want, but I intend to see you safe, against your own better judgment. Besides, I think there’s some unfinished business between us. Don’t you?”

  All she could do was nod. Her brain vacated the building a long time ago. She knew there was the job, but it could wait a few hours, just a few more. The sniper probably thought she was dead, and she had already checked in, so she had a little time.

  Her gaze lingered on his mouth and her fingertips brushed along his jaw as she was carried back to the cabin. She had never gone down on any man before, not like that. Her mind whirled to try and figure out where all that passion had come from. She thought it impossible for her to feel anything so intense for another man. She let her head rest against his shoulder. Why now? Chase wasn’t going to like the turn of events.

  “Oh crap,” her head popped up from his shoulder, “I have to make another call.” She tried to wiggle out of his arms, but he refused to release her.

  “Why now?” He said echoing her thoughts, “Can’t, whatever it is, wait until the morning?”

  “No. I have to take care of this.” She was adamant.

  Jack set her down; she liked the feel of her skin pressed against his hard body. As soon as her feet hit the forest floor, she reached for her back pocket and pulled out the phone. She glanced up at him, smiled, then turned away to have her conversation with the one person she really didn’t want to talk to right now.

  “Cindy, what’s going on? Luce said that you were in trouble. I’m on my way to help.” Chase’s husky voice came across the line, and she closed her eyes. He was not going to like what she had to say.

  “Look Chase, I’ve found someone who’s helping me here. I know you’ll be arriving soon, and I wanted to warn you that someone will be with me. He’s one of the good guys, so I didn’t want you jum
ping him the minute you see him. We’ll be at his cabin.” Cindy didn’t want to say much more. Chase would know soon enough that something was happening between Jack and herself. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “I’ll be there in the morning.” His deep voice sounded troubled.

  Cindy hung up her phone and turned to look at Jack, “My backup will be here in the morning.”

  Jack stepped closer to her and placed his calloused hands on her shoulders running them down to her upper arms.

  He leaned in close. “Finally on the way?”

  She inhaled his scent. He smelled of the outdoors and sex. It made her groan, but she didn’t lose track of what he said.

  “Yes, that is what I was yelling in the phone for earlier. I tried to talk the team into letting me keep solo on this mission, but it seems as though they don’t trust me enough to be able to handle dealing with the unknown element of my mission. They’re sending in my backup.”

  She had a frown on her pretty face and looked like a disgruntled pixie.

  “I take it that you’re not normally the person they send out into the field?” She shook her head. Her tousled hair fell in disarray around her shoulders, the tips brushing the backs of his hands.

  “No, I know a lot about the project though, and this gave me my chance to prove I could be out in the field. That’s shot now. Chase Montgomery will be here shortly, and he’ll be here merely as my backup in case anything else goes wrong, but he’ll want to take over. That's the kind of guy he is. I need to ask you the swiftest route to our target point and have you lead us there. After we’re done you and I will probably never see each other again. I live in New York, and am regularly on assignment.”

  Jack didn’t look happy with that prospect. His hands tightened on her arms and she winced, he immediately let up pressure. His lips took hers again. He didn’t let up until they were both gasping for breath.

  “Have you ever felt like this before? With anyone?”

  She stared back at him, his eyes were dilated. She shook her head.

  “That would be a no for me too. So, look, I am not going to let this be the end. We just found each other. This Chase will just have to deal with me being part of the picture.”

  Her eyes widened. “He’s not going to like that.”

  “Why not?” Jack’s eyes narrowed.

  “Chase and I used to be together. We have been off for a while now, but I know he expected us to get back together.”

  Jack’s eyes turned to slits, and Cindy could barely make out the color as he peered at her. She placed a hand on his arm. The man had some damn fine biceps.

  “Jack, I don’t feel the same way about him. I’ve never been this intense with any man before. I don’t want this to end either, but I have a job to do, and I can’t let my feelings for you get in the way.”

  Jack nodded, but his eyes didn’t let up their glare.

  “I understand, I know about having a job to do. I won’t get in the way, but don’t think that I’m going to let go of what’s between us. Once the mission is over, if I have to, I will find you.”

  Cindy sighed. She didn’t want to fight with him. “We’ll see.” She turned and headed back into the cabin to wait for Chase to get there. It would be a very tense next couple of days.

  Jack followed Cindy into the cabin. Moving over to the bed, Cindy sat on the edge. Her ankle throbbed and she didn’t know how long she would be able to keep up the pretense that she was fine.

  Copper barely raised his golden head from his cozy place in front of the fire.

  Jack watched Cindy from across the room. Her ankle bothered her, and he knew that they needed to get some ice on it to bring down the swelling. Their escapade in the woods hadn’t helped matters any. With hurried movements, Jack got the first aid kit from the table at the foot of the bed and broke another ice pack.

  “Here, this should help.” He moved to sit by her, and she winced with the motion of the bed. Gently, Jack placed the compress on her ankle.

  Chapter 10Chase Montgomery stood at the forest edge. Cindy had a tracking device installed in her laptop in case she got in trouble, as well as one on her person. He'd known she wouldn’t be ready for a solo mission. In fact, he’d told Killroy so before his boss asked her to solo.

  Perhaps he should have insisted on going along in the first place, but he also knew how important this was to Cindy. So, he agreed to be her backup in case anything happened. Of course, now here he was trudging through the woods to a small cabin.

  He approached the run down little shack and listened to the voices inside. They didn’t seem to be raised. He heard Cindy’s voice opposite a man. Lucy had warned him to expect another person. Assuming all was clear; Chase approached the cabin directly and pounded on the door. The wood shook beneath his fist. The thud of heavy footsteps sounded, and the door swung open.

  A tall man with dark hair and a rugged look opened the door. He appeared harassed. Chase guessed this must be the man Lucy had talked about. Anyone in Cindy’s company for more than twenty minutes tended to have the same look on his face.

  “Hi, I’m Agent Chase Montgomery I assume my partner is here? Her distress line called me in.” Chase brushed past the man in the doorway.

  Cindy sat next to the fireplace, and rose at the sound of his voice.

  “Are you alright?” He walked over to her and made a quick inventory of her bruising and scratches.

  “I’m fine. It’s good to see you, although I think I could have handled things without you here. The threat has passed.”

  Cindy always tried to alleviate his worry. He wished she’d stop.

  She continued, “This is Jack Wilde. He’s been assigned to us through the US government, he’ll be acting as a guide and backup as we search for the target.” She gestured toward Jack and smiled.

  Chase turned to the stranger, he didn’t trust anyone involved with the military. Many within the Agency didn’t trust the government in any form.

  “Really, what makes you qualified? Do you have experience?” Chase eyed him up and down. He looked like he could handle himself in a fight.

  The man grinned though his eyes didn’t quite light up. “I have enough. As you’ve likely been informed; Washington wants me to help you complete your mission. I’m also a regular guide for these parts. I can get you to where you need to go without any more incidents. Your partner here may think the threat to her has been nullified, but I don’t believe so. They tried to take her out on the rapids using some pretty high-tech gear. They’ll look for the body, and when none is found they’ll try to come after her again. We had best get a move on. You should also be aware; she was injured in the fall, and can barely walk. We may have to take turns helping her along the way.”

  Cindy grimaced. “Look, you don’t need to help me, I can walk just fine. I’ll get a branch or something to help until I can walk normally. I can keep up.” She raised her chin and Chase watched the byplay between Cindy and Wilde, there was the flash of fire in her eyes.

  “Chase,” her fiery gaze turned toward him, “Jaguar has a head start. Are you ready to move?”

  Chase caught the looks between her and Wilde, and frowned, “Yes, get your gear. I’ll be waiting outside.”

  He turned and walked out shutting the door firmly behind him. Something was going on between Cindy and Wilde. He didn’t like it. She acted differently around him. Her lips were pink and swollen like she had just gotten done being thoroughly kissed, and her cheeks were flushed.

  Chase felt a strange twinge in the area of his heart, he shook his head. He had never seen Cindy take to any man other than him before. Lucy hadn’t mentioned anything about Cindy liking this other guy, and Cindy told her everything. His sister knew that he cared for her friend, and she would tell him if something was wrong, wouldn’t she? He took a deep breath and tried to ease his thoughts, he was probably imagining
things.

  The door opened behind him and he turned. Cindy smiled at him and his mind eased a little. She would tell him what was going on as soon as they were alone. Jack followed behind her carrying a pack, and closed the door firmly after letting out the dog.

  The dog came up to him and sniffed his pant leg, with a low growl it turned and trotted back to Wilde’s side, with a bark it ran off into the nearby woods. The man looked over at him and gave that cold smile again.

  “You ready?” Wilde hefted a pack on his shoulders. Chase watched as Wilde glanced at Cindy while she pushed the pack on her own shoulders higher. He didn’t like the way the man’s eyes roamed over her body.

  There was definitely something going on here, and as soon as he had Cindy alone, she would explain.

  Cindy started forward, her limp pronounced.

  “Perhaps we had better find you a walking stick before we go much farther.” Wilde walked to the edge of the trees and rooted around in the fallen debris for a moment. He came back with a sturdy limb. “There,” he handed the stick to Cindy, “that should help some. If you get too tired let us know and we can stop for a rest.”

  Wilde stroked a hand down her cheek and Chase felt the anger build. What right did this man have to touch her? Cindy lifted a hand up to move Wilde’s touch away. Her fingers lingered for a moment.

  “Okay,” she turned to Chase, “Let’s get a move on. They've got a good start on us. If they get there before we do, who knows what kind of trouble they’ll cause. Jack, we’re headed to the lava fields. The satellite should be located between here and there. The signal is strongest not three miles from this spot.” She showed her GPS to Wilde and Chase. Sure enough, the signal pinged only a few miles from where they stood currently.

  “Great, it shouldn’t take long to get there. If we follow the animal trails we should be alright. The deer and other animals around here make good walking paths.”

  “What are you going to do with the dog? He can’t come with us.” Chase eyed the dog which had come back and was sitting patiently next to Wilde like it was one of the Hounds of Hell.