Slowly, he kissed a gentle trail down to her right elbow. He began to kiss, suck and explore the bend in her arm, making her breasts ache for his mouth. Arching up, she prayed he’d take the hint, but no, he remained focused on her arm.
Just when she thought she might scream kiss me lower, he shifted his weight back, hovering over her, close enough for his erection to brush her stomach. Finally, finally, he touched her breast, shock waves radiating from her sensitive skin.
But as quickly as he touched her, he stole his hand away, dropping his mouth to her collarbone.
“Lower,” she begged, her voice hoarse with need.
“Not yet, Maggie,” he murmured against her skin. “Not yet.”
Minutes felt like hours as he kissed his way around and between her breasts, not once claiming her hardened nipples. Her body burned, arching and squirming beneath him. Every time his erection touched her belly, her hips shifted, pushing up as if trying to capture him. She planted her feet on the bed, to better lift her hips, but his weight thwarted her attempts. With her hands bound overhead, she had no choice but to wait.
He drew one nipple into his mouth. Maggie moaned, her body spiraling out of control. Madness—he’d driven her to the brink of insanity, for her desire was so intense.
“I never want this to end,” he said, his mouth hovering over her chest. “But I can’t wait much longer.”
Hunter shifted farther down her and retrieved the foil packet from the mattress. He covered himself, spreading her gently with one hand. Slowly, he guided himself inside her with his other, taking his time, letting her feel every inch as he penetrated her. Her core tightened around him, and she silently begged him never to leave. Still, he slid out and waited a beat before thrusting back in.
He moved slowly as if he wanted to hold her orgasm at bay until dawn, but then he thrust deeper, harder, faster, as if he’d found the rhythm he’d been searching for.
Who knew the missionary position could be so exciting? Sensations rippled up like little pre-orgasmic shock waves. If this were only the beginning, what would happen to her body when she came?
Hunter leaned forward until his chest pressed against hers. His hips continued to tilt and thrust deep within her, and she didn’t have to wonder anymore.
Wave after wave of pure, indescribable pleasure washed over her. She tingled, then shattered from her bound hands, to her elbows, to the tips of her toes.
Carnal. Raw. Tied-to-the-bed bliss.
When she came down, slowly drifting back to the present as if the power of her orgasm had taken her someplace far away, she knew she’d found what she’d been searching for that night at the car show. Deep inside, secretly, she’d craved this passion, this ability to hand herself over to a man and trust he would take care of her needs.
“Maggie,” he groaned. Above her, Hunter gasped, pushing into her one final time. She opened her eyes and watched his body tense and shudder. He lowered his head until his forehead rested against hers. His breathing was ragged, as if he’d just run a marathon.
“Hell, Maggie,” he moaned as he rolled off her and collapsed on the bed beside her.
“Hunter?” she said, pulling at the binding holding her hands above her head. Now that the lust had passed and the aftershocks of her orgasm faded, she felt less and less comfortable tied to the bed.
“I need a minute,” Hunter said. “Maybe ten.”
“Could you untie me first?”
He reached up and tugged on the binding. “You’re free.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. But the uneasy feeling didn’t fade. Rubbing her wrists, she sat up.
“Come here.” Hunter reached up and drew her down beside him on the bed. With her back pressed against him, his mouth at her ear, he asked, “Was that too much for you?”
“No. It wasn’t,” she said truthfully. Being tied up hadn’t frightened her, not the way she thought it would. It was how much she wanted this man that scared her. “I loved it.”
They lay quietly, until his breath tickled her ear and he asked, “What about me, Maggie? How do you feel about me?”
Maggie frowned. “What do you mean?” she asked, rolling onto her back.
He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her. “I’ve fallen for you. Hard,” he admitted with a soft smile. “I don’t want this to end.”
“The sex?”
“That, too. But we’re more than that.” She felt his chest expand and press against her side as he drew a deep breath. “I’m ready, Maggie. Today I realized that love could be a give-and-take. I’ve been keeping commitment at arm’s length because I felt I was all tapped out. I couldn’t provide for my sister and the woman I loved.”
“Love,” she repeated. Her fingers dug into the comforter. How had this happened? This was supposed to be about sex and fantasies, not feelings.
He nodded. “I’m ready, Maggie.”
“I’m not,” she whispered.
She watched his smile fade.
“The idea of falling in love...it scares me,” she continued. “It always has. To give another person that kind of power over my life is terrifying. I’ve worked too hard to gain control of my life. I don’t want to go back to being helpless.”
“You don’t trust me,” he said flatly.
“I do,” she said quickly.
He raised an eyebrow.
“But not with my heart.” She looked away. “I’m sorry.”
He reached down with his left hand and brushed away a few strands of hair. “Honey, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when you are. For right now, let’s sleep. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”
She nodded, rolling back onto her side. Hunter wrapped himself around her, his entire body pressed against hers and his arm slung over her waist. He was so close, she could feel when his breathing changed and she knew he’d fallen asleep.
But Maggie lay awake wondering, thinking. Would she ever be ready to give up her heart? It was risky. What if it didn’t work out? Living with her father, she’d always been waiting for the other shoe to drop. And now, with Hunter, she had the same feeling. If she let go, if she fell for him, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her world would fall apart.
17
IN THE MORNING, Hunter drove a quiet Maggie to Fort Campbell. He’d gone out first thing, before she woke, to pick up coffee and cinnamon rolls. She’d thanked him, but stopped short of saying the words he wanted to hear: I’ve fallen for you, too. I’m ready to set my issues aside and do whatever it takes to make this work.
But he wasn’t raising the white flag yet. He couldn’t blame her for not trusting him entirely, not when he’d been holding back from day one, interfering with her book. Maggie’s world hinged on her work. If she discovered he’d tried to take that away from her, robbed her of the stable future a tenured position promised, she’d fall apart. He couldn’t let that happen, not to the woman he loved.
He’d only known her a week, but a week in his world could be life changing. Hell, the hours he’d spent in Taliban country with a gunshot wound that required a modern hospital had nearly cost him his life. He’d be damned if he was going to ship out again without fighting for Maggie.
Hunter walked out of the office building where he’d just left Maggie with Connor. She had three interviews back-to-back, giving him plenty of time to kill. When he reached the rental car, he opened the driver-side door and slipped inside. He pulled out his phone and dialed. Knowing he was putting his career with the army on the line, he pressed Send. Maggie was more important than his job. He didn’t need the excitement of being a Ranger. He’d take a stateside position—from the army or from a private company, whoever was offering—if it meant he could keep Maggie. And after he made this call, after he intentionally disregarded his colonel’s orders, he had a feeling the army wouldn’t be eager to work with him.
“Hey, Logan. It’s Hunter. Yeah, I’m good. Fully recovered. How are you?” Hunter listened to his friend for a minute. He k
new his former teammate was still hurting after the loss of his wife to cancer, but he suspected Logan would also understand Hunter’s situation. That, and the man owed him. Hunter had never blamed Logan—getting shot was one of the risks of fighting—but he knew his friend held himself responsible.
“Look, man, I’ve met someone,” Hunter said when they’d finished the pleasantries. “And she’s it. But I need your help. I need you to drive down to New York for an interview.”
* * *
MAGGIE GLANCED AT the clock on the wall. She had ten minutes before her third and final interview with Mike, the team medic, the man who’d saved Hunter’s life. If anyone could tell her how Hunter had ended up with a bullet in his shoulder, she had a feeling it would be the guy responsible for keeping his injured teammate alive. The other guys had all evaded the question with a “these things happen” answer. But instinct told her there was more to the story. And she wanted to get to the bottom of it, if for no other reason than to keep her mind from drifting back to last night.
Hunter wanted more. Commitment. A relationship. More tie-me-up sex. He’d blown her fantasies away, all right. She’d dreamed about wild, passionate sex and she’d fantasized about a drop-dead sexy man falling in love with her, but to find both with the same man? Not possible—or so she’d thought.
So why hadn’t she said yes last night?
Fear.
Maggie pushed back from the table in frustration. She was afraid of what letting an army ranger into her life would do to her, especially one who vied for control. But her fear didn’t change the fact that part of her wanted to keep seeing him. Until recently, maintaining control over her life had felt reassuring. But now it felt like an oppressive weight—except when she was with Hunter.
She opened the door to the conference room and walked down the hall to find the coffee machine Hunter had shown her. Maggie smiled at the men and women in uniform sitting in their offices, forcing herself to appear professional, instead of a woman who was wondering what she would say to her potential boyfriend after work.
“How’d your interview go?”
Maggie froze outside the entrance to the kitchen. She recognized Connor’s voice. She’d spent two hours talking to him this morning. Only this time, he wasn’t talking to her. She shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she couldn’t resist.
“Great.” That voice belonged to Jed, the second teammate she’d met with this morning. “I said what Hunter told me to say.”
Maggie tensed. Of course Hunter had prepared his teammates for their interviews. That was his job as her liaison.
“Same here,” Connor replied. “But she asked how Hunter got hit. Do you think she’ll learn the truth?”
Maggie held her breath.
“Nope. I heard the colonel ordered Hunter to keep a tight leash on her. Control the message of her book. And if there is anyone who can manage a woman, it’s Hunter.”
Connor laughed. “You know he spent the last week living with her, right? I mean, he called me from her study in the middle of the night.”
“Yeah, I bet he didn’t spend the night there. Unless...do you think they did it on her desk?”
Stomach churning, Maggie turned around and stumbled down the hall toward the conference room. She’d heard enough. The coffee she’d had earlier was like acid in her belly. She saw the ladies’ room door and immediately pushed her way inside, turning the lock behind her. Hands clutching either side of the white bathroom vanity in the small room, she stared hard at her reflection in the mirror. Her skin was pale and her eyes glistened with tears, threatening to overflow at any moment. The pain was too poignant. Something inside her had shattered, leaving her physically nauseous and emotionally broken.
Her trust.
She had trusted Hunter Cross, and not just in bed. She’d confided in him, giving more of herself to him than she’d ever offered anyone. She’d told him about her childhood and how growing up with her father had left her determined to secure her future. This book was the key. He knew that. And yet, he’d spent the past week trying to manage the message of her work.
Hiding things from her.
While she’d been reveling in the ecstasy she found in his arms and the joy she’d discovered in doing everyday things with him, he had simply been doing his job. The reality felt like a lead weight in the pit of her stomach. She’d known their relationship came with an expiration date. Hunter ran from commitment. He was the wrong man for her, too controlling. And his job? It spelled Disaster—capital D.
But what if there had never been a relationship at all? What if he’d been lying to her from the minute he’d walked through the door? All in an attempt to take away the one thing that had helped her through years of living with an unreliable drunk—control.
Maggie looked up into the mirror and saw the tears running down her cheeks. She reached for a paper towel and began wiping them away. She had to get out of here. She couldn’t let Hunter, his teammates, anyone, see her like this. They couldn’t watch her fall apart over a wounded Ranger who’d said things he didn’t mean.
I’ve fallen for you. Hard. I don’t want this to end.
Maggie shook her head, trying to force the words out of her mind. He hadn’t meant them. They were simply one more way he could manipulate her. She checked her appearance in the mirror. Not perfect, but it would have to do. She opened the door, determined to keep her head down and her red, puffy eyes hidden. She took two steps and bumped into a solid wall of muscle.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, trying to step around the man, but he moved with her.
“Professor Barlow?”
Maggie looked up and watched as his smile turned to concern. “I’m Mike. I went to the conference room first, but when I couldn’t find you I thought you might have lost your way. Forgive me for saying so, but you look a little upset. Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not. It must be something I ate.” Her voice sounded calm and collected, while inside she was falling apart. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to be going. I’ll call to reschedule.”
“Let me walk you out,” he said, falling into step beside her as she headed to the conference room. “I can call Chief Cross for you. He’s waiting outside with your rental car.”
“No, thank you.” She moved around the room, gathering her things and speaking on autopilot, while inside she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. But she couldn’t, not here. It wouldn’t be professional. She might pick the wrong men, but she was, above all else, a professional. “I’ll call a cab.”
But Mike was already on his cell, talking to Hunter. “Hey, man, Professor Barlow’s not feeling well.”
She couldn’t face him. Not right now. Not here in front of his teammates. “I need to leave.”
“Ma’am, Hunter will be here in a minute,” Mike said, watching her from his post by the door.
Maggie stuffed her computer into her bag and swung it over her shoulder. “When he gets here, tell him I know about his orders. I know it was all a lie.”
18
“WHAT WAS A LIE?” Hunter asked as he rushed in, breathing heavily from his all-out sprint to the conference room. His only thought was that Maggie needed him. But the wary look in her eyes told him this wasn’t a stomachache. Something had happened.
“Maggie?” He stepped toward her, but she moved away, out of his grasp.
“I know about your orders.”
Hunter froze. Cold, hard fear gripped him. Practically everyone she believed in had let her down. And now that list included him. “How?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice sharp. But he heard a slight waver as if she might cry at any minute.
How had this happened? His teammates. It had to be them. But she was right. It didn’t matter. She was all that mattered to him.
“I need to leave.” She moved toward the door, but Hunter stepped into her path.
“Maggie,” he pleaded. He’d never begged for anything in his life, but he was ready to fall on his kn
ees now. “Please don’t go. Let me explain.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell me how you got shot?” she demanded. “You were hiding something, weren’t you?”
“Yes.” He answered without hesitation. Standing a few feet away, Mike let out a curse. “But I’m not hiding it from you now. Not anymore. While you met with Connor and Jed, I made a call to Logan. It was his mistake and he’s willing to tell you everything. How he messed up because his head wasn’t in the game. Before we deployed, Logan buried his wife. He shouldn’t have been on the mission, but he was and he made a mistake. Logan will sit down with you and tell you everything.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Because I asked him to. He’s driving down to New York now. He’ll tell you what went wrong, and it’s your decision whether you print it or not. But Maggie? What happened over there doesn’t matter. One man made a mistake. It happens. What matters is that this thing between us, it’s real. The time we spent together had nothing to do with your book or my orders.”
“What were your orders, exactly?”
Hunter ran his hands through his hair. “To make sure your book made the Rangers look good and to steer you away from the sensitive information we’d rather not see in print.”
“How?” she demanded.
“I’m a Ranger. I do what I need to do to get the mission done.” On its own, set apart from all the reasons he had to do what his CO asked—Sierra, his promotion, his honor as a soldier—it sounded horrible. Maggie wasn’t a Tango he needed to eliminate. She was a writer. And the woman he loved.
“That’s why you kissed me that first night. On the patio. Why you let me believe you were drunk so I’d let you stay.”
“No. I drank so you’d let me crash on your couch. But I kissed you because I couldn’t resist you.”
Maggie made a sound of disbelief.
“It was your bra strap peeking out whenever your shirt slipped off your shoulder. I remember thinking about how I prefer you braless, and then I had to kiss you. Maggie, every kiss, every touch, it was real. I wanted you then and I want you now.” He stepped toward her, reaching out to touch her—her hand, her shoulder. He craved physical contact with this woman who was slipping through his fingers like desert sand. But she moved away, out of his grasp. She reached the door and turned the knob.
Command Performance Page 17