His order slammed into her roiling, destabilized emotional state. Blinking, Morgan took a deep, ragged breath. Her nightmare was of Emma being abducted by terrorists. Of her husband being killed by the Khogani. Oh, God. Oh, God…Mark…Mark was never coming back.
Jake’s hands pressed more firmly against her jaw, his gaze riveted to hers. Literally, she could feel him willing her back from a place she’d never been before, and it had rocked her soul. He kept repeating the word “focus” to her. She listened to Jake’s deep voice, his tone moving through her, giving her purchase. Morgan struggled out of the violent netherworld.
Finally, she closed her eyes, felt herself coming back together. Coming…home…to Jake. He must have sensed her grit, her inner strength returning, because he whispered her name and hauled her into his arms, holding her tightly against him.
Her fingers moved unsurely across his chest toward his broad, capable shoulder. Morgan could hear his slow thudding heart beneath her ear, the calm rise and fall of his powerful chest. It was almost like being rocked and held like a frightened child in his arms. Eventually, she calmed down. Morgan didn’t know how long Jake held her, but at some point, he’d stopped breathing unevenly and so did she.
Opening her eyes, she surrendered to Jake. He was presently strong where she was weak. He was holding her and slowly rocked her in his arms. “This has never happened to me before,” she managed in a strained voice.
“Morgan, you’ve got to walk through that hell of being almost killed. We all go through it. I’m glad I’m here to help.”
She flattened her hand against his chest. “So am I….”
“What was the nightmare about?” Jake continued to move his hand slowly up and down her spine. He knew her body intimately, a burning, memorized map written across his heart and mind. Now he was wanting to learn about what drove her, what frightened her so badly. Morgan didn’t scare easily.
Sure, every SEAL was afraid. You just didn’t let the fear control you. And you did your job, regardless, because your team was counting on you. Jake pressed a kiss to her hair, feeling its silkiness and strength. Morgan knew fear. But she’d never let it stop her before. She sure as hell hadn’t let it stop her from taking down three bad guys last night.
Choking, a lump forming in her throat, Morgan pressed her face more deeply against his shoulder, wanting to hide, needing his arms around her. “I— Jake, I married Lieutenant Mark Evans when I was twenty-four.”
Scowling, Jake knew the name. The SEAL community was small. “Mark?” he demanded, looking off into the darkness. “OIC of Echo platoon?”
“Yes.” Wearily, Morgan opened her hand and closed it against his taut, hard flesh. The T-shirt was damp, and she was sure it was from her tears. “I was assigned to his platoon as a linguist. We fell in love….”
Jake shut his eyes. He froze for a moment, letting the information sink into him. Why should he be surprised? He’d gotten married, hadn’t he? Releasing a painful sigh, Jake whispered, “I didn’t know him personally, Morgan, but his reputation was that of a solid officer.”
Barely nodding, Morgan squeezed her eyes shut, her voice turning hoarse. “We were married when he came out of deployment. And then…less than a year later when he should have remained stateside, they pulled him for a top secret mission and he came back over here.” The next words hurt so much, she could barely get them out. “Mark was a sniper, and he was sent in to hunt down a high-value target, Khogani. H-he took a shot, missed and then he was too close. Another soldier fired an RPG at his position, and it killed him.” She sobbed, absorbing his tightening arms, holding her even closer if that was possible.
Reeling with the information, Jake remembered the SEAL loss. And then he remembered Mark Evans. He’d been a Cornell graduate, intelligent, compassionate, and he’d had a fierce reputation for looking out for his men. Jake’s mind skipped over so much. He hadn’t heard of Mark marrying. Maybe it had all been top secret because of Operation Shadow Warriors? Morgan had never told him, either. By the time he’d met her the second go-around in Afghanistan, she’d been twenty-seven by then, a widow for two years. Had her wanting him really been wanting Mark back? It put a whole new perspective on their three days of frantic lovemaking in that Afghan village two years ago. Jake had no answer.
Shattering inwardly, Jake viewed that second time they’d come together in a whole new light. He’d lost Amanda and Joshua at twenty-four. Morgan had lost Mark near the same time. They were each still hurting from their loss. Had they crashed into one another, hurt, wounded animals seeking, what, sex? Yes. Something more? Protection? From the ugly world they lived in? Probably.
At that time, Morgan had needed his tenderness, but Jake had none to give, taking everything she’d given him, emptying himself, burying himself in Morgan to forget his terrible, heartrending losses. She had helped him heal from his grief even though she’d never realized it. Worse, he’d given her nothing in return like she had given him…
Jake drew in a serrated breath, feeling Morgan trust him. He held her full weight, aware of her shallow breath, content to remain in his arms. Resting his jaw against her temple, he said, “I’m so damn sorry, Morgan. Evans was a hell of a SEAL officer. One of the best in the teams. Did you have a child?” he wondered.
She shook her head, saying wearily, “No…no children…. We wanted them, but it didn’t happen.” Morgan felt Jake squeeze her gently, placing a kiss against her wet cheek. His tenderness was a salve to her broken heart. She’d never expected this from him, but now he was healing her.
In an effort to pull herself together, Morgan reluctantly eased out of his arms, clinging to his shadowed gaze. Jake’s face was tense, and she felt so many raw emotions swirling around him but it was impossible to sort out what, exactly, he was thinking right now. “I thought I could tough it out, but getting hit by this bullet changes my whole world.” Morgan lifted her hand to touch his hard face. He caught her hand, pressing a kiss to her opened palm. The warmth of his lips, his breath flowing across her sensitized flesh, left her breathless once more.
“You aren’t running, Jake.”
“I stopped running two years ago. You just didn’t know it.” I didn’t show you, either. Jake placed her hand on his chest, holding her wounded gaze, her lower lip trembling. “I’m here for you, Morgan. I’ll always be here for you from now on. I have your back….”
Morgan moved close, her hands sliding over his shoulders, leaning up…up to kiss Jake. Something had changed between them. Something that drove her to connect with him on every level of herself. Her heart tore open, the scar from so many years ago dissolving. Her mouth curved hotly against his, greedy, wanting him.
A groan tore through Jake as he felt her sob, the sound captured between their clinging mouths. Her scent flowed through his starving soul, and he inhaled her deeply. Arms tightening, his mind unhinged, his fevered body responding hotly, he placed a steel grip on himself. Jake understood Morgan’s driving need to prove that life trumped death. Her palms flattened against his chest, and he felt her irregular, warm breath against his face. Oh, God, he wanted her so badly he could hardly control himself. Her mouth sent blistering waves of heat down through him. His erection was so damned swift and hard, he tensed.
Morgan sank against Jake, his mouth taking hers gently, not hard. In the past, it had been frantic, rough sex shared between them. He had always been in a hurry, and so had she. This time, it was completely different. Inwardly confused, Morgan was too shaken to figure it out. Her heart urged her to accept the pace, that things had changed between them. Maybe good changes; she didn’t know.
Jake’s mouth skimmed across her lips, memorizing her once more, and it sent a scalding heat shattering straight down to her burning womb. He captured her and eased her down beside him. His breath was irregular as he propped himself up on one elbow, looking deeply into her eyes.
“Is this what you want?” Jake demanded, his voice guttural with emotion. Because he sure as hell wante
d her. But this had to be her decision this time, not his.
“I need you, Jake….”
The steel trap surrounding his heart began to melt. Jake dissolved beneath those pleading eyes and begging lips. “Let me undress you….” Her right shoulder looked like hell, and he knew the area was sore. Jake wanted to show her tenderness. It was what she needed right now. It was what he could give her.
Morgan had given so much to him two years ago when they were hurting over the loss of their families. She’d loved him with an incredible tenderness he never thought was possible. And it had been something new shared between them at that time. Now Jake wanted to show her he could be just as gentle, giving and loving to Morgan as she had once been with him.
Chapter Fifteen
As Jake slid naked beside Morgan, he said, “I didn’t bring any condoms.”
She managed a wry look, understanding that neither of them had thought they’d ever find themselves in this position with one another again. “It’s okay. It’s a safe time in my cycle.”
“Good to know,” he said.
Morgan closed her eyes, absorbing Jake’s lean, powerful body against her. His mouth sipped at hers, and she felt exquisite fire bolt downward as he rocked her lips open, his tongue moving against hers. His hard, calloused hand moved downward, cupping her breast, his thumb lightly feathering across her hardened nipple. She moaned, arching against him, the sound absorbed beneath his deep kiss. Wanting more, Jake held her captive, his leg over hers, so she couldn’t move, open and available to him in every way. Barely aware of the deep ache in her shoulder, Morgan clung to his mouth, lost in the teasing movement of his thumb encircling her nipple, driving her crazy. Frustration thrummed through her tense body, her thighs damp, her womb clenching with need. It had been so long. So long…
Jake eased from her soft, wet mouth, his eyes narrowing, watching Morgan for reaction; her chest was rising and falling sharply, her moan of need vibrating through her. God, she was so hot in his hands, so damned sensitive, willful and hungry. The arousal in her eyes sent white-hot fire screaming through his lower body. This time, it was about healing Morgan, helping her to hold herself together and start the long road back from nearly being killed.
As Jake tilted her head, deepening their hungry kiss, Morgan became aware of the gentleness of his mouth upon hers. Something broke in Morgan as he eased his fingers across her jaw, framing her face, holding her so that he could breathe his life into her, breathe his maleness into her tortured, twisted emotional soul. This was not the Jake she knew. It was someone better, someone who cared, who was reaching out beyond himself to help her.
Morgan relinquished all of herself to Jake for the first time in her life. There was a trust that had somehow been built since meeting for this operation, and she desperately needed the gentleness he was offering to her with every touch of his mouth; his hands and body could feed her.
Jake left her mouth, gently placing nips along her slender neck, licking her flesh and feathering a kiss upon it before moving downward once more. Her hips twisted as his thumb moved languidly across her nipple, the shower of electric impulses rocking through her body, making her thighs slippery with need. Morgan felt his lips lightly touch the area of the bruise, the pain disappearing beneath his ministrations. His mouth drifted lower, caressing the curve of her breast with his tongue. Her skin grew taut and achy, a groan tearing out of her as his lips claimed the aching peak, suckling her.
Morgan arched as Jake drew more deeply upon the nipple, a craze of fire exploding in her body. A whimper tore from her as she felt his other calloused hand moved down the center of her damp, straining body. Her mind shorted out as his roughened palm enclosed her other breast. When he suckled her, she moaned, a deep yearning building powerfully in her lower body, hips twisting toward him, wanting him. All of him.
His kisses moved lightly between her breasts, and she felt him kissing each scar she’d collected over the years. As his mouth wove wet, languid patterns across her abdomen, moving downward, Morgan felt herself melt between his hands and mouth, felt the nightmare fear finally release her. Focused on his mouth as he lightly kissed her mound, his moist breath flowing across her, his fingers curved downward, finding out just how wet she was. Morgan heard him give a low growl of satisfaction as his fingers found her entrance. Breath jamming in her throat, she arched hard against his fingers, wanting Jake so badly she wanted to scream. The ache in her increased tenfold as he moved against her core, testing her, teasing her. She was lost in the blistering heat of him suckling her and his fingers creating streaks of burning heat up through her.
Gently, Jake eased open her right leg, his hand settling firmly between her taut thighs.
Panting, crying softly for him to enter her, Morgan savored the feel of his roughened hands as they gripped her hips, holding her in position. His shoulders widened her thighs, and she trembled violently as his mouth found that sweet spot. She pressed her fist against her mouth, her scream of pleasure nearly silenced. His tongue probed her, causing her body to spasm and contract, her juices to increase.
He found that group of nerves, the pearl at the entrance to her core, with his tongue. A shudder rippled through Morgan, and she grabbed at the sleeping bag, clenching the fabric, mewls of satisfaction tearing out of her. Aching, she felt the explosiveness building quickly inside as he pleasured her in such an intimate way. And when he slid his fingers inside of her, her world exploded into lights and violent heat.
Jake had barely touched her, and the volcanic ripples of an orgasm erupted, her muscles wildly contracting around his fingers, deluging him with the sweet fluids of the gift he’d given her.
Her entire body arched, paralyzed as he milked her body again and again with his mouth, tongue and fingers. And like the hunter he was, he stalked that spot deep within her. Morgan could feel herself flying apart, dismantled and utterly trusting herself with Jake. She glowed like a furnace raging out of control, responsive and violently reactive.
It had been so long since Morgan had had sex. Two years. And the last time was with this same man. Now he was loving her on a whole new level that made her sob with pleasure.
Jake eased from Morgan and teased her with his breath, his tongue, a low groan vibrating through her. Morgan could take no more and whimpered, calling his name, her fingers digging into his damp shoulders. In moments, Jake rolled over, easing her on top of his more-than-ready body. He wasn’t going to put his weight on Morgan if he could help it since he wanted to protect her injured shoulder.
Her hair fell across his face as she hungrily found Jake’s mouth. He absorbed her moan, and she moved her wet, slick core against his erection. His hands splayed across her hips, guiding her so that she could enter him. Morgan became lost in the fiery haze of wanting Jake within her aching, needy body. He arched his hips, lifting her ever so slightly, then eased her down upon himself.
Morgan tore her lips away from his, uttering a cry of throaty contentment. The burning sensation clashed with the blistering heat of her body welcoming him. As Jake slowly filled her, she felt the burn, stretching to accommodate him. He slowed her down. Nothing had ever felt as good as this, Jake in her, becoming one again, melting. Morgan thrust her hips, forcing him to sheathe deeply into her.
Tipping her head back, eyes tightly shut, Morgan absorbed his power, her muscles fitting like a very tight glove around him. And then he slowly brought her into a rhythm with him, his hands guiding her hips. Her damp palms lay flat against Jake’s dark-haired chest. She felt the thudding power of his heart, his roughened breath, his thrusts taking her into another cauldron of boiling heat that swiftly rose within her. The pressure was great, and Morgan gasped, feeling him groan beneath her.
They were good together; they always had been, and this time was no different. Morgan unraveled as he expertly positioned her, thrusting deeply, teasing her into joining him in a rhythm that dissolved her mind and fused them together. Nothing had ever felt so right to her. She imploded i
nto another soul-burning orgasm beneath his cajoling hip movements designed to tease her.
Morgan tensed against Jake, a cry tearing out of her mouth. He was overwhelmed by her heat, her wetness, the powerful contractions gripping him. He had to control himself, he had to try to be present, not lost in the swift-moving fire enveloping them. This time was for Morgan. He allowed her all the pleasure she could possibly want. When she suddenly weakened, like a bow that had been pulled too taut, and collapsed against him, gasping, her breath fanning moistly across his neck and chest, he knew his wait was over for him.
Now Jake could take her, and he thrust several times, so deep within her that his world came apart. He surrendered his steel grip, filling her, drowning in the fiery heat of her soft, giving body. His teeth locked as he strained against her. Lights flashed behind his tightly shut eyes, his entire body quivering. It had been two years since he’d touched a woman. And now, as Jake felt the sudden release and the satisfaction following it, nothing had ever been so right as loving Morgan in this moment.
Jake didn’t know how long they lay there, spent by their actions. He kissed Morgan’s damp face, the silk of her hair beneath his mouth. She was warm, sweaty, and her heart hammered in time with his own. Gently, Jake eased her off him and he tucked her beside him. Pulling up the cover, he nestled Morgan fully along his length, holding her tight, holding her as the warmth of the sleeping bag enclosed them.
She stirred against him, her fingers tangling in the soft damp hair across his chest. It was as if she was reacquainting herself with him. Jake felt a peace he’d never before experienced. They had always been good together. This time was over the top. He couldn’t ever remember having felt this happy or satisfied after having sex.
Morgan nestled her cheek against his shoulder, face tilted upward. He looked down into her drowsy gaze. The tension in Morgan’s face was gone. Her fingers traced the line of his hard jaw. So many potent emotions swept through him as their gazes met and held.
Down Range (Mills & Boon M&B) (Shadow Warriors - Book 2) Page 14