by Cat Miller
When the man moved to kick the door shut and lock it, Jennifer saw his shoes. The haze of fear was dissipating from her brain, and things were beginning to fall into place. That deep voice. The soup kitchen. Combat boots. The church. The gun. He thought she was robbing the church.
“I think I’ll kick your ass while we wait for the police to arrive. Maybe it will knock some sense into you, you little fucking punk! How dare you steal from a church?”
Jennifer tried to speak but had the air knocked out of her air when she was hoisted from the ground by the back of her shirt and the waistband of the saggy jeans she wore to hide her identity. She was slammed into the cinderblock wall hard and bounced off it. She hit her ass and rolled away as a big boot came down next to her as if he would stomp on her. She rolled again. That knocked the hat off her head. The braid she had twisted into a bun came loose and fell down her back. The overhead fluorescent light came to life above her, and Jennifer was blinded. She sprawled on her side again trying to catch her breath.
“What the fuck? You’re a fucking girl?” he cursed.
Jennifer was sure then. She wasn’t going to die. Not tonight anyway. This wasn’t one of Evan’s men come to drag her back to him.
“Rourke, it’s me.” Jennifer rolled to her back and looked up at the angry Navy SEAL, who thought he was protecting his church from a thief.
Jennifer didn’t believe she’d ever see Rourke again. His handsomely rugged face was a beautiful sight, even if it came with a few bruises. She could apologize to him now and maybe steal one last kiss before she made her escape.
Rourke’s fierce expression drained away to be replaced with shock. He dropped to his knees next to Jennifer and lifted her into his lap. He wrapped those muscled arms around her and nearly squeezed the air out of her again.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Fuck! I hurt you!” Rourke cursed and stood with her in his arms. He placed her on one of the long serving tables with care and began to look her over, checking her limbs and face.
“I'm all right. Just a little shaken,” she told him.
“Good, because I’m going to put you over my knee and spank your ass red. Where the fuck have you been? Pastor Davis wouldn’t tell me anything. I’ve been losing my mind! I can’t believe you did that to me, again! Fuck!”
Rourke had a mouth like a sailor when he was angry.
Jennifer’s heart skipped. Rourke had been searching for her, even after she ran out on him a second time? She was sure he would give up. Cut his losses and find a woman who didn’t run every time he used the restroom. Her whole body warmed. Rourke did care about her. She hadn’t been alone in the intense attraction she’d felt for him. Rourke was drawn to her too. After the second time they were together, Jennifer was sure her heart was lost forever.
“And why are you dressed like a man, again? Why are you breaking into the church?”
She smiled. “I’m not breaking in. I have a key. It’s still in the door.” She pointed to the keychain on the ground by the door.
“You were shouldering the door like you were breaking in,” he argued.
“The door sticks. I always have to do that. Well, at least, I have the few times I’ve actually left the building. I’ve been here the whole time. I live here, Rourke, but I’m going tonight.” She tried to explain, but she knew her answers would bring more questions. This was the one reason she didn’t want to see Rourke again. Rourke didn’t need to get involved in her mess. She feared if she explained it all to him that he would insist on protecting her. After what she’d been through earlier that night, Jennifer was sure the danger to herself and anyone around was still very real. It was almost comforting to know she wasn’t totally paranoid and crazy.
“You live here? But you’re wealthy. Why would you be residing in a soup kitchen? There isn’t a shelter here. You can’t live in the kitchen,” he argued. She could hear the wheels turning in his mind while he tried to make sense of what she was saying.
“Do you know many wealthy women who dress like men, carry backpacks, and take the bus?” Jennifer hoped off the table, and Rourke backed up to give her room. “Come with me, and I’ll explain while I pack.”
“Pack for what?” he asked.
Jennifer didn’t answer. She just walked through the dining area and across the kitchen to the storeroom. The door to her hiding place was concealed in the back by a support beam. The section of wall where the door was located in the corner looked just like the rest of the paneled wall. You had to step around the beam and stand directly in front of the door to see the handle. The door opened with its usual creaking protest. Jennifer kept meaning to ask the pastor if he had an oil can so she could grease the hinges. It was too late to worry about it now that she would be leaving. Jennifer stepped into the small area she called her home, and Rourke followed.
Jennifer turned on the lamp and faced the man she wished with all of her being she didn’t have to leave tonight. Even if their time together only lasted until he returned to duty, Jennifer could feed on those memories for the rest of her life. When she first met Rourke, Jennifer couldn’t imagine being with a man she knew would be leaving her at any time. Now she would give anything for just a little more night with him, because Rourke wasn’t just any man. No matter how wrong she may be, Jennifer would always think of him as her man.
Rourke took up so much space. He made the area seem even smaller than usual. Her cozy little alcove became a closet with Rourke in it. He was taking in the area wide-eyed with big hands on his lean hips. He took in her three expensive dresses hang under the shelf that held an array of romance novels and the two pairs of heels on the floor. He then looked past Jennifer to the neatly made bed and the lamp in the corner. That was all there was to her temporary home, and she’d been so grateful to have it.
Jennifer noticed what Rourke was wearing while he looked her up and down. Her outfit was ridiculous, but it had done its job, so well in fact, that not even Rourke had recognized her. The darkness of the kitchen when she entered didn’t hurt either. She’d also been able to escape capture by walking right out of her apartment building in full view of one of Evan’s men, with some help from Marcy. Rourke looked mouthwatering in dark jeans and a crisp, cream-colored button-up shirt open at the throat. His feet were still encased in combat boots under the jeans. The man was mouthwateringly handsome in his rough way.
“What the fuck is going on here, Jennifer?”
“I’ve been hiding,” she told the truth. It was somewhat plain to see anyway.
“Are you married? Are you hiding from your husband?” he snarled the question, and his eyes burned into her.
“No! I’ve never been married. I’ve never really even had a really serious relationship. I told you that. I’ve always been too busy. I was career-minded, so I didn’t get too close to anyone if you must know.” She was insulted. They’d had sex twice, and he thought she might be married?
“Fuck!” Rourke ran a hand through his cropped, wheat colored hair. “I’m sorry, alright. I’ve been racking my brains for a week trying to figure out why you’d just walk away like that, a-fucking-gain. A husband was a damn good reason.” He was right, that would be a good reason for the way she’d fled.
“I want the whole story, Jennifer. Every bit of it, but first I need you.” Rourke erased the space between them and took Jennifer into his arms.
He kissed her with abandon. Not holding anything back. He told Jennifer he needed her, and he’d meant it. She could feel every ounce of worry and frustration he’d been experiencing since she walked away from him a week ago.
Had it only been a week? It felt like it had been years since she tasted his hot mouth and melted into his strong arms. She wished she could stay right there with him in her private sanctuary forever. She couldn’t do that, but she could make one more memory with her sexy SEAL.
* * *
Rourke’s mind was spinning like a fucking roulette wheel. One moment he was teaching a litt
le thug a lesson about respecting the church, and the next he was reeling from the surprise that the thug was a girl. Everything in him recoiled from the idea of striking a female, and he’d just slammed her around as if they were in a training ring.
His surprise turned to horror when he realized the intruder was his very own Jennifer. The woman he’d been ripping apart Vegas looking for over the past weeks. Rourke went back to Luc and enlisted him to help turn over every rock in town. Pride be damned. Rourke would beg for assistance and take advantage of every resource available to Luc through his more nefarious connections.
Someone had to know something about Jennifer, and Rourke was determined to find her. He’d spent hours riding around town on his bike looking for her. If Rourke wasn’t spending time with his mom and enjoying home cooked meals, he was searching for Jennifer. He wasn’t sleeping well and he was going a little nuts. He’d come to the church to hound the pastor for information again when he saw a shady looking character creeping around the back from an upper window. Just like that, he had Jennifer back in his sights.
Rourke’s heart settled into a steady gallop. His skin tightened with anticipation. He wouldn’t be turning his back on the evasive woman until he had some real answers. Maybe not even then. After only a minute of conversation, Rourke’s self-control was frayed. He wanted to shake the woman, but more than that, he wanted to hold her and ensure himself that she was real. He’d actually found her in the church’s soup kitchen.
After ensuring he hadn’t seriously hurt Jennifer, Rourke followed her into the storage room behind the kitchen. The hidden room he’d never noticed in spite of having grown up in the church distracted him momentarily while he looked around the sparse space. This was where she’d been hiding? No wonder Pastor Davis ejected him from the church. Jennifer was hiding under Rourke’s nose in the church.
From the beginning, Rourke had pegged Jennifer as a very wealthy but bored socialite. It was laughable now. Rourke didn’t know yet who she really was, but he knew he had to have her. Nothing short of learning Jennifer was an Al-Qaeda operative would stop him from trying to win her heart. She wasn’t married, and that made her fair game.
Rourke finished his quick perusal of her tiny room. When his eyes rested on Jennifer again, she was watching him with sadness and longing in her ocean eyes. Jennifer looked so small in her too large men’s clothing. She looked so sad and nervous. Maybe even embarrassed by her dilemma.
She kept running from him, but Jennifer wanted Rourke as badly as he wanted her. The energy scorching the air between them was alive, just as it had been from the moment they met. Rourke needed to get to the bottom of her predicament quickly if he was going to help her, therein helping himself, but first, he needed Jennifer in his arms.
“I need you now,” he heard himself say in explanation or maybe apology when he lunged at her, erasing the space between them to claim her lips. Once Rourke saw Jennifer standing there looking so fragile with that little bed behind her, the only coherent thought in his head was to get them both naked and on it as soon as possible.
Jennifer kissed Rourke back eagerly. Their kiss was nothing short of incendiary. Rourke had seen missiles strike with less explosivity than what ignited between him and his little runaway. The primitive urge to a lay claim to Jennifer in some way was undeniable.
Jennifer’s hands roamed over his shoulders and down his chest. She hastily unbuttoned his shirt. When her hands met his bare skin, and she ran her nailed lightly over his nipples, Rourke growled into her mouth. Passion rose swift and potent between them. Rourke was still angry with Jennifer, but the urgent need to touch and be touched, love and be loved, was stronger than any other consideration.
Together, they worked to divest one another of the clothing that stood between them and satisfaction. Every smooth stretch of Jennifer’s skin Rourke unveiled distracted him from his task. He wanted to lick and nibble every piece of her luscious body. That would come later, after the roaring lust that poured through his veins had been tempered, and he could think again.
Once he had her stripped, Rourke lifted Jennifer into his arms, and she wrapped her long, toned legs around his waist. He walked them the short distance to the bed. It was a narrow space that was more like a cot or a portable bed. Rourke hoped it held up under their combined weight. He turned them and backed up until his legs hit the edge of the bed, and without breaking their kiss, Rourke sat gingerly with Jennifer over him.
Jennifer’s legs straddled his hips, and she clutched his shoulders. The desire to be inside of her welcoming body rose to an unbearable height. With his hands now free to roam, Rourke cupped Jennifer’s lush breasts and lightly pinched her pouting nipples. Jennifer hissed and ground her wet sex against him while gripping his head and guiding his mouth to her breast. The firm globes were perfectly rounded to fit his large hands. His tongue teased and licked, circling her rosy areolas in turn. Pleasuring them until she pleaded for more.
Rourke placed hot, open-mouthed kisses on the thudding pulse in Jennifer’s throat. Slowly, he made his way back to her lips. Prolonging the intimate foreplay for as long as he was able, Rourke indulged his need to taste those temptingly full lips and caress Jennifer’s lean, muscular body. Her small waist flared into hips perfect for his hands and an ass that would make any man beg for mercy. He would spend hours worshipping that ass. Rourke cupped Jennifer’s sex and found her hot, swollen, and slick. She was so ready for him. Thank fuck.
“Take me, baby. I need you to give me what I need, Jennifer. I need you. Only you,” Rourke admitted his weakness for Jennifer without shame.
He guided his rigid cock to her entrance and watched in wild, wondrous fascination as she lowered her pussy over his shaft inch by slow inch. Impaling herself on his cock while he stared and panted. She was scalding hot and beautifully pink against the darker shade of his shaft.
Jennifer panted and moaned her pleasure, and she swiveled and rotated her hips, taking him deeper and deeper as she went. Once he was fully seated in the heaven of her body, Rourke trembled with the effort of holding back his release. He breathed through the quivering and trembling of her inner muscles.
When Rourke was finally able to tear his eyes away from their joined sex, his breath hitched in his throat. Jennifer began a slow and steady ride without looking away. Jennifer’s eyes blazed with a raw need that matched his own and mesmerized him. This was about more than just sex. This was about them being together as one, and the shared emotion coursing between them only verified Rourke’s instinctual knowledge that this woman was his, now and forever.
He’d found her, and he wouldn’t let her go without a fight. It didn’t matter that he had no idea who she really was or why she was hiding. Rourke knew she was a good person to her core. He was in love with Jennifer, and whether she was ready to say the words or not, he knew she loved him, too.
Jennifer rode him harder and faster as they raced toward release. No reality existed beyond that small hidden room. There was no time to worry about what she was hiding from or for anxiety over the stress of maintaining a relationship with a SEAL. They were all passion and hot sweaty fulfillment.
Rourke rose to meet Jennifer’s downward strokes. He guided her hips in a steady rhythm that took them both up to and straight over the edge of ecstasy in a cataclysm that shattered them both. Pleasure rolled over him, wave after wave. With Jennifer clutched to his chest, Rourke turned to collapse on the tiny bed with Jennifer above him. The bed gave out under the stress of their lovemaking and crashed to the floor. The bed hit the standing lamp and knocked it over, causing the light the go out. Jennifer let out a surprised gasp followed by an amused giggle.
Her heartbeat was an echo in her chest that vibrated through his chest. Held her tight and softly kissed every inch of her face he could reach. Reality would return soon enough. For now, he just wanted to hold Jennifer tight on a broken bed in the haven of a hidden room the world knew nothing about and glory in the fact that she was safe, and they were tog
ether.
EIGHT
Jennifer lay there, cloaked in darkness in the arms of the man she had fallen for at the worst possible time in her life. How was she going to walk away from him again? She didn’t know, but it had to happen.
“Tell me,” Rourke said, and he didn’t sound like he would be taking no for an answer this time.
Jennifer hesitated. She was sorting through what she should and shouldn’t tell Rourke to protect him. Like Marcy, the less he knew, the safer he would be from Evan.
“Talk now, and don’t you fucking bullshit me, Jennifer. I want answers. You will give them to me in private, or we’ll go to Pastor Davis. He wouldn’t confirm it, but I get the feeling you’re in danger. Finding you in disguise twice, and now hiding in the church confirms it.”
“Oh man. We had sex in the church. I’m going to hell now for sure.” Jennifer hadn’t even thought about where she was when Rourke came at her with lust in his eyes. She was horrified by her behavior. First, the pastor’s pantry. Now, the church basement.
“We technically aren’t in the church,” Rourke stroked her back. “We’re in the kitchen, which is in a separate building that was attached to a hall years ago. I’m sorry. Kind of. I saw you, and I lost it.”
“We really aren’t in the church?”
“No, we aren’t, I promise,” Rourke tried to soothe her mortified soul. “Now stop stalling. I want to know what’s going on, and I want to know now. If you still won’t talk, and the pastor won’t open up, then I’ll march your ass to the police station. If you’re in hiding, there might be a missing person report. Someone must be looking for you. Family, friends, coworkers, someone has to be missing you. If so, the police will know.”
Jennifer snorted. “Nobody is looking for me. Nobody cares where I disappeared to.”
“I fucking care, Jennifer!” Rourke shouted and shook her a little. “I’ve been looking for you, but it’s hard to find a woman with no last name and no known address. You ran off on me, twice. It won’t happen again. I’ll tie you to this fucking bed if I have to.”