Mine

by HelenKay Dimon

  “There’s nothing to tie me to.”

  Goddamn. “Then you’ll have to be a good girl and keep those hands up.”

  She shifted her legs from side to side on the mattress, blocking his view but enticing with every move. “You don’t want them on you?”

  He heard a screeching sound in his brain but ignored it. “There will be time for that later. After.”

  He wanted her this way first, open and free. Following his commands as he walked her through each step and brought her body to the brink. The question was whether he could survive this. He’d been dreaming about her, thinking about her, for so long. The sex they’d had before now only stirred his cravings. He wanted more.

  He slipped his shirt over his head and reached for his belt. When she flinched, as if wanting to join in and help, he stopped. Dropped his hands to his sides and lifted an eyebrow. She quickly got the hint. Those palms pressed tighter against the wall.

  “Nice.” And he meant all of it. Her body glowed. Every inch firm and lean, toned from exercise and all of her training, which she never gave up even once she exchanged the streets for a desk at Langley.

  The pants came off next. Something inside him drove him to rip them off. He fought the sensation, choosing instead to strip them down, watching her as she watched his hands. The boots, the socks, nothing stayed on. This time would be their bodies with no barriers other than a condom.

  The reminder had him picking up his jeans and digging the one out of the pocket where he had put it this morning. He clenched it between his teeth as he crawled up the bed. He would have smiled as she opened her legs to make room for him but his nerves had his body pulling tight and his emotions raw.

  Settling between her thighs, he could smell her, see how wet she was before he ever touched her. This woman matched his needs so perfectly. Looking at her made him hard. Stripping for him got her ready.

  He put a palm on the inside of each leg and pushed them open a little wider, inhaling her compelling fragrance. He ran his tongue along the fleshy high parts of her thighs, stopping to kiss and nibble on her skin. With each pass of his tongue her body pulled tighter. He glanced up the length of her, saw her head tip back and her shoulders fall against the flat pillow.

  He blew a cool breath over her and felt her tremble. A soft moan filled the room. She was better than any drug.

  “Hands on the wall.” As her body fell deeper into a sensual haze her fingers dropped. And he could not allow that. Not this time.

  She immediately listened, stretching her body even longer as she placed her palms flat against the wall. He wanted to praise her, but the need to taste her took over. He swept his tongue along her seam then dipped inside her. He licked around her clit until she squirmed. Heavy breaths punched out of her, and he could see her chest rise and fall.

  If only he had a tie, something to hold her arms down, but this would do. He could drive her to the brink of madness just like this. Both of them, actually.

  His tongue went back to work and she swelled under his mouth. When his finger slipped inside her, a tiny growling noise, almost like a low hum, rumbled in the back of her throat. He didn’t let up on the pressure. His mouth and fingers took turns. A lick and a thrust, he rotated, touched her in every way at both times, until she soaked his fingers.

  When her hips lifted off the bed he stopped. Her body froze except for her head, which lifted as she glared down at him. “What are you doing?”

  “You’re not ready.”

  She looked ready to pounce. “I am.”

  She was. Every cell in her body sang for him. He could feel the gentle shake in her muscles as she strained to keep her legs open. Loved the way her chest rose and fell. And that’s what he wanted. To kiss her everywhere before he entered her. He’d hoped to make this last longer. To make her come then start all over again, but his control waned.

  He wanted her. All of her.

  Taking his time as much as he could stand it, he walked up the bed on his hands and knees. Let his body brush over hers. Felt the friction of skin against skin and the sharp intake of her breath. He didn’t sit alone on the shaky edge of control. She was right there with him. Proving even more the power she held over him.

  He could usually go at this for hours. Enjoy being with a woman until they both were left wrung out and weak. With Natalie, he got to that point so fast. When he’d said she was special, he meant it. He hadn’t totally and completely figured out where she fit in, but she did. Had even back when she was ordering him around and he spent most of his days pretending to ignore her.

  His elbows rested on the bed by her neck and his fingers slid into her hair. He reached one hand up and slipped his forefinger into her half-closed palm. Her fingers curled around his one in a loose hold. Still, it was a bond of sorts. One he didn’t want to break.

  He fumbled with the other hand to get the condom wrapper open. She watched with a knowing smile on her face, but he did not ask for help. Not this time. After a few false starts he got it open and tugged it on. Still, he didn’t slip inside her. His mouth went to her breasts, and he wondered why he’d let this part of her body go unattended for so long.

  He sucked the peaks into his mouth. Slid his fingers through hers as his mouth traveled from one breast to the other. He kissed and sucked. Took her soft skin into his mouth and rolled the nipples between his teeth. By the time he stopped, her ankles pressed into the back of his legs and her grip on his hand tightened to the point of snapping.

  Not that he cared. He’d take whatever she wanted to give. He only wished he could survive hours of foreplay. Maybe next time, after he worked her out of his system. After he sheathed his body in hers and let go.

  With his hand wrapped around his stiff cock, he started to enter her. Slow at first, then pushing in one long thrust. Her insides clamped down on him. He could feel her closing around him, clenching him as she pulled him in tighter.

  Energy welled inside of him. He could barely breathe as he pressed in and pulled out. Then something primal took over. He stretched his hand and touched the wall by her hand. The shift gave him leverage, let him plunge deeper inside her. The bed rocked and sweat broke out along his shoulders. He could feel the wet smoothness of her skin under him. The chill of the room evaporated and heat poured over them.

  He kept moving. Pushed faster. The tempo picked up, and his nails dug into the wall. He could hear her palms slap against the wall close to his with each thrust. Feel the grip of her legs bind around him.

  Every thrust, every breath, centered on bringing her pleasure. He didn’t hold back. One hand roamed over her as the other braced against the wall. He hovered right on the brink of something amazing. He’d abandoned his control and let the energy sweep them both up in its wake. Now his body bucked without any signals from his brain. He moved on pure instinct. In and out.

  His hand slipped around her body to land on her ass. He cupped her cheek and brought her in even tighter against him. The move had her body jerking. She started to chant his name as an orgasm ripped through her. He could watch it play in the puffs of her cheeks and flush of her skin. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back. Her arms stiffened and her hands curled into balls.

  The stunning display could have lasted seconds or minutes. He couldn’t tell, but he watched it all. Envied every inhale while he held back. This time was about her, but his body had other ideas. As soon as the pulsing died down inside her, his ticked up. The tightening finally snapped and he let go, biting back a groan as he came.

  His palm slammed against the wall right as her arms dropped next to her head. It was as if her muscles lost their strength. Being inside her zapped his. He felt both weak and strong as his orgasm raged on. When he finished his arms wobbled. He didn’t have the strength to balance above her.

  To keep from crushing her, he rolled to the side and took her with him. There, with their arms curled around each other in the darkness, she cuddled in even closer. He remained lodged inside her and didn�
��t care. She felt so good. So fucking right.

  She kissed his throat. “That was impressive.”

  He laughed because he couldn’t hold it back. The sudden happiness inside him seemed to swamp him. “I think you stopped my heart.”

  She placed one last kiss on his chin then settled in against his chest. “I can only imagine what you’ll do when you actually tie me up.”

  His body jerked as visions from his dreams ran through his head. “Soon.”

  “I’m holding you to that promise.”

  “I always keep them.” And he would keep this one, too. Trust and honesty mattered to him. Except for some omissions about Brandon, he’d never lied to her, and he wasn’t about to start now.

  FIFTEEN

  Natalie wandered around the cabin in a daze the next morning. Her body still hummed from the lovemaking the afternoon and night before. When Gabe felt free to explore, he did not hold back. That might be her favorite new thing about him. That and his mouth. Lord, the man could use that mouth.

  She stood over her small duffel bag where she’d opened it on the bed and tried to think of what she was forgetting. Not that any of the items in there, in Montana, truly belonged to her. Gabe had picked them all out, which explained the slim-fitting T-shirts for under the bulky sweaters. She was pretty sure he was a breast man. At least he seemed to be last night.

  She almost turned around but then she heard footsteps. His footsteps. They thundered except for those instances where he wanted to sneak around. It was an impressive skill.

  Arms wrapped around her from behind and his chin rested on her shoulder. The move struck her as so normal it almost freaked her out. She didn’t do dating and ordinary. Just the thought of it made her flinch inside.

  But something about Gabe smoothed out the usual rough spots. Things that had her twitching and panicky with other men barely registered. With him, life zipped along in a way she hadn’t experienced before.

  She chalked the feeling up to her current place in the world. Nothing stayed certain. She didn’t even know what she could do now and where she should start. She ruled out Montana as her new home base thanks to the snow, but that left a lot of options. Every time she tried to run through them in her head she thought about Gabe and Virginia.

  Now she thought about his strong arms and all the things he could do with those fingers. She had to say something or risk dragging him back to bed, and that sure was a tempting idea. “What’s happening today?”

  “A plane crash.”

  The words sank in and she spun around to face him. “What?”

  He rested his hands on her hips and stared down at her. “Not a real one.”

  “Okay.” He sounded so serious, as if she thought he might really bring a plane down with them on it. Though there was a tiny part of her that did wonder if he could actually pull that off and have them all walk away safely—not that she intended to find out today. “Well, I guess that’s good news.”

  “Andy and I set it up.”

  “When?” And why hadn’t they filled her in?

  “It was in our list of potential plans. We decided to set it in motion because of the Rick piece and the obvious fact someone you used to work with wants you, at the very least, followed and your movements analyzed.”

  “Aren’t you enterprising.” If she’d had more people like Gabe working for her she might not be in this mess. She’d only landed on everyone’s radar this time because of a rogue agent under her watch. She’d raised concerns but no one listened. Then when everyone overreacted by trying to neutralize the rest of her team, she stepped in. Thanks to that she didn’t have a career or a clue as to how to lead the rest of her life.

  “He’ll have footage and reports. Photos of a plane and, I’m afraid, your body. Well, one he produces.”

  “But not a real person.” She sure hoped that was true.

  “That’s up to him.” Gabe shrugged. “Either way, it will look legitimate to most people and provide cover.”

  “This is to throw the CIA off?” Because she couldn’t imagine that. A good forensics team would see through the ruse, and it would take weeks of planning and a whole host of trustworthy staff to really pull something like this off. They didn’t have the time or the resources.

  “They’ll figure out it’s fake. The point is to show them you have every intention of disappearing. Of not being Natalie, one of their star agents, anymore. Apparently Bast has been doing a lot of yelling. This venture will support his claims about you.”

  It was the right answer, but it chilled her insides. The idea of pretending to plunge to her death and doing it so she could walk away into . . . what? That’s where she kept getting tripped up. All of this, the hiding, the bodyguard, the players, the negotiation, all of it led to a place where she could have a new life.

  The amount of work that went into the setup and execution awed and humbled her. She couldn’t even figure out a way to express her gratitude now that she’d stopped feeling so sorry for herself for being thrust into this situation. But what now? No one seemed to be able to answer that question. Not even her.

  Gabe rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “What are you thinking about?”

  “The future.” Which wasn’t a lie, except for the fact that she didn’t really have one.

  He gave her forearms a squeeze before dropping his hands to his sides. “Let’s concentrate on today.”

  An idea popped into her head. A view of the bigger picture and the consequences he kept ignoring. “Some of the people who hired Rick are going to be ticked off that you’re doing this.”

  “I’ve decided that crowd is never happy. They don’t want you at your desk. Don’t want you away from it. Want you dead then alive. No, dead.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s exhausting.”

  She couldn’t miss the humor in his voice, and it helped. He wasn’t making fun of her, but he tried to take some of the pressure off the situation. That she understood. The faking of her death she liked a little less. She’d lost her family long ago and didn’t collect friends, but there were other people invested in her life, including the people who insisted she be protected right now like Bast and Elijah and a few others.

  “Is this like witness protection and—”

  “Anyone you want to know you’re alive, will.” He cupped her cheek in his palm in a gesture so reassuring she almost sighed. “This setup is purely for cover for those in your old office most prone to panic.”

  She snorted. Couldn’t help it. “So, most of them.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thank you.” The words came out softer than she intended but the feeling behind them was heartfelt.

  After she’d nearly driven him mad with her stubbornness he should rightly hate her. She pushed and denied right up to the point where he drugged her and got her on the plane. Not her finest moment, but the lack of trust came from a very real place. A shaky one that wanted life to shift back to normal, even though she knew that could never happen. She’d made that decision the day she opted to keep her people safe over covering her own ass.

  Before he could say anything to ruin the moment, she rushed to set some emotional ground rules. “And don’t say you’re only here because you’re being paid. I mean, I know that’s true and all.”

  “Natalie.”

  He stared at her until the heat bore into her and she looked up. “Yes?”

  “I am here because I want to be here. You are going to my house in Virginia because I want you there.”

  The words washed over her. She turned each one over and around, looking for a hidden meaning, and didn’t find one. He wanted to be with her. Her, little Natalie from the trailer park. Little Natalie who killed her father and couldn’t save her mother.

  Emotion clogged her throat. She knew she should say something profound but nothing came to her. Her mind got stuck on the beautiful comments he made. The ones she’d hug close in the future when and if her new life fell apart.

  She settled for expedie
nt. “Then let’s go crash a plane.”

  He held up a finger. “Fake crash.”

  “Yeah, let’s definitely do it that way.” She glanced around the tiny bedroom and looked into the family room beyond. “I’m going to miss this place.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  The words finally came to her. Stuttering and a little disjointed, but the idea behind them stuck with her. “Actually yes, since I’m taking the one thing I would miss along with me.”

  He nodded. “The shampoo?”

  “You.”

  • • •

  Andy didn’t even look up from the file in front of him when Rick walked into his office. He’d insisted on being buzzed in five minutes ago. Andy seriously considered pretending not to be in.

  This is why he preferred being in the field. No one just stopped by out there. No one annoyed him with mindless chatter. He had no idea how Gabe tolerated running this place and managed to do it without killing anyone. That was some impressive personal strength right there.

  Andy kept flipping pages even though he had read through this operation report several times already. “You’re starting to be here a lot.”

  Without any introduction or hello Rick dropped into the open chair across from Andy. “My guy was right. They’re together.”

  The next thing on the agenda was to remove that extra chair. Maybe making people stand would usher them out of his office faster. But first he needed to figure out what mess Rick had created now. “And you know this how?”

  “I went to Montana.”

  Of course he did. Hopped on a plane, flew to an area where no one lived except militia members and off-the-grid types and bothered Gabe. Andy thought there had to be a better job out there than the family business. He thought maybe he and Gabe should take it. “Now there was a terrible idea.”

  Rick slouched down in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. “Gabe didn’t exactly welcome me to the place.”

  “You thought surprising him out there, in the middle of nowhere . . . the guy who’s an expert shot, by the way, was a good idea.” It was a wonder they weren’t planning a funeral right now. “You’re lucky to be alive.”