As they emptied the box, they discovered Roberto had also included some pepper spray, minicameras, a listening device and a magnetic GPS.
Jennifer dropped the GPS on top of everything else in the safe and swung the door shut. “I’ve had my fill of GPS trackers.”
“That one can attach to a car, so it might come in handy.” Miguel’s fingers hovered over the safe’s keypad. “Combination code?”
“Zero, six, twenty-three.”
He punched in the number, and then jerked his head to the side. “The day we met in that bar in Coronado.”
A smile curved her lips as she curled her hand around the back of his neck. “You remembered.”
“I could never forget that date. It was one of the luckiest days of my life.”
“Mine, too.”
As they crouched next to each other in front of the closet, facing the safe filled with cash, weapons and burner phones and nothing but danger and uncertainty at their backs, Jennifer knew there was no place else she was supposed to be right now.
She dropped her chin to her chest, touching her forehead to Miguel’s. “You’re my life, my love.”
As he rose to his feet, he wrapped his hands around her waist, bringing her up with him. When they were both standing he held her close, burying his face in her hair, his beard tickling the side of her face. “Te amo con todo mi corazón—with all my heart and my soul, forever.”
She slipped her hand beneath his shirt and smoothed her fingers along his back—both the smooth parts and the flesh that had been cruelly tortured. “Show me.”
“Jen...” Tension emanated off his body in waves.
She drew back and placed a finger against his lips. “I’m not afraid of you. I don’t care what they did to you. You’re my man, and I know every cell of your body and every fiber of your being. Since you’ve been back, you’ve already shown me over and over again that you’re the same man who kissed me goodbye before that last mission. The same man I’ve been dreaming about for two years. The same man who contributed to a miraculous boy who favors you in every way.”
Throughout her speech, Miguel’s body had lost some of its tightness. She held her breath as she entangled her fingers in his hair. “Kiss me.”
With her urging, he bent his head to hers and brushed her lips with a tentative kiss.
She opened her mouth beneath his, drawing his tongue into her mouth and lightly sucking on it. He deepened the pressure on her lips, and his tongue met hers in a sensuous dance.
Her fingers tightened in his hair, her nails digging into his scalp. She whispered against his lips, “Let’s get out of the closet.”
He chuckled in her ear, a deep sound that rumbled to her toes. With his hands still cinched around her waist, he walked her backward to the bed until the backs of her knees met the mattress. His fingers scrabbled impatiently at the zipper of her skirt.
She grabbed his wrists. “We’re doing this my way.”
Splaying his hands in her grasp, he said, “Lead the way.”
She dropped her hold on him and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. She didn’t know if she was capable of taking it slow and easy with Miguel, but she had to give it a try. She had to show him that she could set the pace for both of them.
She unbuttoned the rest of his shirt as he stood with his hands at his sides. Then she stood on her tiptoes and peeled it back from his shoulders. It slid to the floor.
She tugged his white T-shirt from the waistband of his jeans, and pinching the edge of it, she drew the T-shirt up his body.
He raised and then crossed his arms, pulling the T-shirt over his head. He dropped it next to his shirt.
She took one step back to drink in his form, still muscular but leaner than she’d remembered. She stretched out one hand, and trailed her fingers across his chest in a zigzag pattern, ignoring the path of the scars on his skin, ignoring the reason he’d been away from her for two years.
He shivered beneath her touch.
“Do you like that?”
“Mmm.” He reached for his fly, but she put her hand over his.
“I’m calling the shots, remember?”
“I remember, but by the time we get around to the main event, I’m going to forget what we were doing.”
“I’m not going to ever—” she pressed her lips to a spot right above his pebbled left nipple “—ever let you forget what we’re doing here tonight.”
He sucked in a breath as her tongue flicked his nipple.
Kissing her neck, he bared his teeth against her flesh. “You know, I’m hard already.”
“Doesn’t surprise me.” She pressed a line of kisses down his biceps. “But what were you telling me recently about the patience of a navy SEAL sniper? You’re gonna have to dig deep and practice some of that patience, sailor boy.”
She sat on the bed in front of him and skimmed her fingers along the edge of his jeans where they hung on his hips. She twisted open the button on his fly and slid down the zipper.
She peeled open his pants and reached around to grab his buttocks with both hands, careful to avoid the stitches on his hip. Her fingers dug into the hard muscle beneath the thin material of his briefs.
“I much prefer this to digging a knife into your flesh.”
“What a coincidence. So do I.” He arched his back, and the bulge of his erection came within inches of her face.
“That’s not fair. You’re destroying my rhythm here with temptation.”
“I’m not a robot. Your hot breath is caressing my package and your fingers are digging into my backside. You can’t expect me to stand completely still under that combination.”
She choked on her laughter. “My hot breath? Would you prefer my hot mouth?”
“Absolutely.” His beard framed his white teeth as his face broke into a smile.
It was the first time that haunted look had left his face when close to intimacy with her. Feeling encouraged, she tugged on his underwear and pulled them, along with his jeans, down his muscled thighs.
Before taking him into her mouth, she scraped her fingernails along the insides of his legs.
“You’re a tease.” He tousled her hair with one hand. “I think I prefer the blonde who used to do this.”
“You just wait. That blonde didn’t know nothin’.” She dragged her tongue from base to tip and then sucked him into the depths of her mouth.
He groaned, digging his fingers into her scalp as he rocked against her. His breath came in fast gasps.
She released him, replacing the pressure with her hand and ducking her head to the side and nibbling on his hip.
His body bucked and he growled. “Not fair. When do I get to toy with you?”
“Maybe next time. I’m setting the pace here—nice and slow.” And she proved it with the deliberate way she stroked his erection.
Closing his eyes, Miguel threw back his head. “Do I even get to see you naked?”
“If you play your cards right. For now—” she pushed his briefs and jeans down to his ankles “—take these off and stretch out on the bed—on your stomach.”
His head snapped up and he opened one eye, pinning her with a dark gaze. “You’re kidding.”
“Dead serious.” She patted the mattress behind her.
Miguel kicked off his pants and brushed past her as he climbed onto the bed. He bent one arm on the pillow and tucked his face in the crook of his elbow.
He sighed. “Do with me what you will.”
“I plan to. Just keep your head down.” She pulled her blouse over her head and unzipped her skirt. When she was completely naked she straddled him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
He mumbled into the pillow, his low voice barely audible. “That feels...great.”
She sque
ezed the muscles in his shoulders, digging her thumbs into the back of his neck. “It’s so wonderful to touch you again. I’ve missed this skin-to-skin contact with you. I haven’t felt complete without it.”
She lowered her body to his, spreading her arms out to her sides, her breasts squishing against the hard, scarred planes of his back. She rested her head next to his on the pillow and whispered, “It’s me. It’s Jen, the woman you love. The woman you’d never harm in a million years.”
He kissed her chin. “I need you.”
She sat up again, moving against him, riding him, her knees tucked against either side of his body.
Miguel rolled over, and she fell to the side of him and hooked her leg over his thigh.
“Didn’t you like that?”
“I loved every minute of it, but I don’t like it when I can’t see you. I had to imagine you in my dreams all that time and now that you’re here in the flesh, I want to ogle every little part of you. So, climb back up here.” He patted his flat stomach.
She straddled him once again, but this time he reached up and cupped her breasts. “So beautiful, fuller than I remember.”
“That’s from having a baby.”
She clamped her lower lip between her teeth as Miguel dragged his thumbs across her nipples. “Maybe we should have a few more.”
He smoothed the back of his hand along her throat, and then traced the sides of her neck to her shoulders with his fingertips as if drawing the outlines of her body. His hands curved with her hips. Then he lifted her up and positioned himself to enter her.
“You’ve done it, Jen. That edge has melted away and the fear along with it. Can I claim you now as my own?”
“I always was yours, Miguel. That didn’t end with your capture. It didn’t end with your torture. And it’s not going to end as you battle your way back from this nightmare.”
Lowering her body onto his, he pushed inside her, and she felt whole for the first time in two years.
He made love to her then, and it wasn’t the rough and wild ride she’d come to expect from a night with Miguel Estrada. But at the moment he reached his climax, he stared into her eyes and lit a new flame deep in her soul—one that would never die out.
As he spent himself completely he rolled her over and rested his head on her shoulder and kissed her collarbone. “You saved me.”
“You didn’t need saving. You just needed someone to believe in you—and I’ve always believed in you.” She brushed the hair from his forehead. “Doesn’t mean we can’t have a wild romp now and then, does it?”
“I like a wild romp as much as the next guy, especially with my beautiful fiancée. Am I squishing you?” He slid from her body, beaded with sweat, and draped his arm across her middle. “I’m still going to take one of those sleeping pills Dr. Paz gave me. I don’t trust my dreams yet.”
“I’ll get them since I’m going to grab a bottle of water and make a quick trip to the bathroom. Where are they?” She squiggled from beneath Miguel’s heavy arm and planted her feet on the floor.
“In the front pocket of my jeans I discarded on the floor.”
Leaning forward, she swept up his jeans and carried them to the mini fridge tucked into the credenza beneath the TV. She retrieved the bottle of pills from his pocket and hung his pants over the back of the chair. As she rose from the fridge, clutching a bottle of water, Miguel’s cell phone buzzed and glowed.
“You have a call or a text.”
“Can you bring me my phone?”
Jennifer grabbed his phone and returned to the bed. She dropped it next to him, and placed the pills and water on the nightstand.
As she turned toward the bathroom, Miguel swore.
She tripped to a stop and spun around. “What is it?”
“Josh Elliott betrayed me.”
Chapter Fourteen
Miguel stared at the text message through a haze of fury. He couldn’t even trust his teammates anymore, or did Josh believe the lies about him?
Jennifer was beside him in a matter of seconds. “Impossible. Josh, none of them, would ever betray you.”
“Oh?” He curled his hand around his cell phone and read the text message aloud, “‘I’m here to help. Ariel.’”
Jennifer blew out a noisy breath. “How is that exactly a betrayal?”
“Josh gave my phone number to Ariel. He must’ve told her my plan.”
“And now Ariel is offering to help. That’s a good thing. We need help, Miguel. If you hope to put out some counterintelligence, we need someone on the inside, someone higher up than Maggie.”
“This could be a trap. Ariel could be a trap.”
“Josh doesn’t think so.” She rubbed a circle on his chest and he closed his eyes, trying to recapture the sense of pleasure and security Jen had instilled in him.
“You know Josh never would’ve sent Ariel your number if he didn’t have full faith and confidence in Ariel. I mean, even if Josh is mistaken in that faith, and I don’t believe he is, he’s still on your side. You have a lot of people on your side, Miguel.”
He loosened his death grip on the phone. “You’re right. I’m overreacting, but I’m not sure Josh is right about Ariel.”
“Is there some way you can test her?”
Miguel reached for the bottle of pills and flipped the lid. “I can let her know I want to come in and see who and what she sends.”
“Wouldn’t you have to take a big risk? If Ariel’s not on the right side of things, she could send someone out to kill you and the deed would be done before you even knew what hit you.”
“I wouldn’t put myself in jeopardy at all if I’m watching from somewhere else.” He shook a pill into his hand and popped it into his mouth, followed by a gulp of water.
“How are you going to tell if the person she sends is friend or foe?”
“I’ll play it by ear, but I’m gonna need another delivery from Roberto’s weapons guy if I hope to pull this off.”
Jennifer jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the closet. “You need something more than that little beauty in there?”
Miguel put the bottle of pills and the water back on the nightstand and punched the pillow behind him into submission. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the pillow. “I’m gonna need a sniper rifle.”
* * *
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, after a dreamless sleep and a dreamy shower with Jen, Miguel put his order in with Roberto’s contact. The man promised delivery that night.
Miguel tapped the corner of his phone on the table where he sat, as Jennifer exited the bathroom after drying her hair. “He’s delivering the weapon tonight, so I’m going to hold off on contacting Ariel until I have the rifle in my hands. But we can start phase two of this operation.”
She looked up from buckling her sandal. “There’s a phase two?”
“There is now, and it involves you...and Maggie.”
“There is no me and Maggie.”
“Not yet there isn’t, but you’re going to run into her again today.”
“That was a pretty big coincidence seeing her last night at that restaurant. I don’t think we’re going to be struck by lightning twice in two days.”
“That—” he rapped his knuckles on the table “—was not a coincidence. That was fate. Today the meeting is going to be by design.”
“I can’t exactly go to her place of work, can I?”
“No, although I don’t think I ever told you the compound where I was treated sits behind a prosthetics and rehabilitation center. Wounded vets can go there to get fitted with their prosthetics and to work out.”
“I can’t go wandering in there either, can I?”
“No, but it’s not far from a shopping center that everyone at the rehab center frequents. They st
op by for coffee in the morning, pick up lunch. There’s even a bar where some of them get together after work.”
Jennifer finished putting on her sandals and stood up, stomping her feet. “Which of these fine establishments am I going to stalk?”
“You’re too late for the coffee run and there’s no guarantee she’s going out for drinks tonight, so that leaves lunch, sandwiches or noodles.”
“What am I going to try to get out of her?”
“Anything, everything. Maybe you could say you’re looking for a job here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the listening device. “And you’re going to wear this for me, so I can pick up everything you’re saying.”
“Will you be able to talk to me?” She crossed the room and pinched the microphone between two fingers, picking it up.
“It’s one-way.” He reached for the neckline of her blouse and hooked a finger around her bra strap. “You can attach the mic here, and I should be able to hear everything the two of you are saying.”
“What if she’s not alone?”
“She’ll be alone unless the schedule has been changed. Maggie gets a lunch break at one o’clock because she comes in at nine, the same time as Terrence, and she and Terrence hate each other and never have lunch together.”
“And if she’s meeting a friend?”
“You’ve already shown yourself to be pushy. You’ll join her and her friend.” He ran his thumb between her eyebrows to smooth out the frown there. “You wanted to come along. You wanted to help.”
“I wanted to be alone with you.” She captured his hand and ran her lips across his knuckles. “I wanted to help you love me again.”
“Again?” He stood up and hooked one arm around her waist. “I never stopped, but thank you for last night. I’m not saying I’m cured. I’m not saying I’m not still terrified of my violent tendencies and that I might unleash them on you in a moment of passion, but last night was a start. I felt nothing but tenderness for you last night—passion but tempered with gentleness.”
“You always had that in you, Miguel. That’s not something your captors could’ve ever brainwashed out of you.”
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