“Mild? He was out cold and it wasn’t just for a few seconds either.”
“I know. They want to keep him overnight for observation.”
Some of the concern eased from his face. “Good.”
She considered, just for one crazy moment, kissing him right there in front of everyone. Before she could act on it, Adam released her and leaned on the wall next to her.
“General should be here any minute.” He filled her in on what had happened after she’d left.
They went silent until a few moments later, when the General walked in. He reached them swiftly, his gaze hard but concerned. “You two all right?”
“Yes.” They both echoed at the same time.
Even though the older man appeared skeptical, he didn’t press them. They filled him in on Mark.
“Damn,” the General said softly. “Well this means we’re down two men. There’s no way I’m letting Mark work for at least a week or more. Depends on what his doctor says. I’m worried about TBI.”
“TBI?” Mally asked.
“Traumatic Brain Injury,” the General said.
She hoped not. “Oh. Right. I thought it sounded familiar.”
“Not just for Mark either. Both of you need to get tested for it as soon as possible,” the General said.
Adam crossed his arms, his stance and tight lips saying he didn’t care for the idea. “That isn’t going to happen for a while with all the people in here. We’ll have to do it later when it’s convenient.”
Mally’s thoughts went to everything Sentry Security had to deal with now. “Your business…it’s off line for at least a week, isn’t it?”
The General nodded. “At least. There’s no way you two are back to work for the rest of the week. You’re restricted to the compound.”
Her mouth opened automatically, ready to protest, but Adam spoke first. “Are you sure you want to do that? It invalidates our contract, doesn’t it?”
The older man rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Yeah. But what choice do we have? I’m not sending just one of you out to work by yourself. We’ll have to play this by ear.”
“Have you heard from your daughter yet, sir?” she asked.
His rock-solid expression didn’t change. “No.”
Time crawled for what seemed forever but perhaps was only thirty minutes when Mally caught sight of a middle-aged nurse with gray hair coming toward them. When the nurse smiled, Mally hoped the woman had good news. Thankfully she did. Mark had no other injuries and they could see him. The General stayed back to call his government contacts and tell them what had transpired. Mally and Adam entered the curtained area where several emergency room individuals were lying. They found Mark lying on a bed hooked up to all the standard medical equipment measuring pulse, blood pressure and oxygen. He looked healthy—his color was good.
When he saw them a big smile broke out on his face. “Hey guys.”
Mally went to his right side and Adam to the other. Adam and Mark exchanged one of those handshakes that had military written all over it.
“How do you feel?” Mally asked.
Mark smiled like he didn’t have a care in the world. “I’m good. I just survived almost getting blown to bits. And so did both of you. Best news ever.”
“Good.” She returned his grin.
Adam explained what the General had said and that they’d have down time for a week.
Mark’s cheerful expression altered. “We should be out making sure Ian and Penny are alive.”
“I agree.” Adam sighed and gripped the railing around the bed. “The General doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to send us looking for them.”
“Ian is dependable, isn’t he?” Mally asked.
Mark said, “Damn right. He’s one of the best soldiers I know.”
After talking a little longer, Mally felt achy and tired. She rubbed her right shoulder.
“Hey.” Adam’s stern voice broke in. “What’s wrong?”
“Huh?” She broke out of her stupor. “Tired I guess. I don’t get blown up every day.”
“We need to get you checked out.”
Adam’s firm insistence made her dig her heels in. “Well, unless you plan on staying here for hours waiting I don’t think that’s going to happen. For either of us. You were in the SUV, too.”
“She’s right,” Mark said. “Just because you didn’t get knocked out doesn’t mean you aren’t rattled.”
Adam’s stern gaze eased into a smile. “Hey, I’m the one with medical training here.”
She wouldn’t back down. “I’m not a delicate flower, Adam. Do you want to wait around here for several more hours for tests or whatever it’ll take to make sure we’re in one piece?”
Adam’s lip curled for a moment, and a little shock of challenge went through her.
“Look,” Adam said, “your health is non-negotiable. You didn’t volunteer to get blown up.”
“You did?” she asked.
Mark amusement showed in his eyes, but he didn’t smile. “Why don’t you guys head back to Sentry Security? I’ll be okay here. I’ll call you tomorrow when they’re ready to spring me.”
The General stepped into the area, his face stern. “Take my vehicle.” He tossed the keys at Adam, and Adam snatched them out of the air. “I’ll find my own way back to Sentry.” Adam almost looked as if he’d rebel. The General said, “Don’t argue, man. If either of you starts feeling serious effects from the blast, then get back here.”
Adam’s gaze scanned them all, then he nodded. “Right.”
As they went down the hallway, she threw glances at Adam’s profile. Tension radiated off him and so did anger she didn’t understand. “What’s going on with you? You’re strung up like…” Words escaped her. She held her hands up. “I don’t know what. But the grumpy act is—”
He gripped her upper arm and steered her. “We’re going to have a talk.”
“What?” She practically trotted to keep up with him because he moved so fast. “The front door is that way.”
He didn’t say a word, just kept walking until they reached a door that led to the outside. Obviously he knew where things were in this place. They stepped out into a dreary sky with a gentle mist in the air. The area appeared to be a place to rest and escape from the hectic scene indoors. Two picnic tables were unoccupied. He moved her until her back came up against the wall. He edged in close, his palms flat on the wall and caging her in place. Surprised and puzzled, she caught the hot, intense expression in his eyes. He’d left his cap in the damaged SUV, and his short hair spiked up here and there. He looked rough, tumble, in need of…something. Hungry. A tingle started low in her stomach, an equal desire that begged for recognition.
“Kiss me.” His voice rasped, sandpaper and gravel rough.
Her lips parted in surprise. “What?”
“I told you I wouldn’t kiss you. That you had to kiss me first.” He drew in a ragged breath. “When I thought you’d been hurt after the SUV was almost blown up—shit, you have no idea what that did to me. I’m begging right here, right now. Kiss me.”
Restraint melted inside her. With a trembling hand she touched his chest, aching to palm the firmness of all that strength and power. She realized her breathing had quickened, her lips parted, a heat rising within that couldn’t stay banked. She searched upward to his neck, to his face. She cupped that strong jaw and slid her hands into his short hair. Brought him down. Down with an agonizing slowness. Their lips met. A sweet brush of skin, warm and enticing.
With a swift movement, he cupped the back of her neck and anchored her to his body with an arm around her waist. His mouth slanted over hers and his tongue plunged deep. Wildfire need grabbed Mally as he caressed her tongue with his. Heat exploded in her lower belly as she felt his erection press against her. A moan vibrated from her throat as hunger for him raced along her veins. She was consumed in the taste of him, enveloped by the power of his arms cradling her. One kiss turned into two and then t
hree. It wasn’t one long meeting of lips, but a frantic search for more. More.
The door opened with a squeak and they tore away from each other.
A nurse stood halfway out the door, a lunch bag in hand. She smiled. “Oops. Sorry.”
“No. We were just leaving,” Adam said as he grabbed Mally’s hand.
“Have a good day,” the nurse said cheerfully as she left.
Adam’s gaze landed on Mally’s for a few seconds before they entered the building and headed for the front exit.
Mally smiled as heat filled her face. “We could probably get arrested for that nowadays. I’m surprised she didn’t tell us to get a room.”
He threw her a smile, but it was short-lived. “Good thing she interrupted.”
“Why?”
“Because…” His voice was rough again and deep. “If she hadn’t I don’t know if I could have stopped myself from trying to convince you to fuck me right there on the spot.”
His no-holds-barred statement punched her. Heat stirred again and rolled through her body. Whoa. Hot. A vision flew through her mind of him lifting her against the wall and taking her. She didn’t know what to say, sideswiped and yeah, if she admitted it…aroused as hell.
His fingers tightened on hers as they walked faster.
Chapter 11
Mally thought she’d lose her mind as Adam drove the General’s car back to Sentry Security. Tension coiled in her body along with a sensual heat. Her face flamed as she imagined once again Adam taking her against the wall outside. No, they wouldn’t have done that where anyone could have seen them, but the hunger she’d seen in his eyes—she’d never believed a man would ever want her that much. Hell, she’d never thought she’d want a man as fiercely as she did Adam. Urgency thrummed inside her, a constant beat. When they reached Sentry Security, they hurried into the building. Wordlessly they took the stairs.
When they reached the top of the stairs, he stopped. “Mally—”
She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him into an embrace. “Don’t. Don’t try and talk us out of this.”
He gazed at her a long time, and she didn’t flinch from the fierce want in his eyes.
He cracked a smile. “Mally, there’s no way I’d try and talk you out of having your way with me.”
She laughed, and cupped his face, the five o’clock shadow roughening his jaw scraping against her fingertips. The man made her want and need things she’d never desired before.
“Is that what I’m doing?” she asked.
“I hope so.”
Their lips met in a hot, drugging kiss. She released him long enough to take his hand and lead him to her room. Excitement and desire burned inside her. She wanted to forget the world outside, the violence that had almost taken their lives today. Hesitation was destroyed. She wouldn’t wait any longer to find refuge in his arms. She fumbled with the doorknob, but once they were inside, all bets were off. Both of them took off their extraneous gear including their vests and leg holsters. Need enveloped her as he tugged her into his arms.
Kisses melted into one after another, desire for completion hot on her heels. He palmed her butt, cupping the cheeks and squeezing. She squirmed, the ache between her legs becoming almost unbearable, and clutched at his shoulders, giving in to the need to get closer. Closer still. She felt hollow, needing his strength plunging deep inside her. Urgency punctuated each touch as he cupped her right breast gently. Even through the bra’s lace, she felt his touch as if she were naked. He brushed his finger over her nipple and a zing of electricity seemed to dart from her breast, to belly, to the heat between her legs. She moaned softly. Sweet heaven, this man set her on fire. The rhythm of his tongue mimicked sex, and she felt that same touch deep within her feminine core. She gasped, wanting him with an intensity that knew no reason or restraint. She wriggled out of his grip long enough to pull her shirt over her head and drop it to the floor. He fumbled with the front clasp on her bra. She slipped it off and tossed it away.
“Man,” he whispered reverently as he cupped both of her breasts, “beautiful.”
She tugged at his shirt, wanting it gone, like yesterday.
“Now,” she murmured against his neck as she bunched his shirt in her fists. “Now.”
He worked open the buttons on his shirt as she admired every inch of glorious male skin. He wrestled the shirt off his shoulders. Although she’d known he was in great shape, the sight of his naked torso set her pulse racing and heart thumping. Broad shoulders, ripped arms, hard pecs sprinkled with dark hair. The hair arrowed down to his washboard stomach and into the waistband of his pants. He sat on the edge of the couch and made short work of his combat boots. Once he’d pushed the boots to the side along with his socks, only Adam’s pants remained.
He pressed their bodies together, gathered her in an embrace filled with more gentleness than she would have expected from the urgency moments ago. His hands coasted over her, cupping, caressing, filling her with surging waves of arousal. The ache between her legs doubled, trebled in force. She was burning alive.
He cupped her face. “Sweetheart, are you ready for this?”
She swallowed hard, filled with urgency and need. “I’ve never been more ready.”
He took her hand and they retreated to the bedroom. Impatience warred with a need to slow things down, to savor what they had and imprint it in her mind forever.
He unzipped the pants and drew them down along with his white briefs. Her mouth literally watered as the long thickness of his cock came into view. She wanted to explore each tantalizing inch of him.
“Come on, babe,” he said. “You next.”
She stripped the rest of her clothes and left them on the floor, feeling vulnerability she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
He grabbed his wallet out of his pants pocket and extracted a little packet she could see was a condom. He tossed it on the bedside table. After replacing the wallet, he walked to her slowly and brought her into his embrace. He buried his face in her neck as he slipped his arms around her. He chuckled, and the deep sound rumbled into her. He backed her toward the bed and they tumbled onto it, a tangle of arms and legs. From there the passion ignited, boiling upward in a frenzy. He kissed her relentlessly, and they rolled across the bed. Sensation piled on sensation as his hair-roughened body rubbed against her. He cupped one breast and as his fingers slid over and lightly pinched the nipple, she gasped. She shivered as the sensation spiked straight to her pussy. When she moaned, he suckled the other nipple while pulling gently at the other. She writhed under his teasing as he moved back and forth between her breasts, his attention relentless.
His power, coiled and ready, turned her on like nothing had before. She felt it in his muscles as she gripped his biceps, as she skimmed her fingertips along his strong thighs. She grasped his erection, and he moaned ferally. The sound hit her like a punch of lust.
He grabbed her hand gently. “No. Too fast.”
She wanted fast. She wanted. “Adam, please,” she groaned impatiently.
He rolled her over on her back and covered her mouth with a kiss. Without hesitating he worked his way down, tasting and caressing. Her breath caught as he feathered his fingertips and found the liquid evidence of her desire between her thighs. She shivered in pleasure as he gently traced her folds and teased.
“Adam.” Her voice was strained as desire flooded her veins.
“Easy.” His whisper held tenderness. “Easy.”
He nibbled his way down her body, building her need step by step. She gasped as he reached the top of her feminity. Anticipation made her yearn and lift her hips. He slid down on the bed and wedged his way between her thighs. She kept her eyes closed as he dipped forward. When his tongue swept in a long, lingering taste, she couldn’t suppress a moan of sweet delight. She fell into the moment, into the heat of his touch. He worked her, an expert at drawing moans from her throat as pleasure rose higher. Gently he inserted a finger inside her as his tongue danced over
her clit in tender sweeps. She couldn’t hold back the groan as her body reacted to his expert touch. As his finger moved inside her soaked channel, he teased her pleasure point without mercy. She twisted in his grip, unable to control her body. A moment later the taut coil in her loins sprang loose. Orgasm came in waves of hot, staggering ecstasy as she shivered and panted.
While she came down from the high, he moved away long enough to grab the condom. She heard the foil rip, and with his back to her he slipped on protection. He turned back and she made room for him. He propped on his forearms and looked down at her. She gripped his back as he lowered his hips between her thighs. Blunt heat eased between her folds, and she lifted her hips in reaction. She closed her eyes and savored the sensation. Mally arched again, and he groaned and thrust. She gasped as his thickness penetrated deep, filling her. She was spread wide, tight around his incredible heat. She’d only had two lovers in her life, and neither one of them had filled her like Adam. Wide. Deep. Once more she lifted her hips, wanting him to move. She whimpered as the steel hardness inside her brushed along nerves she hadn’t realized she possessed.
“Adam, please,” she whispered again, against his shoulder.
With deliberate movements, he eased out, then in. Slow. Sweet. In. Out. Back and forth his thrusts took her with a cadence that wouldn’t be rushed. Pleasure rose higher, higher. He kissed her relentlessly, his tongue fucking her mouth. He pulled her deeper into the moment as her heart banged against her ribcage. Excitement tingled inside her core, building as she throbbed deep within. She clutched at his back, frantic for release. One more stroke. Another that hit the mark.
Oh, yes.
She came apart around him with a whimper as tingling hot pleasure trembled through her and she shook all over. She felt her body react, clenching his erection deep inside as he continued to thrust.
She dared open her eyes, and he was watching her, his jaw tight, cheeks flushed, his gasps for breath as desperate as hers. As the pleasure rose, she grabbed onto his butt and hung on. She squeezed and he hissed in a breath. Desire reached a fever pitch inside her. She groaned as he finally picked up the pace. As she closed her eyes, another orgasm started to rise inside her. With a growl he thrust harder, and she lost it completely as he pounded into her. Her moans escalated as she rose higher and then hit the top. She screamed against his shoulder as climax slammed her. Pure bliss tore her apart as he shoved deep one last time and came unglued with a shout. His entire body shook against her as he growled.
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