He walked over and gracefully sat Indian-style next to her. His jean-covered thigh brushed her naked one. He leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “Anything happen I need to know about?”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. How could a kiss on the shoulder have her ready to explode into orgasm? She shivered and wiggled her bottom to assuage the ache in her cleft. “No. No one passed by on the water. The whole Colombian army could’ve been in the jungle and I wouldn’t have known it.” He grinned. “The rain forest is really dense. How could you stand it?”
“It’s not bad once you get away from the clearing where the sun can promote the lower vegetation to grow. The upper canopy blocks out the sun so much that the forest floor is mostly vines, air ferns, and detritus from the bigger trees.”
She nodded. “Okay, that’s what the swamps are like around Camp Lejeune. They do controlled burns to clear out the forest floor so any forest fires won’t spread as easily.”
“Doesn’t burn much here because of the moisture. Farmers sometimes clear-cut and burn, but it’s frowned upon. Whoever cleared around this hut will be back after the rainy season is over, but we’ll be long gone.”
What he didn’t say had her guessing whoever had built this place was cultivating coca crops nearby for the local drug cartel.
He took her knife and rolled the foil packet from the fire. “Let’s eat, Callie. Then we’ll take shifts sleeping and watching.” Without warning, he leaned over and kissed her. She moaned and leaned into his lips. He broke off after thoroughly tasting her and just before the slow burn in her womb flared into a blazing bonfire. “Good, you kept my place.” He opened the fish and unrolled the plantain leaves. He inhaled. “Damn that smells good.” He picked a piece of the fish off. “Shit, that’s hot.” He blew on it, then touched it to his lips to test it for temperature. Satisfied the fish wouldn’t burn her lips, he fed it to her.
“It’s good.” She licked his fingers clean and then her lips. When she reached for a piece, he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. “Ah, ah, ah. I feed you. You cooked.” He fed her another piece. “Damn good fire. Your dad taught you well.”
If she’d had buttons on, they would’ve burst. His praise made her feel … well, special. Appreciated. His kisses and hand-feeding made her feel adored, cared for … desired.
All of those feelings were new to her. Oh, her brothers cared for and appreciated her, but they were blood. Risto was … was … her lover, her protector, and someone she was coming to care about—and need—more and more with each second they spent together. He might plan to leave her once they got back to the States, but she’d make sure he didn’t forget her. Once home, she’d place herself in front of him every chance she got. She’d enlist Keely’s help. This man was hers and she wouldn’t let him get away.
“Callie, open your mouth.” He nudged a succulent morsel over her lips.
She took the offering from his fingers, managing to lick the tip of one of them before he pulled his hand away. His eyes burned at her touch, promising with just a look she’d pay for teasing him. She licked her lips. His low “save me Jesus” was music to her ears. He desired her as much as she did him—and maybe, just maybe, he was starting to need her, too.
The fish was soon gone. Risto alternately fed her a bite then took one for himself. It was one of the most romantic and sexy meals she’d ever eaten. That bit of news would shock all the men who’d taken her to five-star gourmet restaurants, hoping to get her into their beds. She choked back a laugh.
“What’s funny?” She told him and his lips quirked with amusement. “So? Now that I’ve wined,” he held up his canteen and she took a drink from it, “and dined you. It’s time to bed you down, baby. Strip, I want to see all of you before I douse the fire.”
*
“I thought you wanted to stay alert.” Her words were cautious, but he was happy to see she quickly followed his orders and pulled her tank over her head. She wasn’t afraid of his sexuality at all. Her breasts looked beautiful in the firelight. Her dusky peach nipples were puckered and ready for his lips.
“Just looking. I meant put out the real fire, not sexual fires.” Risto groaned and reined in the need to take her to the mat, strip off the sexy underpants and fuck her sweet pussy until she came screaming around his cock. He’d had a hard-on since entering the hut and seeing her near nakedness. Finger-feeding her had made it even worse, especially when she’d teased his fingers with her nips and licks.
“Risto?” Her hand on his arm called him back to the here and now. Shit. He needed to stay alert. Making love to her, whether it was with his mouth or his fingers or his cock, was not conducive to hearing the enemy approach.
He took the hand she touched him with and raised it to his mouth. He nibbled on the knuckles before brushing his lips over them. “I want you … more than any woman I’ve ever met. And I’ll have you—and you me—before I take you home. I shouldn’t have asked you to strip … I just … wanted.”
She leaned over and kissed his chin. “Hey, I understand. When you make love to me, I lose all sense of who and where I am. Time has no meaning. It’s not safe here. I can wait. All I need is…” She slipped her tank top back on.
He breathed a sigh of relief even as he groaned at the loss of the view. Her breasts were far too tempting. God, she was wonderful. Unspoiled with a feminine strength and a brand of courage unlike any woman he’d ever met. “What do you need, sweetheart? I’ll do my damnedest to give it to you.”
“I want one goodnight kiss and—”
“And what?” He caressed her neck.
“And I want you to hold me until I go to sleep—and promise me you’ll wake me for my watch.” She turned a stern gaze to his. “No molly-coddling. You’re doing all the hard work with the boat. The least I can do is take a shift so you can sleep.”
“Sounds like a deal.” He pulled her into his body.
Unlike their other kisses, this one was meant to reassure and calm, not incite. He nibbled her lips until she opened for him, then sealed their lips together, sipping at her mouth, giving her his breath and taking hers in return. Her eyes were closed, her naturally dark lashes fluttering on her pale ivory skin. He held her face, his thumbs gently massaging her sun-tinged cheeks. Her hands came to his wrists and held on to him as if she were afraid he’d pull away too soon. Her tongue traced his lower lip then tangled with his. He groaned at the back of his throat and broke off the kiss, his lips a whisper away from hers.
“Careful.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Your hot little tongue makes me want to fuck you until you can’t walk.”
“Sorry.” She licked her lips.
He snorted out a laugh. “Minx. Don’t tease me when I can’t do anything about it.” He released her face and slid a finger down her nose, then moved to trace her lips. “Be aware. I’m keeping a tally of every teasing look, every tongue appearance, and each teething of those lips. I’ll get you back for every infraction. Count on it.”
She smiled. “I look forward to it.” She yawned, and instead of looking like a sultry sex goddess, she looked like a kitten needing a nap.
He chuckled and pulled her into his arms, holding her against him, her face buried against his naked chest. He breathed in her scent, memorized the feel of her supple, toned body against his for when he no longer had her near. “Time for bed. How do you want me to hold you?”
She sat back on her heels and looked him over. “You’re right-handed. So we need to keep your gun hand free.” She scooted over on the mat and sat next to his left side. “Arm around my back so I can lean my head on your shoulder. Then after I fall asleep, you can shift me to the mat. Okay?”
“Your wish is my command.” He raised his left arm and gathered her into his body. She snuggled and sighed, closing her eyes. He liked her in his arms. She fit him perfectly. And she must have felt safe, because her breathing slowed almost immediately. She fell asleep as fast as a Special Forces operative.
&nb
sp; Callie’s only problem was she slept so deeply. That could be a life-threatening issue if they were on the river too long. She needed to be battle-ready at a moment’s notice. He stiffened with his concern. She woke with a start, her left hand going to her side and to the gun he hadn’t notice her placing there. “What’s wrong?” She looked around.
He smiled. “I could barely wake you up at Conn’s and here you fall asleep instantly and awaken just as quickly, what gives?”
She blinked and yawned. She reached over and pulled her Ruger closer to her side. Her non-dominant side. “Um, I was safe at Conn’s. You said so. I sort’ve learned to program my brain to be aware when it needs to be. Mothering two pre-teen and then teenage boys, I had to be alert twenty-four seven. They often pushed my limits, the rules, and their curfews.” She wrinkled her nose. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” He kissed the top of her head and pulled her back into his body. “Go back to sleep, little soldier. I’ll wake you in about four hours and you can take the shift to just before dawn.” She nodded, snuggled into him and fell asleep on another cute little yawn. He noted her left hand lay lightly on her gun.
God, it will kill me to leave her in Chicago. No matter how adaptable she proved to be on this escape through Hell on Earth, it didn’t change the fact he wasn’t the right man for her. Being with him would constantly bring her into the danger zone. His life was rough and not one in which a woman and the inevitable family belonged. And, she was definitely a woman meant to have children. Just hearing the affection she had for the brothers she raised proved that. He wasn’t father material. He knew nothing about families. He’d been raised by an irascible, unyielding paternal grandfather who’d kept him away from his more loving maternal grandparents who’d desperately wanted to raise him. Living in isolation on his grandfather’s island, he was often left to his own devices, with only a few year-round residents’ kids for friends. The Marines had parented him more and provided the socialization he needed to exist in society.
Callie deserved a man who could provide a safe and loving environment in which to raise a family. He wasn’t that man, wouldn’t know how to begin to be that man.
He brushed another kiss over her hair and smiled at her grumpy little murmur. He laid his head against the wall, pulled on the night vision goggles and examined the darkness outside their shelter. Nothing and no one would take him by surprise, not while he had Callie in his keeping.
Chapter Twelve
Rescue Day Three, somewhere along the Atrato River.
It would be another hot, rainy day. The only reason Callie knew it was near dawn was a slight lightening of the sky to the east and her watch. She let out another yawn and stretched her neck. She hadn’t realized how boring and tiring sitting watch was. She glanced at Risto who’d stretched out next to her and fallen instantly asleep several hours earlier. His dark eyes were open and his stare fixed on her, the only part of him completely alert. The rest of his body was relaxed. The man had less than four hours of sleep and he’d awakened himself by the internal clock Callie knew all special forces operatives were trained to use.
“Hey, you’re awake.”
“Yeah.” He sat up, a smooth movement, all controlled muscle, and stretched like a large cat. “Anything happening out there?”
“You’d have awakened if there had been.”
He nodded. “But I still would like to know why you think nothing has happened. Consider it a test of sorts.”
“Okay.” She glanced through the netting which surrounded both of them; coated in an insect repellant, it had kept them from being eaten alive by mosquitoes. “It’s still raining. Some periods were fairly heavy. It would be difficult in the dark, even with night vision goggles, to maneuver in the weather.”
“That’s the brain talking. Now, tell me what your senses tell you.”
“The birds are making their usual greeting-the-day noises. I heard several night predators hunting. Three jaguars came from the forest to the water to drink. I heard the grunts of tapirs as they rooted nearby. And the howler monkeys just started to call to one another at the sun rising. If there were any humans out there, the animals would be silent and hiding.” She turned to look at him. “That do it?”
He pulled her to him. “Yes, you get an A.”
“What if I want something other than a letter grade?” She arched a brow and tentatively touched his bearded jaw with one finger, liking the scratchy roughness against her skin.
Risto smiled, a slow upward curve of his lips. He angled his head and took her mouth. He skipped any gentle exploration and demanded immediate entrance. She let him in and lost all sense of control from that second forward. His tongue swept through her mouth, touching every square millimeter, imprinting his taste, his claim upon her. She wanted to hold on to him, touch him, claim him back, but still held the sniper rifle, cradled in her arms between their bodies. All she could do was allow Risto to take what he wanted, give him the submission his will seemed to demand.
Breaking away, he held her upper arms, not allowing her to advance or retreat. His lips now touched hers gently, reverently. “That do it?” She nodded and licked her lips, tasting him. He groaned then sucked her lower lip between his. “I’m keeping count, baby. For every lip sucking and teething, I’ll make you beg for release. We’ll be in bed for quite a while at the rate your teasing infractions are mounting up.”
“Doesn’t seem fair. It’s a habit and I can’t control it.” She rubbed her cheek against his beard-roughened one. “Plus, you tempt me—and I react. Do I get to make you beg also?”
Risto nipped her chin with his teeth. “Only if I let you—and I think I’d like how you’d make me beg.”
She smiled. “Oh, I can guarantee it.” She rested the rifle on her lap and freed one hand to massage his morning hard-on through his jeans. “I bet you taste good there, too.”
He groaned and removed the rifle, placing it on the sleep mat on the other side of her, then pulled her fully against his body until her breasts rubbed his chest. “Please tell me you want me as much as I want you.”
“I want you. And when we’re safe, you can have me for as long as you want me.” Forever would be nice, but she’d take what he offered and use the opportunity to convince him this attraction between them was more than a result of propinquity and danger.
Risto nodded and allowed her to move away. Retrieving a bottle from his pack, he handed it to her. “Coat your skin with this insecticide before we get out from under the netting. We’ll eat some trail bars and some of the fruit, pack, then take a relief break and head out after I retrieve the perimeter alarms.”
Callie poured the DEET-infused lotion into her hands and coated her arms, legs and neck. She hated the stuff, knew it was dangerous if over-used, but it was about the only thing effective against the man-hungry, malaria-carrying mosquitoes. She’d worn the stuff even in Cartagena since the mosquitoes in the urban areas in Colombia often carried dengue fever. So far, she’d been lucky, only a few bites and no fever.
“All done.” She handed the bottle to Risto who shook his head.
“Let me get the backs of your arms and under your hair. You missed them.” It was scary how closely he observed her. He turned her away from him and massaged the repellant into her skin. “You can do my back.”
“Okay.” She retrieved a trail bar from her tote and another for him. She ate hers while he coated the exposed areas of his body. When he was done hitting the areas he could reach, she handed him a bar. “Here, eat.”
He took the food and turned away, presenting his broad back for the lotion. She loved smoothing the lotion over his muscled shoulders and back, taking special care to knead out any knots she found in his muscles. Even though the Atrato River was the swiftest moving river in the world, he’d still used the pole to keep them from being drawn into tributaries and to move them around obstacles. He had to be sore.
“God, that feels good. How about adding a massage to the blow job you promi
sed me?”
She rubbed her cheek against his back. “Deal.”
“Drink.” He handed her the canteen and took the repellant from her and put it away. “You got any more of those salt tablets?”
“Yes, you want some?”
“Please. Once we use up all of yours, there are some in the med kit in my pack.” He swallowed the tablets she gave him. “And, Callie, at the first sign of chills, body aches or even a slightly elevated temperature, let me know. I have Levaquin and you’ll need to take it. I don’t want to take any chances with you. Even the best repellants in the world still allow some mosquitoes to get through. We’ll reapply the lotion frequently just to be safe.”
“You let me know also. We can share the Levaquin.” His lips turned downward. He was pissed. “I mean it. If you get sick, I’d have to take care of you. So, no macho-bullshit, Marine. Okay?”
“You this bossy with those brothers of yours?”
“Yeah, and they turned out just fine—so I can’t hurt you any.”
Risto stared for several seconds. All sorts of expressions swept over his face. She couldn’t begin to imagine what he was thinking. Finally, he said, “I bet they’re fine young men. They have a wonderful sister.” He punctuated his statement with a light brushing of his lips over her forehead. “Now, put on your shirt and pants—and your hat.”
She changed her socks before donning her clothes. She was happy to note that while not absolutely dry, the pants and shirt weren’t all that damp either.
Risto grunted, drawing her attention. “Glad to see you had the forethought to pack extra socks. I know all the clothing is hot, but between the sun and the insects, you need to stay covered.”
Callie watched avidly as he got dressed. His movements were swift and economical. Within a minute he’d changed his socks and put his boots back on, then pulled on a T-shirt and his long-sleeved tropical-weave cotton shirt. As he packed away his dirty clothing, he looked at her and smiled. “Ready to leave our abode?”
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