by Lucy Monroe
“Don’t you believe it.” She tilted her pelvis, forcing him to go deeper. “Let go of my legs.”
He laid them across his thighs, happy to have his hands free to touch her.
With a look of concentration he’d seen in battle but rarely the bedroom, Rachel dug her feet into the bed on either side of his legs, meeting him thrust for thrust, enhancing the push-pull of their coupling with passionate intensity.
He reached down and cupped her breasts, loving the way they fit his big hands so perfectly. “No one else fits me like you do.”
“Remember that, when you walk away the next time.”
“Damn it, I—” But he couldn’t promise not to leave again.
And she knew it.
“Don’t,” she ordered. “Just make me scream. That’s the only promise you have to keep to me anymore.”
It was the one he knew he could keep. He pinched her nipples, playing with them until they were red and swollen and she was making small broken sounds of want.
If he reveled in affecting her this way, he could damn well be forgiven. Rachel made him feel like a god in bed, and somehow he’d forgotten that.
Hell, he’d forgotten on purpose, but remembering and experiencing it were one hell of a rush.
Letting one hand slide down her flat stomach, he brushed his thumb over her close-cropped pubic hair. “You trim down here now. I like it.”
“Me, too.”
The hair was soft and short enough, there was no guessing when he let his thumb dip between her labia and find the swollen nub of her clitoris.
She jolted at the first touch, her body going rigid and then picking up pace as she slammed toward him on each downward thrust.
“You’re the most responsive woman I’ve ever touched.”
“And your cock’s the biggest one that’s ever screwed me.”
Fury washed through him, increasing his sexual need to dominate and prove that he was not just the biggest cock she’d ever had but the best lover.
He grabbed her hands and pulled them above her head, looming over her as he ground their hips together, taking control of their movements almost completely.
She didn’t seem even slightly intimidated, just moving against him as much as she could, giving and receiving pleasure without apology or mercy.
“Don’t like the comparison?” she taunted.
And finally, he understood. “No.”
“Remember that, too.”
“I will.”
“Let go.”
“I like this.” He always had, but she was the only woman he’d ever wanted to hold down during sex.
“Me, too, but right now I want to touch.”
He released her wrists, glad to notice they weren’t even red from his hold.
She shook her head, as if she knew what he was looking for. “I’m not breakable.”
“You’re too damn sexy, is what you are.”
“Glad you think so.” She reached up and flicked his male nipples with her short fingernails. “You’re pretty hot yourself.”
Damn, that felt good, electric jolts of pleasure going straight to his dick. She was the only woman who ever took time to find erogenous zones on him besides the obvious one.
And he had to admit, she was pretty good at it.
They touched and moved together with one powerful thrust after another, their jolting rhythm unbroken even as the pleasure built toward an explosion. He was so close to coming, he knew he had seconds to bring her off before he lost it.
Leaning forward again, he trapped his hand between their bodies as he took her mouth like the warrior he was.
This was one battle he was determined to win. She would climax before he let himself go.
He thrust his tongue into her mouth, and she met his aggression with pure, white-hot desire. Her hands came up to lock behind his neck, her legs wrapping firmly around his hips.
He broke the kiss to move down her neck and bite at the spot that used to drive her crazy.
She detonated with the scream he’d promised her, her inner channel clasping his penis like a lubricated fist. And he was toppling over, too, filling her with his ejaculate, experiencing a fierce satisfaction at the thought of leaving something of himself behind in her body.
And an inexplicable sadness that this could not result in pregnancy—in the child they’d always promised each other.
He’d never admit that, though, even to himself, so he concentrated on the pleasure, the amazing way it felt to be connected to this woman in such intimacy.
She had been right. For her and with her, sex was not just a physical act. It couldn’t be.
Not when his whole being, body and soul, was melded with hers so completely that for a moment in time there was no distinguishing between them.
Even if she wanted to pretend that the physical act of sex was all they shared.
He lowered his body down onto hers fully, holding his weight with his forearms but craving the closeness of touching her everywhere possible.
“So good,” she slurred against his neck.
He smiled, his cock throbbing with an aftershock from the best sex he’d had in a decade. “Mmm, good, but it gets better.”
“Not possible.”
He grinned. Now, that was a challenge, even if she didn’t realize it. “Oh, yeah, angel … remember?”
“What?” she asked, sounding replete but not exhausted.
Just where he wanted her.
“Foreplay, angel, foreplay …” And he set about reminding her just how good at that he could be, too.
The next morning, Eva and Peace were gone before Rachel woke up.
That wasn’t what had put her in a less-than-happy mood, however. It wasn’t even the fact that she’d woken up alone.
No, what had her ready to snap off the head of the first person who spoke to her funny was the fact that she’d cared she was the only body in the bed that morning.
It made sense that Kadin would rise early to see his team members on their way. There was no reason he should have stayed in bed with Rachel or woken her to tell her he’d be downstairs.
Or wherever he actually was, because he hadn’t been downstairs, and Mrs. Abdul informed Rachel that Kadin had gone out. Not where, naturally.
Kadin would have to have left instructions for Mrs. Abdul to divulge that information. And he hadn’t. Which wasn’t a problem. Really.
He and Rachel had indulged in sex the night before—at her instigation—not renewed their epic love story.
She knew that. She did.
And she wouldn’t want it any other way. Couldn’t let herself go there, even if she wanted to.
Rachel just wasn’t that woman anymore.
So, no way should it have even caused a blip on her radar to be by herself when she woke up. Only it had.
And that had her scowling as she tore a piece of flatbread off and dipped it into the tzatziki-like mixture Mrs. Abdul had put onto Rachel’s plate, along with fruit, bread, and what smelled like roasted pork, shredded and mixed with mango chutney. Rachel would reserve proper identification for when she ate it.
“What did that bread ever do to you?” Kadin’s voice came across the rooftop garden.
Rachel’s head jerked up, and she let her frown fall on him. “Nothing. What are you talking about?”
“You look a little angry there, angel. Something wrong?”
“No,” she denied, even less willing to share her reason for her cranky mood with him than to face it in her own head.
“I see you decided to go shopping in my duffel.” He was referring to the fact that she’d opted to wear one of his black T-shirts rather than the scrubs top.
It was way too big for her, but she didn’t care. “It’s real clothes. I would have worn your pants, too, but they just fell off.”
It had nothing to do with the fact that the shirt smelled like him.
Kadin smiled, looking way too easy in his own skin for the morning—make that almost af
ternoon—after. Another thing that pissed her off … how much sleep she’d apparently needed. She hadn’t woken until hours past dawn.
“You’re still healing both mentally and physically,” he said, as if reading her mind.
She repaid that comment with a frown. He could stay out of her head, thank you very much.
Only she’d committed to letting him inside, hadn’t she? Reminding herself of that truth was bound to make her bad mood worse.
But, darn it, he’d been right about one thing. Telling a stranger about what she had gone through was not an option for her.
“You do look out of sorts today, angel.” He settled on the couch beside her, leaning toward her so his words whispered intimately across her face. “I know it’s not the sex. That was amazing. Are you that tired of wearing scrubs?”
“You told me you would get me real clothes,” she accused, glomming on to something she could admit to being annoyed over, fighting urges to both move away and close the distance between them.
“I did.”
“So, when are you going to?”
“I told you, I did.”
“What?” She was in no mood for verbal games this morning.
“Finish your breakfast, and then you can come downstairs to our room and see if you approve of my purchases.”
“You went shopping for me?” Already that morning? He smiled, the warm expression coming too easily to him. “I don’t make it a habit to break my promises, Rach.”
“Only the important ones.”
Chapter Fourteen
Well, crap, Rachel thought. Where had that come from?
The past was in the past and was going to stay there if she had anything to say about it.
Kadin winced, but he didn’t call her on it. He just indicated her food with a wave of his hand. “Eat.”
Wanting to talk about the past not at all, for once Rachel did as she was instructed without arguing. She ate.
Kadin remained beside her, his body fully into her personal space and way too close for comfort. Only she liked it. A lot.
Darn. Darn. Darn.
This man was the only living person who could still break through to her emotions. She needed to get away from him before all of her defenses crumbled.
He sipped at a large mug of coffee she hadn’t noticed him carrying, the aroma tantalizing.
She reached toward it. “Let me have some.”
“Mrs. Abdul didn’t give you any with your breakfast.”
“She gave me juice.”
“Which you practically had an orgasm over yesterday.”
“It’s good.” But Rachel wanted some coffee.
“Eva left orders to keep you away from caffeine.”
“What? Why?” Darn doctors. They were all the same.
“She said it would be hard enough for you to establish healthy sleep patterns after what you went through without stimulants to keep you awake.”
“I slept just fine last night.”
“Yes, you did. I didn’t even get a mumble out of you when I tried to wake you and tell you where I was going.”
He’d tried to wake her? Rachel’s mood improved immeasurably upon hearing that.
Which annoyed her all over again.
“Uh-oh. Your smile just turned upside down.”
“Stop.”
He grinned, making no effort to hide how much he enjoyed being in her company. “I’ll give you a sip of coffee for a good morning kiss.”
“You’re an ass.”
“I’m an astute bargainer.”
She kissed him, getting lost for a little while in his taste and the sensation of peace she had when she was this close to Kadin.
They drew back at the same time, his gaze heated. Her own face was devoid of the frown that had stuck there earlier.
“Now my coffee,” she demanded in a voice too husky for her own liking.
“Just a sip.”
She shook her head. Medics and overprotective mercenaries. What could she do?
The coffee was delicious, and she ended up drinking half the mug before giving it back.
Kadin just laughed. “I think I should have asked for more kisses.”
“You suck at negotiating. I would have given you the kisses without the coffee.” She was, after all, the one who had prompted the return to sexual intimacy between them.
Maybe not for reasons he could understand or even approve of, but they worked for her.
She’d had sex in the last ten years, but very little of it. She’d been telling him the truth that sex for her meant intimacy, and she didn’t trust easily.
Which meant the men she’d been willing to allow near her were few and far between.
At first, she’d been waiting for Kadin to come back, certain he would realize he needed her just as much as she needed him. But he hadn’t, and over time, she’d tried dating other men, even if her plan to get Kadin back had always played in the back of her mind.
Nothing had ever stuck, however, and no sex had even come close to what she’d shared with Kadin ten years ago or the night before.
In the last few years, Rachel had been unwilling to allow anyone close enough for sex to become an even remotely possible option.
“That’s good to know,” Kadin said, bringing her back to the present.
“You think?”
“Oh, yeah.” And he went for another kiss, this one just shy of mind-melting.
When he pulled away, she couldn’t hold back the sound of protest inside.
“I want more, too, angel, but we’ve got surveillance to do today and, if Whit is as organized now as he always has been in the past, an agent to bring up to speed at some point.”
She knew Kadin was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. It was probably a good thing this man was the only one who got her engine revving like this.
Sex like they enjoyed together could be a major distraction. And any distractions were a problem for an agent who specialized in deep cover.
“Okay. So, new clothes?”
“Yep. I would have taken you shopping with me, but it’s not safe for you to be seen on the streets of Marrakech right now.”
“Agreed.” There was a good possibility that Abasi Chuma had connections in the city; the choice to have her brought to Morocco hadn’t been on a whim, she was sure.
Being seen in a public venue like the marketplace would put Rachel at high risk of discovery, which would only up the danger of her connection to Jamila being discovered.
“Any word from the guys on the mountain or Dr. Massri?”
“Chuma’s coming into Marrakech, and Massri is livid that they haven’t been able to find you.”
“Any talk of Jamila?”
“Not between them. She didn’t come up even casually.”
“Typical. She’s flown all the way from Egypt to be with Chuma, and both her father and fiancé ignore her existence.”
“In this case, I’m thinking that’s a good thing.”
“It is.” But it still angered her on Jamila’s behalf. “I just want her out of there.”
“It’ll happen, Rachel. Trust your people to bring Massri and Chuma down.”
“I do. It’s the timing I’m worried about.”
The clothes Kadin had purchased for Rachel proved two things. One, he was every bit as observant today as he had been a decade ago. They all fit. And two, he didn’t expect her to leave Morocco in the next couple of days.
There was a week’s worth of clothing, which was more than he had with him in his duffel. He’d bought a couple of things that would allow her to blend into the colorful culture of Marrakech as a native. Traditional clothing for a woman in this part of the world that would hide everything but her eyes.
He’d also bought Rachel casual clothing similar to things she had in her own closet at home. It was uncanny… and a little unnerving to think he really knew her that well.
Even after all this time.
Had she not changed as much
as she thought? Or had the woman she’d become always resided inside the idealistic girl?
Either way, Rachel really appreciated his covering both bases, giving his nonverbal support to whatever she needed to do to protect Jamila.
He’d remembered sandals, too, but she left those off before making her way down to the computer room and Neil Kennedy.
Kadin and Cowboy were out on another visual reconnaissance of the hotel and the house Dr. Massri had gone to the day before.
If Rachel missed Kadin’s presence, she wasn’t about to admit it to herself, much less anyone else.
Neil was muttering at the computer when Rachel came into the room.
“Is it talking back yet?” she asked.
He looked up, his blue eyes narrowed with frustration. “You think that’s a joke, but the AI I installed gets almost as mouthy as some of my other teammates.”
That made her laugh, the sound real and unfettered by anything else for the first time in years.
Neil’s frown turned to a smile. “Somebody got some last night.”
She could feel herself blushing but didn’t deny it. “Oh, ho! I was right. Not that I doubted it, but it’s nice to get the confirmation.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Exactly.”
She frowned but couldn’t muster much heat. “Shut it.”
“Oh, it had to be good for you to be in this mellow a mood.”
“I’m not mellow,“ she denied, only to realize that was exactly how she felt.
Despite everything, Rachel was more relaxed than she’d been since taking her first agency job at the DEA.
“Good sex will do that for you.”
“Amazing sex.”
Neil gave her an exaggerated grimace, putting his hands up as if to ward her off. “Spare me the details of squicky hetero sex with my teammate.”
“Sex isn’t any fun if it doesn’t get a little squicky.”
He broke up at that, nodding. “Now, ain’t that the truth?”
“Speaking of …”
“Uh-uh. No way. We are not going there. My relationship with Cowboy is off-limits even if you want to dish the dirt on Trigger and his mighty tool.”
“It is mighty.” She gave a not-so-faked sigh of remembered pleasure.
Neil covered his ears and yelled, “Too much information!”