He ached for her, the desire to drive inside her overtaking his control.
Aaron moved to her other breast, nipping and sucking until she writhed and bucked against him, begging for more. "Yes, please!"
Aaron lifted his head and stared into her eyes, the savage need to possess her making his dick swell painfully. He had to remember she wasn’t his to own, no matter how much he wanted her. If they were going to survive this, he had to hold back.
Celine planted her palms on the desk and raised up to press a string of gentle kisses along his jaw that left him and his resolve weak and shaking. As if sensing his weakness, she nipped his earlobe and whispered, “I need you.”
A growl erupted from deep in his chest and in one fluid movement, he ripped her lace thong in half and tossed it across the floor. Celine gasped fell back, revealing her glistening, swollen nether lips to him.
She bit her lip as he stepped back and deliberately unhooked his belt buckle. Silently, methodically, he stripped his pants and boxers. She lifted her hips in invitation.
Aaron took himself in his hand stepped between her spread thighs. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He stroked himself, watching her.
Celine whimpered, her head rolling to the side. "Please, don't make me wait anymore."
He continued to stroke himself, watching her. "Are you on the pill?"
She nodded, lifting herself up so that her hips came completely off the table. “Yes.”
He was lost.
Barely biting back the primitive need to thrust inside her, Aaron carefully lined up the thick head of his cock with her wet slit. He’d barely gotten in an inch before she wrapped her legs around and pulled him. His grabbed her hips and pinned her in place as he deliberately worked himself inside her, inch by slow torturous inch. Her tight core squeezed him, pulling him deeper.
Celine grabbed his arms and he cried out.
"That's it baby, take me." He pressed in until he was fully seated inside her. "Take all of me."
She moaned, tossing her head from side to side.
He set a hard and steady pace, easing out and then slamming back in, unable to take his eyes off her. He took her like that. Without relenting, until she was frenzied and out of control. With every thrust, she climbed higher and higher. And then she exploded, her climax ripping a scream from her throat.
Celine fell apart in his arms, shuddering and moaning. Her beauty stole his breath and her reaction to him stole his soul. He couldn't get enough of her. Like a man possessed, he slammed into her over and over, his own orgasm building at the base of the spine, ready to explode.
She clung to him like he was her anchor in the storm.
He never wanted this moment to end.
Aaron clenched his jaw fought to keep going, but the pleasure was too powerful.
“Aaron!” Celine cried out, spasming around his length, ripping his orgasm free. Aaron roared his pleasure, coming inside her so hard his knees went weak.
Aaron fell to the desk, barely catching himself on his elbows before he crushed her. Her hard breathing matching his own, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Aaron closed his eyes and savored the rolling aftershocks of her orgasms clenching his cock.
When he could breathe again, Aaron lifted his head just enough to take her lips in a tender kiss that went straight to his heart. A craving totally different than the blinding intensity of a few moments ago began to build inside. He wanted to hold her in his arms and savor her like this forever.
Aaron pulled out and lifted her in his arms. "Hold on."
She buried her face in his neck and nodded, her hot, little pants tickling his skin. He moved over to one of the fluffy padded chairs and sat down, enjoying her weight on top of him. Celine snuggled up against his chest, her contented sigh warming is soul.
He stroked her silky hair with one hand while anchoring her to him with the other, unable to separate them in any way.
Shit. He was in trouble.
He’d never been so fascinated with any other woman. Sure, he'd enjoyed them, and as soon as they’d shared a mutual night in bed, he walked away without another thought.
Aaron closed his eyes and dropped a kiss to head, reality creeping in. He was in way over his head with Celine, even after he’d vowed to never let himself fall for a woman, not after what he'd seen the life of being in the SF did to his parents.
He’d never understood how a man could do that to a woman. But then he'd never been possessed with a single-minded instinct to possess anyone before her.
Is this how his father felt about his mother? Unable to stay away from her even though he knew he should?
Was he repeating the same mistake?
She was so fragile, so trusting in his arms. Her tiny frame made him feel like he would break her if he held her too tight, how could he expect her to survive the hardships of being with a man in the Teams?
The warmth inside chilled at the thought of hurting Celine. He knew without a doubt she wanted him, and for more than sex. If she begged him not to go on a mission, knowing how deadly his job was, would he walk away or stay?
Aaron heard the distinct click of the door opening behind them and in an instant, threw Celine behind the chair. She gasped and plastered herself to his back.
He met the furious, wintry grey gaze of his commander. "This isn’t your post.”
Aaron moved to further shield Celine, a cold dread winding its way through him. For the first time in his life, he’d failed to report to his post.
Colonel Gray took a deep breath and then blew it out, disappointment lining his features. “We both know how dangerous this is.”
Aaron met his commanders disappointed gaze and knew he wasn’t referring to the current mission. Aaron had told Gray about his parents his initial interview for TF-S. “Yes, sir.”
“Are you sure this is the path you want to take?” Gray asked quietly.
The cold shackle of duty wrapped around Aaron’s insides and he lifted his chin. He’d never hid anything from his commander. “No, sir.”
“The Senator is on his way to collect his daughter. You’ve got three minutes to get dressed and report to duty or you’re both off the mission.” Gray grabbed the handle and quietly shut the door.
"Oh my God.” Celine reached for his arm, but Aaron pulled away and got to his feet.
"I have to go." He strode to his pants, physically putting her behind him.
"Wait, I'll come with you. I'll tell him it was my fault.” She ran to the desk, grabbed her dress off the floor and rushed to his side.
Aaron allowed himself to savor the site of her naked body one more second, openly acknowledging to himself exactly what he was giving up and willing to make the sacrifice to save her from himself. The thought of seeing her spirit crushed and bitter was enough to make him turn away. But the thought of something worse happening to her gave him the strength he needed to gently pry her dress from her hands and slide it on over her head.
"You're not going with me. You're going back to finish your job and then you're going home." Aaron embraced the emptiness seeping inside him and pulled on his button up shirt and then his jacket.
Celine's flushed cheeks turned pale. "What are you saying?"
"I need to get back to work." He forced his voice to stay detached.
She flinched, like he’d struck her. "But I thought…"
His lips twisted into a cruel, self-depreciating smile. "That we’d stay together?”
He knew that's exactly what she'd been thinking. He knew it, because he'd been thinking it too for one minuscule moment. "We had sex. It was great sex, but that's all it was.”
Celine lifted hand to her throat and took a step back. "So, I was just a lay to you? Nothing else?”
The pain in her face was a knife to his chest. If he thought trying to keep his hands off of her was the hardest thing he'd ever done, he'd been wrong. Now that he had her, he knew just how wrong he'd been.
Aaron forced his shoulders back, his chin up and looked down at her with pity, while he died a little more on the inside. He’d rather hurt her now than destroy her later. "Did you really think I would choose you over my Team?"
The fading light in her eyes died and her hand dropped from her throat to hang limply at her side. She stared through him, her voice flat, “No, I would never expect you to choose me over anything.”
She walked past him then, purposefully sidestepping so that her arm didn't brush his. Every instinct in Aaron's body screamed at him to go after her and beg for her forgiveness. Instead, he watched her calmly walk out the door and out of his life.
Chapter 9
“You ready, Hunter?” Aaron crouched behind a cluster of boulders on the west side of the road at the center of the valley where the meetup would take place. Mountains jutted up from the earth, tall and stark, marking the start of the Hindukush Mountain range at the border of the desert.
“I'm ready.” Hunter lifted his binoculars and swept the south region where the caravan should be arriving. “Crow's nest one, ready?”
“Roger,” Hoyt said through the comm. Hoyt had set up directly above Aaron and Hunter on the first over watch position.
“Crow’s nest two, ready?” Hunter asked.
“Roger, two is up and running.” Jared had set up on the hilltop across the road for second over watch.
Ethan and Ranger were positioned on the east side of the road behind some thick shrubs and rocks. “Check.”
“Got movement. Two tangos approaching from the south, one klick out.” Cord Carter's voice came through their secure communication line. He was with Merc and Riser at the south entrance to the valley, ready to fall in behind the cars carrying the girls coming up from the south.
“We got three coming from up top. Half a klick.” Aaron recognized Ethan's deep voice. “Three men per vehicle. They're armed.” He and Ranger would be ready to cut off any vehicle trying to make a run when the shit went down.
Their goal was simple, get Celine and Caroline out unharmed from an unknown number of enemy combatants on a mission they'd only had hours to plan.
“The Russians made the party,” Jared said.
A few seconds later a line of white SUVs entered the valley from the north and parked about fifty meters from center. Aaron didn't need his binoculars this close to see loaded vehicles. “Crow one, you got a bead?”
“Roger.”
“South SUVs breaching. Ready. Four men in the first vehicle, two in the next. No sign of the targets,” Hunter said.
This could be a trap if Mr. J knew they were in the country. He knew full well that TF-S wouldn't let him harm Celine or Caroline. On the heels of that thought came another: just because they couldn't see the girls sitting up in the vehicles didn't mean they weren't there. If Mr. J had wanted easy transport, two unconscious bodies were a lot easier to handle. “Need to be ready for carry out.”
The second vehicle parked fifty meters from center, directly in front of Aaron. He searched the windows of the black SUVs for any sign of the girls.
“She's in there, my intel was right. Trust me,” Hunter said.
How the hell was he supposed to trust anyone with Celine's life?
Aaron forced himself to relax, got his heart rate under control and focused on the man getting out of the white SUV on the right. “We got a briefcase.”
The man was typical for security – big, broad shoulders, black suit and black sunglasses. Two pistols poking out of his open jacket in brown leather holsters.
The team had set up in a wide circle all the way around the meeting place, so no one was getting in or out without their permission. The man held up his briefcase and approached the black vehicles with his arms raised and stopped halfway between the SUVs. A few seconds later, the four men in the first vehicle from Mr. J’s caravan got out and approached. What followed next was standard operating procedure for black market deals. The suitcase guy showed the cash, the other man inspected it and gestured to his crew.
“On my signal,” Hunter said.
The front doors of the second black SUV opened, an armed guard on each side. The driver went to the back and opened the door.
“The girls must be in the last SUV.” Aaron's gaze locked on that open door, cursing that he was on the passenger side and couldn't see directly in the vehicle. “Ethan?”
“Got one female. She's gonna need a carry out.”
Fuck. Aaron's gut clenched down tight. Was it Celine? Was she okay?
The guard leaned down into the vehicle.
“Easy, man,” Hunter muttered. “Crow one and two, you ready?”
The thought of what she'd been through, what they could've done to her...Aaron rubbed his burning chest, feeling the hollow ache like someone had drilled out his heart.
“On my count,” Hoyt said. “One. Two. Three.”
Two bullets whizzed through the air, their loud boom muffled by silencers and the two men closest to the girl fell.
Aaron jumped to his feet and took off at a full out sprint for the men surrounding the SUVs, Hunter pounding it out behind him. The Russians’ vehicles roared to life and slammed into reverse. Two more shots pinged into their windshields and the vehicles rolled to a stop.
Aaron homed in on the back SUV. The passenger lifted his pistol and Aaron fired off three rounds, still running. The passenger slumped to his knees and hit the dirt.
“Get her, I'll hold them off,” Hunter shouted and made a right toward the front SUV.
The driver glanced behind him and saw Ethan, Ranger and Merc running in his direction. Aaron knew the minute the man realized his doom. The driver dove through the open back seat and came out on the other side, yanking the unconscious girl with him.
Rage erupted like a volcano at the sight of the other man touching her. Aaron exploded forward, reaching the vehicle in ten pounding footsteps. The man frantically tried to pull the girl out of the car and sling her over his shoulder.
Aaron transferred his pistol to his left hand, yanked his knife out with his right, running full force. The guard straightened and Aaron embedded his knife to the hilt in his throat.
The guard dropped, grabbing at his throat and gurgling. Aaron snatched the girl he hoped like hell was Celine from his shoulder before she hit the ground.
For that one heartbreaking second, he completely forgot about his surroundings as he peeled back the blue veil to reveal her face. His breath caught. She was alive. Celine was alive.
A bullet pinged into the car over his head and Aaron dropped to the ground and shoved Celine between him and the back tire.
A man stumbled around the front of the SUV, running to the side of the road. Aaron heard the sniper round a nanosecond before the man flew backwards, dead. The fight ended quickly after that. The team had set up a near perfect death trap for the swap.
“Clear,” Jared and Hoyt said almost simultaneously from their positions at over watch.
Aaron holstered his weapon and pulled Celine back into his arms, carefully brushing his fingertips across her cheek. A dark puffy bruise marred the right side of her face. Her bottom lip was swollen. He'd seen worse, much worse, but on Celine...Mr. J was a dead man.
“Caroline's not in any of the vehicles.” Hunter stepped into his line of vision.
“I need to check her for injuries. They've got her covered in this damn thing.” The blue burka didn’t belong on her.
“You try to wake her?” Hunter asked.
Aaron drew in a steady breath. “Celine, sweetheart, can you hear me?”
She didn't move an inch.
Someone touched his shoulder, and Aaron glanced back to see Ethan standing right behind him. “If they used the same stuff on her as they did on Kate, she'll be out for a while.”
Fucking bastards. At the first kidnapping, in the States, the men had used a heavy dose of opiates to knock the women out. Ethan's girlfriend, Kate, was the only one TF-S had managed to rescue, and she'd been out for over tw
enty-four hours from the drugs.
Aaron gently brushed his fingers through her hair, attempting to hide the fact that his hands shook from the rest of the team, and checked her skull. “I don't feel any injuries. Give me an ETA on the helo.”
“Big bird, what's your ETA?” Hunter had pulled a comm radio from his belt.
“Ten minutes.”
“Roger.”
“Ethan, pop the hatch on that SUV, I want to check her.”
Aaron stood with Celine in his arms and the group of big TF-S men moved back to give him room. Hunter and Ethan let the back seat down, giving him the whole back end of SUV to gently lay Celine down.
“Riser, come help me,” Aaron said. He and Riser had the most field medical training in their group.
Riser came to lean in the back of the SUV beside him, effectively blocking Celine's body from the rest of the group. They would have to undress her to check for injuries. Aaron reached for the burka, his hand shaking like a fucking baby.
“Hey, let me.” Riser pulled out his knife and Aaron moved his hand back as his teammate lifted the collar of Celine's gown and sliced through the material.
Aaron blew out the breath he'd been holding when he saw that she had on jeans and a blouse beneath this one. They finished removing the burka and Aaron forced himself to stop thinking like a wounded husband and instead act like the trained soldier he was.
Careful for hidden injuries, he tugged the loose jeans down to her knees and froze. His hands went numb. His mouth went numb. His chest went numb. Nearly black bruises in the pattern of fingerprints spread out over her inner thighs.
Aaron started to shake.
“Fuck,” Riser muttered.
He tried to swallow but his throat wouldn’t work. She’d been…dammit. He couldn’t even finish the thought.
Riser gripped his arm. “You don’t know for sure yet, brother. Why don’t you let me finish checking her? We need to evac pronto.”
It was all Aaron could do to rasp out, “No. I need to do it.”
Fighting back the rage, he finished removing her jeans. The only other injury to her legs was covered by a bandage around her left ankle. He left it alone, knowing on some instinctual level that if he saw her skin rubbed raw from a shackle he might puke.
Men of Mercy: The Complete Story Page 114