She watched Ward walk around the small structure she’d staked out as a temporary hideout weeks ago when she set up her cover. The place had been abandoned, and she paid to keep it that way. Men worked nearby farming kava but stopped their workdays around noon. As the work area moved farther away, the cabin got left behind.
The structure consisted of metal siding tacked and nailed to pieces of wood. Little more than a shed to people outside of Fiji, but not that unusual a dwelling for people in the lower economic rungs here.
She checked it every few days, storing extra clothes and a few supplies in a waterproof bag buried under the makeshift mattress. She kept a cache of emergency weapons outside, hidden up in the trees—a choice that struck her as an unnecessary precaution a few days ago but with her truck confiscated looked pretty smart right now.
Ward did not appear impressed. He had his hands on his hips and wore one of those male frowns that signaled displeasure. “This is basically a lean-to.”
Of course, more comments like that, and he might just annoy the desire right out of her. “It has four walls.”
“Okay.”
Sure, the place measured about ten by ten, but it had a roof . . . of sorts. It sat away from everything and out of Tigana’s targeting range. The least Ward could do was put the ugly American stuff aside and appreciate that they weren’t crouched in a hole somewhere. “Sorry it’s not a luxury hotel, Your Highness.”
He turned his frown away from the building and aimed it her. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s sturdy and efficient. It works for me.”
Maybe she’d misread him but she doubted it. “Doesn’t seem like it.”
“I just thought . . .”
Whatever came next was going to make her furious. She could tell by his uncharacteristic stammer. “What?”
“You’ll get pissed.”
Just as she suspected. It was her turn to put her hands on her hips. Her stance now mirrored his as she prepped for the explanation. “You have nothing to lose. You’re not exactly saying things that make me like you right now.”
“I’ve stayed in worse. Hell, I’ve slept in shanties and in an actual lean-to . . . outside in the snow. In a tree. Once in a net hooked to and suspended from the underside of a mountain.” His eyes sort of glazed over as if he were reliving those moments.
Except for that last one, she could relate to all of it. “So?”
“I thought you might pick something different.” He shrugged. “That’s all.”
A red film clouded her vision. She could feel the heat bubble up inside her, and not the good kind. He’d managed to wipe out the need and replace it with fury. “Because I’m a woman and I need comfort?”
He walked over. Stood right in front of her. “See, now. I knew you’d take that the wrong way.”
“There’s no good way to take it.” This was a trigger point for her. She’d dealt with so many men in her field who thought she should strip for the job, be quiet, and act as backup or arm candy. Never mind that she’d saved one or two of those twits from being killed.
“Look, you don’t have anything to prove to me.” He reached over and took her hand. Uncurled each finger until she no longer held it in a fist. “You knocked me on my ass—”
“Twice.” Remembering that put a few more points back in his column. The touching helped too.
He played with her fingers, caressing each one with a light touch. “Right.”
“Then I don’t get your issue with the building.”
He dropped her hand and stepped back. “I’m going to stop talking about that now.”
“That would be good.” But it wasn’t. A chill ran over her as soon as he put distance between them. It made no sense in light of the dripping humidity. She refused to believe the feel of his hand could mesmerize her that quickly, that completely.
The coldness doubled when he walked up the step and into the shack without her. While she watched from the doorway, he spread out a thin blanket over the mats made from pandanus palms and piled up to make a bed of sorts.
“Back to work.” One by one he took out his weapons from behind his back and his pants pockets. Some of them were hers, but most were his. “I have two drop sites with more. Neither is near here, but I can get Ford to load up and meet us.”
She leaned in the doorway with her arms folded across her stomach, fascinated just to watch the way his lean muscles stretched. That strange kick of interest came back. This time it pounded her, and she had to swallow to keep her voice steady. “Fine.”
He glared at her over his shoulder. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“The clipped one-word answers.” He swore under his breath. “It’s like we’re married.”
That got her attention. Her arms dropped and she moved farther into the small room. “Have you been married?”
He kept moving around, not giving her eye contact. “For about eight months when I was twenty-five.”
“What are you now?” She guessed they were the same age. She might even be a slight bit older.
“Thirty-five.”
A light tapping noise against the roof had them both moving back to the door. Blue skies broke through the umbrella of trees above them but a soft rain fell. Typical for the tropical climate. The humidity brought daily rain. This seemed like little more than a short shower, but it would make trekking difficult. Getting in and out in silence and being able to cover their tracks moved to the top of her list of concerns.
But one simple question still stuck in her brain. “Was the breakup her fault or yours?”
His smile came out of nowhere. “I’m divorced. Single and unattached.”
“I didn’t ask.” Okay, she sort of did, but he didn’t have to look so damn pleased with himself. Last thing she needed was him thinking she cared about his private life . . . even though more questions ate at her now.
“I’m happy to share about my private life if you are.”
“You are truly annoying.” It was either that response or say yes, and that would take them careening straight into the emotional danger zone.
“As if I’ve never heard that before.” He went back to visually cataloging the weapons in front of him.
“But . . .”
He looked at her with a blank expression. “What?”
If whatever kept pinging around inside of her would just stop, she’d skip this question. But the truth was, she didn’t want to. The craving wouldn’t stop, and she started to welcome it. “Do not take this the wrong way.”
“Cryptic.” When she didn’t speak up, one of his eyebrows lifted. “I’m waiting.”
“This is about adrenaline and nothing else.” She sounded like a babbling idiot. For some reason her brain and her mouth were on two different wavelengths.
“What are we talking about?” he asked, his voice echoing the confusion on his face.
It was not as if she’d never had sex. She enjoyed the intimacy and the pleasure—sometimes just for fun, and sometimes because she needed a deeper connection than she got from her run-and-gun lifestyle. Every now and then it was part of the job.
This time would be for her. Just for now. Once and done, and then she could forget him.
She took a deep inhale and went for it. “Take your clothes off.”
He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Excuse me?”
“You’re attracted to me.” Good Lord, now she was waving her hands in the air. Once she realized it, she stopped. Curled her hands into balls at her sides. “I find you . . . fine.”
He covered his mouth and produced a fake cough. She assumed it hid a smile. That was almost enough to make her rescind the offer.
“Really? That’s all you can muster?” This time he did smile. “You think I’m fine?”
He was hot and tall and had a face that played in her head long after she closed her eyes each night. And that body. Long and lean with the stalk of a
predator. Ward was a man who protected and fought. She got the impression he wrestled demons that had to do with reconciling chivalry and decency with the work they performed.
The combination of all that made her wild with need. “Your clothes are still on.”
“Are you saying you want to—”
Since he said the sentence so slowly, emphasizing and halting after each word, she finished it fast. “Shag.”
Both eyebrows rose now. “Please tell me that’s British for have sex.”
“Yes.”
He blew out a long staggered breath. “Thank God, because right now my body is in a race to see what will explode first, my brain or my dick.”
Uh? “Is that a compliment?”
“Believe it or not, yes.” Two steps and he was in front of her with his fingers playing with the small white button at the top of her slim T-shirt. “So, are you talking about now or sometime in the future to celebrate ending Tigana?”
Both. “I need to work off this extra energy and get back in control.” She was half-ready to rip off her clothes and throw him on the mattress.
Maybe he knew because he just stood there and stared at her, his gaze not leaving her face.
She stared back.
Just as he started to lower his head, a ripple moved through her. She shoved a hand against his shoulder. “Don’t think that I always break protocol like this.”
“I don’t care if you do.” He ripped his shirt out of his pants and whipped it over his head, revealing miles of tanned muscled skin.
“You’re taking off your clothes.” Not the smartest thing she’d ever said, but it was out there and she couldn’t snatch it back.
“Right. You’re the boss, remember?”
A shot of regret nearly knocked her over—not at making the pass but at wanting him this much in the first place. Her mind should be on the assignment, not on his chest.
She’d buried this part of her for so long under a pile of work and professionalism that taking it out now made her twitchy. “This isn’t—”
His hands went to her arms, and he brushed those palms up and down, soothing her. “Do you want me?”
She couldn’t lie. He had to feel it in the tremor shaking through her. “Yes.”
“Then stop justifying not working this very second and enjoy. It won’t make you less of a professional.”
That was exactly what she needed to hear. “Okay.”
His hands stopped at her elbows and he dragged her in closer until the heat of his body radiated against her. “You’re a stunning woman, and we’ve been circling each other for days. Honestly, your ability to handle weapons only makes you even hotter in my eyes.”
The words spun through her. They felt so good. So right. “Not the way I would say it, but okay.”
“You want me. I sure as hell want you. We need to lay low until it gets dark and we can hide our movements better.” The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile filled with promise. “And, for the record, there is nothing sexier than a woman who goes after what she wants.”
He meant it. She knew it with every cell inside her.
Screw being overly safe.
Her hands trailed up that bare chest to his shoulders and the sexy dip between his collarbone and the base of his neck. “You’re not like the rest of the CIA guys I’ve met.”
He closed one eye as his arms wrapped around her waist. “For the next hour, how about you forget where I work and concentrate on me?”
“That shouldn’t be hard.” Not with his body rubbing against hers and his erection pressing into the vee between her legs.
“Me wanting you.” He kissed her neck. A line of light biting kisses up to the underside of her chin. “Me kissing and tasting you.” His lips moved over her cheek.
“Yes.” She didn’t have any breath so she wasn’t even sure if she said the word out loud.
“Me inside you.” The intensity of his gaze matched his words. “I can pretty it up but I want to—”
“Say it.” She didn’t need fancy words. Didn’t want them right now.
“Fuck you.”
The words, so rough and sexy, vibrated through her. Then his mouth covered hers, and she couldn’t say anything. Couldn’t think. The kiss, so hot and deep, had her heels lifting off the floor. Every fear and worry fell away as heat washed over her. The touch of his skin, even the pucker of a scar she felt under her fingertips on his back, soothed her.
Ward was a warrior. He fought and would die for his country. She took that same vow. Different country but same devotion. They both believed in something enough to risk everything. Other men said it. From him, she believed it, mostly because he never gave her a speech or insisted on telling her how decent he was. He just acted.
And the man could kiss. Like whoa and damn.
Hot and deep, his mouth traveled over hers. His tongue dipped inside, and the room spun. When she opened her eyes again she lay underneath him. His weight pressed into her, had her squirming to get out of her clothes and touch him skin to skin.
He lifted up on his elbows and braced his body over hers. “I have exactly one condom.”
They could make that work. “Find it.”
A smile lit up his face, turning him from gruff and hot to irresistible. “It’s been in my pocket since ten minutes after we met.”
Well, that was pretty damn sexy. “Any chance of you taking it out and using it now?”
His hand tunneled into her hair and held her head still as he lowered his. “I think I can manage a bit more finesse than that.”
“No need.” She put a finger over his lips. This had to stay mechanical. Two bodies seeking relief and nothing else. “I’m a sure thing here.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve pleasure.” He took her hand and pinned it on the mattress next to her head right before his fingers slid through hers. “We both do.”
The next kiss fulfilled that promise. So slow and passionate that it started an ache thumping deep inside her. Need welled up and threatened to swamp her. Much more, and her heart might stop. It hammered in her chest, hard enough to steal her breath.
Then his palm slipped down her body, stopping to cup her breasts before lingering over her stomach and landing on the zipper to her shorts. His fingers went to work. One-handed, he snapped the button open and pulled on the tab. The clicking sound filled the room.
A warm breeze blew over her bare skin as he worked his way down her body. His tongue licked over her stomach as one hand pushed up her shirt and the other dragged her shorts down. Sensations whipped through her. She shifted her head from side to side, trying to zap her mind into working again.
Without warning, the weight lifted off her. She glanced up in time to see the concentration playing on Ward’s face. His intense focus stayed locked on her legs as he dragged the shorts the whole way off.
He looked up at her as his fingers skimmed over her, inflaming her. Making her wet. “You call these knickers, right?’
The building heat drove her now. She wanted him inside her. No more talking. No more flirting. Just his body pushing into her.
“You can call them anything you want so long as you peel them off.” She lifted her hips to let him know that she meant now.
“Yes, ma’am.”
His fingers trailed under the elastic band. He pulled the cotton down and off, never taking his eyes off her. With a gentle touch, he spread her thighs. Then his mouth was on her. With his tongue inside her, he licked and caressed.
So primed, so ready, her hips shifted and her back pressed deeper into the mattress. Without a signal from her brain, she brought her legs in tight against his shoulders. Anything to stop the clenching and tugging inside her. Her body revved up, and tension pounded through her. It was as if a coil kept tightening deep within her, just ready to spring.
“Ward, now.” She’d say it in any language he wanted and pulled on his hair to let him know she was serious.
Still, he licked and sucked, bringi
ng her body closer to the edge. The back of her hand fell against her mouth, and she kept it there to stifle the urge to call out his name. When he sat up on his knees, she almost begged him to get back there and go faster.
He needed to get out of his pants first. Thinking to help him, she reached up.
“Ward, here . . .” She forgot what she was supposed to be doing.
“I can’t believe how much I want you.” He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss in the center of her palm.
Balancing first on one knee then the other, he managed to get the pants off. He wadded them in a ball, along with his briefs, and threw them to the side.
Turning back, he treated her to a wide-open view of his broad shoulders and the perfect vee of his torso dipping to a lean waist. A thin line of hair started under his belly button and led right down to his erection. Thick and long and pushing against her inner thigh.
She didn’t realize he’d grabbed the condom until she heard the wrapper tear. Then he was on top of her again. The friction of their bodies rubbing and brushing had her mind spinning in every direction.
His hands went into her hair, and he kissed her again. Hot, so full of longing. Desire flowed through her and bounced back at her from him. Whatever was happening ran both ways. Electricity snapped between them, and that now-familiar whip of need ratcheted up inside her.
He lifted away from her for a second. Then he was inside her, pushing deep with one long stroke. Her inner muscles tightened as her body folded around him. Their skin touched everywhere. His breathing sped up as his hips moved back and forth, plunging into her in a steady rhythm until she grabbed his ass in her hands and pressed him tighter against her. Then he went wild.
He buried his face in her neck and blew a hot panting breath against her. She felt his muscles tense as he moved. Those shoulders stiffened, and his movements became more intense.
She loved this side of him—demanding and veering out of control.
The need to touch him and tease him with gentle strokes overwhelmed her, but she couldn’t follow through. Her body clenched. With each press of his body, she lost a little more air from her lungs. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as the whirring built, and her head fell back.
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