by Karen Anders
She had never been able to get Jammer out of her system. Now here he was, still larger than life, still cocky as hell, and pulling her into that same sexual fog she’d barely escaped from last time. She thought she had a handle on it, had the mission fixed firmly in her mind. She was bringing in the Ghost dead or alive. Period.
Without warning, he flipped her onto her back and the air whooshed out of her. If the hit-and-run hadn’t put her in the hospital, she half wondered where they would be now. She was no traitor to her country, but she might have warned him to run when he’d had a chance. But she had to contend with the fact that he’d protected her sister, saved her sister’s life by double-crossing Miyagi. He had taken the launchers, but instead of turning Allie over to Miyagi, he had helped her and Drew escape, eliminating Miyagi in the process. It made her wonder who he was. Was he the definition of a bad boy-or one of the good guys? Quite an intoxicating mix. And deliciously dangerous. To her, and to her mission.
She moved her hips beneath his, fighting the internal battle of want over need, losing it handily and not particularly caring. He made it easy to play the siren. One look from him and she felt like some untamed elemental whose only mandate was to melt him down to his most basic essence. It was a wonder they both hadn’t gone up in flames the last time they tangled.
Which made what she was doing right now the epitome of foolishness.
“I think I’ll take you up on one of your propositions,” he murmured.
Her entire body shuddered at the mere thought that he wanted more of her. Her head knew it was business. But tell that to the rest of her. She was in dire need of an edge. More of an edge than the knowledge his raging erection gave her. She hooked her foot around him and rolled him to his back.
She tried to straddle him, but he wrapped his legs around her and kept her fully pinned to him, his fingers still entwined with hers. So much for controlling things.
“On top. That doesn’t surprise me. In fact, I think that’s where you like to be,” he said, his grin re-surfacing.
Her pulse doubled. She was in so much trouble. She could shoot the wing off a fly. But she couldn’t be around Jammer for more than five seconds without losing every ounce of intellect she possessed. “I don’t seem to recall you complaining all that much.”
He laughed. “No. No, I didn’t.” In a maneuver that made her gasp and then smile, he shifted his arms up over his head, locking their fingers, drawing her face closer to his. He abruptly rolled, and she found herself flat on her back again, pinned down by his weight.
She wished it didn’t feel so damn good.
There was no pretense now that each of them was trying to restrain the other.
His big hand traveled down her body, and before she could even gasp, his fingers found those tantalizing little ties and released her underwear in one pull. There was nothing in the way of her slick, swollen flesh.
She sucked in a startled breath. Her body grew hot, her skin much too tight and sensitive. Her nipples tingled, and an insistent throbbing gathered low in her belly, between her thighs, the pressure gradually building with every second that passed. She felt sexually charged, feverish and needy in a way she had no power over.
She could feel the heat of his body through his clothes, could inhale how deliciously male he smelled-a heady combination of heat and forbidden passion. His warm breath ruffled the wisps of hair along the side of her face, and pure, undisguised sexual energy crackled between them, a rare and irresistible chemistry that intensified with each moment that passed.
Her body softened, liquefied, automatically readying itself for his possession. No words were spoken-none were needed-as she lifted a hand and curled her fingers around the nape of his neck. She pulled his lips to hers and kissed him deeply, avidly. His mouth was equally burning and eager, his tongue bold and greedy, consuming her with rich, unadulterated pleasure.
She lost control as his mouth grew more demanding, his lips fiery and moist, sliding over hers. She luxuriated in the untamed sensation along with the freedom to do things with and to this man that she’d never explored with another lover before.
He made her feel amazingly feminine and lavishly seductive-as if she were made specifically for him, in every way. And for as long as she was going to be undercover and sticking to him like flies on honey, she was his in every way.
Breathing hard and aching for him to touch her, she whispered his name.
Hot, callused hands skimmed down her thighs. Long, seeking fingers delved into the crease between her legs. She was already wet, already excruciatingly aroused, drunk on passion and the excitement of the forbidden.
She cried out at his touch and his entire body jerked in response. He slanted his mouth across hers again with a rough growl, his tongue thrusting deep.
He found her clit with his thumb and strummed across that knot of nerves in a sleek caress. All it took was that one electrifying touch, and she came in a fast, feverish climax that left her panting and gasping.
Before she could even get air into her lungs, he rose up off the floor in one powerful move that made her lose her breath all over again. It wasn’t far to the bed, thank you very much.
Night had fallen and as he got closer to the bed he was silhouetted against the glow of the city lights through the window.
Her entire body hummed in anticipation. Not that she could really fault her reaction; of course it was going to hum a little. Okay, a lot. But she wished she could stay focused on more important things than what Jammer could do with his very impressive body.
Like how she was going to keep her cool around this man long enough to get close to the Ghost. How was she going to handle it when she had to put cuffs on Jammer and turn him over to the court system to be tried-a trial she would have to testify at to put both Jammer and the Ghost away?
Once he knew she was Callie Carpenter, a Watchdog agent sent here to discover the identity of his boss and arrest them both, this delicious thing between them would be over.
She’d have to be disgusted with herself later.
“You smell incredible,” he said as he let her slide down his fully aroused, heavily muscled frame. Much later.
Her face was closer to his, his own smell intoxicating. Her knees went decidedly wobbly, and she knew she should be ashamed at how easily he could seduce her into putting everything important in her world on hold. But damn the man, he made it really hard to concentrate. And it wasn’t like there was anything she could do to further the investigation in the next fifteen minutes, anyway. Or the next hour. Or two. Or three.
“So it’s clear which proposition you intend to take, but couldn’t it be an all-inclusive deal?”
“Business is important, Gina, but I have some investigations of my own to conduct, right here and right now. Fuck, I missed you.”
“I’m serious about the offer, Jammer.” The reprimand was aimed more at herself than him. But if she hoped to enlist some of his control in the matter she was going to be sorely disappointed. Except disappointment wasn’t really what she was feeling at all when his eyes went dark and he reached up and released the strings on her halter top.
“What you do to me,” he murmured as he walked her backward toward the bed, without ever once actually touching her, but staying so deep in her personal space she felt intimately connected to him.
“If you’re trying to distract me, that’s not a bad way to go,” she said, hearing the thread of need in her voice, even as she tried valiantly to keep from slipping under his spell without a sign of struggle. He wouldn’t be around long, and she was warring between giving in to her inner sex kitten, which was purring for indulgence, and preserving some sense of willpower over wanting too much. Certainly she would end up wanting more than she was ever able to keep.
His only response was to slip out of his suit coat, loosen his tie and unbutton his starched white shirt to reveal a chest that was fashioned by the gods for women to worship.
“Jammer? Throw me a bone,” sh
e said, although the words weren’t much more than a hushed whisper as he leaned in and slid the zipper of her mini down.
“How about a boner?”
She laughed and her breasts brushed his chest, her nipples tightening into hard, taut peaks begging for more.
His face tightened into hot sexual hunger, his eyes zeroing in on her breasts. He grabbed her around the waist. Sliding her skirt off, he lifted her, his biceps bunching into rock-solid knots of power.
He pressed his lips to one aching, tingling crest and opened his mouth over it. He sucked, and she felt the tugging, pulling sensation all the way down to her sex. She couldn’t stop the whimper of need that escaped her lips. She braced herself on the concrete bulges of his biceps, her head dropping back as he shifted and took her other throbbing nipple into his mouth to suckle.
She shuddered and held on to his arms, her need for him becoming a tangible thing, strong and powerful and nearly devastating in its intensity.
He lowered her to the floor and reached for his belt buckle. It wasn’t until he started pushing his pants off his hips that a self-satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You’re talking way too much about business, Gina.”
“I’m just trying…” She’d been so caught up in watching, she’d forgotten what she was going to say. “Oh, never mind.” She sighed, smiling herself, shamelessly enjoying the rest of Jammer naked.
He tugged the halter off, undid the garter belt and slowly rolled the stockings down her legs, which put him in a convenient crouch in front of her. She let out a gasp and balanced herself by gripping his strong shoulders as he took a wicked detour with his tongue. “We’re so completely shameless,” she groaned.
“A beautiful thing, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yeah,” she said, torn between a laugh at how freeing it was to be with him, and a quiet moan at how deliciously good the things he was doing with his tongue made her feel. The soft moan won as he continued his very focused, tender assault on her most sensitive little bundle of nerve endings. “It’s overwhelming. Have I mentioned that your foreplay technique is more than I can resist?” She groaned when he slid his tongue away from the place she wanted him to be, up over her stomach, gasping again when he captured one erect nipple for a brief, luscious moment, then moved up to kiss her neck. “You stopped,” she said, pouting just a little.
“I hate doing the expected,” Jammer said with a twinkle in his eyes. “That gets boring.”
“I’ll have to remember to keep my big trap closed.”
2
“I LIKE YOUR BIG TRAP just the way it is,” he said, “Clever mouth and all.”
“Clever mouth?” she asked with a tiny smile that spoke volumes. With all her might she reared up, her hands planted firmly on his oh-so-broad shoulders. She startled him, and when he landed flat on his back on the bed with her straddling him, he laughed out loud.
Callie felt every inch of his erection, and every inch of her throbbed from the inside out.
Without warning, she covered his mouth in a swoop of heat and put every seductive nuance into it. She teased, withdrawing and making him chase her, then erotically licking the line of his lips before she pushed her tongue between. A hot, desperate need went down to her pores as she kissed him. When she broke the kiss, she smoothed both palms over his skin and dragged her tongue across his nipple, then suckled.
He groaned deep in his chest, his body trembling beneath hers. He gripped her hips, wedging closer. His hand slid upward, along her ribs, teasing the underside of her breasts, cupping her and massaging her engorged nipples.
“You certainly aren’t predictable, Gina.”
Her lips quirked. “I would rather not be remembered as being boring. When you think about me down the road, I want you to smile.”
“Ah, you’re not going to be like Cinderella and leave the ball too soon, are you?”
“Cinderella? I’m no one’s lackey.”
“Of course not. Didn’t mean it that way.”
“What did you mean?”
“The prince was so in the dark about who she really was. To him, she was mystery and intrigue. So much so, he had to find her and make her his.”
She looked away, hearing way too much meaning in his voice, the slant of his mouth, the banked need in his eyes. She didn’t know what her eyes would give away at that moment, but she didn’t dare risk it. So she went for flirtation, dropping further into her Gina persona to hide the feelings that Callie harbored for this man-a man she was planning on destroying.
“Awww, does the prince need a plaything for just a little bit longer?”
“Mmm-hmm, and he has a glass slipper he wants to try on for size.”
She breathed a mental sigh of relief when he moved with her into this lighter, teasing banter. It allowed her distance-and distance with this man was the only thing that was going to save her from falling under his very seductive spell.
“From this vantage point, I think it might be just a mite too big. Maybe it’ll fit the ugly stepsister.” It took all her willpower to lie on his hot, muscled body and chitchat with him as if the volatile energy between them wasn’t jolting every atom and air particle in the room.
His laugh was deep and genuine as it vibrated through her torso.
“No, I think this slipper was custom-made for you.” She felt his stomach muscles ridge like sculpted granite as he bowed toward her and latched on to her nipple, giving it a nip. She groaned softly.
Then he suckled her once more, his mouth warm, wet and skilled. Her hips moved in restless thrusts against his pulsing groin.
She slid down his body, slow and gradual, alternately tasting him with her tongue and kissing his smooth chest, down his rigidly defined abdomen and across all his taut, honey-toned skin to his groin. “I’ll have to check out this glass slipper for myself,” she breathed, and he moaned.
But there was nothing transparent or fragile about him or his…slipper.
Jammer was a big man, broad through the shoulders, thick through the chest. He looked like he belonged in a bar, in the role of bouncer, or in the ring as a larger-than-life wrestler.
And the man was more well endowed than Callie had ever seen. He knew how to fill a woman up.
“What are you doing down there?”
She chuckled. “Admiration comes to mind. Hey, aren’t you supposed to be charming?”
“Are you kidding? With you keeping me on erotic tenterhooks, how am I-”
She chose that moment to take him fully and deeply into her mouth, and his words were cut off in a sensual gasp.
He was hot and pulsing in her mouth as she curled her fingers around the base of his cock and sucked.
“You’re killing me, woman.”
She licked and sucked her way to the head of his erection, and Jammer moved his hips restlessly. She looked up at him, to find his eyes riveted on her, filled with a pleasure that transcended the word. And…something more. Something that Callie didn’t want to see and was sure Jammer hadn’t wanted to reveal as his eyes shuttered and he closed them.
A woman’s power over a man in this situation was absolute. She should exploit it, but the reluctance to use him in any way was so firmly ingrained, she couldn’t do it. She knew he worked for a ruthless gunrunner, one who had wreaked havoc on more than one agent from more than one agency, but Jammer was different from the Ghost. He had integrity.
He’d saved Allie’s life and he’d also had a hand in rescuing her brother Max’s new love, DEA agent Rio Marshall, from Fuentes’s stronghold in Hawaii. Max had received a phone call from the Ghost telling him exactly where he could find Rio, but Callie suspected it hadn’t been the Ghost who had made that call. Were the reasons for what Jammer had done altruistic or just a means to further his own plans? Callie didn’t have the answer.
She worked him hard and brought him closer and closer to orgasm.
But she didn’t get the chance. He grabbed her under the arms and jerked her up his body, his eyes alig
ht with a fire and a desire that consumed her.
PURE HEAT AND WILD HUNGER. The power of it sped down his body and fought for escape. Instead, it built, a need like sucking in a lungful of air that wouldn’t come. It almost scared him, opened up feelings he’d buried so he could do what he had to-but fighting it was impossible. Gina made him feel. Just by her very existence. She was her own adventure, her own ruler, and the thrills of putting together a high-risk buy didn’t compare to the ecstasy of Gina naked and pressed against him, her mouth moving savagely over his.
His hands swept up her tight ribs, cupping her breasts, and the contact was electric, her kiss stronger, hurried. He thumbed her nipples in slow circles, and her shudder tumbled into his mouth. Strong thighs clamped him and he broke the kiss and held her gaze as he bent her over his arm and closed his lips on her nipple.
She threw her head back, moaning beautifully, then watched him take her deep into the heat of his mouth. “Now you’re being more than charming,” she breathed.
He smiled against her skin, lifting her higher, his tongue sliding wetly over her breasts, his teeth deliciously scoring the plump underside. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted her screaming. He wanted her weak and panting and vulnerable-only for him.
Her fingers dug into his shoulder. “Now, right now, Jammer.”
“Nope.”
“Killjoy.”
He smiled, then grimaced as she skimmed her hand over his rock-hard erection. He was a man who prided himself on his staying ability, but Gina was sorely testing him. The pleasure that rippled up through him from her clever fingers blindsided him.
His erection flexed in her hand. “Now you’re killing me,” she said. She pushed his penis down, gliding wetly across him, teasing him.
“Now that would be impossible, because you’re so alive!” He tossed her on her back, grabbing the headboard and thrusting into her. He left her completely and slid back, loving the flare in her blue eyes, the smile that never seemed to fade.
She reached up and smoothed her fingers over his jaw, let them flutter down his body as he plunged into her once more.