Hitting Xtremes (Xtreme Ops Book 1)

by Em Petrova

  When he didn’t immediately answer, she spoke again. “Is it because you feel sorry for me?”

  He considered her question. Then he shook his head. “Why should I feel sorry for you?”

  “I was going to ask that myself.”

  “I don’t feel sorry for you.”

  “Then why did you kiss me?” Her back came off the tree, and damn if he didn’t want to grab her and drag her into his lap.

  “I don’t know.” His voice sounded rough.

  “I don’t believe that Captain Penn Sullivan doesn’t have a motive behind everything he does. So why did you kiss me, Penn?” A soft urgency hit her tone, and the glow in her eyes seemed to be ever shifting like the northern lights they sat beneath.

  Goddammit.

  He couldn’t reach out for her.

  Son of a bitch.

  If he laid a hand on her, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

  He clenched his fingers into a fist and gripped his weapon in the other.

  A noise of frustration broke from her. Before he knew what she was about to do, she shot to her knees, shoved his weapon aside and landed in his lap. Straddling him.

  Knocking the breath from him.

  He stared at her up close, his erection rapidly swelling at the swish of her stupid puffy snow pants.

  “Penn.” Her chest heaved, bringing her breasts against his chest. “Why. Did. You. Kiss. Me?”

  The woman was bold, direct and looking at him like she’d never survive another second if he didn’t kiss her again.

  He released his hold on his rifle, keeping it within reach in the event he needed it. Then he slowly stripped off his gloves and lifted his hand to her face. Her cheeks were cold against his warm fingertips, and so damn silky that he lost himself thinking about how tender the skin between her thighs must be.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into his caress.

  Maybe she needed comfort from her grief. Perhaps she was scared and couldn’t admit it to any of them.

  Or she could simply crave his touch as much as he did hers.

  He breathed hard and fast. With her eyes still closed, she gave herself up to his trusting hands.

  “Kiss me, Penn.”

  His gaze roamed over her closed eyelids, over her fine features to her plump lips.

  The coal of desire burning through his gut shredded his last hint of control. With a growl, he threaded his fingers through her hair, pushing the hat off her head as he slammed his lips over hers. Her quiet rasp of bliss jolted his cock to full mast, and he jerked her flush to his body.

  Where her pussy would be through layer after layer settled over his hard length, and fuck if he didn’t want to peel off each and every article of clothing and worship the flesh he found beneath.

  She gripped the front of his coat, curling her fingers tight in the cloth as he drew on her tongue with strong pulls that told him that he was already too far gone.

  He wanted nothing more than to break down all her barriers until she let him claim her as she needed to be—loved long and hard until she was hoarse from screaming in ecstasy. Then to allow him to hold her while she slept, safe in his arms.

  Fucking hell, how to break away from this now that they’d started it? He started it by kissing her on that ridge after she’d scared the hell out of him by putting herself in danger.

  When she swiped her tongue over his, a growl erupted from deep in his chest. He dragged her closer yet, aware of the silence surrounding them and the silken threads of her hair fanning through his fingers as he angled her head to plunge his tongue deeper.

  He swished it against hers, and she melted even more. Christ, he couldn’t imagine how responsive she’d be if he got her in his bed.

  All they had was a cold, hard sleeping pallet in the middle of the frozen wilderness with danger looming over them.

  Right this second, though, he had everything he wanted in his hands and a glorious sky above them.

  He slid his hand down to her nape and dipped a finger inside the collars of her double layer of coats. So fucking soft. So tender, sweet, vulnerable…

  And not for a man like him.

  Still, he couldn’t quit touching her, running his finger around her neck until he located the first zipper. She flattened her palms on his chest and continued to kiss him as he unzipped the first coat to the bottom and went to the top for the second. When he eased his hands inside the layers and settled them on her waist, shock hit him.

  So small. Curvy. Fucking perfect.

  “Jesus,” he breathed out, taking control of the kiss again. He thrust his tongue in and out of her mouth, muffling her quiet squeaks of pleasure. His cock could pound nails and left a ring of wetness in his briefs.

  She moved restlessly against him, and his body knew how to ease her even as his mind told him not to. He ran his hands up her torso to cup her breasts.

  Fuck, they were perfect. Under all those layers, he didn’t know what to expect—if they were small or full. Didn’t matter—they fit his palms to perfection.

  She dropped her head forward, panting as he explored the round curves. When he found the tiny circles of her nipples poking through multiple tops, she gasped and rose against his cock.

  She dropped against him, and he stifled a groan.

  Hell, he had to put a stop to this. But how? He swished his fingers over her crested nipples and they responded to his stroking by distending even more. Clamping them each between thumb and forefingers, he pinched lightly.

  “Ohhh…Penn.” Her murmur sounded like a plea.

  She wanted this—she’d come to him, sat in his lap and was practically demanding he keep touching her.

  He dropped his hands to her waist and squeezed. “Cora.”

  “Don’t you want me? I see the way you look at me.”

  Was he that transparent?

  She ground against his cock. Pleasure-pain of need shot down to his aching balls, and he wondered if she received any pleasure through the thick cloth covering her pussy.

  Suddenly, he stopped. The almost undetectable noise of a boot on snow penetrated through the haze of desire. Gently, he lifted Cora off him—it killed him to do so—and set her beside him at the tree again as he reached for his weapon.

  He flashed to his feet and peered at the pair of men coming toward them—Broshears and Hepburn coming to report.

  “All clear, Penn.” Broshears lowered his weapon.

  He nodded. “Switch off with Gasper and Beckett. Lipton’s already on watch.”

  Broshears nodded and the two men headed toward the tents. Penn waited until they were out of sight before looking down at Cora. Her bit of bare throat, exposed to the elements, practically begging for his mouth.

  He reached down for her hand. She slid hers into his, tangling their fingers. The intimacy of that action plucked a heartstring. Guiding her to stand, he met her eyes. “You need sleep.”

  Her expression disclosed nothing. “Will you be joining me, Penn?”

  He held his breath. Would he?

  Life could be snuffed out so quickly.

  And the burning need in Cora’s eyes undid him.

  Lifting his hand to her face, he grated out, “Yes.”

  She’d always wanted to make out under the northern lights. Maybe the magic of the beautiful display had stolen her mind. Or the cold had finally frozen her final brain cell.

  Or she just wanted this beautiful man with everything in her being.

  The timing was all wrong, and yet was there ever going to be another chance to be with Penn the way she wanted?

  Inside the tent, he braced himself on one elbow, staring down into her eyes as he slowly walked his fingers under the hem of her first top. He hadn’t kissed her again or done anything more than remove their boots and ensure the thermal blanket covered the lower half of her body.

  The look in his eyes cautioned her to be quiet, but once he reached her bare flesh, she had no idea how she’d manage to clamp her lips shut on her gasps of
pleasure.

  Her nipples tightened into two aching pearls that needed more of that exquisite pinching sensation from before. She sat up partway to shed the two outer jackets and pull her arms free.

  Wordlessly, Penn eased her top up her ribs and then over her head. She barely settled on the sleeping pallet before he went for the next layer, this one a thermal and beneath that, a layer of cold weather wear.

  “How many layers are you wearing?” His question was barely a murmur.

  “Alaska girl, remember?”

  In the darkness, she saw the corner of his mouth cut upward sharply into a crooked smile that she wished she could get a snapshot of to study later. Penn’s smile was as elusive as Bigfoot.

  Controlling her panting breaths, she watched his expression as he removed her second layer and then her third. When he had her stripped down to only her sports bra, she didn’t even register the cold. Here in the tent, under his burning gaze, she couldn’t be warmer.

  He ran his thumb down the line of her ribs. “I wish I had a goddamn light.”

  Her heart tumbled. “I don’t know if anybody’s ever said such a nice thing to me before.”

  “Then that’s a damn shame, because you’re beautiful and deserve to be told every damn hour of every damn day.” His rough words shot her pulse higher.

  She eased her hands into his coat and drew it off his shoulders. He maneuvered to help her, and then his broad shoulders clad in black cold wear were exposed to her exploring hands. She touched him, learning the chiseled outlines of those strong shoulders that sheltered, protected and drove her crazy with longing. Moving her hands down to his pecs, she watched his eyes glint and then gleam.

  When she landed on his abs, he stopped her by kissing her. His mouth could be brutally hard, she knew from the kiss on the ridge, or insistent like at the trees. Now, the tender brushing only made her wetter.

  His soft kisses hooked the need up from deep in her core, and she inched closer to him. His callused palm landed on her bare stomach and worked upward. He edged his fingers under the band of her bra and pushed his way up inside. As soon as his hot hand met her bare skin, she bit off a cry.

  “Shhh, my little winter angel. Try not to make noise.” His breath skimmed across her lips, making her shiver.

  She did what she’d been wanting to do all day—she sank her fingers into his thick hair and pulled his head down. He claimed her mouth again, and she plucked at his hair, dragging him deeper, demanding he give her the pleasure she needed right now to get through this ordeal.

  As she bit into his lip, she reveled in his answering rumble. He sucked her tongue into his mouth and drove her to the brink of insanity for an endless heartbeat. Passion blasted through her, and when he pinched her nipple again, she arched off the ground.

  “Fuck,” he ground out, tearing his mouth free. “Let me suck your pretty nipples. Are they pink? Hell, I wish I had a light,” he said for the second time.

  She had no time to think because he shoved her bra upward and captured her nipple between his smoldering lips. He didn’t tease or nibble—the man went straight to sucking in hard pulls that ripped her hips off the ground in a motion she couldn’t control.

  He rolled atop her, trapping her thighs with his own, while her body continued to buck with need pounding through her core.

  She wanted him inside her, to feel the thick length of his cock sliding in and out through her aching walls until orgasms shattered her and the world disappeared.

  Lifting his head from one breast, he looked into her eyes before biting down lightly on her other nipple. The sensation of his hot, rough tongue rotating around the tip until it beaded harder and harder threatened to rip a scream from her. She swallowed it down and pulled his shirt free of his pants.

  The first feel of his washboard abs stole her mind. “Now I wish I had a light,” she whispered.

  He rumbled again, this time with laughter, and captured her mouth. She managed to get his shirt up inch by inch until he had to break the kiss to allow her to remove it. Her bra had come off sometime during the process—she couldn’t remember when or how it happened—but the heat of Penn’s chest against her bare breasts did pull a noise from her this time.

  “Shhh.” Hovering over her, he stared into her eyes as he unfastened her snow pants and then her thick flannel-lined ski pants she wore under that. “Don’t tell me you have three layers on the bottom too.”

  She nodded. “Alaska girl,” she said at the same time he did.

  This time he smiled fully, and she saw the man who really was about to love her. The real Penn Sullivan.

  He pushed every last layer she wore down her hips, thighs, and off her feet. He went for her panties next, and she held her breath as he explored her by trailing his hand down her thigh, cupping around her inner thigh and parting her legs.

  When he skimmed his fingertip over the seam of her pussy, through her panties, her back bowed.

  “Fuck, your panties are wet.”

  She bit into her lower lip to keep from crying out. With a growl, he kissed her as he ran his finger up and down her pussy through her panties until she thought she might come from the contact.

  He swirled his tongue over hers, making it impossible to make a sound. Trembling, she waited for more to come. Then it happened—he tore her panties down and touched her pussy.

  The kiss turned to that brutal one from the ridge, but now she couldn’t get enough. He sank two fingers into her outer lips, burrowing, seeking, until he found the liquid heat of her. He slicked her juices upward until he pressed down on her clit.

  “Oh—”

  He swallowed the rest of what she would have said with another kiss. Hard, demanding, seeking something so deep she could only guess it was her soul. After hip-thrusting minutes, he stopped stroking her clit and moved those two big, long, rough fingers down to the entrance of her pussy.

  He stared into her eyes as he probed her without sinking in as she needed him to.

  “Please.” Her plea came out as a scant breath.

  Holding her gaze, he thrust in—hard. Demanding. Seeking something she could only guess was her soul again. She bucked into his hand, and he buried his face against her throat with a low groan.

  “That’s it, Angel. Use me. Take what you need.”

  The dirty talk sent her up, launching her into the heavens. She saw the northern lights dance behind her closed eyes as he fingered her with a skill that curled her toes, brought her hips off the ground—and drew the biggest, longest orgasm from her of her life.

  Penn opened his mouth over hers to suck in every last cry she gave him. The pulsations of her pussy rippled up his hand and into his arm. Fuck, could his cock be any harder?

  He guided Cora off her peak but he wasn’t nice about it. Each time he thrust his fingers inside her, he spread his finger to stretch her. She was so small, so tight, no way in hell would she fit his cock.

  He massaged her clit, and she trapped her lip between her teeth again.

  “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll come before I’m inside you.” He had no intention of stopping here. Penn never did things by halves, and he would love Cora in every manner possible or not at all.

  He shoved his pants down in the tight confines of the tent and located the condom in his kit. Using his teeth, he tore open the packet and jerked the rubber over his erection. All ten inches overflowed his fist as he gripped it hard to stave off the throb of an orgasm that threatened.

  Cora met his stare and reached up for him, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him down on top of her. Skin met skin. He issued a low hiss of pleasure and poised his mushroomed head at her slick heat.

  Her breasts heaved as she sucked in a deep breath, and then he entered her. One slick glide was all it took to steal the remainder of his mind.

  He filled her tight channel, felt it stretch around his girth and looked down into her eyes.

  “Am I hurting you?”

  She shook her head, stil
l biting into her lip as if to quiet herself from screaming out. He closed his eyes to gather control and then opened them on the withdrawal.

  She shook underneath him. As he hitched her thigh higher on his hip, he slammed his mouth over hers.

  Someday he’d get her to a place where they could be totally alone and she could scream her head off, but right now, that was impossible.

  He shoved deep and switched to short, shallow strokes. He pulled out to rub the head of his cock over her nubbin, and she gripped him hard as she stiffened on a second orgasm.

  Chest swelling with satisfaction, he angled his cock into her pussy again. Burrowing deep, stretching her walls around his cock and losing his damn mind in the process. He soaked up her sweetness and fed her need until she clenched around him.

  Only after he felt her first contraction of release did he let go. With a stifled groan, he kissed her as he pumped hot jets of cum into her body. Something broke inside him, a knot he’d kept too tight for too long, and he didn’t understand until she collapsed under him…and he looked into her eyes…that he understood.

  This was what his brother Nash had talked about when he found his wife. This need to know someone inside and out and know he’d take a bullet through the heart for them.

  Who would ever guess it would be a tough little Alaskan girl he’d held in the darkness as she cried.

  He wanted to enfold her in his arms and tuck her away from all dangers in the world.

  And he couldn’t possibly keep her.

  Chapter Seven

  The icy fingers of dawn teased Cora awake.

  Her mind noted details about her physical self like the small twinges between her thighs that told her she hadn’t dreamed what happened in this tent, and her lips still felt swollen from those demanding, raw kisses Penn had delivered half the night before going out to stand guard over the camp.

  Her time with Penn had been a balm, smoothing over the cuts of what she’d endured and the loss of her father, but it didn’t erase them.

  She opened her eyes. Pain jabbed her deep, and she closed them again to cut off her tears. All the uncertainty in her life crashed in on her like those waves in the Pacific that Gasper spoke of.