by Em Petrova
“Odds are six to one, you asshole. Show yourself,” he ground out.
“Tracks moving deeper into the trees,” Gasper reported. “Broshears and I are on him.”
“Follow them.” Penn looked into the whiteout. His hands were tied. He couldn’t drag Cora along behind him. He had to stand back and trust his team to do this without his leadership.
All of a sudden, he felt the tug at his waistband and his sidearm being ripped free. He whirled to see Cora striding away, through the woods, weapon raised.
“Jesus Christ, woman.” He rushed after her and caught her in a few steps. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m helping the team. I might not wear the uniform, but I’m part of Xtreme Ops right now, and I’m going to fight alongside you.”
Penn issued a low growl. “Let me in front of you at least.” He edged her behind his back and stalked through the woods, following the tracks leading through deep snow. He projected all his senses, taking in the positions of his men and where Cora was at at all times.
“Gasper, Broshears, circle left. I think the fucker’s up ahead, and we’re going to surround him. Beckett, Hepburn, right. Lip—”
“Moving fast.” Lipton’s quick breaths filled Penn’s ear as he hauled ass to get into position.
When Penn stopped, he motioned to bring Cora to a halt too. She shocked him by grabbing his hand.
“Penn,” she whispered.
He slid his gaze to her.
“I killed those men. But…” she glanced down, faltering with words, “I don’t know if I can—”
The hair on Penn’s neck stood on end. With a jerk of an arm, he pulled her in tight just as the knife arrowed through the air and lodged in his shoulder. Shielding her with his body and ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he swung his weapon up, looked straight at Yahontov and shot him between the eyes.
He flew back from the force of the shot, hitting a tree and crumpling in the snow. Cora stifled a cry against Penn’s side.
“Hold your positions. There may be others,” he ordered his team.
“You’ve been stabbed!” Cora burst out.
A cold resolve crept over him, and he focused on his surroundings. “Scout the area. Hep, stay with her.”
The man walked out of the trees toward them, taking over Penn’s position in front of Cora while he rushed up to the dead man. He poked him with his gun. The son of a bitch shouldn’t be so easy to kill. For what he put Cora through, he wanted to go at him with fists and end him with his bare hands. A simple bullet to the brain was too good for the man at the root of so much crime.
Penn ordered his men to search the woods for a two-mile radius. When they only spotted a few animal tracks, Penn circled back to where Hepburn and Cora stood.
His gaze locked to hers. She looked at him like no other woman had ever looked at him. Her blue-gray eyes seemed to burn with so much emotion he couldn’t name and shouldn’t want to, but dammit, he did. He wanted to hear from her lips what she was thinking…feeling.
He closed the distance between them in a few strides. She stood still, hands fisted.
In one quick move, he grabbed her. Yanking her in, he slammed his mouth over hers in a firm, claiming kiss, right in front of his men, and his position be damned.
Her soft gasp burst out of her, and he pressed down harder, more insistently. She surrendered to him, kissing him back with the same degree of need.
Suddenly, he pulled free. Glaring down at her, he said, “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
She searched his eyes. “I can’t guarantee anything.”
He groaned. He heard Hepburn’s chuckle as he walked away from them, providing privacy.
“Hell, Angel.” He dragged her against him again and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, drawing in deep breaths and trying to tell his reactions they were late to the party.
“Penn, you were right all this time. I’m too emotional to do a job like this. When I stabbed Yahontov’s relative—”
He closed his hands on her shoulders. “You stabbed him?”
“Yes, he was coming after me. I stabbed him until he stopped. I didn’t have a choice!”
Fuck. Fucking hell. She’d been alone in the wilderness, in a blizzard, battling for her life. And he hadn’t been close enough to even save her—she had to do that herself.
She went on, “I set the plane down rough on purpose. I thought he’d die, but he didn’t. Then he started to come after me, and I stabbed him. I think when I punctured his liver, he slowly bled out, but I never expected him to have so much fight in him.” She trailed off, staring at Penn’s chest as if reliving the moments in her mind.
“God,” he said quietly. All he wanted to do was block those nightmares from her memories. “I should have been there,” he grated out.
She tipped her head and met his gaze. “Broshears told me that you’re a true leader, and it’s your lack of emotions and detachment that makes you one. I didn’t believe him. I only saw this tender man who held me when he told me my dad died.” Her voice broke. She dropped her stare to his mouth. “And touched me like a lover does.”
“Broshears is right,” he said flatly. The man Cora thought she knew didn’t exist.
She nodded. “I saw that when you shot Yahontov. You have a job to do, and you will do anything in your power to see it finished.” Her gaze roamed over his shoulder, and she gave a sudden gasp. “You still have the knife in you!”
“It’s nothing. I’ll have one of the guys pull it out.”
“No. I’ll do it. We have to make sure it didn’t hit anything vital first.”
“It didn’t,” he said, unable to look away from her beautiful face. To think of her crashing that plane in hopes of stopping those men. And then stabbing Gavrie Yahontov several times to stop his pursuit of her… Penn wanted to roar at the sky.
“Sit down here against this tree. I can’t see where the blade entered your skin. Your coat is too bulky.”
“Cora.” He cupped her face, stopping her from fussing over him. “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”
She stared at him.
“What did you mean that I was right about you being too emotional to do a job like this? You kept your wits every single minute you were with those guys. I don’t know if I’ve seen a better pilot than you.”
Her eyelids fluttered at his words.
“You took my sidearm and shot at that man on the ridge. You did it again just a bit ago, when you stormed after a dangerous drug trafficker on foot. Cora, I’m the one who was wrong. Just because you shed some tears doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human, and even stronger for knowing who you are and not running away from it.”
She searched his gaze. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, I’m waiting for you to give me hell for taking this knife in the shoulder.” His lips twitched.
“I should.” She lifted her jaw a notch and focused on the knife protruding from his muscle.
“I probably won’t listen to a word you say.”
She fought her smile. “Stubborn ass.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“So I’m an ass now.” Her eyes narrowed.
“Yes. You disobeyed a direct order.”
“To do what?”
“Stay in the hotel room.” He cut his brow upward to jog her memory.
She brushed off his words. “You wouldn’t expect your team to stay put.”
“They’re trained.”
“I showed myself to you to keep you from boarding that ship that was rigged to blow.”
“You actually think we would have boarded without doing a thorough investigation first?”
“Fine, I’ll give you that. I’m good, though.”
He contemplated her as she used her knife to slice into his coat, creating a bigger hole to see Yahontov’s blade buried in his shoulder. “You are good,” he said softly.
She dropped her eyes. “But emotional.”
<
br /> “So am I.”
Her gaze shot to his. “You?”
“Yes. You scared me to death. I thought my heart would explode before I ever reached you, Cora.” He raised his hand to cradle her delicate jaw. “If you ever get this knife outta my shoulder, I’m going to sweep you off to a luxury cabin and keep you in bed…under me…all night long.” He pitched his voice lower with each word, and her eyes hooded. She shivered at his final promise.
Then she gripped the knife handle and yanked it out. A scream threatened to escape, but he clamped his lips shut and ground his teeth at the pain and fresh trickle of blood soaking his coat.
She held up the knife. “You’re right. Didn’t hit anything.” She swiped the bloody blade through the snow and then held it up for him to see.
“Cora, don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can’t do something.”
For the first time, she smiled. “I won’t. Especially not a know-it-all captain like you. Did I see snowmobiles back there?”
He nodded.
“Heated seats?”
He nodded again. “You’ll ride with me.”
She leaned in and brushed her mouth across his in a kiss that held her own promises. “That’s an order I won’t refuse.”
Chapter Thirteen
Cora stretched her heated limbs in the bubbling waters of the soaker tub. The water came up to her chin, and she never wanted to get out.
There was a lot to be said for being warm, and any Alaskan appreciated the luxury. Soaking in the tub with ten jets aimed at her sore spots would be something she dreamed about for a long time after this.
When Penn said luxury cabin, the man was true to his word. The two-bedroom log cabin was nestled on the edge of a frozen lake. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, Cora had stood watching the snow fall in big, beautiful, sparkling flakes for long minutes after Penn left with his men to debrief.
The entire place was decorated in muted shades of cream and tan with accents of red. Rustic knickknacks dotted the stone fireplace mantel and the end tables in the living room. On the big square, rustic wood coffee table, she’d seen several books on Alaska as well as some magazines far more current than a two-year-old Cosmopolitan.
Thinking of some of the articles she read in the past—and one in particular that had spurred her to try that move on Penn while giving him a blowjob—made her body tingle in a way that wasn’t at all relaxing.
It amped her up, shot desire through her lower belly until it coiled between her thighs. She clamped them together and closed her eyes, thinking of all Penn would do to her once he returned.
She wiggled her bottom in the tub, restless from her thoughts. If he didn’t return soon, she might have to take matters into her own hands and ease the throb of need she’d been feeling ever since Penn left her with a smoldering, tongue-tangling kiss and the order to stay put—he meant it this time.
This might be the last time she ever saw Penn. In his line of work, he wouldn’t have many chances to blow into backwoods Alaska and spend time with her. The idea of him going left her with a pang of despair.
She really needed to crack these feelings for Penn. If only they had more time. If they’d met under different circumstances…then she’d be falling in love with him.
But the grief she bore for her father was still a fresh wound without so much as a scab over it yet. She needed to return to her small cabin and face his belongings and see him given a proper funeral service.
Those emotions were too bumpy to navigate on top of figuring out what she felt for Penn. Being with him day after day hadn’t lessened her desire to see him. Exactly the opposite.
How long would they have together in this cabin?
How long did she think she could hide from her problems?
When she swished her fingers through the water, she brushed against something warm and solid. Snapping her eyes open, she gasped.
Penn knelt next to the tub, shirtless, his carved muscles pronounced in the soft twilight streaming through the bathroom windows.
“How did you get in without me hearing you?” she asked.
“You looked to be asleep.” His soft tone plucked at the invisible strings inside her that she was beginning to believe were directly tied to the man.
“I wasn’t asleep.” She bit into her lip.
A low growl vibrated through his chest, animalistic and primal as hell. She sat up at the same moment he reached into the water for her. He cupped her ass and dragged her up and out, gaining his feet and carrying her, dripping wet, across the bathroom without so much as a care.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her skin erupting in goosebumps at his touch.
He reached the bedroom door adjoining the bathroom and strode across the thick carpet. The log wood bedframe rushed past her vision a split second before he laid her on the mattress, plush with a thick cream comforter and fur and plaid pillows scattered across the headboard.
She sprawled out, uncaring about her damp body. She only cared about how Penn was staring at her…like he was hungry—and she was a meal.
His dark eyes sparked over her body, leaving tiny explosions of want over every inch. She drew her fingers through the hair spattered across his chest, abs and down to a thick love trail disappearing into his jeans.
“I’ve never seen you this way before,” she murmured in awe at how rugged and handsome he could be in casual clothes rather than the gear she was used to seeing. She skidded her gaze over his bared torso and up.
“I’ve never seen you so relaxed.” He braced himself over her, keeping his chest scant inches from her bare, straining nipples.
“Well, I was relaxed before. Now…not so much.” She offered him a smile and threaded her fingers into his hair, drawing him close.
He dropped his forehead against hers, breathing harder. Faster. Giving her all the signs that he was as affected by her as she was him.
“Angel, I couldn’t wait to be alone with you,” he rasped.
She shivered. “Me either.”
“You’re cold.”
“I’m only shivering because I want you so bad.”
He met her stare and then leaned in and kissed her. The soft claiming of his lips began slow and thorough. Moans burst from her, and her body lit on fire at the very first taste of him—musk, pine, and a hint of coffee. Her nipples bunched against his chest, and she wiggled closer to ease the ache in them.
He deepened the kiss, cupping her head and angling to plunge between her lips with thrusts that mimicked what he’d done with his cock not long ago. She squeezed her thighs together and gave herself up to the burning inferno of Penn kissing her.
Then he edged his fingers up from her hip to her waist, and higher to her breast. When he closed his finger and thumb around her beaded nipple, she cried out. He swallowed the noise she made and fed her a raw one of his own.
“I’m going to make you come all night for me.”
She closed her eyes on the sensation of his callused fingertips working over her nipple. Pinching, plucking… Her pussy throbbed, and juices flooded out.
Penn caught her gaze for a moment and then held her stare while he lowered his mouth to her breast. As he engulfed her in his hot mouth, she dug her fingers into his spine.
“Yes!”
He teased her with strong sucking pulls alternating with tender flicks of his tongue that tasted every bit of her breast but the spot she most wanted his touch. She bowed upward, and he trapped her other breast under his palm, rubbing in a light circle as he’d done in the shower days before.
Need crackled through her. She didn’t realize she was begging until she heard his answering grunt and felt the rumble in his chest that told her he was about to lose control too.
He bit down lightly on her other nipple and drew it upward from her body. She reached between them and stroked the hard bulge in the front of his jeans. Up and down, up and down until he pulled back so she couldn’t touch him.
“I need my wits, Ang
el. I want you too fucking bad.”
“Take off your jeans. I don’t want you to hold back.”
His biceps bulged as he lowered himself over her again, settling himself between her splayed thighs. The hard edge of denim rubbed against her most sensitive folds. She moaned as her swollen clit met the base of his thick, rock-hard cock.
Instinctively, she began to rub herself on him. The roughness against her bundle of nerves shot her upward fast and hard until she was gasping, quaking on the edge of release.
“Penn!”
“Fuck, I love watching the pleasure on your beautiful face.” He kissed her, plunging his tongue into her mouth. She sucked on him, drawing a guttural groan from his throat.
She couldn’t take it anymore—she needed him. Buried inside her. Stroking her to orgasm. Forcing away any worries but how to get him between her legs.
She popped the button of his jeans, and he tore his lips free. He shot down her body, nipping and biting at her skin, raising tiny red splotches all over her that she’d forever recall when she thought of Penn loving her. When he grasped her thighs and nudged them wide, his hot breath hit her wet pussy. She cried out, but the sound muffled as he locked his lips over her clit.
He sucked. She arched. He lapped. She bucked. On and on it went until dizziness claimed her, and she only felt Penn’s mouth and the exquisite bliss about to rock her world.
The feminine scent of Cora’s lust had Penn teetering on the brink.
He claimed a lot of conquests in his past, but right now, he couldn’t remember a single one. Cora had burrowed deep in his heart and now there was no turning from the fact.
He was in love with her.
Days—it took mere days for her to change his mind about love and relationships…to change him into a different man.
He didn’t know how he’d make it work, how he’d find time to see her and show her how important she’d become to him while still leading the team. Hell, Xtreme Ops was barely an infant operation. The guys were just beginning to bond. They had come far in a few short days but had so far to go.
