by Desiree Holt
He skewered her with the heat in his eyes. “You sure you’re up for this? It’s been a draining day, absorbing and researching all this stuff.”
“I need it more than ever. I need you more than ever. Do you want me to beg?”
“Fuck, no,” he growled.
He cradled her ass, lifting her, and she wound her legs around his waist, pushing her breasts to his chest.
“I want you, Viper. I need you.”
“I want you, too.”
He walked them into his bedroom, where he grabbed the bed covers and yanked them back. He was just as rough when he placed her on the mattress and began pulling off her clothes. Shoes, jeans, T-shirt, bra. He took a moment to pinch each nipple, squeezing them hard enough to send delicious shivers of pain spearing through her. Then he yanked off her panties, crumpling them in his big fist. When he held them up to his face to inhale her scent, her inner walls spasmed.
“Jesus, Hannah. Your scent is…incredible.”
Then he tossed the panties aside, knelt between her thighs and placed her legs over his shoulders. When he used his thumbs to open her sex wide, electricity shot through her. He licked the soft inner skin before pulling her clit into his mouth. The rasp of his tongue against her sensitive flesh nearly made her come right then and there. When he did it again and again, she had to clench her fists to maintain some semblance of control.
“Please,” she begged.
He looked up from his place between her thighs. “Please what, darlin’?”
“Please…fuck me. Now.”
The strain of everything seemed to coalesce into a hard ball that only his thick cock inside her could relieve.
“I live to serve,” he told her, before rising to his feet.
She’d never seen a man undress so fast. He tossed his clothes everywhere, grabbed a condom from the nightstand drawer and rolled it on. Then, taking her legs and pushing them back to open her wider, he poised for one moment at her entrance before thrusting inside.
Oh, god!
He filled her completely, his thickness taking up every inch of space and then some, and it aroused her beyond her imagination. She wrapped her legs around him to lock his body to hers and managed to flex her inner muscles to clamp down on him. He lowered his head and took one aching nipple in his mouth, sucking on it.
“Bite me,” she begged. “Bite my nipple.”
He clamped his teeth over the tight bud and bit down just hard enough to send pleasure shooting through her. When he moved his mouth and focused on the other one, she arched up to press her breasts against his lips. He’d learned she didn’t hold back anything as far as sex was concerned, but where was this really aggressive female coming from? She’d never been like this, hot and hungry and demanding, with anyone until Viper and it raised her need even more.
Viper drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly and kept his gaze still locked with her as he drove into her again and again. His strokes were hard and swift, his dick filling every inch of her. With her legs wrapped around his waist, she pressed her heels into the small of his back, nearly lifting her body to his. He thrust harder and faster, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Pinch your nipples,” he ordered.
She palmed her breasts and squeezed the hard tips, matching the thrusts of her body with her own. The orgasm spiraled up from deep inside her—then there it was, the explosion, only a second behind his. They shuddered together, his cock throbbing against the walls of her sex, his hips pushing again and again, her inner walls squeezing him. She didn’t know whose heart was beating harder, hers or his.
At some point, the intensity subsided, finally leaving her weak and depleted. She could tell Viper was the same. He braced himself on his elbows, arms shaking slightly, catching his weight, then slid his mouth over hers. He licked the edges of her lips before giving her a soft kiss.
“I don’t know what lucky star sent you my way,” he told her, “but I’ll be forever grateful. I’m going to take care of you and protect you—we’re going to do that, the whole team—so you and I can get on with our lives.”
She smiled at him, her body soft and liquid, all her important places happy. She flexed the muscles in her core, squeezing his dick and eliciting a small groan from him.
“You’ll be the death of me, Hannah, but what a way to go.” He grinned at her. “Let’s get up and shower and we’ll talk about dinner. Then we can go over what we all dug up today and match it with what Tom Rodriguez told Rocket. How about if I fix us some drinks? We can sit on the patio and dissect it. Then dinner.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “And after, I think we can find some way to spend the rest of the evening.”
“I think that would be great.” She squeezed her thighs against his hips. “If only you didn’t have to get up to do it.”
His laugh was low and sexy and rough. “All I need is a little rest to recharge and I’ll be happy to be of service again.” A serious expression washed over his face. “Hannah, I know it’s been less than a week, and I’m not given to saying shit like this. However, what we’ve got going here, I’ve never had with any other woman. I hope you’ve never had it with anyone else, either, because once we get this shit taken care of, I want us to build a future together.”
“I’d like that, too.”
She could hardly believe she was saying this. Her personality had never clicked with anyone else’s and she’d resigned herself to never having anything permanent with anyone, at least someone who meant something to her and who got her. Viper was turning out to be a real gift in many ways.
“Okay. Let’s get crackin’.” He gave her another soft brush of his lips. “But next time we’re taking it slow and easy.” Heat flared in his eyes. “And maybe we’ll be a little adventurous.”
Every pulse point throbbed in response to his words. She wet her lips.
“I’m ready.”
He stared into her eyes for a long time. “Me, too.”
Chapter Fifteen
Diesel had just poured himself a drink to settle his edginess when his cell rang. When he saw Ed Fletcher’s name in the readout, a tiny thread of hope wriggled through him.
“If you’re calling this late,” he told Fletcher, “I’m going to hope it’s with good news.”
“Almost.”
“Almost? Jesus Christ, Fletcher.” He wanted to throw the damn phone out the window. “Either you located the plane or you didn’t.”
“Calm down, will you? We’re doing the best we can. This is not a simple situation.”
“What’s so fucking complicated about it? Did you find it?”
“It took a lot of work to narrow it down to what we have,” he growled. “Let me tell it my way.”
Diesel tossed back a healthy swallow of his drink. Before this was all over, he might turn into a full-fledged alcoholic.
“So give.”
“We went down the list we compiled and eliminated all but one. Good thing I had a bigger crew with me, because it was a pain in the ass.”
“It’ll be more than a pain in the ass,” Diesel snapped, “if we don’t find this woman and get rid of her. So you found it?”
“We’ve eliminated it down to one. But you won’t like this. It belongs to some phantom company called Galaxy, which is owned by four former SEALs.”
Diesel’s stomach knotted. He’d been in both sides of this business long enough to know that SEALs were total badasses. If Hannah Modell were involved with former SEALs, getting to her was going to be a much bigger problem than they’d imagined. How the fuck did she hook up with them, anyway?
“What do they do with the goddamn plane? Run a charter service?”
“Worse than that,” Fletcher told him. “I got this information from someone who knows a good friend of theirs and had to swear in blood I would never let anyone know who told me. They run a dark security and black ops agency, taking jobs no one else will or can handle. Kind of like a last-resort operation, which is how they refer to themselves. They don’t ha
ngar the plane at any airport, either.”
Diesel frowned. “Where do they keep it?”
“They bought a large piece of property outside the city limits, and built a hangar and a runway.”
“And the city doesn’t object?”
“If you’ve got enough money, you can get anything done.”
“But this still doesn’t tell us where the Modell woman is,” Diesel pointed out. “Do you at least have the names of the SEALs?”
“I’m not a total dumbass,” Fletcher snapped. “I wanted to have everything I could get before I called you. Four friends, former SEALs, own it. I’m in the process of identifying where they all live. We’ll go from there. Plus I have a team heading out to where they hangar the plane. Spend enough money and you can get at least some of the information you need.”
“Just don’t get caught.”
“You think I’m stupid?” Fletcher’s tone was edgy. “After all this time? It’s dark, and we’ve got sophisticated equipment that can detect security sensors.”
“Hurry,” he snapped, and disconnected the call.
Of all the things that puzzled him, the question of how Hannah Modell had hooked up with these people was still at the top of the list. He almost dreaded another call from Henry asking for an update, because this really changed the situation. This was a lot more than getting their security people to bust into someone’s house, tell whoever was there that Hannah was wanted for murder and treason, and grab her.
As if the thought had conjured the man up, his cell buzzed again and Henry’s name appeared in the window.
“We’re making progress,” he said by way of greeting.
“I damn sure hope so. The word is I am a shoo-in for the chairmanship. If that gets fucked, not only will a lot of people be pissed, and there’s a ton of money they’ll lose, but our lives won’t be worth ten cents. These are not nice people, Diesel. They don’t take defeat or screwups at all. They’ll kill you as soon as pour you a cup of coffee.”
“No one is more aware of that than I am,” he reminded the other man. “But trust me. We have a lead on her and expect to have her in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Don’t expect. Do it. Period. We need the announcement that she’s been apprehended and will be brought to justice at once. And in the next two days.”
Diesel’s entire body tensed with a combination of anger and irritation. He didn’t need Henry to keep pounding that home. He was as aware of it as everyone else. Before he could say something that would set the other man off even more, he disconnected the call, and decided he needed another drink.
* * * *
Viper woke to the sound of an alarm coming in short bursts. At first, he thought it was the house system going off. But then he blinked and realized it was one of two satellite phones he kept on his nightstand. He picked it up, pushed a button and said, “Who’s on?”
Four voices answered.
“It’s the hangar,” Eagle said. “I’m on my way right now.”
The hangar? What the fuck?
“Me, too.” Saint’s voice.
“And me,” Rocket added.
They all had satellite phones that allowed them to communicate as one group. The cell phones were great but did not have the same facility. Many times, like now, it was a very important element of what was happening.
The alarm setup at the hangar was pretty sophisticated and had more than one level of security. Like the house, even an EMP couldn’t take it out completely. It connected to the homes of all four partners, plus Saint. And it was soundless and dark, so it gave no warning to intruders. It only fed to their satellite phones.
They also had an understanding with the county sheriff’s department, since it was located outside the city limits. Viper knew that Saint was calling them even as he headed for the hangar.
“Viper.” Blaze’s voice came through the sat phone. “You stay put. If they’re after the plane, they probably identified all of us by now and know where we live. People like this can find out anything. Although I have no idea why they are targeting the plane.”
“Maybe to blow it up,” Rocket suggested. “So we can’t beat a hasty retreat out of town.”
“Fuck.” Viper sat up and ran his fingers through his hair.
“You and I have something to protect besides property,” Rocket reminded him. “We need to stay back and do that.”
“No shit.” ‘No shit’ was right.
“Can Hannah shoot?” Blaze asked.
Viper frowned. “I have no idea.”
“If we get past tonight—no, when we get past tonight—you need to take her out to the range at the hangar.”
“Ten-four on that.”
“All right, everyone.” This was Blaze. “The line is open. Waiting for a report from the others.”
Viper wanted to smash something. This definitely had to do with Lowden and the political crap that was going on. No one else would try to break into their property. They had finished with their last client before Hannah had blown into their lives and they didn’t have any disgruntled holdovers from other cases. They were very careful to make sure that never happened.
The question was, what did these people want with the plane? What could they do with it? Stealing it under these circumstances was next to impossible. How would it get them closer to finding and grabbing Hannah? Surely they didn’t think she’d be one of the people showing up at the hangar. He knew he needed to stay here with Hannah and not leave her unprotected, but he really wanted to be out there grabbing these guys and beating the information out of them.
As Viper rose from the bed to tug on his boxer briefs and jeans, Hannah rolled over.
“What time is it?” she mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep.
“Three-thirty.”
She sat bolt upright. “In the morning?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He pulled on a T-shirt, then grabbed his gun from the nightstand drawer.
“What’s happening, Viper? Why do you need your gun? Where are you going?”
“The gun is for insurance. Same reason I keep it next to me when we’re working. No situation is perfect and I leave nothing to chance. And where I’m going is to get a cup of coffee. Come with me so I can tell you what’s going on.”
“Absolutely.”
He could tell she was wide awake now. She was right behind him in the kitchen, pulling out mugs while he took out the pods for the single-serving brewer. When they both had full mugs, they carried them to the counter and sat on the high stools, where he filled her in on what was happening.
She stared at him. “They’re at the hangar? How did they even find it? It’s not like there’s a sign or anything. Plus they’d have to know it’s yours, right?”
“Unless they were checking out all the Gulfstream 550s in the Tampa Bay area.” He swallowed some coffee. “Hannah, you’ve read the stuff we keep digging up. These people can find out anything about anyone. At least for the most part. And if they have our names but don’t know where we live, maybe they thought there was some information out there.”
“But how would they even know what kind of plane to look for?”
“When you have enough money, which they do, you can find out anything. You just have to—”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Saint’s voice on the sat phone.
“I’m here, and I’ve got a present for you guys. One got away, but we’ve got the other two. Sheriff’s deputies are hauling them to be booked.”
“Plus,” Rocket added, “we have the car they drove in and we’re running it through Zander’s Stargazer to see if we come up with anything.”
“We’re tagging along with the deputies.” This from Eagle. “They said we could watch the questioning, but I don’t think they’ll get much out of these guys.”
“Why not?” That was Blaze’s voice.
“These guys are tougher than rubber boots. They remind me of the enemies we came up against in some of our mi
ssions. They’ll die before they give anything up.”
Blaze was shocked. “But this isn’t religious zeal or a commitment to a cause, like those guys.”
“Maybe in a way it is,” Rocket told them. “Anyway, stay ready and one of us will call after the questioning. Saint put in a call to the two guys we’ve used before. Told them to get their asses out here and watch the premises. Doesn’t hurt to have live bodies if we’ve got a target on our backs. Meanwhile, Viper, be sure and check everywhere around your house. Check for strange cars.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Viper broke in. “I’ve done this a time or two before. On it. But, Blaze? Your setup’s a little more dicey. People could be checking you out and you might not know it.”
Blaze lived in a townhouse, a situation that could allow people to use the adjoining homes to mask what they were doing.
“Oh, I’ll know it,” he assured them. “I know everything about my neighbors, including where their freckles are. I’m good here. You guys just check your situations and one of us will call after the cops finish questioning these assholes. Leave your sat phones on.”
“Okay, going to check outside.” Viper drained his mug and carried it to the sink.
“I’m gonna check the exterior and see if anything’s going on. Hannah, have you ever fired a gun?”
For a moment, she just stared at him. “A gun?”
“Yes. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to know how. I don’t expect you’ll need it, but I’d feel a lot better.”
Her lips curved in a tiny grin. “No, but I’ve always had a secret urge to learn. Just never had anyone to teach me.”
He couldn’t help laughing. “Well, aren’t you just full of surprises? Okay, we’ll put it on the list and get to it as quick as we can. I’ll feel a lot better if we do. We built an indoor range at the hangar that we use for practice. It’s a good place to learn. Anyway, I’m going to check the outside. Please stay right here in the kitchen. I don’t think anyone can get it in, but let’s play it safe.”
“I trust you to take care of me,” she told him.
