Six Minutes to Midnight

by Elle James

  She smiled. “For the record, I agree. But we’re out here alone. The only people who will know or care will be us.” Kinsley patted the seat beside her. “You need rest, even if you don’t sleep.”

  “I’ve been sitting for the past couple of hours while driving.”

  She raised her brow. “Fine. Suit yourself. I’m going to get some sleep so I can take the next shift.” She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes.

  T-Mac stood in the open door of the truck, staring at Kinsley, knowing that if he got into the truck, he might not be able to keep his hands to himself.

  The woman was sexy without trying. She tipped back her head, exposing the long line of her very pretty, and kissable, neck.

  His lips tingled, and he longed to press them to the pulse beating at the base of her throat.

  Her lips tipped upward at the corners and she chuckled. “You might as well get in and close the door. It gets cold at night in the desert.” The husky tone of her voice made his groin tighten.

  Getting into the truck beside Kinsley was a very bad idea when all T-Mac wanted to do was touch her, taste her and kiss her until they both begged for air.

  Despite what his head was telling him, T-Mac followed his gut. Or was it his heart? Whatever. He climbed into the truck and sat beside Kinsley.

  She tilted her head toward him and opened one eye. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  “Sweetheart, you have no idea,” he murmured.

  She closed her eyes and sighed. “Wake me in two hours.”

  T-Mac forced himself to stare straight ahead. But every time Kinsley shifted, he couldn’t help glancing her way.

  Her head fell back against the headrest, tipped at an uncomfortable-looking angle.

  Before he could think better of it, he found himself saying, “It might be more comfortable lying across the seat.”

  She gave a weak smile. “Thanks. I’ve never been very good at sleeping sitting up.” Kinsley tipped over and tried to fit herself between the driver’s door and T-Mac’s thigh.

  “Seriously.” He snorted. “You can lay your head on my thigh. I promise not to bite.”

  Kinsley sat up, frowning. “Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

  “Oh, babe, I’m way past uncomfortable.” He shook his head. “Just use my leg as a pillow.”

  “But I don’t want to make you uncom—” she started again.

  “Woman, are you always so argumentative?” He gripped her shoulders and pulled her across his lap. “You can’t help but make me crazy, and you don’t even have to touch me to accomplish that.” He kissed her lips hard and then lifted his head. “I’ve wanted to do that since we stopped. And I want to do so much more. But this is neither the time nor the place.” He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. “You’re an amazing woman, and I want so much more than just a kiss.”

  Kinsley’s eyes widened. “Oh.” Then she snuggled into him. “What’s stopping you? Because it sure as hell isn’t me.” She cupped his face between her palms and kissed him. She pulled back until her mouth was only a breath away from his, and then whispered, “It could be a very long night, or far too short. Depends on how you spend it.”

  T-Mac didn’t need more of an invitation than that. “You realize we’ll be breaking all the rules?”

  “Damn the rules.” She kissed him again, this time pushing her tongue past his teeth to slide along the length of his.

  T-Mac held her close, his heart pounding against his ribs. After all that had happened and that short amount of time he’d thought he’d lost her...he couldn’t hold back. He had to hold her, touch her, bury himself in her.

  Her fingers flew across the buttons on his jacket, popping them free of the buttonholes one at a time. When she had his jacket open, she ran her fingers across his chest, the warmth of her hands burning through the fabric of his T-shirt.

  He slipped his hand beneath her uniform jacket and smoothed it up her back and down to the base of her spine. “Once we start down this path, I can’t guarantee I can stop.”

  “I don’t want you to stop. I want you, Trace McGuire. We might not have tomorrow, but we can make good use of tonight.”

  “What about not getting involved with a navy guy?”

  “Tonight, we’re neither army nor navy. We’re just two people, alone in the hills.”

  He chuckled and brushed a kiss across the tip of her nose. “And what happens in the hills stays in the hills?”

  Kinsley nodded. “Something like that.” She raised her hands to her own uniform jacket and pushed the top button free. “Now, are you going to talk, or are we going to make out?”

  He laughed out loud and pulled her into his arms. “I feel like a teen on his first date. All we need is a cheesy song to play and a cop to shine his light into the window.”

  She smiled. “I can do without the cop with the flashlight, but we can make our own music.”

  “I like the way you think, Army.”

  “I like the way you feel, Navy.”

  He helped her with the rest of her buttons and pushed the jacket over her shoulders.

  They became a tangle of hands and clothing in an effort to remove the T-shirts.

  All the wiggling on his lap made him even harder and more desperate to be with her.

  When she reached behind her back to unclip her bra, he pushed her hands aside and flicked the hooks loose and then slid the bra from her shoulders and down her arms.

  Her small, perky breasts spilled into his hands.

  Kinsley inhaled deeply, pressing more firmly into T-Mac’s palms. She cupped the backs of his hands and held him there. “You don’t know how good that feels.”

  He chuckled. “Oh, I think I do.”

  Kinsley shifted her legs until she straddled his hips and slid her center over his growing erection.

  “Darlin’, it doesn’t work that way.”

  “What?” she asked, her voice breathy, as if she couldn’t get enough air past her vocal cords.

  “We have too much between us.”

  Kinsley sighed. “I know. Can we hurry the foreplay along? I’m not a very patient person.”

  T-Mac set her away from him. In a flurry of awkward movements, bumping into the windows, doors and each other, they got naked and spread their clothing out on the seat.

  By then, T-Mac was breathing hard, his body on fire from touching hers so many times in the process of undressing.

  “Uh, this could be a bad time to ask,” Kinsley started, “but I don’t suppose you brought protection?” She laughed nervously. “I mean, it’s not like you think about things like that when you’re gearing up. I wouldn’t expect you to have anything like that. I know I didn’t think to pack it.”

  T-Mac sealed her mouth with a kiss. “Knowing you were on this mission, I packed extra first-aid supplies and even tossed in some protection. Don’t ask me why. My gut instinct has never steered me wrong.”

  “Hear, hear for your gut.” She kissed him hard and once again straddled his hips, skimming her already wet entrance over his rock-hard staff. “So, where is it?”

  “You were serious about skipping the foreplay,” he said.

  “Damn right. Life’s short—you have go for what you want... Be in the moment. You never know when fate will hand you a treasure or stab you in the heart.”

  “Speaking from experience?” he asked softly.

  She nodded. The starlight shining in through the window glinted off moisture in her eyes.

  He gripped her arms. “Did you lose someone you cared about?”

  Again, she nodded without speaking.

  His heart wrenched and he asked the question he wasn’t certain he wanted the answer to. “Someone you loved?”

  * * *

  KINSLEY HAD SPENT the past two years trying to h
eal her broken heart and pushing past her fear of losing someone she cared about enough to let herself fall in love again. She thought she was well on her way to doing just that, until she’d hunkered down outside an Al-Shabaab camp, waiting for T-Mac to appear. All that old fear and anxiety had surfaced and practically consumed her.

  Now that T-Mac was safe and in her arms, she couldn’t let another moment go by without really being with him. She’d spoken her truth about seizing the moment. They might not have tomorrow together. If Al-Shabaab caught up with them, or the rules of Camp Lemonnier kept them apart, they would have only this one moment in time to pack into their memories. Kinsley was determined to make the most of it.

  Their military careers would keep them apart tomorrow, but they had the night.

  Kinsley held out her hand. “If you’ll hand me the protection, we can get this show on the road.”

  T-Mac shook his head. “Not so fast. You might not think foreplay is necessary, but I want you to be every bit as turned on as I am before I come into you.”

  A shiver of anticipation rippled across her skin. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

  “This.” In one fluid motion, he turned her over and pinned her to the seat and cushion of clothing.

  She giggled. “Are you always so eager with your women?”

  T-Mac kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose, and nibbled her left earlobe before replying. “Just so you know, I don’t have women. I’m not celibate, but there’s no woman in my life except the one lying beneath me at this moment.”

  Her body heated at his warm, resonant tone. “I’d understand if you had a female in every port.”

  “That’s nice. But I don’t.” He trailed kisses down the side of her throat and lingered at the base, where her pulse beat hard and fast.

  Kinsley squirmed beneath him, wanting more than just his lips, more than kisses.

  Then he moved down her body, trailing his mouth, his tongue and his hands. He slowed to suck one of her nipples between his teeth and rolled it around.

  She arched her back off the seat, pressing her body closer, a moan rising up her throat.

  He flicked the hardened bud of her nipple with his tongue again and again. Then he moved to take the other nipple into his mouth and gave it the same delicious treatment.

  Kinsley’s core tightened, coiled and heated. She threaded her hands in his hair, urging him to take more.

  He did, pulling hard on her breast, alternating between flicking and nipping at the tip.

  Then he abandoned her breasts and moved lower, skimming across her ribs, tonguing a warm trail, stopping to dip into her belly button. When he reached her mound of curls, he parted her folds and dragged his finger across that strip of flesh tightly packed with nerves.

  A moan rose up Kinsley’s throat, and she dug her fingernails into his scalp. “Oh...dear...sweet...”

  He touched her there with the tip of his tongue.

  Kinsley moaned again, her hips rising to meet that tongue, willing him to do that again.

  T-Mac swept a warm, wet path through her folds and dipped a finger into her slick channel.

  Her entire body quivering, Kinsley ached for what came next. She wanted him. Inside her. Now.

  But he wasn’t finished with her. Apparently, he wanted to torture her into submission, one incredibly delicious lick or stroke at a time.

  His tongue worked magic on her nubbin while his fingers teased her entrance and dipped in, first one, then another until three stretched her opening, preparing her for him.

  Tension built inside, centering at her core. Her muscles tightened and she dug her feet into the seat cushion, pressing upward. “Please,” she begged.

  “Please what?”

  “I want you.”

  He chuckled, his warm breath playing across her wetness. “Sweetheart, you have me.”

  “No. Now. Inside me,” she said, her voice breathy. She couldn’t breathe, she was so caught up in the sensations he evoked. “I need you.”

  “But you’re not there yet.” He blew a stream of warm air across her nubbin and then flicked it with his tongue.

  A shock of electricity ripped through her from the point where T-Mac touched her all the way out to the tips of her fingers, tingling all the way.

  He flicked again and again, refusing to let up and give her a chance to fill her lungs, think or pull herself together. She came apart at the seams, rocketing to the stratosphere, any modesty left in the dust of the African desert gone. She soared into the heavens, crying out his name as she launched.

  For a long moment, she remained suspended, somewhere between earth and heaven, every nerve on fire, her blood moving like molten lava through her veins.

  When she finally came back to earth, she tugged on T-Mac’s hair. “Now. I need you now,” she said, her voice hoarse with emotion.

  He crawled up her body, leaned up on his knees and grabbed the foil package he’d set on the dash earlier. He tore open one end and shook out the protection into his palm.

  Impatient, and past caring how pushy she looked, Kinsley snatched the item from his palm and rolled it over his distended erection.

  When he was fully sheathed, she positioned him between her legs.

  T-Mac took over, pressing against her entrance, his gaze meeting hers. “Tell me to stop, and I will.” He gave her a crooked grin. “It’ll be hard, but I can walk away if you change your mind.”

  Before he finished talking, she was already shaking her head. “You’re not walking away now.” She gripped his buttocks in both hands and pulled him closer. He penetrated her, easing in, careful not to hurt her, giving her channel time to adjust to his girth.

  The deliberateness was excruciating. More painful than anything, and she could do nothing to stop it. She almost pounded her forehead in frustration. Why did he insist on going so slowly? Gripping his bottom, she guided him in and out, setting a rhythm both comforting and exciting.

  T-Mac drove deep, filling her to completely full, stretching her inside and creating a friction so wonderful, it set her body on fire.

  She urged him to go faster and faster, until he pounded into her like a piston.

  Kinsley rose up to greet each thrust with one of her own. The slapping sound of skin on skin echoed inside the truck cab.

  T-Mac’s body stiffened. He thrust one last time, going as deep as he could get and froze, his shaft pulsing with his release. His breathing came in ragged breaths, his chest heaving, a sheen of perspiration making his body glisten in the starlight penetrating through the windshield.

  When at last he relaxed, he lay down on her, covering her body with his. He gathered her in his arms and kissed her long, hard and thoroughly, stealing her breath away and caressing her tongue.

  When at last he eased off to let her fill her lungs again, she let go of a shaky laugh. “Wow.”

  He chuckled. “That’s all? Just wow?”

  “You so rocked my world, my brain is mush and my vocabulary reduced to one-syllable words. Thus...wow.”

  He lifted her off the seat, removed the condom and settled his body on the cushion, draping her over his chest. “This way I don’t crush you.”

  “I’d die a happy death.” She laid her head against his heart and listened to the fast, steady rhythm. “Think Al-Shabaab will find us tonight?”

  “I doubt it,” he said.

  “Good.” Her fingers curled softly into his chest. “Then you can stay with me.”

  He rested his hand over hers. “Someone needs to stay awake in case they find us.”

  “I’m willing to risk it if you are.”

  He inhaled deeply, the movement raising her up and then lowering her downward. “Much as I’d like to lay here with you and feel your body against mine all night, I’d better get out there and keep both eyes open.”

  She
sighed. “Wake me in an hour and a half. I’ll take the next watch.”

  He didn’t answer, just shifted into a sitting position, levering her across his lap. He cupped her breasts in his palms. “You know, you’re beautiful beneath all that camouflage.”

  She wiggled against his stiff erection. “You’re not so bad yourself.” Kinsley leaned into his palms. “Care to go for round two?”

  “I’d love to, but I only had the one condom.”

  “It’s too bad we’re not close to a drugstore.” She cupped his cheeks and bussed his lips with a hard kiss. “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “For what?”

  “For not being selfish, and making it just as good for me as it was for you.” Kinsley frowned. “It was good for you, wasn’t it?”

  “Darlin’, if it had been any better, I would be passed out or dead from a heart attack.” He lifted her off his lap and set her on the seat beside him. He dragged on his trousers and boots and then slipped out the passenger door to stand on the ground.

  Kinsley dressed in her bra, T-shirt and panties, her gaze on T-Mac as he covered his glorious body one item of clothing at a time. What a shame that he had to cover all that taut skin and those bulging muscles.

  She dragged her trousers up her legs and buttoned them, then pulled on her boots with a sigh. They were back in uniform, back to reality. Soon, they would be back at Camp Lemonnier, where they wouldn’t even be able to hold hands or kiss without the threat of an Article 15.

  “Sleep. You don’t know what tomorrow might bring,” T-Mac said. “You’ll need your strength.” He left her alone in the truck and disappeared around the giant boulder to take up a position where he could watch the road.

  With a yawn, Kinsley leaned over the back of the seat to check on Agar.

  He lifted his nose and touched her hand.

  “At least I will have you after the SEALs redeploy back to the States.”

  Agar nudged her hand and licked her fingers.

  There had been a time when she thought loving Agar was enough. His loyalty was unquestioned, his love unconditional. But he wasn’t a man. Kinsley hadn’t realized just how much she needed the warmth and physical contact only a man could give her.