by Liliana Hart
He couldn’t go so far as to say what they had between them was more than a chemical and physical connection for the moment, but he wasn’t opposed to exploring to see if it could become something more. And that wasn’t something he’d ever thought he’d be willing to try again. He’d given up the thought of having a long-term relationship. But with Audrey, he wanted to try. Because just being next to her, just talking to her—and then God, that kiss—made his body ache and want more than he ever had before.
He was thirty-six years old and was experienced when it came to women. He knew the feelings between him and Audrey were rare, and he wasn’t willing to let them go so easily.
Before he could dwell on it anymore, he picked up the satellite phone and called Declan.
“MacKenzie,” Dec answered.
“You’ve sent me into a complete clusterfuck.”
“Jesus, Ryan. I just sent you to retrieve one agent. How hard is could it be?”
“Almost fucking impossible when it turns out Jonah Salt is alive and she’s been hunting him down like a dog for shooting her three times in the chest. Not only that, but Salt has his foot on Russia’s balls by wiring up a few of their oil tankers with explosives and blackmailing them for money. And, oh yeah, did I mention that Jonah Salt is fucking Proteus?”
“Fuck me,” Dec said, the surprise evident. “Start over from the beginning.”
Archer ran through everything that had happened since he’d found Audrey in the warehouse, standing over the bodies of Russian Intelligence agents.
“What do you need?” Dec finally asked.
“I need as much information as you can get on an area called The End of the World here in Alaska. Your pal Joe told us that it’s an area where people go missing. I think that’s where Salt is hiding. And I need Cypher on the tech end of this. I don’t want to stumble across any more land mines or something worse. I want satellite imaging and heat seeking capability.”
“Hold on a sec,” Declan said. “Cal is here in the office. I’m putting him on speaker.”
Cal Colter, also known as Cypher in the hacking community, could work magic with any technology and could build something out of nothing. He was like MacGyver on steroids.
“This is what happens when you send a woman in to do a man’s job,” Cal said through the speaker. “Hope you took plenty of tampons with you.”
“Fuck you, Cyph.” He heard laughter on the other end of the line and rolled his eyes. “And you’re damned lucky the new recruit isn’t in here right now. She’d cut off your balls with the big ass knife she carries in her boot.”
“Ooh, that sounds pretty hot. Let me guess, she’s about six-feet tall and can piss while she’s standing up. I bet she has a chest hairier than yours. Dec sure knows how to pick ‘em.”
“Because I always hire agents based on what they look like instead of skill,” Dec said dryly. “Don’t be an ass, Cal.”
“Hey, I’m just calling it like I see it. They’d rather look and act like men rather than use their feminine skills to bring down the bad guys.”
“There’s a woman out there somewhere who’s going to bring you down a peg one day,” Dec told him. “I hope I get to shake her hand.”
Archer laughed. “Are you kidding me? Are you talking about him having an actual long-term relationship with a flesh and blood woman? Not One Night Cal,” he said, referring to the nickname an old fling had given him. “Besides, Miranda might get jealous.”
Cal’s pride and joy was a computer he’d built and designed for MacKenzie Security. He’d named her Miranda and she had a voice like a sex kitten. No one could touch Miranda except for Cal. And their relationship just wasn’t natural.
“Miranda is going to save your sorry ass,” Cal said, offended. “You’d better be nice to her.”
“You realize she’s not a real person, right?” Archer asked.
“Sure she is,” Cal said. “She’s the perfect woman. She does everything I tell her to do and never argues.”
Archer heard the click of a keyboard over the line. Cal was never still or quiet while he worked his magic. The thing about working with the same people for a lot of years and in high pressure situations was that you got to know them better than your own family. You learned their strengths and weaknesses, the things that set them off or the triggers that could paralyze them at the worst of times.
Just like he knew Cal’s attitude toward women was a complete façade to protect himself. He’d lost his wife and both parents in an attack shortly after he’d joined the CIA, and he still blamed himself for not thinking to bury their identities better than just on a cursory level. Cypher had been born not long after that.
Audrey came back inside their makeshift campground and he watched her as she dug through her pack for a couple of power bars. She tossed him one and he caught it easily, as well as the bottle of water that followed.
Her face was scrubbed clean and he figured she’d given herself a face full of snow just like he had to wake herself up. The extreme cold was dangerous because it could make a person lethargic, and after the adrenaline rush they’d had when she’d stepped on that land mine, they were both running on fumes.
“That’s interesting,” Cal said.
“Interesting good or interesting bad?” Archer asked.
“Probably bad. It’s going to take some time before I can get you the satellite imaging and heat signals. Someone’s trying to fuck with Miranda. Whatever is at The End of the World, someone doesn’t want us to find out about it. My screen is going crazy, but Miranda’s got it under control. We’ll just reverse the virus and see where that leaves us, right baby?”
“I’ll assume he’s talking to the computer,” Archer said.
“I fully expect to come in the office one day and find a note telling me he’s eloped to Tahiti with his computer,” Dec said. “The boy isn’t right. Speaking of tropical paradises, how many days of provisions do you have?”
“About a week’s worth.”
“Keep the phone close by and give us some time to work it from this end. Stay put for now.”
Archer heard the click in his ear and tossed the phone back on the makeshift table. “Looks like this is our new home for a little while. At least until Cal can get us a satellite image so we can keep going. Miranda has this program that can show anything with a pulse in a 3d image as if it were standing right in front of you. It’s pretty cool.”
“Miranda?”
“Oh, Cal’s computer. She’s amazing. But don’t tell Cal I said so. His head’s big enough. She’ll also be able to do a search and scan for any more land mines or other devices he might have set.”
“Handy. If she can do all that, I won’t even make fun of him for naming an inanimate object when I finally meet him.”
She put the trash in a sealed bag and then looked around their living space before finally zeroing in on him. Archer wondered if she’d get around to looking him in the eye again. He wasn’t sure what her feelings toward him would be after their earlier conversation.
“I’ve decided to have sex with you,” she said after a few seconds.
He’d chosen that unfortunate moment to take a drink, and he choked on the water, wheezing as it went down wrong. His eyes watered as he tried to suck in a breath and he pounded on his chest while she watched him with an arched brow and a patient look on her face.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
She bent down and started unlacing her boots, and he watched in fascination as she removed a small arsenal from the space. “You don’t have to look so shocked. It’s not like I’m asking you to commit treason. It’s just sex.”
“Umm—”
“Besides, the friction and shared body heat will keep us warm.”
“Now wait a min—” his mouth went dry as she untied the drawstring on her insulated pants. Who knew a gesture like that could be so sexy? He scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to keep his blood in his brain instead of pooling into his lap.
“Wait—” He took hold of her hands before she could disrobe any further. “That’s all this would be to you?” he asked, surprised at the hurt he felt. She was offering any man’s dream. “You all of a sudden are ready for sex after all this time and I’m just supposed to lay down and let you have your way with me?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
“A little, yeah.”
“I don’t play games, Archer. Not outside of my professional life. Time is too short to try and figure out what other people are feeling and thinking. So I’ll tell you straight out. I haven’t wanted another man since Jonah. Haven’t even been able to think of a man in that way since then. But I want you. What else do you want from me?”
“Your trust,” he said immediately. “I want to know that you’ll take me inside you and feel all of me. That your mind will be focused solely on how good I can make you feel. Not on whether or not I’m going to stick a knife in your back or hurt you in some other way.”
“You want me to trust you, but what do I really know about you? I’ve got good instincts, but they’ve been wrong before. I’ve got the word of Declan MacKenzie—a man I respect and am a little in awe of. And I’ve got the man you want me to see. The one who cracks jokes at the wrong time and who watches me with patient and calculating eyes, while undressing me at the same time.”
“Sweetheart, I’m an open book. What you see is what you get.”
He could practically see her teeth grinding together. “Don’t call me sweetheart,” she gritted out. “And if you’re such an open book then I should be able to ask you anything I want and get an honest answer.”
“One—” he said. “One question only. And then it’s my turn.”
She hesitated at that, but finally nodded.
“What do you want to know?”
“Are you Warlock?”
“Warlock’s dead. And dead men don’t walk among the living.” She sneered at him and he had the sudden urge to bite her plump bottom lip. His cock went rock hard at the thought.
“An open book, huh? And you wonder why I don’t trust you.”
“That’s the problem. You do trust me. You’re just too much of a coward to acknowledge it.”
“That’s the second time you’ve called me a coward. It better be the last.”
“Or what? You’re finally going to put your money where your mouth is?” He took a step closer until the tips of his boots touched her toes. “Here’s my question for you. Do you think you’ll be satisfied with the quick fuck you’re asking for? Or will you keep coming back for more?” He watched the pulse jump at the base of her throat and her lips part on a gasp.
“That’s two questions,” she said. And then she grabbed his shirt with both hands and pulled his mouth to hers.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lips and tongues collided in a firestorm of pent up desire that had only grown stronger with each passing day. It was a fury of pleasure unlike anything he’d ever known. The kiss they’d shared before had only been an appetizer, just enough to whet his appetite, and he’d been in control—mostly. But Audrey taking the reins could destroy him.
Her lips were made for kissing—soft and pink—the top lip slightly fuller than the bottom. He gave in to his earlier temptation and his teeth nipped at the plump curve. Her intake of breath was sharp and his tongue licked out to soothe it. But she wasn’t going to be outdone. She was his equal in every way but physical strength, and she wasn’t going to let him forget it.
Her lips slanted over his and her moan reverberated through his whole body, settling like an electric shock over his cock. He jerked her hips against him, so she could feel just how much power she had. Her hands tightened in his hair, holding him captive as she devoured his lips.
“Tent,” he managed to get out. He wasn’t sure his lungs were working, but his brain still had enough thought in it to know they needed protection from the cold, despite how much heat their bodies were generating. He didn’t care to get frostbite on that particular part on his anatomy.
His only regret was that he wouldn’t get to feel her fully naked beneath him this first time. He’d dreamed of kissing every inch of her delectable body, and then having her return the favor. The thought of having her mouth around his cock, sucking him down as she stared at him out of those big brown eyes had made him come so hard his knees had almost buckled in the shower that morning.
Audrey knew she was being reckless, but she didn’t care. Somewhere between arguing with him and touching her lips to his, the dam broke inside of her and there was no way to put it back together again. Not until she had him rocking high and deep into her.
She jumped up and hitched her legs around his waist, the hard length of his cock pressing directly against the drenched folds of her pussy, and his hands clamped on her ass, bringing her closer.
She felt the earth move and realized he was carrying her toward the tent. “Don’t stop, Archer. Whatever you do—please don’t stop.”
“I couldn’t if I tried, sweetheart.”
They’d had a conversation a few days before, where they’d spoken of those moments in life where everything came into sharp focus—where the body became one with the universe and there was clarity where there hadn’t been before. This was that moment for her.
She didn’t know how they made it inside the tent, or how Archer maneuvered them both so he was laying on his back on top of the sleep mat and she was straddled on top of him.
His lips dipped to the underside of her jaw, kissing a path as he worked at the zipper on her jacket for better access. She shivered as the rough scrape of his beard worked in tandem with the warmth of his mouth, the different textures sending hard tremors through her sensitized body.
“God, I need to touch you so bad,” he whispered against her skin. “All of you.” His hands slipped beneath the layers she wore and she tensed as he trailed a path up her back, over her scars, and then around to the front of her torso to cup her breasts. But he didn’t cringe in horror, and the lust in his eyes didn’t dim.
She reached between them and jerked at the drawstring on his ski pants. He lifted his hips and she yanked them past his hips, and then she did she same with the insulated long johns he wore beneath. The heavy ridge of his cock pressed snugly against his white briefs, and she licked her lips as she slowly pulled them down.
Her breath caught at the sight of him, and she felt his tremor beneath her touch. “Are you cold?”
“I’ve never been so fucking hot in my life.”
The flesh beneath her fingers was intimidating—flushed dark with pulsing veins, a creamy drop of semen beaded at the tip. The hunger to taste him rose up inside of her, beating like a drum beneath her skin, and her mouth watered in anticipation.
“Mmm,” she said, pushing his shirt up so his tight abs and the muscular indentations just above his hipbones were exposed. His chest was covered in a smattering of light blonde hair, but the muscle definition in his chest couldn’t be hidden. She’d always loved the male body, and one in peak form made her want to purr.
She wanted to eat him alive. He tried to pull her back up, but she fought against his hold.
“I’ll come if you do it,” he rasped. “I’m too close.”
“I guess I’ll have to punish you for it later.” She lowered her head and took a small taste of his rigid flesh and it exploded through her system. She wasn’t a virgin, and she’d never been shy about her enjoyment of sex, but she never realized how much of a turn on it was to pleasure her partner. To watch him lose control.
His body jerked when her mouth closed over the plump head of his cock, and his hands fisted in the blankets beneath them. He was like a drug, making her dizzy with the addiction of his taste—slightly salty and all male.
“Have mercy, sweetheart,” he groaned. “You’re pushing me past my limits. I want to be deep inside that sweet pussy, feeling you clench around me when I finally come.” His eyes were slitted as he looked down the length o
f his body to where she lay and she could see the thump of his heart pounding away in his chest.
Her smile was sly as she met his gaze. “I told you not to call me sweetheart.” Her mouth surrounded his cock and she tucked her tongue beneath the sensitive flesh of the engorged head, and she almost laughed in triumph as his hips arched against her mouth and he let out a loud groan.
“Fuck—” He watched as her lips stretched wide over his cock and her fingers wrapped around the rigid stalk. Her mouth was a fucking miracle, and he swore she was stealing his mind and soul with every lick—leaving him weak and helpless like she was his own personal Kryptonite.
Despite the cold, sweat coated his skin and he could see the steam rising from their bodies. His balls drew up tight and he could feel the orgasm tingling up his spine. Before she could counteract his move, he had her flat on her back on the bedroll, her look of surprise almost comical at how fast the tables had turned.
“My turn,” he said. And before she could argue he had the tie of her pants undone and stripped down her legs, taking her long johns and underwear with it in one fell swoop.
He pulled the blanket over them and then buried his face between her thighs, his tongue delving through the damp folds of her pussy and zeroing in on the taut bud of her clit.
She screamed and her hands clenched in his hair, but he didn’t hold back. He knew giving her time to think would be the worst thing he could do. He’d felt her tense when she’d lost control of the situation, but as soon as his tongue licked through the thick syrup of her desire she’d become pliant as putty beneath him.
“Wait—oh, God.”
“Not in a million years,” he rasped. The dark curls that covered her sex were damp with need, and her flesh quivered and pulsed as he ran a finger through her juices and pushed inside of her.
Her back arched and her fingers dug into his skull and he felt the tale-tell tremors ripple along his finger. His mouth went back to work, his tongue wrapping around her clit, suckling it in a steady motion and then flicking it rapidly when he felt her getting closer to orgasm.
