by Cherry Adair
He searched for towels and started mopping up. Her jacket, tossed on the floor when they'd come in, was soaking wet, too. Jake laid it over the sink and went back to cleaning detail.
He'd never had anyone take care of him like that. It left him feeling edgy, unnerved. Needy.
He was a private man who prized his solitude. Not even the Musketeers, who'd known him for years, knew him like this small, feisty bundle of pure female. He'd never considered his aloneness an option. It just was. Yet Marnie compelled him to see inside himself to the person he could be under her healing touch.
He liked who he became when he was with her.
Of course a man would think that after he'd been shot. Nothing like a pretty woman oohing and ahhing over a guy to make him receptive.
"Didn't sound like the guy was too enthused about coming up here," she said, and rested her chin on her knees. She didn't look pale anymore. Her cheeks were a healthy pink, her eyes clear. She looked normal. Beautiful. Breakable.
Jake shuddered.
"Did I hear you right? Did you tell him you'd pay him a hundred thousand dollars?"
Jake shrugged, tossing the soiled towels and Marnie's jacket into the small built-in washing machine. "It's a dangerous landing, and the weather's unpredictable here in the mountains." He added soap and turned on the machine. Money was plentiful. His inventions made ridiculous amounts of the stuff. It was almost embarrassing.
He would have paid any amount to get her out of here ASAP.
"But Jake—"
He didn't want to hear what she had to say. "He'll contact me the second this front moves off."
She reached over, picked up his half-filled cup from the coffee table, and drained the cold contents with a shudder. "And you'll come with me, right?"
"Wrong." Jake walked over to change CDs. "Aerosmith or the Beatles?"
"Aerosmith. Why, Jake? You could let those baddies run around up here until hell freezes over."
"And I'd never know who they are or why they were here in the first place."
She got a mutinous expression on her lovely face. "I want you to come back with me."
"It's good to want things," Jake told her shortly, busying himself making a fresh pot of coffee. He'd never noticed how small and cramped the lair was. "In this case, it ain't gonna happen."
She shot him a glare, then got up and started remaking the bed. The bed they'd torn apart with their lovemaking. He didn't want to think about it. He had a permanent erection anyway. Damn woman.
She fluffed a pillow. "So you're going to stay here until either you kill all of them or they kill you?" She slammed the pillow down on the bed, the pillow slip half off. "Damn it, Jake. Call someone to help you." Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes flinty.
There was no one to call. "No."
"Then I'll stay."
Ice replaced the blood in his veins. "You'll go when I tell you to go. No more discussion. Subject closed."
For several seconds she simply stared at him. "I'd better redo that bandage for you."
"It's fine the way it is." He felt so raw after that scare he didn't want her hands on him again. Everything about this infuriating woman affected him. It would be a blessing when she was gone.
"Fine." She glared at him for a moment, then her eyes skimmed down over his bare chest to the long-john-style pants he still wore. The fabric didn't hide a thing. "Put some clothes on before you freeze to death," she ordered.
Jake's lips twitched. "Yes, Mother."
She walked over the bed as a shortcut and came right up to him, snatching the mug he was about to fill out of his hand. He was surprised the ceramic didn't shatter on the counter as she slammed it down.
"Don't dink around with me, bub."
She stuck a finger in the middle of his chest and crowded him against the counter until there was nowhere else for him to go.
"You want to play macho spy king by yourself?" Poke. "Forget it." Poke. Poke. "I'm not—" She glared at him, tears standing bright in her eyes. Her mouth trembled. She bit her lower lip and pulled herself in tight. "I'm not going to let them kill you because you're too damn stubborn to ask for help. You got that?"
She was shaking. Delayed shock, Jake thought. He slid his arms around her. Damn. He hadn't meant to touch her right now. They were both raw. Frightened. On edge.
He had no instinct for this kind of simple tenderness. But Jake pressed her against him, striving for something beyond the wild sex they'd shared. Something he'd never had, yet suddenly found essential.
He pressed his lips to her forehead, her temple. He stroked her hair, her back, and the nape of her slender neck. It felt so damn good just holding her like this.
He ignored the clock ticking in his head. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
Her breath whispered warm against his skin as she rested her head against his good shoulder. Pale, soft curls tickled his chin as he wrapped his arms about her slender body. She burrowed into him, her arms around his waist.
" Y-You scared me to death," she sobbed against his chest.
Her tears unnerved him, tearing through him like a well honed knife. He stroked her wet cheek. "Don't cry. I was scared, too." Scared she'd be here unprotected if they managed to kill him.
He kissed her temple.
"You had a right to be. They shot you!" Through her tears indignation burned.
Jake chuckled. "Not scared for me, scared for you."
She looked up at him without releasing her hold. "No one shot at me."
"And they won't," Jake vowed, lowering his mouth to the siren song of hers.
Marnie rose onto her toes to kiss him back. His mouth crushed down on hers, and she tasted anger mixed with the fear. She understood it, savored it, because it matched her own. What a frustrating man he was.
She met his almost violent demand. Her teeth raked his lip. His scraped her tongue. She heard a low, fierce growl and realized it had come from her.
The tears dried on her cheeks as he laved her mouth with his tongue, hungry, insatiable. His hands traveled up her back under the flannel shirt she wore. She loved the feel of those callused hands on her skin.
He was addictive, this Jake Dolan, spy king of the universe.
She sighed as he lifted her, swinging her up onto the counter behind him.
"You were too short." He stepped between her knees.
"Not anymore." Eye to eye, she traced his hard mouth with her finger. He nipped the tip. "If I'm very, very gentle with you, can we make love?"
Jake's eyes smiled. "Don't be gentle."
Chapter Twelve
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Marnie's arms lifted to welcome him.
Jake framed her face with his hands and captured her eyes with his. Voice both rueful and amused, he said roughly, "You terrify me, you know that?"
Marnie traced his mouth with a fingertip. "I told you I'd be gentle." She caressed his face, combed her fingers through his hair to draw him closer, then leaned forward and brushed his mouth with a butterfly-light kiss, salty from her tears. "I won't hurt you, I promise."
Yes, he thought with terrifying insight, you will.
She kissed him, softly. Jake took her tenderness like a body blow.
The sensation of her soft mouth touching his with such exquisite care wasn't enough. Fierce hunger drove him; he couldn't handle the intimacy of gentleness.
He wanted to touch every part of her at once. He took her mouth the way a victor seized his spoils. His hands were everywhere: in her hair, stroking her breasts through her flannel shirt, caressing the arch of her throat. And all the while he devoured her with a fierce hunger that would not, could not be denied.
He'd never tasted anything as sweet as Marnie's avid mouth responding to his kiss. She sucked in a deep breath as he kneaded her breast, then gently pinched her nipple through the cloth of her shirt. Her breast fit his hand to perfection. Her mouth moved with heat and hunger beneath his, and her knees dug into his hips as she wiggled on the counter, trying to get closer.
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For endless minutes kissing was enough as Jake laved her mouth with his tongue, nipped her lips with tender bites, and melted under her explorations. She was curious as a cat as she licked and nibbled back. A sound similar to a kitten's purr vibrated in the back of her throat, her arms tightened about his neck, and she kissed him as if there were no tomorrow.
Jake shifted closer, his hips nudging her thighs apart. His knee bumped the cabinet below. He didn't notice. Needing air, his mouth moved from her mouth to her cheek, to her eyes, to her cheek again. The soft fleshy part of her ear intrigued him. Her body shimmied with desire and her fingers tightened in his hair as he tested the taste and texture of her earlobe with an exploring tongue.
He traced the outer rim, and she moaned low in her throat. The low hmmm she made that drove him wild. Jake dampened deeper, letting his tongue imitate the love act until she arched and dug her nails into his scalp to pull his head up and away from her ear.
"Kiss me, damnit!" she demanded, then let out a little yelp when he did just that and crushed her mouth beneath his. She responded to his urgency with an instantaneous fierceness of her own. Sliding her hips to the very edge of the counter, she tightened her arms around his neck and gave him her tongue and teeth.
He felt the brush of her jean-clad legs as she encircled his waist. He sucked at the sweetness of her mouth. He'd never met a woman like her. Open, honest. Unafraid of her own sensuality. Unafraid to cry when her heart was full. Unafraid to show how she felt, even at the risk of being fatally wounded.
Mouth busy, Jake stroked his hands up along the elegant length of her thighs to the crease where her legs met her torso. Her breath came shallow and fast as he dipped his thumbs to explore her through her jeans.
He reached for her zipper, drawing it down slowly. She sucked in her breath as he brushed her soft curls.
She dragged her mouth from beneath his and looked straight at him with eyes heavy-lidded and filled with promise.
By a trick of the light, he saw himself reflected in her dark pupils.
He looked invincible. Whole. Complete.
A trick of the light, all right. A chimera. An optical illusion.
He had to protect her. Even if it was from herself.
But not now. Judas. Not now.
"Make love to me, Jake."
"I am." Words, unspoken, unthinkable, eddied through his brain like ground fog on a summer's day.
He lifted her off the counter. Her legs automatically tightened around his waist and her arms about his neck.
"Your shoulder—"
"Is fine."
He carried her around the foot of the bed and set her down beside the shower stall.
Holding her gaze, he slowly unbuttoned the remaining buttons on her shirt. His knuckles brushed the eager peaks of her bare breasts. She'd been in too much of a hurry to save his ass to put on a bra.
He sank to his knees in front of her and buried his face against the soft vee of flesh exposed by her open zipper. He traced a lazy line down from her navel with his tongue, and she buried her fingers in his hair, holding his head against her.
He tsked. "No underwear?"
"I was in a hurry."
Jake palmed her jeans down her hips, over her legs. She stepped out of them, leaving a puddle of fabric on the floor at her feet.
"So," he breathed against the pale curls exposed, "am I."
She was sweetly wet, musky-scented, irresistible. His thumb lightly brushed the sensitive nub between her legs, and he pressed his mouth intimately against her.
"Um… Jake? Wait. I've never… I'm not sure…"
"Want me to stop?" He nudged her legs a little farther apart. She wobbled, holding on to his hair for balance. He cupped her ass cheeks and buried his face against her soft belly.
"No… yes… noooo…"
He found the spot.
She fisted her hands in his hair and hummed the sexy sound that he loved deep in her throat. He tasted her, savored her, slowly, carefully drawing out her pleasure with painstaking care and attention to detail until she was gasping and breathing hard. He held her still and felt her body vibrate with pleasure.
Knowing that what he was doing was sweet torture, he used his thumb to drive her over the edge. Her body shuddered in fierce response as she came.
He held on to her, reveling in her release, aching and hard, but wanting this for her. All for her. She trembled, damp and weak against him.
Finally he rose to his feet, drawing his body up hers, sliding his arms around her as she collapsed in his arms and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
"Yeah?" he asked softly, smoothing a hand down her back.
She nuzzled her face against his chest, limp, satiated. "Mmmm."
Her breasts brushed against him as she lifted her arms up around his neck and stood on tiptoe to reach his mouth. "More," she demanded, licking his lower lip, tasting herself there, then nipping it gently with sharp white teeth.
"You're insatiable," he told her, backing her into the shower stall and reaching for the knob.
She yelped as temperature-controlled water sprayed her back. "You started it."
"Yes." He nudged her under the spray. "I did."
Her eyes glazed as he trailed a finger down her cleft. "What abo… ahh… the bandage?" Her lids fluttered as he inserted a finger deep inside her.
Jake didn't bother with an answer.
"You're still dressed. Let me… help… you."
Her palms slid down his chest. Using both hands, she tugged at the waistband of his pants. The fabric was tightly molded to his hips and thighs, and the bulge of his erection made her efforts harder. Her fingers slid between fabric and skin. Despite the tight fit, she wedged her hand down until she could curl her fingers around the hard jut of his penis.
Heaven. Hell.
He leaned against the cool tiled wall and bucked as she tormented him. Blue eyes wicked, she alternated feather-light caresses with firmer strokes until Jake had to squeeze his eyes shut with ecstasy and force himself to remain still before he came too soon.
"Open your eyes. Look at me," she demanded, voice husky as she cupped him with soft, clever fingers. "Know who I am."
How could he not look at her? Her pale skin gleamed with water. Rivulets trailed down the gentle slopes of her breasts, then quivered on the very tip of each nipple. A shimmering gleam as the water beaded, then slid around the plump underside, and trickled down her midriff sheening her skin.
Nimble fingers found the most sensitive, intimate nerves on his body and played them like a virtuoso. Her blue eyes were hazy with arousal and wickedly playful. Jake groaned as she intensified the pressure.
Afraid he'd lose control, he grasped her wrist, stilling the motion of her hand. "Trust me. I know who you are."
Even to his own ears his voice sounded rough enough to be unrecognizable. Unfamiliar words bubbled like the brew in a witches cauldron from deep in his soul. Hell, yes, he knew who she was.
His hope.
His salvation.
His every frigging wish and dream.
But she deserved better than a potential alcoholic. A man to whom violence was second nature. A man who had a long and ugly past and the promise of a short and futile future.
Hell, he had no business putting his hands anywhere near her soft white skin.
People he lo… cared about died.
"Jake?" Eyes suddenly shadowed, she searched his features.
Jake pushed aside reality and concentrated on the now.
His lips twitched. Her hand was still firmly down the front of his pants.
"You have my attention," he assured her, his smile widening even as he bent the scant few inches needed to crush her mouth beneath his again. The spray poured over them.
He wasn't going to waste one precious moment with her. He wasn't a fool.
Kissing Marnie was like setting a match to TNT. Fire surged through him. Her fingers tightened around him, her hand pressed tightly against his
body by the elasticized pants.
He bent his head to settle his mouth against the hard point of her nipple. Her skin was slick and wet, and he wanted to absorb her until she was a part of him. He squeezed his eyes closed as a tremor speared through him.
Her fingers threaded in his hair, holding his head close as he laved the peak with his tongue, then raked it with his teeth. Moaning, she kissed his shoulder, his neck, anyplace she could reach, her short nails biting into his skin.
"Jake, please, oh, please, I'm going to explode. I want you inside me when I do." Her face was flushed and dewy, her mouth ripe and red from his. Her eyes glittered feverishly.
Her internal muscles clamped tight around his fingers as her juices sluiced his hand.
He'd wanted to make her wait. He'd wanted them both to wait. To draw it out. To savor every stroke, every touch. But it wasn't to be. Not this time.
Like hers, his breath came ragged and fast. In an ungainly move, Jake wrenched his pants down one-handed. He lifted her against the wall and, with her help, guided himself inside her.
In one thrust he buried deep, taking her strangled cry into his mouth as her nails gouged his back. Hot water sluiced down against his back as he kissed her mouth with a savage, primal passion.
He was starving for the taste of her. He could never get enough. He wanted to imprint her onto his cells, to sear the memory of himself into her brain so she'd never forget him.
It felt incredible to be buried deep inside her. Teeth gritted, attuned now to her body, Jake kept the rhythm steady, wanting to drive her wild. Her head dropped back, the muscles in her throat taut; her breasts rose and fell with her rapid breathing.
The satin of her thighs gripped his waist, and her fingers dug into his shoulders. She shuddered as he caressed her bare breasts with his chest hair, then cupped her breast firmly while flicking her distended nipple with his thumb.
"Beast," she gasped as he squeezed harder, maintaining his control, pushing her beyond pleasure. "I can't stand this." Her muscles tightened around him. Her skin glowed, rosy and damp, as she met him thrust for thrust. His fierce little warrior.
He wanted her stretched taut on the rack of passion. Wanted her mad with lust. Wanted her crying his name as she came. Judas, He wanted—
