by Anna Hackett
The space was filled with several rows of small, slimline servers. Lights blinked on the units, and there was a quiet hum in the air. The desk she sometimes used was on the far side of the room, pushed up against the wall.
“You hiding from me?”
“Um…no. I…” She couldn’t even string any words together in his presence. Great.
He moved closer, backing her up against one line of servers. “You know you have a tell.”
She frowned. “A tell?”
He nodded. “When you lie, a muscle beside your mouth twitches.”
Marin reached up to touch the corner of her mouth. “It does not.”
“It twitched again.”
She dragged in a deep breath. “Look, Ash. Can we just forget everything, never discuss…our game playing, and never see each other again?” Otherwise Marin was going to have to consider moving to Mongolia. Although, she was pretty sure the Gizzida were there, too.
“Hell, no.” He pressed his hands on either side of her, caging her in. Her gaze fell on all those yummy tattoos.
No, Marin. Don’t look at his tattoos. Or the hard muscles beneath them.
“We’ve been having fun,” Ash said. “I want more of that.”
She stared at him. “We do not work.”
“We do.”
“I’m not interested.”
He smiled. “That cute little muscle twitched again.”
“You had your laugh,” she said. “I’m sure you’ve been laughing yourself silly at…playing me and me not knowing who you were—”
He leaned closer. “There’s nothing silly about you. You’re sexy as hell. I’ve been watching you for a long time, Marin. I wasn’t sure you’d want a guy like me, so I thought I’d take it slow. Things just got out of hand before I could tell you who I was.”
She blinked. “A guy like you? A sexy, badass guy who can have any woman he wants?”
“And I’m telling you I want you, but you aren’t listening.” He tilted his head. “I’m the kind of guy who takes what he wants. Who claims a woman and demands everything from her.”
Marin’s breath hitched. “Everything?”
“Everything.”
She shook her head. “You’ve had your joke—”
He went tense and she felt the air turn charged. “This isn’t a joke,” he said firmly. “Look down.”
She stared into his eyes for a second before she looked down. Heat filled her cheeks. She could hardly miss the bulge straining the zipper of his jeans. The really huge bulge.
She jerked her gaze back up. “Ash…”
“I’m just a man, Marin. I bleed red like you. I laugh like you. I feel like you.”
His words echoed through her.
“I told you things I’ve never told anyone. About going to college and how fucking disappointed I was when I had to leave.” He sucked in a breath. “I was studying medicine. Wanted to be a doctor.”
Medicine? She knew that was a tough course.
“I wanted to help people. Instead, I was sucked back into the club, the Iron Kings. Tried to help my dad. Tried to help my sister, until I found her dead from an overdose.”
God. She could imagine him…yanked from studying, the campus parties, the pretty cheerleaders.
He looked at the floor. “Life doesn’t ever let me have anything good.”
His quiet words hit her under her heart. “I told you my secrets, too. You know why I can’t quite make myself believe you want me.”
He sank a hand into her curls and tilted her head back. “Then I’ll have to prove it to you.”
“Oh.” Her voice was husky. She licked her lips.
Ash groaned. “Marin. I want you. You going to let me taste you?”
She pressed her hands to his chest, her fingers digging into his shirt. “This can’t be happening.”
“I don’t usually ask a woman for permission.”
She made a sound. “Because they’re throwing themselves at you?”
His lips quirked. “Maybe. So, you ready?”
The air thickened. Right now, Marin could only think about Ash and the emotions swirling around inside her. “Yes.”
“Thank fuck.” He tugged her the last few inches and pressed his mouth to hers. She absorbed the impact of those firm lips moving over hers. Then she moaned and opened her mouth, and Ash was done being polite.
His kiss was hard and when her lips parted, his tongue thrust into her mouth. Oh. God. Every thought rushed out of Marin’s head, and she lost herself in the sensations.
Soon, she was pressed hard against his muscled body, practically climbing him, her hands clenched on his shoulders. He changed the angle, deepening the kiss, his tongue sliding against hers.
“Damn, sweetheart.” He tugged her head back, his mouth moving down her neck, nipping at her skin. “You go wild when I touch you.”
She ran a hand down his arm and got sidetracked by his tattoos. She traced over the fascinating images—a snarling dog, a fierce dragon, patterns that looked like feathers and scales.
“Do you like them?” he asked quietly.
She looked up and nodded. “I see something different every time. And they look sexy.”
“Touch them.” His voice deepened.
She did, tracing her fingers over each design. But she was more conscious of the hard, warm man beneath the ink. “I have no experience with a man like you.”
“Good.” He backed her up and she felt the edge of the desk hit her butt.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Told you I needed a taste of you, Princess.”
“You just kissed me—”
“That’s not where I want to taste you.”
Her breath hitched. Oh. Desire was a hot coil in her belly.
He gripped her hips, and with one flex of his arms, he lifted her onto the desk. She heard something fall to the floor, but she couldn’t be bothered to look. She stared into his blue-green eyes, and he cupped her jaw and kissed her again.
Sweet Jesus. She moaned, and his tongue slid deep. His hand buried itself in her hair, pulling just hard enough to make it feel so good. Lost, Marin lifted a leg and wrapped it around his hip.
She needed him. She needed everything.
All of a sudden, he pulled back and Marin let out a cry of protest. He dropped into the battered desk chair. Her gaze dropped to the bulge in the front of his jeans. God, it was so big. She wondered what it would look like. What it would feel like if he—
Ash groaned. “I can see everything you’re thinking in your eyes.”
She licked her lips, feeling a rush of moisture between her thighs. “You can?”
“You want to see my cock, sweetheart?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“What else do you want?”
“I want…to touch it. Taste it.”
Another groan. “Another time. Not today. Today, is all about you.”
His hands went to her leggings, tugging them downward.
“Ash—?”
He pushed her shoes off, and pulled her leggings off her legs. “Right now, I’m going to put my mouth between your legs.”
She sucked in a shaky breath. “Okay.”
He slid a finger under the edge of her soaked panties. Then, he ripped them off. Marin’s belly spasmed. No one had ever torn her clothes off before.
His gaze was hot on her. “So fucking pretty and pink, Marin. Now, I’m going to eat you until you scream.”
Oh. God. Marin gripped the edge of the desk and watched his dark head lower between her legs. She quivered, sure she might come just watching him.
She felt the brush of his stubble on her inner thighs, and then his tongue slid through her folds. Her moan tangled with his groan. He pressed a hand to her belly and held her still, his mouth moving with sucks and licks that had her squirming.
“Holy cow, Ash.” Her orgasm was already bearing down on her. She’d never come this fast before.
“Taste so go
od.” He licked her again, his tongue stabbing inside her. His lips circled her clit and her hips lifted. Her cries echoed off the rows of servers and she sank her hands into his hair.
“Love those sweet sounds.”
“Ash.” Her voice trembled.
“Come, Princess. Come hard on my tongue.”
When he sucked her clit again, her climax slammed into her. She screamed his name, her fingers twisting in his hair.
Ash lifted his head, satisfaction on his face. “Again.”
Marin’s eyes widened. He couldn’t mean…? “Again?”
His hand slid up her thigh, and a long finger thrust inside her. Marin threw her head back. He slid a second finger inside her, stretching her.
“Tight. You’ll feel so damn good stretched around my cock.”
“I…I won’t come again,” she panted.
“You sure?”
“I never have.”
His smile was slow and he pulled his fingers out of her. “Then let’s see. First, I want to watch you taste yourself.”
Her mouth formed an O. A part of Marin’s orgasm-fuzzy brain could still hardly believe she was half naked, with Ash Connors’ mouth and hands between her legs.
His fingers brushed over her lips and she licked out with her tongue. His gaze was glued there, a hungry look on his face.
Feeling bolder, she sucked one of his fingers into her mouth, tasting her own musk.
“Shit,” he muttered. “I’m gonna blow my load in my trousers, which I’ve never done before, if you don’t stop that.” He nudged her back and lowered his head again. Two fingers slid back inside her, and as he worked them in and out of her, his clever mouth found her clit again.
Marin cried out and let herself drown in the sensations.
Ash could get addicted to the taste of Marin Mitchell.
He kept licking and sucking, loving every sound she made. He loved watching what a woman liked, and he loved driving them wild. But with Marin, he saw the shocked delight under her pleasure, and he knew he was taking her places she’d never been before.
There was no pretense with Marin. She wasn’t here with him because she was after something, or just wanted to get off, or bag a berserker. She was smart, pretty, and despite her protests, fierce in her own way.
Ash would never get enough of her. Her sweet cries echoed in his ears, and as her second orgasm hit, shock and pleasure skittered over her face.
She came hard, throwing her head back, her sweet, curvy body shaking. Ash lifted his head, looking at her sprawled on the desk, half naked, her hair in disarray and her chest quickly rising and falling.
So damn sexy.
He leaned down and nipped at her thigh. “Sweet and sexy Marin.”
Her eyes were a little dazed. “No one’s thought so before.” Her voice was huskier than usual.
Every man before him had been an idiot. He helped her sit up, stroking her smooth skin.
Her gaze dropped to his cock. “Um, do you want—?”
His fingers tightened on her thighs. “Yes. Hell, yes. But I want more than a rushed quickie the first time I slide my cock inside you.”
She nodded, heat in her gaze.
“I’m tired of jacking off, imagining I’m coming inside you instead of my hand.”
She moaned. “Ash, I want you.”
Suddenly, a loud chime sounded and Marin froze.
Ash groaned. “That had better be something important.”
“The spider bot made contact!” She scrambled off the desk, then she looked down. “I’m naked! I can’t concentrate on anything like this.”
Ash grabbed her leggings and gently pulled them back up her legs, settling them in place, followed by her shoes. She stood there watching him. He snatched up the torn, lace-edged panties and stuffed them in his pocket. What he really wanted to do was drag her into his bed and keep her there for days.
She hurried over and scooped her portable comp off the floor. She tapped madly at the screen.
“The bot is in!” She grinned at him.
Ash had never seen anything as beautiful as that smile.
She stared at the screen and he watched data fill it, all in the raptor language. Within seconds, she was muttering to herself, completely absorbed.
“I should feel put out about the fact you’ve forgotten I’m even here,” he said.
She straightened and eyed him warily. “Sorry.”
“I’m not angry, Marin. What are you doing?”
“The spider bot’s linked in.” Excitement filled her face. “It’s transmitting data, but it’s got heavy encryption.” She cracked her knuckles. “But I’m certain I can get through it.”
“And then we’ll have access to the Gizzida’s data.”
“That’s the plan.”
He reached for the battered desk chair and spun it toward her. “Then get to work, Princess.”
Marin sat and started tapping. She reached into a pocket and pulled her glasses on. Ash almost groaned. She looked so fucking cute in her glasses. He planned to fuck her with them on one day.
It didn’t take her long to get lost in her work again. Ash smiled and leaned against the wall. Hell, he could watch her do this all night. Especially since he still had the taste of her on his lips.
“Dammit, this encryption is tough.” She tossed the comp onto the desk. She tilted her head to one side and then the other, working out the kinks.
“You’ll work it out.”
His voice startled her and she blinked. “Oh. I thought you’d left. Uh, this must be so boring for you.”
He smiled at her again. “I could watch you work all night. You get this sexy little crease in your brow when you’re concentrating. And you bounce in your seat when things are going well.”
She blinked. “No one’s ever watched me work before. Or thought I looked sexy doing it.” She tucked some of her curls back. “None of my usual tricks were working. I’ve set up some things to try and break the alien encryption. But it could take hours, or days.” She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Hell, even years.”
“Give it a chance. You designed it, so I bet it’ll get through eventually.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “I need to update the general.” She tapped out a message on her comp. A second later, it beeped with a response. Marin groaned. “I swear that man never sleeps. You’d think having a lover and a baby on the way would mellow him a bit.” Her gaze met Ash’s. “The general wants me to update him in person. I need to meet him in the Command Center. Now.”
Ash mentally cursed. It looked like his night of luring Marin into his bed wasn’t happening this evening. “I’ll head off.”
“Right.” She fidgeted with her hair again.
He reached out and grabbed some of her curls. “I want to have that drink with you, Marin.”
“A date?”
“I don’t date. But I want to get you tipsy and kiss you again.” His voice lowered. “And more.”
She licked her lips. “Okay,” she breathed.
“I also want to watch you touch yourself and not just imagine it in my head.”
The air whistled between her teeth. “Ash.”
He lowered his head, his lips brushing hers. “And I want to taste you again. Lick and suck you again until you explode.”
Marin’s belly contracted, her hands flexing on his arms. “Ash.”
He tucked her curls back behind her ear. “That’s exactly how I want you to say my name when you come. Later, Princess.”
“Bye.”
“Sweet dreams.”
Chapter Seven
Ash heard a chime ringing through his dream. His dream of Marin. A very naked Marin with her curls falling around creamy shoulders.
“Ash. Rise and shine. We’re on call.”
Indy’s voice burst the last image of his dream and he sat up in his bed. His room was pitch black. He touched the comms unit. “I’m up.”
“Squad Three just got called in.”
H
e swung out of bed, slapped the lights on, and grabbed some clothes off the floor. “What’s happened?”
“Two techs went out at dawn to look at some malfunctioning cameras on the northern end of the Enclave. A raptor patrol came out of nowhere.”
Shit. “Any soldiers with them?”
“Yeah,” Indy said. “Mac and Taylor from Squad Nine.”
Two damn good soldiers. Ash knew from firsthand experience that those two stomped on any old-school argument that women didn’t belong on the front line.
“But they’re pinned down a distance from the techs. And one of the techs managed to get himself nabbed by a raptor.”
Ash yanked on his shirt and then a nasty thought occurred to him. He paused. No, Marin had been up late. She wouldn’t be out at dawn.
“Who got nabbed?” he asked.
“A guy called Eric. The other tech is Marin. Blonde with curls.”
Ash closed his eyes for a second, then strode to his weapons locker. Fuck. He grabbed a carbine. “On my way.”
He slammed out of his room, trying to tamp down the hot lick of panic in his gut. A few doors down, he saw Levi step into the corridor.
His best friend lifted his chin. “Hey. Got the call that two geeks tangled with some raptors.”
Ash strode past, and caught a glimpse of a naked brunette sprawled bonelessly in Levi’s bed before the door closed.
“We’ve gotta move,” Ash said, breaking into a jog.
“What? Wait.”
But Ash didn’t wait. Marin needed him. He ran through the tunnels with Levi following. When they reached the northernmost entrance, he saw Tane and the rest of the squad waiting for them.
Ash slowed. “How’d the raptors get so close to the Enclave?” Anger was hitting him now. Marin should never have stepped outside if it wasn’t safe.
Tane raised a brow. “Morning. The drones didn’t see the aliens because they popped out of the ground. Looks like they used some existing tunnels from a neighboring coal mine. And the cameras in the area were malfunctioning.”
“Let’s go get our people,” Ash said.
Tane opened the door and Ash was the first to push out into the morning sunlight.
“Where’s the fire, Ash?” Griff grumbled from behind him.
Ash scanned the field of green grass, dotted with stands of trees. It was all drenched with bright morning light.
