“Me, too.” He paused. “Listen. I’m going to try and get word to my source who’s deep undercover with Morgan and see if he can get any information to you. It’s tough for him to get the word out without breaking cover, and the last time he said he should know shortly what this was all about.”
“Okay. I’ll try to figure out how to make myself accessible to him.”
“Call when you get back from there.”
“Of course.”
Disconnecting the call, she stripped off her clothes and tossed them onto a chair in the corner. She pulled a new sleep shirt out of her newly-purchased bargain suitcase and carried it along with a pair of bikini panties into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, she waited for the water to heat.
She had just stepped in under the steaming spray when the shower door opened and a very naked Jesse Donovan stepped into the steam with her.
“Jessie,” she began.
“Just listen,” he begged.
“Listen to what? Excuses? Lies? Why you betrayed what we had between us?”
“I don’t want to,” he told her.
She pushed her wet hair back from her head and blinked against the water.
“Don’t want to what?”
“Wait until this is over. I know it’s my own fucking fault you feel that way. I was an ass. I freely admit it. In fact, I haven’t thought of much else since then but I don’t want to wait another minute.”
“Another minute for what?”
“This.”
She was so startled she didn’t move when he cupped her cheeks and pressed his mouth to hers. The contact was at once both new and familiar. For a brief moment she resisted.
Stop this. You can’t trust him. He’ll break your heart again.
But the touch and taste of him woke up slumbering memories that jolted to life. The shape of his mouth, his firm lips, the way he molded them to hers woke up every dormant hormone in her body. When he traced the seam of her mouth with the tip of his tongue, she opened for him and slid her own tongue over his.
Just this once, she told herself. Just something to keep her company on the lonely nights when she still missed him so much.
And just like that, despite what had happened between them, his sudden departure, his silence all this time, she wanted him just as badly as she had the very first time. And the last time.
When he lifted his head, she could see so much emotion swirling in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I—”
She touched fingertips to his lips.
“Sssh. Later. Not now.”
She brushed his dripping hair back from his face and lifted her mouth to his again.
Not even the water could cool the heat of the next kiss. It scorched her all the way to her toes. Her nipples hardened and tingled and between her thighs her hungry sex throbbed with need.
The kiss was endless as they explored each other’s mouth, reclaiming a familiar taste. Jesse stood with his body pressed against hers, every muscular outline and curve of bone imprinting themselves on her. And his cock. Oh, yeah, the incredible cock, so long and big and thick. The remembered feel of it inside her hot, wet sheath jumped to the forefront, and she had to squeeze her thighs together so she didn’t lose it standing right there.
Jesse was still doing a sexual dance with her tongue when he slid his hand over her shoulder and slowly down her back. His fingers tap-danced on her spine until they reached the very bottom of it. Then he eased just the tips of those fingers into the crevice between the cheeks of her butt. At the touch she automatically clenched against the intrusion but didn’t pull away from him.
“Still just as hot and tight?” he murmured against her mouth, stroking and probing.
“You tell me,” she teased in a shaky voice.
“We’ll find out,” he promised. “But I have other things in mind, first.”
He moved his hands around to cup her breasts, gently kneading them and brushing his thumbs over her nipples again and again. Each time he touched her, that same arrow of heat shot straight to her core, making it clench with need.
And all the while she could feel the thick, hard outline of his cock.
This is a huge mistake. He’ll just walk away—no, run away—like he did before, and I’ll be left putting myself back together.
It’s worth it, her other voice shouted. Shut up and enjoy.
When she tried to press closer to him he eased her back an inch or two.
“There’s no rush. I’ve waited a long time for this, thinking I’d never get it again. I want to enjoy every minute.”
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, taking a tiny nip then trailing his lips across to her shoulder. The erotic feel of his mouth sent shivers down her spine and a soft moan rolled from her throat.
“Feel good, baby?”
The rasp of his voice was like a caress itself.
“Mm hmm. Everything you do feels good.”
And wasn’t that the damn truth.
Jesse squeezed her breasts again before lowering his head to close his teeth around one nipple. The bite was just sharp enough to send a bolt of pleasure straight to her core, and she had to squeeze her thighs together against the growing demand inside her body.
He knew just how to touch her, how strong to make that touch, how to bring her to that threshold where the pain gave so much pleasure. When he’d teased and tormented one nipple until she thought she couldn’t stand it anymore, he moved to the other and gave it the same treatment. Her legs had trembled, and when she gripped Jesse’s forearms to steady herself, he just backed her up to the tiled wall and continued his sensuous onslaught.
Then he proceeded to lick and kiss his way down her stomach, pausing to trace the curled flesh of her navel before moving his tongue to the pouty lips of her sex. She waited, holding her breath, for him to delve his tongue inside but instead he kissed a path up the inside of one leg and down the other, deliberately bypassing the one spot she desperately wanted him. The kisses were so light they were mere teases, setting every nerve in their path on fire.
Terry gripped Jesse’s shoulders to steady herself, moaning in a combination of pleasure, need, and frustration. Her inner walls were spasming with the hunger for his cock to ease in there, yet still he continued to taunt her. When he finally pressed open the lips of her sex, she wanted to shove herself against his mouth and beg him to lick and eat every inch of her.
But slow was what he’d said, and slow was what he did.
He licked the wet slit from top to bottom and back again, pausing each time to give her throbbing clit a flick of his tongue. Each one brought a gasp of pleasure from her. She rocked against his mouth, held steady by the grip of his fingers on her hips. He licked and teased again and again, until she was sure she’d come just standing right there.
“Please,” she begged, crying out her need.
“Please what?” he growled. “Please this?”
He spread her lips wider and took her clit between his teeth. Gently biting and tugging. She was so on the edge but she wanted more. Much more. When he moved his hands to slide two fingers inside her, she almost cried with relief. Rocking her hips back and forth, she rode his fingers hard, the friction ratcheting up the wave of pleasure inside her. He eased in a third in and stretched her wide, curling those fingers each time he dragged them out so his nails caught that hot spot that made her cry out in response. But when she tried to push down harder on them, he pulled his hand out.
“No!” she cried out in frustration.
Jesse gave that rough laugh again then rose to his feet.
“The first time I make you come after all this time I’m going to be inside you, so I can feel you grip me and milk me and hold my cock tight with your body.”
He reached to the soap dish for a condom she hadn’t even noticed him place there and rolled it on that thick, magnificent shaft.
“Now we’re ready.”
Nudging her thighs apart he wrapped the fingers of one ha
nd around his shaft and guided it to her entrance. Even as aroused as she was, he was so thick—God! She remembered that incredible thickness!—that he had to ease himself in slowly, one fat inch at a time. By the time he was fully seated inside her, she almost felt as if he filled her to the top of her head. He gripped her hips to steady her.
“Look at me, Terry,” he commanded, lifting her just enough to complete the penetration and hold her in place. “Open your eyes and look at me. And wrap those gorgeous legs around me. That’s it.”
She wound her legs around him and dug her heels into the base of his spine, locking her ankles together. When she looked into his eyes again this time, instead of pain she saw need and hunger and lust, and some emotion she didn’t even want to try and name. And then there was no more talking. He began the slow in and out glide, back and forth, thrust and retreat, the width of his cock scraping against her walls with each movement.
She never took her eyes from his, never looked away. She saw the hunger increase with each movement, felt sharp spears of heat stab through her, lighting fires in every point of her body.
In and out. Back and forth. Slow and steady at first then faster and faster.
And all the time he talked to her.
“That’s it, that’s it. Jesus, you’re tight. You are so fucking tight. You feel so fucking good. God damn, Terry. You are so fucking hot and wet. Yeah, that’s it. Move like that. Oh god. Oh god. Oh Jesus. Come for me, Terry. Come right fucking now.”
He shouted the last word and, as if he’d pulled a trigger inside her, the orgasm that had been building so deep roared up like a hurricane and exploded. She anchored herself against him as spasms rocketed through her body while her inner walls milked his shaft with steady contractions.
She had no idea how long it went on, but at last the tremors faded away, leaving them both limp and exhausted. And sated.
Finally, she managed to uncross her ankles and ease her legs down until they touched the shower floor, but they were so shaky she wasn’t sure she could stand.
“I’ve got you,” Jesse said in a soft voice.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her against his body while their breathing slowed and their heart rates returned to normal. At last he leaned her against the wall and took the bottle of shower gel someone—probably Micki—had left in the soap tray. Without saying a word, he poured some into his hand and began to smooth it gently on her skin
“I don’t know how you even have the strength for this,” she told him with an unsteady laugh.
He looked at her and grinned. “Me, either, but I didn’t want to miss this.”
With lazy strokes he covered every inch of her body with the sweet-smelling lather, first her front, then her back. When his soapy fingers slid into the crevice between her butt cheeks again and the tip of one finger pressed against her opening there, he gave a very soft laugh.
“I want that,” he told her. “Again. And we’ll get there.”
“Jesse,” she began.
He turned her back to face him and shook his head. ”Later. When we have time.”
He soaped himself up with a speed she figured he’d learned in the military then rinsed them both off. He dried her first then sat her on the closed lid of the toilet while he took care of himself. He even dug a hair dryer out of her suitcase, and a brush, and amazingly enough, did a decent job drying her hair. Then he lifted her and carried her into the bedroom, ripping back the covers on the bed.
There was no question of them sleeping in separate rooms. He got her into her sleepshirt and bikinis she’d left on the bed and grabbed a pair of boxer briefs for himself. Then they were lying in bed together, her body cuddled up against his, his arm around her waist. She felt as if she belonged here, regardless of anything else.
But what happened next? They had a critical mission to perform and probably very little time to do it. And could she trust her feelings for Jesse? Or his for her?
“We’ve got time,” he murmured, as if he could hear the thoughts in her brain. “And this time I’m not running anywhere.”
She hoped he meant it. And before she could think anything else, she was sound asleep.
Chapter 8
It was full dark by the time everyone gathered again at Reed Morgan’s house, and he wasn’t happy with what he was hearing.
“We’re on the hunt,” Curt Renshaw told him. “Haven’t stopped but so far none of our contacts have been able to tell us anything. They all have her picture and description. They’ve reached out to their own people but continue to come up empty.
“So, you still have no idea where she’s gone to?”
He stared at Renshaw in disbelief. The man always knew where everyone was. Sometimes his ability to locate and identify people was scary even to Morgan.
“I’ve hit everyone one of our usual contacts everywhere. She hasn’t popped up in any place. It’s as if she disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Morgan curled his hand into a fist and clenched it to control himself. This was just not possible. No one could disappear without some trace.
Not true, a little voice whispered. You know people who have done that.
But they made elaborate preparations and planned ahead of time. Was that what this bitch had done?
Set this up knowing she’d need an escape hatch? Who the fuck was she, anyway? He glanced at his desk calendar. Today the last of his group was being moved to the ranch. They’d be flown in, just like the others, at night when people were home and not out riding open land where the helo could be spotted. Tomorrow he’d arrive himself, in the open, as he’d done many times.
He’d already placed the order for supplies. He needed to feed the men, especially as hard as they’d be training. Over the past year he’d had truckloads of arms delivered a little at a time, so arming his group was not a problem. He had a fleet of helicopters ready to transport them to their individual destinations so they’d be ready at Zero Hour. And he had the final run-through all set for the key group on the day before Zero Hour.
This country wouldn’t know what hit it. It would be in a shambles, and he’d be able to step in and steer it in the right direction. He was tired of being ignored or labeled a radical or a nutjob or any of those labels. Now they’d have to listen to him and he could get rid of all the assholes steering the country in the wrong direction.
But first he had to find that bitch of a magazine writer, or whatever the fuck she was, and erase every trace of her. He’d reached out to every source at his disposal today with zero luck. How the hell could one female just disappear into thin air? Had a hole opened up in IH-75 and swallowed her and her car?
Renshaw had taken note of the auto rental agency sticker on her windshield the first day she arrived at Morgan Arms Manufacturing He’d called them from his car the minute he lost her and asked them to check the GPS locator on it. They told him it had gone stationary in Austin. When they tracked it, they found it in the parking lot of a strip center in Austin. The keys were under the front seat and the car had been wiped clean. Their little portable machine had not picked up a single fingerprint.
Well, that was certainly fucked.
He wondered if Beckett had had any better luck tracking her down. In a way he hoped not. Just one more thing for the man to rub in his face. On the other hand, the man’s connections made Morgan’s look amateurish and ineffective. Still, in and of itself it was an embarrassment. Something else Beckett could hold over his head. That was becoming a habit Morgan needed to shortstop or he’d have yet another benefactor to eliminate.
How was it possible his life was falling apart like this, and at such a crucial moment? He’d planned for something like their Zero Hour project for a long time. He lived and trained his men with military precision. He eliminated people who disagreed with him or might prove to be a problem. He’d covered every single base. Except. One. It made him sick to think he’d been so lax abut Terry. All the reports he ran on her had come back verifying her sto
ry, but he knew he should have looked harder. Dug deeper.
But as good as Morgan’s very talented hacker was, Beckett had one even better. He’d told Morgan about it right after Renshaw’s report that morning, throwing a phrase over his shoulder that made Morgan’s stomach clench.
“I’ll find her. I’ve got a man who can find anyone. And find their history.”
Yes, he thought now, somewhere there would be a trace of this female, and Beckett’s man would find it. Much as he hated the man who discovered who she was, it was still time to call him and see what, if anything, he’d found out. Just as he picked up his cell to call the man, the phone rang and Beckett’s number appeared on the screen.
“Tell me you have something,” Morgan snapped.
“Oh, I’ve got it all right,” Beckett said in his gravelly tone. “But you won’t like it a bit.”
Morgan clutched the cell tighter in his hand. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that your little girl is a government spy. That’s what it means. It also means we could be fucked if we don’t take care of her.”
Morgan rubbed his jaw, trying to gather his self-control. This was one of the rare times in his life he’d let his ego get the better of him. He’d never do it again.
“How the hell did you find out? I had people digging with virtual shovels.”
“I have better shovels than you do. But you could have found out before if you checked her hotel.”
Morgan frowned. “What do you mean?”
“If she hauled ass out of the city, what happened to her stuff at the hotel? You knew where she was staying. You could have found someone to bribe the way I did who’d let you know when someone came to fetch her stuff.”
“And?”
“And sure enough, someone came to clean out her room. My guy got a shot of the car the cleaner was driving and tracked the license number. It came from a car rental business. Enough money changes hands and you get what you want. The guy who took care of everything is a government agent.”
Zero Hour: Brotherhood Protectors World Page 9
