Unleashing the Storm

by Sydney Croft

  A low groan rumbled in his chest when she raised one leg to hook the back of his thigh with her calf, putting her aching sex in contact with the seam of his jeans. His fingers drove into her shorts’ leg opening, the callused pads skimming her wet folds.

  Desire quickened her blood, and her heart pumped so hard it hummed in her ears. God, even his light touches were killing her. She couldn’t imagine how he’d feel inside her, his thick length stroking swollen, stretched flesh and sensitive nerve endings.

  Grasping his arms, she dragged him as close as she could, until she could feel his nipples harden and rub against her chest through layers of clothing. She wanted to rip his shirt off with her teeth and take the hard nubs between her lips to taste them. She wanted to taste all of him, but only after she found relief for the fever that had made her skin stretch tight, her bones ache, her head cloud.

  Arching her hips, she rocked her sex into him, creating a rhythm that had them both sweating and panting, burning up from the friction. He kissed a fiery path up from the hollow of her neck to her ear as she slipped her hand under his T-shirt to explore the muscles of his back, which jumped under her fingertips.

  Splintered wood bit into her spine, but she didn’t care. She needed Tom inside her. Needed him to take her over and over until neither of them could see straight, until she felt normal again, if only for a few hours.

  She bit his earlobe hard enough to make him suck air through clenched teeth, and then she told him exactly what she wanted—and how often.

  Groaning, his breathing ragged, he reached between their bodies and cupped her breast, flicked his thumb over the sensitive nipple.

  “You’re the boss, ma’am,” he said, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to rejoice or be afraid, because she suddenly knew that this man might be the one she’d been searching for all her life.

  The one who could satisfy her when no one else could.

  CHAPTER

  Three

  Christ, Ender was going to take her right against the ladder, in daylight and in the middle of the open barn, and there was no use worrying anymore about that. He wasn’t letting this opportunity slip through his fingers.

  Focus, man. Focus. “You always this forward?” he asked, watched her breathing quicken as she ground against him.

  “Yes. Do you have a problem with it?”

  “I have no problem sleeping with you. I just want to make sure I’m not putting my job in jeopardy.”

  “I’m not paying you for stud services. Those need to be strictly voluntary.”

  “And here I always thought volunteer work was overrated,” he said as she tugged hard at the zipper on his jeans. She stared down at his cock, then looked into his eyes and back down to his cock, and yeah, Who’s your daddy now, Kira? Her hand circled his dick roughly and he growled. “Ah, fuck.”

  “Yes, that. Now,” she said, stroked him while she looked at him with those wide amber-colored eyes and smiled. He wondered when he’d lost control of this situation, even though he knew a man never really had any control when he was fucking.

  Still, he’d never been this bad.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” he murmured in a moment of clarity. “Gotta come prepared.” He dug in the pocket of his loosened jeans and pulled out a condom, put the wrapper between his teeth to tear, since his other hand was busy up her shirt tugging at her nipple.

  Her reaction could only be described as violent. She hissed, actually hissed, and knocked it out of his hand. “No.”

  “I don’t play with shit like that.”

  “I’m on the pill.”

  “I don’t care,” he said, bent to pick it up and she yanked him back to her by the front of his shirt.

  “No,” she said again. She nipped his ear again, harder this time as her sex ground against his cock.

  “Kira…”

  “I’m on the pill and I can’t use condoms,” she said, her voice low and throaty, and she wasn’t going to relent.

  She was probably allergic. And if he didn’t take her, she’d move right to Derek, would develop an intimate rapport that might shut him out. It was a move he couldn’t afford to make, especially since instinct told him that Kira hadn’t slept with Derek as of yet. Besides, this wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken his life in his hands.

  “I need you, Tommy,” she purred into his ear, her scent rising around them, the smell of sex and lust and everything in between. In seconds, his only focus was the woman in front of him, the beautiful, horny woman he wanted to take over his knee and spank, the one he wanted to cuff to the ladder and make her beg for him. Nothing else mattered, not the job, not ACRO, nothing except getting inside her pants and inside of her.

  His head swam, like he had some kind of transient vertigo, and every one of his senses heightened, almost to the point of pain, and told him to pull away simultaneously. Told him that she was more dangerous than anyone at ACRO knew.

  She nuzzled him, everything moved in slow motion and he knew there was no escape as every fiber of his being screamed with the urge to mate. To make her his and his alone.

  Dammit. He turned her so she faced the ladder, used the whip on the back of her thighs one final time before he told her, “Drop your shorts.”

  She complied quickly, sticking her perfect round ass out, and he kicked her legs apart roughly.

  He didn’t bother pulling off any of his clothes. Instead, he grabbed her hips and entered her hard as she held on to the ladder for dear life.

  A low keening wail rose from the back of her throat. He gripped her hips as her pussy contracted around him almost immediately, a series of multiple orgasms ripping through her that made his world rock, and still she wasn’t finished. She pushed against him with an intensity he’d never had from any other woman.

  Normally, he wouldn’t have allowed that, would’ve had her bound and helpless and he’d be taking her on his terms. But his cock was prisoner to her and it didn’t seem to mind a damn bit. She was taking him for a ride and his balls throbbed from the pressure.

  “I think she’s still in the barn…” A woman’s voice rang out, too close for comfort, followed by Derek’s. Ender wasn’t one to put on a show for anyone, but he didn’t, couldn’t care. Something about Kira’s scent drew him to her like he’d never been drawn before. She moaned his name, offered her neck to him, and he heard her gasp when he bit deeply, holding her for his mating like a stallion covering his mare. He knew she’d taste as good between her legs as she smelled, wanted to pull out of her, spread her legs and lick her until she screamed.

  Yeah, he was going to do that soon. But the voices drew closer.

  The rough denim of his jeans rubbed the backs of her bare thighs, her shirt rode up and they rutted, her orgasms still coming one right after the other again, and still she didn’t stop. Her ass rubbed against him, her rhythm urging him deeper, faster, gave him no choice but to spill inside her with a muffled groan against her neck.

  A thin sheen of sweat covered her tanned skin and the last thing he wanted to do was pull out of her. Good thing she felt the same way, because she wasn’t letting go. She turned her head, a wide smile on her face, and when she opened her eyes and gazed at him, the wild, desperate look was gone.

  She just looked content as hell. And sexy. He was already in more trouble than he’d bargained for and he was only two hours into this mission.

  Derek’s voice became louder, calling out for Kira, but still, Ender didn’t rush pulling out of her. When he did, he barely had time to tuck himself back into his jeans before Derek called again. For a second, Ender stayed where he was, facing Kira so she could pull up her shorts and fix her shirt with a slight bit of privacy.

  “Thanks,” she said, gave him a quick wink.

  “Not a problem. And now I’d really better get to work,” he said. He grabbed the riding crop that he’d let drop to the floor and trailed it up her thigh before tucking it under his arm. “I’d better take this. You don’t want to let it get into the wron
g hands.”

  “Kira, I was looking for you.” The woman whose voice he heard earlier came in, Derek close on her heels. “I found Derek tying up the horses and he said you were here.”

  “Sorry, I was up in the loft,” Kira said. “Tommy, this is Deb. She’s our resident animal nutritionist. She takes care of feeding all the exotics. Deb, this is Tom, our newest farmhand. He just started today.”

  “Oh, hey, Tom. I’d be happy to show you around town later on when you’re finished up here. There’s not much to do around here, but there are a few spots I’ll bet you’d be interested in,” Deb said. She was small and blond and cute, but not his type.

  He held out his hand, gave the polite, good ole boy nod and watched Deb assess his face and body. “That sounds great,” he said, knowing he’d never go.

  Still, Deb smiled, flipped her hair, and he bit back a laugh when Kira grabbed Deb’s upper arm and shepherded her away.

  Ms. Doolittle was more possessive than he’d thought she’d be. Good to know.

  Satisfied, he turned and walked past Derek, just close enough for the guy to smell Kira on him like a badge of honor. Derek tilted his head and glared at him, and Ender bared his teeth and let a low growl escape from his throat.

  Derek backed away first, muttering about fence posts, and Ender turned to pack up the rest of the equipment Kira wanted out of sight.

  Score one for me, asshole. Literally.

  When he’d first read the file on Kira and her animal instincts last night before he left his house, he figured that someone had slipped in the part about her spring fever to get a rise out of him.

  It was no joke, not the way, when he’d used the crop on her, her eyes had gotten that slightly glazed look that only a major jones to get off could do. And yeah, he’d be more than happy to turn her over his knee and give her a spanking, make her comply with any and all of his whims. And that’s how he was going to work her for this job—get through to her.

  If she was this easy to seduce, the enemy would have a field day with her. In the wrong hands, Kira would be a menace to any society, and then some, and ACRO wanted to make sure that she was firmly in their camp, and only a threat to those who threatened the United States’, and her allies’, security and safety.

  Hell, he was going to have to recommend that ACRO keep her under lock and key during her spring fevers, not to mention keeping her…serviced. Until then, servicing was his job, and a job he planned on doing better than well.

  Once night fell, he’d take care of everything else.

  TUESDAY 8 P.M. EST

  Devlin O’Malley, head of ACRO and all her operatives, sat at the head of the conference table, rubbing his fingertips along the smooth oak while trying not to tune out the two men who sat across from him, arguing over who would get possession of Kira once Ender delivered her into ACRO’s eager hands.

  Henry Stockton, the Paranormal Division director, a man who had been at ACRO since before it was even called ACRO, coughed. He’d only recently stopped smoking, but it hadn’t been soon enough. Six months ago, ACRO doctors found cancer in the man’s lungs after one of the psychics alerted Dev that something was terribly wrong with the older man. So far, treatments had gone well.

  “She’s an animal whisperer. Basically, an animal psychic. Which means she belongs in my division. With the psychics,” Henry argued.

  “Where, no doubt, department heads are arguing like you two over who would get her,” Dev said.

  And Henry concurred. “Mostly the Medium and Telepath departments.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Jason Templar, the Special Operations director, said. “She’s physiologically extreme.”

  Dev nodded, though they had no idea how extreme she was. The Science Division had expressed concern that through her unique physiology, genetics and diseases could be modified. In the wrong hands, that could spell disaster.

  “No matter how psychic she is, her ability doesn’t affect human minds or actions. She’s an RSO,” Jason finished.

  “Sure,” Henry scoffed. “Just like Remy.”

  Dev sighed at the mention of Remy’s name, because he couldn’t go through this argument again. Remy had a connection to the weather that was almost too extraordinary to believe, and his control over Mother Nature had only grown stronger since he’d arrived at ACRO and gone through the proper training.

  The lines between what made a person fit into which of the agency divisions were not always clearly drawn. He’d just gone through this with a new recruit, an excedosapien who happened to be mildly clairaudient. Both Para and Excedo Divisions wanted the guy, who had ultimately gone to Excedo, though Para could borrow him.

  And Henry was still fuming over the loss of Remy to the Rare Special Operative department.

  “You two do realize that Kira will be assigned to the Animal Division.”

  “She still needs a home division.”

  Dev’s laptop beeped, and he swiped his fingers over the touch pad. Because he was tired it took slightly longer than usual to absorb the message from ACRO’s parameteorologist, Haley Holmes. She’d narrowed down Itor’s secret location for their massive weather weapon to three possible locales.

  It was good news, but with hurricane season starting next month, it wasn’t good enough.

  He realized Jason and Henry were still arguing, and he ground his teeth. “Enough. Write up your arguments and submit them to me tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Jason’s hostile glare at Henry sizzled over Dev’s skin. Those two would never see eye to eye. But then, Jason rarely saw eye to eye with anyone, and Henry had been set in his ways since he was born.

  Jason left, but Henry remained seated.

  “You have more to say?” Dev asked.

  Henry shifted in his chair, the creak of fabric on leather louder than it should have been, and Dev knew his near future involved a splitting headache. “I want my division to finally get a fair shake. Ever since you started bringing in rare-ability types—”

  “I’m aware of your views, Henry.”

  Henry and a handful of others had opposed Dev’s expansion of ACRO from the exclusively psychic operation it had been under his parents’ direction. He accepted the validity of some of the arguments.

  Bringing in excedosapiens and RSOs had created several problems he couldn’t annihilate no matter how hard he tried. The two types had a tendency to cause a lot of trouble and could be hard to control. There was also the perception that the RSOs received preferential treatment, given their extreme rare abilities and notably small numbers in comparison to the agents in the Paranormal and Excedosapien Divisions.

  On the other hand, the addition of excedos and RSOs had made ACRO the most powerful agency in the world—secret or not.

  Henry’s BDUs rustled as he shifted again. “You know I have great respect for the work you and your parents have done.”

  Dev inclined his head. “But?”

  “But maybe ACRO has grown too big and unwieldy for one person. A few of us have been talking, and we think it might be time for you to take on partners.”

  “I see. You want ACRO to be run by a board of directors.”

  “It would ensure all voices are heard—”

  “Because I’m not fair enough to hear all voices?” Dev asked softly, and he felt a distinct change in the room’s energy.

  “I didn’t say that. And you would, of course, remain on as president…”

  “How generous. You few have this all figured out.” Dev pushed to his feet, braced his hands on the table and leaned forward. “I’m about to prove how fair I am. See, I’ll forget you ever brought this up. And you? You’ll leave right now, by way of your own two feet. Trust me, that’s more than fair.”

  He heard the quiet shuffle as Henry left the conference room, shutting the door behind him. Dev pressed the panel under the table, the code that would open the door that led to his private office, where he refused to hold meetings, refused to let many people in at all. H
e needed a refuge in this place.

  He needed to calm down. He was tired, mentally, physically—but more than that, he was tired of the director’s shit. He’d taken this organization too damned far in eight years to stop now, but sometimes he wished he was back in the military where it was more than okay to settle disputes with a few good punches. But there weren’t many options for a blind pilot in the Air Force. Which was why his sudden, amazing ability at CRV—Controlled Remote Viewing—had earned him a quick paperwork shuffle to NASA and its mind-bending program after the accident that killed his flying career ten years ago.

  His parents had been disappointed. Again. They wanted him out of the military altogether, wanted him with them at ACRO. He’d refused. They had plenty of help.

  But while everyone was busy feeling the leftover peace and love from the Stargate program, the outside world fell apart, competing agencies opened and someone took his parents out, execution-style, in their mansion in Syracuse, Dev’s childhood home.

  The hit was ordered by an agency much bigger than the FBI or the CIA. In Dev’s mind, it was definitely Itor, although the other two agencies had their reasons for also wanting his parents dead. That alone was enough to shove Dev firmly away from the government and into ACRO’s fold.

  Today, when the government and the military came to him for help, they played by his rules. Dev had tightened security until it squeaked, expanded the ACRO divisions to include rare operatives his parents never dreamed of—he took in those rare men and women who limped in from the military or wherever, like refugees who’d lost their homeland; he embraced them, trained them. Saved them. All they had to do was pledge loyalty to ACRO.

  Those were the easy ones—the desperate ones, the ones who didn’t mind joining the land of the freaks.

  The others did not go down easily. Or quietly. And those were the ones they needed most. He needed to make the old guard around here understand that change might not always be easy but more often than not it was for the best.

  He let his mind wander over Henry and Jason again—each a more than perfect candidate to be the leak—a leak they needed to plug, and fast. He’d just learned that one of his operatives had died in China, and the only way that could have happened was if the mission had been compromised. From the inside.