by Maya Banks
Instead of directing him, she scooted forward on the couch, the T-shirt she’d changed into hanging around her knees. She glanced up at him once and then reached hesitantly until her fingers circled him.
He let out a groan as the tips danced over his erection, stroking, petting lightly. Sweat broke out on his forehead when she cupped his balls, squeezing with just enough pressure to drive him insane.
He wasn’t going to survive this. He was trying to be good. Patient and understanding when every instinct screamed at him to take his woman and make love to her until she forgot both their names.
Then her lips found him and he forgot everything but her. It was just a light kiss. And then a playful lick. She grew bolder and he grew harder.
His fingers curled into tight fists at his sides. He clenched and unclenched until he lost all the feeling around his knuckles.
“You taste good,” she murmured.
Ah hell.
She licked a circle around the head, paying particular attention to the crease at the back and to the slit at the top. She was making him crazy. Absolutely stone cold nuts.
“Rachel, baby, God ...”
Teasingly she slid her tongue up the shaft and then underneath so she could suck gently at his sac. His toes curled into the carpet and he strained upward, wanting more of that delectable mouth.
She gripped him tight with her hand and rolled outward, following her lips back up to the tip. Once again she licked delicately, and then without warning, she sucked him into her mouth, taking him deep.
“Ahhhh!”
He sank into the hot velvet clasp of her mouth. Her tongue rasped along the underside, the friction delicious and unbearable. When he reached his depth, she sucked gently and then with more force.
His fingers stuttered clumsily through her hair until he gripped the top of her head. He rocked up on his toes and then forward, thrusting deeper. He was about to crawl out of his skin. It was itchy, alive, and the most exquisite, torturous pleasure he’d ever experienced in his life.
“Baby, you need to stop,” he groaned. “I’m going to come. I can’t hold out any longer.”
She pulled carefully away and leaned back, eyeing him as she licked her lips like a satisfied cat. Jesus, it was all he could do not to shoot his wad here and now. He reached down and pinched the head of his cock between his fingers and tried to chase away the erotic images that floated in his head.
“If you come now, are you done for the night?” she asked curiously.
“Baby, the way you’re looking at me, I think I’d be hard again in about five minutes.”
It probably wasn’t true, but damn if he didn’t believe it as excited as he was.
“Then I definitely want you to come now.”
The husky timbre of her voice washed over him. His cock jumped in his hand, as if to tell him to get the fuck away and let the woman do the handling. And he was only too willing to let her.
Her hand replaced his, cool and soft. For a moment she fondled, exploring the lines, tracing a path to his balls and then back again.
He needed her mouth. He was going to come soon, and he wanted in her mouth, wanted to be deep with her lips circling the base, his balls resting on her chin.
As soon as she parted her lips to take him inside, he thrust hard and deep. She sighed around him, a sweet, breathy sound of satisfaction that sent shards of pleasure all the way to his toes.
It should be him making love to her. It should be him laying her down and kissing every inch of her body. But God, he needed her so bad. He’d missed this, missed their openness. He’d never appreciated her until it was too late, and now he was determined to live every moment and never take her for granted again.
Fire started low in his pelvis. His balls tightened and his cock swelled until it felt like he’d split open at the seams. She was so in tune with his body. He loved that. She instinctively tightened her grip, giving him that extra pressure he needed.
Up and down she worked with her hand, hard and tight. She sucked him deep, hollowing her cheeks.
The world around him blurred. All he could process was the sensation of her hot, moist mouth wrapped all around his dick. It was heaven and hell all rolled into one.
“I’m going to come, baby,” he warned. He even tried to pull away so he wouldn’t spill into her mouth, but she wouldn’t allow it.
She held him at the back of her throat and swallowed. It was all he could stand.
With a hoarse shout, he began coming. The first jet exploded from his cock, painful, nearly excruciating in intensity.
She swallowed rapidly and sucked him deeper, working her hand up and down.
He pulsed a second and a third time and then again. He threw back his head and closed his eyes as he strained forward. Both hands tangled in her hair, pulling her closer until he felt his balls brush over her chin.
He’d never come so hard and so much in his life.
When he regained his senses, he glanced down to see his hands buried in her hair. He immediately let go, worried he’d been too rough, but she remained where she was, perched on the edge of the couch, her mouth gently working him down from the most intense orgasm he’d ever experienced.
“That was amazing,” he said breathlessly.
She pulled away, her hand still cupping him, and looked up at him, her eyes glowing with desire. Hell, maybe he hadn’t lied about being able to get it up again so soon. If she kept looking at him with those temptress eyes, he’d be sporting wood the size of a tree trunk.
“Come here,” he muttered as he reached down to hook his hands underneath her arms.
He pulled her up and into his arms. She hastily licked her lips, removing his semen from her mouth just before he crushed his lips to hers.
“It’s my turn,” he rasped as he nibbled at her plump lips.
Her entire mouth was cherry red and delectably swollen from the attention she’d given him. He was determined to give her every bit as much pleasure as she’d given him. He wanted her screaming his name when she came.
He reached down and slid his hands underneath the T-shirt, yanking impatiently. She stepped back and allowed him to pull it over her head.
All the air left his lungs when she stood before him in only a pair of plain white panties. How could she make a slip of cotton look so darn erotic?
His gaze traveled to her full breasts, and he couldn’t resist the urge to palm them both, measuring the weight and size in his hands.
They were perfect. Like her. Soft and incredibly silky against his fingers. He brushed the pads of his thumbs over the swollen crests and watched in fascination as they puckered into taut peaks.
“Tell me you want me, Rachel. Tell me you need me,” he begged softly.
She circled his neck with her arms and leaned into his body, her face upturned, her eyes shining with desire.
“I do need you, Ethan. So much. Love me, please.”
He hugged her to him and let his hands glide down to the curve of her bottom. He loved touching her, loved how she reacted to the simplest of caresses.
He fondled the shapely globes then traced one finger up the cleft to the small of her back and chuckled when she shivered.
“You used to love it when I went all he-man and carried you off to my cave.”
She made a soft humming sound that told him she wasn’t at all opposed to the idea.
He nibbled at her ear and tongued the shell, knowing he’d get another full-body shiver out of her. She sagged against him and he grinned as he tasted the softness of her neck.
Reaching down, he hooked his arm underneath her knees and hoisted her up against his chest. She settled against him. A perfect fit. Like she’d never left. Like he’d never made her leave.
Hope beat so hard in his chest that he could feel each painful burst. Let this be it for them. He couldn’t lose her again.
Laughter spilled from her lips, carefree and beautiful as he strode to the bedroom. When he got to the bed, he spun aro
und with her in his arms, simply enjoying the joy in her eyes.
When they were both dizzy, he dropped her onto the bed, and she sprawled on her back, her eyes still laughing up at him.
“Ditch the underwear,” he growled.
Giggling, she reached down with her thumbs but then stopped and stared mutinously up at him.
“If you want them off, you do it.”
He raised one eyebrow and stood back, hands on his hips. “Getting saucy on me, wench?”
She stifled her laughter with one hand, but her shoulders shook and her breasts jiggled enticingly.
He crawled onto the bed and loomed over her on hands and knees. He planted one palm next to her side and reached with his other hand to slip his fingers into the waistband of her panties.
His patience gone, he pulled, working the delicate material over her hips until the soft flesh of her pussy filled his vision. He let her kick free of the underwear, and then he ran his fingers up the inside of her leg until the downy tuft of hair whispered over the tips.
With the pad of his thumb, he stroked over the plump folds. Her liquid heat surrounded his fingers as he delved beyond the soft lips. She arched and moaned, such a needy sound that sent a bolt of lightning straight up his dick.
Going up on his knees, he nudged her legs farther apart until the pink flesh glistened in the low light. He swallowed hard then lowered himself so he could lose himself in her sweetness.
“Ethan,” she whispered as his mouth found her.
He lazily tongued her, taking his time and eliciting delicate little shivers with each lick. Her clit puckered and swelled against his lips. He circled it, leaving a wet trail as he worked it into a quivering, tight bud.
He hadn’t forgotten how to pleasure her. He knew her body better than his own. He hadn’t always been a selfish bastard, and now he reveled in reacquainting himself with all his favorite ways to please her.
One finger slipped inside her entrance. She gripped it, her muscles convulsing wetly. He withdrew, sucked the moisture from his finger and then probed her opening with his tongue.
She came off the bed, gasping his name. Her hips bucked upward, and her fingers curled into the sheets. Her chest heaved with each breath and her nipples were beaded into tight little knots.
“Come in my mouth just like I came in yours,” he said hoarsely.
Her eyes glittered and her face was flushed with excitement and arousal. He lowered his head again and gently sucked her clit into his mouth. He held it between his lips and feathered his tongue over the tip with just enough force to make her squirm wildly.
Her legs trembled uncontrollably. She arched, all her muscles tensing against him. She was close, so close.
He sucked harder at her clit, taking care not to cross that delicate line between pain and pleasure. When she let out a cry, he quickly moved down, covered her opening with his mouth and sucked hard.
Her taste exploded on his tongue as her orgasm rolled like a force of nature through her body. She twisted and writhed underneath him, but he held her hips firmly as he drank every bit of her essence.
Silky and sweet like honeysuckle.
Before she completely came down, he spread her wider then moved up her body until his straining cock pressed urgently where his lips had just left.
He slipped inside, taking care not to hurt her. She took him with ease, and he glided over her swollen tissues, absorbing the sensation of her hot and wet around him.
Liquid heat. Velvet. Heaven.
Her legs came up and wrapped around him, holding him deep. He lowered himself over her, coming down like a blanket. She cradled him, taking his weight, and he lay there for a long moment just enjoying their connection.
Her hands traveled over his back, up to his shoulders and then to his neck, and cupped his jaw. She raised her mouth and crushed it to his.
Hot. Wild. Incredibly sweet. She held so much power, and he doubted she even realized it. He was hers. He belonged completely and utterly to her.
Lifting himself slightly off her, he adjusted his position and settled more comfortably between her thighs. She lifted her hips and he went deeper.
With a groan he withdrew and then thrust forward again. She reached up and wrapped her arms around him. Her entire body was wrapped tightly around him. He sheltered her. It was just the way it should be.
“Ethan,” she whispered again.
He’d never tire of hearing his name on her lips.
He drove into her, his senses blurring. She was here. In his arms. Safe.
Faster. Harder. She took everything he gave. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and her legs trembled around him.
She was so tight, so swollen around him. Liquidy satin. He was mindless.
“Rachel. Baby.”
The words slipped from his lips as every muscle in his body went tense. His orgasm flashed, much faster and more intense than before. There was no long buildup, just an instant explosion, so vivid that he lost himself for several moments.
When he regained at least a semblance of consciousness, he looked down to see Rachel staring up at him with her heart in her eyes. His breath caught in his throat. Then she said it.
“I love you, Ethan.”
Tears blurred his vision, sharp and stinging. He didn’t have words. He couldn’t have spoken if he’d wanted to. The knot in his throat threatened to choke him. He tried to breathe around it and found himself closed off.
“Oh God, baby. I love you too. So damn much.”
He dropped his forehead to hers, and both their chests heaved against each other as they tried to catch up.
After several seconds, he wondered if he’d dreamed it, if his need to hear it had manifested itself in fantasy.
“Say it again,” he choked out.
Her eyes went soft, and she framed his face with her hands. For a moment she idly stroked the contours of his jaw and stared up at him with so much emotion reflected in her gaze.
“I love you. I love you so much, Ethan. I may not remember everything, but if feels right. We feel right. I’m as sure of this as I am of anything.”
A tear splashed onto her cheek. He hadn’t even felt it fall. His breath simmered in and out as he tried to hold in the emotion. It was like a dam breaking, though. He simply gathered her in his arms, their bodies still joined, and held on for dear life.
CHAPTER 33
THE stench of death lay heavy in the air. Rio eased his hand up to halt his men and then signaled them to fan out and circle. His gut was screaming that this wasn’t right. Any of it.
The air smelled of blood. Fresh blood. His nostrils flared and quivered as he took position in a dense snarl of plants. He blended seamlessly into his environment, more of a chameleon than a human. With slow, careful movements, he sighted his rifle on the encampment below and did a sweep.
He mentally crossed himself. Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph but it was a brutal sight, and he’d pretty much seen all there was to see when it came to death and murder.
What he saw wasn’t an efficient kill zone. It was a message. A bloody one. Bodies were spread out over the area like litter at a campsite.
Whoever had performed the massacre had been gone at least twelve hours. Rio could detect no movement, no sign of life from the silent village. But he wouldn’t take any chances with his men until they knew for certain the area was clear.
Patiently he waited and watched. Even the carrion hadn’t found the fresh bodies yet, and in the jungle, scavenging was sometimes the difference between life and death.
He carefully moved from his cover and let out a low call to his men to converge on the camp. They came in a tight circumference, their rifles up, their gazes cautiously skirting left and right for the slightest warning they weren’t alone.
Dead men didn’t make any sounds, and all that was left here was the dead.
Rio stepped over two bodies on the edge of the clearing where the huts began and the jungle gave way to the encampment. Rachel Kelly had b
een held for a year in just such a place as this. Anger blazed through his veins. It was no place for a woman. There was no telling what the animals had done to her.
He noted with grim satisfaction that the assholes had been spared no quarter. Poor bastards probably never knew what hit them. Whoever had performed the hit had come in with fire-power to rival an army.
Terrence stepped into the center of the village and looked toward Rio. Then he signaled the all clear. One by one, his men pushed out of the jungle, their expressions hard as they studied the carnage.
“Somebody did our work for us, I see,” Terrence said as Rio approached him.
“Dead men don’t talk, though,” Rio said in disgust.
Terrence nodded. “Could be why they were killed.”
“It’s highly coincidental that within days of our guys here setting up a new camp after the old one was destroyed in Rachel’s rescue, someone comes through here and takes out the entire village, and I don’t believe in coincidence.”
“Yep, too convenient if you ask me,” Terrence agreed. “Whoever did this didn’t want any loose ends, that’s for damn sure.”
Rio scowled. Sam wasn’t going to be happy. Hell, he wasn’t happy. He’d been looking forward to kicking some cartel ass. Using women in war was for pantywaists. It would have been fun to see if the assholes would feel so tough when they weren’t up against a defenseless woman.
He glanced around as his men carefully picked their way through the field of bodies. What the hell was being covered up here? Rachel’s “death” had been carefully orchestrated. She’d been cut off from her family and held in a godforsaken shithole just like this one. Why? None of it made sense, and now someone had gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to make sure no questions were answered.
“So what now?” Terrence asked as he looked around at the bodies strewn left and right.
“I sure as hell ain’t burying them,” Rio muttered. “And I sure ain’t saying any Hail Marys. Let them burn in hell.”
He broke off when a low sound carried on the wind from just a few feet away. Rio and Terrence hauled their rifles up and pointed in the direction of one of the “dead” men. Only he wasn’t dead.
