Winter Warriors

by Denise A. Agnew

  Not with Mac. No, he kept her pinioned with that voracious gaze. “Are you saying that if I proved to everyone in that lab how much I loved you, by kissing you in plain view, that you wouldn’t flinch?”

  Loved her? Destiny shook her head to release the cloud of sensuality flowing around them like a warm, enticing river. “Of course I’d flinch—” She cut herself off, angry at her slip. “I can act. Just like you.”

  His big hands slid down her arms, warm and gentle as he reached her wrists. He held her lightly, his body crowding her against the chair. “Ever since you and I met, something weird has been going on. I think we should get to the bottom of it right now.”

  Subtle changes came to life inside her. Blazing sexual tension notwithstanding, indescribable need slipped into her gut and demanded answers, insisted on a hard, pounding finish. His fingers explored, sliding down over her hips, then back up again.

  “This isn’t necessary,” she said in desperation, a last ditch effort to maintain her sanity.

  “I think it is.” He traced his hand up her spine and she shivered. He buried his fingers in her hair. “We’ve got to respond like lovers. Touch like lovers.” He let the moment draw out as he brushed his lips to her cheek with a gossamer kiss that felt so sweet she could scarcely draw a breath. “You’re acting afraid of me, and we can’t have that.” He kissed her nose. “I want you responding to me at every touch. If I was with a woman I loved, you’d be damned sure everyone around me would know it.” His deep whisper breathed hot over her lips as he leaned in closer and covered her mouth with his. Instead of the hot, heated kiss she expected, his smacking kiss held tender affection. “We need practice.”

  His lips took hers again and again, quick embraces of lips against lips until she returned his tastes. One tiny kiss, then two. Five kisses. More.

  “Mac,” she said between kiss twelve and kiss thirteen. “I think we’ve got it down.”

  “Nope. We’re not even halfway there.”

  “This isn’t exactly protocol.”

  Kisses melded together without end, lengthening, growing with her response. His mouth felt hot, potent, drugging, until she couldn’t think.

  Heat filled her sex, and she plunged her hands into his hair. At last she touched the thick, luxurious strands and knew what if felt like to have the cool strands tickling her fingers. She ran her fingers over his cheeks and the stubble prickled her sensitive ends. He groaned against her lips, an urgent, almost guttural sound of male animal.

  Red-hot desire detonated inside her, no longer hesitant.

  So much for self-discipline and common sense. Her body didn’t give a flying fritter.

  As Mac’s lips twisted against hers, his tongue moved deep into her mouth. His hands took position on her butt and cupped her possessively. Before she knew it, her tongue rubbed against his and tangled and danced in a way that made her clit throb. Breathy moans slipped from her throat.

  His hands slipped over her contours, always returning to her butt so that he could press against her. She felt slick, hot, and needy. It would feel so nice right about now to have a big, hard cock sliding in and out of her. But not just any cock.

  Destiny wanted his long, thick length.

  Mac cupped her breast in a tender, cherishing way. Her nipple puckered into a tight point and she moaned as the skin prickled.

  His gentleness, mixed with the mind-blowing sensuality of his kiss, kept her from retreating from his intimacy. Instead, she arched into him, greedy for more. Gasping for air, she pulled back and broke the kiss. His gaze simmered with an animal strength which said he wobbled on the edge. She couldn’t have believed less than an hour ago that Mac Tudor would seduce her on the table of the conference room in SIA. But here he was, and here she was, and she didn’t want anything else at that moment.

  “I’ve got to touch you.” His breath rasped as he spoke. Reaching upward, he rubbed over her nipples with a soft flick that made her gasp. “That’s it. Show me how much you want it.”

  “No. We can’t. I won’t—”

  Mac smothered her statement with his mouth. Again his tongue possessed her mouth, thrusting in and out in a carnal reenactment of cock into cunt.

  His fingers plucked and tugged at her nipples through the sweater and bra, a sweet pressure that would be all the more incredible when he licked and sucked naked flesh.

  Suddenly he clasped her butt in both hands and lifted her onto the conference table. He parted her legs and stepped between them. Rock solid cock touched her highly-sensitive clit and a fireball seemed to ignite in her stomach and spread downwards. His hips started a rhythm. Forward. Back. Forward.

  Yes. Yes. Yes.

  Two times in less than two hours this man had wedged his way between her legs. It was crazy. Nutty. Way unprofessional.

  She didn’t care.

  Warm tingles slid through her body and touched each erogenous zone like wildfire. Her breasts swelled and throbbed under his demanding touch. Her clit ached.

  Destiny’s head fell back as a wave of sweet ecstasy took her up. His lips touched her neck, kissing and nibbling.

  Almost there. Almost.

  It couldn’t get any better.

  Ah, but it could.

  He moved to the side just a little, forcing her legs to open wide as his fingers homed in. When he pressed his fingers against her clit through pantyhose and panties, the heat felt terrific. She gasped and her whole body shuddered with need. When she didn’t retreat or protest, Mac caressed, his fingers dancing with teasing flicks. Around, over, brushing, pressing. Every incredible stroke sent her reaching higher and pleading for release. By now her breath rasped in her throat, her eyes closed in pure ecstasy. A little moan came from her parted lips, and she didn’t care enough to be embarrassed by the abandon. No, this felt too good, too untamed…too wonderful.

  Their actions felt depraved and decadent and she couldn’t stop the wildness as it gathered strength and escalated to raging proportions in her body. One last brush against her clit did the ultimate.

  With a sense of incredible wonder and a startled gasp, she shattered in his arms. The screaming orgasm burst inside her and made her cunt clench and release in rolling waves. Her body arched into his. He held her tight and kept his fingers pressed against her pulsing clit. A low moan of total surrender left her throat as the last throb died.

  Destiny’s imagination took flight, her feelings mixing with the physical. She experienced more than desire, she felt an invading tenderness. His hands slipped into her hair again, a caressing motion that spoke of extreme delight, of a gentleness she never would have expected from this man.

  When she opened her eyes, she recognized his satisfaction mixed with a surprising respect. He appeared as satiated as a predatory cat with a meal, a snack he wanted to taste thoroughly. He hadn’t found release yet, and she wanted to give it to him. She reached for the zipper on his pants.

  A knock sounded on the door.

  Mac started and Destiny twitched in his arms. His arms tightened; he didn’t want to relinquish the warm, exciting woman in his arms. A woman he never suspected owned fire and ice in one gut-wrenching package. Now he’d tasted her, he craved the chance to see her climax with his cock buried deep inside her. His breathing came quick, the fire burning in his gut unvanquished by the danger of discovery. He wanted her now.

  “Mac, let me go.” She pushed against his shoulders. “Someone’s knocking.”

  “I can hear that.” He couldn’t resist smiling. “I think you’d better give me a minute. Stop squirming or I’m going to come in my pants.”

  “Well, let me go.” Her smoky, cocoa-brown eyes held a slumberous quality that included surprise and shock at his bluntness.

  “If it’s Quinton, I don’t think you want him to see you like this anymore than I want him to see me. You look like you’ve just been thoroughly fucked.”

  Her cheeks turned pink and her mouth dropped open. “God, Mac. Do you always have to open your mouth and let what
ever is in your dirty little mind come out?”

  He winced, the pain equal to the laughter. “Ouch. The dirty mind I’ll own up to. But little mind? Man, you know how to hurt a guy.”

  She pushed again, but this time her fingers landed on his biceps and those hands clutched at his muscles like she enjoyed feeling them. Good. He worked out to stay in shape, but if she liked his body, more the better.

  Mac couldn’t help it. She looked so sweet right now he couldn’t resist kissing her one more time. A gentle peck on the lips made her gasp. “Mac, please.”

  “What, Tremayne? Spit it out.”

  “Stop it.”

  “Come on, you’re never at a loss for words. Just tell me.”

  “Release me or I really am going to knee you in the nuts.”

  Gratification filled him, and he ate up the sight of renewed pique entering her eyes. “I don’t think so. I’m standing between your legs right now. Besides, even if you could hurt me, Quinton wouldn’t be too happy to see me rolling around the floor in agony. And it would hurt my delicate male ego.”

  She made a scoffing noise. “Right. Your ego is about as delicate as a corn cob up the ass.”

  He laughed. Leave it to her to come up with earthy descriptors. “That’s what I like about you. Never a dull moment.” Something crazy made him brush his fingers over her cheek. “Next time you come, I’ll be deep inside you.”

  Again she blushed. He’d never witnessed Destiny this vulnerable before, and the idea she not only enjoyed being in his arms but could be embarrassed, gave him newfound pleasure. She might be one maddening, ball-busting maneater as her nickname implied. Yet watching her gaze shimmer with arousal made him feel on top of the world.

  “Mac…” Her voice, soft but firm, held a warning.

  “If you’re thinking of kicking my ass, I suggest you save the energy for when we’re on assignment.”

  Her face went even redder. God, but he loved watching her get pissed. Fantasies flashed through his mind. Having her in his arms as they did a wall-banger. Destiny riding his cock while he rubbed her clit into a mind-destroying orgasm.

  Great, Tudor. This isn’t helping any.

  Hell, what man wouldn’t want her? Deceptively bookish described her curved-to-perfection five-foot-eight frame. She didn’t have a stick figure; the thick red turtleneck sweater cupped her full breasts, her legs were covered by a boot-skimming flared gray tweed skirt. Every time they entered the same room, her citrus scent enlivened his senses. Her hips held a gentle sway that dared a man to look away. He loved the way her dark, roan-brown hair tumbled about her shoulders in waves, the fringe over her forehead giving her a youthful messiness.

  Most of all, she was damned cute. With wide-spaced eyes, pert nose and heart-shaped face, she wouldn’t be described as a classic beauty. Still, she had everything he liked and he wanted her.

  One way or the other, he would get her into bed and give her the fucking of her life.

  Another knock on the door made him release her, erection or no erection.

  Destiny slipped off the table, tugged down her skirt, and put several feet between them. He sank into a chair and crossed his legs while she went to get the door.

  Quinton walked in, his gaze measuring the situation. The curious and somewhat amused expression on the man’s face made Mac’s erection fade. Thank God.

  Destiny stayed near the doorway, as if she couldn’t wait to run. “We’re done here.”

  Quinton eyed them with suspicion. His eyebrows lowered with a frown. “And?”

  “Everything is settled. We’ll be on our way to the mountain lab before the day is out.” Mac stared at his new partner and defied her to contradict him. “Destiny and I have come to an understanding, haven’t we?”

  Her lips pursed the slightest bit, as if she’d like to tell him where to stick it. Wouldn’t do her any good. He already knew where he wanted to put his cock.

  Man, you’ve got a one-track mind.

  Thing was, he’d never experienced such a single-minded need for a woman before. Ever. The last thing he needed was a continual hard-on. He needed to get control of his body and engage his brain for the assignment ahead.

  “Destiny?” Quinton asked when she didn’t reply.

  She put her hands on her hips, her mouth drawn into tight defiance.

  Come on, baby, don’t fail me now. He wanted her to go with him on this mission, sexual attraction or not. “Destiny, you’re the best agent around here. I need your help.” The words popped out of his mouth without thought, but as soon as he said them, he knew he meant it. “You’ve got talents I don’t.”

  Her eyebrows pinched together the slightest bit. A sardonic smile touched her well-kissed mouth a moment later. “Well, when you put it like that…”

  Quinton beamed. “Good.” He started toward the door, then nodded toward the large window where winter presented a frosty panoramic view of snow-covered pines and mountains. “You’d better get on with it. This weather isn’t getting any better. Report in as soon as you reach your destination.”

  Lucky for them, Quinton left the door open as he departed. She looked relieved and Mac couldn’t blame her. If they’d been alone again, he might be tempted to take her in his arms again.

  “Meet you at the transportation compound in thirty minutes,” she said with the return to her usual no-nonsense demeanor.

  Before he could reply, she left. The little tyrant loved getting in the last word.

  Yeah, this would be one hell of a mission.

  * * * * *

  Destiny looked out of the Expedition windshield as gentle snow flurries transformed into a mega blizzard. She was grateful for the four-wheel drive and Mac’s cautious driving. The last male agent she’d worked with drove like a maniac regardless of conditions, something she didn’t appreciate.

  They’d loaded the SUV with equipment, including survival supplies. They headed into this bizarre assignment with everything they could need.

  No one had driven down the mountain in the last few minutes. The steady hum of the heater and the purr of the engine did nothing to dispel her feeling they were the only ones left in the world.

  “You’re a good driver, Mac.” She winced. She hadn’t meant to compliment him. She didn’t want him to think she might like him for any reason. “For a man.”

  A smile moved his mouth for a second then disappeared. Since she’d agreed to work with him, he’d grinned more than she could remember seeing him do before. Just when she’d gotten used to his stoic, hard-as-nails exterior, he threw her this curve.

  “Gee, thanks. I’ll bet you say that to all the guys,” he said.

  “Actually, no.” She reached over to the dash, turned up the heat, and directed the airflow towards her. “Most men drive like assholes. I think they figure the bigger the car and the faster they drive, the larger their cock.”

  Again a half-smile flirted with his lips. “I think you already know the size of my cock.”

  Fire moved down into her belly at the memory and mixed with her usual dismay at his frankness. Too bad she hadn’t seen his body unclothed. She might have been mortified by their encounter in the conference room, but it didn’t stop her from appreciating his physical attributes. At the same time, she could never let a man have the last word.

  “Pretty is as pretty does,” she said in retaliation for her traitorous thoughts.

  He negotiated around a curve, taking it slow and easy. “Man, you’re tough. You know just what to say, don’t you?”

  “Actually, yes.”

  “Do you ever lose?”

  “At games of logic, always. Games of chance, never.”

  “Full of absolutes, aren’t you?”

  “I’m confident. I haven’t come this far to go all wimpy.”

  “Is that what you think uncertainty is? Weakness?”

  She started to answer, then realized he’d drawn her into revealing conversation. Suspicious, she decided the best defense meant giving him what he
expected. “When Achilles’ heels can be exploited by another, then it’s a failing I can’t afford.”

  “No wonder you’re an excellent agent.”

  She’d expected argument from him since they started this mission, not praise. “What are you getting at?”

  He glanced at her for a millisecond, and his calm coolness said she’d piqued his ire. “I’ve read your personnel file. It’s no use trying to cover up with snappy comebacks.”

  “What?” She straightened in her seat. “How did you get my file?”

  He looked at her again and winked. “Annalise in Human Resources owed me a favor. I always want to know who I’m working with. I figure it might save my life some day.”

  Antagonism rose inside her and came to a slow simmer. She took a deep breath and continued her perusal of the worsening weather. “And your verdict on me?”

  “I thought you’d never ask. I’ll admit I couldn’t find any areas that could put another agent’s life in danger. You’re trained in several forms of martial arts. You can shoot, ride horses, and run like the wind. You’ve never failed on a mission. Must be why your reputation is so sterling, Tremayne. Must be why you can’t stand defects in other mere humans.”

  Destiny didn’t miss the sarcasm in his last sentence. She sniffed. “Slack off and you get dead real fast.”

  “That’s something else I find interesting about you. You talk like a man. Some day I’d love to hear you speak softly like a woman.”

  She reached up and snatched the fleece hat off her head. “What difference does it make how I talk? Are you a male chauvinist?”

  “No way. My three older sisters made sure of that. They trained me and my little brother. Besides, my mother was the breadwinner of the house for a long time after my dad was injured in a car accident. She’s one competent lady.”

  Interest made her probe. “Is that why you drive so cautiously?”

  “In part. Dad always was a hell of a fast driver. When his van went over a cliff in a snowstorm, well, you could say I learned my lesson that day. Not that I was a wild driver before then, but his accident cemented the idea in my head.”