Rogue (Phoenix Rising)

by Brynley Blake

  Fuck it. I tell myself it’s for the job, to keep her close, but it’s a lie. I want her, even if it’s just for tonight. It can’t be more than that. But I have wanted McKenzie Prescott since the moment I felt that visceral attraction, that primordial connection when our eyes met at the bar in Vegas. God knows I’ve tried my damnedest to keep her at a distance. Not because I have scruples. I gave up every ounce of morality I had left when I walked away from the SEALS four years ago. But because I know McKenzie is the girl I could give my heart to. And that terrifies me.

  However, all bets are off now. She’s forced my hand. Twice now I’ve touched her and forced myself to stop, but there’s no turning back this time. The first time, I let my desire for her take precedence over my good sense in an exceedingly rare slip of self-control. The second time was meant to warn her away. But now, she’s left me no other option.

  “If anyone’s going to make love to you, it’s going to be me,” I growl. I take her face in my hands, threading my fingers through her hair as I look into her eyes. “You’d better be damn sure you know what you’re asking for, sweetheart, because once you give yourself to me, there’s no turning back.”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  Seconds tick by, turning into minutes, as I give her one last chance to change her mind. To save herself. To save me. But she just looks up at me with those big blue eyes, and I know that she and I are as inevitable as the tide, the elemental pull that draws me to her just as strong.

  “Come on, then.” I grab her hand, and she falls into step next to me.

  “Back to the boat?”

  I nod.

  “But it’s dark. Is that even safe since we’ve been drinking?”

  She’s fucking adorable when she worries. Although instead of making me want to console and reassure her, it has the odd effect of making me want to push her into doing what she fears so she has to put her trust in me, rely on me to protect her.

  Besides, I’ve spent nights in waters colder and more dangerous than this. Kayaking the short distance to the boat is nothing. And while she’s gotten tipsy on the local cocktail that’s very name is slang for being intoxicated, I nursed a single San Miguel the entire evening. Given my current assignment, I can’t take chances on not being alert at all times.

  I stop and take both of her hands in mine. “Stop worrying. Trust me to take care of you. I’ll keep you safe. At least from everything but me.” I give her a wolfish grin. “But we need privacy for the things I intend to do to you.”

  She smiles a secret, feminine little smile, and I suddenly can’t wait to have her naked and under me.

  Our kayak is still on the beach where we left it, and I drag it into the water, using the excuse of helping McKenzie into it to touch her again. I can’t get enough of her skin. We paddle back to the boat as quickly as possible, the moon lighting our way.

  Once we’re on the Kairos, I can’t keep my hands off her. I take her in my arms, eager to feel her against me. Dancing with her, feeling her body pressed to mine, her soft skin so hot to the touch, has whetted an appetite in me that is demanding to be satiated. I strip off her shorts, followed by her tank top and that damned bikini that has driven me crazy for the last two days. She’s just as eager and impatient as I am, her fingers grabbing fistfuls of my T-shirt as she drags it over my head. With a sigh, she moves her soft hands over my chest, making my cock strain against the fabric of my jeans. I imprison her hands, holding them in one of mine. I pride myself on my self-control, but somehow, she decimates all of my restraint with nothing but her touch.

  I kiss her, hard, my tongue and lips ruthlessly possessing her mouth, probing and sucking and biting as she threads her fingers in my hair and meets my passion with her own. With a groan, I lift her, my hands under her buttocks, and she wraps her legs around my waist.

  “We’d better go down into the cabin before we give the islanders a show they’ll never forget,” I murmur in her ear. She laughs softly and kisses me again. I carry her down the stairs and into the bedroom, lowering her onto the big bed that takes up most of the space in the small room. A small porthole is perfectly positioned to let in a sliver of moonlight reflecting off the ocean, and it illuminates her pale skin as she lies on her back, naked and perfect and all mine for tonight. I stand there for a moment, just drinking in the sight of her.

  Then she reaches up and grabs my cock, and I groan as she closes her fingers around my thickness. Her eyes meet mine, and holding my gaze, she slowly strokes the length of me until my cock is pulsing in her hand. If McKenzie’s hand feels like this, her mouth may kill me.

  I close my eyes, savoring her soft grip and the indescribable feel of her velvet skin encircling my steel. It feels so good, the way she’s stroking me, faster and faster, her other hand cupping my balls as the tension in me grows. And then…she stops. I open my eyes to see her looking up at me.

  “You okay?”

  “I’ve changed my mind.”

  Holy fucking shit. I take a deep breath, trying to rein myself in. “It’s okay, baby.” I stroke her belly, my fingers trailing languidly up between her breasts. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want. But if it’s not me, it’s not anybody. Understood?”

  “Oh God, I can’t do it. I didn’t expect you to accept my ‘no’ that easily.” Her eyes, which were dancing with laughter, soften. “Or be that sweet. I’m just teasing. I thought I’d give you a little taste of your own medicine. Teach you a lesson,” she adds with a little giggle. “But the look on your face was priceless.”

  I lift an eyebrow. “Oh? What look was that? The one that says I’m going to spank your ass and then fuck that insolence right out of you?”

  Her smile fades, but her eyes darken with desire. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Sweetheart, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do just that.”

  I grab her wrists, holding her arms out to the sides as I kiss her again. I move her hands over her head, pinning them there as I look down at her face. God, she’s beautiful.

  I take one nipple into my mouth, plucking it with my lips and teeth and sucking lightly until it pops up, erect and rosy. She inhales sharply, and I smile. “Your nipples like me.” I repeat the process with her other breast, wedging my knee between her legs and forcing her thighs open when she tries to press them together. There’s no way I’m letting her satisfy her needs herself, even a little. She’s mine tonight, and I intend to own every ounce of her pleasure.

  I kiss her torso, biting her tender flesh with sharp little nips until she tries to jerk away, and then I go back to sucking and biting and tormenting her nipples. She’s moaning now, alternately trying to wiggle away from the tiny pain my bites leave and then arching into me as the sting gives way to aching desire.

  “Are you ready?” I murmur, my voice gravelly.

  “God, yes. Please.”

  I flip her over onto her stomach and drag her to the edge of the bed so her toes are touching the floor and her ass is delectably presented to me. I rub it to get the blood flowing. Without warning, I slap one cheek, hard, then the other, and she squeaks. “This is not what I thought you were asking if I was ready for.”

  I spank her again. “The only lessons around here are going to be taught by me. Got it, sweetheart?”

  I whack her ass several more times, and she twists and jerks, but she’s grinding her pelvis into the edge of the mattress and I know she’s as turned on by the spanking as I am. I pause to caress her now-hot cheeks and squeeze erotically, then strike her again, repeating the process until her ass is a gorgeous red and she’s writhing against the bed. I spank her one last time, right between her legs on her sex, and she moans loudly.

  Trailing my finger down the crack of her gorgeous ass, I slide a finger into her. She’s soaking wet. I slowly work it in and out of her, adding another finger as she grows even wetter. She pushes back against me, eager for more. I curve my fingers until I can feel her G-spot, and then I fing
er fuck her harder, giving her no reprieve, until she’s thrusting her hot little backside against my hand. Leaning over her back, I murmur in her ear, “What do you want, baby? Do you want my hand? My fingers? My cock?”

  “Yes, yes, yes. I want it all.”

  I turn her over so I can see her face and kiss her again. She’s wild with wanting, and she kisses me back feverishly, drawing my tongue into her mouth. I feather kisses across her jaw, then kiss and bite her neck, working my way down as my lips and teeth mark a path as if her body’s a treasure map. And X marks the spot, I think with a smile as I reach the sweet bounty between her legs.

  I open her lips with my fingers and gaze at her sex for a minute until she tries to wriggle away. Then I lick the length of her, swiping her sex from back to front with my tongue. God, she tastes sweet.

  “Oh my God,” she finally whispers, her fingers fisting in my hair. I tease and torment her with my tongue, licking and flicking until she’s moaning, her head thrashing from side to side as she begs me with little grunts of “please” and “more” and “now.” I add my fingers, fucking her with them as I suck her hard little clit into my mouth. With a keening cry, she explodes, fingernails digging into my shoulders as she tumbles over the abyss.

  Her pussy pulses around my fingers, over and over, and I lap up the desire I have created. When her hips finally stop moving, I grab a condom, hastily rolling it onto my stiff cock.

  I move up to brace my hands on either side of her head, bending down to kiss her softly. Her eyes are still closed, her breathing labored.

  “Look at me, baby.”

  Her eyelashes flutter open, and she focuses her gaze on mine. “I want to see you. I want to hear that first gasp as I thrust into you.”

  I pin her arms over her head, and her eyes widen as I slowly sink my cock into her wet heat, and then there it is—that sweet inhalation of surprise and pleasure as I touch her core. Her pussy feels like it was made just for me. She clenches around me, and with an impassioned moan, her eyes close. I cup her chin in my hand, squeezing gently as I brush my lips over hers.

  “Open your eyes, sweetheart. Good girl. Keep them open. I want to watch you as I fuck you.”

  She whimpers faintly, but she keeps her eyes open, those liquid blue depths mesmerizing me as I start pumping into her. Our bodies join, hips grinding and pelvises thrusting as we both climb the precipice to dizzying heights of pleasure. Skin on skin, our gazes locked, it’s almost spiritual. I feel like I can see straight through to her soul. I want to drink in every expression, every gasp, every whimper. I pull out and drive back in.

  “Harder. Fuck me harder, Noah.”

  She doesn’t have to ask twice. With her wrists still imprisoned in my hand, I slam into her, desperate to touch her as deeply as possible, and she cries out, meeting me thrust for thrust. “Come for me, baby.” As if waiting for my command, her pussy pulses around me, milking my cock. That’s all it takes. I sink my teeth into her shoulder as I explode into her.

  We lay there, panting, for several long minutes, and then I collapse next to her, gathering her in my arms and pulling her close to me, so her back curves against my chest. I smooth her hair away from her face with gentle fingers.

  She wriggles her ass against my cock, which pulses in response, despite me having just had the biggest orgasm of my life. Then she snuggles into me and almost instantly falls asleep, her breath soft and even. I drift in and out of sleep, dreams of McKenzie’s sweet body and flashes of El Gato mixing together, reminding me of everything I’ve done, everything I’ve lost, and everything I’ll never have again, no matter how much I want it.

  I wake up in the middle of the night, my cock hard and ready for her again, and I rouse her gently with my hands on her breasts and stomach and thighs, caressing and stroking, until she opens to me. Silently, I move between her thighs, taking her gently, our bodies speaking a language all their own. This time I make love to her slowly, our passion building steadily until we both come again, clutching each other close as if loathe to break the contact of skin on skin. I hold her as we drift off to sleep, my cock still buried in her pussy.

  Chapter Eleven

  Noah

  The first fingers of dawn are tickling the sky when I wake with a jolt. There’s someone on board. I don’t hear anything but the gentle lap of the waves against the boat, but I’ve spent too many years in war zones and dangerous situations to ignore the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. My instincts are always right.

  I carefully untangle myself from McKenzie. She stirs and opens her eyes. I put a finger over her lips. “There’s someone on the boat. Listen to me carefully.”

  Her eyes widen but she nods. I slip out of bed, pulling on a pair of shorts and grabbing my gun that is never out of arm’s length.

  I glance back at McKenzie. I don’t want to endanger her by taking her with me, but I can’t leave her down here unarmed. I quickly yank open the safe that’s cleverly concealed under the bed and pull out a Glock, checking to make sure the chamber is full before handing it to her.

  “You know how to shoot?”

  She shakes her head wildly.

  I tilt her chin up with my finger until her eyes meet mine. “You’ve got this. This is nothing compared to jumping off a waterfall. Just point and squeeze the trigger if anyone comes down those stairs except me. Got it?”

  A little calmer now, she nods.

  “Stay here no matter what, even if you hear shooting. Especially if you hear shooting. I’ll come get you when it’s clear.” I don’t intend to die, but if there’s anything I’ve learned in the last five years, it’s that there are no guarantees, and I need to make sure she stays safe and knows what to do in any eventuality. “If I don’t come back, stay here for as long as you can, but not so long that it gets dark again. If you haven’t seen anyone or heard anything by say, fifteen hundred hours, go up to the deck carefully, just in case someone is still on board. If they are, shoot first and ask questions later. Then get in the kayak and go to the mainland. We’re close enough to shore that you should be able to easily make it.”

  “Where are you going to be?” Her face is pale in the moonlight.

  “I’m planning to be right here.” I lean forward, kiss her hard on the lips, and wink. “If anyone’s going to tie you up and have their way with you, it’s going to be me.”

  I climb the stairs stealthily, my gun cocked. I see the dark figure standing in the shadows, but he doesn’t see me. His back is to me, and he’s going through McKenzie’s small bag that she abandoned on the seat last night when we got back from the bar, both mindless with lust. I don’t know what he’s looking for, but I don’t intend to give him a chance to explain.

  I’m not afraid to use my gun, but I don’t feel like scrubbing blood off the deck if I don’t have to. I have size and the element of surprise on my side, so I creep up behind him and aim a clean hit to the back of the head that should level him. Unfortunately, he’s got intuition and quick reflexes and he turns at the last minute and lurches to the side so my blow lands slightly off target. He strikes back and I take him to the ground as we tussle on the deck, each of us trying to get the upper hand.

  The boat is dark and I can’t see him, but he’s about my size, although less muscular. He’s a decent fighter, but no match for a Navy SEAL. He seems to realize it, too, and as soon as he gets a good hit in—an elbow to my groin that temporarily blindsides me—he scrambles to his feet and jumps over the side, the telltale splash confirming his retreat. Grabbing the flashlight I keep on deck, I scan the water, looking for a boat or someone below in the inky ocean. Nothing. I would have completely missed the small bangka moving farther and farther away in the distance if it weren’t for the five seconds that the boat quickly crosses the swath of moonlight reflecting off the water. I watch until it’s completely out of sight.

  Satisfied that he’s not coming back, I make a quick sweep of the boat, but other than the contents of McKenzie’s bag strewn across the cushi
oned seat, there’s no proof that anyone has been here at all. What the hell had he been looking for? I assumed the interloper was probably part of the notorious Abu Sayyaf, a disgruntled splinter group of Islamic terrorists who patrol the waters of the Sulu Sea, and whose interests primarily lie in human trafficking and smuggling. But this guy seemed to be looking for something specific. Money? The list? Something else? I rifle through the contents of McKenzie’s bag, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary—an inhaler, a towel, sunglasses, the sunscreen she’d swiped from the deck, her wallet with plenty of American dollars still in it, and her passport. I hastily shove everything back into it and go downstairs.

  She’s standing at the end of the bed with wild hair, wearing nothing but my T-shirt, revealing her long, tanned legs, the gun trained on the doorway.

  “Don’t shoot, baby. It’s me.”

  She lowers the gun, hesitates for a few seconds, and then hurls herself into my arms.

  “Shhh, baby. I’ve got you.”

  She’s shaking as she presses her face into my shoulder. I hold her against my chest, smoothing her hair gently. After a few minutes, she says, “Are they gone?” Her voice is muffled by my chest, and I rub her back briskly before pulling back a little to cup her chin in my hand.

  “Yes. You okay?”

  She nods. “Who was it?” Her voice is tremulous, and it makes me want to wrap her in my arms and protect her from the world.

  I shrug. “I don’t know. Just one guy. He was going through your bag. He either didn’t find what he was looking for or didn’t think it was worth risking his life for, because as soon as he could get away from me, he jumped overboard. I saw him row away in his bangka. Still, I’d rather not spend any more time docked here, just in case he has friends and decides to come back. I’m going to go pull anchor, even though it’s still dark. You stay here and try to get some sleep.”