by Han, Barb
He cupped her chin in his hand and pulled her lips to his, planting kisses above her lip, on the corners of her mouth, on her chin.
“I want to know everything about you,” he said softly.
She nuzzled against his protective body and exhaled deeply.
The light of the moon through the window cast dark shadows in the room along with a dark silhouette around Jaden’s chest as his body glistened. He leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers.
His lips came down on hers with the kind of need and passion that had been missing in every kiss her whole life. Feeling every second of the moment happening between them, she yielded to his touch — a touch that held the power to make everything right.
His strong hand splayed against the small of her back, positioning her exactly where he wanted her to better access her silken lips. His kiss, slow and tender at first, barely pressed against her mouth, began to deepen with passion as she parted her lips for him, tasting him.
He flicked his tongue inside her sweet mouth for the briefest of moments, a mere taste, as though a moment of preparation was needed before surging deeper, before tasting the purity and sweetness that was next.
His surge, deep and hungry, was so alarming it robbed Lauren’s ability to breathe. Her hands came up to his shoulders for support before sliding down his muscled chest as his tongue brought tingly sensations of awareness coursing through her.
“I want you.”
“Then take me,” she said, holding his gaze.
Everything about this man heightened her senses and brought her body to life. His warm and salty scent. His solid-walled chest. His beautiful blue eyes. And those lips. God, those lips.
His fingers stroked her hair as she felt his lips brush her forehead, and she felt a yearning well up from deep inside that made her head numb. Being so close to him, feeling his skin under her fingers, put her at war from the inside out. She struggled to do something as basic as take oxygen into her lungs as she felt his hand on her chin, guiding her lips toward his like they were coming home. Before she could form an argument in her mind, his lips enveloped hers, coming down hard and fast, and his mouth crashed down on hers as his needy tongue delved deeply into her mouth.
Lauren’s body craved his touch as her hands moved up and down his back, her fingers stopping to outline every muscle. Her senses heightened until her entire body pulsed and tingled with the kind of sensations that must be similar to free falling off the face of a cliff.
Her fingers traced his strong jaw line, down his chin, until they mapped his muscled chest. Every part of her was awake, alive with desire, with a need to feel his bare-naked skin.
Even as his tongue marked her every curve as his, marking a line down to her nipple, lighting a fiery sensual trail, she couldn’t imagine wanting a man more than she wanted this man, at this moment.
“You are perfection,” his soft lips said into her thick mass of hair.
Leaving her defenseless against his touch, his caress, his tenderness, she could do nothing more or less than surrender to the tide sweeping over her and through her.
Knowing that was all she needed to do.
He kissed her, slowly this time, but so skillfully she got lost — lost inside him without any sense there could be anything else. Place and time no longer mattered because she was lost in some black hole where nothing made sense or had to — as though the laws of physics broke down — with nothing else in the world except the two of them, together, in this moment.
All that registered was the desire intensifying inside her, a desire mounting with every stroke of his finger, every thrust of his tongue until her entire body strained for release.
He stroked her body, leisurely, tenderly as his warm hand flushed a hot trail along her skin where he touched. He seemed to feel as much pleasure as she did from his fingers exploring her body, and then gliding over her nipples teasing them. He groaned a low, throaty growl as his fingers stroked the bare skin of her straining breasts. He took a nipple in his mouth, his tongue gliding and licking along the crest.
Defenseless, her body took over, her hands needing to feel him, to touch every inch of a back they’d already mapped.
Even as his tongue brought unimaginable pleasure to her nipples, his hand slid down her stomach and moved between her legs until he touched her most tender place, which was warm and moist for him. Twirling the tips of his skilled fingers in slow circles caused a tingling sensation to take over her entire body, possessed with awareness as her mounting passion grew. Her senses quickened … grew … climbed, until Lauren moaned mercilessly as her body begged for the release only he could give her.
“Jaden …,” she said breathlessly, her fingers now pleated inside his sable mane.
***
He raised her hands above her head, and then from the urging of his thigh, parted her legs. He moved her to the exact position he wanted her, kissing her on the lips, his elbows supporting his own weight, his hips against hers, his erection warm against the soft skin of her belly.
His hands released hers so he could cradle her face.
Slowly, he pressed her thighs apart enough to enter her. Every muscle in his body tightened, tensed, as unmatched sexual anticipation and pleasure drove him near the breaking point from the soft dew he found there.
Lauren moaned as she opened her legs a little more for him, wiggling, urging him deeper inside. She lifted her hips until he reached a little deeper, and a long, slow primal groan released from his lips as his gaze locked onto hers.
He searched for reassurance he was not hurting her.
She answered with another low moan.
Lauren’s fire-streaked hair pooled on the bed and shimmered in the light, the exact image Jaden held of her as her gold-brown eyes drove him to the brink of explosion.
He lowered his heavy body on top of her, and drove his tongue into her mouth, exploring her, aching from his need to get lost in her and physically possess her.
And he did possess her.
Those eyes, her beautiful glittery eyes, lids heavy with need, brought his entire body to match point.
Now her fingers glided along his muscular lines, and he tensed as he eased himself further inside her.
She gasped.
He froze. “Am I hurting you?”
“No. More.”
He made a final, deep thrust. Her body flowered, taking him in, and he nearly lost control.
The power this woman had over his body amazed even Jaden. No other woman had this impact on him, and it both irritated and fascinated him.
Her hips, those taut little hips, wriggled him deeper inside and nearly obliterated his self-control, lighting a fire so huge that to try to describe it would be as useless as calling a tsunami a little wave.
Slow down.
Her brown-gold eyes were enormous, incredible, and smoldered with sensuality.
“Don’t stop.”
“Oh, it’s too late for that.” Because her body, the perfect fit to his, the way her hips beckoned him deeper inside, the throaty moans stringing together to form one long sexy groan, combined until all his control was obliterated.
Her gaze didn’t budge from his when she said, “More.”
He plunged deep inside her again and again, slowly at first, until blasts of electricity and heat rocketed through him. Her hands clutched at his chest desperately, tugging and clinging, pulling him into her deeper and deeper as their bodies molded into one solid union of absolute rapture.
His heart pounded, his breath jagged, he stayed inside her, thrusting and surging until her body finished its quivering pyramid of pleasure. Bliss. Sensation. Her every last muscle spasm pulsed and strained until she relaxed. Exhausted.
Then, and only then, did he allow his own thundering, aching body to release in an explosion of sensual pleasure until his body was an absolute battlefield of electricity and impulse.
He collapsed on top of her, never wanting to break apart.
***
&n
bsp; Jaden’s body still glistened when he returned with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
Lauren sat curled up next to him. She took a grape off the plate he’d brought her before he disappeared into the shower, and she lightly brushed it against his lips. His tongue, soft and slow, glided across his mouth following the tiny, round fruit. The hungry look in his eyes revealed he wanted so much more than the food on his plate. His hand slipped inside the covers and moved up her thighs.
“Not yet. Food first.” Oh, but she wanted his hand to keep going, as she thought about all the pleasures those hands could bring. Had brought. The complete ecstasy they’d brought her to as they worked absolute magic on her body.
The corners of his mouth turned down as his chin wrinkled. He picked up a carrot, tossing it in his mouth, looking resigned to the fact he’d have to eat all his vegetables before he could get any dessert.
Lauren straightened, picked up the fork, and fed him another bite of fruit.
When his plate was clean, he disappeared into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a bottled water and pain medication. She took the pills and tugged at his towel. She’d waited long enough. The insides of her thighs burned when she was this close to him. He was right next to her. The perfect specimen of a man. All she could look at was his perfectly tuned abs. Tight, muscled, but surprisingly warm, soft to the touch.
She slid open the covers, and he slipped in beside her. Their lips were no more than an inch apart. He’d brushed his teeth and still smelled fresh, like peppermint.
Within a few moments, he’d sheathed himself and slid inside her. He made love to her slowly this time. His touch was gentle. His fit was perfect.
Hours later, she woke to a quiet room.
After rinsing off in the shower and securing her bathrobe, she settled into one of the chairs in the sitting area. Jaden’s watch on the coffee table said it was eight o’clock, but it felt later. The rest and food had her almost feeling human again. The bumps and bruises on her body reminded otherwise.
A minute later Jaden slipped in the door.
“You’re up. Brought coffee.”
“How is it that you’re always reading my mind?” Lauren stretched as he set the plastic cups on the table in front of her.
The statement brought a smile to his lips.
“We can leave soon to see your brother.” Jaden shifted his gaze, looking at her as if he were searching for some kind of answer in her eyes. He didn’t seem ready to reveal the question as he eased onto the chair across from her. “Brought cream and sugar. Wasn’t sure.”
Right. Not in the file. How else could he know? Funny. He probably knew every inch of her body by now. Every curve. Every dimple.
Her mind was a different story altogether. He had no idea what she liked outside of bed, and she should feel embarrassed having slept with someone who knew so little about her. Except this, what was happening between them, felt as natural as breathing. She couldn’t regret the best sex she’d ever had. The way she felt beautiful and sensual when she stripped off her clothes. How right she felt wrapped in his arms. Intimacy couldn’t be learned in a relationship. Everything else could.
Couldn’t it?
She almost laughed out loud. Relationship? Jaden hadn’t made any promises. For now. The words echoed in her head.
“I like both.” As she spooned two teaspoons of sugar followed by cream into her coffee, it occurred to Lauren she didn’t know much about Jaden either. Did he trust her enough to say his real name? “You never did say who you really are.”
“Nope. Why? Is it important?”
“It is to me.”
“This is who I am. You know me.” He started to sound angry.
“Jaden, look, I’ve never felt like this before. I know I have feelings for you, but how would this work exactly?”
He rolled his shoulders. “We can figure it out.”
“How?”
Taking a second, he crossed to her and got down on his knees in front of her. “I want to say I don’t care what happens. All I know now is I don’t want to lose you. I want to promise I’ll always be there …”
Wanting to make a commitment wasn’t the same thing as doing it. “But?”
He kissed her forehead. “My life is complicated. I’m not sure it works like that for someone in my line of work. There’s a lot for us to think through.”
“I’m falling for you, Jaden. But I don’t even know who you are.” She stood up, and strengthened the tie on her robe. “Forget it. We can talk about it later. I need to see my brother.”
Jaden stood, his expression darkened with hurt.
Damn his blue eyes. The pain. They had Lauren wanting to reach out to him and tell him everything would be okay. She finally understood how conflicted he was at making promises he wasn’t sure he could keep. “You said they’re expecting us soon, right? Have you checked in this morning?”
“There’s been no change in his condition. I’ll take you to the hospital after I go to the drugstore. We need to change your appearance first.”
***
Damn.
Tell her you love her. Tell her everything will magically work out.
He couldn’t look into her eyes and lie to her. Oh, those eyes. They were the brown-gold equivalent of the North Star, bold and bright, lighting the way to his mind’s salvation. They radiated acceptance, an emotion as foreign to him as kindness. Yet he still couldn’t find his footing on the path that would take him there.
Jaden was a soldier. His world had order. He traveled most of the year. His work was dangerous. It could put her in the line of fire. Loose thread.
A woman like Lauren deserved more.
Chapter Fourteen
Based on the text Jaden received at the store, Helena was camping on the island. Waiting. He couldn’t reach Gage.
He punched in Gunner’s number as soon as he stepped outside. Jaden wanted to speak to him without Lauren around. “They got to the asset’s place before us. It was completely ransacked,” Jaden said quickly.
“Not unexpected.”
“The way they tore the place up, I’d say they were sending a message. Someone’s angry. A threat. Could be for Max.”
“They’ve done their homework.”
“You hear from Gage yet?” Jaden asked, frustrated that it had already been a month since Tim’s death and they were still without any leads on the shooter.
A deep sigh came through the line. “No.”
“Where does that leave us?”
“I’m afraid we can’t do much of anything until we receive more data,” Gunner said. “It’s a watch and wait.”
“You got anyone from the agency on the job?”
“Helena, of course. Gage. Me and you. I want to keep this one under the radar and off the books.”
“Good call. Wish we could contact Helena.”
“She hasn’t surfaced yet. Neither has Gage. With communication equipment being compromised, I won’t reach out.”
“She’ll show up,” Jaden said. “They were ready for us on the beach. They found me and Lauren at the seaside condo. Her townhouse has been ransacked, and we had a tail not long after we touched ground.” How did they anticipate his every move? Unless the cartel had unlimited resources watching every possibility, they were getting information from someone about his and Lauren’s whereabouts. The new leader, whoever he was, had raised the stakes. “We can’t be too careful. Any word on the brother?” Jaden finally asked.
“The doctor’s hopeful.”
Jaden needed to know what he was about to walk Lauren into. “Is he conscious?”
“Unfortunately no.”
Damn. Jaden would’ve liked to ask Max a few questions. “How bad does it look?”
“You saw the facial lacerations and swelling. His ribs are broken. They’re running tests to determine whether or not there’s internal organ damage or bleeding. They beat him within an inch of his life.”
“Doesn’t sound like
an ordinary kidnapping, does it?” Someone was pissed.
***
Jaden returned from the drugstore with a bag full of supplies. Lauren’s russet locks would be dyed black. Jet black. Blacker than night. This would be difficult for him because he loved her long curly hair. The way waves cascaded over her shoulders. The waves had to go.
He urged her toward the kitchen in his small rented one-bedroom apartment. With her there, he realized how empty the place had been before. The feeling had no connection to the sparse decorations. It wasn’t warm, like the feeling he had whenever he was near Lauren. Then again, it wasn’t meant to be. This place served a purpose, he reminded himself. Anything else would be a distraction.
Lauren blinked up at him from the sink where he washed her hair. He pulled scissors from the bag of supplies and cut her tresses up to her jaw line.
He somehow thought she’d look different to him. She didn’t. Her pink lips were just as full. Her brown eyes just as beautiful. He washed the black color rinse in her hair, and the gold flecks in her eyes stood out even more than usual. His body reacted instantly, growing hard.
“This should do the trick,” he said as he gently toweled her hair.
“I’m almost afraid to look,” she said, and winced.
“Why?”
“I’m afraid I’ll be staring at a stranger.”
“You look beautiful.”
“But different?”
“Yes. And it’s a good thing in this case. I don’t think anyone will recognize you,” he said with a reassuring kiss on her forehead.
“I guess that’s positive.”
“It is when bad guys are chasing you.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll throw on a helmet and sunglasses.”
“Why do you really think they broke into my apartment? Would they really do all that just for a little money?”
Jaden didn’t want to say the place was far too torn apart for them to be looking for money. They wanted something badly. He hoped for her sake it was information about Max. And yet, his gut told him something was wrong with the picture. Why ransack her place? Why tear it up to that degree?
