by Billi Jean
She’d never forget the terror of that experience, nor the guilt she’d suffered over how he’d been shot. She’d hidden him outside the small village, and dressed his wounds as quickly as she had been able to, but it hadn’t seemed like nearly enough. His nose had been broken, both eyes swollen to nearly shut. His face purple, black and so bloody, she’d feared him dead when she’d arrived. Only by leaning in close to hear his shallow breaths had she known he’d still been alive.
She’d located his commander and made the call to guide them to his location. Her father had been frantic, but she’d been just as adamant. For the first time in her life, she’d stood up for herself. She’d gone back for him and bound his wounds properly, pulling metal from his side and applying enough antibiotics to save a horse. She’d stitched his head wound, cleaned the other minor cuts and stayed with him, feeding him through a makeshift IV in his arm.
Now, sitting next to him, she knew more than ever she’d done the right thing. The shock though, of realizing he’d found her, still made the whole thing unreal. He’d looked for her. He’d done more—he’d found her. She never would have believed it, had he not been sitting here, looking like he had that night—almost. Thankfully he wasn’t as bad at he’d been in the desert. She hoped he never came that close to death again. What amazed her the most was that he’d found her. He’d been so delirious she’d taken his words—I’ll find you—as a man talking to someone else. Now he sat here, with her, and he hadn’t been speaking to someone else. He’d been talking to her.
“You found me,” she whispered, reaching out to brush a spot of something dark off his jawline.
He glanced at her, but quickly switched lanes again, so soon after his last lane change, she gripped his hand harder and focused on the road, then back to him when he slowed down a fraction. He smiled and winked.
“I told you I would.” He moved through several cars, zipped over to a side street and turned down it all without slowing down. “Gotta keep you on your toes,” he said when she gave him a look like he’d lost his mind.
She shook her head, half thinking he drove so crazy to get a reaction out of her. Well, he did that just by being near her.
“I was on my toes while you got to run in your boots, remember?”
He laughed and nodded. “And you were hot as hell doing it, while I was just sweaty.”
And sexy.
“How did you find me?” she asked.
He frowned and shrugged a shoulder. “I kinda thought I’d dreamed you up for a long time, I mean, the guys thought I had. Only when I pushed it did they agree that there had been someone there, you, there.”
She smiled at the grumble in his voice. Obviously he’d been teased about her. For some reason that made her happy.
“You left though, and we were in the middle of a country we weren’t supposed to be in, so that ended my ideas of finding you for a good long while.”
“You recovered though? Completely.”
“Yes, I did.” He gave her a serious look and tightened his grip on her hand. “Because of you.”
“You were hurt because of me, too, Daren. It was my fault. I should have left the equipment, stayed with—”
“Stop, who cares what you should have done? Should of, could of, would have, that shit just makes you go nuts. We would never have met, right? If I’d not been there.”
“What?” She choked on a laugh, amazed at how easily he accepted the pain he’d been in. By the time she’d returned to him, the shade had disappeared because she’d not factored in the sun. He’d been delirious and going through heat exhaustion on top of blood loss and dehydration.
“Come on, don’t give me that look. I’m a soldier, I get shot at, sometimes they hit the mark, baby.”
“Daren Scott! I never want to see you shot again.”
He grinned and winked again, giving her that smile that made her hot all over. “Good, I’m glad to hear it, but listen, I believe in fate, a bit, you know? And until you saved my life in that desert, I might not have gotten a chance to realize how wrong I was about some things. But yeah, I found you and as much as I’d like to claim it, finding you ended up being more fate again, than anything else.”
She laughed, kissing his shoulder with another laugh when he grumbled. “So you ran into me?”
“Chased you, is more like it.”
The way he muttered at her would normally have made her uneasy, even worried she’d done something wrong. But with Daren, she knew he was teasing her. He wanted her reaction, her outrage. It had never been like her to speak out, even though her father had tried to encourage what her Korean family called, Americanism, she’d never liked the attention.
With Daren it was different. She liked to engage him, call him on his stuff, her American friends would say. Her face heated at the thought, but where normally anxiousness made her sick to her stomach for speaking up, she was calm.
Daren turned suddenly, and she slid into him. Immediately, he chuckled. “Watch out, I forgot to warn you I drive like I’m on a race track.”
The warmth in his voice made her feel as if he’d whispered kisses along her spine. What would that feel like? she wondered with a shiver. Maybe he had transferred to her some sort of taste of what the drug could do…
Not possible, Ky. You’re simply still all hot and frustrated that you stopped him in that elevator.
“So, you haven’t always wanted to be a scientist,” Daren said suddenly.
She jumped a little, and he smiled at her then placed his warm hand on her leg. In response, her already tingling body heated to the point she wanted to crawl on his lap, press her body to his and kiss him until he made love to her. Of all the silly things she’d ever done in her life, stopping Daren Scott from fucking her standing up in an elevator now took first place.
“Ky? You okay?”
No, no I’m not. I want to make love to you right now, so no, I’m not.
“No, not me. I never wanted to be a scientist,” she said, instead of coming clean with wanting to tear his clothes off. Maybe the safe house was a better idea than the lab…
He shot her a surprised look and she laughed. “What? Why are you surprised? Did you always want to be a…solider?”
“Agent now, but yeah, I’ve always wanted to be a soldier, then a SEAL. I knew at an early age the military was for me. How else could you be a hero?” he asked.
She thought he was only half teasing. In the short time she’d known him—well, she modified that, since she’d known him again, he’d taken risk after risk to keep her safe. Daren was a true hero—a man of integrity and honor. And a man that cares about you, Ky.
Yes, and a man that cares about me. Why?
“My dad died in the service,” he said quietly. “My mom was the one that showed me what a true hero was, though,” he offered, sounding oddly uneasy.
“I bet she is very proud of you,” Kylie offered, realizing he had shared something painful with her. His profile was to her, but she could see the serious look he wore. She rubbed his hand, tracing the strong tendons softly with her fingertips.
“Yeah, she was. She lost the fight to cancer a few years back.”
“Oh, I am so sorry to hear that, Daren. I know how hard it is to lose a parent.”
“You won’t lose your dad, Kylie. We’ll get him out,” he told her.
Tears rose in her eyes and her throat stung from holding them back. He did care about her. She could hear it, there in his voice, whenever he said her name, it was there. Emotion. It was so amazing she wanted to kiss him, and she turned her head and brushed a kiss to his arm.
“How can you be so certain? Your friend thinks he’s already dead.” Saying it aloud was painful, but she did.
Daren was correct, she knew. Why had she trusted Eric so completely? Or, she realized, thinking back on the last terrifying few days, not questioned him. She’d not heard her dad’s voice. She had no proof of his life, only Eric Monroe’s warnings that these men were serious and that
without the research, her father couldn’t do what they asked. She’d let her past relationship with him—one that shouldn’t have let her trust him at all—color her interactions with him. He’d been nothing but a jerk to her when they’d briefly dated, wanting in on her dad’s work more than he actually wanted to date her. She’d known right away he’d been embarrassed by her, and hadn’t been surprised to learn he’d had several other, smaller, more petite and traditionally minded women he dated at the same time. But this, calling her and telling her that her father was being held for ransom, was far beyond what she would have ever imagined he’d lie about. Who would lie about such a thing?
They braked suddenly and skidded to the left, crossing three lanes of traffic to take a turn and she tensed for something, anything, but Daren gave her a quick smile once he’d navigated them onto a side street and slowed to a normal speed.
“The windows are tinted. No one can see in, Ky. We’re safe right now.”
She exhaled, unaware she’d been holding it until then. “Then why drive like we’re being chased?”
Daren laughed and kissed her forehead, quickly straightening afterwards to watch the road. “Why not? Good practice.”
“You are a crazy man. I think I should drive from now on,” she teased.
Immediately he snorted. “Not a chance. I’m the driver in this relationship.”
Relationship.
The word did odd, exciting things to her. Like made her breathless and fluttery.
Daren tightened his grip, and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it, his eyes on the road more than her. He was an excellent driver, weaving in and out of the Tokyo traffic like he’d been born here, but he also seemed to like to drive fast and maybe, just maybe, she thought, his driving was another way of teasing her. The idea made her smile. If he ever did let her drive, she thought he just might be in for a surprise.
“You don’t mind me driving, then, huh?” he asked, not hiding his arrogant grin.
“Well, if you don’t make us wreck, yes, you may drive.”
He laughed again, sounding so happy she sighed and rested her head against his arm. Her father’s lab was on the outskirts nearer to one of the old military bases in Japan, but he was taking them to a safe house that seemed to be in the opposite direction, if he’d follow a straight line.
“Why are you driving in circles?” she asked him.
“Just being safe,” he murmured, doing another of those quick turns and slowing down to normal speed again.
“What is a safe house?” she asked, half thinking it was on the base.
“It’s a location set up for us in case things go wrong. It’s secure and once there, I will have to input a code to access the building.”
She frowned at that. “So they will know we are there?”
“Tazz or the agency?” he asked, after sliding their car through two lanes of traffic.
“Both, but yes, your government.”
He grimaced and tilted his head. She thought he looked more handsome when he did that, as if his seriousness added a bit of mystery to his otherwise open expression.
“Yeah,” he finally said. “You would rather a hotel.”
Surprised, she looked at her hand on his and nodded.
He tugged her until she met his eyes. “Hey, none of that. We can go to a hotel, but we’ll be using the passports in this file and those will send out some red flags. Either way they will know. What are you worried about?”
She didn’t answer him. Instead she looked out of the window, trying to think of what to say. How to tell him she believed that his friend, Tazz, would kill her before she handed over information that would threaten so many. And if she believed Daren, her father’s research could very well harm more than many. It could jeopardize the world’s security. Another world war, with soldiers enhanced genetically? What would that be like? Horrible.
“Ky, talk to me. This is where we talk.” Daren pulled the car to a stop at what looked like a garden. She glanced around the deserted parking lot then at him. The moonlight illuminated his face into such sharp angles and handsome curves she couldn’t stop herself from reaching up to touch. The wound he’d had by his hairline was gone. She brushed her fingertips along the mark, saddened by how easily he’d been hurt protecting her.
His eyes were dark, so filled with emotion. She held her breath while he skimmed his gaze over her lips and cheeks, her eyes then back to her lips. She wanted to kiss him. More, she wanted to climb on his lap and make love to him. She wanted to end this cycle of terror and unknowns and latch onto him, the strength of him, and know that one thing was real and all right in this world. That one person cared about her.
The fragile hope she had that he shared her feelings could be so easily shattered. Was it possible that he wanted her the way she wanted him—until she couldn’t imagine not wanting him?
“Why did you kiss me? Why are you helping me?” she dared to whisper, feeling like she was setting her heart out there. She gripped her fingers together, hiding how they trembled. Her nerves were so tense, it was like they wanted to burst apart inside for daring to ask him such a thing.
He bent toward her and drew her head closer to his with a gentle, warm pressure on her neck. “Because I’m not letting you go, Kylie Chung. Not now. Not tomorrow, maybe never if you’ll put up with me. I lost you in that desert, you know that? I dreamed of you for years and now, now that I have you? You’re a part of me.”
Tears filled her eyes, blurring him into an indistinct shadow. “Yin and yang. You feel it too?” she managed, past the pain in her throat.
“No crying,” he whispered, grimacing at her tears. “Gotta make that a rule, here, okay?” he murmured, brushing hot kisses to her cheeks.
He might as well have set her on fire. All the anxiousness and fear, the worry he’d think her insane, or worse, deny her because of course he wouldn’t want her, disappeared in a heartbeat. In its place was a desire so bright, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
At the first frantic sweep of her mouth on his, he groaned that delicious sound she wanted to always hear him make and drove his tongue past her lips. Long, lush kisses followed, where all she could do was feel his mouth and hands. He used both to explore her to the point of making her ache with desire. He urged her backward, unbuckling her seat belt and his. Relief rushed through her. As soon as he had them loose, he shoved the seat back and pressed his body right on top of hers. It was perfect. He was perfect. Everywhere his body touched hers, she blazed to the point of squirming.
“Need you, baby, tell me you feel the same,” he demanded breathlessly, rising up above her with one strong arm anchored on the seat by her head. He stared at her with a look that made her nipples tighten to painful points and her pussy flood with anticipation.
“Oh, Daren, please, make love to me, now. Now.” She rubbed her hands under his T-shirt, moving it out of her way impatiently so she could feel more of his hot, tight muscles under her palms. Nothing mattered, nothing but him. “I want to see you,” she whispered, scooting down a little to place kisses along his chest.
He must have believed her, because suddenly the material of his shirt disappeared. He didn’t have a six-pack. She touched his tight stomach in amazement. He had an eight or ten-pack of solid, hard flesh. She trailed her hands along every curve, learning each dip and rise with her fingertips, then her lips. Her excitement and anticipation grew to the point she was ready to beg.
He bent his head to brush a kiss to the side of her face and she swore she could feel it all the way down to her toes.
“Damn, baby, you’re killing me here,” he husked against her ear. Seconds later he maneuvered her where he wanted her and shoved her skirt up her thighs. “Take that blouse off so I don’t tear it, Ky.”
Her stomach dove to her toes but skyrocketed right back up. Her pussy tingled and anticipation rushed her system with enough adrenaline she felt like her heart was going to beat right out of her chest.
Every fantasy she’d ever had seemed to be coming to real, startlingly crystal clear focus.
“Oh,” she managed and started unbuttoning as quickly as her trembling fingers would allow. She fumbled a few times but only because his muscles flexed as he rubbed his hands up and down her outer thighs. The sight was distracting to the extreme. The slabs of muscle along his chest rippled, and her breath caught at the idea of kissing around the brown points of his nipples. She’d never seen such a body—never dreamed one would be above her, ready to make love to her in a way she’d never forget.
“Ky, baby, look at me.”
She finished with the annoying buttons of her shirt and pulled herself up with a grip on his firm shoulders and kissed him once before she looped her arms around his neck to meet his eyes. “I was looking at you. Hurry, you have too many clothes on.”
“Goddamn, now? Here?”
He sounded like he might deny her, but when she tightened her hold and crushed her breasts to his chest, his face darkened, and he gave her a look that she knew meant he wasn’t holding back. An instant later, he flattened her back down with his bigger body and kissed her the way he had in the elevator.
He slid her skirt up to her waist then tugged on her panties so fast afterward, she heard something rip. She could care less. His lips were warm and his kiss centered all her focus on them, her body, the heat building between them and how much she wanted to touch every part of him while he did the same to her. He didn’t let her down. He cupped one cheek of her butt with one hand and caressed her side, right under her breasts with his other and slowly lowered his body back down on hers.
She gasped at the size of his erection. The thickness of it settled against her inner thighs and she tingled all over in anticipation.
“Ah, damn, not going to last here,” he said when brushed his fingers along her mound. He lifted up his hips and suddenly sank one thick finger inside her slowly. “So wet, God, Ky, I love how wet you are. Driving me crazy here to taste you, but if I do that now, baby, I’m going to come in two seconds flat. Right now I need to feel you squeezing me tight.”
