Simon slowed as he heard her breathing pick up once more. They’d been walking for nearly an hour and she had to be exhausted. He peered about, searching for anything that could be a clue as to who was after her. He didn’t see a thing.
Continuing on, he paused when he didn’t hear her at all. He pivoted, hand going for the sidearm he’d picked up before they set out. Geri stood statue still, looking through a small break in the thick foliage.
“What’s up?” He moved to her side.
“This is it.”
“What?”
“Where I fell in the hole and went down.”
He furrowed his brow and crouched on his haunches to check closer. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
No doubt in her tone.
And as he looked, he did see a large paw print heading in the same direction. The fall was steep, she was lucky nothing had been broken. It was going to be a hellish walk back up.
“Ready?” He adjusted the rope on his shoulder, he would use it if necessary.
“Yep.”
He took point as they set off down the steep side. She stumbled into him and he reached back to steady her.
“You okay back there?”
“Still weak but surviving. Kind of wishing I had four legs like Lars, he’s making this look like a piece of cake.”
“Personally, I like you with two legs.” He released her with a hip squeeze.
It flattened out below them and as she sighed in relief, he paused. Something wasn’t right. He held up a hand and she even silenced her heavier breathing. Simon wasn’t sure how she did it but she recalled her dog back to her side without speaking.
She moved up beside him, hanging onto a spindly little tree to keep her balance. Lars stood between them, head down and a low growl emerging from his throat.
“Keep him quiet,” he warned.
He watched her in his periphery as she gave him a hand signal where after he fell quiet. No less on guard, but not growling any more. Lars split his attention between whatever was before them and Geri.
“Stay here.”
He didn’t give her a chance to argue with him, just crept forward. All instincts were screaming at him. he stared at the trees before him and froze. There was something eerily familiar about how they looked. That wasn’t the only thing that was familiar, the scent in the air was disturbingly so.
Booby trapped. He lurched back so fast, he nearly lost his footing and tumbled forward again. Something helped balance him. he turned his head and found Lars there, holding onto the back of his shirt with his mouthful of sharp teeth.
“Good boy. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Lars bounded easily up to Geri who had the SIG in hand. She was right, four legs would be a blessing at the moment.
“What did you see?” she asked when he got there.
“Later. Let’s go.”
Defiance flared in her expression but she controlled it and turned around. He hurried her along as fast as he could push her. They both panted and were near to out of breath when they hit the top.
“What was it down there?” she demanded between gasping breaths.
“You stumbled onto a meth lab. And you’re damn lucky you didn’t get blown up as that entire area is rigged with booby traps. Let’s go.”
He got five feet away from her before he realized she wasn’t moving, just standing there glancing back down to where they’d come from.
“Geri. Come on.” He took her hand and pulled.
Pushing hard, he got them back to their vehicles. He opened the door of her Jeep.
“Stick close,” he ordered, stealing a kiss before dashing to his vehicle.
He led the way back to his place, constantly watching to make sure she was back there. Personally, he wished her vehicle hadn’t been running because he would be able to have her with him. Every time they passed another car, his heart leapt into his throat. Were these the ones after her? Would they recognize her? Was he an idiot for letting her drive?
They made it safe and she parked beside him but didn’t get out right away. He walked to her Wrangler and opened the door.
“Thanks Hank. I’m not sure what it is all about yet but he said a meth lab and booby traps. So I’m sure I’m screwed especially if they believe I am a federal agent looking for them.”
“We got you covered.”
Simon noticed how deep that man’s voice was and didn’t like it.
He headed away to let her finish up. Either that or he would intrude on the conversation, letting this Hank guy know he could keep her safe. She entered the cabin a short time later, strode up to him without slowing and kissed him.
Every synapse flared to life, his cock hardened and he groaned as he held her tight. He thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, loving how she met each stroke of his with one of her own.
Lips mashed together, they stumbled to the house. As they pushed through the door, he tore away from her mouth.
“We should figure this out.”
“Right now? You want to stop right now?” Her breasts heaved with each breath she took.
“Fuck no.”
He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off her feet. By the time they hit the hallway to the bedroom, shirts were off. They tore at each others clothing and they had none on when they made it to the bedroom.
Falling to the mattress, he kissed down her neck to capture one of her breasts. He swirled his tongue around the pointed tip, grazing it with his teeth and drawing it deep into his mouth.
“God yes,” she panted. Her hands dug into his scalp, anchoring him to her.
She tasted better than he ever imagined she would. He moved back and forth between her breasts while he skimmed down along her figure with one hand until he could cup her pussy.
Her moan was music to his ears. Flicking his fingers along her lips, he pushed two digits in her slit. Tight, wet, hot.
She flexed her internal muscles around him and he nipped at her. God he couldn’t wait to have his dick buried in her as far as it would go. Ignoring her whimper of frustration when he moved down her body, he continued kissing along her satin skin.
Simon wedged his shoulders between her thighs and flicked his tongue up her slit. Her mewls were music to his ears. She tasted like rich cream with a hint of honey. He couldn’t get enough of this aphrodisiac.
He laid an arm over her belly, holding her down while he feasted. He thrust his tongue as far as it could go, she writhed and bucked against him but he wouldn’t relent, needing all she would give. A scream left her as she sank her fingers into his hair and yanked, hard. Hips bucking, she came hard around his tongue.
Until she finished trembling, he never let up. Continued using his tongue and fingers on her clit until all that left her were the hoarse cries. Giving her clit a final flick with his thumb, he moved back up her body until he captured her mouth once more.
She gripped his cock as it pressed against her entrance, moved him down and welcomed him inside her. He pushed forward with a single stroke.
Fuck yes.
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes as another orgasm slammed her, shaking she gripped the sheets as the man pressing into her from behind, gripped her shoulder in a brief bite.
Holy fuck during all her seven years of marriage she never experienced sex like this. This wasn’t going to be fair to have to settle for mediocre sex from here on out. She wasn’t believing that this man would be her future, no matter what she wanted.
He grunted behind her, driving his thick cock deep inside her willing pussy. Over and over he’d made her come until her throat was dry and hoarse. But she craved more, needed more. Counter, table, back of the couch, bed and in front of the fire. He’d taken her on multiple surfaces. They were now back in the bed, granted the sheets and blankets were all torn to hell.
She pushed up on her hands and shoved back into him, taking him deeper. He reached around her and pinched her clit showing her she had one more orgasm inside her to give. Then she collapsed, limbs to shaky to hold her any more.
Simon covered her from above, still buried deep inside her pussy. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck and rolled them to the side before he tucked her in closer to him. one strong arm settled around her waist.
She closed her eyes and fell into an exhausted sleep. Twice more he woke her and took her on a ride she’d never forget.
The low growl woke her. Instantly awake, she froze when she realized she lay entwined with someone. Naked. It took her brain a few seconds to catch her up.
Simon. A man who’d rocked her world but hadn’t shared his last name with her.
“Don’t say anything.”
His words were low and harsh, no sign of the kind lover he’d been all the earlier hours of the night.
She nodded.
“Grab a shirt and pants, and a weapon. Stay low and no lights.”
“What the fuck is going on?”
“My guess, they found us.”
She couldn’t say that was pleasing information but it was bound to happen. Daylight would have been better for her, or hell not at all.
Geri began to slip from the bed when he halted her with a grip on her chin.
“What?”
“Listen to orders, if I give you one, don’t hesitate. Listen.”
His tone was detached and she knew he was back in the military.
“Roger that,” she replied before she rolled away from him before she did something like kiss him.
Staying low, she found her shirt, well his, and pulled it on then tried to remember where she lost her pants. Just as her hand closed around them, the first shots rang out.
Glass shattered and she winced as the canisters hit the ground. This was going to suck. She didn’t know what they’d thrown, but she guessed it would either tear gas or smoke. The first sting told her it was tear gas.
Breathing as shallow as possible, she wriggled into her jeans and gasped, “Lars, heir.”
He came to her side, pressing close. She had to get him out of here. And herself.
She hadn’t any clue where Simon was. Responding gunfire filled the air and she hoped it was him. replaying the layout of the room, she turned her and Lars around. Then she sent him out. More glass crashed as her dog broke through out the window. She began pulling herself up to slither out when she shook her head.
How could I think to leave him to deal with this alone? I brought it to his door.
He had weapons in his truck. This time, she went out the window with purpose, wincing when she landed on the shards from Lars’ escape. Her eyes streamed from the tear gas and she remembered how much it sucked going through OC training in the Army. While she still couldn’t see well, the gunfire prompted her to keep moving.
She ignored it and ran for the truck, doing her best to keep to the shadows and out of the way of the streaming bullets. Well aware the dome light in his truck would come on if she opened the door, she climbed in through the back where the window had been shot out already. God, she owed him a new window as well as cabin repairs.
And she would make it all up to him and more, if they could just get out of this alive. She sighed in relief as she closed her fingers around the rifle beneath the front seat. In the back on her way out, she found some other handguns and dropped the bag outside the back, slithering out after it.
Lars appeared at her side and she handed him the bag strap. “Take,” she ordered him in German.
She inched closer to the cabin and put the rifle up to her shoulder. It wasn’t easy to see through the streaming tears, but she held it against her and waited to make sure it wasn’t Simon. Then she fired and the man dropped. That swung the attention toward her and she scrambled left away from the bullets that were in her direction.
Flood lights pierced the area, cutting through the tear gas that flew out of the windows. A man on a megaphone screeched and she froze, looking up at the man standing over her in tactical gear.
She downed Lars with a word and he listened while it was obvious he wasn’t happy about her order. Things got confusing after that. Her blurred vision and burning eyes weren’t helping anything.
Later as she sat on the back of a truck while they washed her eyes out, she tightened her fingers in Lars’ collar, needing the reassurance of him being there beside her. She’d not seen Simon since she rolled out of bed and even that was more of a mental reminder as the room had been dark. Now the sun had risen up over the mountains and she gave a small smile to Hank as he pushed his way through toward her.
She could easily see what his wife saw in him. broad shoulders, muscles and good looks. He paused before her, arms crossed over his chest. His limp was almost nonexistent.
“How are you?” he asked, slanting a look over to Lars. “Both of you.”
“I think he’s better than me. I sent him out through the window and the medic checked him over, since I can’t see worth a damn.”
“I need to see what I can do here.”
“Was it a meth lab?”
“Two of the guys here are known dealers, yes, but they’re not making it on a large scale to sell, they’re using it to make bombs.”
She held up her hands. “I don’t want to know anymore. Nope, not at all.”
Hank touched her hand, ever so briefly. “Okay.”
“Hank?”
“Yes?”
“He’d be a good fit.” She squinted up at the former Navy SEAL.
He arched an eyebrow. “You think so?”
“Ex special forces, don’t know which branch, didn’t ask. But I’ve spent enough time around your kind to recognize it.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Thank you.”
Man, she longed to rub her eyes but she knew it would only make the burning sensation all the worse. She lowered her head to rest her chin on her knee.
When the man in front of her moved, she angled her head up again. Even though her eyes were blurry her body knew exactly who stood there. Simon.
She reached out for him, grateful when he took her hand.
“Are you okay?”
He smoothed his hand along her face. “I’m fine, a few scratches. How are you?”
“I’ll be okay.” The lie fell from her lips. “Just waiting for my eyes to clear up so I can drive.”
“Right.”
She squeezed his hand. “Tell me something.”
“What’s that?”
A new wave of tears blurred her eyes, these from knowing she was going to be losing this man who’d risked his life for hers. her feelings for him didn’t make any sense but there they were.
“What’s your last name?”
He gave a brief laugh that didn’t actually have all that much amusement in it. Simon brushed his thumb over her lips.
“Simon Frederick.”
Geri slipped a hand along the nape of his neck, guiding him to meet her mouth. She dragged her tongue along his lips before slipping between them. At the brief touch of his tongue she withdrew and ended the kiss.
“Good bye, Simon Frederick and thank you for everything.”
Two men came over and began talking to him. Eventually his hand fell away from her and she allowed the tears to fall, telling herself it was from the tear gas and not because he was walking away from her forever.