CHAPTER TWENTY
Victoria sat very still, not moving. She was full, so full, her body stretched wide by his invasion. Yes, she was still sore, but she actually relished it. It wasn’t bad, but all day long she’d been reminded of what she’d been doing to create that delicious ache between her thighs.
Skin against skin, breaths mingling, bodies joined deeply, the world slipping away for a few hours as they lost themselves in each other.
She wanted that again and again.
The night was quiet, the air charged as he lay beneath her, his hands on her hips, holding her still. She felt safe with him. Protected. A wave of warmth flowed through her, over her. She shuddered with everything she was feeling. His fingers tightened, digging into her skin.
“It’s amazing being with you,” she said, the darkness giving her courage.
His fingers tightened again, but he didn’t say anything. A tiny shard of sadness pricked her, but she refused to let it take hold. Instead, she lifted herself slowly, deliberately, his cock sliding to her entrance, before sinking down again, taking him all in.
He let out an explosive breath when she did it again.
“You like that?” she asked, emboldened.
“Like it? That’s a pretty mild word for how good it feels.”
Victoria bent and kissed him, and he lifted his head to capture her mouth with a growl. As she grew accustomed to the feel of him, she moved faster, her body rising and sinking, taking him deeper, her clit grinding against his pubic bone whenever she lowered herself.
The pressure inside her built until she was moving frantically, trying to reach that peak once more. Nick held her hips hard, thrusting up inside her again and again. Her pussy tightened, the walls growing slicker than before, the tension spiraling to almost painful heights.
Victoria wrenched her mouth from his and lifted herself, throwing her head back as she rode him. He followed her up, his mouth fastening on one of her nipples, sucking hard. His fingers slipped between them, worked her deliberately, pushing her toward the edge.
This time when she came, there was no pillow to stuff in her mouth to mute the sound. She exploded with a sharp cry, her body milking his as tender walls clamped down and wrung every last ounce of pleasure from him that she could take.
“Fuck, you’re tight,” he groaned—and then he flipped her over while she was still shuddering and pounded into her, his cock taking her higher once more when she would have thought it was impossible.
She came again, even though she wasn’t finished with her last orgasm. The power of this one caught her by surprise as it rippled over her, joining the first and expanding it beyond anything she’d yet experienced.
Victoria saw spots. Her vision blackened and her lungs refused to work for long seconds. Later, she would swear she passed out for those few seconds. When she came back to herself, Nick stiffened, his body jerking as he poured himself into her with a harsh groan.
When he was finished coming, he propped himself on his elbows, taking her mouth in a hot, thorough kiss that still managed to leave her panting in spite of everything they’d just done.
“I’ll be your spotter for the rest of my career if every mission can end like this,” he said with a soft laugh.
His voice warmed her. She was never quite certain how to act when they finished—what… fucking? Making love? Having sex?—but he made her feel at ease. Special. Beautiful.
She lifted her legs, sliding her knees along his sides before he caught them and pushed her open wider. His cock was still hard, and a shiver ran over her.
“Let’s just skip the missions and do this,” she said, shocked at the sensual purr in her voice.
“Sold,” he whispered. “Let’s get out of this one alive and then find an island somewhere. I’ll make you come as often as you want. I’ll be your sex slave to command.”
She laughed. “Do you think you can make me come again, slave?”
He shifted his hips, his cock swelling inside her tender sex. “I know I can, sweetheart.”
He wasn’t lying.
* * *
They were on the desert highway early the next morning. Getting out of Ras al-Dura hadn’t been difficult since the NATO peacekeepers controlled access. An assassination at the Russian consulate wasn’t as important as keeping things running smoothly in the city and keeping the Qu’rimi opposition from invading.
Victoria was quiet as she stared straight ahead. She kept checking her phone, and Nick knew she was hoping for a message from Emily. But since that call early yesterday, there’d been nothing.
There’d been nothing from Mendez, either. He didn’t question it too closely. The colonel had told him he was on his own from the moment he’d sent him on this mission.
Nick had known what he was getting himself into. What he hadn’t known was how much he’d start to worry about Victoria and what happened to her while they played the part of mercenaries for Ian Black.
Or how much her quest for her sister would affect him. He didn’t begin to know where to look for Zaran bin Yusuf, but for all he knew HOT was already doing so on this trip to Ras al-Dura.
He hoped like hell they were because he wanted Victoria to be happy. He wanted it with a strength that surprised him, in fact. More than that, he wanted her. Naked and leaning over him, her face contorted with pleasure as he stroked hard into her. God, he loved the way she looked when he took her.
Like she’d found heaven on earth. Like she was continually surprised at what her body could do when he made love to her.
She laid her head back on the seat and rolled her gaze toward him. When he looked at her, she smiled, and his heart gave a hard thump in his chest.
What the fuck was that?
“Whatever happens now, I want you to know how perfect you made my first time. And my second, third, fourth…” She laughed. “All my times, really. What a stud you are, Nick Brandon.”
He laughed, though he was still trying to puzzle out what this sharpness in his chest was. “Yeah, if only you’d realized it back in sniper training.”
“Yep, you could have tortured me with pleasure instead of harassing me with words. What a beautiful way to go that would have been.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. Now that he knew her better, he knew she’d taken his trash-talking more seriously than she should have.
“I’m sorry for that. I told you why I did it.”
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I know. Competition, blah blah blah. Over and done.”
She sat back again. Her brows drew down as she watched the scenery pass them by.
“Leaving is the right thing to do,” he told her, knowing what she was thinking. “Mendez will find Emily.”
“I feel like she’s there, waking up in Ras al-Dura right now, and I’m doing nothing but putting miles between us. It feels wrong, Nick.”
He gripped the wheel harder. “It’s not wrong. HOT will find her.”
Victoria’s head whipped around. “Did you just say HOT? My God, I thought that was a myth. A shadowy special-ops team more secretive than Delta Force—and with more money and less restrictions on how they operate.”
He almost groaned. Shit, she was affecting his ability to compartmentalize the job. Not a good thing.
“I can neither confirm nor deny,” he said, and even he knew it sounded like a load of bullshit when he said it. Busted.
She whistled softly. “I’m impressed. It was always a rumor, but no one ever had proof. If you’re a sniper for them… wow. I’d have loved to get recruited for HOT.” She frowned. “Do they even take women?”
He thought of Lucky MacDonald. “It’s beginning to happen, yeah.”
“Awesome.”
She didn’t say anything for a couple of miles, and he wondered if he should ask what she was thinking.
“One of the things I hated about the Army,” she said, “was how hard it was to get to do what I was good at. On the one hand, the Army is awesome for making changes and being blind once they’ve done so—gays in the service, for instance—but let a woman into a Special Forces group? Hell, no.”
“Change takes time.”
“Ian didn’t give a fuck that I didn’t have a dick. To him, the ability was all that mattered.”
Nick ground his teeth together. Sometimes he hated the way she said that man’s name. “I don’t think Ian Black had the leisure to be picky.”
Wrong thing to say, dude.
He could feel Victoria bristling like a porcupine.
“So if he could be picky, then he wouldn’t choose a mere woman like me to do the job, is that it?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
She huffed out a breath. “Believe it or not, I know. But it still pisses me off. If you were a woman, you’d know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“If I were a woman, you wouldn’t have screamed my name six times last night.”
She was silent for a long moment. And then she laughed. “Touché, asshole.”
Warmth spread through his bones, his blood. Goddamn, he really liked this woman. She never backed down. She gave as good as she got, but she had that aura of sweetness and vulnerability to her that he couldn’t help but be drawn to. She brought out his protective instincts, even though he was pretty certain she was more than capable of taking care of herself.
He liked her. Really liked her.
But once this mission was over, he’d probably never see her again. They’d go their separate ways. Him to HOT, her back to the States and her sister if everything went as she hoped.
This time together, this mission, was all they had. For some reason, that bothered him more than it should.
* * *
After sharing driving duties, they reached the last checkpoint at nine o’clock that night. It had been a long day filled with tension and urgency, but at last it was time to pull over and get a few hours’ rest before continuing. The desert was dark and cold, a change from the blazing heat of the day. Several cars were clustered on the side of the road, the occupants resting before continuing toward their destinations across the vast emptiness of Qu’rim.
Victoria checked her phone for messages. She’d shut it off while they were driving, but periodically she would turn it on and check. There’d been nothing for hours. Now, however, there was a text from Ian.
Good job at the consulate. I wasn’t certain you’d do it.
Her fingers flew over the keypad even while her heart throbbed with anger. Why were you there?
“Who is it?” Nick asked, glancing over at her.
“Ian.”
“Fuck, he must be out of custody.”
She waited for an answer to her question, but there wasn’t one. “Your people didn’t hold him for long.” She didn’t know why she felt a twinge of relief, but she did. “He didn’t have the virus on him, obviously.”
Nick found a spot and pulled the parking brake. “What the fuck did he do with it?”
“Maybe he never had it. Maybe Chernovsky didn’t bring it.”
“It’s possible. But Ian was there for a reason. You saw him drop something, Victoria. Chernovsky picked it up and followed him, which indicated he’d been waiting for that meeting.”
“That’s also what gave us a clear shot.” She closed her eyes. “I hate everything about this. I hate that you and your colonel bribed me into working for your organization, I hate that Ian showed up in Ras al-Dura and made you both seem rational, I hate that I doubt him and second-guess everything he tells me now. I hate that I keep looking for a connection to the Freedom Force and that I’m afraid he kept me from Emily on purpose in order to make me do his bidding.”
He reached for her, unclipping her seat belt and dragging her into his arms. She stiffened at first, but then she went willingly. A wave of emotion engulfed her as he held her close, as if she were something precious to him. Why did she feel such passion and belonging when he held her?
It was needy, and she wasn’t accustomed to being needy. That was Emily’s modus operandi, not hers. She didn’t need a man. The only thing she needed was to protect her sister, and she would sacrifice a lot to do that.
He laid his cheek against her head. “I’m sorry I ever told the colonel it was you who ruined the mission. If I hadn’t done that, you wouldn’t be here.”
She smoothed her hand over his chest, his arm. It was such a sweet thing for him to say because she knew how pissed he’d been that day. “I’m not sorry. Who would have shot those men in Akhira if you hadn’t been under orders to find me?”
“Fuck,” he breathed, squeezing her close. “If I’d lost you that day…”
Her heart jumped, pounding suddenly in her chest. If he’d lost her? She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. Maybe he was as overwhelmed by this thing between them as she was.
“Nick,” she said, because she couldn’t say anything else.
His mouth sought hers and found it, his tongue stroking hers so expertly that she could have cried. Oh God, how she loved his tongue. Loved his body.
Loved him.
No. The minute she thought it, she immediately told herself it wasn’t true. She didn’t love Nick Brandon. She didn’t know Nick Brandon.
He was a man she was attracted to, a man she’d given her virginity to, but that didn’t have a goddamn thing to do with love. She wasn’t Emily, searching for love and desperately clinging to the first man who made her feel wanted and alive. She wouldn’t make Emily’s mistakes, defining herself by a man, losing herself to a man.
God, no. Hell, no.
She stiffened in his embrace and he sensed it immediately, easing his hold on her until she could push herself away and retreat to her own space.
She could feel his eyes on her, questioning her. But he didn’t say anything. The silence grew thick, hard.
She glanced at him, but she couldn’t keep her eyes on his.
“We should sleep,” she said, her voice rusty. “It’s a long drive tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “We’ll take shifts.”
“You sleep first.”
He was looking straight ahead. “No, you go. I can’t sleep right now.”
Her heart hurt. She wanted to reach for him. Tell him she was sorry for pushing him away but that the things swirling inside her were too strong, too frightening, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with them just yet.
“Wake me in a couple of hours.”
It was dark, but she could see the hard set of his jaw. It made her ache.
“I’ll wake you. Now go.”
She crawled over the seats and into the back. They’d put the seat down before they’d started this journey, arranging the packs closest to the front and leaving the space behind empty. It wasn’t as roomy as the Land Rover, but it was enough for her to curl into. She lay on her side, her heart aching with regret and anger.
She wanted his body wrapped around hers like it had been last night, his warmth cocooning her, his presence making her feel safe and loved.
Loved? She blinked back hot tears.
There was no love here. Only heat and passion—and a need that would burn out given time. Except they were running out of time. Once they reached Baq and his people got what they wanted from Ian, this was over.