CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Zane
Her blue eyes sparkled, her lips curved into a smile. “I think you’re right. We should blame fate for what we’ve found. But we have a few things in our way right now. Maybe if we turn on the television, we can see if there’s any news on this storm.” Slipping out of my arms, Sloane picked up the remote and turned on the small television.
I hadn’t turned one on the entire time I’d been in Maldives. There were so many other things to watch. The gentle waves, the birds, the clouds as they drifted across the blue sky. Then Sloane showed up, taking the rest of my attention.
She took a seat on the sofa, and I took one next to her as she channel surfed until she found something with a map on it. Some red areas dotted the map, and sure enough, they seemed to be spinning in a circular motion. “So that’s what he was talking about.” I ran my arm along the back of the sofa and watched the screen.
English words ran along the bottom of the screen as the broadcast was in Dhivehi, the language most natives of the islands spoke. North Malé Atoll had a chance of being missed altogether. Evacuation might not become necessary.
Sloane nodded as she watched the screen. “Looks like it could miss us.” She looked at me. “Don’t you think so too?”
“Maybe. But these things can turn on a dime. We’re not in the clear yet. I better head up to the main lobby in the morning to talk to someone about what kinds of precautions they’re taking. It’s still far enough away we won’t need to act until the morning.”
Leaning against me, she turned her face to gaze up at me. “You don’t know how good it feels to have the truth out to you, Zane. It was eating at me, like a cancer. I was positive you’d never be able to trust me and want to stop seeing me.”
I kissed her forehead. “Never. It was your job. I understand.”
But there was a bit of a niggle in my brain, telling me she was an excellent liar. Could she actually be trusted?
“The thing is, for the first time, I hated that part of my job. I hated the lying, and I hated how good I was getting at it.” She rested her head on my chest, running her hand up and down my arm. “I haven’t felt like a very nice person since I met you.”
Pressing my lips to the top of her head, I ran my hand down her back. “It’s okay. I know everything now, and I’m not mad or holding anything against you. I’m going to be with you every moment to make sure you’re okay.”
She sighed heavily and looked up at me, her brows furrowed. “Really? Even now that you know I’m a trained FBI agent, you still don’t see that I’m capable of taking care of myself?”
I kissed the wrinkle on her forehead. She had a point. I was acting like a sexist pig.
“It’s a conundrum.”
She laughed. “What is?”
“You bring out the protective nature in me, but it’s not because I don’t think you’re capable. I…” I kissed the wrinkle again. “I just want to take care of you. I want to feed you, buy you nice things, make you laugh, keep you safe.”
The wrinkle smoothed out on its own as she relaxed against me again. “The funny thing is, I like the idea of all that. For the most part.”
I chuckled. “I suggest you get over it.”
Her head popped back up, the wrinkle reappearing. “Get over it?”
“Yep.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh.”
I should have read the teasing in her eyes for the warning that it was, but when she moved around to straddle my lap, all I could see was how her robe was opening just a bit, exposing more of her luscious cleavage.
Then I was freaking paralyzed as she did something to my base of my neck. Then my face was in the cushion, my arm twisted behind my back.
This little one-hundred-and-twenty-pound woman had just taken me down in a blink.
She leaned close to my ear. “In addition to being highly trained with weapons, I know how to disable men three times stronger than me. I know exactly where to punch, hit, kick, and pinch. I can throw knives expertly and shoot a target from fifty yards.”
I tried to fight back, I really did. But I was down, and her soft chuckle proved it.
“Okay… you’ve made your point.”
She let me go and stood up, backing away. She looked pretty satisfied with herself.
As well she should.
It was embarrassing to admit that it took me a good minute to get up, but whatever she did to my neck was brutal. Plus, I was exaggerating the pain a little bit, and her self-satisfied smirk turned to concern.
“Are you okay?”
I rubbed my neck. “I’m not sure.”
She grumbled something that sounded like, “Big baby,” but she headed over to check me out.
Bingo.
She shrieked as I swept her up, pinning her to my chest, her arms clamped to her slides. Bright lights exploded as she rammed her forehead against mine, but I didn’t go down.
This was war.
She was giggling, not that annoying sound I hated, but this one held a musical quality as I ran with her to the bedroom. She was still struggling as I pinned her beneath me and yanked her robe open. She made a sound, half rage, half desperation. Then, somehow, I was on my back and she was off the bed, an evil grin on her face. A pillow was in her hand.
This was fun.
I lunged, and the pillow whacked me in the side of the head. Damn, she was strong for such a little thing. I lunched again, took another pillow to the face. I didn’t let it stop me and soon had her pressed against the wall.
“I’ve got you now.”
She grinned and reared up under me, looking for another head butt, connecting with my chin instead. My teeth slammed together, narrowly missing my tongue. She was like trying to hold onto a tornado as she twisted, trying for an uppercut now. I grabbed her wrists and slammed her arms against the wall.
“Don’t make me hurt you.”
It was the wrong thing to say.
I felt her lift her knee but pressed harder into her, blocking the blow. My cheek pressed against hers, and god, her smell. The scent of her shampoo now mixed with the hot sweat of her efforts to combine into a wild alchemy that drove me crazy.
Her chest was heaving, her breasts pressed to my chest. I let go of her wrists and took her face in my hands, our breath heating the air between us.
I kissed her. At first, she tried to twist her head away, then she was kissing me back, nearly attacking me with her mouth. I squeezed her breast, one hand running down to cup her ass, pulling her against my rock-hard cock.
She moaned. Or maybe I did. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t care.
She fumbled with the buttons of my shirt, gave up, and ripped it apart. Buttons flew as she shoved it from my shoulders then her hands were on me, her nails raking down my chest.
Her skin was smooth, hot and damp from exertion, and she was kissing me so hard, I thought our lips might split. When she reached for my pants, I spun her around until she faced the wall.
She started to struggle again, but I captured her wrist and held it behind her back.
“Tell me you want me,” I growled as I pushed the robe off her shoulders, letting her go just long enough for it to hit the floor. Her panties were wet, and I wrapped the fabric around my hand and tore them away. She snapped her head back, catching me on the jaw. I saw stars, but it didn’t stop me. I pushed my entire body against hers, pressing her to the wall, my lips on the side of her face. “Tell me that you need me.”
She was panting. “Need. Want. You.”
It was enough.
I reached down and began to touch her. She closed her eyes and groaned. My fingers sank into her wetness, her body clamping down as I stroked deep within her, twisting my knuckles until I found the rough patch I sought.
She cried out as I stroked, my lips at her ear. “You’re mine, Sloane.” She tried to fight back but I stroked her harder, deeper. “Say it.”
“Yours.”
It was a whisper that turned into a wail as her body shook and trembled violently with her orgasm. I grinned in satisfaction and pulled her away from the wall and to the bed. I bent her over it, pinning her upper torso down with my hand.
“That’s right,” I said, fumbling with my pants. My erection sprang up like spring-loaded granite. I quickly kicked the pants aside. No way was I going to deal with my little vixen with my trousers pooled around my ankles. “Mine.”
She was sobbing now, her hands clenching the sheets, and I felt a moment of hesitation.
Had I taken our game too far? Was it no longer a game? I didn’t know.
“Sloane…?”
Her eyes popped open, and she pressed back into me. “Don’t you dare stop now, you bastard.” She words were gasped but the message was clear. Still holding her down, I touched her again. Still hot. Still wet. Her pussy lips were swollen and ready for me. “Do it,” she gasped. “Fuck me, Zane. Hard. Please.”
With a growl, I kicked her feet farther apart, then wiped some of her hot wetness onto my cock. Her pussy devoured me as I entered her in one smooth motion, my hips smacking her smooth ass cheeks.
Her gasp echoed through the room, and my heart hammered in my skull, pounding at my temples. God, she was tight. Her muscles pulsing around me like a fist. This wasn’t exactly how I imagined our first time being, but for us, it was perfect.
I began to move, watching my cock slide in and out of her. Some part of my mind screamed that I hadn’t used a condom, but the bigger part of me just didn’t care. She was mine, and if we made a baby together, it would just be one more thing for me to love.
Sloane began to sob again, and again, I couldn’t tell if it was from pain or ecstasy. The tears streaming from her eyes confused it even more.
I leaned over her, pressing my lips to her ear. “Sloane…?”
“Don’t stop.” Her voice was a whisper, and I didn’t trust it at all.
I pushed her hair from her face. Pulling out, I turned her until she was facing me. “Baby, did I hurt you? What’s wrong?”
“No.” She pulled at my arms, pulling me down onto her, wrapping her legs around my waist. “I need you inside me. Please.”
We both moaned as I connected us again. This was better. I could kiss her now, taste her tears. I could feel her breasts rock against my chest as I moved. Watch her eyes.
“I love you, Sloane,” I said against her lips.
Her eyes had never been so lovely as she said, “I love you too.”
That was it, I realized.
She hadn’t only been fighting me. She had been fighting herself. Fighting what had been happening between us.
I surged forward, my core and ass clenching and releasing with each profound stroke. My mouth found hers, our tongues tangling together.
As I made love to her now, I forgot who she was. Who I was. I forgot why we were there.
There was only our bodies connecting, the heat building, the sound of our skin slapping together in a rhythm as old as time itself.
A loud groan filled the room. It came from me. Or her. I didn’t care and it didn’t matter. All that mattered were her eyes, and the way she was looking at me as I drove her trembling body to the edge of pleasure.
“Zane…”
Her lips kept moving, but they said words I couldn’t hear. Her legs trembled, her core pulsed, and she began to come.
She dragged me over the edge with her, my body fusing to hers as my legs, my balls, my gut was seized by my own climax. Through it all, I felt her coming, heard her coming, watched her come beneath and around me. Nothing had ever been so explosive in my life.
Finally, it subsided, and I eased down on top of her, supporting some of my weight with my elbows. Our lips touched, but we didn’t kiss. Neither of us had the breath. We stayed like that as our sweat began to dry, our pulse returning to normal.
“I’m sorry.”
She laughed and wrapped me tighter to her. “For what? Giving me my most intense sexual experience of my life?”
Confession time. “I didn’t wear a condom. I was already inside you and—”
She kissed me. “It’s okay. I’m on the pill. And I get tested every six months. I’m good.”
I relaxed against her. I was OCD when it came to condoms and had never, ever had sex without one. Until now. “I test every three. And it’s been longer than that since I’ve been with someone.”
Her nose scrunched up. “Really?”
I pressed my forehead against hers, careful of my weight. “Yeah, really. I know how it appeared the day you arrived, but I was seriously getting ready to kick them out.”
She didn’t look convinced, so I just kissed her again. And again. And again.
Easing the kiss, I pressed our foreheads together again. “Sloane, I respect the shit out of you. Never doubt that for one moment. I know you can take care of yourself, but you don’t have to do it alone anymore. I’m here. I’m your man. Use me. Let me stand by your side.”
Her fingers moved through my hair as she gazed at me. “You’re my man.” A long sigh escaped her. “Wow.”
I began to swell inside her again. “My thoughts exactly. Wow. My girl is one hot as hell woman who also happens to be a badass.”
She smiled, and her internal muscles clamped down on my hardening cock. “You think I’m a badass? You beat me.”
I flexed my hips. “Only because you didn’t want to hurt me bad.”
Her face grew serious, even as I began to move inside her again. “I don’t want you hurt.”
I kissed the tip of her nose. “I don’t want to be hurt, but I’m not leaving you. Hear me?”
She nodded and sighed as I plunged harder into her. “Can we talk about this later?”
I laughed and got to work, making love to her in earnest. “Yeah. Later.”
When we were both sated again, our bodies curled around the other, she sighed. “Your little badass is feeling pretty weak right now. I suppose the shock and disappointment of being found out have gotten to me.” She rested her head on my chest, and I could feel the weight she was carrying around.
She had a job to do, and because of me, she’d been unable to accomplish it. Even worse, she’d been found out.
A blast of wind rattled the window, a reminder that we had even more things to worry about. Sloane shivered, and I wasn’t sure if it was from a chill or thoughts about what we were facing. I pulled the blanket over us both anyway.
She drummed her fingers on my chest, her breath warm against my skin. “Zane, I want you to know you’re the nicest man I’ve ever met.”
I laughed. “I’m pretty sure I just mauled you twice. We probably have bruises.”
She laughed too. “I think I might have a concussion. You have a really hard head.”
I kissed her hair. “How about you stop ramming your head into it? Can we agree to that?”
She snuggled closer. “Maybe. I kind of liked you going all alpha on me.” My cock jerked against her stomach, and her eyes snapped open. “No. Not again. I need to be able to walk.”
I grinned. “I haven’t had your ass yet.”
She poked me in the ribs. “And you never will.”
“Never say never.”
She snorted and settled down against me again. I thought she was falling asleep when she looked up at me. “Zane?”
“Yeah?”
“What if they have to put me into hiding?”
“Then I guess I’ll be making love to you in some cave.” She laughed, softer this time, still worried. I kissed her forehead. “Let’s don’t think about that right now. We’ll worry about things as they happen.”
I was a little worried about her being taken into hiding too. I had no idea how that would work for us. My hope was that the other agents would arrive, capture the assassins, and Sloane would be free to live her life as usual.
Her usual life was more than a bit unusual though. When I thought about our future before, it involved living with a photographer. Maybe even forming a private investigating company together. Now I was looking at a relationship with a woman who’d have to go on dangerous missions and do God only knew what for her job.
It wasn’t a thing that was settling well with me. Would this threat against Sloane’s life make her want to end her career as an agent?
I could only hope it would. I knew enough about people to know a person would have to have strong convictions to work for the FBI. It would have to be a passion of sorts. No one put their lives in danger without having a passion for something bigger than themselves.
As her breathing grew slow and steady, I stared at the ceiling.
Could I live with Sloane if she stayed in her current job?
Or would it eventually end us?