She nodded, smoothing the bottom of the shirt down. The boxiness of the shirt emphasized her femininity. Naked. She was naked under there. “Yes.” Her bare feet made little sound as she pattered across the room to reach him.
The scent of woman and gardenias nearly dropped him to his knees. If anything happened to Audrey or the baby, the kill chip would be welcomed to do its job. Her intelligence intrigued him, while her spirit challenged him. But the woman deep down, the one full of kindness and generosity… that one owned him. “Are you sure you’re fine?” he asked, tuning in to her vitals.
“Yes.” She took a deep breath. “I’m fine, although I could use some clothes.” Her nipples poked out from under his shirt, and her taut thighs led down to toned calves. Even the scars along her left leg appeared graceful somehow. The symmetry of the pins seemed perfect. “How are you?” she asked.
Having totally inappropriate thoughts, considering what they’d been through. The fact that she stood so close, happy to be bearing his child, humbled him. Protecting her was all that mattered. “Good.” He had to get away from her before he grabbed her. “I’ll make dinner.”
Her hand on his arm stopped him. “I don’t want dinner.”
He started, glancing down at her eyes. They’d turned the color of the ocean depths… dark and barely blue—sensual in a powerfully feminine way. Hunger simmered there along with emotion. A turmoil no doubt brought about from their close brush with death and the gratefulness at being alive. Maybe by something more… him? He didn’t deserve love from somebody like her, but if offered, he’d take it with hunger and never give it back. “You should eat,” he managed to grind out.
He sensed her fear and tasted the tears she’d shed earlier. Deep down, he understood her need to get lost in the present.
But his present was full of danger, and he shouldn’t relax.
“Where are your brothers?” She kept her gaze on his.
“Out for the night.” The words barely made it out of his mouth. The entire night. With Audrey, alone. What had he been thinking? As gently as he could, he unraveled her fingers from his wrist. “I need a moment, Audrey.” It was as close to admitting a weakness as he’d ever come with her.
“Too bad.” She pivoted to put her body between his and escape.
“Audrey—”
“Shut up, Nate.” She stepped into him, her body flush with his.
He shut his eyes, pummeling down instant lust. Way down. The events of the day, his woman so close, the rage against the time counting down on his life—it was all too much. No way would he hurt her, so he needed time and space to rein himself back in. “Please move,” he whispered.
“No,” she whispered back, her hands sliding under his shirt to press against his abs. “I’m perfectly fine, and you’re perfectly fine. A couple of bruises for either of us is no big deal.”
The gentle touch from her shot his body into overdrive. “I’m not in control.” He opened his eyes. Everything in him hated admitting that to her.
Her smile held power. “So?” Stretching up on her toes, she kissed the pulse suddenly pounding at his neck. “We’re alive. At least for a very short time, we’re here and together.”
Unable to help himself, he cinched her arms. Too hard and too tight. “You’ll be here for a long time, I promise. No matter what happens to me, you’ll be okay. You and the baby.” He’d clear a safe path for her if it was the last thing on earth he accomplished. His back muscles vibrated as he held himself back. “Now step away.”
“No.” As graceful as any dancer, she slid down him, her palms along his legs, to land on her knees. “I don’t think so.”
His cock hardened and pressed against his zipper, fighting to get out of his jeans. Nate held perfectly still. Don’t move. Her mouth was way too close to his dick. Way too close. The beast inside him, the one he secretly doubted held only human DNA, roared with the need to pounce. To take Audrey all the way down and make sure she knew exactly who she belonged to. His woman. Now and forever. “What are you doing?” he asked.
She chuckled, the sound all female and challenging. Staying on her knees, she skimmed her palms up the inside of his legs and his thighs. “I’m perfectly fine, and so are you.”
He groaned, fighting against self-imposed chains. But his feet wouldn’t move. He could easily jump over her and leave the cabin. Yet his feet remained in place, his thighs tightening, all the blood in his body rushing to one place.
The sound of her releasing his zipper echoed much louder than he’d expected in the small cabin. Not even the rain gathering strength outside masked the sound. When he’d changed after the fight, he’d just donned jeans. No shirt, no boxers. With a happy hum, Audrey took him in her hand.
His knees nearly buckled. “Don’t—”
Her tongue flicked out and licked him.
At that one contact, in that one second, the beast in him took over.
Chapter 25
Audrey licked Nate again, electricity dancing through her veins. Kneeling in front of the deadly soldier gave her the most satisfying sense of empowerment. She trailed his jeans down his legs. A vibration settled through his thighs, and yet he kept still. So painfully still.
But he wanted to move, didn’t he? The poor guy wanted to get away from her—to keep her safe.
The real Nate Dean, the kind, gentle, man deep down… she saw him. The sexy soldier and hard-bodied charmer had intrigued her right from the start, but the man inside had stolen her soul.
She’d never gotten it back.
It was a freakin’ miracle they were both healthy and fine… and she wanted to celebrate that fact. Plus, she’d spent most of her shower time thinking and remembering the attack and how easily Nate had shifted into soldier mode. The cold, deliberate killer who’d run toward spraying bullets in order to protect her had scared her a little bit. In their time together years ago, she’d never truly seen that side of him. The side created by her mother and the commander. The aspect in him that made him such a good soldier—deadly and strong.
She needed the man. His courage, his strength, his gentleness with her. Only her. Even more so, while he might not realize it, he needed her.
They were lost souls, without a doubt. Maybe they’d found each other for this brief time. For so long, she’d been alone. Had her own space and plenty of room to plan her life. Once she succeeded in taking down the commander, she’d planned to disappear. To find a small house in a small town and become part of a community.
Not now. Now she had Nate to save and a baby to protect. Suddenly, her life was full. Because of Nate.
So she licked along his shaft to the base, smiling when he groaned again.
Intense passion lived in Nathan Dean, and she’d caught glimpses of his true nature. The loyal brother who loved so completely, who sacrificed so easily, had taken on that role with his brothers on purpose. Even after Audrey had hurt him so badly, he’d been kind to her. Before finding out she was pregnant, he’d been protective.
The coldness in him was necessary for surviving his childhood and for working through his adulthood as a soldier. But his perfect control didn’t belong between them, and it was time she showed him he could trust her. Trust her with everything.
So she tipped her head back and took him deep.
“Holy shit,” he muttered, his hands threading through her hair.
He tasted like male and spice—all Nathan. Drawing him out, she caressed her tongue along his base.
“Audrey,” he murmured.
“What?” She sat back and looked up at him, pleasure rippling along her nerves. As she focused, her breath caught.
The expression on his face was new. Raw need, male demand. Heavy-lidded, his eyes glowed a darkened gray. Strong and cut hard, his jaw clenched, crimson spiraling across his rugged cheekbones. His hands tethered and then released her hair, sliding down to her biceps to lift her. Easily. Very easily.
Once she reached her feet, he kept lifting until her thighs tig
htened against his hips.
Strong fingers latched on to her butt, and he kicked his jeans away. He strode through the room, avoiding furniture while keeping his gaze completely focused on hers. No hint of gentleness, no inkling of concern glimmered in those unreal eyes. Just hunger.
When her ass hit the table, she gasped. Cold and rough, the wood scratched her skin. Fire exploded inside her, dampening her thighs. She’d assumed he would take her to the bedroom, and the idea that he wanted her too much to wait melted her from the inside out. Made her wet and soft.
The thin T-shirt covering her flew across the room, baring her. His eyes flared with a predatory light.
Delicious and wicked, a shiver tingled down her spine. Keeping his gaze, she slowly widened her legs on either side of his thighs. Daring him.
His jagged chuckle nearly threw her into an orgasm. Rough and thick, the pad of his index finger drifted along her bottom lip. Smiling, she opened her mouth and sucked it in. His nostrils flared. He tugged, and she released his finger with a soft plop.
With a primal gaze, he watched his finger as the pad brushed down her chin, her neck, and wandered between her breasts.
She breathed out, heat flaring along the path of his wet finger. A hollowness set up deep inside her, an ache only he could fill. Yet his finger trailed traitorously slow, over her naval, down her shifting abdominal muscles, right to her clit.
He pressed.
Sparks torpedoed inside her. Her mouth opened on a gasp, and she tilted toward his hand.
His upper lip quirked in male satisfaction. In an emotional connection.
Keeping his finger right on her, he leaned in, his lips grazing hers. Not enough. Nowhere near enough. So she reached up and snagged his arms, yanking until he bent down and she could seize his hair. Digging her fingers in tight, she pulled him to her mouth. Taking.
Her tongue swept inside as he remained still. As if he could remain in control. So she softened her assault, teasing and tempting. Layer by layer, she felt his control shred. His breathing sped up first. Then he slowly, easily kissed her back, taking over so smoothly she didn’t realize it until she couldn’t get enough oxygen into her lungs.
Her body flared alive, tingling. Finally, he released her mouth and kissed a path down to her breasts, where he nipped hard enough to make her catch her breath in her throat. Smiling, he laved the small wound. She moaned, trying to move against his too-still finger. Desire flared so hot it burned, and she couldn’t get enough.
The thought whispered through her that he’d taken control again as he gentled his movements, as his kisses softened.
So she tightened her hold on his thick hair with one hand and anchored his cock with the other. No hesitancy, no subtlety, she gripped him hard. From shaft to tip, she caressed him, her fingers not reaching all the way around but staying firm.
His mouth on her skin, he sucked in air, the muscles in his arms visibly fighting.
“Give it up, Nate,” she murmured, leaning even farther down and grasping his balls.
He levered back, the snapping of his control confirmed in every line of his body. Catching her hips, he flipped her around, a firm hand pressing her down to the table. Her breasts scraped against the wood. She turned her head to the side in order to breathe, yet her lungs wouldn’t cooperate as her heart rammed a staccato beat against her ribs.
Unyielding hands manacled her hips and slapped her back into a rock-hard erection. With one strong push, he thrust into her completely, not stopping until his balls hit her thighs.
Oh God.
She closed her eyes and tried to breathe out, tried to anchor herself in a wild storm she’d created as he pinned her to the table. He somehow shoved even deeper inside her, leaning over her, his chest against her back, his breath at her ear. “If your leg hurts, tell me.”
Her leg? What leg? She may have whimpered a response.
He stretched her, filling her until he was all that existed. His skin against hers, the hair on his thighs tickling hers, his scent covering her. He rocked inside her, withdrawing and driving forward with a force that would’ve sent her across the table if he hadn’t been holding on. Tight.
Hard and fast, the rhythm he set up coiled need tighter and tighter inside her. She gasped and tried to dig her hands into the table, shoving back. Close, she was so close.
Only Nate could do this to her. Make her forget everything but him. Any future she had included him—he couldn’t die.
She tried to fight falling over, to hold on to the delicious ecstasy riding her, but he wouldn’t let her. The powerful, steady pace increased, and he angled her slightly to the left. As her clit slid along the side of the table, the coils inside her detonated. She screamed his name, riding the waves, her mouth closing suddenly as the room sheeted white. The sensation shut down her system, so perfect and so intense. Finally, she came down from the heights, her body going lax.
The second she softened, his hold tightened, and he began to pound harder. She closed her eyes, lost in the bliss. Finally, he ground against her, his body convulsing. After what seemed like eons, he fell over her, his mouth at her ear. “No way in hell am I letting you go this time,” he whispered.
* * *
Dawn broke with an angry storm matching the one building inside Nate. After he’d taken Audrey against the table like they hadn’t just been in a car accident, he’d tucked her into bed, watching her sleep. The woman had slept like she hadn’t slept in years.
He couldn’t find it in himself to regret the previous night. She’d enjoyed him, and he’d enjoyed being himself with her and letting go. But now, more than ever, he couldn’t lose her. Or the baby.
Awakening her had been one of the hardest things he’d had to do lately, but they had to get a move on.
“Stop frowning,” Audrey said as she stood in her bra and pencil skirt.
“I’m not frowning,” Nate said, frowning harder. Shane had broken into Audrey’s apartment to get her a full cache of clothes after ditching her car the previous night, so she had something to wear.
Matt glanced up from where he was taping a wire along Audrey’s lower back. “Do you want to do this?”
“No. You’re better at placing wires.” Nate crossed his arms. “I don’t give a crap if you see Audrey’s pretty bra, Matt. Jesus. I trust you and my woman.” It was the plan of the day that pissed him off. Completely.
Shane turned around from the computer on the table and gave him a look.
He looked right back. Yeah, he’d called her his woman. So what? Shane rolled his eyes and went back to the computer.
Nate smirked. If Shane had any idea what had happened on the table the previous night, he wouldn’t be so comfortable sitting there.
“That’s better, Nathan.” Audrey smiled at him, lifting her arms for Matt to tape the wire closer to the back of her bra.
He smiled back, his mind reeling. “We need a different plan.”
Matt sighed, his shoulders bunching. “We’ve been over this. If we need another plan, that’s fine. But enough already.”
Audrey put both hands on her hips. “The plan is for me to go in and videotape the facility so you have a better understanding of the layout. That’s where we’ll find information about Jory, which is our next step before we expose the commander. I understand your concerns, but I promise I’ll take good care of the baby. Nothing will happen to him today.”
“Damn it, Audrey.” A rush of pure anger flooded Nate’s veins. “I’m as worried about you as I am about the baby. This is a bad idea.”
She shrugged, glancing over her shoulder at the wires. “This is the only idea we have. The senator has invited me to the facility, and the commander is fine with me there, so I’m the right person to go. Plus, I wouldn’t mind another ultrasound to check in on the baby, and Dr. Zycor has technology way beyond the hospitals in the area.” She kept her voice level and her head down while she spoke.
Anxiety felt like needles in the brain. “Is something wrong?”
Nate asked quietly.
She looked up and smiled. “No. I want to double-check, and Matt placed the wires along my back, so nobody will see them.” Her cute hips wiggled when she reached behind her and tugged out a security card. “I still have Dr. Zycor’s card, so maybe I can get into the secured areas, even if the commander doesn’t invite the senator back there.”
“They would’ve changed his card upon discovering you had it,” Matt said, standing up.
“Maybe.” Audrey reached for a shirt hanging on a table chair, donned it, and then buttoned up.
The ticking clock in the kill chips hung over their heads like an invisible mantel of sheer stone.
Tension oozed through the room, but nobody acknowledged it.
Matt handed her a pair of earrings that looked like man-made sapphires. “You’ll need to keep your hair up so you don’t block the camera. It’ll be in your right ear.”
Audrey slipped the earrings into place. “I understand.” She walked in stylish flats over to the window and glanced out. “I can’t believe you stole a car that looks exactly like mine.”
Matt shrugged. “Red Toyotas are easy to find. We hammered out your license plates to put into place, and nobody should notice the VINs don’t match. By the time anybody figures anything out, we’ll be long gone from here.” He gathered up extra wires and put them away in a metal case. “We’re all set to go here. Nate?”
Nate studied Audrey. She was smart and quick. The commander wouldn’t hurt her, especially since she now carried Nate’s child. “If you think you’re in any danger, you give us the code term. We’ll launch everything we have to get you out.”
She moved toward him and patted his arm. “Stop worrying. I’ve got this. We’ll head to my place to appease the FBI, and then I’ll go scope out the commander’s base for you. Everything will go perfectly.”
Nate swallowed. Never in his life had anything gone perfectly. By the looks on his brothers’ faces, they had the same thought. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Let’s go over today’s plan one more time.”
Chapter 26