Avenged (Hostage Rescue Team Series) (Volume 5) (27 page)

Each of her soft exhalations sent sparks dancing across his skin. She was soft and warm and trusting in his arms and he couldn’t let her go without having one last taste to tide him over until they saw each other again. He had this one last chance to bind her to him, reinforce the connection between them. He was going to make it memorable.

Cupping her chin, he turned her face up to his and kissed her. Taya twisted toward him, sealing their mouths together, her tongue gliding between his lips. With a low sound of need Nate took over, rolling her onto her back beneath him. She wriggled impatiently, stripped off her shirt while he tugged her shorts over her hips and down her legs.

Before he could enjoy all her naked skin, she was pulling his shirt off.

She hummed in her throat and bent to kiss and nibble at his chest, driving him crazy as he shucked his jeans and underwear. Naked, he knelt before her on the mattress, swallowing a groan when her soft, cool fingers closed around his rigid cock. She lifted up on her knees to kiss him again. Her tongue slid along his as she fisted him, dragged her palm over the length of his erection. Fire streaked up his spine.

Nate growled and closed his hand over hers, guiding her motion. Slowing her down, wanting to draw this out. He was so primed he couldn’t take much more of her hands on him, and he sure as hell didn’t want any of the guys to overhear them up here.

When the sensation became too much he broke the kiss and gently pulled her hand away from his aching cock. She made a sound of protest but he smothered it with another deep kiss, his hands gliding up her ribs to cup the full, luscious mounds of her breasts. Her back arched as he played with her nipples, rubbing and lightly pinching the dusky brown peaks.

He could feel her urgency in the bite of her fingers in his shoulders, the rigid set of her muscles as he lowered his head and sucked and teased each tight tip before kissing a path down the center of her body. He paused to dip his tongue into her navel, fingers still working her stiffened nipples. Then he lowered his mouth to the trimmed hair between her thighs and kissed just above where her clit peeked out.

Taya whimpered and parted her thighs, exposing the slick, flushed folds to his starved gaze. She was unbelievably sexy, so responsive to his every touch. Her inner thigh muscles trembled as he pressed his lips to her, letting her feel the warmth of his mouth for a moment before licking her nice and slow. Her quick intake of air cut through the room.

“Mmm,” he murmured, closing his lips around her clit to suck gently.

She moaned and lifted her hips, one hand plunging into his hair. Her fist contracted around the strands, the sharp sting on his scalp an accelerant on the flames raging inside him.

“So soft, baby.” He continued to taste and tease her, getting lost in the experience, pushing his tongue inside her then licking slow circles around her clit with the flat of his tongue. He could feel the tension building in her, wanted to push her over the edge with his mouth.

The hand in his hair suddenly tightened, her thighs tensing around his head. “Stop. Want you in me this time,” she panted.

He hadn’t planned to go that far but he wouldn’t deny either of them this chance if that’s what she wanted. And God knew, he wanted inside her in the worst way.

Reaching back to take a condom from his wallet, he rolled it on and sat back on his heels to grip her hips. She lay spread out before him like an erotic offering. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes glowing with desire, breasts rising and falling with each shallow, rapid breath. The pulse in her throat fluttered fast and hard.

With one hand he positioned the head of his cock against her entrance, watching her face. He eased forward an inch or two, just enough to feel her close around the head, then stopped.

Taya made an inarticulate sound of protest but he stilled her restless movement with his hand on her hip, keeping her right where he wanted her. He slipped his free hand between them to caress the sides of her swollen clit, circle it. Her eyes closed and her lips parted on a breathless cry, the sensual torment clear on her face.

Sensation splintered along his nerve endings. He was panting, trembling with the force of the pleasure streaking through him. He couldn’t remember ever being this turned on before. Wanted her just as desperate as him.

Holding her steady, he pushed forward, slowly burying himself to the hilt in her warmth. They both groaned at the sensation of him filling her.

Nate’s head fell forward, his eyes squeezing shut as her pussy clamped around him. His heart was pounding out of control at the feel of her heat surrounding him. Her arms and legs gathered him close, pulling him down into the cradle of her body. He went willingly, letting her absorb his weight, savoring the sensation of being fully embedded inside her. Taya locked him to her and buried her face in the side of his neck.

But something was off. She was too still, her breath hitching, holding him so tight he felt her muscles quiver.

A flood victim had hung onto him like that once. During a hurricane relief operation years ago the little girl had wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, clinging to him with all the strength in her body while he held her tight to him and hoisted her from her roof into the helo’s hold.

Taya clung that way to him now, as though he was the only thing keeping her from drowning.

Then her shoulders jerked and she gave a ragged gasp against his neck.

Nate pressed his cheek to her temple.
Ah, baby, don’t…

His first impulse was to pull out and quiet her, to tell her
shhh, don’t cry, everything’s okay
. But clearly everything wasn’t okay and when he tried to ease back she shook her head.

Nate closed his eyes. She’d held him in silence the other night, acknowledged and accepted his pain. He’d give her the same now, while they were connected as intimately as two people could be. The most intense connection he’d ever experienced in his life.

Slipping his arms beneath her, he banded them tight around her back and rested his full weight against her, being her anchor, giving her a safe place to hide while the storm of emotion rolled through her.

She battled it like the little warrior he called her and held on, forcing back the sobs until she calmed enough to take several slow, deep breaths, her face remaining tight to his neck. He was still hard inside her, as deep and close as he could possibly get. A fierce yet tender protectiveness flooded him. Gradually she calmed, the desperate edge to her hold easing.

Nate kissed her neck, her jaw before lifting his head but she wouldn’t let him look at her. She cupped his face between her hands and leaned up to kiss him, her mouth open and hungry against his. He tasted the salt of her tears on his tongue.

Taya sighed into his mouth, her tongue twining with his in a languid, sexy caress, her hips undulating. Bracing his weight on one arm, he eased his hips back, the slow drag of her slick sex around his cock sending pleasure rocketing up his spine.

His left hand trailed down her ribs, tracing the curve of her waist and hips before sliding inward to lie between them once more. Resting his thumb over her clit he applied a gentle pressure and surged forward, driving his cock deep. He swallowed her fractured cry. Her hand went to his nape, dug deep into the muscles there, her heels coming to rest on his ass as she pulled him deeper.

A raw groan tore from his chest as he moved inside her. God, it felt amazing. Fucking spectacular. And when he lifted his head to stare into her eyes, the tenderness and longing reflected there made his heart swell until he thought it might burst.

Needing to savor being on the edge for as long as he could, he continued his slow, lazy thrusts, his thumb working her slick clit. He ignored the desire roaring through him, focused on her pleasure, needing her to crave him.

“Oh my God,” she choked out, throwing her head back, eyes closed as an expression of pure bliss stole over her features. “Don’t ever stop.”

Nate gripped a fistful of the sheet with his free hand and kept driving into her, his thrusts growing more and more forceful as the pleasure spread through his body like slow, hot honey.

Taya’s breathing turned shallow, tiny mewls of pleasure rising from her throat. She trembled and wriggled in his hold but he held her still with the hand on her hip, using the angle to ensure his cock stroked across her sweet spot with every thrust.

“
Nathan
.” She grabbed his face, turned her lips to his in a desperate kiss as she came apart for him.

He muffled her shattered cries of release with his kiss and savored every tiny quiver of her body, triumph roaring through him. When she sighed and relaxed slightly he plunged his tongue deep into her mouth as he drove his cock to the hilt and stayed locked there, letting the orgasm overtake him.

He shuddered with the force of it, groaning helplessly into her mouth as she held him tight. He didn’t know how long they stayed that way, kissing deep and slow as the pulses faded, too hungry to let each other go.

Finally he eased off her, released his grip on her hip and gently rubbed at the marks his fingers had left on her light-bronze skin. The most primitive part of him loved seeing those marks, wished they were permanent to remind her of him and what they’d just shared.

She flinched slightly as he withdrew so he paused to trail kisses over her chin, along her jaw. “Be right back.” He eased from the bed and went to the bathroom where he flushed the condom down the toilet so no one could find it in the garbage, washed his hands and returned to the bed.

Taya was on her side, facing him, the covers drawn up to barely cover the generous curves of her breasts. She looked relaxed, at peace. He slid in next to her, automatically lifted an arm so she could snuggle into his body. She fit against him so perfectly, her head resting on his shoulder.

A quiet peacefulness stole through him, dimming the sharp sense of loss. His arms contracted around her, the pressure fierce. “I’m coming to find you once the trial’s over,” he murmured against the top of her head.

She kissed his chest. “You’d better.”

“We’re not done,” he told her. “Not by a long shot.”

She hummed in agreement and caressed his chest with her fingertips. Nate stroked the length of her spine, savoring the silky texture of her skin. God, he missed her already and she was still lying naked in his arms. “Just a few more days and this’ll all be over.”

“Don’t make me wait too long, okay?”

“I won’t.” He leaned his head back, tipped her chin up with one hand until she met his eyes. If there was even a tiny part of her that doubted his intentions, he wanted that cleared up now. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.”

Her eyes softened and she smiled that serene smile that soothed him deep inside. “Me neither.”

God, he could drown in this woman and die a happy man. He admired her so damn much. “You’re strong, baby. So much stronger than you even realize. You’ve got this.”

“Have I got you, though?”

Normally the question would have freaked him out. Hearing it from her made him feel insanely possessive. “Yeah, you’ve got me, baby.” He was falling so hard and so fast, and it didn’t even faze him.

“Then I can handle everything else on my own,” she whispered, and pulled his mouth down to hers.

When Taya wheeled her suitcase into the hall at dawn, her new security team was waiting for her downstairs, along with Cruz, Vance and Tuck. Nathan looked up at her from where he was standing in the foyer with the U.S. Marshals from WITSEC. The moment their gazes locked she felt a wave of warmth wash over her, memories of last night bombarding her.

They’d slept tangled together for a while before she’d woken and begun exploring him with her hands and mouth. He’d already been hard when she’d wrapped her hand around his cock and scooted down to take him between her lips.

It’d been a long, long time since she’d done that with a lover but Nathan hadn’t seemed to have any complaints about her technique. She’d relished pleasuring him that way, savored the feel of his hands wrapped in her hair, the deep sounds of enjoyment coming from his throat, those sculpted muscles in his abdomen and thighs rigid beneath her exploring fingers.

Stroke yourself while you suck me, baby.

The deep, rumbled command echoed in her head now as he looked at her, making her shiver with the memory. It had been so incredibly hot to comply, to just give over to sensation and enjoy. When he’d finally swelled against her tongue and groaned in agony, he’d tugged her head away and grabbed her, rolling her to her hands and knees on the bed.

Bent over in front of him, she’d fisted the covers, burying her face into the pillow as he drove into her from behind, one powerful arm locked around her waist, his hand stroking slow and sweet between her spread thighs. He’d stroked her most sensitive spots, inside and out, turning her into a mindless, helpless mass of need with each thrust, each caress. And that deep, seductive voice rasping against her ear, telling her what a good girl she was, how he couldn’t wait to slide his cock inside her…

Combined with the scrape of his teeth and glide of his tongue against the place on her neck that lit her up like a Christmas tree, she hadn’t stood a chance.

So good, Taya. Wanna feel you come around my cock.

The orgasm he’d given her had been the most intense yet, heightened all the more by the feel of his big body covering her from behind and his deep, rough groans of release muffled against the crook of her neck.

And now she was leaving him, when every atom in her body demanded she stay with him.

Nathan jogged up the stairs to take her suitcase from her, guided her back down with a hand on her lower back. “Taya, you remember Rick Duncan,” he said, indicating the U.S. Marshal in the foyer who’d been assigned to her before.

“Yes, hi.” She nodded at him, unable to shake the lingering nerves dancing in her belly.

“Good to see you again,” he said, then shifted and indicated two other men standing by the front door. “This is Agent Kelly and Agent Wilson. We’ll be taking over your security, along with several others, including the drivers waiting outside. I know you must be concerned about the former agent we had in the program, but I want to personally assure you that he’s long gone and is being prosecuted for what he did. No one else was involved with him in the leak. I’ve personally handpicked all the agents on this assignment and no one except them and my direct superior know anything about what’s happening from now on. You’re getting the best team we’ve got.”