Marked (Hostage Rescue Team Series) (16 page)

Brandon shrank away, shaking his head frantically, a ragged sob muffled by the filthy gag stuffed into his mouth.

Laughing, Xang straightened but kept the blade where it was, letting him anticipate more torture. Unfortunately he’d lost too much blood now for Xang to risk another amputation so quickly. Killing Brandon now wouldn’t be any fun at all.

After checking with hotel security and the handful of agents around the perimeter to ensure there had been no suspicious activity throughout the day, Jake accompanied Rachel up to her room. As a precaution he made her wait outside while he swept it, then let her in and closed the door behind them.

She’d refused to eat, not even room service, and though she’d kept a brave face on the trip from the office, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep control of her emotions. Part of her wanted to be alone to lick her wounds in private, and the other part didn’t want Jake to leave yet. She was afraid that once she was alone that she’d crack in half and never be the same again.

Jake stood at the door, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck as he watched her shrug out of his coat and drape it across the chair with the ottoman. “Sure I can’t grab you something?”

“I’m sure. Have you eaten though?”

“I’m good.”

While she was grateful for his presence, she was also mentally and emotionally drained. “It’s pretty late and I know you must have had a long day, plus you’ve got to be up early again for work tomorrow. I’m okay now if you want to go.” She knew there would be someone posted at the hotel to provide extra security for her, maybe even Celida.

His hand dropped from the back of his neck and his expression changed. Hardened even though the intense glint in his eyes told her he wasn’t angry. “There’s no way you’re ‘okay’,” he fired back.

At the moment all she felt was numb, but she didn’t know how long that would last. As much as she wanted Jake to stay she didn’t want to appear needy or clingy, even if she had good reason to be. She already felt fragile enough right now, the last thing she needed was to make herself completely vulnerable to him, and she would if he stayed.

There was no way she could be alone in this room with him for any sustained amount of time and not reach for him, or let her feelings for him show again as they had earlier during that kiss. She had no idea if he wanted a long-term relationship and she couldn’t do any other kind with him.

“I’ll be fine,” she said quietly, lowering her gaze to where her hands were folded in her lap. He saw her as calm and serene. She liked that image far better than the chaos inside her right now, and didn’t want to embarrass herself by letting him see it. “I’m going to have to call my mom. I can’t put this off any longer.”

“What are you going to tell her?”

“The basics, at first. That he’s been kidnapped and that the FBI is handling it.” Not very well, in her opinion, but it would hopefully comfort her mother to know an investigation was already underway.

“You’re wiped. Call her in the morning.”

Rachel sighed. “I couldn’t sleep. Not now. Every time I think about how scared he must have been when—” She stopped, swallowing back the lump in her throat, waited until the tightness lessened before continuing. “As soon as I close my eyes, that’s all I’m going to see.”

Jake came away from the door in a surge of movement. Rachel stiffened and leaned back, instinctively retreating from him and that hard look on his face. But he merely stopped a foot from her, dropped down and reached out to slide a hand around her nape.

His palm was warm against her skin, his long fingers flexing gently against the tight muscles. She forced herself to meet his gaze, shock ripping through her at the raw intensity she saw there.

He shook his head once, a muscle working in the side of his thickly-stubbled jaw. “I told you once I’d do anything for you. Do you remember?”

Mouth too dry to form a response, she nodded.

His fingers squeezed, the increased pressure still gentle but conveying his sincerity. His urgency. “I meant it.”

Swallowing, she found her voice. “I know.”

Those dark eyes never wavered from hers. “Then say what you need. Ask me.”

“Ask you what?” she whispered, suddenly feeling emotionally naked.

“Ask me to stay.”

She desperately wanted that, but only if it’s what he wanted. Because they both knew he’d stay if she asked. Just like they both knew what would happen if he did. Once they crossed that invisible barrier, everything would change. Things had already been so emotionally intense over the past two days. Was she ready to make that leap after just finding him again? Was he?

He gave her a tiny shake, impatient. “Babe.
Ask
me.” He was so fierce, so determined to comfort and support her. It melted all her resistance.

Taking a deep breath, forcing aside the scary feeling of vulnerability, Rachel reached up to grip his hard forearm. She made herself hold his gaze as she answered, her whisper barely carrying through the space between them. “Stay.”

****

The moment she said it Jake let out a relieved breath and lowered his hand from her neck.

She was staring up at him with a mixture of hope and longing that made him ache. Her trust, her willingness to let him in when she needed him most were more precious to him than any gift he’d ever received. He knew how hard it was for her to lean on people—from the first time he’d met her he’d seen how much she cherished her independence—so the fact that she wanted him to stay enough to ask was huge.

Christ he wanted nothing more than to scoop her up, strip her naked and crawl between the sheets with her, bury himself as deep as he could get in her warmth and give her something good to concentrate on for the next few hours. Because he knew damn well she wasn’t ready for that at the moment, he forced himself to take a step back.

“Go take a long, hot shower and relax.” Whatever happened between them tonight, he didn’t want her to be nervous or have regrets later. Even if he just got to hold her all night long, he was good with that. He’d have left if she’d asked him to, but it would have killed him to walk away from her tonight.

Rachel nodded and got up to disappear into the bathroom. While the water ran, giving him images of what her naked body would look like gleaming wet beneath the spray, he went ahead and ordered some room service. The food had just arrived twenty minutes later when the bathroom door opened, releasing a cloud of steam.

A second later Rachel appeared in the threshold, wearing a long-sleeved sleep shirt that came to mid-thigh. His gaze zeroed in on her breasts, which she quickly covered with her arms, then down to her long, bare legs. Knowing she was naked beneath that shirt made every muscle in his body go rigid with longing. Her clean vanilla scent hit him from the other side of the room, making him hungry for a hell of a lot more than food.

Still in the doorway, she lowered one arm from her chest and tugged self-consciously at the hem of her sleep shirt. “There was no robe,” she said, looking first at him and then past him at the food.

Ah, honey.
“Come and eat,” he said, his voice gruffer than he’d intended.

She shook her head and opened her mouth but he didn’t give her a chance to argue. She started to take a step back but he got up and caught her hand, tugging her back over to the chair with him.

Before she could protest he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap, sinking back into the upholstery. She was stiff against him, tugging at the hem that had ridden higher up her thighs, but at least she didn’t pull away. Jake pulled in a deep breath, savoring her sweet scent.

“I’m still not really hungry,” she murmured, avoiding eye contact.

“I just want you to eat a few bites,” he said, and selected a piece of cheddar cheese from the tray. Lifting it to her mouth, he held it there and finally she relented, taking his wrist and parting her lips.

He pulled his hand back, waited until her eyes flashed up to his before shaking his head once, then put the cube at her lips. Fascinated, he watched while the blood rushed to her cheeks, staining them a rosy pink.

Her lips parted and she took the morsel from his fingertips. She might not have meant it to be a sensual gesture, but with her innate elegance and femininity, it was. He went rock hard in his jeans, the weight of her pert little ass nestled there an enjoyable form of torture.

Neither of them spoke as he continued to feed her little tidbits from the tray. Grapes. Berries. More cheese. After her fifth mouthful she pushed his hand away and curled into him, resting her head in the hollow of his shoulder. Jake’s heart squeezed.

He wrapped both arms around her and cuddled her close, nuzzling the damp waves of hair beneath his nose. She felt so damn good and he was grateful once again that she was turning to him for comfort. There was no way she could miss the feel of his erection pressing against her but Jake ignored it, focusing instead on the rapid beat of her heart beneath his palm at her back and the way she curled so trustingly against him.

It was more than he’d ever expected to have, and yet it wasn’t nearly enough. He was aware of every subtle thing, from the sound of her breathing to the curve of her breast pressed against him and the way the damp strands of her hair caught in his stubble.

They stayed that way for so long that he was starting to wonder whether she’d fallen asleep, but then she shifted and rubbed her cheek against his chest. The action was feline and sensual and the press of her ass against his swollen cock made the need inside him flare to life.

Rachel turned her face up to his, those pretty hazel eyes searching his for a moment before she curled her hand around his nape and put her mouth on his. The kiss was slow and soft, everything the last one wasn’t. Jake let her set the pace, willing to give her whatever she needed right now.

He ran his palm up and down her spine, moved lower to map the curve of her waist and hip before gliding up to her shoulder. Rachel murmured in pleasure and deepened the kiss, dipping her tongue into his mouth. Jake followed her lead as their tongues played, building the heat until she was squirming in his lap and her nipples were hard little points outlined by the thin material of her shirt.

Without breaking the kiss she reached for his hand and lifted it to cup one of her breasts. She moaned into his mouth when he squeezed the soft flesh and rubbed his thumb over the straining tip, arching her back for more.

Jake took over. He trailed a damp line of kisses across her jaw and down the side of her neck, finding the places that made her shiver and twitch as he played with her breast, his scruff leaving little red marks on her delicate skin. He wanted to see those marks all over her body later, a sign of his possession. Her breathing increased, the throb of her pulse accelerated beneath his caressing tongue.

Keeping her distracted with the kisses, he reached down to fist the hem of the shirt and slowly begin to pull it upward. He felt her throat move beneath his mouth as she swallowed, but her hands curled deeper into his shoulders and she lifted her hips slightly to allow him room to move.

Inch by inch he eased the soft material upward, revealing more and more pale gold-toned skin. He caught just a glimpse of the neatly trimmed triangle of hair between her thighs before he drew the shirt up over her abdomen, up her rib cage to her breasts.

Fisting the wad of material against her sternum, he lifted his head to gaze at the pert flesh he’d revealed, topped with pale brown nipples. They were beaded tight, a fine scattering of goosebumps covering her silken skin.

Unable to stop himself, he slid the hand at her hip upward until it rested between her shoulder blades and dipped his head to taste her. The instant his lips touched her she gasped, her muscles tensing. He placed teasing, reverent kisses over the velvety curve, then let his tongue play with the stiffened center, rubbed his bristly cheek against her tender skin. She hissed in a breath and grabbed the back of his head, holding him close.

Jake didn’t need encouragement. He took her into his mouth and slowly sucked, rolling her nipple against the roof of his mouth. Rachel moaned and squirmed in his arms, growing restless.

He took turns pleasuring each breast, letting his hand slowly trail down the center of her body to the apex of her thighs. His fingertips brushed light patterns against her inner thighs, coaxing her to open for him. She did, slowly, making the victory all the sweeter. And when he slid his fingers across the slick, swollen flesh between her legs, they both moaned.

The feel of her wetness made his erection throb painfully and the heady scent of her arousal made his heart hammer. He wanted in her so bad he could barely see straight, but tonight was all about her and what she needed.

Gliding his fingers through the wet folds, he feathered over the taut bud at the top of her sex, drinking in her soft cry. He eased one finger into her, then a second, pumping gently before withdrawing to stroke her clit again. Within minutes she was trembling, her breaths choppy. Her fingers bit deep into his shoulders, her eyes glazed as she stared into his and moved her hips in time with his hand.

She buried her face into his neck. “Jake, I need more.”

Instantly he stopped. Withdrawing his fingers from inside her, he ignored her whimper of protest, holding her tight around the hips as he got to his feet and walked the short distance over to the bed. With one hand he jerked the coverlet down and set her on the edge of the bed, pulling her hips so that they rested on the very edge.

As he sank to his knees in front of her, her legs snapped together and she curled an arm over her breasts. Still holding her hips prisoner, Jake looked up to find her blushing and biting her lip.

A smile tugged at his mouth. “You’re not seriously feeling shy with me now, are you?”

She lowered her gaze. “It’s just…this is really intimate.”

Oh, shit, the thought of getting his mouth on her, of sliding his tongue inside her and listening to the sounds she’d make had him hard all over. “Yeah. And I’ve been wanting to go down on you forever.”