Sworn to Protect (Vows of the Heart) (20 page)

He stroked himself firmly, his hips thrusting slightly. His mercury eyes burned with feral desire. “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

Her fingers tortured herself, she was hot and wet. “I need you, Ethan, bury yourself inside me. Take me hard.”

“Make yourself come, Bethany,” he growled. “I want to watch you come.”

It was as if she could feel his hands on her, his hot mouth suckling her breasts. She moaned again, her body contorting. “Ethan,” she whispered.

“Don’t stop,” he whispered, but he reached down and pulled her hips to the edge of the bed. Placing his hands on her knees he pushed her legs apart even farther, his gaze remained focused on what she was doing to her own body. He watched her intently as she pleasured herself.

“Come for me,” he murmured.

She pressed her finger against her swollen nub hard and gasped. She was so very close to her orgasm. She panted and moaned, the pleasure bordering on pain. It built between her legs and exploded outward, she gasped, softly calling his name, but her fingers continued as her climax ripped through her body.

Suddenly Ethan drove himself hard inside her. Her climax intensified. His hips slammed into hers and he ground himself into her. She whimpered
, but he felt so good, his cock deep, thick and engorged. He pulled her legs up over his shoulders and gripped her hips. He withdrew only to drive himself into her again. A second time her climax rebounded. She threw her head back, her fingers clutched at the bedding. She fought not to scream. Ethan started pumping, his thrusts long and deep, he growled her name. Bethany became a slave to her own body, unable to control the glory that seized her. The world blurred as the most intense climax she had ever known possessed her. All she could feel in the center of her pleasure was Ethan’s cock driving her to greater heights. His movement increased, his own climax upon him, he whispered her name and followed her over the edge.

****

“Ethan, please,” Bethany said, “I don’t want you to go.”

He stepped forward and gently gripped her shoulders. He didn’t want to leave either. “I have to,
sweetheart. But I’ll be back in two days at the latest. I still have that phone the captain gave me, it’s clean. I’ll keep in touch with you on that and if Nathan gets out of hand, call me.”

“You think it’s clean. I don’t want to question your captain
, but what if....”

“What if he’s the mole?” He dragged his hand through his hair. “I don’t know, Bethany. I think if he was the mole, we’d both be dead by now.” Still, there was no way to know for certain what sort of game was being played.

He stepped closer, a new surge of desire coiling through him. He had thought making love to Bethany would sate his impulses, but he was wrong. It had only increased them. Now, when he looked at her or touched her, the vibrant memory of the soft warmth of her mouth against his, the feel of her body as he drove himself deeply inside her, her taste, her scent, the silky caress of her hair against his bare skin, the soft touch of her fingers as she explored his body, all of it bloomed with perfect clarity and ignited his blood.

He cupped her face in his hands. His thumb caressed her lower lip. She inhaled deeply, gazing up at him. Her emerald eyes blazed.

“God, you are so beautiful,” he whispered and kissed her deeply.

Her tiny moan almost undid him. Her body molded to his, her arms tight around him. She stroked his back, then his sides, and moved her hands firmly up his chest.

“I need to leave now,” he said between kisses, his voice hoarse. “But I want to make love to you again.”

“I don’t want you to leave at all, Ethan.”

He ended the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, trying to slow his spinning world and catch his breath. She turned everything upside down, so why then did it feel so perfect?

“I’ll be back in two days, I swear.” He started to pull away then hesitated. “But...but if I don’t come back, try to get Nathan sober. He’ll be able to find a safe place for you. If you can keep him out of the bottle, he will take care of you.”

Bethany’s eyes filled with tears, but she didn’t give way to them. “I don’t want Nathan to take care of me. The only man I want is you.”

His heart warmed and his mouth claimed hers again
, but this time his kiss was far from gentle, it was powerful, possessive, primitive. Reluctantly, he pulled away.

She swallowed hard and a single tear managed to escape.

He wiped it away. “Don’t cry, sweetheart, please. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

She nodded
, but his heart almost broke as she turned and darted into the bathroom. Slowly, he left the room, knowing there was no way he could make this any easier. He regretted not being able to tell her his true plans, but that would only worry her more. Knowing if he didn’t get moving, it would take a crowbar to pry him away from her, he quickly walked to the living room.

****

Bethany washed the tears from her face, desperately trying to get a hold of herself. She finally dried her tears then brushed out her hair. She left the room and returned to the hallway, hearing Ethan speaking with his brother in the living room.

“Nathan, if something happens to me, if I don’t come back, I’m counting on you to protect her. Cordova has bought a lot of powerful people.”

“Don’t worry, Ethan. I’ll take care of her.”

Ethan nodded curtly. “You got ammo for my Colt?”

“Look and see, you know where it’s at.” Nathan turned away, downed another large swallow from his bottle.

Bethany entered the room
.

Ethan, crouched before a cabinet, shoved something under his jacket and glanced up at her. She
frowned at him, but he said nothing and pulled two boxes of ammo out of the cabinet.

Bethany stared in awe at the open door. It was filled with shotguns, pistols, and automatic rifles. All illegal more than likely. Ethan picked up an ammo belt with extra clips for his gun.

“Geez,” Bethany muttered, staring at the weapons. “Let me guess, Nathan, you’re a substitute for the National Guard Armory.”

Nathan chuckled. “It’s a hobby of mine. I’m a gun collector.” He frowned, watching his brother. “Your arm still bothering you?”

“It’s nothing.”

Nathan started to say something then snapped his jaw shut.

Ethan turned to Bethany and grinned. “Behave yourself and don’t let Nathan buffalo you. His charm is entirely fake.”

“Be careful,” she said and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Ethan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply.

Nathan snorted. “God, you’re making me queasy.”

Ethan backed away, smiling down at her. He faced his brother and held out his hand. “Thanks, Nathan.”

Nathan accepted his hand and once again pulled his brother into a rough embrace. “Watch your ass, little bro, we still have a lot of catching up to do.”

“You got it.” Ethan left, the door closing firmly behind him. Nathan waited a moment then locked it. “There are sodas and food in the fridge, help yourself.” He sat at the computer and turned his back to her. Just like that, Bethany found herself dismissed.

Bethany desperately tried to find something to keep her mind occupied. If she didn’t, she was going to drive herself crazy by watching the clock for two days.

Nathan remained silent as he worked at his computer.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Bethany asked.

“You know anything about computers?”

“Not much,” she admitted. “I planned on going back to school
, but with all this bullshit…” She held up her hands.

Nathan arched an eyebrow. “Yeah. Let’s hope Ethan is right about these passwords and files or I’m going to have to call in a few favors with my SEAL team.”

She nodded. “Do you mind if I turn on the TV then?”

He glanced at his watch then gestured to the remote. “Be my guest. This is going to take a while.”

She clicked on the TV, surfing through the channels, and pausing on the news reports about her and Ethan. So far very little progress had been made. Cordova was still nowhere to be found, but the authorities were reasonably certain he had not yet fled the country.

What bothered Bethany the most was that the press concentrated more on blasting Ethan than they did on finding Cordova. She watched two reports and scowled.

“Do you have a pen and paper I could use?”

Nathan made a generalized motion toward his desk in the corner. Unlike the rest of the apartment, his desk was a wreck, but she found a legal pad and pen - and couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her.

“What?” Nathan asked suspiciously.

“You know what they say about a clean desk, it’s a sign of a sick mind. You had me worried there for a moment.”

Surprisingly, Nathan grinned at her. Bethany blinked at how much alike the two brothers looked, especially when they allowed that devastating smile to escape. Which was very rarely.

Bethany plopped on the couch with a cup of coffee and watched the news reports, taking careful notes.

“What are you doing?” Nathan asked.

“Well, let’s say you do find those files. Even if we have all the information in the world, with the risk of Cordova having people in the federal agencies, and the fact that honest law enforcement people will shoot Ethan first and ask questions later, I thought we’d better figure out a way to get this stuff to the public. That means the press.”

“Interesting,” Nathan said, watching the TV. “But there’s a problem with that theory.”

“Most reporters think Ethan’s guilty as well,” Bethany supplied. “What I’m trying to do is figure out which one might have an open mind about him.”

Nathan thought for a long moment, then slowly nodded. “A good idea, Bethany, but I don’t envy your job. By the time you finish, you’re going to want to tear your hair out.”

“Don’t I know it,” she muttered.

He laughed. “I’ve got to admit, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly. The commercial break started and would be followed by regular news.
Gee, there is actually something else going on in the world.
She nodded at the computer. “How’s that going?”

“Nothing yet,” Nathan replied. “I’m still searching for a decent way into the system.”

“And that could take?”

“A very long time.”

She fell into a thoughtful silence, channel surfing a little more, but found no other new reports. Turning down the volume, she faced Nathan and summoned her courage. “So, what’s the deal between you and your brother?”

He drew a breath as if to rebuke her
, but slowly expelled it. Again the grief returned and his shoulders sagged.

“Hey,” she said and moved next to him. Timidly
, she gripped his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry I asked.”

Surprisingly
, he shook his head. “Ethan’s right, if I don’t crawl out of this bottle, I will kill someone one of these days.” He stared at his hands, trembling slightly. “I can kill a man six ways to Sunday with just my bare hands. It’s what I’ve been trained for.”

Bethany’s grip tightened on his shoulder. “You’ve also been trained to save lives. To help people. Don’t you think that training is what you should be concentrating on right now?”

Nathan gazed up at her, giving her the full impact of his crystal-blue eyes. He was handsome, but didn’t hold a candle to Ethan. Still, for some reason she found the intensity of his gaze a bit unnerving.

“Bethany, you have the most beautiful eyes.”

Startled at his blatant words, she immediately released him and retreated. “I don’t think—”

“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, Bethany,” he said quickly. “You’re my brother’s lady and I won’t betray that, no matter how upset we get with each other. I just meant, I can see why he’s so drawn to you. Your heart is in your eyes, your caring, and your compassion. I’ve heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve, but with you, I can see it in your eyes. Any man would be a fool to ignore that.”

Bethany found herself blushing furiously and sat in the chair across from him, well out of reach.

“Ethan and I were very competitive growing up,” he said slowly. “As the eldest, I took my job to protect him very seriously.”

“And he resented that?”

He nodded. “Ethan not only tried to keep up with me, he tried to best me at every turn. That caused him to take unnecessary risks. Nearly gave Mom a coronary. He did everything I did no matter how much I told him no and then he would try to go one better.”

“Let me guess, martial arts and military service.”

Nathan nodded. “I started taking martial arts, and Ethan had to do the same, I entered the Navy, Ethan went into the Marines. I qualified for the SEALS and he earned his Master’s Degree. Although I got to admit that was impressive. But then...something…happened to make him think he had to watch over me.”

“That’s when you had the conversation that he would never understand you until the same thing happened to him?”