sweat broke out on her forehead and she closed her eyes for a moment. What the fuck was she doing? She wanted to vomit, and she swallowed the sour gorge that rose in her throat and coated her tongue.
Get a grip, Bren. Suck it up and do what you have to do.
Farid would expect a cold, methodical military woman—the same woman she’d presented herself as every time she’d seen him. Normally, it wasn’t an act, but tonight it would be. She’d never been so rattled in her entire adult life. There were life-and-death, someone-was-shooting-at-her situations where she’d been calmer.
That was because then, there’d been no question who was right or wrong. She’d had a job to do and she would do it to the best of her ability. It might mean she had to kill someone. It might mean she had to die. It might even mean she’d lose a friend, a comrade in arms, but tonight wasn’t about that. Tonight she was giving up her career by helping people who were officially at war with the military she served. Tonight she was betraying everything she’d ever believed in order to safeguard everything she’d ever sworn to protect.
Her country. Earth. Mankind.
More than that, tonight she had to see Farid again. She’d never dealt with him in person so soon after one of their psychic evening trysts. Her sex clenched in utter want while her heart pounded with trepidation. God, help her.
Slow, grueling minutes ticked by as she scouted the area to see if he’d come, all the while expecting an ambush of Kith soldiers, expecting Arthur to send men to kill her, expecting anything and everything.
“Bren.” The deep rumble of his voice directly behind her made her body jolt and her heart thud hard against her ribs. “You weren’t followed?”
“No.” She swallowed, glancing over her shoulder at him as his heat enveloped her. “You came alone?”
“Yes.” His arm wrapped around her waist, whipping her around at dizzying speed until her back pressed to the rough bark of a tree.
“What are you—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish the stupid question. His mouth closed over hers, his free hand bracketing the back of her neck to hold her in place for his kiss. It was the one thing he never did in her dreams. She’d been desperate, dying to know what his full lips would feel like as they played against hers. Would he be soft and gentle, building her needs with just the pleasure of his mouth on hers? Would he be rough, nipping and biting at her lips until she couldn’t stand it anymore? She’d wanted to know even though she shouldn’t.
If his kiss had been demanding, it would have been easy to fight him, to kick and hit and force him to let her go. She had the kind of training to make that happen. But his touch was reverent, worshipful. She hadn’t expected it. He held her so tight, but his lips brushed hers in light strokes that had her straining to get closer, to deepen the contact.
A low growl shook his chest, shuddering through them both. He licked her lower lip, teasing her, probing for entrance.
Let me in. His voice reverberated in her mind. With that, the sizzling connection that bound her to him during the nights he shared her dreams snapped into place. She gasped, the dual physical and mental touch a shock. He took advantage, slipping his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers. His fingers massaged the back of her neck, calluses rasping her skin as he let his hand drift down her shoulder and lower, until he cupped her breast in his palm. Her body jerked under the hot lash of pleasure, her nipple tightening to a painful point of need. His thumb stimulated the beaded crest through her shirt and bra, and she moaned into his mouth.
It was more than she could resist, no matter what kind of danger they might be in. She shoved her hands into his thick, silken hair. The texture was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. He groaned, thrusting his hips against the juncture of her thighs. She could feel the unyielding arc of his cock through their clothes, and she burned for him. Her pussy drenched with cream, her internal muscles clenching and loosening as her desire flamed out of control.
He jerked back, spinning her with that startling speed of his until they both faced the tree. She stumbled and caught the trunk in her hands, trying to maintain her balance. As if she could with him touching her.
His deft fingers popped the button on her jeans, slid down the zipper with a rasp of sound that made the hairs lift on her arms, and slipped into the vee he’d created. Her thighs shook as she fought to regain some sanity. He pressed his palm flat against her belly, holding her close while his cock rubbed her backside.
She clenched her jaw and tried to steady her breathing. She was here for a reason and getting laid wasn’t it. A throb of want went through her, but she got a stranglehold on her self-restraint. “I…need to talk to you. I—I didn’t come here for this. Not really.”
“Of course you didn’t. We’re in the middle of a forest. Not the best place for an assignation. Nevertheless, I am going to take you, Bren. I’ve waited so long to get you alone, to touch you, to run my hands over your soft skin.” His fingertips grazed the edge of her panties, sliding under the thin cotton. “The opportunity may never come again.”
“But—”
He dipped into the curls between her thighs, and she knew he’d find her slick with juices. Heat burned her face, and she was angry with herself for never being able to stop how she reacted to him, angry at him for always tempting her into reaction.
A shiver went through her when he kissed the side of her neck, and his groan reverberated against her skin as he circled a finger around her clit before sinking into her wet core. “Do you know how good you feel to me, khalaa?”
“Y-yes.” The mental bond was there whether she liked it or not. His desire trickled along that infinitesimal thread that joined them, and her pussy grew damper with every bead of his longing that reached her. Her own need sharpened, deepened, rose to match his.
He wasn’t even inside her yet and she was already teetering on the very edge of orgasm.
His thigh slid between her knees, nudging her legs apart as he tilted her torso forward with his. His thumb toyed with her clit while he pumped two fingers inside her. Even as he worked her, his other hand eased her jeans and panties down around her thighs. Cool air brushed over her bared skin, and a shudder ran through her. His movements were slow, tormenting her. She had to bite her lip hard to keep from crying out in frustration. Her tension bloomed, and she was terrified to scream, to whimper, to make a single sound lest someone be listening, watching.
The backs of his knuckles rubbed her backside as he unfastened his pants. When the hot flesh of his erection met her skin, she moaned. Desperation wrenched deep within her. Yes. She wanted to be filled by him. The head of his dick slid over the lips of her pussy, not entering her. Need tore through her and she tilted her hips to open herself for his penetration, but her movements were hampered by her jeans shackling her legs.
He ran his tongue up the side of her neck and caught her earlobe between his teeth. His breath cooled the moisture on her flesh when he spoke. “Tell me to stop.”
“I can’t.” The words ripped out of her, almost a sob. Her hips undulated helplessly. She wanted him too much to stop, her body’s needs overruling her mind.
Lacing his fingers with hers, he pressed their hands against the tree and pinned her in place. A soft chuckle broke from him. “Good.”
And then he arched his hips, piercing her with one hard thrust. She cried out,
