shoulders, venturing a tentative touch on the puckered skin. “Does it hurt?”
“I can’t always feel when you touch me. And in some places the nerve endings go a little haywire, but mostly no. It’s healed as much as it’s going to.”
He didn’t move, didn’t try to pull her to him, didn’t try to kiss her. He simply lay there gazing up at her. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Neither do you, but you’re the bravest man I know and I don’t think you’ll chicken out now,” she said and leaned forward, gently, tenderly pressing her lips to his. “I want this. Now. With you. Tell me if I hurt you.”
She lifted her shirt over her head and removed her bra. His eyes hooded as he cupped her breast in his hand and drew his thumb across her nipple. It beaded in response and a sharp tingle lit in her belly. A small whimper escaped her and she gripped his shirt.
He smiled, the defensive expression in his eyes darkening to desire once again. “I can’t believe you want me.” Garrett tugged her down to him, his palm against the small of her back, rocking her hips against his, his desire evident.
“Can you feel me now?” she whispered, shifting her body, evoking a groan from him.
“Definitely.” He flipped her over and threw his shirt off the side of the bed. “You’re an amazing woman, Laurel McCallister.”
She wrapped her arms around him, blinking back the hurt for him when she encountered the mottling of scars down his back and a few strips of unblemished skin. She yanked him down closer and wrapped her legs around his hips. “Show me how amazing you think I am. I don’t want to wait another second.”
* * *
THEY WERE IN the middle of nowhere. Still.
Strickland peered out the front window. The SUV’s headlights broke through the early evening, but a cluster of trees and an avalanche of rocks blocked the path. They’d reached the end of the road.
“Damn it.” He hit the steering wheel. “How far is Bradley from here?”
Krauss studied the screen. The red dot was immobile. “Couple of miles, according to this. He’s not moving.”
Strickland rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Give me the city any day of the week. I hate the West. Too much godforsaken territory to cover.”
“We going back to Trouble?”
“Not a chance. Get your canteen,” Strickland ordered. “We’re going after him. He won’t expect us to track him out here.”
“We’re really heading out at night?”
“You want to tell the boss we’re taking the evening off?” Strickland asked.
Krauss muttered to himself as he grabbed the water and his weapon. “This is a mistake. Weren’t you a Cub Scout or something? We don’t know the country. Anything could be out there. It’s easy to get turned around in the darkness.”
Strickland tapped the glowing red light on Krauss’s monitor. “We’ve got a beacon to light the way. Besides, we don’t have a choice. Now come on.”
They exited the SUV and Strickland grabbed an M16, slinging it over his shoulder. “I’ll tell you one thing, though. I’m not hauling those bodies down this mountain. Once we kill them, we leave them to rot.”
* * *
GARRETT COULDN’T BELIEVE Laurel was here, in his bed, beneath him, with her long, lean legs wrapped around him. His body surged in response to her arch.
She grasped his shoulders and her hands moved to his back.
He couldn’t believe she hadn’t politely said good-night and walked away. Garrett didn’t think about the scars on his back that often. Just when he’d rub against something the wrong way and the nerves fired, as if a thousand pins were stabbing him.
Laurel nipped at his ear. “I want you,” she whispered. “Now.”
No more than he wanted her.
He rubbed his chest against her, reveling in the feeling of their skin touching. With each caress of his chest against her budded nipples, she let out a low moan, shivering against him. He moved again, and this time, she hugged him close, tilting her pelvis into his hardness. God, she was so responsive. She didn’t hold anything back. He’d never been with a woman who was so honest about what she wanted.
Her hands worked their way between them to the waist of his pants, tugging at his stubborn belt in frustration.
He lifted away, forcing her legs to release him. He hated she no longer held him captive, but he wanted her wild for him. He wanted to drive them both so crazy that the past and the past week would vanish...at least for a moment.
With a quick flick, he removed the leather belt and threw it to the side of the bed before unbuttoning the waist. She shoved at his hand, but he gripped her fingers. “Not yet.”
He lifted her hands above her head, pinning them down with one of his own. He gazed at the rise and fall of her chest. Her breathing quickened beneath his gaze, her blue eyes transformed into cobalt pools. That she trusted him enough to give him control caused his body to throb in response. He let his fingers stroke her cheek and drew her lip down. Her tongue snaked out to taste his finger. He smiled at her and let her suckle for a moment before taking his hand around her jawline, down her throat, where the pulse raced.
Her legs shifted but he trapped her beneath him. With a butterfly-light touch he teased her breasts, circling one nipple, then the other. Her chest flushed; her back arched. He followed a trail, teasing her, relishing in the soft sounds of pleasure coming from her lips.
“Garrett,” she finally pleaded. She didn’t tug her hands away, though. She wanted more. And he wanted to give her more than she’d dreamed of.
Ever so slowly he explored each delectable inch of skin, first with his fingertips, then with his lips and finally with his tongue. When he reached her waist, tasting the sweetness just above her belly button, she sucked in her stomach. He flicked open the button of her jeans.
Prolonging her pleasure, and his painful desire, he slid down the zipper and eased her pants over her hips. Simple white bikini panties hid her from his gaze.
Garrett tugged at the elastic, swallowing. He throbbed against his zipper. He was going to lose control. He’d been determined to drive her mad, but he was losing his mind.
And his heart.
He rose to his knees and tugged at the elastic waist.
She wrenched her hands from his grip and sat up. “I can’t take it anymore,” she said. She shoved her jeans and the small scrap of cloth down her legs, leaving her bare to his view.
God, she was beautiful.
Without hesitation she pushed against his zipper. His body surged.
“I’m too close,” he said, his voice tight.
“So am I,” she countered. “Make love to me, Garrett.”
