Page 18 of France Face-Off (Brotherhood Protectors International #6)

His pulse racing, Striker stretched out across the bed and moved the barrier pillows, tossing them to the floor. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “It’s been a long time since someone held me close. I’d forgotten how good it feels.”

He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I can hold you, if that’s all you want,” he said, fitting her body against his.

She rested her head on his shoulder. “Let’s start here,” she murmured. “Like I said, it’s been a long time.”

Striker brushed a strand of hair back from her forehead. “You have the most beautiful hair of anyone I’ve ever known.”

She smiled. “I got the thickness from my mother and the color from my father. My mother had brown hair. My father had jet black.”

He twirled a long strand around his finger. “Best of both,” he concluded, “and so soft.”

She tentatively laid a hand on his bare chest. Her fingers weren’t cold like some of the women Striker had known. They were warm and strong, pressing into him, curling just a little until her nails scraped his skin.

He leaned closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead, wanting to claim her lips but?—

Alex tipped her head just enough to capture the kiss meant for her forehead. “If you’re going to kiss me, do it like this.” She pressed her mouth against his and ran her tongue across the seam of his lips.

He opened to her, liking how she took charge. At least with her making all the moves, he’d know how far she wanted to go. So far, so good. And he had a condom in his wallet on the nightstand, should they take it all the way.

The hand on his chest moved, skimming over his muscles and down his torso.

Blood thrummed through his veins, pushing heat lower. His groin tightened, and his cock thickened, pressing into her thigh. He prayed she didn’t stop. There was so much more of this woman he wanted to know.

Every last inch.

Her tongue slid past his teeth and caressed his in a long, slow glide, sending his body into a tailspin of longing.

He cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand and deepened the kiss, hungrily consuming her mouth until they both broke away to catch their breath.

She tasted good, the mint of her toothpaste lingering in his mouth, the touch of her hand moving down his torso stirring him into a hard, urgent knot. If she backed down now, how would he have the self-control to stop? He wanted all of her.

When her fingers reached the elastic of his shorts, he drew in a sharp breath and let it out slowly. “Don’t go there if you don’t want what comes next,” he warned. “I pride myself on my self-control, but, woman, you’re making me lose it fast.”

She chuckled and looked up into his eyes as she slid her hand beneath the elastic and encircled his dick with her fingers. “I’m not afraid,” she said. “I know what I’m doing.” Her gaze held his. “Do you?”

He cupped her hand through the fabric of his shorts. “Yes.”

She ran her hand up and down his shaft, her warmth and gentleness making him harder by the second. Finally, he had to remove her hand so that he could shed his shorts. Then he rolled her onto her back and leaned his body over hers. “Now would be the time to tell me you want me to stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop,” she said and leaned her head up to brush her lips over his. “I want everything you’ve got.” She grabbed the hem of her shirt and started to drag it up her body.

Striker brushed her hands aside, leaned back, straddling her hips, and pulled the shirt over her head. He tossed it onto a chair beside the bed and bent to take her lips with his in a blood-burning kiss that robbed him of his breath.

He broke away long enough to suck air into his lungs and then seared a path of kisses and nibbles along the side of her neck down to where the pulse thrummed against the base of her throat.

Based on how fast her heart was beating, she was as excited as he was.

But he wanted her even more so before he drove himself deep inside her and quenched his thirst for this woman.

Moving slowly down her body, he kissed and flicked her skin with his tongue until he reached her breasts.

There, he captured one of her rosy nipples in his mouth and sucked gently until the tip hardened into a bead.

Moving to the other breast, he rolled the tip between his teeth and flicked it with his tongue.

Alex writhed beneath him, her hips rising, her hands running over his back and down to his buttocks, her nails scraping his skin. She threw back her head and moaned softly.

Striker took that as a challenge. He wanted her so bothered that she called out his name.

Moving lower, he flicked his tongue across her ribs, and downward, until he came to the thin elastic of her panties.

He hooked his fingers into the band and dragged the undergarment down her legs and past her ankles, finally tossing it over his shoulder.

He lay down between her legs, parted her folds and slid a finger into her slick, wet channel.

Alex’s knees drew up, and she dug her heels into the mattress, her hips rising.

Striker added another finger and another, then lowered his mouth to claim that little nubbin of tightly packed nerves. He sucked on it gently, then flicked his tongue across the velvety smoothness.

Alex moaned and raised her hips, urging him to continue.

He did, stroking her there with his tongue, his fingers swirling in a tight pattern.

Alex’s body tensed beneath him. In the next moment, she let go, riding her release for the next few minutes, her hips rocking and her fingers digging into the comforter.

When she finally lay back against the mattress, he climbed up her body and reached over her to snag his wallet from the nightstand. He extracted a condom and handed it to her.

“How thoughtful,” she said and took the offering. “I’m glad someone is thinking straight.”

“Always come prepared,” he said and kissed her full on the lips.

Alex tore open the packet and slid the condom over his thick staff. When she was done, she wrapped her hands around the base and fondled his balls.

Striker sucked in a breath and held it, while a tsunami of sensations washed over him.

Her hand guided him to her entrance and urged him to dive in.

He paused at her opening, dipping in slowly to lubricate his cock as he pressed ever deeper into her.

She was tight.

He was big and didn’t want to hurt her.

Alex gripped his hips and slammed him home.

He drove all the way inside her and held steady, allowing her to adjust to his length and girth. When he thought she’d had enough time to get used to him inside her, he moved, pumping in and out. Slowly at first, and then faster, until he was thrusting in and out at a swift pace.

Alex bent her knees and dug her feet into the mattress so that she could raise her hips and meet him thrust for thrust.

He moved like a piston, in and out, until the tension inside him grew to a fevered frenzy.

With one final thrust, the sensations rocketed through him and shot him over the edge.

His cock throbbed deep inside Alex. He remained buried deep inside her through every last tremor, finally dropping down on her, skin to skin.

Knowing his weight wouldn’t allow her to breathe, he rolled her and himself onto their sides and settled beside her.

She rubbed her hand over his chest. “Is it always like this?” she whispered.

“Like what?” he asked. “Too fast and not enough foreplay? Was the dismount too soon?”

Alex laughed. “No. None of those. Is it always this amazing?”

He shook his head. “Sometimes, it’s even more amazing.”

“I’m not sure I believe you. That was pretty…mind-blowing.” She pressed a kiss to his chest and looked into his eyes. “You’ll have to show me how much better it can be.”

He laughed out loud. “Give me a minute to recover from that round.”

Her brow wrinkled. “Hurry it up. I’m so hot, I can hardly stand it. I need more of what you have to offer.” She fondled his balls again. “This is where we started. Show me some more of that magic.”

He groaned, rolled back up onto his hands then leaned forward and kissed her lips. He slid his still thick and hard shaft into Alex’s depths and started all over, showing her just how much more incredible making love could be.

When they finally fell back to the mattress, he gathered her in his arms and fell asleep with her pressed up against him.

“You did it,” she whispered against his neck.

“Did what?” he said, his voice gravelly, his body saturated with desire.

“Showed me making love with you could be even more than mind-blowing.”

He chuckled and tightened his arms around her. “You’re what makes it so, Anya. I’ve never met someone quite like you.”

“Mmm. Ditto.” She pressed her cheek against his chest, her body relaxing against his.

Life didn’t get better than this. He loved what had just happened between them, and he wanted so much more.

Two days with Alex weren’t nearly enough. Somehow, he had to make their time together last longer than the two days of the summit.

He wasn’t ready for this, whatever it was, to end.

She trusted him to keep her safe.

He couldn’t let her down.

Alex lay for a long time, inhaling the scent of Striker, committing everything about him to memory.

When the summit ended, she wouldn’t see the handsome SEAL again.

They weren’t meant to be together. Alex didn’t believe there was anybody out there who was meant to be with her.

She was a cold-blooded killer who’d taken matters into her own hands to find and punish those who’d taken the lives of her mother and father. Who could love that kind of person?

She pressed her ear to his chest, listened to the steady beat of his heart and imagined a world where she wasn’t running from Russians wanting to kill her. And there was still the matter of finding the person who’d sent the kill order for her family.

Alex sighed and snuggled closer, embracing the man and the moment that couldn’t last more than a night. Finally, she slept off and on, waking before the warm light of day.