Page 11

ELEV EN

C hase’s chest was overflowing with emotions he couldn’t name. From the first moment, he felt very protective of Alyssa—that much had stayed the same. But now, there was more to it.

Her body, pressed close to his, relaxed bit by bit, going from rigid to pliant. Her breaths came in rhythmic intervals, and her tears had dried up. God, he hated seeing her cry. But a woman shedding tears for others wasn’t a weakness—it was strength, and he was damn glad to be beside her when she needed someone most.

He trailed his fingers over her arm where it draped over his chest. Her silky skin rose to his touch, breaking out in goose bumps.

Twisting toward him, she buried her fingers in his shirt. Her grip made his heart surge with that same brand-new feeling he had no words to define.

He stared deep into her eyes. “Alyssa…baby.”

Her breath caught. “Yes?”

“The way you’re looking at me right now…”

“Is it the same way you’re looking at me?”

His eyes slipped shut for a brief moment as he committed her fierce expression of desire to memory. When he left this safehouse, when he walked away from Alyssa forever, he wanted to remember this moment.

His hands were already moving upward to cup her face the instant he opened his eyes. His mouth was already dipping to claim hers.

Heat shot between them, running along an electric current. It began as a low hum and slowly built as he pressed his lips more firmly to hers.

The sound she made edged under his skin and drove up his desire ten notches.

He rolled her beneath him. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around him and dragged him down on top of her.

“Baby, wait,” he whispered against her lips. “You’re not yourself. You’re fragile right this minute. I won’t take advantage.”

He pushed away a fraction, but she followed him, surging upward to keep the kiss going.

Christ. This amazing woman wanted him—a rough, scarred SEAL with a lot of darkness inside him. From the very first time he ever set eyes on Alyssa, he’d appreciated her smarts, her skills and her devotion to the making the world better. Now he was seeing her in a new light.

She was soft, giving, tenderhearted and so damn invested in every person who crossed her path. He saw it when she talked about Kennedy, and after learning about the fate of the Red Cross director’s son.

Her lips parted on a cry of want, and he couldn’t stop himself—he plunged his tongue into her mouth and tasted her.

Sweeping his tongue over hers again and again, he hardened to full mast. His cock throbbed at the base, the sensation blasting upward to encompass the swelling tip. Passion flooded his veins, and he swirled his tongue in slow strokes that had her melting into the caress.

“I need you, Julian.” She shoved both hands under his shirt, stretching her warm fingers along the planes of his back. When she pressed the blunt points of her nails into his skin, there was no holding back his growl.

She yanked off his shirt and reached for his fly.

He stopped her with a hand over hers. “Not so fast.”

But he stripped her with quick movements that grew jerkier with every inch of flesh he bared. He took one beaded nipple between his lips and sucked lightly while tracing a circle around the other until it shriveled to a tight bud.

“Julian!” She arched into his mouth, urging him on. He sucked harder and plucked at her other nipple, then switched places, trailing a heated kiss across her chest to worship all of her.

When he skated his hand over the dip of her waist, spreading over the flare of her hip, he felt the hum of need inside her. In one smooth glide, he slid down her body and parted her thighs.

Her sweet pussy was slick with juices. Eager for a taste of her, he darted his tongue over her folds. For a heavy, pulsing moment, their gazes locked…

And he lowered his mouth to her pussy.

As he tunneled his tongue into her slick folds, that feeling in his chest consumed him. With a growl, he cupped her ass, lifted her to his mouth and plunged his tongue inside her channel.

“Julian!” She dug her fingers into his shoulders, begging for more.

For long heartbeats he tongue-fucked her with juicy passes and her cries grew louder.

Pushing her higher, he stroked a heated path back up her seam to her nubbin. When he gently applied pressure with his lips, they shared a moan. She went wild, rocking her hips and then bucking upward to meet his mouth.

His cock throbbed. His chest blazed. The world narrowed to a single goal—give this woman the most pleasure she’d ever known.

Fuck.

Denver warned him about this, but it was too damn late.

He was falling for the ambassador.

Her soft cries echoed around him, and he threw himself into teasing, tormenting, tasting her until she stiffened…and let go.

“Yes!” She shook as her release pounded through her.

He fixed his gaze on her beautiful face, watching the bliss wash across her features…and he fell under. Fell harder.

As soon as he lifted his head, his stare latched on to hers and didn’t let go. He wasn’t a man who made connections. He’d grown up hard and lived the SEAL life even harder. But this woman made him want more, made him want to dig deep and uncover something inside himself that might make him worthy of her.

She gripped his shoulders, coaxing him up her body until their mouths fused on a never-ending kiss. His heart pulsed hard and fast, his cock twitching with the need to blow.

When she broke the kiss, her warm breath washed over his lips. “My turn to please you.”

Then he learned that Alyssa wasn’t just good on her word…she was even better than it.

* * * * *

She couldn’t get enough of looking at this man. From those dimples that drove her crazy to his muscled, manly thighs spattered with dark hair, Julian’s appearance made her want to soak him in.

Half lying on top of him, she stretched her fingers over his thigh. The hair tickled her fingertips and ignited her senses. His erection stood stiff against his six-pack abs, and beneath that his balls were round and full.

Sliding her fingers over his thigh, she cupped his balls. He let out a groan that was all gravel, and his hand clamped tighter on her shoulder.

Slowly, she closed her hand around the base of his cock and gave it a slow stroke. Once, twice. He issued another noise that sounded like he swallowed his tongue, bringing a smile to her lips.

As she lowered her lips to the shiny, straining tip, she caught his stare and held it. His warm cock pressed against her lips. It glided along her tongue. It filled her to the back of her throat.

“Mmm.” She sucked him in soft pulls, finding a rhythm.

When his cock hardened more on her tongue, he tangled his fingers in her hair, swiping it off her face.

Aware that he was getting off on seeing what she was doing to him as much as the act itself was a turn-on for her in a new way. Her body still pulsated from the release he’d given her minutes before, and her own flavors she tasted on his lips when he kissed her mingled with his masculine taste.

Withdrawing on his length, she flicked a glance at him again. His eyes glittered as if she were approaching some unknown line.

She wanted to throw herself over that line and take him with her into a sea of ecstasy.

She never got a chance to suck him back in to the root because he twisted her hair in his fist, and he gripped her upper arm with the other, hauling her up his body.

“I refuse to blow in your mouth. I’m going to be inside this hot, tight pussy when I explode.” He reached between her legs, cupping her bare pussy, one fingertip pressed over her clit.

A cry burst out. After their last encounter, they’d left the condoms within reach. He grabbed one now. Like he did everything in his life, he wasted no movements when he rolled it over his erection.

Then he gripped her hips and guided her into a straddle over him. “Take me, baby. Take every inch —”

He broke off as she did just that, sliding down his length and joining them in one smooth, soaking move.

Her inner walls quivered around him, and she swore she felt him throb inside her like they were as in sync in the bedroom as much as on this op.

Pushing upward on her knees, she began to fuck him. Their gazes locked. He gripped her hips to set the pace. When the tip of his cock bumped her G-spot, her head dropped back on a moan.

“Christ, you’re gorgeous. Fuck me, baby. That’s it. Take what you need.”

She threw herself into the moment, her mind sparking with lust and her heart…oh god, her vulnerable heart was never going to recover from this man. When she hopped that plane to New York, she never expected to meet someone like Julian, let alone fall for him.

She rocked. He twitched his hips upward, shoving deep.

Suddenly, he grabbed her around the waist and flipped her onto the mattress. Her mind barely caught up before he was hovering over her… filling her with every inch of his hard length.

She wrapped her thighs around his hips, riding him, trusting him to give her what she needed and to bring her back down to reality in the best possible way.

His hard biceps bulged with the force of his rocking thrusts, and he churned his muscular hips. She lost herself to the sensation building in her core. The thrum of her release swelled, and she parted her lips on a silent scream as her orgasm hit full force.

In one more thrust Julian let go too, plunging and filling her with heat. Her fingers found the bristle of his jaw, and she yanked him down for a kiss.

He kissed her like he was starving, like she was the only thing that could satisfy a hunger he’d carried for far too long. Their mouths clashed in a mix of heat and tenderness, the connection between them stronger than anything she could have prepared for. His hand cradled the back of her head, holding her close as if afraid she might slip away.

When he finally pulled back, he stayed close, their breaths mingling in the scant space between them. His thumb caressed her cheekbone in a touch so reverent it made her chest ache. She ran her palms down the slick warmth of his back, memorizing the strength that had held her together when the world felt like it might break her apart.

“You’re dangerous,” she whispered against his lips, teasing even though her voice shook with emotion.

“Only for you,” he murmured back, a lazy smile curving his mouth before he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose—a gesture so intimate and unguarded it made her heart crack wide open.

They stayed tangled together, skin to skin, savoring the silence. The world outside—the danger, the lies, the mission—could wait just a little longer. Right now, here in the safe cocoon of his arms, nothing else mattered but the steady rhythm of their hearts beating as one.

Their mouths fused in a tender exchange that stole the last shred of her heart. She gave it up to this man who would most certainly disappear from her life when this was all over.

Still, she didn’t care. What was the old saying? Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.

She’d always thought it was such a crappy sentiment but now, it was one she held on to as he brought them both down from their high.

In this moment, her heart belonged to Special Operative Julian Chase. Tomorrow, anything could happen. For now, she would hold on tight to the moment and savor the stillness before the strike.