Chapter 17
Gemma’s belly danced with feelings she didn’t want to identify.
I make him tick?
Good lord. If she had the ability to rattle Dallas, they were a lethal combination. She slid her tongue over her bottom lip. His hips pressed open her thighs and his manhood prodded the thin material of her panties. Heat swarmed her folds.
She shouldn’t want him like this.
Sex, sure. But it was so much more than that. She dragged her fingers through his hair and watched his eyelids grow heavy. His hazel orbs bore into her, waiting for some kind of response.
Her throat turned scratchy. Seeing him in emotional pain had cut through her. There was so much to learn about this man who’d been lingering in her life, just within reach but also too far away to touch deeply... He’d had all this inside him for so long. Had no reason to trust her with his past.
Yet he had.
Her heart rate kicked up. There was a good chance she wouldn’t see Dallas again. Not only might one or both of them die tomorrow, but once she got back in circulation with the CIA, everything would change. Not that he’d want anything to do with her. Her tongue burned to tell him about her call to Charlene, but she sealed her lips. It’d only ruin the night.
Perhaps their last night.
His fingertips stroked her temple. “You look concerned.”
She gave her head a subtle shake. “No, just... trying to put my words together.”
He dipped his head to her ear. “You don’t need to say anything.” His lips touched her earlobe, and her insides quivered.
She pushed at his shoulders. If she didn’t say something now, she might die with regret. “Yes, I do. Because you... you make me tick, too, Dallas. From the moment I met you.”
His eyes turned soft, and his breath whished out between his teeth. She smoothed her thumb over the thick stubble on his jaw. So dark and so rough. He turned his head and kissed her palm then brought his face to her neck and kissed her there too.
“As fucked up as this whole situation has been,” he said, between featherlight touches of his lips that made her toes curl, “I’ve loved being near you.”
Her chest ached at the sincerity in his voice.
Dammit, Gemma. Don’t get hung up on what a guy says when he’s inches from being inside you.
She tightened her legs around his sides and gyrated beneath him. A deep groan rumbled through his chest.
“Christ, Gemma.”
Desire warmed her sex, making each nerve ending around her clit pulse with urgency. She needed to take over this time, to be fully in control, at least for now. Pushing on his chest, she coaxed him to his back.
“What...” he said as he flopped down, his hands still on her waist.
She pressed her fingers between his glorious pecs. “Let me enjoy this, will you?”
He tsked. “You mean you didn’t before?”
She slid her hand down the hard contours of his abdomen, and his face changed. The tension in his jaw relaxed and his eyelids grew heavy. She reached for his black briefs and ran her fingertips over the stretched cotton. His erection was pronounced and large, straining against the material in protest.
He dropped his hands to his sides and his chest rose and fell erratically. Tracing the outline of his dick, she watched as a dark tint stained his cheeks.
“You’d better be careful, babe. I don’t have much control.” The sentiment did all kinds of things to her core, but she pushed those thoughts away. Dallas’s voice was labored, as if he’d pin her to the bed and rip off her panties any second.
The image stirred a thrill in her gut.
Sucking on her bottom lip, she pulled down the waistband of his briefs and freed his cock. The needy soldier sprang out, and she caught his shaft in her fist.
Dallas’s body flexed, and he let out a grunt. Moving her hand up and down, she stroked his satiny flesh. His breath whooshed through his nose, and he snagged her wrist with his hand, gripping her.
Never had she witnessed Dallas at his breaking point. His lust was so potent that a ripple of apprehension mixed with her temptation to push his limits. To see him break.
Lowering her head, she pulled the tip of his dick into her mouth.
Dallas’s body constricted beneath her. His free hand reached up to rest on the back of her head, his other still circled her wrist with a gentle bite.
His skin was as smooth as silk against her lips. She flicked her tongue around his knob, and a low curse reached her ears. She lifted her gaze and studied his intense expression. His eyebrows were drawn low, his cheeks hollowed out, and his head was lifted an inch so he could watch her. The dark, barely restrained glint in his eyes made her blood pressure jump.
She took him deeper into her mouth, moving her hand in a steady rhythm up and down the thick column of his manhood. He was so wide, her fingers barely touched where they should meet.
“Come here.” Dallas’s ferocious hiss made her jump. He tugged the wrist he held and pulled her on top of him.
Heat radiated off him. His hands were suddenly jerking her shirt over her head. Cool air touched her breasts, sucking her nipples into nubs. Dallas covered her flesh with his palms and lifted his head to take one tip into his mouth.
Her body vibrated as his hot tongue touched her skin. She braced her arms near his head, and her belly touched his rock-hard abs. One of his hands slid from her breast and cascaded down her side until he reached her panties.
He smoothed his hand under the material, squeezing her ass cheek in his palm.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he mused aloud.
The sensation of his lips moving from one nipple to the next combined with that of his hand roaming between her legs made her senses go into overdrive. Her mouth went dry, and she wiggled free.
“My turn.” She needed control again. Moving to the side, she tugged at his briefs. Without hesitation, Dallas lifted his hips and shoved them down to his ankles then kicked them off the bed.
She pushed her panties down and did the same. Dallas grasped her waist and lifted her as if she weighed no more than his backpack.
“Hey,” she squeaked, clutching his biceps.
He positioned her so she was straddling him. Catching her forearms, he blinked up at her. “You’re different tonight. You want to take over?”
She bit the corner of her lip. “I guess I usually let you do all the work.”
He guffawed. “Nothing bad about that. I like making you scream.” He placed her hands on his chest and let go, dropping his wrists to the mattress. “Go ahead. I’m all yours.”
Electricity shot through her veins.
Reaching down to secure his dick, she shifted then brought her opening to his head. Dallas sucked air through his clenched teeth as she sank deep, taking every inch of him inside her.
“Holy shit,” he breathed.
His hands locked on her hipbones, as if he had to grip hard so as not to turn her over and pound into her. The image tattooed itself in her brain. As much as she needed that from him, she needed this act of selfishness first.
She moved up and down, savoring every ridge of his solid length. Dallas groaned beneath her, his hands hot and damp on her skin. Pleasure ricocheted through her. She picked up the pace, grinding on top of him and pushing her palms into his shoulders to support her weight.
He tugged on her arms, forcing her to lie flat on top of him. The change of position applied more pressure to her clit.
Oh, god.
His hands went to her ass and stroked down her crevice all the way to where his dick spread her opening. The delicate touch in sharp contrast to the pumping of her hips made her core tighten.
Dallas nuzzled her neck. “I’m losing my mind, babe. I need to make you come.”
She let out a husky pant. She was close. So close. “Now,” she demanded.
He hooked his arm around her waist and planted her on her back. Her legs jerked up to hug him to her as he pressed the mass of his body against her torso. Her hands roamed the muscular swells and valleys of his back. He was insanely large. Insanely enveloping.
He rocked into her fervently. His cock touched her exposed clit with every plunge, making her eyes roll back.
Dallas’s lips brushed her neck then her chin then her mouth. She caught his bottom lip with her teeth and sucked.
“Ah, Christ,” he hissed, driving into her.
Her muscles clenched and ecstasy tickled her senses. She let out a deep moan as Dallas’s thrusts hurtled her through the stars. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him as if he were an anchor in a tumultuous sea. A fierce release gushed from her loins, making her insides pulse.
Dallas grunted and tapped into her. Taking what was his. She cried out as he buried himself inside her, making the final ripples of bliss that much more satisfying.
As her heart rate slowed, so did Dallas’s motion. She smoothed her hand over the back of his hair, down his neck, and over his shoulder blades. He held her in his arms, their bodies meshed into one and sweat layering their skin.
He kissed her cheek. “How the fuck am I ever going to let you go?” he asked softly, with a hint of amusement.
Little did he know that tomorrow he’d have to.
***
Dallas stared atthe ceiling.
He should be tired. No, he should be fucking exhausted. Or at least passed out like the little minx cozied up against him right now. Gemma’s leg twitched beneath the blanket, and she drew her knee higher on his thigh. Her bare skin rubbing against his leg hair sent a shockwave through his system.
He needed to get a grip on whatever the fuck was happening to his common sense. But no. All he could think about were more ways to make Gemma scream.
He rested his elbow over his head and rubbed the pad of his thumb over his fingertips to stop himself from searching for her pussy underneath the blankets. His brain hadn’t gotten the message that sleep was needed, but hers sure had.
That wasn’t what was eating him, though.
Something was different about Gemma and he couldn’t put his finger on it. She was more... connected to him. As if she knew they’d die tomorrow and she wanted to be closer to him. There was also a desperation in her sexuality. A primal need, but it was more than that. Almost nostalgic.
The events of the day—several days—had surely shaken her. Now that they were so close to safety, it made sense that she’d be on the cusp of breaking. She’d been in adrenaline mode, fight or flight, and that came at the cost of one’s mental state.
With any luck, they’d be out of the woods tomorrow. Dare and Cole wouldn’t let him rot here. Forcing his eyelids closed, he inhaled the scent of Gemma’s hair and the faint aroma of sex that still hung in the air then drifted off to sleep.
The buzzing ofa phone pulled Dallas awake. Before he could lift his head, Gemma rolled over and snagged her device from the nightstand.
He wiped his hand over his face. Who the hell would be calling her? Through eyelids heavy with fatigue, he watched Gemma slip into the bathroom. So as not to wake him?
He groaned and grabbed his phone from next to the bed. It was barely 9:00a.m. Which meant it was 6:00a.m. where his brothers were. Not that that meant much. All his brothers were early risers, and so was he.
But being stranded in the Amazon jungle for nearly two days and walking for just as many had drained all his reserves. He powered on his device and waited a beat. No messages rolled in. Fuck.
He shot off a text to Cole asking him for an update on their escape.
Gemma’s soft voice carried through the paper-thin walls. “Do I have your word he’ll have a passport waiting?” Her tone was sharp, untrusting.
What the fuck?
He threw off the covers and padded across the floor, trying to ignore the faint stickiness on the nasty carpet. He rapped his knuckles on the flimsy wood. “Gemma?”
Silence.
He reached for the handle, but the door whisked open. Gemma stood in only her panties, no T-shirt.
If it weren’t for the tidbit of conversation he’d picked up, he would have carried her ass back to bed. “What was that about?”
She slid her arms in front of her abdomen, and he spotted the encrypted phone she’d had back in Cali. As she knotted her wrists in front of her belly, her breasts pushed forward. He forced his gaze to stay glued to her face. “Well?” he prompted.
She shimmied past him. Her ass swayed in the little black bikini panties. Warning bells fired through his psyche.
This was the Gemma from the past.
The perfect posture. Her shoulders in one straight line, chin held high, ass wiggling with enough spite to send him into fucking cardiac arrest.
Her cool demeanor was one he could pick up from a mile away. And usually, it sprang forth minutes after sex.
She stopped at the bed and scooped up the shirt of his she’d worn when they went to bed. She pulled it over her head and sat on the mattress then placed her phone on the nightstand. “Don’t be angry.” Her large, wary eyes shook his brain.
“I’m going to get really fucking angry if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” He opened and closed his fists at his sides, but the action did nothing to lower his blood pressure, which was rising with the force of a rocket. “Tell me what the fuck you did, dammit,” he hissed.
Her eyes turned glassy and for a flicker of an instant, the pain and fear in her gaze almost dropped him to his knees.
She dipped her chin to stare at the ground. At least she was showing enough shame not to look in his eyes. “I called Charlene.” Her breath rushed out along with the words. “She’s getting us out of here.”
His nerves fizzled, but some of the anger dissipated. “You didn’t need to do that. I’ve got it covered.”
She lifted her lips. “We have no guarantee that either of your brothers can get us out today. It’s not like we have the luxury to wait it out—not when there’s a hit on our heads. This way, all you need to do is get to the airport, and—”
“All I need to do?”
She nodded, barely moving an inch. “That was our agreement. She’ll get you a passport and on the next flight to the US while I’ll... I’ll be sent to my next posting. Wherever that will be.”
Fresh anger rushed forward like a flash fire. He folded his arms across his chest, not giving a damn that he was still in his briefs and she’d put on a shirt, as if speaking to him half-naked was uncomfortable for her now. “Why the fuck would you do that? You said you wanted to quit.”
She pressed her hands into the edges of the mattress on either side of her thighs. Her face bore a little redness from the outdoors and sun the last few days.
And probably embarrassment, too.
“You’re right. I want to quit. But I knew there was a chance they wouldn’t help us unless I agreed to come back.”
Disgust rolled through him in waves. “You made it sound like the last five years with them was hell. Must have been pretty awful then, huh? How much are they paying you?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You think this is about money? I want to get you out of here safely. They’re after me. Not you—”
“No, they’re after me, too. Especially since I killed a couple of Silas’s men.” He dropped his arms and took a step forward. Part of him wanted to rage. To storm out. Not take her—or the CIA’s—help. But if he did that, he’d have to walk away from Gemma forever.
He might not have a choice.
“Just forget all this, okay? We’re safe here for now. Cole will get back to me soon, and we could have a way out of here.”
She snorted. “Even if we can get out of Ecuador, how are we going to get back to the US? We’ll need to make stops, and my face is all over the goddamn news. Everyone thinks I’m a bomber.”
He winced. “So you’ll get a new passport—”
“That takes time. The CIA already has one done for me. And you.” She stood and caught his hands. “Please understand. This is my mess. I’m responsible for getting you into it, now let me be responsible for getting you out.”
Slowly he shook his head. “I won’t take help from them. The CIA knows my history by now. They’ll just pass me off to the feds. I can’t risk it.”
Her shoulders sank an inch. “I made a deal, Dallas. They won’t double-cross me.” She jerked her gaze to the clock on the nightstand. “We have two hours to get to the airstrip. Let’s hurry.”
He dragged a hand over his face, not hiding his disbelief. “For someone who’s been in this game so long, you’re really not seeing the big picture. They already double-crossed you when they set off the bombs, knowing you’d take the rap. They can’t be trusted.” He turned away. “I’ll shower. Then I’ll drop you off.”
He shut the bathroom door hard and braced himself on the vanity. The anger fuming inside him became something else.
What? What was this scorching emotion below the surface of his skin that made his eyes feel as if they were swollen? Anguish? Betrayal? Fuck.
She’d bailed on him. Lied. And now she was doing what she’d done best for the last five years.
Running away... from him.
This time, he wouldn’t be waiting when she came back.