Chapter 12
Marta lay for a long time in Crusher’s arms, more relaxed than she’d ever been.
Sex was everything enthusiasts had raved about.
She’d just had to find the right person to show her how good it could be.
And it wasn’t just showing her how. It was the connection they’d forged through the intense situations they’d faced together.
She’d learned to respect his skills as a protector and trusted him with her life.
When Crusher’s arms tightened around her, she snuggled closer, loving how warm and sexy his skin was against hers. She’d never felt safer than she did in his arms.
And more vulnerable.
Though she didn’t believe sex made a person fall in love with someone else, it had tipped the scales in favor of love. The man was everything any woman would want. Tall, strong and handsome. He’d cared for her wounds, put her life ahead of his and insisted on being with her every step of the way.
But wouldn’t he have done that for any asset he’d been assigned to protect?
Marta pushed her misgivings to the back of her mind as she lay spooned against Crusher, savoring every second, committing it to memory because it might be the last time she was with him. She’d told him that having sex with her didn’t have to mean anything to him.
Unfortunately, it meant something to her. Possibly too much, and it might ultimately lead to heartbreak.
Marta’s eyes stung with unshed tears. Tears she couldn’t release. She had learned something important during the time she’d spent with Crusher. Beyond the physical satisfaction of sex, she’d also learned what it meant to fall in love. Once they parted, would she regret having gained that knowledge?
Never.
What was Tennyson’s quote?
Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.
She drifted into sleep, full of the joy after making love with Crusher and the sadness that would follow when they said goodbye.
Marta slipped into a vivid nightmare, running through a dark jungle with armed men in close pursuit.
She’d expected to see Crusher at her side, but he was nowhere to be seen, and the bad guys were getting closer.
Suddenly, she tripped and fell, closing her eyes as she hit the ground.
The men closed in around her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for what would happen next.
Instead of the pop of gunfire, a persistent chirping sound pierced the darkness.
Movement against her backside forced her to open her eyes.
She blinked, frowned and stared at what appeared to be a ceiling, not the canopy of trees she’d been running in.
A warm hand cupped her breast, and an arm pulled her back against a warm, muscular body.
More chirping made the hand disappear from her breast and the body lean back, allowing cooler air to caress Marta’s backside, making her shiver.
“This is Crusher,” a gravelly voice said.
From half-asleep to fully awake, Marta rolled onto her other side, remembering that she had slept with Crusher and they were both naked.
Heat rushed through her body.
He listened to whoever was talking and nodded.
“Roger. Eight o’clock in the hotel lobby.
Have you notified Phantom and Draco, or do I need to?
” He paused. “Got it. We’ll be there. Out here.
” Crusher ended the call and laid the phone on the nightstand.
Then he turned and gathered Marta in his arms, tugging her close for a light kiss.
“That was Royce. He arranged with Devon Marsh to meet us in the hotel lobby. Marsh will have further instructions from there.”
Her heart pinched hard in her chest. “What time is it?”
“Six-thirty,” he replied, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. “Do you want to get dressed and go down for breakfast, or call for room service?”
“Neither,” Marta murmured, touched her lips to his neck, hooked her leg over his thigh and slid her arm across his chest. “We have a box full of condoms, an hour and a half and I believe you’re up to it.” She pressed her sex against his morning erection.
“Umm.” Crusher hugged her closer with a throaty growl. “I like the way your mind works, all logic and no nonsense.” He eased her onto her back and came up over her.
Marta spread her legs to make room for his big frame.
Crusher leaned past her, pulled a packet from the box and laid it on the pillow he’d vacated. Then started at her lips, kissing his way across her chin and down the line of her neck where he paused to flick his tongue against the pulse beating erratically there.
“We don’t have much time,” Marta murmured breathily.
“Always time to do it right,” Crusher said, his voice muffled by the breast he’d sucked into his mouth.
Marta pushed all fear of what lay ahead in the handoff to the back of her mind and gave herself up to the rush of sensations winging through her body.
Crusher kissed, licked and nipped his way across her body, from one breast to the other, one rib to the next, working his way ever downward to the core of her desire, already slick and ready for him.
He draped her legs over his shoulders. By the time he parted her folds and touched his tongue to her clit, she was halfway there.
Her hips rose with every flick, the tension building fast, responding to his magic until she shot over the edge, sensations ricocheting across her nerves from where he touched her out to the very tips of her fingers.
Her breath caught and held as she rode her orgasm to the last wave of erotic sensations.
When she collapsed back against the mattress, she wasn’t done. “Not enough,” she breathed.
“No?” Crusher chuckled. “Getting greedy for more of the same?”
“No.” Marta slid her legs off his shoulders and reached down for him. “I want you.”
Crusher climbed up her body, pressed a kiss to her lips, reached for the condom and tore it open.
Marta took it from him and quickly rolled it over his cock, loving how hard, yet velvety it was, and that she’d brought him to this. Then she guided him to her entrance and looked up into his eyes as he plunged in.
“This is what I want.”
He rode her hard and fast.
Marta responded in kind, lifting her hips, giving all to him, taking him as deeply as she could. When he came, she came with him, that same eruption of sparks igniting her entire body.
They fell back to earth and the mattress, breathing hard, coated in a sheen of perspiration and lay in each other’s arms for a few precious moments.
Marta could have stayed there indefinitely and forget about finding a way to stop the spread of a deadly virus.
“You don’t have to go with Marsh,” Crusher said. “If you want, I can help you disappear so that Vasquez and the State Department never bother you again.”
Marta wanted so badly to say yes, take me away. Her head shook as of its own accord. “I can’t run away and do nothing to stop what Vasquez has planned. I don’t think he realizes the extent to which this virus can spread and how quickly it can devastate the population of this planet.”
“You care.” Crusher nodded. “It’s part of who you are.”
She cupped his cheek and stared into his eyes. “Thank you for coming to my rescue in so many more ways than you can imagine.”
“You’re an amazing, beautiful and intelligent woman, Marta.” He pressed a kiss to her lips and then leaned his forehead against hers for a long moment before he leaned back, a frown creasing his forehead. “I wish—”
Crusher’s cell phone chirped, interrupting his words.
He reached for it and answered gruffly, “Crusher.” His frown deepened.
“Who—? Oh, yes. Marta’s with me.” Crusher’s gaze met Marta’s.
“Wait. Let me put you on speaker.” He touched a button and held the phone between himself and Marta. “It’s your friend Priya.”
Marta blinked. “Priya?”
“Yes, it’s me,” Priya’s voice came across.
“I’m sorry to call so early, but I found a common denominator in the three areas reporting deaths and thought you might like to know.
I didn’t realize the time until after I’d dialed Crusher, since I couldn’t call you directly.
I can give you the information later, if you prefer. ”
“No.” Marta sat up, pulling the sheet over her breasts. “I’d like to hear what you found.”
Crusher reached out with his empty hand to tug the sheet down, exposing her breasts again.
Marta’s cheeks heated as she tried to focus on Priya’s revelation, wondering what her friend would think if she could see their state of undress.
“The deaths in the areas of northern Uganda, rural Bangladesh and northern Paraguay are not random. All three are active sites of a clean water initiative funded jointly by Helvetic BioSolutions and a philanthropic organization called Global Conservancy Initiative. Not that it helps you with what you’re working on, but I knew you’d want to know. ”
Marta nodded. “Thank you. I do want to know. When my situation is resolved, I’d love to work with you to find out what’s going on.”
“I suspect it’s more of a contaminated supply chain issue. Maybe corporate negligence, not intentional,” Priya said. “I’ll start digging into Helvetic BioSolutions and see if I can get some answers.”
“Good. Maybe they can chase down the contamination from their end.” Marta frowned.
“On second thought, you might have to get WHO agents out to the sites for water testing before you question Helvetic, in case they get spooked and try to cover it up. It could cause them to lose contracts and impact their bottom line and investor dividends.”
Crusher cleared his throat. “Have them go in to collect those samples on the downlow. If Helvetic has agents on the ground to make sure their product does the job, they might also want to keep anyone from proving differently.”
“You think they might harm the testing team?” Priya asked.
“Big corporations go to great lengths to keep their stockholders happy,” Crusher said. “It doesn’t hurt to be careful.”
“Right,” Priya agreed. “I’ll send in people I trust to keep it quiet.”