Badass: Deadly Target (Complete): Military Romantic Suspense (16 page)

I feel beautiful right now, like a goddess almost. Powerful and strong as I watch his face while I ride him. To give this much pleasure to another person is heady. To have this amount of control over such a strong man is addicting.

His hands glide up my thighs and one finds my clitoris while the other cups a bouncing breast. The moment his thumb pushes against me, I explode, grinding down on him hard, crying out with the suddenness of it all.

He flips us and I find myself on all fours, his hand on the back of my neck holding me down. Grabbing onto the sheets, I hang on for dear life as he spears into me, over and over. I’m surprised and cry out when his thumb slips into my ass.

So full. So battered and wanting more. I push back, take more of him in both places. He lets go of my neck and grabs my hipbone, ramming me harder and pain marries with pleasure, warring for dominance. Both win.

His breathing changes and I know he’s close. I’m already learning his signals. He’s a rutting stallion, using me for his pleasure, thrusting into me in hard, powerful strokes. The sounds of our bodies connecting fill the air around us. The smell of our sex. The hiss of our breaths. His curse when he comes and my cry when I follow.

Falling onto the bed, I mourn his loss when he pulls out and rolls onto his back, his breath coming in great gasping pants. “You’re going to kill me,” he says and looks over at me, the most glorious grin on his face.

I try to say something witty, but little more than a breathless gasp-sob leaves my lips. Since I clearly don’t have the ability to speak, I simply link our fingers together and hold on tight.

He lifts his head and looks at the clock on the nightstand. “We need to shower and pack up, eat a little breakfast. Your passport should arrive within the hour and I want us to roll out as soon as it gets here.”

My lower lip pops out. “Can’t we just pretend nothing is happening outside this room and stay here forever?” I ask, then immediately hope I’m not being too forward.

He brings my fingers to his lips and kisses each one in turn. “Forever sounds perfect. No crazy world. No mystery to solve. No bad men to run from. Just you and me.” He grins. “We could stay here until the condoms run out.”

I laugh. “At the rate we’re going, we’ll be out in a few hours.”

His eyes grow serious. “It’s been fun.”

I scoot closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder. “Yeah. A lot of fun. Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye?”

He blows out a breath and wraps an arm around me. “Not goodbye at all.”

“Are you worried?” I ask and look up into his face.

“Not worried. Anxious maybe. I checked the news sometime during the night while you were sleeping and there haven’t been any more explosions, so I’m hoping that has calmed down and we’ll soon have team support.”

“And if we don’t?” I ask, surprised I didn’t hear him working during the night. I must have slept more than I thought.

“Then we keep going.”

“Do you think we’re safe?”

He looks down at me, studying my eyes. “I won’t let anything hurt you.”

I trace a finger across the ridges of his abs. “I believe you’ll try.”

He lifts my chin. “And I’ll succeed.”

Trying to lighten the mood that has quickly grown too serious, I say, “Well, I’ll do everything I can to save you too.”

He laughs. “I believe you. You were pretty impressive back in the warehouse, holding those guys off while we got away.”

“Mom…”
Oh, Mom.
I clear my throat and continue, “She prepared me in more ways than I realized.”

Jax strokes my hair. “She did a good job. One thing though. If you need to jump a guy again, go for the knees instead of jumping on his back. Knock him off balance, get him to fall if you can, especially if he has a weapon.”

I touch the bruise on my ribs, remembering the crushing blow of being slammed into that wall. “Anything else I should know?”

He sits up and grimaces, then reaches for a tissue by the bed to dispose of the used condom that’s still clinging to his softened penis. “You know self-defense?”

“The basics. I took some self-defense courses several years ago.”

“Go for the eyes and throat kind of stuff?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah. Balls too.”

“Most attackers will be very protective of those. If you’ve got a clear shot, go for it. But eyes and throat are ideal if you are within arm’s length.” He scoots off the bed and picks up his shirt and pulls it on. Then he’s back, straddling me. “If a man gets too close and you’re not able to hit effectively, pull him closer.”

I frown. “You’re kidding.”

“If I’m trying to rape you and I’m on top, I’m going for breasts and pants. Don’t let me. Wrap me up.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I’m on top of you, wrap your legs around my waist, feet hooked together as tight as you can. Arms around my head, neck, or shoulders. Clasp your wrists and don’t let go. Do it.”

I grab on tight, but let go when my ribs are squished. “Ribs,” I explain and he nods.

“In a real situation, your adrenaline will be so high you’ll barely feel them.” He grins. “Did you feel them when I was inside of you all night?”

I blush. “Not much.”

“That’s oxytocin, nature’s pain reliever.”

“Are you saying, Jax Hawthorne, that if my ribs begin to hurt that we should have sex?”

He nuzzles my neck. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Taking advantage of his position, I try the clinging maneuver he just taught me. I laugh. “I feel like a baby monkey holding onto its mother,” I say when he lifts onto all fours, taking me up with him.

“Right. But in this position, I can’t reach the parts of you I’d want to rape and I’ll spend time and energy trying to make you let go. I can’t guarantee you’d walk away untouched with this move, but seconds matter in an attack. And, if you prove too much of a problem, the attacker might leave. Those fuckers usually prefer easy prey.”

He lowers us until my back is on the bed again.

“Now, try to get your hand under my shirt in the back and reach up until you can grab the neck opening.”

I frown and slide my hand up his back and grab onto the neckline.

“Now pull down toward my ass as hard as you can.”

I do and the front of the neckline chokes him. His face turns red and I let go.

“Good,” he coughs. “If you can hook your foot inside the shirt to give you more strength, do it.”

I try again, pulling down and hooking the shirt over my toes, which lets me pull harder. His face is red again and I let go, laughing with pride as he coughs for breath.

“Jax, why are you teaching me about rape when that guy back at the bank isn’t interested in that?”

He frowns, his face serious again. “Mia, when women are held hostage, men often use whatever tactic at their disposal to break them down. Rape exerts their power, belittles the female. Makes them vulnerable emotionally and physically.”

“Do you think that’s what would have happened to me if he’d been able to snatch me yesterday?” Heavens, it was just yesterday that everything occurred. I’ve not even known Jax twenty-four hours and so much has happened, good and bad.

“It’s possible. He would have tortured you for certain. Rape is a favorite technique among inhumans.”

I shiver and he turns on his side, pulling me against him. He’s still sticky with sweat from our exertions not long ago, but I don’t care. I cling to him.

“If we hadn’t been at the bank at the exact same time, I would have died yesterday. Just like my mother, wouldn’t I?”

He kisses my hair, but says nothing. He doesn’t need to.

“I haven’t thanked you for saving me, or apologized for fighting you. Running.”

His fingers walk up my spine, soothing me with such tenderness it brings tears to my eyes. “Shhh. I think we’re past all that. And no matter what happens from this moment on, I don’t regret opening that door for you.”

We lay there for long moments, entwined together. “How are you still single?” I ask after a while. “With a rotten condom in your wallet.”

He stiffens, then rolls onto his back and sits up, swinging his legs off the bed.

Oh no, I’ve touched an emotional black hole for him. His back is to me, but I can see his face in the mirror and it is twisted with tortured grief.

“I’m sorry. Don’t answer that, it was too personal.” I gather the sheet to my breasts and back off the other side. “I’ll take a shower now and get ready to leave.”

As I pass him, he reaches out and grabs my wrist, stopping me and pulling me to him.

“She died. My wife died two years ago. Cancer.”

I gasp and pull his head to my stomach, brushing my fingers through his hair.

“You’re the first woman I’ve been with since her.” He finally looks up at me. “And I know she’d approve.”

I’ve never looked into a face that was so beautiful yet so manly and rugged at once, but Jax’s face is all that and more. The blue eyes that are so tender, yet hold such deep wells of intelligence and strength.

“I’ll try hard not to let her, or you, down,” I tell him and shiver. It’s almost as if her ghost is in the room. He loved his wife and desperately misses her, that much is clear. If she were alive, he would be with her, not me.

I shake the selfishness away. Shake away the feeling of being second best, even though the thought niggles its way into my consciousness. I’ve always felt that way, coming in just shy of winning. Second on the debate team. Runner up in the state science contest. Stopping at my associates degree instead of going for my bachelors or even my masters. Settling for being a clerk in an engineering firm rather than an engineer myself.

Why is that?

Why have I always settled, not strove for the number one spot?

He must see the uncertainty on my face, no matter how hard I try to hide it. He stands and pushes my hair back from my face before lifting my chin until I meet his eyes. “Don’t do that, Mia. Don’t try to live life for someone else or prove your value to others. It’s not necessary. You’re special to me because of the differences between you and Laura, as much as the similarities.”

Wrapping my fingers around his wrists, I hold onto him, trying to keep steady as I admit the fear in my heart. “You said you believe in love at first sight, then I imagine you also believe in soul mates. She was yours, I can see that. Where does…?” I can’t finish. The selfishness is too great.

“Where does that leave you?” he finishes for me and I nod, ashamed at myself for making this about me. His thumb traces my lower lip and I kiss the pad of it as I watch him think through his answer.

I pull away. “We can talk about this later,” I say, “we need to get ready—”

He yanks me back. “No. Now. I was just trying to find the words I never thought I’d ever have the chance to say.”

“You can be really bossy, you know that?”

He grins and the mood between us shifts, grows lighter.

“Growing up, I thought love was bullshit, even in my early twenties. My parents hated each other but stayed together for the kids.” His lip curls. “Trust me, divorce would have been a blessing for the three of us.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too, but it was what it was. Anyway, I grew up pretty jaded about relationships and then I met Laura and yeah, love at first sight, soul mates, yadda, yadda, it all applied. Right before she died, she told me to find someone else to love. But I thought that was bullshit too. I’d found my one and then watched her wither away into nothing and couldn’t do a damned thing about it.”

I can’t help it. A tear rises, then falls, no matter how hard I try to blink it back. He brushes it away and goes on. “In the past,” his eyes flick to the clock, “eighteen hours or so, I came to the conclusion that our hearts have the ability to expand, to grow and make room. And I think our soul shifts too, changes as we experience life, the good and bad.”

“And your soul was ready for another mate?”

He exhales and the warmth of his breath caresses my face. “Oh yeah. From minute one, my soul had a hard on for you.”

I slap his chest. “Well, my soul had a hard on for you too, Mr. Gorgeous.”

His dimple pops as he reaches between my legs, feeling me up. “Good God, you’re right. We must take care of this immediately.” His mouth crushes down on mine and I push him away a few inches.

“What time will my passport arrive?”

Another glance at the clock. “Approximately forty-seven minutes.” His eyebrows wiggle up and down.

I don’t even hesitate, just snatch up another condom as he drags me to the bathroom and under the shower.

Chapter 5 – Jax

We’re packed up and ready, and I’ve already carried a load of our stuff to the 4-Runner. Correction. I carried the load to where I thought the 4-Runner was, then walked back to the hotel to find out where Mia had moved it. Then carried all that shit back to the new location, a red-faced Mia shutting the door behind me, a hand over her mouth.

I consider moving the vehicle closer, but hold off, even after I stick the key into the ignition. I’m feeling twitchy, like my skin is too tight. And not because Mia and I had fucked it all off last night and this morning. Yes, I was raw, scratched up, sore as hell. But this was different. And I respect that feeling. I turn my internal alert system up to DEFCON 1 and leave the SUV where it is to hike back to the room.

It’s too quiet.

Crouching down behind the bed of a truck, I watch for movement, listen for any sound. Somewhere far away, a dog barks and there’s the distinctive sound of a baby crying. A thump-thump of bass. I look up and see nothing. No drone. No contrails behind a plane. Airports are still shut down, so that makes sense.

So what’s fucking with me?

To my right, a big brown truck pulls into the hotel parking area and drives straight back to park in front of our room. I hadn’t given Dave our room number. UPS was supposed to leave the package in the office. But there it is, a guy in brown jumping down from the truck, big envelope in hand, heading for 131.

I pull my gun from my ankle holster and curse myself for leaving the burner phone in the room.
Don’t open that door, Mia
, I try to project to her and look around the area. Where there is one bad guy, there will be more. But where are they?