HeatedMatch (7 page)

Denying she was his match was no longer a possibility.
But…he sat up straighter. He didn’t have to claim her and marry her. He could
enjoy the next eighteen or so hours with Loren and then send her packing.

He glanced down at his semi-erect penis, which hadn’t truly
softened since meeting Loren last night. How did married matched couples do
this and get any work done? Any thoughts he’d had about the Christenson
kidnapping were on hold while he thought with his dick. Currently there was
only room for Loren and Loren’s body.

The woman in question appeared in the doorway, pink and soft
from the shower, looking way too delectable.

“Hi,” she said softly.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak, fearing he’d order
her to drop the white towel and come sit on his lap.

She fiddled with the hemmed corner of the towel covering her
hip. “How long do you think they’ll trap us in here?”

He shrugged. “They’ve got the evidence they need. They
should let us out soon.”

“I’m getting sort of hungry. I skipped breakfast and it’s
now past lunchtime.”

Her words triggered some sort of caveman response in him.
His woman was hungry. Where was a damn spear and wild animal when he needed
them? “I’ll call Shep.” He gestured to the phone on a small table next to the
sofa. As soon as he picked up the handset, Shep’s voice echoed through the
room, leaving no doubt that every word taking place was being monitored. He
assumed Shep never watched the video. That would be too weird. He left that
fun, voyeuristic task for the science types.

“Food will be delivered shortly. Ask Ms. Stanton if she’s a
vegetarian or has any food allergies.”

Loren stepped toward the speaker. “No, I like meat.” Then
she blushed as her double entendre registered.

“Do you?” He smiled wolfishly at her. Just one night with
her, and then he had to give her up forever. He planned to use his time wisely.
“Come here.” He patted his lap. “I’ve got meat for you.”

* * * * *

Approximately seventeen hours later, Adam blinked as light
poured in through the now-open door to the hallway.

“Shep?”

His commanding officer stepped fully into the room with a
shit-eating grin on his face.

Adam shifted the naked, sleeping woman in his arms to hide
her body from public viewing. “Is it over? Am I free to go?”

Shep nodded. “Take a few minutes to get dressed then please
bring Ms. Stanton to my office.” He swung an appraising glance over their
tangled bodies on the sofa then stepped out, shutting the door behind him.

“Adam?” Loren wriggled on him, causing his morning hard-on
to thicken. The urge to fuck her was back but it was more manageable this
morning. His body still desperately wanted Loren’s, but he wasn’t going to go
berserk without her.

“Good morning. Rise and shine, up and at ’em.”

She sat up, rubbing her eyes and wincing as her muscles
adjusted to a night of hard use. They’d continued screwing like bunnies until
they’d literally passed out with him still thrusting inside her around dawn.
“What time is it?”

He glanced at the black rubber diver’s watch on his left
wrist. “Around seven. Shep wants you in his office in five minutes.”

Her arms stretched high above her head, causing her breasts
to lift and squeeze together. “I need breakfast and coffee.” Her head fell back
against the cushions. “Hello?” She waved an arm. “Adam, stop staring at my
breasts. Do you see my clothes anywhere?”

He surveyed the room and scooped up her blouse and pants,
tossing them at her. “I think your panties are unsalvageable. Sorry.” He tried
and failed to hide a grin.

“Stop smiling and cover that up.” She pointed at his
ever-hopeful but exhausted erection.

He slipped into the bathroom and yanked on his clothes. He
shifted over to make room for a now fully clothed Loren who entered to splash
some water on her face and brush her hair with her hands. The scent of the
night’s sexual exertions lingered in the air, permeating their hair and skin.
Would this craving and obsession for her end with time and distance? He didn’t
know, but it was likely he’d strip her and take her against the sink again
unless they went their separate ways in the next few seconds.

“Ready?”

She nodded and followed him out the door and down the
hallway to Commander Shepard’s office.

“Here she is, Shep.” He opened the door for her and inhaled
her unique scent one final time before turning and heading out to his own room
on campus.

“Fifteen, Adam.” Shep’s voice echoed behind him.

“What?” He turned back, pausing in the doorway.

“You made it fifteen minutes before you caved, Blacker.”

He wanted to tell Shep to shut the fuck up, but his
ingrained habit of showing his senior officer respect was hard to overcome. “It
means nothing. She may be my match, but I don’t want a partner.” He forced
himself to stride away without a backward glance at Loren to see how she took
his lie.

Chapter Four

The bastard actually left. She stared at the now-closed door
where Adam had exited not two seconds ago without even a farewell kiss. Not
that she’d had a hello kiss either. During the past twenty-plus hours of the
most intense sex she’d ever experienced, they hadn’t kissed on the lips even
once. They’d come close a few times, but one of them would pull back at the
last second. It was too intimate, too personal for the animalistic sex they’d
shared.

He was gone, and she was fine with it. Really. She had a
life to get back to. As soon as she interviewed Commander Shepard about the
kidnapping, she’d be on her way.

She turned back toward the commander and waited for him to
speak. They sat and eyed each other for a few moments. Her cheeks warmed from
fielding the intense stare from a man her mother’s age who knew how she’d spent
the night. She tried to hold his gaze without blushing. She had nothing to be
ashamed about. The whole situation was Shepard’s fault. If he hadn’t locked her
in a room with Adam…

The commander broke the silence first. “Ms. Stanton, I’m in
a bit of a quandary here.”

“How so?”

“Normally, my soldiers volunteer to find their breeding
partner.”

“But Adam didn’t.”

Shep shook his head with a grimace. “No, he didn’t, and he
possibly never will. Too much family baggage. I thought once he met you and was
intimate with you, he wouldn’t be able to refuse.”

She glanced at the empty seat next to her. “Having second
thoughts now?”

If he was, he didn’t admit them to her. Only a slight
wrinkle between his eyebrows told her things hadn’t gone exactly how he’d
hoped.

“I’m not ready to give up on Adam breeding and giving us his
children for the next generation yet. If you’re amenable, I’d like you to stick
around for a bit,” he said.

“My children.”

“Excuse me?”

Loren leaned forward, ignoring her aching sex-sore muscles.
“You said Adam would give you his children. They’d be
my
children also.”

Shep looked surprised at the distinction. “Oh, of course.
So, will you stay?”

She shook her head and squelched the tiny part of her brain
screaming to stay within a one-mile radius of Adam, her perfect match. “No, I’m
afraid I can’t stay. I have a job, a life outside of here. If you’ll be kind
enough to answer a few questions about the kidnapping, I’ll be out of your
hair.”

Shep nodded and stared at a distant point on the wall for a
long minute. “Before you run off, would you take a look at this?” He picked up
a small picture frame from his desk and flipped it around, handing it to her.

She nearly dropped it in shock. Staring back at her from the
plain, pewter frame was a much younger, black-haired Commander Shepard with his
arm around a woman. Standing next to the happy couple was a man who looked like
Loren’s dead father. Loren would stake her next year of paychecks that the man
was
her father.

What. The. Hell?

Why was her father in a picture with Commander Shepard? Her
father had been a journalist, an award-winning journalist. So dedicated, he’d
died covering a story in Iraq when she was ten years old.
TIME Magazine
had sent a letter recognizing his contributions to their publication. She
remembered Mom clutching the letter nightly, tears dripping down onto the
soggy, worn paper.

The narrow office chair welcomed her as she sank back into it
with shaky legs and a roiling stomach. She replaced the frame gently back on
the desk with unsteady hands. Her first attempt failed, and she shook as she
flipped the frame right side up again. This was her father. She deserved to
know why he was connected with a formerly secret military branch of the
government. If only her purse hadn’t been taken from her, she could call Mom
and grill her about a Commander Shepard.

Well that was bullshit. She’d worshipped her father, and had
become a journalist to follow in his footsteps. If he’d had a secret, she
wanted to know. Now.

“Why do you have a picture of my father?”

“Because he was my best friend. He was one of us.” Shep sat
back in his chair and pursed his lips with a meaningful stare.

“I don’t… I don’t understand. How could he be part of this?
He lived in Virginia with us.”

Shep ignored her confused mutterings. “You have a brother. A
half brother,” he corrected.

She couldn’t take it in. It was too much to process.

“Do you want to meet him?” he asked almost kindly.

Her head bobbed up and down, and she felt tears brimming but
was unable to speak.

“Here.” Shep had risen and circled his desk to press a
tissue into her hand. Then he squatted down to look her in the eye. “I’ll
introduce you to your brother and answer every question about your father on
one condition.”

She swallowed her tears to meet his gaze.

“Stay on campus for a few weeks. Get in Adam’s personal
space.”

Her teeth nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to sort
through the ramifications of Commander Shepard’s not-so-generous offer. It was
a huge risk. Her compulsion to be with Adam had been strong. It would take
everything she had to fight it for two weeks. Would she even want to? What
happened if she accepted the match but Adam remained obstinate?

A broken heart, that’s what. It was a lot to consider. But
he was offering her the truth about her father and a real-life brother. There
was no decision to be made. She nodded. “I’ll stay, but I want my own room. No
locking me in with anyone. And I’m not making any promises about being with
Adam. We may have slept together and we may be a match, but it doesn’t mean I’m
setting up house with him anytime soon.” Now that she wasn’t naked, breathing
the same air as Adam, her need and craving for him dissipated to a degree. Her
other priorities came rushing back.

Shep smiled and helped her to her feet. “Fine. No promises
necessary. If you stay on campus, you won’t be able to stay away from each
other. Now let’s go find your brother.”

“I’m not finished yet.” She straightened her shoulders under
his scrutiny. “If I stay for two weeks,” she held up a hand to quell Shep’s
protest, “then I want an interview with you. A real one, not the evasive
baloney you’ve been feeding the press.”

Shep smiled. “Deal, but I warn you, Ms. Stanton. After two
weeks on campus, you won’t want to write about me. You’ll be one of us and just
as protective of our secrets.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it. Now, you mentioned something
about my brother?”

Shep grabbed his handset off his desk, pressed a few keys
and murmured something she didn’t catch. A minute later the door opened and the
tall, muscular soldier who’d
greeted
her at the gate yesterday popped
in.

“You wanted me, Shep?”

“Gavin. This is Ms. Stanton. I believe you met yesterday.”

Gavin lost his grin and took a step back. “Don’t do this,
Shep. Don’t put me between her and Adam.”

Shep looked exasperated. “Don’t be a pansy. I’m not setting
you up. I’m only asking you to escort Ms. Stanton to Chase’s room to meet him.”

Relief passed over Gavin’s face. “Okay.” Then he turned back
to Shep with narrowed eyes. “Why isn’t Adam escorting her?”

Loren watched the byplay with interest. Clearly, Shep hated
to be questioned, and what did it mean that Gavin knew Adam was supposed to be
with her?

“Adam’s refusing his match rights.”

The soldier’s jaw unhinged for a nanosecond before he
regained his composure and smiled charmingly at her. “Well isn’t this my lucky
day, escorting a beautiful woman around my home.”

“Gavin,” Shep warned. “Blacker’s pretending to be dumb, he’s
not actually stupid.”

Gavin lost the smile and scowled at Shep. “The things I do
for you. One of these days, you’re going to get me killed.” He turned to Loren
and offered her a hand up. “Ready to go?”

She stood and nodded. They made it a few steps before she
turned back to Commander Shepard. “I’ll need my things. I won’t want to wear
these clothes for two weeks.”

“We’ll take care of it later. For now, go meet your
brother.”

She followed Gavin down a long corridor and out double glass
doors into a courtyard of sorts. It reminded her of the quad from her college
days, but no coeds sunbathed and tossed a Frisbee. Instead tall, muscular men
jogged or strode from building to building alone or in pairs, chatting intently
or checking cell phones. Where were the women? Locked away in towers?

“Where are the women?”

Gavin stopped walking to look down on her with confusion
etched on his face. “Huh? What women?”

She gestured to the other courtyard occupants. “Only Y
chromosomes. Don’t you have women here?”

He scanned the area. “We have plenty of women on campus,
though there’s been a bit of a drought lately. You’re the first woman recruited
in a while.”

“I’m not a recruit. I’m not staying.” She met his skeptical
look with a steady one of her own and ignored his snort. His hand steered her
by her elbow down another gravel path and she started to ask a question, but a
flash of darkness in the form of a speeding large male interrupted her.

“Shit, not again, Blacker,” Gavin groaned from the ground.
“That’s twice I let you knock me on my ass. I’m being nice because she’s your
woman, but I swear if you touch me again, it’s on.”

Adam lumbered over Gavin’s supine form. His breath came in
spurts. “She’s not my woman.”

“Then why are you about to kill me for touching her?” Gavin
asked. “Loren, put your hand on him. Your touch will calm him down.”

She eyed the tall, angry man who’d appeared out of nowhere
to tackle her escort the second he’d placed his hands on her body. She wasn’t
getting near that train wreck. “What is your problem, Adam? Why did you attack
Gavin?”

The scowl on Adam’s face sped up her heart rate, but she
refused to cower to him or cut him any slack for being a ridiculous, overgrown
baby.

“He grabbed you.”

“He did not.”

“I know what I saw, Loren.”

Her hands fisted on her hips. “Since when is putting a hand
on someone’s elbow ‘grabbing’? Besides, what do you care? I’m not your woman.
You admitted it.”

“Get out of here,” Adam told Gavin then turned back to her.
“Fine, you’re my woman. Happy? Let’s go.”

“Not a chance.” She took a step back, but he followed with a
larger step. Traitorous Gavin was already twenty feet away, obviously unwilling
to interfere. Mint hovered on Adam’s breath and shampoo wafted from his damp
hair. Lucky him to get a shower, something she still lacked after their
intense, dirty night.

“Loren, come with me.”

These military types needed to stop assuming she’d follow
their every order. Not in this lifetime. “Where are you going to take me?”

“Where was Gavin taking you?”

“To see my brother. Do you know my brother? And did you know
my father?”

He shook his head. “I know your brother and I knew of your
father, but never met him personally.”

“And it never occurred to you to mention that last night?”

His lips thinned. “I was slightly distracted. We both were.”

Heat flooded her cheeks as she recalled the many
distractions. She doubted she’d even have recognized her father’s name if he’d
mentioned it in the heat of their lovemaking. She stepped closer and put a hand
on his hard forearm. “I want to meet my brother.”

His searing glance at her hand on his arm melted her and
sent heat to her pussy with the same intensity as before. Anxiety and
possessiveness bled from his pores and wrapped around her skin, triggering a
reaction that screamed for her to ease him, claim him. The water was obviously
not out of her system yet.

“Darn,” she said in a low breath. Her arms wrapped around
his shoulders as he lowered in for a deep kiss. Their first. His tongue met
hers and they dueled for dominance until hollers and whistles of approval
penetrated her lust-induced fog.

She pulled away from his mouth and stared around to realize
Adam was carrying her by her ass while her legs wrapped around his hips. An
audience of his comrades had stopped to witness and tease.

“Get a room!”

“Get to the lab.”

“Blacker’s met his match.”

Adam smiled sheepishly at her while he continued to hold her
effortlessly. “Privacy?”

She nodded, trying to catch her breath and remember why she
wasn’t supposed to be wrapped around this man like a second skin, but nothing
triggered other than a need to ease the ache at her core.

His quickened steps brought her swollen pussy against the
zipper of his pants where his erection punched out against her. Each jogged
step increased the friction until she was panting with need.

“Here,” she said as soon as he’d reached the side of a
building that appeared to be off the beaten path. “Stop here. I can’t wait, I
need you again badly.”

His low chuckle warmed her. “This is pretty public,” he
warned.

“I don’t care,” she said, near tears. The burning was
intensifying to boiling point and her nipples felt as if they could cut glass.

“I care. I don’t want you featuring in the fantasies of the
teenagers on campus.”

Why was he still talking and not inside her yet? She bit his
shoulder to get him to shut up and get naked.

Her sharp bite froze him in place to look at her. “Shit,
you’re in pain, aren’t you?”

She nodded, closing her eyes against the debilitating need
now that she was in his arms again.

Concern and determination replaced humor on his handsome
face as he backed her against a shady tree near the side of a brick building.
“I’m sorry, Loren. I didn’t realize.”

He lowered her gently to the ground and went to his knees,
planting his head between her legs. “Let me help you.”