Operation: Endeavor (When The Mission Ends) (18 page)

“Ah, yes, we’re back to your Dom/sub fantasies.” She winked at him. The thought of Colton dominating her in that way sent tendrils of awareness throughout her body. Tendrils that she needed to ignore if she was going to keep her distance from Colton. He was temptation personified and she definitely wanted to give into his lure.

“Well, sweetheart, a guy’s gotta keep hold of his dreams.”

He was dangerous to her self-control tonight. “I thought you were going to feed me. Or was that all just a ruse to lure me here?”

He reached into the saddlebag on his motorcycle where he’d stashed her veggie sub they’d picked up. Then he surprised her when he pulled out a blanket and spread it on the ground. Who knew the guy was such a romantic at heart?

As she ate, he watched her seriously. “So have things always been like that with your mom, or have things gotten worse over the years?”

She gave a bitter laugh. “No, if anything, it’s actually better than it used to be.” She paused and looked at him mischievously. “How old would you guess my parents are?”

“I’m guessing early 60’s, although they both look really good still.”

She smiled at him indulgently. “That’s very nice for you to say, but you’re wrong. They look amazing for their ages. Mom is 72. Dad is 75.”

Colton’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“I know. They were both well into their 40’s when they had me. I was an accident. They both had fully established careers and a child was never in the plans for them. But they figured they were both intelligent adults and this was just another challenge for them to conquer. I was just another challenge for them to conquer.” She tried not to let the bitterness bleed through in her voice. Colton reached over and pulled her to his chest so she leaned against him. She inhaled his comforting scent of masculine spice. He wrapped his arms around her and his embrace felt way more right than it should.

“So anyway, they just thought you could treat a child like an adult and that child would act like an adult. Not so much. Although I will admit, I did a pretty decent fitting into their expectations until puberty and then everything went to hell.”

“What happened?”

“Like anything else, it built up over time, but the final blowout was between my mom and me when I was thirteen. Eighth grade isn’t easy for girls and I was no exception. I was discovering boys and wanted to fit in at the same time I was trying to find my own identity. But mom refused to see that I needed to be something other than her little clone.” She closed her eyes and thought back to that horrible day. “We were at a Geography Bee. God, I hated those things, but my parents always insisted I participate. The only intent is to show the world how smart you are. I mean seriously, it’s all about ego for one kid. The winner. For everyone else, it’s just a lesson in humiliation because you weren’t as smart as that other kid.”

She took a deep breath. “My mom left for a little bit and I was sitting in a corner backstage when a boy and his father came through. It was awful. The father threatened this kid with what would happen to him if he didn’t win and what he said was horrific.” Her voice broke a bit as she remembered him. “I’d always seen this kid around, but never knew him. He was shy and quiet. When it came down to the end, it was just him and me. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let him face that fate so I blew the match on purpose. My mom knew it and was irate. Losing was not an option in our household, at least not when it came to academics. That day was a turning point. I decided they weren’t going to decide my fate any longer. I make my own fate.”

“Do you know what happened to the boy?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Yes, seven weeks after that, he was beaten to death by his father when he came in second at another academic contest.” She shuddered. “Thankfully, by that point, I’d refused to enter any more of those things so I wasn’t there, but I always felt like I should have done something more for him. I’d told my mom what I’d heard, but she was so mad at me at the time, she didn’t pay attention to what I said. I should have done more to get him help.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that. You were just a kid, too.” His voice had gone low and quiet.

“I know that. In my mind I recognize that, but you can’t help looking back on those types of things and wondering. My parents had their moments where they were truly awful, but they never laid a hand on me and I definitely pushed their buttons over the years.” She looked up at him over her shoulder, needing to lighten the moment. “Do you know the story of Odysseus’s Penelope?”

“Noo…” he said slowly. “Surely, I’ve heard it, but I don’t remember it.”

“It’s a bit convoluted, but the overall message is true. Penelope was Odysseus’s wife. When he went off to war, he was gone for a long time and she had many suitors. She put them off by saying she had to finish weaving her father’s funeral shroud before choosing another lover. She wove on it lovingly all day, every day and then at night she would unravel all her work. They say she’s the model for loyalty and faithfulness, but I say she chose her own destiny by using her brain and making it work for her. My parents chose to name me after her so…” She shrugged and smiled up at him, but became caught in his gaze when she met his midnight blue eyes.

He looked at her like he wanted to eat her whole. He reached around to cup the side of her face while he leaned down to kiss her. His lips were soft and searching. She thought about backing away, but couldn’t deny herself just one taste of him.

He lingered. He caressed. He made her feel like she was the most treasured creature on earth. As he nibbled down her neck, she lost all track of thought besides getting closer to him. She couldn’t bring herself to draw away from his allure.

Pulling him around in front of her, she tugged at the buttons of his shirt. She wanted more of him. She needed to feel more of him. Finally, she got the buttons free and reached in to explore the hard lines of his torso. Goose bumps rose over the planes of his skin while she explored with her fingertips. It wasn’t enough.

Her fingertip found a hard nipple and she  reached down to caress it with her tongue and teeth. He groaned deep and started his own exploration. She quickly shrugged out of her jacket without raising her mouth from his chest.

Shivers rippled over her skin as she felt him kiss the swoop of the bird tattoos on her shoulder. He lowered the strap and pulled a breast free. Her breath caught as he lifted her and took the nipple into his mouth.

“Aw, God, Colton.” Her voice didn’t even sound like her own anymore and he took advantage of her arousal and ripped the shirt off over her head.

She threaded her fingers through his thick, dark hair as he loved on her breasts. Caught up in the sensations, she hadn’t realized he’d unbuttoned her pants until his fingers slipped under her panties and caressed her heat. She gasped as he delved in and her hips automatically thrust to him. Her body was on fire as she pulled his head back to meet her fevered kisses. Her moans echoed through the night as he continued to work her body, alternating between caressing her folds and teasing her tiny bundle of nerves. It was too much. Her nerves jumped and bunched. Completely lost in the sensation, the force of her orgasm shattered her as she screamed his name.

Her body continued to convulse around his hand and he laid her back on the blanket where he swiftly removed her shoes, pants, and panties. She laid there nude watching him as he stood and removed his own pants, his hard thick erection bobbing in the soft light from the runway. He was built like a Greek god, one intent upon conquering her. He reached into his wallet for a condom, but she took it from him.

Kneeling before him, she had to take one taste. There was a drop of moisture dangling from the tip of him and she wrapped her tongue around him to capture it. He groaned hard and low as she did so and shoved his hands into her hair. She laid kisses down the vein running the full, long length of his shaft before taking him full into her mouth. His whole body shuddered at the onslaught before he pulled her away.

His voice was deep and husky as he said, “Sweetheart, you do that much longer and I’m not gonna last.”

She nodded and gave him a final lick before she sheathed him in the condom. As she lay back on the blanket, she pulled him on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his waist which lined up their bodies perfectly.

At the intimate contact, they both moaned. Colton kissed her hard before he propped up to meet her eyes. He breathed heavy and shallow and passion filled his eyes. She couldn’t look away as he slid into her all the way. Oh wow. This had never felt so good before. Having him within her was heaven. She tilted her hips to meet him thrust for thrust which caused another groan to escape from him. Still his gaze never left her eyes. She was trapped by the emotion she saw there as much as she was imprisoned by his hard, pulsing body. She closed her eyes to the ecstasy of it all, but when his fingers slid between them and touched her clit, they flew open again.

“Come for me, Penelope,” he commanded and she had no choice but to comply. She screamed his name and as her internal muscles captured and milked his shaft, he moaned and shuddered in his own release.

They lay there panting and tried to recover. Colton lowered his head to the side of her neck and rained little touches and kisses there. He stayed up on his elbows to avoid crushing her and she moved her hands over the muscles of his back. Even in the cool of the night, he’d developed a sheen of sweat and he shivered from her caresses. He remained within her and she wasn’t ready to give up that closeness yet. She held onto him to keep reality at bay.

Slowly he pulled out of her. The glide against her swollen sex caused her to groan again. He caressed her cheek. “Are you okay?”

Words were still beyond her at this point so she simply nodded. He kissed her forehead before taking care of the condom. He laid back on the side of the blanket and pulled her into his embrace while tugging the other edge of the blanket up over them to protect them from the cool of the night.

They must have dozed because she was startled awake by a loud noise. She jerked and Colton tightened his embrace around her. “It’s okay. It’s just a plane coming in for a landing.”

She watched as the belly of a plane flew, what felt like inches above their bodies, heading for the runway. She grinned up at him after the noise ended. “That was amazing.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. I do try.”

She laughed and pushed at him. “Not you, the plane.” The heat rose on her cheeks. “Although you were pretty amazing, too,” she said softly and he kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“Unfortunately, amazing or not, I think we need to leave our little love nest here and see about doing this on a real bed with heat, because it’s starting to get cold out here.”

Colton rolled over and reached to drag Penelope to him, but his arm only encountered cold sheets. He pried his tired eyes open and scowled at the empty space where her delectable body was supposed to be located. Nope, she wasn’t there. He ran a hand over his tired face and hair as he looked over at the clock.

He must have dozed off again. The last time he’d looked at the clock was forty-five minutes before. At that point in time, Penelope had definitely still been heating up his sheets and body.

He heard the ring of his cell phone and groaned internally when he saw the number. Impeccable timing as usual, but he was not going to let her ruin his morning.

He answered the phone, “Did you do what I told you?” He paused, listening to her stutter through a non-answer. “Well, then we have nothing to discuss. You need to do what I said or you will live to regret crossing me.” He growled into the phone, cutting off her excuses, before he jammed the off button. He didn’t want to push Dianna, but he was not going to give in on this.

Massaging his temples, he closed his eyes. He and Penelope had a wonderful night.

It was time to get back to that happy place, which made him wonder. Where the hell did Penelope go?

After worshipping her body all night long, it was no wonder he’d drifted off for a little bit, but why wasn’t she here dozing with him? He hoped she wasn’t having second thoughts. If last night had proven anything to him, it was just how compatible they really were. He never would have guessed it two weeks ago.

It was time to drag her back in here, because he wasn’t ready to let her out of his bed yet. Renewed with purpose, he flung the covers off, just as Penelope walked into the room carrying a tray laden with coffee cups and food. Relief flooded him.

She paused inside the door, her eyes guarded, but she still took in the sight of his nude body with obvious pleasure. “Damn, it’s just not fair that you can look so sexy after a night with hardly any sleep.” Her smile bordered upon the edge of leering as she came over and set the tray on the nightstand.

He was sitting up half in and half out of bed and she came over to stand next to him. “Good morning,” she said shyly, but shy was not on his agenda this morning.

He snagged her around her waist and pulled her into his embrace, noting that she held herself awfully stiff after the wonderful night they had together. “Good morning. I missed you when I woke up.”

She’d pulled on one of his t-shirts when she’d gotten up. It fell to mid-thigh and now as he reached up underneath it, he was thrilled to find she’d gone commando while preparing their breakfast. He palmed the tight curve of her ass and groaned low as the blood flooded his erection once more. She twisted out of his arms laughing, but it didn’t sound like her normal carefree laugh.  He frowned at her, concerned with her sudden stiffness.