Still Mine (15 page)

At least that brightened his mood.

When he’d brought Jonnie onto post as his wife, the brass had gone insane. He’d been young enough to listen to them and bend to their will when they told him he had to let her go. Jonnie had been so full of life that it had seemed like placing a butterfly into a sealed jar to keep her. As much as it had cost him to cut her out of his life, it would have been too hard to keep her with him and watch her wither inside.

Now, he wasn’t too sure just who his wife was. They were practically strangers. His body didn’t seem to care.

Twisting his lips in frustration, Paul covered the ground between their rooms. Jonnie had always gone straight to his head. He found her current level of self-reliance far too potent to ignore. But the reason was simple; it was the key to discovering a way to keep her. Even her brush with disaster tonight was another step towards proving she was capable, sound and fit to remain by his side. Six years of frustration slid away as he let himself grasp that idea. He tightened his grip on it, savoring the feeling. It stunned him how much empty space it filled, a hole in his soul that he’d somehow not noticed because it was so vast.

Jo was going to be his again. Even the brass couldn’t argue with it now. Convincing Jo was going to be the hardest task in front of him. A grin lifted his lips. He was going to enjoy his work this time. A whole lot more than he had in years.

Chapter Six

Life sucked.

And her taste in men lacked the sense of a mountain goat.

At this rate, she would be drug dependent by the end of next month. Providing she was still among the living at that time. Waking up in a fog was becoming disturbingly familiar. So was investigating her newest bandages when she opened her eyes.

Despite the slight grogginess that confirmed the presence of some form of pain medication in her bloodstream, her hands refused to perform even the simplest of tasks without painful consequences. The pain shot up her arms and into her shoulder with each twist of her wrists. Her vision of running back to her job was going up in smoke as she felt sweat bead on her forehead in response to the level of pain. She was as useful as a housefly.

A solid knock on the door interrupted her attempts to examine her wounds. It wasn’t Durant’s single-knuckle rap. Jo had half risen from her bed in the direction of the newly installed telephone when the door opened. She looked into the face of the sentry who had opened the door for her husband and then pulled it closed with a swift snap. The rifle cradled in the sentry’s arms was a surprise. It shouldn’t have been, considering her recent run of luck but it was still hard to grasp the reality of being under armed guard.

She could blame her new company for it, though.

“It’s customary to wait for the occupant to admit you into their bedroom.”

Crossing his arms, Paul ran his gaze over her. She bristled under his scrutiny because she felt grubby. Her hair was a tangled mess. She knew she was sporting some new bruises from her tussle last night. When she realized that she cared how she looked, it only made her grouchy. Paul shouldn’t rate so high on her personal-priorities list. Maybe if she was ugly as sin, he’d tell his comrades to fly her back to where they’d found her.

“True, except it is also customary for husbands and wives to share a bedroom and therefore eliminate the need for any knocking.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you had someone tell me I was a widow. I don’t share my bedroom.”

His amusement vanished. Jo stared at the hard look that flickered from his dark eyes. A shiver went down her back as she recognized solid determination.

“I tried to let you walk away, Jo, but not because I wanted to.” Tension held his jaw rigid as he invaded her room, using his body to press into her personal space. He knew exactly what he was doing too, crowding her until she made the mistake of either attacking him or running. Either way she didn’t think she’d get very far. “You weren’t the only one who got deprived of what they wanted from our union, Jo. They took you away from me just as completely.”

His hands landed on the bed, one on either side of her thighs. She leaned back and lost her balance, because pressing her hands down to support her weight sent pain shooting through her wrists. She ended up falling back on the bed and he seized the opportunity to loom over her. “I’ve combed surveillance photos of you for the last six years, just looking for that one that would prove they succeeded in destroying us. But I never found it. You didn’t let another man into your bed. I wonder why.”

“I wish there had been ten!”

Jo clamped her mouth shut as she listened to the plea in her own voice. It was too exposing, far too damn much of herself on display.

“Really? Then why didn’t you let Deputy Tait into your bed, Jo? The man’s been trying hard enough.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Does it make you feel powerful, Paul? To prowl through my life without me knowing you’re out there watching?”

“No, it made me hungry.” His mouth finished their conversation, pressing down on her lips and taking a kiss she couldn’t resist. It was a fatal blow to her pride but she needed him so much it hurt. His hands clasped the sides of her head, holding her in place. His tongue thrust down into her mouth, stroking her tongue as one hand threaded into her hair and tightened slightly.

A whisper of a whimper made its way through their kiss. He broke contact with her mouth for a moment, hovering above her head, his breath teasing the wet skin of her lips. Her breath echoed his, coming in tiny pants. He held her hair in one grip as he trailed the back of his right hand across her cheek and down the side of her neck. All the tiny nerve endings suddenly brightened and flooded her nervous system with signals. The light touch made gooseflesh ripple across her neck and spread beneath her shirt to her breasts. Her nipples were already hard but now they ached for more attention. Each mound of flesh wanted to be touched, stroked by the hand tugging on the first button she’d closed on her top.

“Aren’t you tired of memories?” Paul opened it with a flick of his fingers. His eyes remained on her face as he dealt with the next closed button. His fingertips brushed over her, sending a ripple of sensation down her bare skin. Another whisper of delight rose from her lips. His eyes narrowed as a soft rumble of male appreciation shook his chest.

“That sound has haunted me.” His eyes closed and the expression on his face fascinated her. Beneath the hunger was need and it made her thirsty for the intimacy her life had lacked. He was the only man she had ever trusted enough to be so open with. It was more than sex, so much deeper, and it was the root of the reason why she had never let Tait get past her front door. Her hand lifted to touch his face. His chin was firm and the skin newly shaved. His eyes shot open when she grazed his lower lip with her fingertips, tracing the smooth surface as sensation traveled through her finger. Their gazes fused and he released her hair.

A second later the sides of her shirt were pushed open, baring her breasts. She gasped as the morning air brushed her nipples. Her bra was lying on the bathroom counter, discarded during the night because the underwire wasn’t comfortable for sleeping in.

“You’re…still…mine.” He cupped her breasts, his voice rough with emotion. Sensation surged through her, interrupting her thoughts, making it impossible to focus on anything except what she felt. The two hands cupping her breasts grabbed all of her attention as he rubbed his thumbs over each hard nipple. Her back arched up, pressing towards his touch as a moan left her lips. Her eyelids fluttered shut as the pleasure overrode everything. After six years of only dreams, her body demanded complete immersion in the moment when it was able to actually be touched instead of just recalling what it felt like. His hand against her skin was so much superior to her memories. It felt like she was intoxicated, being carried away from rational thought into a world where impulse ruled supreme.

“There’s another thing I missed, the sexy little sounds you make when I touch you.” His eyes were dark with hunger and she stared at the sight, mesmerized by the depth of emotion. It was the sort of stroke to her self-confidence that words could never adequately express. His gaze lowered to her bared breasts.

“But nothing beats the sight of you beneath me.”

A harsh gasp interrupted her moment of delight when his mouth closed around one hard nipple. Her body jerked and convulsed beneath him, and she heard a deep male chuckle in response. He slipped his hands beneath her back, lifting her up as he sucked on her nipple. Heat surged through her, racing to her clit. It throbbed between the lips of her sex. Her passage heated. Her hand found the back of his head, holding it in place as he flicked the tip of his tongue across her nipple.

“Jesus Christ, I feel like I’m eighteen.” His head rose above her and she caught a look at his face. Desire blazed at her with the heat of a firestorm. But it only fueled the rising need burning between her thighs. Her clit throbbed impatiently as she felt her sheath growing moist.

The hands beneath her back slipped down her torso to the waistband of her pants. He jerked the button open and pushed the zipper down in one motion. Hooking his hands into the sides of the garment, he pulled them over her hips and thighs. They flew across the room a moment later without even a glance.

“I need to get inside you, Jo. There’re a hundred other things I want to do, but right now, I swear I’d kill just to get back between your thighs.”

Her mouth went dry with excitement. Anticipation jerked her into a frenzy as Paul scooped her up and placed her in the center of the bed. He followed her down onto its surface, pressing her thighs wide with his hips as he brushed a hand over her bare belly. He spread his fingers out over her abdomen, stroking her skin lower until he found the tender flesh covering her clit. His finger slid smoothly between the folds protecting the sensitive little nub. Her hips bucked up off the bed as he rubbed over her clit in a soft circle. Excitement flared up into her belly, making her passage contract with need so powerful she hurt with it.

She heard the rasp of his zipper as he lowered it, and her hands reached for him. It wasn’t a decision, it was instinct. She reached for her lover and whimpered as his weight pressed her against the bed. One of his hands tangled in her hair, holding her in place as she felt the tip of his cock nudging between the folds of her sex. He pressed one leg up farther to spread her open as he growled softly against her mouth.

“Now, Jo. Right God damn now.” Later, he’d play with her until she admitted she belonged to him. For now, he needed to push deep into her body and prove that she hungered for the intimacy as much as he did. Blunt, hard, basic. They attracted each other without any hint of caution; it was solid, inescapable need pulling them towards one another.

She cried out as he thrust into her. Her body resisted, her passage tight from years of abstinence but her hips lifted towards him as her hands landed on his shoulders. He cussed low, his chest shaking as he tried to control their pace. The hand on her thigh smoothed over the sensitive skin before he pulled out of her body and thrust back into her. She took him easier this time, her sheath stretching to allow his cock to penetrate. Satisfaction rippled through him as she lifted towards him again.

“Look at me.” His voice was harsh, cut with need that mirrored her own. His grip in her hair released and threaded through the strands to the base of her head before clenching once more. Her eyelids fluttered and lifted. His breath hit her lips as he hovered over her, holding her in place. He pulled free from her body and thrust slowly back into her as she watched the hunger brighten his gaze.

Her thighs refused to remain spread wide, but clutched the hips of her lover as he began to move. Pleasure tightened around his length as he drove it deep into her, stroking along her clit with each thrust. There wasn’t even a hint of control, only the driving need to move faster. She gasped as pleasure surged through her. A whimper rose from her throat and then another as everything became too tight, too intense. Her spine arched as her eyes closed. Paul’s teeth rasped against the exposed column of her neck as her body jerked and climax ripped through her. Her body bucked frantically towards his next thrust, and he growled. His hips worked faster between her thighs. Everything slammed into her brain as he bit her neck and plunged hard into her body. His cock pumped its seed against the opening of her womb as pleasure rippled down her spine, so acutely she cried out loud with it.

Paul caught his body weight on his elbows. The buttons on his shirt pressed against her bare breasts while the fabric of his shirt irritated her sensitive skin. Deep inside her passage, his cock still throbbed and jerked. Her thighs relaxed slightly, no longer clasping him firmly. The hand in her hair released before his fingers gently massaged her head. A soft kiss landed on top of the bite he’d inflicted on her neck. He nuzzled along the skin, rising up to let the cool morning air brush against her bare torso until he found a nipple. He teased it with a soft kiss before sucking it gently between his lips.

“I love you, Jo. Hate my methods but never doubt that you aren’t the woman who drives me insane.”

He held her head, gently, waiting for her to open her eyes. Such simple words…
I love you
…but they left a trail of blood behind as they crossed her heart. Her muscles were heavy with satisfaction, her belly aching slightly from the force of her orgasm. With no adolescent immaturity, her body had charged forward towards what it craved. She’d wanted him just as much as he’d craved her.

A fist landed on the door, shaking the single window set into the outer wall. Her eyes flew open as she caught a faint profanity from Paul. They were both lying on top of the bedding, her clothing scattered somewhere on the floor. The door opened two seconds later.

“Your pilot is waiting, Dr. Benate.”

A groan rose from her throat but the sound never reached the sentry’s ears. The man pulled the door shut almost before he spoke the last word. If he was stunned to catch them locked together, there wasn’t a single hint. The window rattled again as Paul sat up. He rubbed a hand over his face. His gaze landed on her nude breasts and one corner of his lips twitched up. He reached for one of the soft globes but Jo rolled over to the opposite side of the bed. She landed on her feet, crossing her arms over her bare breasts.