The Mercenary (12 page)

She tried not to let those words matter, but they did, and that scared her more than facing down Burati with a gun. Because she realized she was starting to fall in love with Kirk Mann. And that was at once the most wonderful feeling in the world and also a little bit scary, because she had no idea how to be in love.

“Really?”

He nodded. He wasn’t like the kind of men she was used to and he had no words to tell her how he really felt. But he could show her. She looked so pretty in the negligee he’d asked Laz to pick up in Johannesburg.

He knew she was used to the finer things and this gown was more suited to her than his T-shirt.

He was going to use the physical bond between them to bind her to him tonight because he wanted her.

“You are sexy,” she said.

“Am I?”

She laughed, but the mirth didn’t reach her eyes. He noticed there were still tears in the corner of her eye and he carefully wiped them away. “You have a very nice body.”

“I have to keep in shape. Have to stay honed,” he said. Realizing that kind of talk wasn’t going to relax her. “I like to work out.”

“Why? I hate any exercise except for running. Running always makes me feel free.”

That was an interesting tidbit. She revealed pieces of herself in small increments and he could do nothing other than gather them up and tuck them away. Add the pieces together and try to make them fit until he had her figured out.

“Tell me about this scar,” she said, finding one of his more wicked knife scars. It started above his abdomen and continued to his hip and went down the back of his left butt cheek and thigh.

She lifted one eyebrow at him. Her breasts brushed his side as she leaned up over him. He reached down and caught her nipple between his fingers. He loved the velvet texture of her nipple.

He cupped her breast fully in his palm, continuing to stroke her finger across her nipple. She shifted around a little, pushing her breast more fully into his grasp.

She stroked her hands over his chest. Each pass she came closer and closer to his cock but never touched him.

“A toughie like you must have ways of making people talk,” she said. “What can I do to get you to open up to me?”

He shrugged. He knew the image he presented to the world was one big badass. He
was
that man, but with Olivia he couldn’t be.

“Please tell me about this scar.”

“I can’t tell you too many details. But we were on a mission to take out the leader of a terrorist cell.”

“Were you undercover?”

He nodded. “I’m good at blending in.”

“So you were there surrounded by the enemy. Then what happened?”

“I wasn’t alone,” he said. “Armand was with me.”

“He’s your friend who died, right?” she asked. She was holding on to his bicep and stroking him as he talked. He doubted she was even aware of it, but he liked it.

“Yes. Armand and I were disguised as militants who’d come from another faction to join this terror cell. Someone caught wind that we weren’t who we said we were, and we were brought to the leader for questioning.”

“Oh, Kirk. How many times have you been in a life-and-death situation and survived?”

He shrugged. More than he wanted to count.

She rubbed her other hand over his scar. “What happened next?”

“They disarmed us and took a try at getting us to talk,” he said remembering the bloody mess they’d left behind. They’d been working for the U.S. government at that time and they had wanted to question the terror cell leader to try to get closer to bin Laden, but he and Armand hadn’t been able to take anyone alive.

They’d both been close to death’s door by the time they’d gotten out of the camp. They’d left nothing behind but a burning a mess. They had taken a few new scars with them.

She kept caressing his hip as he told his tale. He liked the way it felt, almost like caring. That was what he really wanted with her. He wanted to wrap himself around her and make her forget that she thought she was used up inside.

“You are so strong,” she said.

He started laughing, remembering that Armand had carried him out of the camp.

“What are you laughing at?” she asked.

“Well, I’m not the supermacho badass you might think I am,” he said.

“I think you are,” she said as she tangled her fingers in the hair right above his groin.

“Heroic,” she said, skimming her finger along the side of his thigh. He spread his legs wider to accommodate her, loving the feel of her hands on his skin.

He shrugged. “I’m not a hero. I’m just a guy doing his job.”

“No, you’re not. You’re so much more than that. You’re my hero, and I doubt you will ever realize how much you mean to me.”

He hoped he could live up to her words. He needed to be the man she saw him as, because he’d never had anyone believe in him before. Never had a woman look at him the way that she did.

She kept touching him and it was having a pronounced effect on him. She smiled up at him when his erection stirred, growing harder.

“Are you done talking?” she asked him.

There was no maybe about it. He skimmed his hand down her curvy figure. She fondled his erection, resting her head on his lower stomach. He felt each exhalation of her breath against his cock.

He put his hand on her head, wrapping his fingers through her hair and rubbing the back of her head. She shifted around until she was lying between his spread legs, looking up at him.

Having her between his legs, his hand on her head, he drew her toward his erection. She smiled up at him and licked the tip of him. His hips jerked up in reaction.

Stroking his length while she sucked on the tip of his penis, she had him in the palm of her hand. She took him into her mouth and he thought he’d die from the sweet ecstasy of her.

He drew her up his body before he spilled himself in her mouth. He reached for a condom with one hand and donned it quickly. He tested her and found her body warm, wet, and ready for him.

She straddled him and he entered in her in one smooth motion. She rode him hard, her breasts bouncing with each movement, and they both climbed quickly toward their climax, shuddering together and crying each other’s names. Then she collapsed against his chest and he held her tightly, knowing he wasn’t letting her go.

Kirk had never had sex like this before. Olivia simply rocked his world and his soul and made him feel like he couldn’t survive without her.

And he was a survivor, he’d always been. But that didn’t really rattle him too much. He’d been good at adapting to situations and figuring out how to keep himself alive.

What bothered him was the fact that Olivia was a part of him now. He wasn’t a loner anymore. She might not even realize that she’d changed him, but she had.

He rolled them both to their sides and tucked her up close to him. She put her head on his chest right over his heart and he bent down to kiss the top of her head.

As he held her next to him he made a vow to always be there for her and to protect her. This was beyond whatever favor Savage had wanted the team to do for an old friend of Anna’s. This was his vow to his woman.

Without question, Olivia Pontuf had become more than a job to him.

A
UGUST
4, P
RETORIA SAFE HOUSE

O
livia woke in the middle of the night, startled for a minute at the feel of a man’s arm around her.
Kirk
. His heat surrounded her completely. She skimmed her fingers over his arm down to his wrist, sliding her fingers through his until they were joined.

What was she going to do? Nothing had been settled and she knew that they both probably were needed downstairs to analyze the files that they had gotten out of Ray’s office tonight. But right now she just wanted to stay right here.

He’d made love to her and then they’d drifted off to sleep. Her body ached in places she hadn’t known it could. The room smelled of sex and the scent of Kirk. There was no clock in the room that she could see, but the room was lightening as the sun began to rise. She didn’t want the night to end, but she knew she couldn’t hide from the new day. She had to face everything that was going on around her.

She had made her decision. She’d ask Kirk to teach her some self-defense moves so she didn’t feel so out of her element the next time she was confronted with someone like Burati. Kirk’s hand tightened under hers. His cock hardened against her butt and he slid his hand up her body to cup her breast. She glanced over her shoulder at him.

She knew he saw the questions and indecision on her face, but when he would have spoken, she turned in his arms and took his mouth with hers, kissed him so that the words he would speak couldn’t be heard.

She closed her eyes and held on to his shoulders and pretended that this was all a pretty dream because she needed this moment to be real. She needed the emotions he elicited in her to be true. He sucked her tongue into his mouth and nibbled on it. She liked the way he tasted first thing in the morning.

He fondled her breasts, rubbing his palms over her nipples until they were hard and aching for his mouth. She shifted her leg up over his hip, felt the roughness of his scar against her inner thigh. Remembered the craziness of his bold actions. Remembered that at the end of the day Kirk was a hero, though he’d never call himself one.

His erection rubbed against her. She rocked against it, rubbing her wetness up and down his cock. He lifted his head for a second to smile down at her. There was something in that smile that she didn’t want to acknowledge. A real tenderness and caring that she wasn’t sure she was ready to recognize between them.

She leaned over him, reaching for the condoms on the nightstand. He bent and caught her nipple between his lips, suckling her sweetly, strongly, drawing hard on her nipple until she moaned his name. Her hands holding his head, the condom falling forgotten in the sheets.

She rubbed her center against his hard-on, trying to get closer to him. Trying to assuage an ache that she was only now realizing was so much more than physical.

He switched to her other breast, then slid down her body. His fingers caressed her between her legs. His finger circled her opening before dipping into her and taking her own moisture and using it to lubricate his fingers as he caressed her clitoris. She squirmed under his touch, reaching for his cock, drawing him closer to her.

She shifted around on the bed so that he was poised at the entrance of her body. He entered her, just the tip, then pulled back.

“Condom?”

Where had she dropped it? She rolled over to look for it. His hands massaged her back all the way down to her buttocks, then she felt the searing heat of his mouth on her. The warm wet kisses that lingered over each inch of her skin. He nibbled on the cheeks of her backside and then tongued the crease between them. No one had ever touched her there, and she wasn’t sure where it would lead now.

She squirmed, needing more from him. She felt his hand on her at her entrance, dipping into her center and then tracing a teasing pattern over her backside. She shifted away from his probing fingers and found the condom, trying to turn over to hand it to him.

“Stay like this,” he said. She heard him rip open the condom and turned in time to see him donning it. She tried to roll onto her back again. It might be better if she couldn’t see his face. If somehow she could force him back into the sex-toy category. As if he’d ever been there.

But he put his hand in the center of her back and held her still. Then he slid down next to her on the bed and drew her back in his arms. He pulled her top leg back over her hips so that she was open to him.

She felt his hand on her mound, his palm between her legs, stretching her open to accommodate him. Then the tip of his cock was nestled at her opening. He rocked against her, teasing her with just that small penetration.

But she needed more. She needed him. Needed him deep inside her so that she could not think about the impact this night was going to have on her. She was desperate to have him inside her.

She reached between their open legs, circled her hand around the base of his cock, and squeezed lightly putting enough pressure on him that he jerked against her, then slid further into her body. He rested his thumb against her clit and rubbed it up and down while he kept up the leisurely thrusting in and out of her.

His other hand came up to her breast, pinching her nipples lightly at first but then harder as his thrusts increased and the pressure grew between them.

She reached lower, scoring his sac with her fingernails. She felt his teeth against her shoulder, a small bite followed by a soothing kiss and his tongue against her neck.

He thrust harder against her, and she felt everything inside her building toward her orgasm. She came fast and hard and heard him shout her name in her ear. She shook with the physical sensations rushing through her but also the emotional upheaval.

The fact was that no matter how hard she tried to make this feel normal it never was going to be. Kirk wasn’t like the other men she’d had in her life. And she thanked God for it as he held her tenderly in his arms. He was all man and he made her want to be all woman, with all of a woman’s strengths.

He held her tenderly as he continued thrusting into her, riding out his climax and extending hers until another wave rose.

She gripped his thigh, her nails digging into his leg. Before he turned her in his arms and kissed with long drugging kisses that made it easy for her to drift back to sleep with his arms around her, made it easy to forget that she wasn’t going to get used to his arms around her. This was for one night. As she drifted off, she snuggled closer to him.

She curled herself around him and wrapped his strength around her. She pretended that he was hers forever and not just until she was safe again. That thought helped her drift off in peaceful slumber and made sure that she didn’t have nightmares.

Kirk got out of bed, careful not to wake Olivia. He watched her sleeping, admired the lacy negligee draped over her body. He found his pants and his weapon and walked out of the bedroom. Downstairs he found Laz on guard duty.

“Where is everyone?”

“Savage and Hamm are still with Burati—he called them last night and asked to work with us to set a trap for Lambert. Wenz and Van are watching the Onyx Mine to make sure that we know when Lambert makes a move. Both men are good at what they do and at keeping quiet.”

“So you haven’t found anything yet?”

“Not really. Anna’s been working on the files we got, but I think she needs to ask Olivia a few questions.”

“She’s still sleeping,” Kirk said.

“You’re mighty protective of that woman…”

“Don’t, Laz.”

Laz looked up at him. “I’m not saying a word.”

But Laz didn’t have to. Kirk understood that a woman like Olivia could mess a man up, mess up his thinking, and a guy who didn’t think could end up dead. “I’m still focused on the job.”

“I’d never think you weren’t.”

“Is there anything in the kitchen for breakfast?” Kirk asked Laz, needing to get away from his teammate and back to his woman. Some time during the night he’d realized that she was his.

“There’s some fresh fruit in the fridge and some rolls. That’s it.”

“Thanks,” Kirk said. He went in the kitchen and made a tray of food for Olivia and himself, then carried it back upstairs.

He let himself into the bedroom, locking the door behind him. He put the tray on the nightstand and then took off his jeans. He crawled back into the bed with her and kissed her awake.

“Morning,” he said.

She stretched and smiled up at him sleepily. He knew that this moment might be the last quiet one they had together.

“Good morning.”

“Want some breakfast?”

“Yes, please.”

He handed her a mug of coffee and then propped the pillows up behind her so they could both lean back against them. He moved her around until she was seated between his legs with her back resting against his chest.

He put her coffee mug back on the tray and brought over the bowl of chilled strawberries.

He held the bowl away from her when she reached for the container. “Lean back against me. I want to feed you.”

“What, no please?”

“Please.”

He decided he wanted to see and shifted them both so that he lay on his back and drew her down next to him. He leaned on his elbow so that he looked down at her. He opened the container and took out one of the strawberries. He rubbed it against her lips until she opened them, then inserted just the tip of the berry between her teeth. She took a bite. Juice dripped down her chin.

He caught it with his tongue, then drew her lower lip between his teeth and suckled on it. She opened her mouth on a sigh. “This feels sinful to me.”

“Me, too. I’ve never done this before,” he said.

“Had breakfast in bed?”

“Yup. I’m usually an eating a bowl of cereal over the sink kind of guy,” he said.

“I usually skip breakfast. No man’s ever brought me breakfast in bed before.”

He was glad he’d been the first to do it. He had done it…because he wanted her to start feeling normal. Knew she needed to stop being so afraid if she was going to adjust to getting back to her real life.

“Take the top of your negligee down.”

She reached up and slipped the straps down her arms. The bodice of the nightgown loosened, but the fabric still covered her breasts. He brushed the straps aside and ran the juicy berry along her collarbone, bending to trace the trail left by the juice with his tongue.

She reached between them and caressed his chest. He liked her hands on his skin, loved the way she always touched him despite his scarred body. “You lie back.”

He did as she asked, and she leaned over him, the fabric of her negligee falling down to reveal the curves of her pretty breasts. He rubbed the berry he still had in his hand over her nipples, then leaned up to lick the juice off her. She moaned his name and arched her back. He wrapped one arm around her and continued to lick and suckle her breasts.

She shifted around on his lap until she straddled him. He lifted his head when she tugged on his hair. She put a ripe berry between his teeth and he bit down on it. Juice slipped from the edge of his mouth into hers. Her tongue tangled with his. The kiss was sweet and hot.

She pushed on his shoulders, urging him onto his back. She used the berry in her hand to trace circles on his chest, around his nipples and then down the line of hair that disappeared under the waistband of his pants. She leaned down, rubbing her breasts against him, and then licked the juice off him.

He pulled the hem of her nightgown up her legs until it was bunched at her waist.

“Lay on top of me,” he said.

She lowered herself on top of him, but he stopped her. “On your back.”

“What?”

“Trust me. You’ll like this.”

He wanted to make love to her again but didn’t want to look in her eyes. He shifted her until she was reclined on top of him. She nestled her head on his shoulder. He brought his hands up to cup her breasts and teased them.

He reached between her legs. She was already damp. He loved how hot she got for him. He dipped one finger into her and she shivered against him.

His erection was trapped between their bodies and he reached down with his other hand to free himself. He found the condom he’d left on the nightstand earlier and sheathed himself with it.

Olivia’s wrist came over his and shifted her legs on top of his. He slipped the head of his cock into her body. He couldn’t get deep penetration this way, but it still felt good.

Olivia shifted on top of him. One of her legs fell outside his. She put her right palm against the base of his shaft as she shifted up and then back down. He felt the metal of her rings against his hot skin. She moved slowly, building tension between them. He fondled her breast with one hand.

They rocked together until the tension built and then he felt her shuddering around him. He shifted her off his body, pulling his erection out of her. Settling himself over her, he thrust deep, driving into her three times before his own climax rocked through his body. He cradled her close in his arms, knowing all he could do was keep her safe and get rid of Lambert. Then it would be time to move on once again.

Olivia felt raw from all the lovemaking with Kirk. He made her feel more alive or maybe it was that she was simply taking the time to enjoy being alive after having come so close to dying.

She didn’t really want to think about what could have been tonight. Kirk was way too real and too here for her to be thinking of another man. They’d both had a shower and gotten dressed and she knew it was time to head downstairs and help Anna with her search through Ray’s files. But she needed one more moment with Kirk.

“Hold me,” she said.

He put his gun in his shoulder holster and came over, drawing her into his arms. Standing in the middle of her bedroom, she rested her head on his shoulder and felt the strength implicit in the way he held her. She felt a kind of bond that went deeper than sex, which scared the hell out of her.

She could understand an attachment to him that came from his making her feel safe. He had one hand in her hair, his fingers massaging the back of her neck and the other hand at her waist. She tipped her head back, met his warm gray gaze, and realized that she wasn’t going to hide anymore. Not from herself, him, or the blatant sexuality that he brought effortlessly to the surface.