WAR: Opposition: (WAR Book 3) (32 page)

“Oh.” She stared at him in amazement. He’d said something similar before, when she’d told him about the attack. But feeling his body vibrate with outraged fury on her behalf truly brought the message home. He cared enough to be angry over the attack. Even if he followed through on his threat to leave her, she at least had that knowledge.

Seth traced his finger over the scars on her right arm. “You’re the strongest, kindest, most fascinating woman I’ve ever met.” Some of the anger left him. “Your scars emphasize that you’re a survivor.” He raised her arm and kissed one of the larger scars. “They make you sexy.”

She huffed in disbelief. “Scars are sexy?”

“Survivors are sexy,” he clarified. “A survivor has lived life to the fullest, experiencing both the good and the bad. That’s sexier than a woman who’s lived a sheltered life and never been deeply challenged.”

Warmth spread through her at his words. “You’re doing it again, Seth,” she murmured.

“What?” He lifted his head.

“Saying the exact right thing to make me feel whole, instead of like a woman who’s barely holding the pieces together after being broken.” She stroked his hair, then pulled him up for a kiss. Seth let her take the lead, and at first she was content to kiss him with all the gratitude and relief in her heart. That Seth—a man who’d endured his own tragedy—found her strong and worthy of admiration meant more than all the socially correct, but shallow, assurances other people had made when they’d learned of her past.

She felt as if Seth had accepted her into a special survivor’s club.

But the kiss didn’t stay sweet and grateful for long. Having dispelled the fear, her blood quickly heated again. Before long their tongues were dueling as their hands fought to pull each other closer. When Kirra pulled back to take a breath, she remembered the mirror. Turning to face the vanity, she reached back with her hand until Seth once again stood behind her, then guided his hands so that they crossed over her belly.

For a couple of heartbeats she watched their reflection. Seth looked both fiercely protective and so damn sexy with his kiss-swollen lips that her mouth watered. She looked as if she’d just been thoroughly kissed and was anticipating more. She met her own gaze and saw a new confidence there. A resolve not to let her fears and insecurities cause her to waste a single moment with this remarkable man.

With a tiny smile at her mirror self, Kirra raised her arm and curled her hand around the back of Seth’s head. Then she moved his right hand underneath the hem of her shirt. Taking her cue, he pushed the fabric slowly up her body until he revealed her breast to the lantern light.

Holding the shirt in place, he slid his left hand down her body and lifted the other side of her shirt until her second breast was exposed.

“So pretty,” Seth breathed. The heated appreciation in his eyes warmed her and gave her confidence. She shimmied her hips and was rewarded with his rough groan and the hard press of his arousal against her lower back.

Still holding his gaze, Kirra lifted both arms while he pulled the shirt up and over her head. Then he placed both of her hands at the back of his neck while his eyes ate up her naked torso.

Seth was right. The sight of the two of them in the mirror was highly erotic.

Kirra turned her head and sought his mouth for a deep, burning kiss that seared all the way to her bare feet. His fingers stroked down her chest to pet and tease her breasts and she moaned in pleasure.

While their tongues tangled, he lightly pinched and tweaked her nipples until she broke the kiss on a gasp of pleasure. Then he slid his lips down to her neck. With her hands still locked behind his neck, she watched in the mirror as his hands played with her breasts. In the dim light, she could barely make out the scars on her torso, even knowing where the worst of them were.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” Seth murmured, meeting her gaze in the mirror.

The heat and awe in his eyes gave his words the ring of truth. Kirra tightened her grip on his neck, which caused her back to arch and her breasts to thrust out, demanding more of his touch.

Flashing her a wicked smile, Seth put his index finger to her mouth. “Suck me in, sweetheart.”

She opened and welcomed his finger inside, swirling her tongue around him. Then he pulled out and traced the dampness in a pattern over her nipple while he offered her his other finger.

The contrast of the dampness with the air temperature made her nipple tighten painfully. Then he set his mouth against the side of her neck in an open kiss while he took both breasts in his hands and worked them until she was squirming against him. “Seth,” she groaned.

“You like this, huh?” He slipped one hand off her breast and down her belly, causing all of her muscles to tighten in anticipation. He ran his finger around her waistband, then shoved her skirt to the floor. Then, with her only clad in her panties, he pushed his finger underneath the thin nylon and began to play with her clit.

She writhed and called him names.

He chuckled. “Payback’s a bitch, sweetheart.”

As she’d done with him, he kept pulling back every time she was on the edge. Finally, he knelt and pulled her panties down. Then he guided her until she sat on the end of the bed. As he lifted first one of her feet, then the other to his shoulders, she settled back on her elbows. Anticipation fluttered in her belly as she watched his head dip toward her core.

But he only blew on her.

“Seth!”

“Mmm…” He teased her with light kisses alternated with hot breaths until she dug her fingers into his hair.

“Please, Seth.”

“Please, what?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Please suck me.”

“Like this?” He drew lightly on her clit with his lips.

“No. Harder.”

He chuckled, the sound vibrating deliciously against her sensitive flesh. She feared he wouldn’t obey her, but then his lips latched onto her and suckled hard enough that she cried out.

He glanced up at her. “Can you see us in the mirror?”

She raised her head. “Yes.” Her womb clenched at the sight of Seth’s bare back with her toes peeking over his shoulders. She could just barely see her breasts, neck and head over his bent head.

The sight was so erotic that she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Then he speared his tongue inside her and her head fell back on a wave of pleasure. She tightened her fingers in his hair and held on for dear life as he used his lips and tongue and the slightest pressure from his teeth to send her up and up and up until she came with a convulsion that nearly caused her to lose consciousness.

But the fiend wasn’t done with her. He kissed his way up her body, finding every scar and making love to each one with his mouth before moving on. All the while he murmured words of praise and encouragement, telling her how sexy and beautiful and strong she was. Soothing all the corresponding wounds in her soul. Finally, he reached her mouth and kissed her so fiercely that new fires ignited deep inside her. She gasped and clutched at his back, but after one more kiss, he climbed off the bed.

“No!”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’m not done with you yet.” He took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. “Stand here.”

“Stand? How? My legs are jelly.” Yet she found herself doing as he asked, letting him place her in front of the mirror with her hands braced on the top of the vanity, her butt sticking out behind her, and her feet splayed.

“Oh, yeah. So pretty.”

Seth shucked his shorts and the sight of his fully erect cock springing free brought even more parts of Kirra’s body back to life. He reached for the corner of the vanity and that’s when Kirra noticed a couple of condom packets. She raised her eyebrows.

“First aid kit,” he murmured.

It took him only a moment to sheathe himself, then he stepped forward and cradled her against him, her back to his chest. She snuggled closer, trapping his cock against her lower back. His hands reached around and played with her breasts while his mouth nipped and sucked at her neck and shoulders.

It was an erotic sight, watching him bring her back to arousal, seeing the telltale signs as her body prepared to accept him. Just when she thought she might come again, he lifted his head. Their eyes caught in the mirror and Kirra gasped. Beneath the heat there was something else in his eyes. Something that reached in and curled around her heart, raising an answering emotion. Love.

She recognized it. Welcomed it. Finally admitted that it was real.

Seth would deny it with his last breath. She didn’t understand why, just as she didn’t understand why he was so determined to leave her.

Refusing to let sorrow spoil the moment, she focused instead on the sensuality as he reached down and guided himself into her. Her muscles clenched around him, making him fight for each inch. But at last he was seated deep inside her. For a long while she held his gaze in the mirror. Deeply aware that although they appeared to be two people, at this moment they were one.

Then he began moving.

Kirra tried to keep her eyes on their reflection, but her body responded to his increasingly fast thrusts by arching her back. He’d braced himself by planting his hands next to hers on the vanity top and she clasped their fingers together as he pounded into her again and again. Her breasts swung with each thrust. Her hair had fallen out of its braid, or maybe Seth had freed it, she couldn’t remember. But it tumbled across her chest, forming a curtain that moved with the rhythm of their lovemaking.

She felt wild. Primal.

Her body rose onto tiptoe, trying to take him deeper. Then she arched back as her orgasm grabbed hold of her. She felt as if she hung in space, suspended by a glittering wave of pleasure. Seth put his mouth against the juncture at the side of her neck. Through her sensual haze she felt the sharp prick of a bite, then his body convulsed. He shouted her name.

Several heartbeats later, she floated back to earth, into the safety and comfort of Seth’s arms. He tumbled her onto the bare mattress and followed her down. She curled against him, thrilled when he pulled her even tighter against his body, as if he, too, never wanted them to be separated.

A
n insistent noise
pulled Seth from a deep sleep. He tried to ignore it, but the noise sounded again. God dammit, couldn’t he get a few hours of desperately needed sleep without being interrupted? It couldn’t have been more than two or three hours ago that he’d carried Kirra out of the mirror bedroom down to this bed that actually had sheets to protect her against the cooling air. They were both exhausted.

If he could only—

The noise continued to hammer at Seth’s consciousness. He cracked open one eye and glared in the direction of the bedside table. His satellite phone flashed at him in the darkness. Answer me. Answer me.

Grunting in annoyance, Seth groped for the phone. His hand knocked against the transistor radio the phone was attached to and both devices clattered to the floor. Kirra mumbled in annoyance and stuck her head under the pillow.

Seth snatched up the phone and checked the caller display. Blocked caller. Typical. That’s what he got for working with criminals.

“Yeah?” he mumbled.

“Hughes, did you steal my boss’s plane?”

It took Seth’s sex-melted and sleep-deprived brain a moment to adjust to being called by his alias and then to place the speaker’s voice. “Martin?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, shit.” That’s right. Now he remembered. Rick Martin had left him a voicemail, but he’d elected not to call the man back.

“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” Martin said. “Was that ‘Ah, shit’ an admission that yes, you stole my boss’s plane? Or were you complaining because I woke you at four in the morning?”

Seth groaned and sank back against the pillows. He closed his eyes. Why him? Couldn’t the universe cut him a fucking break? He swallowed heavily. “That was me realizing that there’s a possibility I stole your boss’s plane.”

The pillow next to him shifted to reveal Kirra’s face. She blinked sleepily out at him. He placed one finger over his lips to make certain she understood not to make any sound.

“Does your boss have a company named Brilliant Skies?” Seth asked.

“Yes.” Martin laughed. “Dude, you’ve got some balls.”

“Didn’t know it was his plane,” Seth muttered, trying to figure out how much trouble he was in.

“Would it have made a difference?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. “Nah.”

Martin laughed again. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. Brass. Balls.”

“Can you get to the point so I can get my beauty sleep, already?” Seth asked, fighting a yawn. “I was a little busy stealing a plane last night.” He winced. “Uh…I hope your boss isn’t expecting me to return the plane, because it took a few bullets and I was forced to make an emergency landing.”

“Yeah, yeah. Listen up. The boss has a deal for you. He’ll forgive you the plane if you bring him the diamonds.”

“Wait.” Seth sat up, his exhaustion vanishing. “What diamonds?” Kirra emerged fully from underneath the pillow and propped herself on her elbow, so Seth grabbed his flashlight and turned it on.

Diamonds
? Seth mouthed at her.

She shook her head no.

“You mean you don’t know why the rebels are after you and the girl?” Martin demanded.

“Um.” Great, he was really coming off sounding like an idiot here. “I know the rebels think she has something of value. But seriously, diamonds?”

“Yeah,” Martin said. “Two million dollars in uncut diamonds that were on their way to my boss. They were stolen from the courier in Dahomey. The suspected thief was on a bus heading to the UAR.”

Seth’s gaze cut to Kirra.

“The rebels attacked the bus and killed all the passengers except one. Your Miss Neilson. Since the rebels have failed to locate the diamonds, everyone assumes the thief passed them off to the girl.”

“Fuck.” Had his initial suspicions been right? Had Kirra stolen the diamonds? Was her reluctance to use her thieving skills all an act?

Had she faked her affection as a way to bind him to her, knowing that she needed his help to make it out alive with the diamonds?

“So, I’m guessing you don’t know where the diamonds are?” Martin prodded.

“No. I didn’t have a clue what the rebels wanted.”

“Well, the offer is good for a limited time only. My boss needs the diamonds back before tomorrow, at ten. I’ll check in with you before that. Hand over the diamonds to me and my boss will write off the loss of the plane. Fail to deliver and he’ll make a public example of you.”

“Understood.” It didn’t matter what Morenga intended. The assassin still got first dibs on him.

“Good. And nice flying, by the way.” Still chuckling, Martin ended the call.

Seth tossed the phone onto the bedside table and stared into space. The rain, which had been a gentle murmur against the metal roof, increased to an onslaught.

“What’s this about diamonds?” Kirra shouted over the rain, sitting up and putting her hand on his back. She sounded genuinely clueless. But then, a thief would need to be an excellent liar in order to get the inside information needed to pull off certain jobs.

He sighed and put his arm around her shoulders. He had two choices here. Believe in Kirra’s innocence, or believe that she’d been playing him from the start because she needed help escaping with the diamonds.

It would be so much easier to say good-bye if he could believe she’d been using him. But that didn’t jibe with the woman he’d come to care about.

He traced his hand along her bare arm, not needing to look down in order to visualize her scars. Those scars marked her as a survivor. He knew the lengths people would go to in order to stay alive, so it was possible she’d take a dangerous job such as stealing Morenga’s diamonds. On a practical level, though, anyone who’d known about the diamonds would have had a wide range of skilled thieves to choose from within West Africa. Reaching out to a thief in South Africa, a woman whose white skin would make her stand out, made no kind of sense.

So yeah, his mind and his heart agreed on this one. Kirra was innocent of stealing the diamonds off the original thief. However, the possibility still existed that the thief had somehow passed them to her without realizing the coincidence of her past.

If Kirra did have the diamonds, could he use that to his advantage? He considered the possibilities as his thumbnail flicked against his index finger. Two million dollars would be enough to arrange for protection for his family, but it wouldn’t call the assassin off his tail.

Even with that kind of money, he still didn’t know anyone he’d trust to protect his family. Given the long reach of his blackmailer, no matter who he hired, he’d spend the rest of his life expecting to receive another set of photos showing that his family was once again under threat.

He sighed in resignation, then remembered that he hadn’t answered Kirra’s question. He waited until the rain died down in intensity so he didn’t have to raise his voice much. “The rebels think you’re in possession of two million dollars in stolen, uncut diamonds.”

“Me?” She tensed under his arm.

“Relax, my contact didn’t finger you as the thief. The suspected thief was killed along with the other bus passengers. Everyone assumes he somehow slipped them to you before he died.”

“Oh, my God. George.” She scooted out from under his arm and turned to face him. “I did notice that the man sitting next to me appeared a bit nervous, but I chalked that up to a general unease about rebel activity in the region. Later, while I was handcuffed to the window, I saw a couple of rebels shoot his legs out and question him. When he didn’t give them the answer they wanted, they killed him.” She lowered her head and clutched at the sheet with both hands.

“I thought he was such a nice man,” she murmured. “But if what you’re saying is right, he was probably the thief.” She twisted the sheet into two small peaks. “I was so relieved when George directed me to a bus which was going in the direction I needed, that I never questioned his assistance. After all, everyone talks about how friendly West Africans are.” Her voice hardened. “But George set me up, didn’t he?”

“It’s a strong possibility, yeah.”

“He must have planned from the start to pass me the diamonds.” She sucked in air. “I dozed off a couple of times, so George could have taken advantage to slip a bag of diamonds among my things.” She met Seth’s eyes. “But if that’s the case, how did we miss them? The rebels searched my backpack and found nothing. Plus, I’ve been in and out of my pack for days and there’s nothing there that doesn’t belong.”

“I don’t know. Let’s—” Seth’s phone beeped, indicating waiting voice messages. Dammit, he wished he’d never jerry-rigged the charger for his phone. With a mental groan, he snagged the phone off the bedside table and saw that he had five new messages. All of them time stamped yesterday.

Two of the messages were from Rick Martin, repeating his earlier instructions for Seth to call him. Two were from Bureh reminding Seth that he wanted Kirra turned over to him ASAP and berating Seth for causing an incident with Sankoh’s men.

Seth played the final message.

“Listen up, Jarrod.” Seth blinked at the unfamiliar, male South African voice, then frowned. He hadn’t even told Kirra his last name. How had his caller figured it out?

“You’d better keep my sister safe and sound or you’re a dead man,” the man snarled. “Have Kirra call me immediately at this number.” He recited his phone number twice.

“Kirra, you need to listen to this.” Seth activated the speaker and played the call again.

“Oh, my, God. That’s my brother, Dev!” Kirra released her death hold on the sheet and grabbed Seth’s arm. “How’d he get your number? And why’s he calling you Jared? Sankoh called you Michael Hughes, which I assume is some kind of alias.”

“Not Jared. Jarrod,” he snapped. He spelled the name out for her. “That’s my real last name.” He pointed his phone at her. “The important question is why didn’t you tell me that your brother is here in West Africa?”

“I—”

“Don’t try to tell me that he’s still back in South Africa, because his phone number has a local prefix.”

Kirra crossed her arms over her chest.

“Dammit, Kirra. Why didn’t you have me call your brother for help that first night when I asked if there was anyone you needed to contact? He could have picked you up.” He gestured angrily at the room. “Instead of being on the run, you would have been safe.” And Seth wouldn’t have made the colossal mistake of falling in love with her.

Fuck. He stared at Kirra as the certainty filled him. It was true. He loved her. No wonder the thought of saying good-bye to her made him want to put a fist through the nearest wall. But he still didn’t see any way out of his dilemma. Even if he managed to neutralize his blackmailer, there was still the assassin to worry about. He’d never ask Kirra to go on the run with him. Despite how well she’d handled herself these past few days, she deserved stability.

But dammit, he did not want to give her up.

Kirra pushed her hair out of her face and glared at him. “I didn’t have any way to contact Dev. He’s former military, now doing some sort of ultra-secret work. I had his phone number stored in my lost phone, so I never bothered to memorize it. He never told me who he worked for.”

“Special ops?”

“Um, I think so.”

It figured. There weren’t many white special ops guys left in West Africa. At least not on the right side of the law. Those who remained either worked for highly priced, private security firms, or had joined WAR.

With his luck, he bet he knew which group her brother fell into. Yeah, her brother belonging to WAR would explain how the man knew Seth’s real name. They reportedly had excellent intelligence. Fantastic. Bad enough to have Kirra’s overprotective older brother wanting to kick his ass. The last thing Seth needed was to tangle with an entire organization filled with highly trained soldiers who’d back her brother up if he decided to wipe Seth from the face of the earth.

On the other hand…Seth rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he could—

“Dev and I…Well…” Kirra shrugged, oblivious to his dilemma. But he couldn’t tell her about the threat—now threats, thanks to her brother—hanging over his head. She’d want to help him. And unless this new idea panned out, there was nothing she could do. It was better for her to remain ignorant. Then Seth could tell her good-bye without hurting her too deeply.

“As I said before,” Kirra continued, “Dev has always thought of me as stupid, irresponsible, and flighty.”

Seth snorted. “You’re the farthest thing from flighty. You’re strong and independent and a damn good strategic thinker.”

She inhaled sharply. Her eyes shone with such gratitude and, he hoped, love, that it took his breath away. “There you go again, saying the exact right thing.”

“What? It’s true. If your brother doesn’t understand that, then he doesn’t know you at all.”

“You’re right.” One of her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “We’ve never been close. He’s tried to be more patient with me since the attack, but he’s been away so much that he falls back into the same patterns whenever we meet. He gets all growly, tells me to grow up, and orders me around. I take offense and act out, only proving his point.”

“I think I need to have a man-to-man talk with your brother,” Seth said.

Kirra patted his chest. “Beating up on him isn’t going to solve anything. He’s as stubborn as they come. And well-trained.”

Hurt, Seth raised his brows and gave her a look. “Are you saying that I’m not highly trained?”

“Sure, as a pilot. I know you can use a gun, but Dev is also trained in hand-to-hand combat.”

“I’ll show you hand-to-hand.” He pounced on her and drove her onto her back on the bed.

Kirra laughed, smiled in that “gotcha” way, and batted her eyelashes at him.

He scowled at how she’d manipulated him, then chuckled and kissed her on the nose. “Do you win arguments by batting your eyelashes at your brother?”

“Ugh. No. I used to scream at him, then stomp away like a child.” She rolled her eyes. “Now I just wait until he’s said his piece, remind him that I’m in control of my life—not him—and leave him stewing on that.”