Which was fine. Because all they really needed was that bed.
Her pulse sped up as Tate reached for the knot on his towel. Despite the surge of excitement, she also experienced a flicker of apprehension. Was she really going to do this? Sleep with a man she still barely knew?
Tate’s towel hit the floor, officially making the answer to both those questions a big, resounding yes. He was the most incredible-looking man she’d ever seen. A warrior to the core, with long limbs, roped muscles and various scars marring his golden skin.
Her heart screeched to a stop, then took off full speed ahead as she watched his arousal grow before her eyes. Her mouth watered, and without any conscious thought, she found herself standing in front of him and wrapping her fingers around his erect shaft.
A low groan rumbled out of his chest. “Are you sure?” he asked again.
She nodded. “I’m tired of fighting this attraction.” To prove it, she eased her hand along the hard length of him, then released him so she could reach for the hem of her T-shirt.
“We still don’t trust each other,” he reminded her, his dark green eyes locking with hers.
“Well, as someone once told me, sex and trust don’t necessarily go hand in hand.”
She took off her shirt and sports bra, and tossed them on the floor.
Tate’s gaze instantly homed in on her bare breasts. Her nipples puckered in response, hard and tingly, and an answering flash of lust and appreciation lit his face.
But then he seemed to notice the bandage on her arm. “You’re hurt,” he mumbled. “You’re not up to this.”
She smiled faintly. “Says who?”
Without breaking eye contact, Eva unbuttoned her jeans and wiggled out of them, then peeled her panties down her legs. She straightened up and stood there fully naked, every inch of her skin burning as Tate devoured her with his eyes.
Three feet of distance stood between them, between their respectively naked bodies, between their mouths and their hands, but she refused to bridge that distance. She’d already made this first move, and now she wanted Tate to come to her. She wanted to watch him fall apart, to give in to the attraction that had been tormenting her hormones for days now.
It didn’t take long before she got her wish. Tate raked his hot gaze over her one final time, then let out a growl that startled her, and the next thing she knew, she was flat on her back with his big warrior body crushing her on the bed.
He captured her mouth in a toe-curling kiss, stealing the breath right out of her lungs. As his tongue plundered and possessed, he rocked his hips, his heavy erection pulsing against her belly and making her moan with abandon.
“You taste so good,” he muttered before kissing her again.
Long, deep and passionate. His drugging kisses had her head spinning, and when his hands began a slow exploration of her body, she nearly passed out from the incredible sensations. His callused palms scraped her hypersensitive skin. Teased, caressed, tickled. He cupped her breasts, feathering his fingertips over her rigid nipples and summoning another moan from her lips.
“You like this?” he murmured, and then he gently pinched her nipples.
“Yes.” Her head flopped to the side, her arms coming around his broad shoulders, clinging to him, needing to steady herself. She was lying down, but she feared if she didn’t have something to hold on to, she might actually be swept away by the unbelievable waves of pleasure coursing through her.
Planting a quick kiss on her lips, Tate dipped his head and inched his body lower, so that his mouth was level with her breasts. Without hesitation, he took possession of a nipple, flicking his hot, wet tongue over it before suckling. A bolt of heat sizzled from her nipple right down to the juncture of her thighs, and her hips shot off the bed, her aching core seeking relief.
Tate chuckled. He gripped her waist to steady her, then shifted his attention to her other breast, getting the exact same reaction out of her.
“Please, I need more,” she choked out. “I need you.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, you’ll get me.”
Amusement rang from his husky voice, but though his words were meant to reassure, his teasing didn’t subside. While his mouth continued tending to her breasts, he glided one hand down her body and brought it between her legs, stroking her damp folds with barely there caresses that caused frustration to build in her body.
The tension between her legs was liable to kill her. And the heat. God, her skin was on fire, humming, crackling, threatening to burn her alive.
Sweat broke out on her forehead. “More,” she pleaded, her hand desperately moving between their bodies in search of his erection.
A strangled groan left Tate’s lips, and when she focused her eyes, she realized that he was not as calm and blasé as she’d thought he was. His facial muscles were taut, green eyes glittering with dark hunger that would’ve scared her if she weren’t feeling the same damn thing.
His voice was hoarse, strained, as if he were speaking through clenched teeth. “I’m trying to make this last, sweetheart.” The tendons in his neck tightened as he forcibly moved her hand off his arousal. “It’s been too long for me.”
“For me, too,” she mumbled. “Which is why I don’t want to be teased right now. I want...” She moved her hand right back to his hard length and squeezed. “I want you. Now, Tate.”
With a groan, he removed her hand again, and she nearly slugged him out of sheer frustration, but fortunately, he was simply donning a condom.
Anticipation gathered as she waited for him to sheathe himself. Her nipples tingled, her thighs clenched, her sex throbbed. She’d never felt this way before. Hot, needy, as if she’d actually die if she didn’t have this man inside her.
And when he gave her what she craved and drove his cock deep, the anticipation transformed into an explosion of heat and ecstasy that made her cry out and convulse.
Waves of release shuddered through her from that very first stroke. She hadn’t realized how badly her body had needed this, and as her climax skyrocketed into her and sent her soaring, Eva wrapped her legs around Tate’s trim hips and rode out the release.
Her climax ebbed, leaving her feeling warm and sated and unbelievably contented. She watched Tate’s face, floored by the passion she saw there, the naked need, the softness that she’d never seen before and probably wouldn’t see again, at least not outside the bedroom. Watching this big, strong man come apart triggered another rush of pleasure, another tiny orgasm that skipped along her nerve endings and made her gasp with surprised delight.
“Eva.” He said her name on a groan, and his thrusts quickened, shortened, then stopped altogether as he buried himself deep and jerked with release.
Running her hands along his muscular back, she smiled in the darkness and waited for him to catch his breath. She felt his heartbeat hammering against her breasts, and her smile widened at the knowledge that she’d put him in this state of frantic excitement.
When he rolled off her, she experienced a pang of disappointment, but to her surprise, he didn’t get up and walk away. Rather, he slung his arm around her and pulled her close, and although his motions had a slightly awkward feel to them, Eva didn’t complain.
“How’s the arm?” he asked, his voice gruff.
“It’s fine.” She rested her cheek against his damp chest, inhaling the clean, soapy smell of him, enjoying the way his light dusting of chest hair abraded her cheek.
After a moment, he idly began stroking the small of her back, the awkwardness in the gesture evident once more. Clearly he wasn’t a cuddler, and a strange sense of joy tickled her chest over the fact that he was still here, snuggling in bed with her. She’d needed the sex, but she suspected she needed this more—nestling next to a warm male body that wasn’t her son’s, feeling sheltered in a pair of strong arms.
“What was your brother like?” she whispered.
His chest stiffened beneath her cheek. “Why do you ask?”
“I’
m just curious. It’s clear you loved him very much. I mean, you’re willing to give up your own life just to avenge him.” She paused, a faint smile tugging on her lips. “Was he a thorny, grumpy pain in the ass, too?”
She could practically feel Tate rolling his eyes. “No. He wasn’t any of those things.”
“Then what was he like?”
It took several seconds before he replied, and when he did, his voice was thick with grief. “An optimist. Will was the eternal optimist. He always looked for the best in people, gave you the benefit of the doubt even when you didn’t deserve it. He was a damn good soldier, but he lacked that killer instinct. Don’t get me wrong, he was tough as nails, and he could kill without batting an eye just like all the other men on the unit, but he didn’t have that ruthlessness that a lot of us Special Forces guys have, and he definitely wasn’t jaded, which is something that happens real fast in our line of work.”
“So he was a glass-half-full kinda man.”
“More like glass-is-overflowing-it’s-so-full,” Tate said, sounding wistful. “I never understood how he could be so damn happy all the damn time. I used to think it had to be an act, but Christ, it wasn’t. My brother was actually one of those rare people who was completely happy with every aspect of his life.”
Eva smiled in the darkness. “That’s what I want for Rafe,” she confessed. “I want him to grow up happy and positive. I don’t ever want him to have that ruthlessness you just talked about.”
Her heart began to weep as she realized it might already be too late. Rafe was only three, and his life was anything but normal. Moving around from place to place, no real family except for her, no friends, no house or picket fence or drooling golden retriever to toss a stick to. And being ambushed by Hector’s men in Istanbul had scared him, enough to give him recurring nightmares. How could she ever hope for her son to be happy and positive when all she’d shown him so far was sad and negative?
“Hector needs to die.” The lump in her throat was so enormous, she could barely keep talking. She gulped once, twice, blinking back tears. “Rafe won’t be able to lead a normal life until that maniac is out of our lives.”
Tate’s touch was warm and surprisingly protective as he dragged his hand over her bare shoulder. “Cruz won’t come after you or your kid again. I’ll make sure of it, Eva.”
Despite her rapid blinking, two tears slid out from the corners of her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Before she could stop it, a rush of shame flooded her, and though she quickly tried to tamp it down, she wasn’t fast enough. As a result, shivers racked her body and the tears fell a little bit faster.
Tate, of course, didn’t miss either reaction. “What’s wrong?” he demanded, tightening his grip on her.
“I’m the one who did this to my son.” Her voice shook. “I’m the reason he doesn’t have a normal life, Tate.”
“Eva—”
“You know it’s true,” she cut in, unable to curb the bitterness that climbed up her throat. “If I hadn’t been so caught up in saving the world I wouldn’t have supported the ULF. I wouldn’t have met Hector. Rafe would have a father who wasn’t—” She halted abruptly, a vise of fear squeezing her gut at her slip-up.
“A father who wasn’t what?”
“Dead,” she finished. “A father who wasn’t dead.”
For the first time since she’d met Tate, the lie got stuck in her throat like a clump of hair in the drain. Maybe it was because they were naked in bed together. Lies seemed so out of place in such an intimate setting.
“You loved him? Rafe’s old man?” Tate sounded oddly annoyed, as if he didn’t want to ask but curiosity had gotten the best of him.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, managing a quick nod. “I did. I loved him a lot.”
For all of twenty minutes, she failed to add. It was true, though—she had loved Hector at the beginning. He’d been larger than life. A true rebel with a cause, and it was a cause she’d truly believed in: freeing the people of San Marquez from a government that was oppressing, starving and killing them. But when the ULF’s methods had gone from peaceful to violent in the blink of an eye, Eva had realized that the “cause” had never been about saving anyone, only about fattening up Hector’s wallet.
But she couldn’t say any of this to Tate, not without the risk of revealing details she couldn’t afford to reveal.
“Rafe will never know his father,” she said sadly. “Hector made sure of that.”
“Fathers are overrated,” Tate quipped.
Biting her lip, she propped herself up on one elbow and studied his face. “Do you really never plan on having kids?”
“Nope.”
“Is it a fear thing? You think you might end up like your dad?”
He chuckled. “You’re reading far too much into it. I’m not afraid I’ll end up beating my kids—trust me, that’ll never frickin’ happen. I just don’t want to be responsible for another human being. Now that Will is gone, I don’t owe anything to anyone. Only myself.”
“Must be nice,” she murmured, though she was only being half-serious. Truth was, she wouldn’t trade Rafe for the world. She’d rather be overburdened with responsibility and have her son in her life than be worry free without him.
“You know what would be nicer?” He rolled her over without warning, his lips hovering over hers. “This.”
He kissed her, softly at first, then with more urgency, until she was gasping for air and clinging to his sculpted shoulders. “Tate—”
“No more talking,” he said hoarsely. “We already established that we might die tomorrow. Wouldn’t we rather spend tonight doing more interesting things than talking?”
He had a point.
With a contented sigh, she closed her eyes and relinquished control, letting Tate bring her to new levels of passion, losing herself in the delicious sensation of him moving inside her, the release that sent her soaring to dazzling heights and reduced her to a hot, boneless mess when it finally receded.
Later, when they were once again sated, Tate pulled her into his arms and tucked her into his bare chest. With his big, warm body spooning her from behind, Eva fell asleep feeling safer than she’d felt in a long, long time.
* * *
Tate had just poured himself some coffee the next morning when Eva’s voice wafted from the living room. “Tate, get in here. My friend just got back to me.”
His shoulders went rigid. Gripping the tin cup, he stalked out of the kitchen. Rather than join Eva on the couch, he loomed over her, his tension levels at an all-time high.
“What did he find?” Tate demanded.
Ignoring him, Eva continued to peer at the computer screen with a look of extreme concentration. As she read, his impatience climbed higher and higher, until he finally put down his cup and crossed his arms over his chest before he gave in to the urge and snatched the laptop from her hands.
“Okay, this isn’t much,” she announced. “He couldn’t find any record of that last mission, and all the files on you and the members of your unit have officially been locked. Only the highest security clearance can access them, and he didn’t want to trigger any red flags by trying to infiltrate those restricted areas.”
Tate fought a burst of disappointment. Granted, he hadn’t expected some computer hacker to be able to solve this mystery in twenty-four hours when he himself hadn’t learned diddly-squat in eight months, but he couldn’t deny that Eva’s confidence had gotten some of his hopes up.
“Oh, well. You tried,” he said with a shrug, as he handed her back the laptop.
Her teeth dug into her bottom lip for a moment, while her gaze scanned the screen. “He found quite a lot of background information on that doctor, though. You said his name was Richard Harrison, right?”
Tate furrowed his brows. “Yeah.”
“Is this him?” She angled the laptop so he could see the screen.
Squatting down, he studied the photograph and gave a brisk nod. The salt
-and-pepper hair, ruddy cheeks and deep brackets around a thin mouth definitely belonged to Dr. Harrison. The man looked the same as Tate remembered, minus the bullet between the eyes, of course.
Eva turned the laptop back, her sharp blue eyes narrowing the more she read. “Huh. That’s weird.”
Tate’s instincts kicked into gear. “What’s weird?”
“What do you know about Dr. Harrison?”
He searched his brain, trying to remember the details he’d been provided eight months ago. “Harrison worked for a medical research lab. I was told he was involved in developing vaccines and he came here to test the water in the towns and villages that were affected by that cholera outbreak a few years back.”
Eva nodded absently. “Right, I remember that. Hurricane Isabella did a number on the water systems. More than a hundred thousand people died during that outbreak.”
“Well, apparently Harrison was collecting samples—I guess he was trying to develop a more effective vaccination for cholera. He was working out of a small field hospital in Corazón to do his research. I think he brought a couple of assistants with him.”
“Okay. But...” She drifted off, her tone distracted.
“But what?”
She wrinkled her forehead. “But Harrison didn’t develop vaccinations. According to this, he was the department head for the lab’s biological development unit.”
Tate stiffened. “What?”
“It says so right in the file. Harrison worked for D&M Initiative, one of the biggest private research labs in the country. The world, actually. They work closely with the government, the WHO, CDC, pretty much all the big players in the health sphere. Like I said, Harrison’s specialty was biological development.”
Alarm bells went off in his head. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I’m guessing it’s a euphemism for biological weapons,” she said with a wry look. “The U.S. supposedly shut down its biological weapons program a long time ago, but the government still provides funding for medical defense. Private labs and government agencies are continually conducting research on how to defend against potential bio attacks.” She shrugged. “Call me a cynic, but personally I think our government focuses on more than just defense. I think offensive programs are still going on, whether the White House admits it or not.”