She stood in the moonlight and turned to face him. So damn beautiful his chest hurt. “Did you come up with a plan?”
“Yes.”
“Which is?” she asked.
“To attack, find the cord, and take the chip out.” He wanted to touch her, but he wanted to commit the moment to his heart. Of her in the moonlight, love and concern in her eyes.
She smiled, her lips trembling. “Sounds easy enough.”
“I know, right?” He moved toward her, needing to touch. Gently, he ran a knuckle down the contours of her face. “I couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful than you.”
She slipped her hands beneath his shirt. “Oh, I can.” A low hum whispered on her lips as she shoved his shirt up.
He ducked to help her take it off. “I’ll do my best to get back to you.”
“I’m coming with you.” She leaned in and licked his right nipple.
He shivered. “No.”
She nipped. “Yes. I’m the hero of my own damn story, Jory Dean. Protect me all you want, but this once, I’m needed with you. War or not.”
If something happened to her, he’d fucking die. Well, if he didn’t die in a few hours, anyway. “I can’t do what I need to do with you there.”
“I’m a hacker, Jory. Even with the right cord, we may need to hack into the chip.” She nibbled up his chest to kiss under his chin. So gentle and so damn sweet.
“I don’t want you to see me like that.” To see the real him, the one that could turn off all emotion and kill so many damn ways.
She sighed, her eyes luminous. “I love all of you, Jory Dean. Every facet, the dark and the light. And I won’t let you die. You need me there.”
Worse yet, she was right. He might need a hacker.
His brothers could hack, but chances were they’d be busy shooting and preventing the commander’s men from getting into the infirmary. With a jolt, Jory realized that not only was Piper needed on the mission, but so was Laney. Would Matt realize it? If not, they’d have to make do. Matt would have to cut out Jory’s chip.
“Fine,” Jory murmured, grateful for any extra moments with her, even spent in battle so long as she stayed safe. “But you’ll follow orders. You’ll be armed, and at all times, you’ll be surrounded by guns. Can you handle it? Agree or it’s off.”
“I agree.” She grabbed his hair and yanked his mouth down. “I’m glad you’re seeing reason.”
He ripped her shirt apart, nearly shocking himself at the raw need to keep her safe. To take her and make her his. No matter what—forever. “Remember how I imagined us?”
She gasped and glanced around. “Yes.”
“Good.” He stepped back. “Take off your pants.”
Her eyes widened, and she shoved off the worn jeans. Her bra and panties were next.
Yeah, she was perfect.
He shucked his clothes, watching her watch him. With curiosity and need—and a small amount of trepidation. Good. He liked her off balance. Getting Piper out of her head, even temporarily, was a challenge he’d love to meet every single damn day.
So he tangled his fingers in her hair, effectively tethering her. A soft gasp whispered from her when he twisted. Then his mouth took hers.
No persuasion, no gentleness—just a hard and fierce claim. He thrust deep, tasting her, taking what he wanted. She was exactly what he wanted.
She pressed against him, her hands flattening on his pecs, trying to get closer. Accepting who he was, what he wanted, and giving even more. The woman gave everything.
He lifted her, laying her down on a settee on his patio. She reached for him, and he flattened a hand on her abdomen. A couple of kisses to her thighs were all the warning he allowed before tasting her.
She hissed out a breath and lifted her hands to her face.
He grinned and sucked her clit into his mouth.
She gasped and writhed against him. “Too much. Toooooo much.”
“Nope.” He spoke around the small bundle of nerves, knowing his timber would vibrate deep inside her.
She groaned, and a fine tremble cascaded through her spectacular thighs.
He licked her again. Spice and woman—his. Keeping up a quick rhythm without enough pressure to force her over, he pressed a finger inside her. Then another one. She gyrated against him, trying for more, but he kept it light as he played. As he enjoyed her.
Minutes passed. She moved against him, her hands now in his hair, trying to force him down.
He chuckled against her, and she ground out a threat or two. “What?” he asked.
“More,” she demanded.
“Why didn’t you say so?” Truly enjoying himself, he nipped her clit and crisscrossed his fingers inside her. She nearly shot off the lounge, and ripples cascaded through her abdomen.
He prolonged the orgasm as long as he could, finally stopping when she smacked him on the top of the head and went limp. Man, she was fun.
Then he stood, the ache in his balls nearly unbearable.
She glanced up and shoved her unruly hair from her eyes. Taking a look at his raging hard-on, she smiled. Slow and satisfied. “Well. What should we do now?”
For answer, he reached down and flipped her around to her hands and knees. She gasped and struggled to find balance. When she did, he grabbed her hips.
“Now?” He leaned down and nuzzled between her shoulder blades before standing back up. “Now we go with my idea.”
Piper clutched the fabric of the lounge, acutely aware of the man grasping her hips. The fully erect, ready to rumble, man. She looked back over her shoulder. “Well?”
He pressed at her entrance and slowly—so damn slowly—entered her. She bit her lip against the exquisite pleasure. That quickly, that easily, he stroked the desire in her higher than before. Hotter than before. She pressed back against him, allowing him to lead. To take them both where he wanted to go.
One huge hand flattened between her shoulder blades and caressed down, touching every inch of skin. As if he wanted to know all of her. His hands roamed around and cupped both breasts, tugging gently on her nipples. Sparks of electricity zipped from her breasts to her core, and she convulsed once around his shaft.
He groaned and tugged again.
So much. Jory Dean was so much as to be too much. Yet she wanted him all. So she released her hold and leaned down onto her chest.
His sharp intake of breath made her smile.
His hold returned to her hips, and he slid out and then back in. So damn deep. Holding tight, keeping her in place, he began to pound. Fierce and hot… and so full. The slap of his skin against hers echoed through the peaceful night. Friction sprang alive inside her. She tried to move against him, to fall over the cliff, but he held her in place.
She’d never met a stronger man. Add in his intelligence, and Jory Dean was the full package. “I’m keeping you, Jory,” she murmured against her arms.
He paused inside her, pulsing. “You’ve got me.”
Yeah. She did. For how long? She gave him what she knew he needed. “You’ve got me, too.”
The control she could always sense in him snapped. Hard and desperate, he started to pound. To take her—without his usual carefulness—without his usual containment. Jory Dean in full force. A completely delicious man.
Heat cut through her, a rapid fire of an electrical storm. She held her breath and promptly detonated. Everything inside her exploded out, around him, into him. He thrust harder, paused, and came against her. Waiting until the shocks stopped shaking her, he withdrew and turned her around, flattening her on the ottoman.
The chill of the night had nothing on the warm male sprawled lazily over her.
She pushed his dark hair away from his face. “Jory.”
“I love you.” He kissed her so gently, tears filled her eyes. “Keep that—”
“You aren’t going to die.” She tightened her hold while her entire body began to ache with dread. “You can’t.”
“Thank you for making thi
s week the best of my life.” Vulnerability and love glimmered in his mysterious eyes.
Well, if that didn’t slice her heart in two, nothing ever would. She breathed out. “I love you, too.” So he had to stay alive. She had him, and she’d meant it when she’d said she was keeping him. He was one of a kind, and he had to live. What if she couldn’t save him?
He kissed her one more time. “Our hour is up.”
CHAPTER
28
CHANCE DEAN GLANCED around the helicopter, his mind running through the plan. He’d adopted the family name the second Mattie had put stock certificates in his hands—equal shares in Sins Security for Chance Dean, Kyle Dean, and Wade Dean. Just in case they didn’t make it back home, the younger brothers were protected. And kind of rich.
Just seeing the last name on the documents had almost made Chance cry like a little baby, and not the killer he knew himself to be. He figured his new brothers knew he’d killed—they had the same look in their eyes that he did when he looked in the mirror. They’d probably killed young, too.
Doing that changed a guy, and not in a good way.
But as he took in the two silent women on either side of him, he wondered. Could they find good in their lives? Was there a chance for happiness and that goofy, soft, love stuff?
Piper and Laney were super-pretty and so soft. Even wearing khaki combat gear with guns strapped to their legs, they had a delicacy that drew Chance. He’d never met anybody soft or nice. Ever.
Shane flew the copter with Nate in the passenger side. Jory and Mattie hung close to their women, sitting armed to the teeth across the aisle from him.
Chance frowned. “I don’t need to be flanked once we go in. Not like you have planned.”
Identical gray eyes studied him, but neither man said a word.
He tried again. “I’m not one of the women.” Laney’s eyes widened, and Piper opened her mouth to say something. He halted her with one hand. “I’m not saying it’s because you’re girls. It’s because you’re not trained like I am. Girls can be tough.” He didn’t believe that one for a second, and by the narrowing of Laney’s brown eyes, she knew it. Piper just grinned at him like he was adorable.
Either way, he’d put his foot into it.
Facing him across the aisle, Matt leaned forward, his voice deceptively soft. “What’s your job with your brothers?”
“To protect them.” The words sprang instantly to Chance’s mouth as his shoulders went back.
“Why?” Jory asked just as quietly.
“They’re mine.” Chance shrugged. “I’m the oldest, and well, they’re mine.”
Matt nodded, his gaze dark. “We’re older than you.”
Jory lifted his chin. “You’re ours now. Like it or not.”
Belonging. Chance had figured it felt like warmth and apple pie. It didn’t. It was more like a wrecking ball to the chest that hit hard and burrowed right in.
“Never alone,” Matt said. “It’s our mantra—learn it.”
He didn’t need to learn it—he was living it. Finally. For the first time, he wasn’t alone, and a hollow place in his gut, one he’d always tried to ignore, finally warmed and filled. He swallowed over a lump in his throat. “Okay.”
Piper patted his leg. “I’ll try not to shoot you today. With my being a girl with a gun and all.”
He rolled his eyes while Jory grinned. The lady was a smart aleck, and she’d served to break the tension gripping him. So he looked at his brothers. “No matter what happens, I won’t let either of them be harmed. You have my word.”
Laney slid an arm over his shoulder and kissed him on the head. “You’re a sweetie, Chance.”
He stiffened. The gentle, natural affection nearly stole his breath. Plus, nobody who’d ever spent two seconds with him had ever thought him sweet.
Matt nodded, sympathy twisting his lip. “They say stuff like that all the time.” He shook his head.
Well, if she thought he was sweet, Chance would fucking learn how to be sweet.
Piper slipped her arm between his. “You’re ours, Chance. No matter what.”
He leaned into her, allowing himself a brief moment to experience softness and acceptance. She was the first lady who’d ever shown him kindness, and he’d do anything to stay in her world. To be around soft and nice… and to protect her.
“You’re a nice lady,” he murmured.
Piper chuckled. “I’m no lady, kid. When I said I’m keeping you, I meant it. If anybody tries to mess with you, or tries to hurt you, you’ll truly understand how much I’m not a lady.” She hugged him close with the words.
His mouth dropped open and then shut. She meant it. He could tell, and she meant to keep him. “Thank you,” he mumbled.
Then he leaned back.
For now, he needed to be the killer the commander had trained him to be. Nothing, and he meant nothing, would harm any of the people in the helicopter on his watch. No matter what he had to do. And once he got them safe, he’d do what he’d planned when he’d talked them into taking him back into hell.
As far as he was concerned, he had one job left in this life.
Piper tried to keep her hands still and not drum her fingers on her legs as the helicopter continued to cut through the early morning. She’d said a tearful good-bye to her mother and Earl, just in case things didn’t go well. But she had to go, and her mom had understood.
The combat gear was surprisingly heavy—who knew a bulletproof vest weighed so much? The gun strapped to her leg felt weird, and she truly did hope she didn’t accidentally shoot somebody.
“Two minutes out,” Shane said from the pilot’s seat.
Jory, Matt, and Chance instantly moved into soldier mode, drawing weapons and losing any semblance of the men she knew.
Piper’s breath panted out, and her heart sped up.
Jory leaned toward her. “Deep breaths, and let the adrenaline do its job. Don’t fight it.”
“That obvious?” she asked.
“I can hear your heart and see your breath.” He smiled without any humor. “We have special gifts.”
Chance gasped. “Me, too.”
Matt nodded. “Use them today. All of them.”
Piper set her hand on her weapon. Special gifts? Just how special? There was so much she didn’t know about Jory. Would she get the chance to learn, or had he been a dead man the second he’d been shot two years ago when the bullet glanced off the kill chip?
An explosion rocked the air. Gulping, she levered to see out the front window. Holy hell. They were about to enter a war zone. Fires lit the ground below and smoke billowed up. Several attack helicopters had landed throughout the compound, and the pattering of gunfire filled the morning. She turned back, wide-eyed.
Jory nodded. “We sent troops in a half hour ago to clear the way.”
She swallowed. “How many troops do you have?”
Matt reached for the door. “A lot.” He eyed Laney. “Everybody understand the plan?”
Everyone nodded.
“Good.” The helicopter set down, and Matt yanked the door open. “Time to run.”
A high-pitched scream rent the air, and another explosion rocked the earth. Piper jumped out, and the Dean brothers quickly herded her, Laney, and Chance into the center of them. Heat from fires blasted into them.
Smoke and debris stung Piper’s eyes, and she tried to see through the pain. As one, they ran for the main building. The door hung by one hinge over the opening, swinging slowly. Shots peppered the ground before Jory, and he pivoted, already firing. A soldier in black dropped to the ground.
The Dean brothers returned fire, and soon they reached the opening.
Jory stepped inside and swept right to left. “Clear.”
They jogged down the hallway. Piper kept to his heels, her heart in her throat. Or maybe that was fear. Either way, it took every ounce of concentration she had to keep moving and not panic.
Two soldiers in black ran around a corridor, and
Jory fired along with Matt, neither man losing a step. They were scary and freaking amazing all at once.
Three more turns, two already-smashed open doorways, and they emerged into the infirmary. Three beds and a myriad of medical equipment took up the room. Counters, basins, machinery, and tons of drawers covered every wall.
Matt nodded toward the two entrances. “Shane. Nate.” The two men hustled to stand right outside. “Chance, cover Shane. I’ll cover Nate.”
Chance ran to stand on the inside part of the door near Shane, while Matt did the same with Nate.
Jory holstered his gun. “Drawers. Let’s find that cord.”
The firefight continued outside, and Matt issued orders with a com-link attached to his ear. Piper ran to the north wall and started yanking out drawers. Cotton balls… medication… syringes. Drawer after drawer, she frantically searched while Jory and Laney did the same.
Nothing.
Ten minutes later, they’d gone through every cabinet and drawer.
Jory turned toward her, no expression on his rugged face. “It was a long shot.”
The simple words, the easy acceptance from him, pierced her heart. No. There had to be a way. She glanced at her watch. Fifteen minutes. He had fifteen minutes to live. Oh God.
Matt growled. “Lie down, then. We might as well try to take it out.” Pain and fury radiated with his words spoken in a full Southern accent.
Laney nodded. “I’ll be as quick as I can.” Terror filled her dark eyes, but her voice remained steady.
Chance pushed off the door, panic across his face. “There’s nothing we can do? Nothing?”
Jory shook his head. “This is it, I guess. Let’s give it a shot.” He reached out a hand to Piper, and she ran to him, burrowing into his chest. He patted her back. “It’s all right. I figured the commander wouldn’t just leave the right cord for us to find.”
The commander. Find. Oh, shit. Where would he hide it? The room. His secret little hidey-hole of a room off his office. It had to be there.