“Did you hear me?” she mumbled as she lifted her shoulder against his lips.
Reno smiled at the irate drowsiness. He could hear the threat of laughter in her voice, despite her tone. She liked to play at being tough, unemotional, but he could hear the threads of feelings that she tried to hide.
“I hear you, grouch.” He raked his teeth over the flesh he was caressing, smiling at the faint shiver that gripped her body. “You’re just a coffee hussy. You think you’re going to convince me to fix you some.”
Soft laughter greeted the accusation.
“Guilty.” She rolled to her side, dragging the sheet around her as she glanced up at him.
Something in his chest expanded, threatening to steal his breath as he stared down at her. Her angel’s face staring up at him, those dark, sleepy eyes staring at him from the flushed expanse of her face. She had the power to steal his breath, and often did.
He held her close, his arms tightening around her as she cuddled against him hesitantly. He could feel her breasts pressing against his chest through the sheet she had pulled around her like a shield. But at least she wasn’t running.
“I really need that coffee, Reno.” Her voice was languid, as lazy as the hand that played almost unconsciously through the mat of hair on his chest.
“You gotta pay for it first.” He grinned as she sighed with exasperation.
“You should be tired,” she grumped. “I’m tired. You didn’t even let me sleep last night.”
“Of course I did.” He smiled against the top of her head as he pushed the sheet away impatiently. “You slept between two and seven while I made some calls and reenergized with a snack.”
“You eat too much.” Her casual tone was spoiled by the tensing of her body when he mentioned the phone calls.
He wasn’t going to let her ignore who and what he was. That wasn’t going to help when the next assignment came up. That, unfortunately, he knew would be sooner than he had expected.
“I have to keep up my energy,” he whispered as he pressed her to her back, pulling the sheet away from her as she watched him, her eyes darkening with arousal.
“How pretty,” he sighed as his hand smoothed down her stomach, feeling the muscles ripple beneath his fingers as he moved unerringly to the heat between her thighs.
Her breath caught, her eyes widened as he cupped the damp, bare flesh there. He loved that look, surprise and arousal, a hint of confusion, as though she hadn’t yet figured out why the pleasure was so intense.
His head lowered to capture the sweetest lips he had ever kissed as his fingers played erotically in the hottest, silkiest folds of flesh God had ever made. Raven just felt different from any other woman. She tasted different; she smelled different. Everything about her was so unique, so soft and sweet and spicy that it sent his senses spinning. She was addictive. She made his head spin, made his heart pound out of control and his hands ache to hold her forever.
For now, his fingers parted the swollen folds between her thighs, caressing her gently as she gasped beneath his kiss. Her hands clenched his shoulders, dragging a groan from his chest as pleasure whipped through him. He tightened against the surge of lust that nearly overwhelmed his senses.
She arched beneath his hands, her hips pressing closer, the swollen bud of her clitoris rubbing into his palm as she tensed beneath him. Reno raised his head, staring down at her intently, seeing the wash of heated hunger suffusing her face as she stared back at him in bemusement.
He slid a finger slowly past the tender opening of her vagina, watching her mouth open as a cry escaped them. God she made him crazy.
His cock twitched in anticipation as he thrust his finger inside the heated depths of her cleft, massaging and caressing the silken tissue that rippled beneath his touch. Her breathing was harsh now, thready little moans escaping her throat as her head tilted back, her eyes closing while her hands moved down his chest, her nails raking over his flesh.
“What are you doing to me?” she moaned, writhing beneath him as he slid another finger inside her, working her muscles slowly, easily, feeling the slick cream of her arousal coating his fingers as she clenched around them.
“Loving you,” he whispered as he read the dazed pleasure consuming her expression. “Do you feel me loving you, Raven?”
He thrust in harder, deeper, finding the ultrasensitive mass of nerves, so that when his fingers pressed into it, rotating subtly, she cried out with sensual abandon, arching closer, her hips pumping against his hand as the muscles of her cunt convulsed around his fingers.
“There you go, baby,” he whispered, forcing back his own driving hunger to watch hers. “Let me love you, Raven.”
He twisted his fingers inside her, sliding nearly free before driving deep again. He watched her face, relished the ecstasy that consumed her even as his own hunger bit deep into his loins. He was dying for her. He would die for her.
Filtering the overpowering lust was the incredible love he had always felt for this woman. She was so much a part of him that he could never imagine life without her now. Couldn’t risk that she would turn away when the job became a reality rather than a distant thought.
Gritting his teeth, he quickened his fingers inside her, pushing her over the edge, watching her dissolve as he pulled free and slid quickly between her thighs. She was still convulsing, the muscles rippling and clenching as he positioned the straining length of his cock and pushed inside her.
“Oh God, Reno,” she cried out beneath him, her legs raising to circle his hips, her arms wrapping around his neck as her eyes opened, the deep blue burning with emotion and pleasure as she stared up at him. “Don’t let me go. Please don’t let me go.”
“Never, baby. I’ll never let you go,” he swore deeply as he lowered himself, bracing his weight on his elbows as his hands clasped her head, staring down at her as he began to move inside her with quick, long strokes that sent frissons of sensation shooting up his spine.
She was so tight, so hot. Clenching around his flesh with rhythmic strokes that had him groaning roughly as his hands clenched in her hair.
“Reno . . .” Her nails bit into his shoulders as she stared up at him, her expressive face filled with confusion, with love, with such arousal, it had his scrotum drawing up tight as warning tingles of release began to sizzle at the base of his spine.
“Yeah, baby?” He was fighting for control. Just a few more seconds, he thought desperately. He could feel her tensing further beneath him, her own explosion nearing. “Tell me what you need, Raven,” he said, panting. “Anything you want, baby, it’s yours. Anything you want.”
He watched her eyes turn liquid, tears filling them, but never spilling over as the emotion in her gaze intensified.
“I need you.” Her legs tightened around him as the words whispered from her lips, hesitant, filled with longing. “I need you, Reno.”
He lowered his head again, his lips whispering over hers as he felt her rising, felt the impending explosion moving through her.
“You have me, Raven,” he whispered against his lips. “Forever, baby, you have me.”
He pushed inside her harder then, deeper, his strokes increasing until he was jackhammering inside her, exploding with her, his soul dissolving and merging with hers until he had no idea where Raven ended and he began, all he knew was that he would never, could never, let her go.
Raven walked into the bedroom that afternoon, coming to a slow, careful stop as she caught sight of Reno packing the duffel bag that had lain nearly empty since the first night he had spent with her.
He was dressed in the camouflage fatigues, black boots and dull green shirt that were trademarks of his job. As she watched, he lifted his holster and the deadly weapon it contained and packed it carefully.
He was leaving. No warning, no time for her to prepare for it. She stared at him, fighting the building dread that rose within her.
He flashed her a strained smile. “I should be back in about a week. Command
called about an hour ago. There should be a car to pick me up soon. I’ll be at the base tonight, before we head out first thing in the morning. I left you a present in the kitchen.”
She swallowed tightly, shoving her hands into her jeans pockets as she pushed back the emotions roiling inside her. Fear, pain, desperation. They hadn’t had enough time together, less than a week, not even long enough to build up the memories to hold her through the long, empty nights.
“Sure.” She smiled back, certain she came off as perfectly relaxed as if he had told her he was heading to the corner store. She would not be like her mother. She would not send him away, worried, stressed, uncertain about her state of mind. “Be careful.”
She leaned against the wall memorizing his face. The curve of his lips, his dark stormy gray eyes, the strong arch of his brows.
He watched her carefully, his expression concerned. Tense.
He shrugged his shoulders as though shifting some invisible weight.
“I’ll be back,” he said again.
She smiled back at him. “Of course you will.”
He seemed to relax then, at least marginally, the smile on his face curving more naturally. This was who he was. He was a warrior. You can’t tame the wind, and you can’t housebreak a warrior. She had to accept that.
“I love you, Raven,” he said then.
I love you, Raven. I love you, Raven.
The words rebounded through her soul.
She drew in a hard, deep breath. “Did you get everything packed?”
She moved quickly to the dresser, opening and checking drawers. “Clint is always leaving his stuff strung around the place when he visits. I swear, he’s a slob. I pick up after him for a week after he leaves.”
Nerves were jumping beneath her skin as she fought to hold on to her composure. She wasn’t going to cry, she wasn’t angry, but she was suddenly realizing how much more she stood to lose than she ever had.
“Raven.” His hands landed on her shoulders, holding her. “I love you.”
She stilled, then turned to him, staring up at him desperately as he watched her. Something inside her was splintering, fragmenting. What was it? She wasn’t angry as her mother had been when her father went on assignment. Raven had been through this too many times with both Reno and Clint. Admittedly, she didn’t have as much to lose then as she did now, but this part she knew how to handle. Didn’t she?
“Don’t you go and get yourself hurt, Reno,” she fairly snarled up at him. “I won’t be happy.”
His off-center smile had her heart clenching with love.
“I’ll make sure of that,” he whispered, his voice quiet, almost saddened as he watched her.
His head swooped down then, his lips catching hers as her breath caught in her throat. Her throat tightened and something in her chest exploded as his kiss consumed her. Her arms went around his neck as she lifted to him, helpless, aching, as his arms jerked her closer, his hands nearly bruising as they roved over her back and shoulders, imprinting his touch into her soul forever.
A horn blew outside. Once, twice.
He pulled away from her, turned, grabbed his duffel bag and stalked from the room. Seconds later, the front door slammed and he was gone. Raven stared at the window across the room, the shards of sunlight cut across the bed, small motes of dust dancing in the air.
The silence was oppressive, heavy.
She forcibly held back her tears, the pain. She could survive this. She wasn’t angry, but God she missed him already.
As she stared at that bright swath of sunlight, a memory broke free, surging past her defenses. She had been young, so young. Barely ten as she lay on her bed that weekend, listening to her parents scream at each other. Her father had to leave again, another mission, another fight. Her mother was crying, begging him not to go. His voice had echoed with his frustration, his own anger. He had to leave. It was his job. No, her mother had screamed, it was his mistress, and she wouldn’t share him. He might as well not even come back.
He hadn’t come back. A black car and two military counselors had arrived instead. Her father had died in an unknown country, and he was never returning. He wouldn’t come home. She wouldn’t hear her parents arguing ever again, or sit on her father’s lap while he read her stories. He would never tickle her again or call her his dark angel. He was gone forever.
Which was worse? The worry or the loss? She had always wondered that. Especially with Reno. If she let herself love him, which would be worse? Never having him or knowing there would never be another chance?
She moved from the bedroom, down the stairs and to the kitchen. The soft noises coming from the other room warned her of what to expect, but nothing could contain the rush of emotion when she stepped into the room.
The box sat by the door, barely large enough to contain the ball of fluff attempting to break free. Attached to the side was a note, written in Reno’s distinctive scrawl.
To keep your feet warm until I return. Love, Reno.
“Until you return,” she whispered, staring at the golden retriever pup as it began to howl pitifully for release.
“Well, little guy,” she whispered, kneeling beside the box as she touched a soft silky ear hesitantly. “At least we’ll have each other.”
She drew him from the box and stepped outside, feeling the late summer heat on her face, the breeze whispering over her damp cheeks. But they weren’t. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry.
But the tears fell as she cuddled the pup, staring into the brilliance of the late summer sky.
“I didn’t tell him I love him,” she finally admitted, the pain exploding in her chest as she realized Reno was right. There was no hiding from it. No hiding from him. She loved him, and she hadn’t even told him.
______
“It’s an easy in and out.” Reno faced his men in the small conference room, standing in front of the large monitor that displayed the target they were being sent in to hit. “We have two hostages to rescue and a laptop used by the cell commander. Laptop is priority. We’ll go in quiet, set the explosives, grab the laptop and the hostages and run. Pickup will be waiting on us here.” He pressed the button that switched the picture to an area nearly ten miles from target. “Two Black Hawks will be waiting to fly us out to a waiting ship.”
He lifted the stack of files on the desk beside him.
“Read this carefully. We have intel reports on entrances, exits, weak spots and so forth. We’ll meet with the assist team when we reach the ship and finalize plans there.”
“The cell commander is wanted for war crimes, Major,” Ace spoke up, his deep voice echoing in the small room. “Are we just after the laptop or his head as well?”
“The assist team will be in charge of that,” Reno informed him. “We’ll be going after the hostages. But you don’t take chances. The opportunity is there to take that laptop, you get it. We stick with our target op and adjust as we have to.”
“And pop the bastard if we get him in our sights,” Joker, the explosives expert of the team spoke up. He wasn’t joking. This particular terrorist commander was brutal, without mercy. He wouldn’t be shown any.
As Reno opened his mouth to dismiss the men, a sharp knock had his head lifting as the door opened.
“Major Chavez, we have a situation that demands your presence,” an MP snickered from the doorway. “General says now.”
Frowning, Reno nodded to Ace as he handed the files to him to distribute to the other three men and made his way to the door.
“Situation?” he asked warily.
“Situation, sir, of a very delicate sort.” The MP nodded, amusement dancing in his eyes. “This way, sir.”
As they neared the general’s office, a frown worked between Reno’s brows at the sound of an irate female voice.
“General, I don’t care how busy he is. You were my father’s best friend and I’m not above pulling strings. If I don’t see him before he leaves in the morning, I promise you, I??
?ll be making a visit to your wife, your daughter and your son. They like me.” The voice was husky, and filled with feminine fury.
He heard the general’s voice, low, soothing.
“I’m not in the army, general,” she said. “I don’t need rules quoted to me. I need strings pulled. I want to see him. Now.”
A grin tugged at his mouth as the MP chuckled.
“She’s been ripping on the general for an hour,” he whispered as they neared the door. “Want to bet he chews on you next?”
Reno grimaced but something in his heart was loosening. He wouldn’t bet against the MP, but he would bet it just might be worth it.
He knocked on the door lightly.
“Enter.” The general’s voice was frustrated and clipped.
Reno stepped in, saluting smartly, then turned to stare at Raven.
She was cuddling the puppy he’d bought her like a baby. Her face was wet with tears, her deep, deep blue eyes filled with misery.
“Raven?” He stepped toward her, pulling her and the puppy into his arms as he stared back at the general. “What’s happened?”
“Major, I’ll leave you to talk to Miss McIntyre.” The general sounded stern, but Reno caught the soft look he cast at Raven. “We’ll talk later.”
“Yes, sir.” Reno nodded as the general left the room and he turned his attention to the pup wiggling between them.
“Raven? Baby? The puppy is going to be smashed,” he whispered as he gripped her arms, pushing her back enough to release the wiggling little mass. “What’s wrong? Is Clint okay?”
The tears rolled silently down her cheeks. There were no sobs, just a hitch in her breath as she stared up at him.
“I forgot,” she hiccupped then. “You left, and I forgot to tell you. . . .”
She shuddered as her voice broke.
Reno moved to the couch, pulling her to his lap as she cuddled against his chest.
“I love you,” she cried desperately. “God help me, Reno. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you. I can stand anything but you leaving, maybe being . . . hurt . . . ,” her breath caught, “and not knowing I love you.”