Code Name: Ghost (A Warrior's Challenge 1) (42 page)

“You lied to me.”

“I’ve never lied to you, Kayla.” Before she
could argue his lips fell on hers in an attack, dropping any
defense she thought about mustering. Streaks of heat scorched
through her, and sparked between her thighs. He curled her closer
as his kiss became hungrier. Every second that ticked by, she lost
more of her control, meeting his attack and pushing it one notch
higher. Both his hands buried themselves into her hair, and he
tempted her mouth to open until his tongue met hers.

“I’m dreaming,” she said, her eyes closed
feeling the tingle of his kiss on her mouth even though he’d pulled
away.

Resting his lips against her ear, the tip of
his tongue followed the arc with a moist sweep. “All my dreams are
about you.” He tipped her chin to look at him. “Please tell me
between the nightmares, I’m in yours.”

Did she want to become another plaque on his
wall? If she allowed her emotions to lead the way, he’d rush in and
destroy all her defenses. “They have to remain as dreams.”

“I don’t want to ache with need for you any
more, Kayla. I need to know you to trust me.”

His mouth powered down on hers with a
ferocity that knocked her reason off its feet.

* * * *

Thane knew he had an audience, but it didn’t
stop the gates from crashing down under the weight of his need for
her. He thought he knew the man inside him, and he only meant to
kiss her once—gently, but he kept kissing her. Desire shackled him
until there was no room to move.

He’d wasted enough time. She was the only
option. His decision was final. He wanted her, and God help
anything that got in his way, and that included both their
pasts.

Night had fallen on them quickly, but he
only realized it when she pulled away from him. “I want you, Kayla,
but I guess that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

She looked at him with an expression of
shock, and maybe even a little fear. “Are you kidding, they,
they’re…” she started to sputter.

“Nothing, compared to you,” he finished, at
the same time guiding her away from the trees.

“Stop it. Are you really going to stand
there and try and tell me those women just popped up and you
haven’t been with them?”

A small laugh escaped him. “I’m not going to
lie and say I didn’t try to get you out of my head, but it never
worked. Every woman paled once you walked into my life.”

“I’m leaving. We can practice tomorrow. You
can call your girlfriends back.”

He nodded. “Practice is over,” he agreed,
“we’re moving forward.”

No matter how much stress she endured, her
voice always remained steady, but it wasn’t now. “Are you going to
let go of me?”

“Never. I want you to surrender—to me.”
Drawing her close, he kissed her again, wanting to remove any
stitch of uncertainty in her mind. He continued to back up toward
the pool. When they reached the patio, his hands slipped to the hem
of her shirt, and his fingers brushed against her soft skin,
catching the fabric and sliding it over her head.

“I…” she breathed.

“You are intoxicating,” he said, dropping
her shirt to the patio tiles. His hands swept across the lace of
her bra, and she stilled like a frightened deer. “Kayla—” His eyes
darted to hers. “Baby, I’m not going to stop this time unless you
tell me to.” Her body only shifted a little, but the movement was
toward him, not away. The catch between her beautiful breasts drew
his fingers, and without taking his eyes from hers, he released it.
The lace fell away with a light sweep of his hand, and he gently
circled then rolled her nipples. His breath caught, seeing her
lashes flutter closed and her lips separate as if she needed more
air.

The pull to make love to her, to feel every
part of her fired him to keep going. Desire took the helm, and he
gently squeezed the flesh between his lips, sucking it into his
mouth, flicking the sensitive point. Her gasp of pleasure hardened
him, and he ran his teeth over the tip in response. “I surrender,”
he breathed, running his moist tongue across her pebbled peak.

When her hands slid down his chest, he
didn’t waste time and tore his shirt over his head. Feeling her
skin, warm and soft against his was all he’d dreamed about. “You
drive every reasonable thought out of my mind, Kayla. Now, I want
to push everything out of yours, except me.” Sitting down on the
lounger, he drew her toward him. Following the deep curve of her
waist down to her full hips made his chest rise and fall with heavy
breaths. Catching her pants in his fingers, he followed the swerve
of her thighs, slipping them down her legs.

He had to hear her say it. “Do you still
want me?” What if he’d held her away too long, and she’d come to
her senses while he lost his? Gently, he caressed her belly with
light kisses waiting for her answer, his heart raging. When she
didn’t, he slowly turned his gaze to her, and his pulse raced
thinking she was going to pull away.

“I…was drunk that night in Arizona,
Commander. I shouldn’t have…”

He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his
lips, kissing the palm. “Yes, you should have, and so should have
I.” He had to tell her the truth in order to earn hers. “Kayla—I’ll
never forget that night. When you stood in front of me you looked
at me as if you’d never laid eyes on a man before.” He remembered
how her fingers reached out to cover the end of his swollen head
with her sweet silk. She’d done it with such innocence and purity.
Knowing what she had been through, he now understood how important
that moment had been. It was trust she’d offered with her touch.
“It was the most erotic moment of my life. But if I’d moved, I
would have hurt you, my lust was so out of control. I had to stop
myself, but I’ve never stopped wanting you.”

“Misdirection?” she whispered.

“None.” He had control now, and little by
little he payed out the rope of desire for her. “Kayla, I want to
taste every beautiful part of you. Tell me I didn’t wait too long.”
He licked his way down to the heat between her legs. A small
tremble fluttered beneath her skin. His erection jerked when he
lapped at the stream of silk glistening between her thighs, and
followed it up to her sweet sex. God, she was wet, and he knew his
dreams were about to come true, if only she’d give them both a
second chance.

Her hand came down on his shoulder and like
a cat, with a slow seductive crawl, one leg stretched across him to
straddle the lounger. Her answer—clear, and his desire went off
like a illumination flare. Capturing her ass, he pressed his mouth
against her flesh, tasting her. A small cry escaped her throat, but
she tried to swallow it.

“Uh-huh,” he ordered gently. “Don’t hold
yourself back, sweetheart. I want you to feel the heat.” He teased
the very tip of her, and her fingers clenched his shoulders. “Baby,
I want you to lose yourself in my hands,” he whispered, wanting to
be in total command of her pleasure. The smell of her made his
tongue lash out hungrily, and he sucked her firm nub with sharp
little pulls and followed with long, lazy circles. With the sensual
play, her hips began to sway in answer to him. His hand snaked up
her leg, and gently he plunged into her channel, teasing the points
he knew would make her lose reason, stroking her moist sex with his
thumb at the same time. Her body shuddered with every pass, and a
cry of pleasure.

Pulling his zipper open, he released
himself. Gently, he slid his fingers through her wetness, and then
stroked her silk along the length of his shaft. Her entire body
vibrated watching him. “Ah, you like to watch,” he growled, and
buried his face between her thighs, sucking her juices onto his
tongue, building his need with every delicious taste of her flesh
and with his touch.

She pulled away from his mouth. “Thane,” she
breathed.

“Let go, Kayla. I want you to remember every
beautiful thing I do to you.” Her passion spiraled with the figure
eights he drew around her silky folds. Inching down the lounger, he
filled his palms with her ass and pulled her swollen sex over his
mouth. Circling the rim of her channel, his seduction bloomed and
he buried his tongue deep inside her. Her cries grew louder, and it
was like pouring the coals into his already fevered attack. “Come
for me, baby.” He flattened his tongue and lapped her entire sex,
thrusting his tongue into the velvety canal with every pass.

“Oh, God, Thane.”

Her body shook in his hands, her restraint
breaking. God help him, she was hot. “Don’t hold it back, baby.”
He’d dreamed of this from the second he’d seen her. Holding her now
was still a dream, and he wanted to reach every bit of darkness
inside her, every betrayal and wash it away with his touch.

“Thane,” she gasped, her breath catching in
her throat.

He groaned, his erection hardened past
reason. Flicking his tongue with extra pressure, he pushed her to
the edge. She cried out as her body seized and her nails dug into
him, the orgasm erupting inside her.

Oh, yeah
. His heart thundered in his
chest as he suckled her, slowing down, matching the jolts of her
body as ecstasy released her from its grip. Holding her hips
lightly, he waited until he knew she had experienced all of it,
then pulled her down to sit on his stomach. He leaned in, resting
his head in the valley between her lovely breasts. Listening to the
heavy, deep pulse of her heart beating against his cheek centered
him.

“Thane.” Her sexy voice sent a snake of
excitement coiling through him. “I could never make you feel that
good,” and his hunger hit a new high when her soft lips found his
and for the very first time
she
kissed him.

His tongue met hers, soft and wet, and he
probed, lingering, enjoying every arousing second. Lying back, he
tried to calm himself, looking up at the stars with her cheek
against his chest. “I have never wanted a woman more than I want
you.” She leaned over, fluttering a trail of butterfly kisses down
his taut stomach. Deep gusts of air left his lungs as he ran his
fingers through the loose, soft waves of her hair. Raising his
hips, he helped her rid him of his pants.

“Kayla?” he whispered. She looked into his
eyes, her vulnerability so easy to see. The men who used her body
were predators not lovers. Lapierre jumped into his mind, but he
crushed him after a split second of thankfulness for saving her
life. “I’ve held you in my arms so many times, and I’ve cherished
every time.”

Honesty always shone in her eyes, as did all
her emotions. He could read every expression after months of
watching her so closely. It had been hell keeping his hunger for
her at bay, but there was no retreating now. His mouth roamed
across her curves, savoring every one. “Kayla, make love to me.” He
gave her control and the heat in her eyes told him all he needed to
know. She snaked her body down his, and her wetness stroked the tip
of his head making his entire soul shake with anticipation.

She caressed his shaft, enveloping him in
her moist fold, her sweet silk covered his head twisting everything
inside him into uncontrollable need. “You feel amazing, Kayla—” He
palmed her cheeks, gazing into her eyes. “Make us one,” he
whispered on her lips. Her silk drizzled down her thighs and
against his, and then he was where he wanted to be, her velvet
channel flowed over him.

With the first stroke, he grasped her hips.
“Lord help me,” he groaned, trying to control himself. He possessed
her lips with a ferocious attack and she took him inside her, to
the hilt—grinding her hips against his. With long, delicious
strokes, she began to ride him, and the heat boiled over inside
him. A penetrating moan of pleasure thrust itself from his throat.
The instinctive yearning to fill her with his warm seed swarmed
inside him.

“Sweetheart,” he breathed out trying to
relax, but the rush of blood and the burning desire to bury himself
deep and fast took over. Her muscles tightened around him, sending
an erotic call for him to answer. “Baby, ah shit, you feel good,”
he hissed.

The heat inside him turned into one
beautiful pulse, ripping through him. His fingers came down on her
sensitive flesh and he circled it. Her body arched back and she
undulated her hips like no woman had ever done to him before. Her
beauty unfolded before his very eyes, the real Kayla, open, free.
When her muscles spasmed hard, clutching his shaft tightly, it felt
like lips gripping him with sweet acceptance.

“My beautiful mermaid.” A roar escaped his
throat as heat ate him up.

She pushed him deep inside her and like a
wave breaking on the shore, she broke against him. “Thane,” she
cried out, molding her body to his, quaking with another
release.

Hearing her cry out his name made him
penetrate her with quick deep, thrusts. Her muscles sucked on his
swollen shaft. Pulling her tight against him, a flash of heat tore
through him. His body exploded, his warm seed jettisoning inside
her. He hung onto her with a fierce longing as she rode him, her
body still quaking in his arms. Every movement made him
shudder.

He clutched her in his arms like he was
hanging on to life itself. “Kayla,” he whispered into her hair. The
sounds of the night returned as did his senses, and he kissed her
deeply. Goddamn, he had a condom in his wallet, and the realization
hit him hard. His mind stilled on an image. He saw Kayla in his
arms, and he saw children, but he didn’t just see them. He wanted
them. The whole crazy, loud, messy insanity of a family. Be damned
the risk. He didn’t have a future without the woman in his
arms.

His hands rose to her cheeks and he brushed
her lips, a grin twisting his own. “If that doesn’t drive the Blood
Shark to the end of his chain, nothing will.”

Kayla’s jaw clenched tight. She yanked
herself from his arms, and whisked her clothes from the ground.
“Yeah, that should bring him around,” she said, taking every ounce
of emotion from her voice.