Code Name: Ghost (A Warrior's Challenge 1) (47 page)

His face cracked open with a laugh. “If you
don’t get in my bed, Ms. Banks, I’ll have to consider you an
unfriendly. You’re under house arrest, with me.”

The look on his face told her he wasn’t
kidding. Those blue eyes of his bit into her. “I’m not scared of
you.”

“Kayla, I know you already are. There’s only
one place for you to run, and it’s right into my arms.” He leaned
over, kissing her deeply. “It’s where I want you to be.”

She leaned away from him, but his hands
grasped her rear end as he shifted his weight to rise. “I
can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Don’t let go of me, Kayla,”
he breathed into her mouth, setting her skin on fire as his lips
cascaded down her throat. Heat, pain, promises, they were all open
for her to see in his eyes. “You take…” He paused searching for
words. “You take all the ugliness away. Please, never let go of
me.”

He was revealing his weaknesses, to her. She
didn’t deserve them. “You can’t possibly want me. It’s not right,”
she said, the air was becoming harder to take in. He rose, bringing
her with him. His hardness rubbed against her stomach and settled
between her legs. “Commander—”

“It sounds like you’re arguing with me
again,” he said.

The feel of his thick shaft growing between
them called to all her senses, all of them erotic and needy.
“You’re damn right I’m arguing,” she murmured, feeling his strength
around her and her body responding with an inferno of heat.

Reaching the bedroom, he laid her down on
his king-sized bed, the sheets crisp, cool and still chaotic from
before. “I want to make love to you, Kayla—all night.” He reached
for the buttons on her shirt, releasing each one with purpose and
the brush of his lips. The muscles in her stomach rippled with
excitement, and a little bit of fear. “We’re staying home
tomorrow.”

“Home?” she squeaked.

Slowly he raised his eyes to her. “That’s
what it feels like when you’re here. It feels—warm, and I never
knew it wasn’t until you left last week.” He sucked her breast
deeply into his mouth, then licked and nipped it until the fire
between her legs seared her whole body. “I’d love to make you come
just touching and tasting these,” he said, then grazed his teeth
across her nipple, gently.

A tremble rippled through her, and she knew
he felt it.

Laying kisses all the way up to her lips, he
stopped, lingering there. “No one’s ever loved you all night
before, have they?”

“No,” she stuttered, her mind turning into a
foggy mess. “What? Well…ah.” An expression so hot filled his gaze
it made hers widen.

“I’m going to make you feel as beautiful as
you are,” he vowed with a seductive growl.

His thumb stroked her nipple with perfect
pressure, and a sizzling line of pleasure made her wetter as her
nipples peaked with his touch. “I can’t,” she breathed, deciding
she better fess up.

A rumble of laughter rolled through his
powerful chest. He hovered over her, his strength demanding she
submit. Teasing her sex over her panties, the ache bit deep inside
her. The sensual touch of his fingers dipped behind her lace,
slipping into her wetness, caressing her. “Let go, baby,” he
whispered.

Her lips parted watching him. Like a wicked
spell breaking, finally freed from her prison, she knew she’d
always be safe in his arms.

He swayed his head. “I’m going to wipe every
other man’s touch from your soul, and leave only mine.” Leaning
over, he kissed her stomach, feathering her skin down to her moist
nub and drew it between his lips. His touch was the most erotic
she’d ever known, and her body melted in his hands and with his
words.

Thane pulled away, taut muscle roping from
his hips to his hardened shaft. Her chest rose and fell with deep
pants. Another ache squeezed her channel. She moistened her lips,
and ran her tongue up the length of him, filling her mouth with his
flesh.

Thane’s body shuddered. “God, you have such
a sweet mouth,” he groaned, his head falling back as she took more
of him in, her hand weaving between his fingers. His abs compressed
into smooth marble under her touch. Moans of pleasure grew from
both of them, but suddenly he pulled back. Kneeling down he palmed
her cheeks, kissing her as if he was in a fevered delirium.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, searching her
eyes to make sure it was the truth.

She nodded. He took command of her body, and
she released her inhibitions and her control to him.

“Baby, roll over onto your hands and knees.
I wanna rock your world.”

His palm gently rounded her ass slipping her
panties down her legs. Sliding his long fingers into her channel,
he stroked her to a heady, sensual place. Her arms wanted to give
out on her with the sensations coursing through her. Cries of
pleasure fell from her lips one after the other, and she couldn’t
stop them. He freed her body and set her afloat in a sea of
sensations.

Lying on his back, he slid between her legs.
Watching him suck and lick her turned her desire into a flash fire,
and she cried out.

“Do you like that?” he asked, sweeping his
finger in and out of her slowly.

“That feels so gloriously good,” she panted.
His tongue flicked against her hardened nub, and he kissed the very
tip, teasing it, stealing her breath. Two fingers slipped inside
her and she clutched at them with her muscles, her body vibrating.
Her senses spiked into overdrive with this amazing man making love
to her.

“Trust me, Kayla,” he whispered. “Relax,”
and he bit her thigh gently.

And she did. Guiding her through the night,
loving her over and over again, and making her feel things she’d
never thought possible, the Commander proved why he was in command
in all ways.

They napped tangled in each other’s arms,
but need woke them. Thane worshiped her body until the wee hours of
the morning when his restraint finally broke and he took her to new
heights in a slow sensual burn until he came inside her with so
much force his body erupted with convulsions, crushing hers with
his strength.

* * * *

The sun peeked through the trees and cut a
beam of light into the bedroom, it roused her, and she opened her
eyes to see Thane gazing down at her with his head propped in his
palm. Her lips were raw from his kisses, her body sore, but she
didn’t complain because the warm, lazy feeling inside her was all
worth it. They didn’t speak, instead he talked to her with his
touch, his message loving and seductive.

Later, he brought her a cloth, holding the
wet warmth against her soreness, soothing her, and kissing her the
entire time. How could this be the same man she’d known for months,
but hadn’t really known at all? He was supposed to be a warrior,
hard and unemotional.

When he slid back into bed, he immediately
pulled her close. Thane’s hands intrigued her, and she twined her
fingers through his, brushing his callused palm, following the
angles and lines, imagining the violence and struggle they’d
endured, the lives they’d taken and the ones they’d protected.
“Now, a memory of me will be here as well,” she whispered to
herself, deep in her thoughts.

His other hand wrapped around hers, pulling
her attention back to him. “Sweetheart?”

“Hmm.”

“You’re more than a memory,” he said,
raising her arm and kissing the soft underside of it, tickling
her.

She strained to pull away, but that was
about as stupid as trying to blow the Empire State Building over
with a sneeze. “Commander, stop.” She fought like crazy, laughing
at the same time. “Commander—”

“We’ve gotta work on that self-defense,”
releasing her before she went nuts. Sliding off the bed, he knelt
down and folded his massive tanned arms on the sheets beside her.
He gazed at her as if seeing her for the first time. Weaving his
fingers through her hair, which must have been a tussled mess, he
said, “Coffee?” and grinned at her.

She propped her head in her palm. “How are
we supposed to sleep with coffee?”

“Who said anything about sleep,” his grin
widening.

“Comm…” he pressed one finger to her
lips.

“Thane, my name is Thane, and I love when
you say it. I love everything about you. I wanted to prove that to
you.”

She shook her head and gave him a sad smile.
“Don’t.”

A look akin to hurt crossed his
features.

“You can’t stop him, and I’m not going to
let you keep protecting me.” She glanced around his large, cleanly
styled bedroom—a man’s bedroom, with heavy wood accents and sparse
decoration. A built-in bookshelf filled with books told her he
liked to read when given the chance. His walk-in closet door sat
ajar and she could see he kept it as neat as a pin. Hers was
already overflowing and stuffed to the brim.

“Kayla, look at me.”

She didn’t want to because she knew he was
going to try and convince her to hang on, be brave, and everything
would be alright, but it couldn’t be. The soft pillow folded around
her cheek as she turned on her side curling her legs under the
sheets. Violence had always been in her life, and the worst was yet
to come. These special moments with Thane were a reprieve, a small
breath while fate looked the other way.

“Kayla, I know how to kill a man. You’ll
never have to live in fear that one day he’ll be free.”

“I don’t want you to do that.” She didn’t
want him anywhere near the Blood Shark. “That psychotic bastard
tried to kill you last night.”

“I know, and he’s not getting another
chance. Taking that risk means he’s unraveling. We’ve got him, we
just have to wait.”

Leaning over, she kissed the top of his
hand. Slowly he released the sheet he’d bunched into his palm.

“I’m not leaving you until this is over.”
Her eyes flashed up to his, and he gave his head a quick jerk, a
silly smile breaking out. “I always say the wrong thing to you.” He
leaned forward and kissed her. “You’re such a little woman, but I
think I’m scared of you.”

“What?” she blurted, laughing at the same
time.

“It’s true,” he said, a grin puckering his
cheeks. “On the first day I saw you, you shook everything I
believed in to rubble.” His thumb brushed her lips tenderly, and
she folded her palm around it.

He killed men for a living, had the nerves
of Superman, yet he was nervous around her. Yeah, right! “Get outta
here,” she scoffed and rolled onto her back. He sat on the edge of
the bed and propped his arm across her, sliding his hand along her
hip. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked down at her with a day’s
worth of shadow on his rugged features. It made him look a little
scruffy and a lot of sexy. If she had a lifetime with him, she’d
never get tired of looking into his eyes.

“In fact it’s so true I want you to have
this.” He reached over to the side table and opened the top drawer,
drawing a chain out of it. Clasping it around her neck, his finger
followed each link, stopping for a moment on the pendant and then
he looked at her with so much meaning it stilled her heart.

She dropped her eyes to the cool metal
sitting between her breasts. “Commander, no!” She reached up to
touch his trident, and felt a tremor of awe pulse through her.
“Comm…” His brows shot up. “Thane…” He cut her off with a long
kiss. The man certainly knew how to wipe her mind of any logical
thoughts. Once his lips parted from hers, she had to put the pieces
back together and start again.

“I want you to remember me as deeply as I
will always remember you,” he whispered against her lips.

“I don’t need your trident for that. I can’t
accept this.” She tried to pull it off but he stilled her hand.
“Commander, please—you need to give this to someone special.”

“I just did.” His hands tangled in her
curls. “Say you’ll always wear it, and I’ll always be with
you.”

Her heart constricted, seeing her breasts
pressed against his chest, the trident caught between their hearts.
“Commander, I—” She stopped herself before the words slipped out.
Words like he was her hero, her strength, how much she trusted him.
All the words he needed to hear, but not from her. He searched her
face, and she knew he was trying to read her mind again.

A grin slipped across his expression as if
satisfied with what he saw. “Now, breakfast?” he suggested, leaning
back. “And then we’re going for a long drive.”

“Where?”
And why was he doing
this?

“We’ll keep driving until we feel like
stopping.” A quick kiss on her cheek and a lingering one on her
lips removed any argument. “Maybe we should keep going, and never
come back.” He smiled down at her. “We’ll stop for food and to make
love. We’ll put four tires on the highway and follow the yellow
lines until the end.”

Cupping her hands around his strong jaw, she
nodded. He sounded wishful, as if it was what he wanted, too. As if
he needed to run away as much as she did. “That’s a sweet thought,
but we’re going to end up in Canada,” she stated with a serious
tone.

“Then we’ll end up in Canada.”

“I can’t. There’s a wanted poster out for
me.”

“What?”

Her lips tightened trying not to laugh
seeing he believed her.

“You’re bad.”

From the corner of her eye, something or
someone flashed past the window and she tensed. Thane’s attention
shot to the window as did hers, and they both bolted upright.

“What was it?”

Kayla scrambled from the bed, and Thane
caught her around the waist and drew her to the wall behind him.
“Someone, I don’t know, but definitely someone.”

“Wait here.”

“No.”

“Do what I say,” he ordered sharply.

Her skin rippled with goose bumps, her heart
beating fast. “No, you don’t have the team to back you up.”

He slid along the wall to peer out the
window. Scooping at the ground, Thane grabbed his pants and yanked
them onto his legs. “Take the phone and go in my bathroom and lock
the door.” He pinned her with a “don’t argue” look.