Holmes (12 page)

But now, she wasn’t letting him push her away.

“I’m not leaving. I’m not taking the easy option so I can sleep. Let me help you shoulder this.” She held him tighter. “I’m here, Adam. For you.”

He shuddered under her touch. “It isn’t just those people. At Yeranderie we lost people. I fucking let Claudia sacrifice herself to save us all. And people still died.”

“Claudia’s fine. And the rest of us got away because of you and the squads. There is nothing more you could have done. For any of the people who died.”

His hands tightened on hers. “All those people dead, and here I am enjoying myself. Feeling pleasure I don’t deserve.”

Here was the real crux of the problem, and it hurt her heart.

“Stupid man.” She pressed her face against his. “You
do
deserve it. You work so hard and sacrifice so much…but you know what? None of that matters. When I was in my darkest place, when my ex had driven me down to my lowest place, I didn’t even think I deserved to live, let alone feel good, or feel pleasure.”

With a growl, Adam yanked her around into his lap. He cupped her face. “That is bullshit.”

“I know that now.” She traced his handsome face with her gaze, then touched a finger to his firm lips. “I realized we deserve love and pleasure, no matter who we are, or what we’ve done. We all deserve it.”

He looked torn.

Her poor, tortured general. Suddenly, Liberty realized that sometimes, actions spoke louder than words.

She leaned forward and sank her teeth into his shoulder.

He growled and it fired the desire flickering in her belly. She felt his body go tense beneath her.

But this time it wasn’t the strain of burden and torment. It was the tension of desire and need.

She bit him again, a little harder, and she felt his cock swell beneath her. Hmm. Maybe her general liked it a little rough. Maybe he needed it a little rough. To unleash all that dark emotion he was drowning in.

She bit the side of his neck, sucking hard, pressing her nails into his back.

He made a sound in his throat and a second later, he moved, tossing her back onto their makeshift bed on her hands and knees.

Liberty gasped.

Before she could really focus on what was happening, Adam gripped her hips hard. She knew she’d have bruises shaped liked his hands in the morning.

Desire was a fierce shock to her system.

She looked back over her shoulder and studied the raw, hard look on his face. This was Adam fully unleashed. Her belly contracted.

“I’m going to take you hard, Liberty. It’ll be rough.” One of his hands moved, stroking the skin at her hip. “Tell me you aren’t afraid.”

He was stroking her scars. Her belly clenched. “I’d never be afraid of you, Adam.”

With a groan, he pulled her hips back. With one hand, he stroked between her buttocks, moving down to rub the warm, wet heat of her.

Yes
. She pushed back. Ready, eager for more. A small cry exploded out of her.

He reached out and pushed her head down. Liberty bent her elbows, resting her cheek on her arms. Edgy anticipation was a hot fizz in her blood.

His body covered hers, she felt the brush of the hair on his thighs against the back of hers, the hard steel of his stomach on her back and his left arm curved around hers.

She was trembling now. No man had ever left her like this, teetering on the edge of desire, desperate for whatever came next.

He didn’t give her any warning. A second later, he used his free hand to run the head of his cock against her. Then he pushed inside her with one large thrust.

“Oh.” She moved forward under the weight of him. She was so full, so stretched.

“So damn good.” A hot, urgent murmur.

Her fingers curled around his arm, digging into his forearm.

Then he pulled out and thrust again. She rocked back and forth, adjusting to the size of him and his unstoppable rhythm.

She’d never felt so deliciously controlled, so at the sexual mercy of a man, with all his ruthless focus on her pleasure and his. The pleasure built—edgy, paralyzing—a torment she wasn’t sure she could endure much longer. She needed to come, wanted to come.

But Adam kept up his hard, rough pace, his body slapping against hers.

“Adam…please…I can’t take any more.”

He slammed into her again. “You will. You can.”

She was making small, breathy sounds now, riding the tormenting edge of arousal, but not yet finding her release. His big body moved within her, and her heart was thundering in her chest.

Then she felt his right hand slide beneath her. A second later, she felt the firm pressure of his thumb against her engorged clit.

With a throaty cry, she came. Hard. The wild force of her orgasm was like a violent storm. As she felt her body clamp down on his, she turned and sank her teeth into the straining muscles of his forearm.

He made a matching sound, his hips flexing as he filled her again. His hot mouth touched her shoulder, then she felt the brutal sting of his teeth as he bit her.

With one final, violent pump, he convulsed, emptying himself inside her.

***

Adam had never felt so wrecked.

He fell into the blankets, pulling Liberty’s lax body into his arms.

He felt empty, clear…for a second. Then the guilt flooded in.

He’d taken her so roughly. He’d let all that ugly blackness in him rise up, and instead of wrestling with it as he always did, he’d let it run him.

He stroked her hair off her face, worried that she was so quiet. He cleared his throat. “Are you okay?”

She made a small sound. “
Okay
cannot describe what I’m feeling right now.”

Her voice was husky, and she didn’t sound angry. Still… “I was too rough, I could have hurt you—”

She rolled, rearing up above him, her body flush to his side. “Adam, quit trying to save everybody for just one second. I feel the best I’ve felt in a long time. A super sexy general, who’s been hiding a whole lot under his starched uniforms, just fucked the hell out of me. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

He blinked, trying to take that all in.

She smiled and sat up, reaching for the bottle of Scotch beside their makeshift bed. As she poured a few fingers in each glass, he just stared at her. She looked so incredibly gorgeous, sitting there, naked in the candlelight. She was far beyond any fantasy woman he might have tried to conjure up.

And right now, she was his.

He wanted to keep her. Adam breathed deeply, shocked at the thought. Finding a woman, a partner, a lover, someone to fall in love with, had not been on his agenda at all. Before the invasion, he’d written it off completely.

Before the invasion, he’d failed in his marriage and he’d been married to his work. Since the invasion, he hadn’t had the time.

But since Liberty Lawler had burst through his defenses, now he was wanting things he’d never, ever thought he’d want.

Seeing beneath her beauty and her smile, he saw a woman who was right for him. A woman he admired, who could stand beside him in the dark and bring the light.

“Here you go.” She handed him a glass. Then she clinked hers against his. “Here’s to sexy, dedicated generals, and no more nightmares.”

He sipped the fine liquor, enjoying the flavor. Although it didn’t compare to the sweet tastes of Liberty. “Here’s to smart, resourceful, beautiful women and pleasure.”

She smiled at him over the rim of her glass. “Now that is something worth drinking to.”

“I am sorry I was rough…”

She screwed up her nose. “I liked it. Don’t want to hear any more about it.” Her smile turned from mischievous to sensual. “Unless it’s to tell me you want to do it again.”

God, he hoped she didn’t lose interest in him too soon. He knew he’d never hold her for long, but he’d gorge himself on her in the meantime. “Soon.”

“Mmm.” She sipped her drink again, and something flared in her eyes. “You’re right, my sexy general. I think it’s time for something a bit different.”

She pushed against his chest, urging him back into the blankets. He let her, watching as she took his glass and set it aside.

When she climbed astride him, Adam felt his cock thicken.

“This time it’s my turn to take you.” She tilted her glass, spilling the amber liquid on his belly.

Adam gasped, his muscles clenching. She leaned down and lapped at the fluid.

“You’ll take every bit of pleasure I have to give you.” She looked up his body. A bewitching siren. “Because you deserve it. Say it. Because I deserve it.”

“Because we both deserve it,” he managed.

She smiled and licked his skin again, moaning a little. “That’ll do. Now, General Holmes. You just lie there and enjoy what I do to you.”

“And what’s that?” His voice was low, deep and barely understandable.

“My plan is to lick all this off your fine skin, then climb up here on your cock and ride us slowly to oblivion.” She raised a brow, her nails scratching over his abs. “What do you think of my planning skills?’

“Impressive.” Then Adam gave up thinking, and just let himself enjoy her.

***

Liberty leaned into the cab of Adam’s truck, cleaning out a few stray food wrappers and empty water bottles. It was morning, or so she’d been told. Deep inside an underground mine, it was hard to tell.

While she hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, she felt rested. She smiled to herself. And for the second half of the night, Adam had slept like a rock. No tossing, no turning no nightmares.

He’d woken her far too early, but since he’d woken her by slipping his cock inside her while they spooned in their blankets, and gently rocked them both to heaven, she wasn’t complaining. After that, he’d gotten up to go and do general things, while she’d grabbed an extra forty minutes of sleep.

Now she was dressed and ready to get to the Enclave. Her stomach hardened like a rock. God, she just wished they were there already. It wasn’t far, just a few kilometers away, but it felt like they had to cross the entire country to get there.

She forced herself to focus on the destination, not the journey. She’d think of the Enclave, and finally having Adam Holmes naked in a bed.
Hmm
. And maybe a bath. Avery and Roth had been there, and Avery had waxed lyrical about the bathtubs. Liberty missed bubble baths.

“Good morning.” Strong arms wrapped around her. “What are you thinking about?”

She pressed herself into Adam. “Bubble baths. And how much I miss them.” She turned to look at him.

Heat flared in his eyes. “I can picture you in nothing but bubbles.”

“I hear the Enclave has bathtubs.”

“So they do.” His eyes turned a little serious. “We’ll be there by the end of the day.”

She nodded, really wanting to believe. “Absolutely.”

He looked so good. His hair was damp. He’d no doubt used one of the temporary showers they had rigged up. His navy-blue polo shirt and chinos made him look like he’d stepped out of some gentlemen’s magazine advertising summer-casual wear.

Then his gaze narrowed and he tugged at the collar of her white shirt. “Is this my shirt?”

She’d nabbed it from his truck. “Maybe.”

Heat flared in his blue eyes. “I’ll want it back.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Later.”

He crowded her against the side of the truck. “You know I have a hickey.”

Her gaze zoomed to his neck and her eyes widened at the round bruise. She pressed her tongue to her teeth. “Oh.”

“And this.” He raised his arm and clearly visible on his forearm was a perfect red imprint of her teeth.

“I have a few marks of my own, General.” She’d caressed every patch of stubble burn, finger imprint, and bruise as she’d gotten dressed this morning.

He stared at her shirt, like he wished he could see through it. “Yes, safely hidden under your clothes.”

“But now you know they’re there.”

“Witch.” He pulled her closer by the neck of
his
shirt. “And
everyone
will know where mine are.”

“I’d say I’m sorry…” She tried not to laugh.

“You don’t sound sorry.”

“Because I’m not. People are not going to be shocked you have sex, Adam.”

He cocked his head. “Is that all we did?”

Liberty’s belly clenched. “We’re having fun. Enjoying ourselves.” She couldn’t let herself get too attached to him. Even if silly dreams of something else tickled the edges of her mind.

No
. She was a realist. Her disaster of a marriage had taught her that. Her ex-husband had taught her with every slap of his belt.

If you sold yourself lies, you only got hurt. Sometimes badly.

She forced a smile and dusted off Adam’s shoulders. “You’re already too serious as it is.”

“And you hide your true feelings under taking care of everyone else.”

She blinked, her breath catching for a second. Then she made a scoffing sound. “Hello? Pot, kettle, black.”

He made a frustrated growl and kissed her.

Every cell in her body flared to life. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, opening her mouth and stroking her tongue against his.

Oh, yes, he was addictive. Every time he kissed her, she wanted more.

When they pulled back, they were both breathless.

“That is
something
,” he murmured.

“Lust, Adam. Desire.” She forced the words out.

He gripped her chin. “Yes. That. But it’s fueled by something else—”

“See! I told you.”

The female voice nearby made them both start.

As Adam pulled away, Liberty pressed her palms to the truck, hoping her jelly knees would hold her up.

A few meters away, Elle, Emerson, and Santha stood watching them, all three ladies grinning from ear to ear.

Chapter Thirteen

Adam tried to get his brain firing. He didn’t let go of Liberty, though…he needed her as a shield for his hard erection.

He cleared his throat. “Ladies, can I help you?”

Elle’s eyes were wide, a smile flirting around her lips. “Don’t mind us.”

Emerson snorted. “Well, I was coming to give you an update on the boy we rescued yesterday, and the other patients in the med bus…but I guess this isn’t a good time.”