Chapter Sixteen
“What the hell were youthinking?”
Maddie started so violently, the cup of coffee she was carrying flew from her hand in a wide arc, the contents spraying onto her biker boots when the paper cup hit the ground. She turned an irritated look on the speaker, who was leaning against the side of a silver Porsche that seemed comically out of place in the parking lot of the back-road truck stop. “Well, Ihadbeen thinking how awesome that cup of coffee smelled and how it was going to beexactlywhat I needed for the last hour of my ride. So thanks a lot.”
Jack gave her an irritated look. “That’s not what I mean, Maddie, and you damned well know it.”
She heaved a sigh and crossed her arms. “So, did Finn tell you where I was going? Is that how you found me?” She’d taken the back roads specifically to try to avoid being found if Jack decided to come after her.
Jack pushed off the car and closed the gap between them in two angry strides. He took her by the arms, his grip hard even through her leather jacket. “What did you think I was going to do? Let you fight my battle for me?”
God, even in the darkness his green eyes were mesmerizing, captivating. She wanted desperately to take hold of the front of his silk shirt and drag him to her, lose herself in the warmth of his lips.
“Does it have to be a battle at all?” she asked. “I just wanted to find Antonovich, talk to him, figure out what this game is that he’s playing. Whatever happened in Russia is tormenting you, Jack. I just wanted you to have some peace, to be happy.”
His grip slackened and he released her arms to take her face in his hands. “And you thought I could be happy withoutyou? What you said to Will . . .”
“Was true,” she told him, her throat tight with unshed tears as she spoke the words. “We can’t have a future together, Jack. There will always be doubt about whether or not our judgment is impaired when the other is in danger. We owe it to our brothers in the Alliance, to the people we’re supposed to be protecting, to have our heads in the game.”
He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. He knew she was right. She could tell by the fact that he didn’t argue with her, didn’t assure her that they would be fine, that they could love each other and still do their duty to the Alliance and to humankind.
“I don’t care if you’re five feet or five countries away,” he told her. “I’m not going to stop worrying. I care far too much. And you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t care about me too.”
She pulled back to meet his gaze. “Of course, I care about you. Are you kidding me? That’s why I couldn’t let you get yourself killed. And if you take on these people on your own, you won’t come out alive. If you want to go after Antonovich and Kozlov and finally put whatever’s going on behind you, then you’re going to have to let me in.”
He pressed his mouth into an angry line. “Maddie—”
She rose up on her toes and brushed a brief kiss to his lips, which softened at her touch and soon sought hers. She’d only meant to stop his protest against her involvement, but as with every other kiss they’d shared, it soon led to another, now heated and hungry. Her arms went around his waist, pulling him closer.
When he finally ended the kiss, her breathing was ragged, her entire body aching with need for him. “We should go,” she panted. “We still have an hour’s drive.”
“That’s a long time to wait,” he murmured, his eyes taking on a glint that made her shudder. “And I’ve already waited far too long to get you in my arms.”
She swallowed hard. “Well, then,” she rasped, “I guess you’d better follow me. Just try to keep up.”
* * *
Holy hell.
The drive into Detroit seemed like it took for-fucking-ever. And even now as the elevator crept at an agonizing pace toward their floor, Jack thought he’d crawl out of his skin. If there hadn’t been another hotel guest in the elevator with them, he would’ve punched the emergency stop button and taken her right there.
And damn, but she looked sexier than ever in her motorcycle gear. Her tight leather pants were almost more than he could take. Even now as his gaze skimmed along her curves, he had to covertly shift things around to keep from frightening off the other passenger.
Two floors away from theirs, the elevator stopped and their unwanted companion got off, finally leaving them to themselves. Unable to resist, Jack grabbed Maddie’s hand and pulled her roughly to him, claiming her mouth in a harsh kiss. She responded with a moan, pressing her body into his, her hands tangling in his hair.
Now the elevator that had seemed to be moving so slowly arrived at their floor all too soon. Luckily their room was only two doors down, and seconds later Jack swept her inside, shoving her jacket from her shoulders the moment the door closed behind them. Then, their gazes locked, they moved as one, working together to unbutton his shirt. The moment it hit the ground, she leaned in, pressing kisses to his chest as her fingers fumbled with his belt.
A moment later, he stood before her completely naked, loving the way her gaze devoured him before she pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it aside. And when her bra joined her shirt, he closed the distance between them and bent to take one breast into his mouth, teasing and nipping at her erect nipple until she cried out, needing more.
In one swift motion, he grasped her around the waist, lifting her up and falling with her onto the bed. He once more claimed her breast, chuckling as she panted and squirmed, gasping his name. And that only increased as he kissed the valley between her breasts, the silky soft skin of her belly. And when he grasped the edges of her leather pants, he took his time sliding them down her legs, kissing his way along until he reached her ankle, then hooked her leg over his shoulder as he kissed his way back up along her calf, the inside of her thigh.
She cried out, clenching his hair in her fists, when he settled between her legs. He flicked his tongue against the sensitive bud of nerves there, his hands sliding beneath her bottom and tilting her up toward his mouth. When her breath began to saw in and out of her lungs and her muscles tightened, he shifted, sinking in deeper, penetrating her with the tip of his tongue.
She arched up for him, rolling her hips, taking all he could give. And when he moved again, his teeth grazing her clit, she bucked with a cry that filled the room. He drove her through her climax, easing off, then diving in again until she finally clawed at his shoulders, attempting to pull him up to her.
With a reluctant groan, he slid up the length of her body until he was cradled by her hips, pausing only briefly to roll on the condom he’d grabbed during their mad dash to shed their clothes. She was still tight and pulsing when he slid into her. For a moment he was still, savoring the feel of her skin pressed against his, the way her body enveloped him, embraced him in the most intimate ways.
Then he began to thrust slowly, peering down at her as her pleasure played out over her face, searing into his memory the images of her as she looked at that moment. She had said they couldn’t have a future. Hell, he’d said as much when he was trying to dissuade her from getting too close to him again. But they hadnow. And as she pulled him down to receive her sultry kiss, he shoved aside any concerns about what the future held for either of them, and let her love wrap around him and warm the cold dread that had settled into the center of his chest.
