She was so wiry and strong, sometimes he lost sight of how soft she was, how curvy in all the right places. How much of a firecracker turn-on she became when she focused that attention on him. Her hands slid from his hair to his shoulders, farther down and under his uniform, under his T-shirt, nails digging into his back.
His senses went on overload, taking it all in. The press of her br**sts against his chest. The scent of his shampoo in her hair…
And oh, God, her hair. The sleek glide of her ponytail through his fingers sent electric shocks bolting straight through him, making him hard and hungry for more of her. He would give his left nut to be somewhere truly alone with her where he could explore every inch of her body with his eyes, his hands, his tongue, until she was turned inside out from wanting him as much as he wanted her.
But they weren’t somewhere else by themselves. And they were barely alone here.
The sound of cars, a honking horn, a crack of thunder, and finally he remembered where they were. Thought about what they were doing now and what they’d almost done right here on the side of the road in front of God and the late-night traffic. He gripped her elbows and eased her arms from him, her close-cut nails scoring a long, arousing path down his back before her hands slid free from his shirt.
She moaned and pressed herself closer. To hell with the garters on his mirror. “Don’t stop…”
He folded their hands together between them. “We have to get back to base. To safety.”
“Oh, my God, you’re right.” She pressed her palms to her face. “This is insane. I’m sorry for losing control like that.”
And he’d put her at risk right now by indulging a need for her that hadn’t dimmed one bit in six months.
She’d been smart to stay away from him all this time. There was a chemistry here that blew his mind, dulled his mind. He’d been half in love with her before, all the more reason for them to keep their distance, given his three-time-loser track record. Except distance was the one thing he couldn’t give her now.
Because he was the only person who stood a chance of keeping her safe.
Chapter 5
Rachel wondered if she would ever feel safe again.
Sitting in the passenger side of Liam’s Jeep, she entered Patrick Air Force Base for the second time today. She’d been scared out of her mind earlier and the feeling hadn’t changed much. If anything, she was more rattled now that the enormity of the car chase and how she’d let that fear strip away all reason really hit her.
She gnawed her bottom lip, still tingling from the explosiveness of how they’d made out on the roadside. She’d known the chemistry between them had a life of its own. Over the past months she’d been tormented just thinking of their brief kiss in the Bahamas.
Somehow though, her memory had fuzzed over details. The crispness of his beard against her sensitive cheek. How broad his hands were, palming her back. How he’d skimmed them up and down her spine as he brought her closer, until her br**sts pressed to the solid wall of muscles. Taking in all the sensation until hot desire flooded her, she wanted, needed, the outlet from all the pent-up fears and emotions.
Her heart was already pumping overtime, adrenaline searing her veins, and yet her body revved even more just thinking about how fast they’d lost control. If the sound of the traffic hadn’t brought her back to reality, she would have had sex with Liam right then and there, and to hell with the consequences. She glanced at him behind the wheel, his jaw tight in the glow of the dashboard lights. Pretty much the way he’d looked since he pulled away from her. Restraint was costing him too.
A shiver of want rippled through her.
God, but she needed to rein in her feelings. She had to focus on analytical details so she had her facts together when she talked to Liam’s friend in the OSI.
Rachel looked away from Liam fast, out over the ocean. A low-flying cargo plane swooped over the bay with the back ramp open. The big fat moon illuminated people leaping out toward the open water.
“Training,” Liam said simply, as if it was no big thing to see people hurtling out of the back of airplanes into the ocean.
And actually, not so long ago, that would have been normal for her too.
Wind blowing through the missing windows stirred memories of her experiences of being lowered out of helicopters with her dog. Back in the days when she had nerves of steel and didn’t cower on the floorboards of cars. Back before she’d worked an earthquake-relief mission with a man who made her feel too much. She’d lost her ability to distance herself and she’d crumpled inside.
God, how she wanted to be herself again, fearless and in control as she’d been before her job and some criminal stalker sucked the strength of will from her. She wanted to be the woman Liam had been attracted to six months ago.
What a time to realize he hadn’t even really been kissing her on the roadside. He’d been drawn to the woman she once was.
He spun the steering wheel, guiding the vehicle into a parking lot. “We’re here.”
Relief shuddered through her until she realized. “What about Disco?”
“Bring him.”
She wouldn’t have left him anyway. Rachel hooked Disco’s leash and hopped from the Jeep. Liam was already at her side, his hand on a handgun strapped to his waist. When had he put that on, and why hadn’t she noticed?
A series of entrances, passageways, and security codes later, Liam opened a final door into… not at all what she’d expected. She’d imagined being escorted into some kind of cold, sterile inquisition room. Instead she looked around what appeared to be more of a comfy lounge area. Granted it was all industrial, military-issue furniture. But the space contained a sofa, a couple of chairs, a table in the corner with a laptop computer and LCD projector. A television monitor hung from the ceiling.