Heated Pursuit (Alpha Security #1)(26)

“Like rivers and lakes, open fields, and villages. That sort of thing?”

“Exactly. And you need to do it without drawing attention.”

“I can do that. If there was one thing being a Navy officer’s daughter taught me, it was excellent memory recall. Those military socials are no joke.” Their shoulders touched as she huddled over the maps. “We really have no idea where Fuentes’s compound is located?”

“Ancient civilizations are easier to find than this bastard’s hideout.” The subtle sound of flesh being nibbled drew his attention to her mouth. He reached out, freeing her lower lip with a soft swipe of his thumb. “It’s not too late to change your mind. I can go to the airfield tomorrow alone.”

“Do me a favor, Rafe.” Penny’s voice was so quiet he had to lean close to hear it.

“Anything, Red. Name it.” And damn it all if he didn’t mean it.

“Stop offering to do this without me. All you’re doing by offering a way out is pissing me off and making it harder to act like your brainless bimbo.”

“Are you going to be able to handle that?”

“You pissing me off, or acting like your bimbo?”

Rafe smirked. “The moment we hit that airfield tomorrow, you’ll have been upgraded from bimbo to lover. Lovers are…affectionate. Openly affectionate.”

“Is this your way of telling me you’re going to be touching my ass, Rafael Ortega? If it is, I should warn you that that perk better go both ways.” Penny’s voice dropped, the low husk making Rafe nearly come in his pants.

Her breasts rose and fell with each heavy breath as he slid one finger into the crease of her robe. “What was the longest you had to go undercover to snare a target, Red? An hour? Two?”

“Three.” She failed to contain a gentle shiver as he brushed the top mound of her right breast.

“We don’t know how long we’re going to be at the compound. We won’t be in charge of surveillance. That means we’re going to have to be on twenty-four hours a day. No second-guessing. No hesitancy.” Keeping his heated gaze on her, he lowered his mouth to her skin. “And lovers don’t look uncomfortable when the other touches them.”

“Is that what you’re trying to do right now? Make me uncomfortable?”

“Is it working?”

“Not in the way you mean.”

Rafe eased down one side of her robe, exposing the curve of her shoulder. The second his lips touched her skin again, she closed her eyes on a soft sigh. She needed to get used to him touching her. To maintain their cover. At least that’s what he told himself as he dragged his mouth up to just below her ear where her vanilla scent seemed strongest.

In reality, he just needed the feel of her beneath his hands…and mouth.

With a painful groan, Rafe forced himself to pull way. He didn’t get far. Penny’s hands slid into his hair and directed his wandering lips straight to hers. This was what nirvana must feel like. She nipped his bottom lip, ratcheting up his desire a thousand and one degrees before slipping her tongue into his mouth.

All good intentions to maintain any kind of distance fell away. Fucking instantly. No way in hell was Rafe stopping her. Trey’s threat to his dick be damned, he guided her off her chair and onto his lap. Her legs spread automatically, widening the gap of her terry-cloth robe. She was still damp from her shower, and the warmth of her skin seeped through his clothes.

He let his mouth feast, tangling his tongue with hers as his hands roamed over her curves. Beneath his palms, her body arched, undulating against his jean-covered erection. If she felt this f*cking fantastic with a barrier between them, he could only imagine how she’d feel without.

Rafe didn’t want to stop her, but he also needed to make sure they were heading in the same direction, and for the same reasons. “Before we do this, Red, I need to make sure we understand each other. This isn’t some kind of test, or an initiation. This is you. Me. And this crazy-ass need I have to be inside you.”

“Mm. A threesome.” Her voice rumbled against his neck before she gave it a playful nip. “I’ve never been into that kind of thing before.”

Rafe nearly went up in flames right then. A threesome? Fuck no. He didn’t share—period. And he sure as hell didn’t share her. “I need to hear you say it, Red.”

“This is just you, me, and this.” An evil smirk lifted her lips as she gave his cock a firm rub. “You’re not going to get any complaints from me…unless you take too much longer.”

“This may not be the job, but that doesn’t mean—”

“A proposal. Trust me, I’ve seen how that road ends and I have no desire to travel down it. I’m a big girl, Rafe. I know exactly what this is and what it isn’t, and there’s no chance of me confusing the two. So you may continue, unworried that I’m going to engrave wedding invitations next week.”

She met his gaze, unflinching. She was telling him the truth. He didn’t know what irritated him more: her easy dismissal of what was happening between them or that he was the one who didn’t have high hopes for it being that f*cking simple.

After three seconds of internal debate, Rafe flipped his doubts the bird and deftly untied the robe with one hand while guiding it away from the rest of her body with the other. Every inch of skin he unwrapped, his mouth savored.