Deadly Game (GhostWalkers, #5)(61)

He tipped her chin up. “Did you say stop? Because if you did, I didn’t hear you.”

“Not out loud. No one’s ever done that before.”

He frowned. “Done what?”

Color crept under her skin, flushing her face and her breasts, drawing his attention to the marks on the creamy flesh. His marks. His fingerprints. The faint teeth marks and numerous strawberries standing out starkly against her pale skin. She had them on the inside of her thighs as well. He touched one—pleased.

Her color deepened, turning an interesting shade of crimson. “Oral sex.”

His eyebrow shot up. She looked innocent and almost shy, so much so that he couldn’t help but bend down to kiss her. “Oral sex? Is that what you thought that was?” He rubbed the scar splitting his lip with the pad of his thumb. “I don’t think so, honey. That was more like gobbling you up. Eating you alive. And just talking about it is making me hard all over again.”

The color spread through her body. “Well, regardless, no one’s ever done that.”

The smile on his face faded. “Never?”

She shook her head.

He scowled at her. “What the hell did this idiot Brett do to prepare you?”

“He didn’t care if my body accepted his or not. He used a lubricant for his own convenience, not mine.”

Ken swore out loud. “Someone needs to tear his heart out.”

A small smile curved her mouth. “Jack likes to shoot people. Maybe we just ought to introduce them.”

Ken slid off the bed, pulling up his jeans before finding a cloth. Dipping it in water, he carefully washed her body, deliberately stroking caresses between her legs. “What other things have you managed to miss?”

“Why? I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“If I don’t know what you’ve missed, I won’t know all the things I get to introduce you to.” He dried her body with careful strokes.

“I’ve never celebrated a birthday or holiday.”

“When do you get presents?”

She laughed. “What kind of presents? Sean gave me a knife once, but he took it back when I was put in the breeding program. I think they were afraid I’d remove certain portions of Brett’s anatomy.”

It bothered him. Okay—it bothered him a lot—that she didn’t have holidays and fireplaces and presents. At the worst home he’d been in, they still celebrated birthdays. “When is your birthday?”

Once again her gaze slid from his, and she shrugged with exaggerated casualness. “I have no idea. Whitney found me in an orphanage somewhere and he didn’t exactly think that date was important, so why would you think he’d celebrate our birthdays?”

Ken’s belly knotted up again, but he kept his voice and face expressionless. He cupped her face and leaned in for another heart-stopping kiss. The woman tasted like honey and exotic spice, so addicting he thought about just kissing her until neither of them knew their own names anymore. “He’s a scientist. Isn’t the age of his guinea pigs important? Let’s break into his files and get the information. I’ll bet he has it.”

She laughed. Really laughed. The sound was very soft, but it made him want to smile. He pulled a chain from around his neck. Made of braided gold, it held a small golden cross. He slipped it over her head, lifting her hair out of the way so that the chain slid along the back of her neck and the medal nestled between her breasts.

“Your first present, one of many. I’m not very religious, but I always like to keep my options open. It will keep you safe when I’m not right beside you.”

She inhaled sharply and blinked hard several times.

Ken touched her long lashes and found them wet. She suddenly looked sad, shadows replacing the laughter in her eyes. “Presents are supposed to make you happy. I don’t think you’re getting the concept here.”

Mari slid her arms around his neck. “Surprisingly, this has been the best day of my life. Thank you.” She lifted her mouth for his kiss, her fingers gliding over his neck. She struck hard and fast, finding the pressure point with little problem and, using her enhanced strength, digging deep. She could never have done it if she hadn’t caught him completely by surprise, but he succumbed, slipping into a black void, slumping to the bed and then sliding to the floor.





CHAPTER 11




Mari jumped off the bed, crouching down to check Ken’s pulse. The whisper of warning buzzed in her head like the distant sound of bees. They were here. They’d found her, and if she didn’t act fast, they’d kill Ken, Jack, Logan, and Ryland. Lily would be taken prisoner.

She took a deep breath and opened her mind to the team leader. Pull back. There are civilians and innocents here. This team was protecting the senator, not there to assassinate him. Until we know how the wires got crossed, we can’t risk killing innocents. She prayed Sean listened to her. She was not going to be responsible for bloodshed, and no one was going to hurt Ken Norton, not if she could help it. If he was conscious, he’d fight to the death to keep her; she knew that much about him.

She had to keep Sean and her team away from this room and away from the others. But how? She had only seconds before someone triggered an alarm or set off one of the other GhostWalker’s highly tuned senses. Quickly pulling on a pair of jeans, she laid her hand on the wall as she leaned against the door to listen, hoping to hear if Jack Norton had already been alerted to the danger descending on them.