Deadly Game (GhostWalkers, #5)(97)

He kissed her left breast and moved on to the right, this time pushing deep with his hand until she was riding him. They didn’t have much time left together, and he would have to walk away and leave her locked up at Whitney’s mercy. It was a terrifying thought, one that tied his belly in tight, hard knots. “After, will you come to Montana with me and see our home?” He stilled his hand, his mouth, his breath—waiting.

A heartbeat went by. She pushed against his fingers, trying for relief but he didn’t move. “Is my sister there?”

“When we know it’s safe, Jack will bring her there. It’s their home as well, but I don’t want you to come for Briony. I want you to come for me. No matter what, Briony is going to want to see you. She made us both promise to find you and bring you back to her.” He suckled again, feeling the wash of her liquid response over his hand, and his fingers began their slow assault once more.

“I’m terrified of meeting her, Ken.” She couldn’t quite find her breath, but she never, never wanted him to stop. Lying in the dark with his hands and mouth roaming her body made her feel as if she belonged somewhere. This was for her, this slow, gentle wash of pleasure, completely for her and she knew it.

“You shouldn’t be. She wants to love you, Mari. She wants her sister back. And she’ll welcome the rest of your family. Briony is a generous, compassionate woman and courageous enough to take on my brother.” His hand moved in earnest, thumb and fingers stroking caresses over every sensitive spot until she could feel the tension building and building all over again.

“As long as Whitney’s alive, she’ll be in danger.”

“But not because of you. He had her adopted parents killed, and he tried to kidnap her the moment he found out she was pregnant.”

“I can’t believe she’s going to have a baby.” Her breath was coming in gasps.

“She couldn’t believe it either. Whitney’s team of supersoldiers did some damage to the house, but we’ve repaired it.” Now his fingers were truly wicked, exploring and teasing and never quite giving her what she needed.

Mari tried to push harder against his hand, to trap him into giving her release. “He promised me that as long as I cooperated with him, he’d leave Briony alone.”

Ken’s teeth tugged at her nipple in a gentle punishment. “He never left her alone. He kept tabs on her all these years. He outlined her education and insisted on his own doctor treating her for all illnesses. Whitney lied about Briony just as he lied all those years to Lily.”

“I feel so bad for Lily. It’s a terrible thing to find out your entire childhood is built on a house of cards.” His fingers pushed deep, withdrew, then pushed against her clit until she wanted to sob with pleasure. She closed her eyes.

Ken leaned down and kissed her belly button. It was so like Mari to be concerned for Lily. Mari who had no childhood, who had been treated like a grown soldier before she could barely walk. “Look at me, sweetheart. Open your eyes and look into mine.”

His voice was low and commanding and Mari’s lashes lifted. Her gaze met his, saw the absolute possession there, the stark need and the stamp of ruthless control mixed with something that could be love. She’d never seen the emotion, so she wasn’t certain that was what she was seeing, but she kept her gaze locked with his when he took her over the edge and had her crying out his name.





CHAPTER 17




It rained parachutes last night, Jack announced. Our boys showed up, and a beautiful sight they were floating down from the sky.

Who do we have? Ken asked.

Logan, of course, Neil Campbell. Jesse Calhoun is coordinating and arranging backup in case anything goes wrong.

That surprised Ken. Jesse Calhoun was a valued member of the team, but he had been seriously wounded and was in a wheelchair. Mainly he ran the investigations.

Trace Aikens and Martin Howard are here as well. Jack named the last two members of their GhostWalker SEAL team. No one wanted to be left out. You’re a very popular man, Ken.

It took a moment for him to realize Jack wasn’t joking, and it shocked Ken. He had trained with the men and they fought together, worked, and even at times lived together, but he had never realized their loyalties extended to him and his brother. Jack and he had always been a little apart, and often other men were leery of them.

Ken cleared his throat, thankful no one could see him. Emotion was playing far too big a part with him these days. They all in place?

Everyone’s in position.

Has any word come down on the senator? Ken asked.

Senator Freeman asked to have Ryland’s team guarding him when he visited “a high security facility today,” Jack reported. The general did initially give the order, then an hour later rescinded it and gave the assignment to another team.

Son of a bitch. Whitney has even more pull than we suspected. Who could go over the top of the general?

Ken sat in the narrow corridor inside the cement wall. The fourth level was far more massive than he had ever considered it could be. It had originally been built as a secret military base before it had been closed down. Whitney had obviously discovered it and either bought it or persuaded his backers to allow him to use it for his experiments. There were very few in the know about the existence of the GhostWalkers. Whitney’s front men were able to find a way to hide his work from the various committees who would have objected strenuously to his inhumane and illegal experiments.