A Christmas Together Read online

  “Not bad for a girl.” In a fluid motion, he shifted his feet and pivoted so he stood directly behind her once more. Before she could turn, he looped his arm around her neck and pressed his lips against her ear. “So what happens if someone does this?”

  Her fingers went straight for his eyes. With a grunt, he caught her hand, but his hold around her neck loosened. She wiggled out from under him and aimed her free fist straight at his nose. When he managed to imprison that hand as well, she targeted her knee at his crotch. Left without a choice, he kicked her legs out from under her. As her butt landed on the soft mat, he moved to straddle her waist. For good measure, he pinned her wrists to the floor. “You were holding out on me. Someone’s been taking classes.”

  When she blushed, he shook his head. The little monster had been luring him into a false sense of security. “My mind is at ease. Those moves would have worked on most attackers.”

  She sighed. “I kinda hoped they’d work on you.”

  How could she have ever entertained the notion? “I’m a highly trained professional. If word got out a five-foot-two blonde could get the drop on me, I’d be out of a job.”

  “Are you going to let me up?”

  “There’s one thing I want to do first.”

  He’d meant it to be a brief, teasing, and gentle kiss—something to take the edge off so he could keep his hands to himself until he figured out the next steps. But the moment he sucked her lower lip into his mouth, he was lost.

  With a throaty moan, her sweat-soaked body turned pliant, her hips lifting off the matt, her back arching beneath his thighs. She titled her head, giving him better access. Smoldering embers of need burst into flames. He turned ravenous—taking more with each nibble and bite. The kiss failed to sate either of them. It had been too long. He wanted her too much.

  He trailed his mouth over her chin and down the column of her neck. She whimpered, turning her head to expose the vulnerable line of her throat. He rasped his teeth over the spot just above her collarbone, remembering her sensitivity to the particular caress.

  She shuddered.

  Closing his mouth over her porcelain skin, he sucked hard as she writhed, the sinuous contact lifting his cock. He pulled her hands down so he could manacle them by her hips. Then he shifted to straddle her straining thighs.

  Seeing her cheeks color, he followed her gaze to the mirror. His shaft hardened. Pinned to the floor, her petite body contrasted with his looming frame. Her eyes had grown wide, her parted lips ruby red. Her chest rose and fell in synchrony with each labored breath.

  He bit her nipple over the sports bra. Her muscles tensed beneath him, a ragged cry catching in her throat. Emboldened by her response, he trailed his tongue over her ribcage before tracing the groove running down the center of her stomach. He nibbled the taut flesh under her navel, wringing a high-pitched moan.

  He caught her waistband between his teeth, peeled it down to expose her hipbone. His head dipped lower as her arms fought his vise-like grip. He kissed his way back up, leaving a hickey over her ribcage.

  Releasing her wrists, he pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it to the side. If she wanted to stop, he was too far-gone to comply. He let out a relieved breath when she bent at the waist and lifted onto her elbows, her gaze raking his chest and abdomen. Capturing her nape, he plundered her mouth.

  She bit his upper lip before tangling her tongue with his. Then she flattened her hands on his shoulders and pushed. With a groan, he let her press him to the mat and reverse their positions. Keeping her palms where they were, she kissed her way down his neck and over his chest. Rasping her teeth over his nipple, she sucked before circling her tongue.

  His hips bucking, he fisted his hands at his sides.

  After what seemed like forever, she brought her lips to his collarbone and made her way down the center of his chest. She nibbled each section of his abdomen until she reached his waistband. Lifting her head, she hooked her fingers under the elastic, pulling his shorts and underwear down in a single move.

  “Shit,” he protested even as she slid the garments off his feet, “We can’t. I don’t have a—”

  She positioned herself between his calves. “I never went off birth control”

  Any hope he had at restraint flew out the window as she palmed his balls. When she lapped the tip of his penis, he groaned. “Fuck me.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Sitting on her heels, she undid her disheveled ponytail and pulled off the white sweatband. With a curtain of gold obscuring her face, she lowered her head. Soft wet warmth surrounded his shaft. He clenched his fingers over her hair, urging her to take him deeper. She resisted.

  Growling his surrender, he let her set the pace. She did so with torturous precision. When he wanted her to move, she remained still. When he needed more pressure, she backed off and pulsed her tongue over the sensitive tip. When he’d kill to have her stay there, she traced a line along his shaft and lavished his balls with excruciating attention.

  Then he made the mistake of glancing at their reflections. She was on all fours, her hair trailing down one shoulder, her mouth on his cock. The sight of her luscious lips on him amplified his arousal. The instinct to claim her grew visceral.

  Grabbing her nape, he pulled her up. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she shifted to straddle his hips. He closed his fingers over her waistband as she lifted onto her knees.

  He yanked at her skin-tight pants. Her underwear clung to the interior as he peeled it down. She rose to her feet so he could pull them both off her ankles.

  She fell on him, her mouth hovering an inch above his. Threading his fingers through her hair, he urged her lower. Their lips fused. He traced the shape of her shoulders, the muscled line of her back. Then he rested both palms over her ass and pressed her against his cock.

  He shifted his groin, his shaft pulsing as he probed the damp notch between her thighs. But, in this position, only she could determine when their bodies would join. She seemed intent to make their kiss last a lifetime.

  When she finally lifted her head, he ordered, “Take off your bra. I want you naked.”

  She reached between their bodies and brushed the tips of her fingers over his balls. “Bossy much?”

  “Bree,” the low warning rumbled in his throat, “if you don’t want to be flat on your back—”

  Her other hand closed over the bra’s front clasp. “What’s the magic word?”

  “Please.” At this point, he’d be willing to recite poetry.

  The cups parted to reveal pale pert globes tipped with the lightest pink. Perhaps because she’d lost weight, they were smaller, but as perfect as he remembered. She lifted onto her knees and hovered less than an inch above his erection. His teeth ground together as he struggled not to come. She bent her knees, and her wet opening slid over the tip.

  He cursed and captured her hips. “I need a moment.” Otherwise, this would end in two seconds flat.

  She bit her lower lip. Wrinkles formed between her brows. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead and chin. Damn, she was tight. She’d always been small, and it had been…

  “There’s been no one else, has there?”

  She gripped his wrists with trembling hands. “Don’t get any ideas. I was busy, that’s all.”

  “Me too.” She’d been holding her breath. He wondered if she’d realized it.

  “I—Okay, this hurts. I’m a bit rusty.”

  He didn’t know how he managed to make his mouth form coherent sentences. “You’re doing great. Go slow and easy.” It might kill him, but what else could he say?

  She lowered her butt by a fraction before halting once more. Her face turned a brighter shade of red. “Could you give me a hand?”

  Grinning, he couldn’t resist the jibe. “What’s the magic word?”

  Her cheeks dimpling, she acquiesced with far more grace than he. “Please.”

  With his thumb, he searched until he found her clit. She shuddered when he pr
essed down. “Is this what you want?”

  She jerkily nodded.

  “Come down closer and lean forward.”

  She took him a quarter inch deeper. On the cusp of bringing matters to an abrupt end, he pinched the bundle of nerves. With a startled cry, her knees buckled. Though she’d placed her palms on his chest to brace the impact, the momentum sheathed him to the hilt.

  As her breath stuttered, he lifted his free hand to span her back. Tensing his abs, he curved his spine so he could close his mouth over her nipple. Her pained whimper turned into an eager moan as he sucked her rosy flesh past his teeth. Her fingertips dug into his upper arms as he flicked his tongue. Her inner muscles tightened, milking his shaft. A string of expletives roaring in his ears, he switched to her other breast.

  Whispering an urgent plea, she scraped blunt fingernails down his triceps. He spread her labia, exposing her clit so his cock grazed it with each impalement. Dropping back onto the mat, he clenched his hands over her ass. Holding her in place, he pumped his hips, surging into her in a slow steady rhythm.

  Sensing the last threads of sanity slipping away, he tipped her forward. The position slid her up his shaft by a few inches, and the friction sent a ripple of heat down his spine. She spread her fingers over his chest, her lids lowering to curtain slumberous green eyes. Her head lolled back.

  He circled her waist with both hands, restraining her as he plundered her tight depths with quick unrelenting thrusts. “I’ve got you. Let go.”

  Her lips parted. Her eyes squeezed shut. Tremors wracked her body. “Oh God, I—”

  She clenched around his cock, squeezing and releasing in an erratic rhythm that drove him over the edge. Harsh guttural sounds erupted from his throat. Every muscle snapped taut. Pounding into her tight body, he embraced oblivion as she screamed.

  Chapter 8

  “I told you, I need space.”

  Karl ignored Brennan’s protest as he strode through her bedroom door. Her hair was drenched, and the dripping water soaked the back of her terry cloth robe. She sat with her arms around her legs, her chin resting on her knees.

  He handed her a mug of tea as he sat beside her on the bed. “You’ve had almost an hour. Time’s up.”

  She closed her hands around the warm container and lifted it to her lips. “You said this tastes like water.”

  The look in her eyes felt like a punch to the gut. He’d long since learned to recognize terror. “You like it, don’t you?” He released a pent-up breath as the drink brought color back to her pasty cheeks.

  “Can you go away? I need time alone to think.”

  He pulled her tresses out from under her collar. “Nice try. All you do with time is stew.”

  She glared at him. “Stewing might do me some good. Having sex with you was stupid, irresponsible—”

  “Inevitable.” His lips firmed into a grim line. “Stop beating yourself up about it. We fucked for the same reason we got married.”

  “Because I’m an idiot?”

  He growled, “Because you love me.”

  She closed her eyes for a long moment. When she lifted her lids, she sighed. “It’s never done us any good, has it?”

  He tapped her mug. “Finish this. You’ll feel better.”

  Like a puppet, she did as he bid. When she finished the tea, he pried the container from her fingers and placed it on the nightstand. “We’re two married consenting adults. It’s not the worst thing that could have happened.”

  “It is for me,” she snapped. “I’ll admit it. Yes, I still have feelings for you. But you don’t return them. You never have.”

  “Wait a bloody minute. Where the hell did you get a stupid idea like that?”

  She sniffled. “It’s obvious.”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake. I married you.”

  “So?”

  He circled his arm around her shoulder. “So it means big damned deal, and I’ll prove it to you as soon as this shit storm clears. Until then, I refuse to watch you mope.”

  Her jaw dropped. “I don’t mope.”

  “You could have fooled me.”

  She tried to shrug off his hold. When he refused to allow it, she collapsed against his shoulder. Good. They were making progress. “Nothing will make me move to D.C. with you.”

  “I don’t remember asking.”

  “Then what—”

  Tipping her chin up, he trailed the tip of his nose down the bridge of hers. “Have a little faith. I’m not in the habit of repeating mistakes.”

  “Umm…”

  He winced at the poor choice of words. “Once I know they’re mistakes, I mean.”

  “I don’t see…”

  He kissed her cheek. “Trust me. You did, once.”

  “And it bit me in the ass.”

  Tightening his hold, he made a promise to them both. “It won’t this time.”

  As his lips brushed hers, the mobile phone on her nightstand lit up.

  * * * *

  Brennan’s hand shook as she started the video and looked away. This viewing was for Jason and Dan’s benefit. She didn’t know how many times she’d watched the clip since 6:00 a.m. The file had been sent to her phone from Zahra’s. Each time she saw the image of her friend blindfolded, gagged, and tied to a chair, part of her remained convinced it was all a bad dream.

  Dan had done his job too well. Riad al Hussein’s men couldn’t get near her, so they found a way to make her go to them. A masked man held a pistol to Zahra’s head. The room was silent but for the recorded voiceover.

  Though both her partners stood still as statues in the kitchen, the person she turned to was Karl. “What happens now?”

  His face an emotionless mask, his dark eyes cold and distant, he looked away. The man she knew was gone. A stranger she didn’t like stood in his place. And though his calculating expression gave her goose bumps, she wouldn’t hesitate to place her life in his hands.

  Ignoring her, he addressed the other two men in the room. “Did you understand their demands?”

  Both had a good working knowledge of Arabic. Dan seemed frozen in place, his hands clenched at his sides.

  Jason responded. “There’s no guarantee they’ll let her go, even if we do as they say.”

  The statement didn’t seem to faze her husband. “Her father is a sheikh. If they kill her, they’ll never set foot in any of the Gulf states again. There are certain lines even Riad would rather not cross.”

  Dan’s voice shook. “Are you suggesting we do nothing?”

  “You two wouldn’t be here if that’s what I’d decided. They’ll carry out the threat if we don’t play ball, but there’s a great deal of incentive to let her go. The terms reflect that.”

  Since her knees weren’t steady, she sidled onto a barstool. She doubted anything she said would be acknowledged. Judging from Karl’s recent behavior, she’d ceased to exist as soon as her phone lit up this morning.

  Her husband flipped open the laptop he’d placed on her kitchen counter. The machine was thick, heavy, and looked like it could survive a drop off a ten-story building. The desktop background was the Great Eagle Seal. “Official Use Only” appeared in bold red letters on all four sides. With a few keystrokes, a satellite image appeared.

  “I called in a favor and had a contact check the GPS coordinates they sent. The drop-off is on an abandoned manmade islet off the coast of Dubai.” He zoomed in on the far corner of what looked like the World Islands. Though pixelated, she could make out what appeared to be a villa. A huge yellow “H” marked a helipad situated on the left side of the building.

  He pointed at the narrow stretch of brown leading to the water. “This is the dock where we’re supposed to make the exchange.”

  Dan and Jason crowded around the computer. Though Dan’s expression didn’t match her husband’s stoicism, his voice and hands had steadied. “They probably have eyes on all corners. Any boat or aircraft would be spotted a mile away. If we alert the UAE authorities or tell Zahra’s family, th
ey’ll go in guns blazing. She won’t make it back.”

  Jason drew an L between the helipad and the dock with his finger. “If we adhere to their demands, they can have you two on a helicopter in under ten minutes. Iranian airspace is less than an hour away. By the time Zahra gets close enough to shore for cell service, they’ll be in the wind.”

  “The only way to get the hostage out is to go through with the exchange. All we need are bodies on the ground to nullify the threat, after she leaves but before the helicopter takes off.” Karl’s monotone reflected a marked detachment, as if neither he nor she would play a role.

  He also seemed to be ignoring the possibility these men might shoot him on sight. He could ignore her all he wanted. She refused to go along with any plan in which he had no hope of survival. “What’s to say they won’t put a bullet through your head the moment you step on the dock?”

  He spared her a fleeting glance. “Thus far, Riad has gone out of his way to make this vendetta public and ostentatious. The first attack was a bomb. The second was an attempted kidnapping in full view of security cameras. He wants to send a message. A quick and painless kill isn’t what he’s after. Once Zahra leaves the island, he has less than fifteen minutes to high tail it out of there. The window isn’t long enough for him to have the type of execution he craves.”

  She shook her head. “You’re playing a hunch.”

  He looked straight at her. “No, I’m predicting the man. I know his profile well enough to make the call.”

  Dan knocked his knuckles on the counter in a demand for attention. “We’re told to show up at nine. They’ll have full visibility, and Safe Harbor doesn’t own a submarine. Even if we could send a team there undetected, we don’t have time to assemble one. To reach the rendezvous in time, we need to leave for the marina in two hours.”

  Karl rubbed his jaw. He had a habit of doing that when he was about to say something she wouldn’t like. “I suggest we swim.”

  It was an insane proposal. Dan shared her opinion. “For them to not spot us diving in, we’d need to be dropped off over an hour offshore. Don’t let the desert sun fool you. The water in the Arabian Sea is freezing.”