She had been wrong. It had been matched, exceeded, and then completely topped. And he had branded her soul.
She had kept him from stealing her soul the night she had left Texas. She had locked it inside her and kept it free of the pain of losing him, of facing a life without him.
But this time, this time he had pushed into it, torn down those walls and filled the empty dark corners that had never known peace, that had never known warmth or a lover’s presence.
Until now. Tonight he had broken through, conquered and possessed that hidden part of her.
This time, losing him would destroy her.
CHAPTER 4
Jordan drew back slowly, his jaw tightening at the exquisite pleasure of the snug muscles of her pussy caressing the still sensitive flesh of his throbbing cock. As soft, delicate tissue caressed and milked the still hard shaft, a hard, pleasured grimace pulled at his face.
Damn her. He’d never known pleasure like this. Never known a woman who met him as easily, as heatedly, as Tehya had. For the first time in his sexual life, his knees were left weak after finding a release so fucking strong he wondered if he had nearly spilled his soul into her along with his seed.
Lying back, sated, her arms lying still and relaxed at her sides, Tehya looked like a goddess. Hell, like a goddess sacrificed to a hungry sex god. And he had a feeling he wasn’t finished with her yet. He couldn’t imagine ever being unwilling to seek the fiery pleasure such as he had just found with her.
Heavy lashes lifted, those brilliant, witchy green eyes stared back at him through the dark slit of her thick, red-gold lashes. Wariness, pleasure, and a sensual glimmer of heat, all reflected in her gaze. In her eyes, he saw what he already knew. It had ended far too soon. The escape she had needed from reality hadn’t lasted nearly long enough.
Reality was crashing down on her fast, in more ways than one.
His jeans were around his knees. Hell, he hadn’t had his jeans around his knees since he was a damned teenager. He should have felt just an edge of discomfort at that knowledge, at this sign that Tehya affected him in ways that he shouldn’t allow her to affect him. Instead, he couldn’t help but feel the echoes of the incredible pleasure that still radiated through him.
Pulling his jeans to his hips and zipping them, he reached for her and lifted her until she was sitting on the counter before him, silent, watching him through drowsy eyes as though she expected a blow at any moment.
Hell, after what he’d done to her that last night at base, could he really blame her?
He had known Tehya should never be a one-night stand. Her emotions were too tender, her heart too easily broken. And God as his witness, he hadn’t wanted to break her delicate, loyal heart. And he had a feeling that was exactly what had happened. He had wounded her clear to her feminine core.
She hadn’t understood why he’d stated that sleeping with her was something that shouldn’t have happened. All he’d known at the time was that even then, he’d felt the talons of an addiction piercing his guts. A soul-deep knowledge that he would never be free of her, even as he’d wondered if he wanted to be free of her.
There had been a heavy, overwhelming knowledge that he couldn’t escape that undefined emotion he kept fighting where she was concerned. A certainty that if he didn’t distance himself and God forbid, something happened to her, then he’d never recover. Unlike Killian, Jordan didn’t think he could survive Tehya’s demise.
Moving back, watching her silently, Jordan helped her from the counter. Holding onto her until she was steady on her feet, he reluctantly released her.
“Say something,” she demanded, her voice ragged.
Turning away from him, she grabbed her clothes from the floor and began to hurriedly dress. There was a certain grace, an innocent sensuality, to each movement that had his cock hardening again. That had the hunger beginning to simmer in his loins and heat his blood with a swiftness that shocked him.
“Say something?” He watched as she pulled her panties up her slender legs, the sexy curve of her ass making his hands itch with the need to caress the gentle curve. But, she wanted him to say something, and he was damned if his brain was working yet. Or if he could figure out what to say. And that just flat fucking spooked him.
“John, Travis, Bailey, and Lilly will be here in about half an hour. What would you like me to order in for lunch? I’m sure we’ll be hungry before the meeting’s finished and any decisions are made.”
He fell back on what he knew, on the only defense he had left at his disposal. Distance. Distance from the confusing jumble of emotions until he could properly restrain them
Tehya straightened. Drawing her shirt over her head, she stared back at him, her gaze narrowing at the smooth drawl in his voice.
This was the commander of Elite Ops One, not the man who had showed up in her room the night before or the one who had just taken her as though he were starved for sex.
His expression was arrogantly determined, his gaze hardening, as she stared back at him. This was the man who was determined not to feel, not to get too close, and to make damned sure he didn’t love.
He was so damned stubborn he had her back teeth grinding. She could see the pure arrogance settling around him with heavy determination. The cool distance he kept between himself and the world was pushing her back now.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Pulling her shorts on, she secured them with fingers stiff with irritation. “You’re just pushing in and taking over, no matter what I want, or what I think of it. You barge in, make me insane, fuck me until we’re both screaming and then pretend it never happened.”
His brow arched. “I would never pretend it didn’t happen as I fully intend it will happen again. As for Sorrel, his organization was so well hidden that even after authorities confiscated his estate and went through his files, they were certain they were missing high-level lieutenants. We could get lucky and capture one of them for interrogation.”
So much for cuddling, sweet nothings or time for an after-glow. Sorrel’s past associates that had been captured had been stubborn and arrogant during initial questioning. She’d learned after joining the Elite Ops that those associates had sung like canaries once Jordan had turned them over to Israel