Under Fire (Elite Force #3)(47)
Author: Catherine Mann

“Completely.”

“And Mr. Franklin, next time, just pretend to pick her up in a nice hotel bar and get a room, preferably one that sports clean sheets, okay? Protect your wife like a good husband.”

“Will do, Officer,” Liam answered, tight-lipped. He closed and locked the door. He flattened his hands on the frame.

His back expanded with a deep sigh before he turned around to face her again. “Wanna tell me what’s going on with our IDs, Mrs. Franklin?”

***

Liam took in Rachel’s tousled hair and plumped lips. She looked like a woman who’d been doing exactly what they had been doing five minutes ago.

Or rather, what they’d almost done before the cop interrupted.

Anger churned in his gut with an emotion he hadn’t felt in so long he almost didn’t recognize it. Fear. Fear for Rachel set his stomach burning with acid. “Well? Anything to say?”

“Should we leave now?”

He considered it. Then shook his head. “If we bolt, Officer Vogel might think we have something to hide, and the less he thinks about us, the better. Then there’s that television crew. We’re better off staying here for now.”

“I can see that… Mr. Franklin.” Her mouth twitched again.

“You’ve got a warped sense of humor, Mrs. Franklin.”

Rachel stood toe-to-toe with him, sexy and seemingly unaffected by how close they’d been to deep, deep trouble. “Liam, you’re not going to stare me down with that grim ‘I’m in charge’ face, so take it down a notch.”

Grim? Grim? He wasn’t grim. He was the fun guy, the team’s cool CRO, the one who made people laugh and unified a group. Or rather he had been until about six months ago, when someone had kicked the props out from under his world.

“Then how about some answers, Rachel? What’s up with the Franklin family fake IDs, and is there anything else in that bag I should know about?” Needing distance from the draw of her, the need to pull her close and safe, he placed his weapon on the table beside her backpack. “Keep in mind, I do not like being lied to.”

Really didn’t like it, especially after marriage number two.

“Sunny gave me the extra identification, just in case.” She passed the pouch to him. “There was no need to tell you unless we needed it. Which we did.”

He thumbed the well-worn leather. “And that’s all?”

“That’s it.” She crossed her arms, which plumped her bra-less br**sts against the snug T-shirt. “Come on, Liam, you have to admit what happened with Officer Vogel would be funny any other time.”

“I’m not laughing.”

“Maybe you need to.” She flattened her hands to his chest. “This will make for a great bar story some day. Maybe you’ll even get a new call sign out of it… like John, perhaps.”

He bit back the urge to laugh, humor battling with anger.

Damn. Just damn. He was already on the edge, and seeing her like that? His body throbbed to life again with memories of how close they been to hooking up.

He took a step toward her, his boot crackling a twenty-dollar bill on the carpet. “You like to make up sex games, Mrs. Franklin?”

“My fantasies about you are the real kind, Liam.” She draped her arms over his shoulders, moving in close where there was no mistaking the honesty in her eyes. “I just want to be with you right now. In a bed or against the door. It doesn’t matter as long as we let this happen, uncap the steam and tension that’s building inside me until I’m going to scream if I don’t get relief. For some reason I don’t understand, and quite frankly am scared to analyze right now, you’re the only man I want to ease this ache.”

He knuckled back her hair and drew her to him until her br**sts skimmed his chest. “What about the questionable sheets?”

One step at a time, she backed him toward the door. “We’ll start here, and move to the shower next. Skip the bed altogether.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Arms around her waist, he lifted her off the floor until she was level with him.

Turning, he planted her against the locked door, already kissing before her back met the panel. Her fingers threaded through his hair, tugging him nearer. The ache to have her sliced him clean through again, the edge sharper, given how close they’d come to having everything blow up in their faces.

She unfastened one button at a time along the fly of his jeans. “No more finesse. No more waiting.” She slipped her hands inside his boxers, right alongside his erection, without touching. “I hurt from wanting you.”

Then her cool hands closed around him.

He fought down the need to finish now. He tore her shirt down the middle and latched onto her nipple. Her grip on him tightened in time with her groan. He completely agreed.

Reaching, he clapped a hand on the table and snagged a condom. She picked it from his hand, tugging it open. He worked the zipper down on her shorts, sweeping the panties along with it. He stroked and lingered along her slick warmth. She rocked against his touch, breathy sighs encouraging him. She kicked her clothes aside as she sheathed him.

Pressing his forehead into her hair, he struggled to keep himself in check.

“Liam, no more waiting. We’ll go fast now, and slow later in the shower. Then slow again wherever you choose. Stop thinking, analyzing, protecting, and just take me…” She hitched a leg around his hips. “Take me now, because I’m so close to the edge and I don’t want to go there without you.”

Her words snapped the last of his restraint. She tucked her hands into his jeans and urged him… inside. Her damp heat clamped around him. Her br**sts beaded tighter against his chest. He thrust into her again and again. Thoughts of threats outside scattered from his brain and everything faded except for the feel of her. The whisper of her voice as she gasped in pleasure, telling him she was close, so very close…

She came apart and he had to watch every second. Take in this moment that had haunted his frustrated dreams for six months.

They’d been through so much in the past couple of days—six months ago as well. There hadn’t been anyone since he’d seen her for the first time. He’d told himself he was too busy for a relationship, but he knew now he’d been burning for her. He’d been grieving over losing her in a way he’d never done for any woman before, not even a wife.

***

Rachel splayed her hands on the wet tiles, the aftermath of her third release still rippling through her. Pleasure tingled like the beads of water from the shower washing over her again and again.