Page 62 of Extracted

CHAPTER 17

Gemma’s belly danced with feelings she didn’t want to identify.

I make him tick?

Good lord. If she had the ability to rattle Dallas, they were a lethal combination. She slid her tongue over her bottom lip. His hips pressed open her thighs and his manhood prodded the thin material of her panties. Heat swarmed her folds.

She shouldn’t want him like this.

Sex, sure. But it was so much more than that. She dragged her fingers through his hair and watched his eyelids grow heavy. His hazel orbs bore into her, waiting for some kind of response.

Her throat turned scratchy. Seeing him in emotional pain had cut through her. There was so much to learn about this man who’d been lingering in her life, just within reach but also too far away to touch deeply . . . He’d had all this inside him for so long. Had no reason to trust her with his past.

Yet he had.

Her heart rate kicked up. There was a good chance she wouldn’t see Dallas again. Not only might one or both of them die tomorrow, but once she got back in circulation with the CIA, everything would change. Not that he’d want anything to do with her. Her tongue burned to tell him about her call to Charlene, but she sealed her lips. It’d only ruin the night.

Perhaps their last night.

His fingertips stroked her temple. “You look concerned.”

She gave her head a subtle shake. “No, just . . . trying to put my words together.”

He dipped his head to her ear. “You don’t need to say anything.” His lips touched her earlobe, and her insides quivered.

She pushed at his shoulders. If she didn’t say something now, she might die with regret. “Yes, I do. Because you . . . you make me tick, too, Dallas. From the moment I met you.”

His eyes turned soft, and his breath whished out between his teeth. She smoothed her thumb over the thick stubble on his jaw. So dark and so rough. He turned his head and kissed her palm then brought his face to her neck and kissed her there too.

“As fucked up as this whole situation has been,” he said, between featherlight touches of his lips that made her toes curl, “I’ve loved being near you.”

Her chest ached at the sincerity in his voice.

Dammit, Gemma. Don’t get hung up on what a guy says when he’s inches from being inside you.

She tightened her legs around his sides and gyrated beneath him. A deep groan rumbled through his chest.

“Christ, Gemma.”

Desire warmed her sex, making each nerve ending around her clit pulse with urgency. She needed to take over this time, to be fully in control, at least for now. Pushing on his chest, she coaxed him to his back.

“What . . .” he said as he flopped down, his hands still on her waist.

She pressed her fingers between his glorious pecs. “Let me enjoy this, will you?”

He tsked. “You mean you didn’t before?”

She slid her hand down the hard contours of his abdomen, and his face changed. The tension in his jaw relaxed and his eyelids grew heavy. She reached for his black briefs and ran her fingertips over the stretched cotton. His erection was pronounced and large, straining against the material in protest.

He dropped his hands to his sides and his chest rose and fell erratically. Tracing the outline of his dick, she watched as a dark tint stained his cheeks.

“You’d better be careful, babe. I don’t have much control.” The sentiment did all kinds of things to her core, but she pushed those thoughts away. Dallas’s voice was labored, as if he’d pin her to the bed and rip off her panties any second.

The image stirred a thrill in her gut.

Sucking on her bottom lip, she pulled down the waistband of his briefs and freed his cock. The needy soldier sprang out, and she caught his shaft in her fist.

Dallas’s body flexed, and he let out a grunt. Moving her hand up and down, she stroked his satiny flesh. His breath whooshed through his nose, and he snagged her wrist with his hand, gripping her.

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