Page 34 of The Woman Left Behind

It was a rough field, not a clear, level landing zone. They went down, with Levi twisting them to the side so he didn’t land on top of her. Weeds scraped her face, hidden rocks and lumps and sticks dug into her side. So what? They were on the ground. The condition of that ground didn’t matter, so never mind the boggy smell and the dampness soaking into her clothes.

He said, “Are you hurt?”

Mutely she shook her head, and pulled off her goggles, let them drop. He unhooked their harnesses and said, “We’re down, A-okay.” He rattled off some instructions and distances, then removed his headset and goggles and laid them to the side with her goggles. She closed her eyes and rested, listening to him release the parachute straps and haul it in.

What now? She had failed again, miserably, even more miserably than the first time. She hadn’t passed out, she’d fought him, which was worse because she could have killed them both. Nausea churned in her stomach, thinking of the possibilities, all of them bad. He’d kick her out of training now; he had to. Even if she could somehow convince him to give her another chance, she wasn’t at all certain she’d live through another attempt. Even if she was doing a solo jump, at some point her heart would give out, had to, or she’d pass out again and though the automatic activation device would deploy the parachute if she was unconscious she wouldn’t be able to steer it and she might slam into a tree or power lines or even come down on a road in front of a semi.

Tears burned against her closed lids and fiercely she banished them. He might tell her she was finished, but damn if she’d cry over it.

His big hand closed on her shoulder and rolled her onto her back. Her eyes flared open and she stared up at him, silhouetted against the pale blue sky. He was close, so close, leaning over her until there was barely a hand’s width between their faces. His body heat seared her through their clothing, tempting her to roll closer, to cuddle against all that heat and strength and just for now let him be a buffer between her and the world. Her pupils expanded until all the amber ring that surrounded them was swallowed up, leaving only the blue outer edge; her heart rate, which had settled down, began pounding again.

“You could have killed us.” His face was hard and fierce, no give in him at all.

“Ready to go again?” she asked in a thin, watery voice. She couldn’t manage a smile, but she tried. “Maybe I can do it the next time.”

“Which? Kill us, or make the jump?”

“I’ll let it be a surprise,” she fired back.

He glared down at her. “Fuck,” he growled, then jerked her against him and kissed her.

A dam broke inside her.

For months Jina had buried her femininity, not letting any hint of flirting or sexuality intrude during the long, long hours and days of training. She hadn’t traded on her lack of muscle, she’d concentrated on building some. She hadn’t let the guys help her because she was a woman; she’d had to do it on her own for just that reason. For God’s sake, she hadn’t even wornmascarain so long the tube had probably dried out and needed to be thrown away. She hadn’t worn a dress, or pretty shoes, or had her hair styled. She had made herself as sexless as possible, trying to fit in with the guys and not cause any disturbance in the team force.

Then Levi kissed her, and all those inner controls and barriers melted to nothing. The relief was overwhelming, everything in her giving way and reveling in the sense of womanhood that flooded through her. His mouth was everything she hadn’t let herself think about, hot and male, his taste going to her head faster than wine on an empty stomach. Pushing him away never entered her mind; from the first moment she met him, something primal and powerful inside her had wanted him, wanted this moment, and from the center of her being she responded. She wound her arms around his shoulders, one hand sliding around the nape of his neck, and her mouth opened under his to give him what he demanded as well as making demands of her own. A little hum vibrated in her throat, a sound of pleasure and want and need, sending the call into his mouth.

He lifted his head and his gaze burned as it raked over her face. “Shit. Fuck. I shouldn’t do this.”

Nowshe thought about pushing him away, and maybe delivering a punch or two in the process. Damn him, he didn’t get to jerk her back and forth like this. But in any physical contest he was going to win, unless he deliberately let her hit him, and where was the satisfaction in that? Instead she stretched a little, moving her body against him, and smiled a faint, ironic, and utterly beckoning smile. “Then don’t. I’m sure you’re strong enough to get away from me.” As she spoke she burrowed her fingers under the hair at his nape and lightly stroked.

If anything his eyes got even hotter, more intent, and his gaze moved down her body. She didn’t have to glance down to know her nipples were tight and fully erect, the points showing even under her sweatshirt. She could feel their tightness, and the way every breath she took rubbed them against the fabric.

A dull red flush darkened his cheekbones.

He lifted his gloved hand, clamped the tip of one finger in his teeth, and pulled the glove off. He let the glove drop out of his teeth onto her chest, then slipped his big hand under the band of her sweatshirt, moved up to clasp one small breast before sliding over to the other, then back. His rough palm rasped over her tender nipples, making her gasp, bite off a moan.

“From day one,” he said roughly, and she knew what he meant. From day one, this had been between them. She’d tried to ignore it, stifle it, forget about it. Evidently he’d been fighting the same attraction. “If you weren’t on the team, we could—” He broke off, shook his head. “You’re too damn good with the drone. Having you there will give the team a layer of protection we didn’t have before. I could have made things so tough for you that you couldn’t make the cut, but that wouldn’t be fair to either you or the other guys.”

“That hasn’t changed,” she pointed out, her breath coming faster as he continued rubbing her nipples. She turned her head against his shoulder, inhaling the utter maleness of his scent, the warmth of his body heaven on her chilled skin.Pound-pound-pound.He had to feel her heart slamming against his palm, and she didn’t care. Months of bruising herself against his hostility and coldness were abruptly washed away as if they’d never been.

Frustration darkened his face. “As long as you’re on my team, this can’t happen.”

“Then get your hand out from under my shirt,” she snapped, and kissed his throat.

A primal sound vibrated in his chest. In one rough movement he was on top of her, one muscled thigh pushing between her legs to spread them wide, then he took his place between them. His mouth crushed down on hers again, his tongue making forays that she welcomed with her own tongue. Why should she make things easy on him? He hadn’t been easy on her. She wanted him to suffer a little, wanted him to think about what he wasn’t getting. She welcomed him with her entire body, wrapping her legs around his hips and lifting her hips to cradle the hard ridge of his erection against her softness. A purely sexual pleasure speared through her, an effervescent joy that despite everything she was in his arms and he was in hers, that his hand was on her skin, and for these few stolen minutes there was nothing else.

She strained against him and his hips moved in rhythm as if there were no layers of clothing between them. He was so heavy despite bracing some of his weight on his arms, and she loved the pressure of him. Everything spun away; the fact that they were lying in a wet field of weeds, that their ride was on the way and would soon arrive, that the only way they could be together was if she failed in the training and despite herself she would try again, try her bestnotto fail. For now there was justthis,the hard jut of his penis against her just where it needed to be, the fast spiraling lash of pleasure that started between her legs and spread upward, hot and liquid and so intense she moaned.

Briefly she tried to control her surging response but just as quickly surrendered to it because she wanted this moment, this pleasure. She came, driven by months of denial, of being painfully aware of him and having to keep it all under a lid nailed down so securely none of the other guys had any hint of it.Hehad known, though, maybe by animal instinct, and now like any predator he was moving fast on his prey. That was how she felt, like his prey, at his mercy, and she turned the tables on him by giving him all her sensuality, her femaleness, the wildness and completion of her response. She cried out, her voice hoarse from screaming, and dug her nails into his neck.

He swore viciously under his breath but cupped her ass in both hands and lifted her, grinding her, giving her more pressure, more pleasure, riding her through it.

She knew what he wanted. He wanted to strip her pants off and get inside her right there in that wet, muddy field, uncaring whether or not their privacy could be interrupted at any minute. She knew because that was what she wanted, with a degree of sexual madness she’d never before experienced.

And she wanted more—more Levi, more time, more of his companionship, his touch, his taste, more everything. The hunger she felt couldn’t be satisfied by occasional stolen moments; she wasn’t built that way, to be content with a clandestine relationship.

He rolled off her, breathing hard and scowling at the sky. Helplessly she stared at him, devouring every detail of his features, the strong bone structure of his lean face, the level dark brows, the curve of his mouth. He was a breathtaking man, not because he was handsome but because he was so damn masculine he practically oozed testosterone. When she thought the word “warrior,” he was the image she saw, muscled and lethal. He would look as natural with a sword strapped to his back as with a rifle slung over his shoulder. Civilization was a light cloak that he could throw off as needed; he was one of the rough men, as were all the men on the GO-Teams, ready to do whatever needed doing.

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