Page 17 of Raider Unleashed

“Oof.” Raider made a sound as they landed.

Piper took a second to gather herself. She was plastered down the length of her ex-husband and it felt glorious. She lifted her head. “Are you okay?”

He opened one eye and met her gaze. “You’ve lost weight.”

She rolled her eyes. It was time to get up or she might do something that she’d regret. Or that he’d regret. She pushed against him to get up when he suddenly flipped her over so she was on the bottom and he was on top, nestled between her thighs. She stared up at him, mouth open in surprise.

“Why?” His gaze bored into hers.

She knew what he was asking but it was too much, too hard to answer. “I can’t, Raider. Just let it go.”

He didn’t budge. “You never once told me the truth. Why? It’s not like we had kids or even a dog but I was still your husband and I deserve to know.”

She swallowed convulsively as panic gripped her throat. Could she tell him the truth? She desperately wanted, to share the burden but she knew in her heart of hearts he’d never forgive her. It was better that he hated her for kicking him out thanhated her for what she’d done. This way he’d get over it. If she told him the truth, she was afraid he never would. She wouldn’t.

“Raider, please let it go,” she pushed against his chest.

“No. I deserve the truth.” He shifted so he covered her entire body with his. He put an elbow on either side of her head. “I’m not letting you up until you tell me.”

She closed her eyes. This wasn’t the way she wanted to say it. Not here. Not like this. She didn’t want him to find out like this. “Raider, this isn’t the time.”

“Like hell. It’s as good a time as any.”

She knew by the set of his jaw that he wasn’t going to give up but there was no way she could fight him. The weight of him on top of her made her nipples harden. She could tell him but he’d be so angry, so devastated that he’d lose focus and then their lives would be in even more danger. At least that was her excuse. His face so close to hers, there was no choice, no choice at all. She lifted her head and kissed him. Put her lips on his and then opened her mouth.

Raider didn’t hesitate. He kissed her back, his tongue doing a familiar dance with hers. God, she’d missed this. Their connection…the man. Piper wound her hands around his back and arched her hips into his. He lowered her head to the carpet and deepened the kiss. Piper reveled in it. There had been times she’d thought she’d die from missing his touch, his kiss, his everything. Every emotion she’d crammed away surged through her.

She moved her legs out from under his and wrapped them around his legs as she arched higher against him. He ran his hand down her side until he found the edge of her t-shirt then he pulled it up. She gasped when his hand landed on her breast and then pushing her bra aside, he tweaked her nipple. She let out a groan.

Running her hands down over his ass, she pulled him closer as she rubbed against his growing hard-on. She wanted this so badly. Not a night went by when she didn’t dream of it. There hadn’t been any other man in the five years since she’d kicked him out. She just couldn’t bring herself to let another man touch her. She was Raider’s. Always had been his no matter what she’s said or done.

Piper was reaching for his belt when there was a sound at the door. Raider was up on his feet in seconds. She was slower but managed to get up and sorted by the time the door opened. Denlo stared at the two of them. His eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything. He stepped back, hand still on the damn gun. “We brought food.”

Piper started out of the closet. Great. Food. Too bad that wasn’t what she was starved for.

8

Raider kept his eyes closed as he relaxed on the couch. Denlo paced in and out of the room constantly checking on them. While his downtime wasn’t sleep, it was a rest of sorts. Raider was bone tired, and it had nothing to do with his current lack of sleep from the time spent helping with the evacuation of unfortunate citizens. This exhaustion was a direct result of Piper’s ability to tie him up in knots. Even after the half decade since their split, he still wanted her. Wantedthem.

He’d thought he’d finally gotten over her but now he knew he’d only been hiding from the truth. Judging by the speed of his reaction to her in the closet, Piper still owed his heart and the rest of him. The instant she’d kissed him, the sweet familiar taste of her had driven from his mind everything except his need to have her. Fuck, he couldn’t allow that to happen again. This was his heart he needed to protect.

Denlo came into the room again, grunted at them, and then turned to leave. He’d done it so many times, Raider recognized the sound of his walk as well as the fact that his agitation was growing worse as time went by. Denlo stressed out wasn’t something he wanted to witness. Especially since he hadpossession of the only gun in the house. Raider bit back a harsh chuckle as he considered the woefully insignificant knife still tucked into his boot. He muttered something about knives and gun fights under his breath as Denlo’s steps rang on the marble floor.

There was more to this whole op than met the eye. He wanted immediate answers but forced himself to be content to let things play out a little while longer.

Reality was, Denlo was the least of his worries. The guy’s lack of professional training could be used against him. The dummy didn’t really know what the hell he was doing. Yes, he had a gun, but that was the only one he’d seen, and Raider didn’t foresee that taking it from Denlo would be much of a problem. There was an element of risk involved, but after years of being a SEAL, Raider figured he had the jump on the guy in a situation involving hand-to-hand combat.

Instinctively, Raider kept his body as relaxed as possible. He needed Denlo to believe that he was sleeping and presented no threat. No need to have Denlo anymore on edge. The smell of toast reached him. The couch he’d claimed for his little nap that wasn’t a nap was in the great room just around the corner from the kitchen. Denlo must be making himself a snack. Raider had noticed he hadn’t eaten when the rest of them had, and he’d wondered. Now toast. Maybe he had a food issue? A nervous stomach that meant he couldn’t eat anything but the stuff on the BRAT diet? Bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Imagine choosing against having a greasy fast food burger and fries, like the rest of them had. Pretty fucking boring, but whatever.

Wells and Baker were down the hallway in different rooms and Piper was in the primary bedroom. Denlo told her she could stay there but if she tried to exit the house he’d know about it because the house had an alarm which made a chirping sound if any door or window was opened. Piper had shot Raider alook but said nothing. She wasn’t stupid. Denlo was making shit up and not thinking it through. How clueless did he think they were? They’d all been there and walked right into the house. Not one single alarm had sounded when they’d broken in. Raider had decided Denlo was worried about losing control of the group so he was making shit up to keep them from making a break for it. In this kind of situation, the best thing to do was to remain as passive as possible, hence pretending to sleep on the couch.

The sound of a phone ringing harshed his mellow. The call was answered immediately.

“’Bout time,” Denlo snarled. There was silence and then he said, “Are you sure about the bank layout? The blueprints are wrong. Are you sure the vault is in the back corner?” Another silence. “My guy says they’re wrong. That he should be seeing stuff on the shared wall and it’s not there.” Denlo must be pacing because he heard his footsteps scuffle closer and then recede again and again.

“We have to blow the hole in some office. The explosives guy says we can’t do it at the front because it will blow the windows.” Denlo had stopped pacing. By the sound of things, he was facing away from Raider in the kitchen. It was harder to understand what he was saying.

“You said you had this all figured out. You said…” Denlo’s voice faded out. Then it was back, “police would be busy. I’m risking my neck for…” Denlo’s voice dropped again. “Fine,” he said. “But I’m telling you right now that if this all goes south, I’m not going down alone. It had better be there. I’m not breaking into any more banks looking for it. This is the last one.” Denlo must’ve hung up because the conversation was followed by a long silence.

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