Page 48 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

She made a growling sound and wriggled against him, her desperation clear. “Because it’s so frustrating,” she groaned.

Chuckling, he bent and kissed the bridge of her nose. This was total role reversal, him putting the brakes on. He searched his mind for the reason why he couldn’t peel her jeans and panties off her and bury his mouth between her thighs, slide his tongue into her tender core and make her come. “The counselor said it’s good for us. Gives us something to look forward to next time.”

At that she stiffened. He raised his head to find her glaring up at him. “Are you seriously thinking about leaving me all worked up like this?” She sounded outraged at the very idea.

He hid a grin. “Doctor’s orders, sweetheart. Sorry.”

“Sorry? I’m literally coming out of my own skin here. God, you can’t do this to me,” she whined in protest.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m hurting every bit as bad as you are, doll, trust me.”

She pouted, gazed up at him with those pale green eyes. “Please?”

He almost laughed, a big part of him wanting to cave. “No can do, sorry.”

With a defeated groan she closed her eyes and let her head drop back to the pillows, still breathing hard. “This is torture. I’m never gonna get to sleep after this.”

Good. He wanted her to crave him as badly as he did her. “Sure you will. One good orgasm and you’ll sleep like a baby.”

She opened her mouth to argue but he dipped down to nibble the soft skin at the curve of her neck, making her gasp instead. “After I drop you off tonight, I want you to climb into bed and spread your thighs wide, pretend it’s my tongue on your clit and inside you while you finger yourself.”

Her eyes sprang open, heavy with desire and challenge as she peered up at him. God, she fired him up. “You gonna think of me when you stroke yourself then?”

“I always do.”

She seemed inordinately pleased by that revelation, a little smile playing around the edges of her lips. “Then I guess we’re even, if we both have to suffer.”

“Guess so.” He was so damn hard he hurt, but it was worth it.

Wanting to ease her down from the high gently, he spent a few minutes giving her little kisses, stroking her hair and face until she calmed and her breathing evened out.

He did up her bra, pulled her sweater down and zipped up her jacket. The first movie was almost over already. “Still want to watch the movies?”

She made a face. “Not really.” Then her expression evened out and she gave him a gentle smile. “But I don’t want to go home yet, either.”

Warmth spread through him, a gentle fire in his veins. “Come here then,” he coaxed, and maneuvered them so that he was once again on his back and she was draped half on top of him, her cheek nestled in the curve of his shoulder. “Why don’t you sleep for a bit?” he suggested.

In answer she tucked her arm around his ribs and slid her bent leg over his thighs, let out a deep sigh. “This was the best and yet most annoying date I’ve ever been on,” she confided a moment later.

“Tell me about it.”

She relaxed fully against him, her breathing growing heavier and heavier as the minutes passed.

Adam stroked her hair with one hand as he held her, enjoying the incredible peace of the moment, and gazed upward. The stars were so clear, sparkling against the black velvet sky. Tucked beneath the sleeping bag with his wife curled against his body, he didn’t even feel the chill of the December breeze.

And as she drifted off to sleep in his arms, he’d never been more hopeful for the future. A future of living as husband and wife again.

Chapter Sixteen

Present Day

When Adam burst into the command center with Tuck and the others right behind him, everyone inside was in a flurry of activity. Director Foster glanced up at him from an analyst’s desk, his expression grim.

Adam stopped moving, his feet suddenly stuck to the floor. He couldn’t move. That look on the director’s face was something straight out of his nightmares. It told him the unthinkable had happened.

Then DeLuca appeared out of nowhere, stepping in front of Adam and gripping his shoulders tight. His jade green gaze met Adam’s squarely. “She’s alive.”

Adam closed his eyes and let his head drop forward, his legs damn near buckling underneath him. A ragged groan escaped him.

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