Page 40 of Kidnapped By a SEAL

“And how long are you going to be around?” she asked.

Ryker lifted a shoulder. “As long as you want me. I wasn’t planning to come up here—wasn’t planning for any of this,” he said, gesturing between them. “I mean, how could I? It just sort of happened, but damn.”

“Damn,” she agreed. “And me either. A relationship was just about the last thing I expected.”

“But?”

“But I want it to work. I want to see what happens with us. I haven’t felt this way in—well, I’ve never felt this way,” she confessed.

“Me either,” he said, his voice gruff. “And I know we both travel a lot, but Jesus. What happened in there? When you and I came together like that? That was amazing.”

She blushed, and his lips quirked. “Hell, sweetheart. I didn’t take you for the shy type, but I love when you blush around me.”

“I’m not shy,” she protested.

“I know—only sometimes, I guess. You weren’t exactly shy when you sucked my cock earlier.”

She turned an even deeper shade of red, and he crossed over, pulling her into his muscular arms. His lips brushed over her forehead. “I won’t tease you,” he said roughly. “That was amazing. But next time I want my mouth on you. I got a sample after I made you come, and it was fucking spectacular. But next time I want the real thing—my mouth on your pussy and you crying out my name.”

“Ryker,” she chastised.

“Hell, what can I say? I’m a man who knows what he wants.”

She met his gaze and saw the spark of amusement in his eyes. She never really let a man get to her like this, but somehow with him, everything was different. He made her feel things she never expected, and the chemistry was certainly there. She’d never come so hard as when Ryker had made love to her.

They finished eating lunch, and Ryker said he wanted to check the emails on his phone. “Okay, I’m going outside for a few minutes to look around and get a little fresh air.”

“I can come,” he said, rising from his seat.

“Don’t be silly, I’ll be right outside the front door. I want to drink my coffee out there since I didn’t have any this morning. If anyone was here, we’d have heard a car drive up. We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

He nodded, sitting back down. “Just give me a couple of minutes,” he said. “I’ll come out and join you.”

“Sounds good.”

She walked to the front door, stepping outside with a mug of steaming black coffee in her hand. The sounds of the forest greeted her—birds chirping, insects humming. It was a gorgeous September day, the perfect temperature. She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the driveway, walking into the small cleared area that constituted the front yard.

She took a sip of her coffee, closing her eyes. There was a time when she thought she’d never experience things like this again—the fresh air, the trees and forests of Virginia. The dry desert was someplace she had no interest in visiting ever again. She got to pick some of her jobs with State, and she didn’t think she’d want to go back to the Middle East again after what had happened. Nor did she think they’d expect her to.

What that meant for the future, she had no idea. She could work stateside or travel to Europe. Maybe South America or Asia. It was a big world even with putting a few countries on her list of places never to travel to again.

Crossing the front yard, she looked back at the house. She’d closed the door when she’d come out, knowing that Ryker would soon follow. The cabin was silent, and she figured he was still going through his emails and texts getting updates.

The sound of a branch snapping had her turning around, and she looked in the forest for the deer or other animal that had made the sound. Her heart began to beat faster, and she sensed that something was wrong.

In an instant, someone was behind her. She dropped her coffee, readying to fight and scream, but a fabric with a sickening scent covered her mouth and nostrils. She struggled against whoever held the cloth to her face, but the chemicals were too powerful.

Gasping for breath and instead inhaling the toxins, she collapsed.

***

Ryker drummed his fingers on the table, scanning the rest of the email. Hunter and their CO had been keeping him updated with what they could, given the unsecure connection. He thumbed a text back to them and rose, wanting to see Emily.

She’d only been outside for a few minutes, but he suddenly had the sense that something was wrong.

Opening the front door, he looked left and right, surprised she wasn’t out here right where she said she’d be. He took a step outside, wondering if she’d wandered off to sit somewhere, when something on the ground caught his attention. His gaze narrowed as he realized it looked like the mug she’d been holding.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

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