Page 25 of Dangerous Mission

“Your eyes dimmed for a second. What went through your pretty little head? You know I don’t like you thinking bad about yourself.”

She’d gone through a stage when she barely ate because of the media. Even when she was in high school, they hounded her about the way she looked. Axel made her feel special and helped her through it. After he left, she went through it again. Only without him by her side, she lost so much weight that she passed out at a charity event and was rushed to the hospital. Her mom shipped her off to a thirty-day facility to help with her disorder. She still struggled with her weight every day, but for the moment, she was worried more about her heart.

She patted his chest. “Dad only hired you to make sure I was safe. You don’t get to ask questions about anything other than my safety. I assume he gave you a file. You can always read the info inside.”

He pressed two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up, so that their gazes connected. She really wanted to look away. Everything had started to feel way too real, and she was worried that the longer she stayed in his arms, the harder it would be to keep her heart sealed.

“You keep telling yourself you don’t care. We both know you’re only lying to yourself.”

Terri didn’t have time to respond as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, and Axel gripped her ass and pulled her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he set her on the island.

Their tongues tangled together, and a moan escaped her as he slid his calloused hand along her skin. Axel tangled his other hand in her hair and tilted her head to the side. The slight movement gave him access to her neck. He ran kisses against her soft skin. She was lost in his touch as his other hand slid under her shirt and cupped her breast. His fingers plucked at her nipple, and her body floated as he stripped her shirt off her.

“I need you,” she whispered and threw all caution to the wind.

Axel

Axel pulled awayas her whispers registered in his foggy brain. He’d only meant to kiss her, but when she wrapped her hands around his neck, all rational thoughts went out the window.

“You sure you know what you’re asking for?”

“I’m not a virgin, and I haven’t been celibate, hoping my high school crush would return one day.”

Terri often used sarcasm to cover the hurt. She reached for her shirt, but he tossed it to the side.

“If we sleep together, it won’t be a one-time thing.” He didn’t know if he could walk away again. The longer he spent with her, the more he tried to come up with a way to have both worlds.

“Thisisa one-time thing. It’s called a one-night stand. Tomorrow, you leave for a mission, and hopefully, everything will be fine by the time you get back. I’m horny, and you have a dick, or I can go use your shower head. I bet a house like this has good water pressure.”

He groaned, thinking about her getting herself off. “We’re setting a couple of ground rules.”

Terri rolled her eyes. “You sure do talk a lot when you have a woman with no shirt on right here.”

“I want to make sure we’re both on the same page.”

“We are going to have sex. What do you need me to do? Pull up some porn to show you what to do? Has it been so long that you don’t know where to shove your cock?”

“I think I’m going to put it into your mouth soon.”

Her tongue ran across her red lips. She had put on red lipstick when they were on the plane, and he couldn’t think of anything but her lips around his dick—which was insane, since his world had crashed around him.

“What are you waiting for?”

“I don’t have condoms in my house.”

He’d never brought a woman to his place before. Only a few friends had visited. No woman had cracked his external shell enough for him to show them his world or who he really was. Most women thought he was a businessman who traveled a lot.

“I’m clean,” he continued. “We had medical workups a couple of months back, and I haven’t been with anyone since.”

Terri wrapped her arms around her body. “I’m clean and on birth control. You know, this is a lot of talking for one night of sex. Most men keep stacks of condoms in their houses.”

“I’m not a twenty-year-old anymore. Picking women up at the bar got old fast.”

She winced as he mentioned other women.

“You keep telling yourself this is one night, but we have a connection.”

Terri sighed and pushed his chest. “You’re hot, and we do have a connection. Sex isn’t going to erase the years of hurt. Why did you have to ruin the moment by bringing up the past?”

---