Page 26 of Fighting for Mallory

“I’m not at liberty to divulge that, either.”

“Very convenient. Let’s get to the reason why we’re here. Can you ID any of the nine dead men through facial recognition software?”

“I’ve been trying. So far no luck. I have other techies working on it, too, and getting nowhere. The members of this cult, because that’s what it is, don’t exist. We’ve caught them on security cameras, but without IDs we can’t figure out who they are.”

“But we know what they want,” Faith interjected. “For some reason they want Mallory dead. And we do have a name. Neheb. Do a search, Hutch.”

“I did. And what I discovered is another piece of this bizarre puzzle.”

* * *

The Great Smoky Mountains rose in blue-gray splendor above Gatlinburg, Tennessee. While Mallory slumbered, Luca stood sentinel as he gazed out the large plate glass windows of a cabin owned by Maverick Stone’s employer, half expecting a swarm of snake-tattooed men to launch another attack. After what happened at Justice and Brielle’s cabin, Luca didn’t feel comfortable being so isolated in the mountains, but one of Maverick’s colleagues lived a few hundred feet away, along with other residents on the paved road. Maverick, a former U.S. Marshal, assured Luca and Mallory that they were safe, that he would personally ensure it.

Mallory slept most of the day, and Luca didn’t disturb her. She suffered through a couple of nightmares, alarming him with her screams of sheer terror. Again, he held her, soothed her fear with a calm voice, and brushed aside sweaty strands of hair from her pale, tear-streaked face. When she awoke late in the afternoon, she took a shower and joined Luca in the great room. He’d moved from his vigil at the windows and had stretched out on the sofa.

“Hi.” Mallory bent over him and pressed a warm kiss against his lips.

Her fresh, inviting scent and the touch of her sweet mouth ignited a fire in him. In a flash, Luca pulled Mallory down on top of him and ravaged her mouth with his. The tight rein he’d held on his desire snapped as her taste and scent intoxicated him. His hot, eager tongue plunged between her parted lips and played with hers, drawing a moan of pleasure from deep in her throat. He grew as hard as a rock and thrust his hips upward as his hands roamed down her back. Now he moaned when Mallory ground her pelvis into his.

“Jesus Christ, Mal. I can’t abstain any longer.”

“Then don’t, Luca. Oh, God, don’t.”

All thoughts of romancing her fled Luca’s mind. Primal instincts drove him as he unfastened his jeans and hers and yanked them down. Luca gripped Mallory’s hips and settled her on his throbbing shaft. He sank deep inside her welcoming warmth, relieved to discover her wetness. She let out a cry as he moved rhythmically against her, and she matched his thrusts with her own.

In less than a minute, both climaxed, and Mallory collapsed on his chest.

Luca wrapped his arms around the woman of his heart as his breathing returned to normal. “I’m sorry, my love. This isn’t how I envisioned making love with you after so long of being separated.”

Mallory lifted her head. Her brown eyes shone like smooth stones. “How did you envision making love with me?”

“By candlelight. Surrounded by the aroma of your favorite flowers. The taste of wine on your sweet lips. I’d kiss you like this.” He cupped her face and swept his tongue across her lips before taking them with his own in a sensual softness.

“Mm… And then what?”

“I’d lift you into my arms and place you tenderly on our bed, among rose petals. I’d kiss you harder, like this, until robbed of our breath.” Luca tightened his arms around Mallory and claimed her mouth in a deep, hungry melding of lips and tongues.

“Luca, please, give me more.”

She rolled off him and kicked off her jeans and panties. Luca held his breath as she stripped out of her T-shirt and plain cotton bra. Displayed before him, her nipples were tight, hard buds that he ached to squeeze between his thumb and forefinger and suck between his teeth. The curves of her body that had teased him through long, lonely nights when he’d denied himself the pleasure of sex with someone else had blossomed with the maturity of her age.

Luca drank her in with his eyes, roaming freely down her breasts to feast on the brown patch of curls he expected to find at the apex of her thighs. Instead, he discovered her bare sex, something that had escaped his notice only moments ago when he took her fiercely, without care. He assumed Bentley had forced her to shave.

He sat up and guided her closer to him. Luca pressed his mouth against her flat stomach and swirled his tongue around her navel before swiping it along her bare opening. Mallory gasped and gripped his shoulders. “Was shaving your choice or Bentley’s?” He gazed up at her as his finger replaced his tongue.

Tiny tremors shook her body. “His. His choice!” Her answer ended on an exclamation of orgasmic pleasure.

“Do you like it?”

Mallory threw her head back when he took her full on with his mouth and tongue. “Oh, God, yes! Yes!”

She shuddered a third time so quickly with an orgasm that Luca realized Bentley hadn’t been satisfying her sexually.

“Mal, did you fake your pleasure with Bentley?”

She loosened her grip on him. “Not in the beginning, when making love with him was new and exciting. He never knew the difference.”

Luca rose and shed his clothes. “Come. We have less than two hours before Maverick and his wife Lacey meet us for dinner.”

---