In the Line of Fire Read online

  She wanted to look at him across a room, see his smile, and know he was with her. They didn’t have a future; she couldn’t, and wouldn’t, allow herself to fall in love with him. She’d never ask him to stay but for one night, one glorious night, she wanted to pretend. She wanted to pretend she was wanted and loved.

  Was that so bad?

  Sam placed the tips of her fingers on his knee and his eyes slammed into hers. “I’d like you to have dinner with us, with me.”

  “To keep you safe?” Jett challenged her.

  She could either lie or tell him the truth and she never, never wanted to lie to Jett. “No. I’d feel safe knowing you were close by.”

  “Then why, Sam?”

  Under her fingers his muscles flexed and warmth ran up her hand. Sam felt the heavy thump of her heart, desire pounding between her legs. “Because, I want to hold your hand under the table, I want you to sneak a kiss when no one is looking, I want to feel like a woman who can’t wait for the evening to finish because she knows her man is going to make her scream. And sigh.”

  Desire, hot and hard and oh so sweet, swept across Jett’s eyes but he still didn’t touch her, make a move to close the gap between them. “Is that what you want, Sam?”

  Sam nodded her head. “Yeah, I do.”

  “You do know that I could get fired for sleeping with a principal, for being so unprofessional?” Jett asked, his tone conversational.

  Sam jerked back and lifted her hand to her mouth. “Oh, crap! Really?”

  “Really,” Jett replied, a small smile lifting the corner of his sexy mouth.

  Sam groaned and pushed the fingers of both hands into her hair. Disappointment flashed through her. She wanted Jett but she couldn’t ask him to risk his career. After a long, tense silence, Sam groaned again and sent Jett a rueful smile. “Sorry, I didn’t think that far. Can we forget I said that?”

  Jett sat up, folded his arms across his chest as his expression turned mischievous. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t sleep with you, I just said that there was a risk that I could get fired.”

  “And that’s not a risk I’m prepared to take,” Sam pertly replied. “A—because I need you to protect me and B—because I’m not worth your job.”

  “You are worth so much more than a paycheck, Sam.” Jett leaned forward and his knuckles skimmed her cheekbone. “Firstly, you’re not responsible for the risks I take with regard to my career. I make the choice, I deal with the consequence. And, even if your brother fired me, and he won’t, I wouldn’t walk. And if I don’t walk, neither would my crew. I’m not going anywhere until The Recruiter is caught and I think Seth and Stone know that.”

  “Besides,” Jett said, shrugging, “they know that I’m not good at following rules.”

  Sam tried to keep up with him, tried to make sense of what he was saying, but all she could concentrate on was the touch of his hand on her face, the tips of his fingers running down the cord of her neck. “So, in five words or less, what are you saying?”

  “Yes, I’ll accompany you to the dinner,” Jett replied, his fingers skimming across her collarbone.

  That was seven words and wasn’t what she really wanted to know.

  “And then, when we’re safe,” Jett said, dropping his hand and Sam nearly groaned with frustration, “I’m going to strip you naked and make you mine.”

  Okay, Sam thought as Jett stood up, his groin directly in front of her face. Oh, God, he looked as turned on as she was, she could see the ridge of his erection, the way the denim pulled tight against his cock. Sam lifted her hand to run a finger over him, her breath hitching when she felt him jump beneath his touch.

  Jett’s groan was long and vicious and he slapped his hand against hers, pressing her palm down. God, he was big. How would he fit? She blew out a breath. Could she accommodate him?

  Jett bent down and slammed his mouth against hers in a hard kiss. Ten seconds later, he pulled his mouth from hers and stepped back, lifting his hands. “If we start, I won’t be able to stop. If we want to attend this dinner then I have plans to make, people to talk to.”

  Sam nodded, forcing her bloodless brain to think. “I also need a dress, some clothes.” She gestured to Gemma’s clothes. “Can I go back to my house?”

  “Negative,” Jett said, breathing hard.

  “That means no, right?” Sam asked, wrinkling her nose.

  “That means hell no,” Jett agreed. “Don’t you have a personal shopper or someone like that? Someone who can deliver a dress to Stone’s place, or to Pytheon?”

  “I’m not a personal shopper type of girl,” Sam replied, linking her hands around her knee. She thought for a minute. “But Carla, a friend of mine, is a personal shopper and I’m sure she can pick out a dress and get it to Fern who can bring it to Stone’s house.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Jett agreed, his hands in the back of his jeans pockets.

  “To arrange that I need to talk to her,” Sam pointed out, nodding at the destroyed phone.

  Jett walked to the counter and rummaged in the plastic packet, pulling out another phone. “I’m just going to send this number to Kelby so he has a way to contact me if something goes south.”

  Sam was having trouble keeping up with him, half her mind was still on the way he felt beneath her hand, the long, thick ridge she wanted to...

  A discreet beep from the new phone had her eyes jerking upward from Jett’s crotch to his frowning face. “That’s Kelby and he’s just sent me a message. Will is hounding him, she needs to talk to you. He’s told her that you are fine but she’s insisting on talking to you.”

  “Will doesn’t take no for an answer,” Sam replied. “Any chance of her coming to Stone’s house, either before or after the dinner?”

  Jett contemplated her request. “Yeah. I’ll get Stone to set that up.”

  “Please ask Stone to talk to Fern to talk to Carla to get me something to wear tonight. My godparents will have a million questions if we rock up to dinner in jeans.”

  “On it. I’ll get Kelby to bring me a suit.”

  Sam nodded and picked up his wrist to look at the high tech watch and sighed, pushing her hair off her face. “God, I’m exhausted.”

  “Take a nap,” Jett suggested. “I’ll wake you when we need to go.”

  Sam darted an uncertain look down the hall. “I don’t know if I can sleep in that riot of color. Or,” she wryly admitted, “in your ex-fiancées bed.”

  “She said the same thing,” Jett said, confused. “It’s been over a year; I can guarantee she’s washed the sheets since then.”

  Sam shuddered. “Same bed. Yuck.”

  Jett looked puzzled at their pickiness. “There’s another bedroom across the hall.”

  “Thank God,” Sam muttered, standing up. She looked at Jett and noticed his tired eyes and pale complexion. “You are as exhausted as I am. Why don’t you lie down too?”

  “Honey,” Jett said, his voice dropping. “If I come anywhere near you and a bed, no one will get any sleep.”

  Sam blushed and delicious shivers skittered through her. “That’s okay too.”

  Jett shook his head, looking regretful. “Actually, it’s not. I need to be sharp, prepared for anything, and it would help if you were too.”

  She understood that but she didn’t like it. “So, later?”

  “When I feel like you’re safe, Sam,” Jett replied. “Not a second before. Making sure that you are out of danger is my primary goal.”

  “My goal,” Sam muttered as she left the room, “is to have an orgasm as soon as I possibly can.”

  Chapter Eight

  Jett looked from the locked front door to the hallway and back to the locked front door. He’d installed those deadbolts. He knew how strong they were. The chance of anyone finding them was minuscule at best and he wouldn’t be distracted for long.

  Five minutes, ten, fifteen if he got carried away.

  My goal is to have an orgasm as soon as possible...

  He
couldn’t possibly be thinking of, he wasn’t seriously contemplating, taking her up on her offer.

  Stupid move, Smith-Jones, stupid, stupid move. You’re alone, you have no backup, you are three floors up...

  It’s a coded building. It’s in the middle of the day. If he didn’t take the edge off, if they both didn’t, he’d be less than useless for the rest of the evening. He had to get Sam to and from Stone’s house in Lenox Hill and that meant he had to have his wits about him.

  But he wouldn’t be able to think clearly if his dick was jumping up and down screaming it wanted some action. And it really, really wanted some action.

  And is this about you or her, asshat? Both, Jett reluctantly admitted. He wanted her and Sam had told him, a few times, that she wanted him. It wouldn’t do them any harm and if getting their rocks off pulled their heads back into the game, he was all for it.

  He couldn’t believe he was justifying having sex to keep his concentration. How far the mighty had fallen.

  Jett sent another look at the door and eyed Gemma’s furniture. A couch, a chair, both were too unsubstantial but the bookcase might work as another barrier. Walking across the room, he pushed his shoulder into the heavy wooden bookcase and grunted, pushing the book stuffed shelves across the floor. A couple of paperbacks fell onto the floor with a loud clatter but he made steady progress across the floor.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  Jett flicked a look over his shoulder to see Sam in the hallway, her face puzzled.

  What the hell did it look like he was doing? Planting flowers? “Pushing the bookcase against the door.”

  “Why?”

  He sent her a this-isn’t-rocket-science look. “It’s the only entrance and if someone gets past the locks or kicks the door in, they have another barrier to get past before they get to you,” Jett grunted in response. “It will also serve as an early warning system.”

  “Okay. Again, why?”

  Jett gave a final push and saw that the bookcase covered the door. He nodded, satisfied before turning to look at Sam. “Because I’m going to be a bit distracted for an hour or so. And, after that, I’m going to need to sleep.”

  Sam leaned her shoulder into the wall and her lips curved up in a sultry smile. “What’s going to be distracting you, Legend?”

  As if she didn’t know. He squinted at her again before stalking over to clasp her face in his hands, tipping her jaw up with his thumbs. “Playing it coy, Red? By the way, that was one hell of an exit line.”

  Sam’s eyes locked on his. “I thought so.”

  “You sure you want to do this?”

  Sam held his wrists and Jett noticed her shallow breaths and the flush climbing up her neck. “I really am. I need you to kiss me, touch me... intensely, endlessly so I forget my own name. Can you do that, Jett?”

  “I sure as hell can try.” Jett moved his hand to hold the back of her neck, wrapping a hunk of hair around his fist. His mouth fell onto hers and his heart settled and sighed. Her mouth tasted sweet and spicy and when his tongue touched hers, a burst of heat rocketed down his spine.

  This was passion, this was attraction, this was flat out desire. It was more than sex or lust. Kissing Sam, exploring the inches of skin that made her unique, she went beyond simple biology.

  This was need, this was addiction... this just was.

  Jett ran his fingers down the cords of her neck, over her shoulders and down her rib cage. He needed skin and he needed it now. Gripping a fistful of cotton, he pulled her shirt up her chest, only yanking his mouth from hers when the shirt was up by her chin. When a blast of cool air hit his abs, Jett realized his shirt was coming off too and, to speed the process along, he grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked it over his head, dropping his eyes to take a look at Sam’s braless chest.

  Her breasts were small but perky, her nipples the lush pink of a true redhead. Unable to wait, he ducked down to suck one of those pretty beads into his mouth, his tongue swirling. Nipping gently, he smiled at Sam’s deep-in-her-throat groan and transferred his attention to the other breast, his hands on the warm skin of her waist. She was slim but willow strong.

  Sam’s hands stroked his shoulders, danced over the knobs of his spine, skated down his chest. She wanted him as much as he did her and the thought nearly stopped his heart in his chest. Samantha Stone wanted him. It was enough to make his head spin.

  Jett placed his hands under her butt and boosted her up. Her legs wound around his hips, settling her core against his hard, about to explode cock. He could feel her intense heat through the barrier of her clothes. Jett walked her so she was resting against the nearest wall and pinned her there by pushing his hips into hers, her back flat against the wall.

  “Need you,” Jett muttered, sucking on her lower lip.

  Sam wiggled her hips and groaned, “Feels so good.”

  “It’s gonna feel better, babe,” Jett muttered, shoving a hand into the fabric of her pants to push them down her hips. “Shit, I’m going to have to let you go.”

  Jett allowed her legs to drop to the floor and Sam helped him shuck her pants, chanting at him to hurry up. Her small hands tangled with his to open the buttons on his jeans and, because she was more hindrance than help, he swatted her hands away. His speed had nothing to do with his military training and everything to do with the need to slide inside of Sam, branding her, making her his.

  As soon as he was naked, Sam wound her arms around his neck and boosted herself up his body, sure in the belief he would catch her. And then the juncture of her thighs slammed into his throbbing cock and they both froze, the intimate connection stopping them in their tracks. His eyes connected with her shades of gray-violet-blue and he fell, head-over-ass, into her soul.

  Jett took a moment to just look, to feel, to absorb. Years ago he’d made a decision that it was okay to die for his country, for the people who made up the cultural melting pot that was his home. He’d die to protect their freedom, would kill to keep their way of life.

  But, for the first time, in far too long, he wanted to feel, to really live. He wanted to explore every facet of this woman, to discover the rough edges and smooth, her fears and strengths. He wanted to see her being silly, being sad, hold her in good times and bad.

  He wanted to live, for and with, Sam.

  Oh...

  Oh, shit.

  “Is there a reason you’ve stopped?” Sam asked, her voice laced with impatience and need. She tipped her hips to slide her hot heat against him and bursts of pleasure scorched his skin.

  He wanted to tell her he was having a Damascus moment, a not-very-minor revelation. Words, hot and heavy and binding, hovered on his lips and he swallowed them down, unable to look away from her, a little dizzy, a lot confused.

  How the hell had this happened? And why?

  Sam’s fingers touched his mouth and she frowned. “Earth to Jett?”

  “Yeah?”

  Sam traced his bottom lip with her thumb. “We need a condom. Got any handy?”

  Jett groaned as her words sunk in. No, he didn’t. Sexual protection had been the last thing he’d been thinking of when he whisked Sam to safety last night.

  “Shit-shit-shit,” Jett muttered, his forehead on hers.

  “Shit indeed,” Sam replied, tilting her hips.

  “Do you want to put this on hold?” Jett asked, hoping and praying she’d be up for a little creativity.

  “I’m naked, you’re naked,” Sam replied, her tone mischievous. “What do you suggest, Legend?”

  Jett pulled back to allow Sam’s feet to hit the ground and he immediately dropped to his knees in front of her. Taking her hands, he positioned them so that her palms were flat against the wall and nudged her knees apart. He placed his mouth on her flat belly and she sucked in air as his tongue dipped into her belly button, taking her belly ring between his teeth. He nuzzled his nose into her skin, kissing and licking his way down, silently approving of her Brazilian wax, a tiny tuft of red at her c
left. She tipped her hips up without him having to ask and he pulled her legs apart, taking the opportunity to look at her.

  “So pretty,” he murmured, sliding an exploratory finger over her, skimming her bud.

  Sam jerked and Jett smiled. Yeah, that was her spot. He dipped and skated his mouth over her, his breath hot on her clit, inhaling her unique scent.

  Above him Sam moaned, her thighs opening wider, her hands coming up to play with her nipples, to pinch and to pull. Jett noticed the red flush creeping over her chest, up her neck, and thought she was close. Wrapping one hand around his dick, he pushed his tongue down, slipped inside her channel before flicking it over her clit.

  As he knew she would, Sam bucked and released a small scream. Pumping his own dick, he pushed two fingers into her channel and sucked her into his mouth, rolling her clit between his teeth.

  He was so close to losing it but he needed her to come first, to fall apart on his tongue. Jett hooked his fingers up and in and felt her channel clench around him. He sucked her clit harder, slid his hand up and down his cock and as Sam screamed and shook, he shot his load into his hand. Ignoring his own orgasm as best as he could, he continued to love Sam, pulling every last nugget of pleasure from her. One orgasm led to another smaller shudder and he pulled his fingers from her, resting his forehead on her stomach.

  Too much... Too much pleasure, too many emotions.

  This was a big, fucking, glorious mistake.

  Sam and Stone, as per Jett and Kelby’s instructions, stayed behind the door, in the hallway of Stone’s mansion instead of walking their old friends to their waiting taxi. That honor went to two of Jett’s “crew.” When Jett received the all clear from his guys, Jett holstered his Glock and folded his arms.

  “We need to talk,” Jett said. His eyes giving no indication that they’d had XXX-rated sex—twice—earlier. In fact, if Sam hadn’t been on the receiving end of his talented tongue she would doubt it even occurred. Jett, Mr. Inscrutable, gave absolutely nothing away.