Finding Dani (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 3) (13 page)

He kissed her like a man savoring the most expensive champagne.

“I want you, Damon.” She had to say his name aloud. Otherwise, she might decide this was a just a lust-filled dream. One that, if she were honest, she’d had before.

“I need to be inside you.”

“Yes,” she moaned.

He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him. His hardness hitting her in the most sensitive place and almost sending her over the edge. She had to bite her lip to stop from letting go. She licked his neck and bit his earlobe. He tasted salty and smelled of her soap. It was a heady combination.
 

“Fuck, baby. You’re making my knees weak.”

He had her blanket down on the ground with her pillow while he still held her, but then he was on his knees laying her on her back and she reached out to stroke his shaft. He bucked in her hands and sucked in a breath. But he stayed on his knees feasting on her with his gaze.

“That’s the idea, sugar,” she drawled.

The look in his eyes went a little feral when she imitated his Louisiana drawl, and suddenly his hands were everywhere. He touched, kneaded, and stroked her into a frenzy. His hands were between her legs, fingers on her, before sliding inside. Her back arched in pleasure and she closed her eyes.

“Look at me.” His voice was gruff but insistent.

Her eyes popped open and she was seared by his look. “Damon—”

The condom in his hand seemingly appeared from nowhere, but she knew they were readily available on the base. He sheathed himself and shifted off of his knees, coming down between her thighs. He supported his weight on his elbows as he tangled his fingers in her hair.

“You’re beautiful, Red.”

Dani had her hands on his biceps, loving the hard strength she found there. “Make me yours,” she whispered.

And he did. Inch by hard inch, he slid inside her slick channel, stretching unused muscles with his size and kicking her into an orgasm as soon as he was seated to the hilt. And it was everything she’d missed about sex. Rockets and stars and blindness to everything but the feelings she was experiencing.

“So good. Oh, my God.”

Damon kissed her, stealing what little breath she had. “You feel incredible,” he said.

And when he moved, he took her the way a pirate takes gold. Forcefully, and with not a shred of hesitancy that a new lover might have. She loved it. Loved that he lost control and pinned her to the floor, taking her in a way that she’d never been taken before. She felt claimed as he surged in and out of her.

There were no more words left, just this blinding need to be one with this man.

Her body matched his rhythm and her hips rose eagerly to meet each demanding thrust, her passion rising beyond anything she’d ever known. His hands were twined with hers, holding them above her head. He kissed her wildly, tongue moving in time with his hips, stealing her moans.

Dani wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed, using her inner muscles to bring them both more pleasure. And when she peaked for the second time, she could feel her inner contractions setting off Damon’s orgasm.

His body shuddered as he slowed his thrusts. And he kissed her so tenderly that tears came to her eyes.

Damon rubbed his nose against hers. “That was incredible. You get me so damn hot for you. Next time it’ll be slower, and by the time I’m done with you, I’ll have tasted every single inch of you.”

“I think maybe I’ve already died from pleasure.”

“I know I did.”

Dani wiggled when she realized that something was digging into her shoulder. “Why are we on the ground?” She only just then realized they weren’t on her cot. The man was dangerous to a woman’s state of mind.

“Your bed wasn’t sturdy enough for us. For this.”

She laughed hard and shook her head. She was a respected doctor, for cripes’ sake, not some simple farm girl who just lost her virginity while in a haze of lust. Okay, maybe she’d been in a haze, but Dani should have noticed.

Damon smiled down at her. “I love to hear that laugh, and I have a feeling that you don’t let it out often enough. Life is too short.”

“There hasn’t been much to laugh about for a long time.”

Damon brushed his thumb across her cheek and stroked her hair. “About that. I’m a little worried about your God complex.”

She knew her brow was furrowed as she frowned. “What God complex? That’s more Martin’s style.”

He shook his head. “Gabriel died from Hemorrhagic Fever, Dani.”

She avoided his eyes. She knew what he was talking about and she should’ve kept her damn mouth shut. “I know that.”

“There was no way, short of an actual Bible school miracle, that you could have saved him. You need to let it go. Let him go.”

What she might have said was lost as a loud booming noise echoed through the camp. It vibrated through her like a beat from a loud bass stereo. Dani was slow to react because she didn’t recognize the sound, but Damon was immediately on his feet and had his pants on faster than she could even process what was happening.

“Shadow?” It was the voice of one of the Marines guarding her tent. He sounded tense.

Damon answered. “Stand fast, soldier. I’m on my way.”

“Copy that.”

“What was that?” Dani asked.

“Sounded like an RPG.” He reached down and pulled her up from the blanket on the floor. He gave her a quick kiss, but he was clearly already thinking about what might be going on. “Get dressed and stay here. I need to find out what’s happening.”

Not bothering with the clothes, Dani framed her hands on either side of his face and pulled his gaze to hers. “You be careful.”

“WETSU.” He winked at her. “We-Eat-This-Shit-Up,” he answered to the question she’d been about to ask. “This is what I do, sugar.”

And then he was gone.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she whispered.
 

Chapter 13

Damon made a quick stop at his tent to grab some gear and his sniper rifle. Then he headed toward the front of the camp. That’s where Gunner was, and it was where the concussive sound of the grenade had come from.

“’Bout time you got here,” Gunner said. He was outside with one guard and a pair of binoculars.

Damon dropped his pack and started checking his rifle, loading it, and making sure the safety was on. Semi-automatic weapon fire sounded in the distance, and he could just barely make out the sounds of an engine straining. Someone was driving toward them, and pushing the vehicle past what it could normally handle. He didn’t bother to look; he just listened.

“What can you see?” he asked.

Gunner grunted. “Not a goddamn thing.” There was a long pause and then he said, “Got it. Two vehicles coming straight for us. The front truck is swerving and taking fire from the one behind.”

“How long?”

“Three minutes. Max.”

The radio crackled and the Marine standing guard answered his handheld. He had the volume too low to hear, but he copied the message and turned to them. “CO wants Dr. Halverson in the command tent and wants you on that hill on overwatch.” He pointed toward the hill that Damon had claimed for his private phone calls.

“Got it.”

He slung his rifle across his back again and picked up his bag. He was at a dead run and on that hill in about a minute and a half. He dropped to a knee and began setting up his spot while he caught his breath. The whole camp had mobilized, and anyone not sick was either on guard duty or at the perimeter ready for whatever was headed their way.

Damon had a portable radio with him, and as he plugged in the ear piece, he could hear excited chatter from the Marines at the entrance to the camp. They had night vision and were giving an update on the incoming possible combatants. Vehicle one was on older model small truck that was still taking fire and occupied by at least two males, maybe a third. There seemed to be some confusion on that point.

Vehicle number two was a Jeep. There were four heavily armed males inside, and only the driver wasn’t firing. Damon listened to all of it while he set his rifle up on its stand and began adjusting his scope to night vision. All the while, he was slowing his heart rate by breathing in and out in the controlled way he’d been taught so long ago. It was second nature to him at this point.

“Shadow, you copy?”

“Copy,” he answered.

“Report.”

He focused and the truck came into his sights. He recognized Travis immediately. He was the driver. The man in the passenger seat was almost unrecognizable as a human being, his face was so badly beaten. But he was African and there was an African child in the middle. His head bobbed up and down with the force of the truck driving over the uneven terrain.

“Vehicle one is non-combatant. Take out number two.”

“Copy that.”

Damon knew there was one other sniper in B Company that was very capable, and it was his job to stop that Jeep. So Damon focused on the landscape. There was no way they were alone.

He didn’t hear the shot, but the Jeep swerved violently to the left as the driver slumped over the wheel. The two males standing in the back shooting didn’t have a chance to hold on before they were flung out like rag dolls. The passenger was in better shape until the Jeep bucked up and flipped over on its side. Damon could only see a cloud of dust and the spinning wheels of the undercarriage.

Travis had made it to the front gates, where he was getting out of the truck, hands high in the air. Damon thought the passenger looked like Anuma, but he still couldn’t be sure. He was slumped over against the door.

Damon scanned the tree line. And he picked up movement. A lot of movement.

“We’ve got more company,” he said into his radio.

“How many?” The voice in his ear was from the command tent. Another radio operator like Private Jensen.

“Fifty, give or take,” he answered. “Ragtag group, but some have on uniforms. All armed.”

“We had intel about some rebel activity moving our way.” There was a long pause as options were discussed and discarded. Most of which he wouldn’t be privy to. Then the order came. “Stand fast.”

Damon was used to waiting. “Copy that.” And the larger group had stopped out of range. Most were using the trees as cover still. They were being smart.

At the gates, Travis was taken into custody and the man Damon thought was Anuma was pulled out of the truck, his body limp. Beside him was a boy of about seven or eight. The child’s ebony skin gleamed in the moonlight and Damon could see him clutching Anuma’s limp hand like a lifeline.

What the hell was Travis up to? And what was Anuma involved in? Because he had no doubt that the men following them were the same as the ones that attacked Dani’s camp in Ghana. That they’d found Dani’s group again all the way in Liberia meant something important. But what, Damon would have to wait to find out.

Anuma looked out of commission, but Travis was still upright and looked relatively unharmed. He’d better be a straight arrow with some answers. Otherwise, Damon would take pleasure in beating them out of him.

He was still watching the tree line when his SAT phone rang.

***

Dani’s heart was lodged somewhere in her throat as the gunfire got closer. Not being able to see anything was driving her crazy. But when she stuck her head outside to ask for information, she’d been politely, but firmly, told to get back inside.

And she wasn’t about to argue with her guards.

She just hoped Damon was okay, even though she knew that out of everyone, he should be fine, since he’d be up high somewhere watching over the Marines on the ground. That’s what he did. He was a protector. Always had been. But that didn’t stop her from wringing her hands together in worry.

With her imagination out of control, she focused instead on what had just taken place between them. And how Damon made her feel. Free and out of control. Which was a completely different experience from what she’d shared with Gabriel. With Gabe, it was about a mutual sharing, minds and hearts. He’d been a gentle lover, if unimaginative, loving her mind as well as her body. Their shared loved of medicine and helping others became a passion that surpassed mere physical sensation. She’d often wondered if he’d loved her mind more than her body.

But not with Damon.

With him, it was a taking. She felt robbed of sanity, able to focus only on the feelings he invoked. And she took as well. Took his control. Dani loved that she was able to make him as crazy as he made her, as wild to join, to meld in a way that she’d never experienced. Twins, but so different fundamentally that it was impossible to hold onto her anxiety over hurting Damon by using him to relive the past.

Because she wasn’t.

Dani was forging a new path, with a new partner. Someone who wanted her body. It was heady to be wanted as a desirable woman first, instead of primarily respected for her intelligence. And she’d been missing that, even if she hadn’t realized it. As a fertile female in her prime, her body wanted and needed satiation, but her head had been slow to catch on.

She needed to turn her darned mind off and just listen to her body.