Retribution (SSU Trilogy Book 3) (The Surgical Strike Unit) (14 page)

Jesus, if they didn’t slow down, this was going to be over in about thirty seconds. Yet he didn’t want to stop kissing her. To stop exploring her with his own hands, testing the softness of her. Finding that the good doctor had a surprising amount of sleek muscle for someone who sat in a lab all day. Loving the fact that his hounding her to eat three meals a day this past week had put a bit of much needed weight back on her bones.

Gabby hooked her fingers over the top of his waistband and shoved his jeans and boxer briefs down.

Rafe groaned. They weren’t going to make it to the bed. Not when her eager fingers were kneading him, urging him closer to her hips.

To hell with it.

Without lifting his mouth from hers, Rafe hoisted her up his body. She immediately wrapped her arms and legs around him, aligning her core exactly where he needed it.

Gabby tightened her hold on him, all the while driving him crazy with hot little kisses along his jaw and throat. “Rafe, I need you inside me,” she moaned.

Rafe managed to shuffle into a turn that put Gabby’s back against the door and plastered him to her front.

“Yes.” She arched into him. “Hurry.” She reached down and took him in hand, her fingers cool against his heated flesh.

Then she squeezed and started to guide him into her. He felt her moisture against his tip and jerked back.

“Wait. Fuck, Gabby. Condom!” He turned slightly so she sat more on his hip while he reached down to his jeans, which were around his knees, fumbling with the pockets as he tried to remember which one held his wallet.

Gabby rubbed her clit against his bare hip and made a hungry, keening sound that sent barbed rivers of need slicing through his system.

Christ. Where the
hell
was his wallet?

His fingers finally touched worn leather, but in his haste he nearly dropped the thing on the floor. And that would have been a crying shame, because there was no fucking way he could reach the floor and keep Gabby on the edge of coming just from rubbing herself against him.

But,
mil gracias
, he finally got the damn wallet open and pulled out the condom.

“Give me.” Gabby snatched the foil packet out of his fingers and with Olympic speed had the condom ready to go. Despite her hurry of a few moments ago, she gave him a wicked smile and took her own sweet time rolling the latex down his straining cock millimeter by millimeter until he couldn’t take it any more.

He shoved her hands away, yanked the condom the rest of the way down, and slammed into her.
Dios.
She was hot and tight and fit him so perfectly, all he could think of was that he was home. He didn’t want to move and risk losing this amazing mix of peace and razor-edged anticipation.

But then Gabby cried out and dug her heels into the backs of his legs. He moved, urged on by her choked gasps of pleasure. His thrusts rattled the door behind her, but Rafe didn’t care. He braced himself, gave one last thrust, and exploded.

“Rafe!” Her scream of completion mixed with his satisfied roar as Rafe poured what felt like his heart and soul into this woman.

His woman.

G
abby awoke a few hours later cocooned in Rafe’s arms, his chest against her back, his breath stirring the hair along her cheek. She was surprised he was still here. She’d expected him to sneak out while she was sleeping, to go get ready for his mission. The fact that he was relaxed enough, and trusted her enough, to fall asleep beside her, made her heart swell with so much emotion, she had to bite her lip to keep from whispering out loud how she felt.

Instead, she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy this feeling of safety and warmth. To imagine that she and Rafe had ordinary jobs and that there was nothing more pressing in their lives than to spend a leisurely day in bed, making love.

She pressed her cheek into the pillow and bit her lip. Oh, God, how had it happened? She’d fallen in love with Rafe. How could she do that? Hadn’t she told herself not to care?

Yes, she most certainly had. Quite firmly, too.

But he’d wormed his way into her life too quickly for her to stop. She loved his flirtatious smiles. Appreciated the way he’d teased and bullied her into eating this past week. Liked how he’d sensed her nervousness when she’d acted out of character and dropped her robe tonight. He’d given her the precise words to boost her confidence, reassuring her that she’d done the right thing.

He always made her feel like the center of his attention when he was with her. She’d never felt so cherished.

A branch knocked against the window, causing her to jump. Reminding her sharply of the danger ahead. She tried hard not to imagine Rafe dead, bleeding from his eyes and nose, but the terrifying images flashed through her head anyway. What if—?

Stop it
.
Rafe and his team will be fine
.

To distract herself, she thought back to when Rafe had carried her into the bedroom after their first frantic coupling against her door. He’d lowered himself onto her carefully and their gazes had locked. Then Rafe had flinched and murmured, “Christ, sorry.” He’d started to lever himself off of her when she realized that like her, he was thinking of the last time he’d had her beneath him and how she’d thought he was going to kill her.

But she no longer feared him. So she’d locked her legs around him, trapping him in place, then raised her arms over her head, deliberately making herself vulnerable. She’d been rewarded by a brilliant smile and a torturously slow seduction. He’d reduced her to begging for an orgasm that arrived with such force, she’d nearly passed out.

She didn’t want this night to ever end. But already a faint tinge of gray peeked around the edges of her drapes. It wouldn’t be long before Rafe had to leave.

“Don’t think about it,” Rafe murmured sleepily. His fingers trailed across her breast, plucking at her nipple.

“Mind read much?” she gasped.

“Nah. Your body’s so tense, a blind man could tell what you’re thinking. Just let it go. We’ve got at least another hour. And I don’t intend to waste it.”

He rolled onto his back and turned her so she lay facedown on top of him. His eyes projected strength, confidence and passion. He tenderly stroked a strand of hair away from her cheek, then his lips touched hers in a kiss that started butterfly soft, but soon turned ferocious.

Gabby lost herself in his heat. But inside, her heart was crying.

R
afe heard a choking little sound and glanced across the small table in Gabby’s dining room. Ah, man, her eyes were so damn sad, she might as well have tightened a noose around his heart.

Lips trembling, Gabby’s hand clutched the white teddy bear with the red heart on its chest proclaiming Be My Valentine that he’d given her when she woke up. Gabby quickly turned her head away, trying to hide the shine of wet cheeks, but it was too late.

“Gabby, I have to go.”

“I know.” Her voice was small and sad. Nothing like the passionate woman he’d made love to when he woke up this morning. He would have gone for another round in the shower, but she’d sidled out of his reach and promised she’d cook breakfast instead.

“I don’t want you heading off on an empty stomach,” she’d said, picking her robe off the floor. So he’d showered alone,
then joined her in the kitchen for breakfast.

It was weird, but he felt peaceful with her. There wasn’t any pressure to flirt, or make her laugh, or discuss their feelings. Just the quiet acceptance of two people enjoying a meal together.

He popped the last bite of toast and eggs into his mouth and drained his coffee cup. A quick check of his watch showed he had just enough time to run back to his cabin, grab his bag, and make it to the airstrip in time to meet his team.

Gabby stood, set the teddy bear on the center of the table, and stacked Rafe’s plate on top of her own. “So…I guess you’d better get going.”

She said it so casually, he knew she was hiding some deep emotion.

“No,” he protested, despite the truth of her words. “I’m good.” He reached for the dishes. “I can help.”

She shook her head. “Rafe, it’s better if you just leave.” Her eyes met his for the briefest instant, too fast for him to tell what she was thinking. “Make it quick, before…” She bit her lip.

“Good-bye. Stay safe.” Grabbing the stack of dishes, she pivoted on her heel and rushed into the tiny kitchen.

With any other woman he would have done what she’d asked. Avoided a scene and left. But not Gabby. Not the woman who’d cried over Nate. Who wasn’t afraid to stand up to Rafe and who always looked surprised when he made her laugh.

The woman he was pretty sure he’d fallen in love with.

“Gabby,” he pleaded, following her into the kitchen. “C’mon. Is that the best you can do?”

She set the dishes in the sink hard enough to make them rattle. When her hand reached to turn on the faucet, he stopped her.

“
Querida
, don’t shut me out now. Let me have a proper good-bye.” Gently, but firmly enough that she’d know he meant business, he guided her hands to the back of his neck and pulled her hips against his. “Just one more kiss for luck, yeah?”

Not waiting for her answer, he lowered his head. Oh, God, there it was again. Total combustion. Heat and homecoming and a promise he wanted desperately to keep.

“Don’t you dare get yourself hurt,” Gabby said fiercely when they finally came up for air. She poked him in the chest. “I want you back just the way you are.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He saluted with two fingers, then kissed the tip of her nose. “We’ll be careful. We always are.”

He took her hand. “Come on. Walk with me back to my cabin to get my stuff.”

Gabby looked pointedly at the robe she was wearing.

“Okay,” he said with a grin. “You can throw some clothes on first.”

To his surprise, she changed quickly, emerging in jeans and a t-shirt a couple of minutes later. The walk to his cabin was smothered with sorrow and longing until he thought he’d choke on it. But instead of making him want to run away, it made him want to pull Gabby close and never let go. He didn’t even want to release her hand to get his bag.

What he really wanted right now was to take her back to bed. To watch the way her golden hair swung around her jaw line, bouncing slightly as she rode him. To make her lose her precious control.

Instead, he picked up his bag, locked his cabin, and headed back across the SSU compound, Gabby’s hand held firmly in his own.

Five minutes later, they were at the edge of the airstrip.

Gabby placed a fast kiss on his mouth. “Go,” she ordered. “Before I lose it.”

Ah damn, she was starting to cry.

“Gabby—”

“Hey Rafe!” Muldovsky shouted.

Rafe waved over his shoulder to acknowledge that he’d heard his friend. “I’ll see you when I get back,” Rafe said.

“Yeah,” Gabby said weakly, clearly unconvinced.

Man, she broke his heart. This smart, sexy woman destroyed every thought he’d had about what he needed. What his future would hold. Love and commitment had not been part of that.

He’d seen how worry had worn at his mother every time the DEA sent his dad on another mission, aging
Mamá
ahead of her time. He’d vowed never to do that to a woman. To keep his heart shielded and himself firmly in the bachelor camp.

But he wanted Gabby waiting for him when he returned, not just from this mission, but from every mission from here on. All he needed was her.

And damn if that wasn’t a scary thought.

“I—” Rafe shook his head. There were words to describe how he was feeling, but this wasn’t the time. “Bye, doctor. Don’t forget to eat.”

Turning his back on her was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He swung his bag over his shoulder and told himself not to look back. He was late enough as it was.

But when he got within feet of the short airstrip, he stopped.

To hell with it.

He spun around. Gabby stood with her left arm wrapped around one of the pine trees at the edge of the paths, her right hand shielding her eyes against the rising sun.

Their eyes met and he felt a jolt of awareness. No, it was more than awareness. It was more like the ah-ha moment when the last piece fit into a complicated jigsaw puzzle.

“I love you,” Gabby mouthed. His throat tightened around a swell of emotion too sharp to bear. He mouthed, “I love you” back, then turned away. This time, he kept going.

H
alf an hour later, as Rafe watched the last of their gear getting loaded onto the plane, he felt an unexpected surge of superstitious dread crawl up his back. Something far stronger than his usual pre-mission nerves.

“What the fuck is wrong with me,” Rafe muttered. Everything was going to be fine. The spot they’d picked out for a landing zone would be well out of range of known detection devices. They had Gabby’s map of the compound, and while it wasn’t perfect, it sure as hell was better than going in blind.

And he had more men this time.

There was no reason to be spooked.

No good reason except an uneasy gut to explain why he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his brother while he waited for the team to finish loading their gear.

“Yo,” Niko answered. “What’s wrong little bro? Thought you’d have left by now.”

Rafe shook his head. God, this overwhelming relief at hearing Niko’s voice was frightening. What was wrong with him? “I…” He shrugged, even though Niko couldn’t see him. “I…um… We’re just about wheels up, but I just wanted to say…I’m glad you’re my brother. I love you, man,” he blurted in Greek.

Jesus, it felt so much like good-bye, his eyes burned.

“Rafe?” All teasing disappeared from Niko’s voice. “What the fuck is going on? You have a bad feeling about the mission? Call it off.”

Trust Niko to understand what he wasn’t saying. Sometimes his brother was too intuitive for his own good. “Nah, we’re good. That was just something that needs saying now and then. To, you know, embarrass the shit out of you.”

Across the tarmac, Depaoli signaled that the team was ready.

“Gotta go, Niko. Give Jenna a kiss and tell her I love her, okay? Bye.”