Surrender (The Command Series Book 3) (11 page)

He hadn’t heard a woman say his real name during sex in at least a decade. And it was in
her
voice. It triggered his release. He fell, pleasure rolling through him as if it were never going to stop.

It did, eventually.

When he realized she was trapped beneath him, their hands still entwined, he tried to release her, but her grip tightened on him. His heart, which was already pounding in his chest, raced even faster. But then she released him.

He cupped her face and kissed her. Slow. Passionate and tender. And it terrified him.

His back was cool against the sheets and her body hot against his when she tucked herself beside him. Her forehead pressed against the side of his neck, both covered in a thin layer of sweat and their damp skin stuck together.

He wanted to remain like this. Wanted to believe that her life wasn’t in danger, but it had been in jeopardy from the moment Gio picked up on Ethan’s attraction to her. The disgusting little shit had laid out his plan for Olivia during the walk to her cabin, and Ethan had gotten far too close to drawing his SIG and aiming it right between Gio’s legs.

Ethan was going to have to drag himself from this bed and return to his mission. He’d already been gone too long. She’d thrown her arm over his chest, and she hesitantly retreated when he turned on his side to face her.

“I’m sorry, I can’t stay,” he said.

“I know.” She slipped beneath the sheets, drawing them up to cover herself. He wanted to look at her some more, but fought back the desire to pull the covers down. Instead he rose and silently dressed, as she watched him through the mosquito netting. When he was done, he came back to the far side of the bed, slipped through the curtain, and kissed her.

He wanted her. Again and again.

“Good night,” he whispered against her lips.

“Good night, Nathan.”

He turned out the light and headed to the door, knowing how she’d meant it. That she’d keep his secret. His real name was only for her.

Halfway back to his room, Ethan’s phone buzzed with the door alarm.

His pulse raced. Was this another meeting with Johannes, or was Gio going to attempt to pick up where he left off with Olivia? His hands tensed into fists at the thought. Just watching her give Gio that chaste kiss earlier had turned his stomach.

Things were so different now.

Ethan crouched down in the long grass at the side of the path and settled into a comfortable position he could hold, but also move quickly from if needed. At least it was overcast this evening so the moon wasn’t so bright.

He followed the dark figure to the same empty cabin were Johannes was once again waiting. Apparently the return trip to Rome had sped up the Abramos’ timetable.

“The boss,” Johannes said, “he likes this gun. Here is an advance. He hopes it buys trust.”

“My trust isn’t something you can buy.”

“Then he hopes it is a good first payment.”

The deal was complete and Ethan followed Gio back to his cabin, wondering about how inept Gio had seemed. He hadn’t searched Johannes for weapons, and Ethan knew Gio hadn’t verified that the uncut diamonds were actually diamonds. Was this how the Abramos did their business? Sloppy. How had the CIA not been able to breach their network before?

Gio pulled up short, his feet digging into the sandy path, when Renzo stepped out of the shadow of Gio’s cabin, and Ethan slinked down low in the bush.

“How was your meeting?” Renzo snarled.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re a fool, Giovanni. I see everything, like your father trained me. I know what you really came down here to do.”

The grass in front of Ethan swayed in the breeze and momentarily obscured his view, not that it mattered much. Pieces fell into place, and he felt like an idiot. Vitale wasn’t branching out to Africa. Gio was, and on his own.

“You don’t know a fucking thing.”

Renzo choked out a laugh. “I suppose we’ll see about that when I speak with Vitale. He’s been too busy with Constantine’s murder to realize you’re getting into bed with Amin, but I can fill him in when we arrive.”

Gio’s body stiffened as if from tension. “What do you want?”

“Half.”

“No.”

“Half, Giovanni. You’ll need my help to hide this from your father, and that’s worth half.”

Olivia stepped into the shower in the morning, enjoying the water pressure beating down on her, and ran through the list of what she wanted to accomplish pre-flight. She’d fly Gio back to Rome, and then disappear.

But if she was going to be free of the Abramos, that meant his bodyguard would go, too. Ethan. Her face heated hotter than the water as her thoughts drifted to last night. Holy mother of god, the sex had been amazing. It had shaken her, too. She wasn’t into cuddling, or tenderness, or intimacy, and yet she’d felt powerful disappointment when he’d left. He hadn’t wanted to go, either. The reluctance was clear on his face as he slipped from her bed. So much for finishing the business between them.

She abandoned the pre-flight checklist. He was all she could think about this morning.

What was Ethan doing right now? Probably preparing for the return to Rome. Had their night together silenced the distraction or had it intensified for him the same way it had for her?

She had enough desire for him to fill an entire airplane hangar. Not just for sex. She wanted to know what he was hiding. Wanted to know who he really was. Just the name wasn’t enough.

God, what was wrong with her? No strings attached, that was how she survived. That crash into the mountainside hadn’t broken her, but it left her too damaged to offer anything real in return. How had last night reduced her to this? She lingered under the shower for a while, not wanting to go back into the bedroom and see the bed, the reminder of what had happened there last night.

She slipped into the thin, waffle-textured robe hanging by the shower, grabbed the blow dryer, and dried her hair. When she was finished, she set the machine on the counter—

It clattered to the ground.

He lingered in the doorway, and his eyes hinted at the struggle going on behind them. The struggle between Ethan and Nathan.

“I could’ve sworn I locked my door,” she said.

“You did.” He stepped inside the bathroom, and closed the door behind him.

-9-

The urge to kiss him roared through Olivia’s blood like an engine on takeoff, but she tried to contain herself. Ethan picked the hairdryer up and set it back on the counter, his dark and fascinating eyes on her.

“I did knock,” he said, steadily approaching until there was no space left between them and they were chest to chest. No, not really. She was staring at the center of his chest and he had to be looking down at the top of her head. Her gaze worked its way up to meet his.

“Did you need something?” It came from her as an anxious whisper.

His voice was hushed. “Giovanni sent me to tell you that we’re going back to Rome. I need to know that you’re going to move on from the Abramos as soon as we land.”

She had no job lined up, nowhere to go unless she wanted to go home, but . . . “Yes. I’m not stupid.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that.” The hard angle along his jaw sharpened as the muscle beneath it flexed. Like he was clenching his teeth. “We won’t see each other again.”

“I know.” She swallowed hard, feeling like she was in a free-fall as she stood under his intense stare. A long moment passed and he didn’t move. “Was there something else you needed?”

The tension between them had suffocated all of the oxygen in the room. His gaze hardened, as if his mind was set. “Yeah. But we don’t have much time.”

“Time for what?”

His strong hands tugged at the knot holding her robe closed, and cool air washed over her naked flesh when it fell open.
Oh. My. God.
His lips were on hers, hard and urgent, and his hands moved inside the robe, sliding over her skin that was still damp from the shower.

There was no need to think. She wanted this. How could she not? It was as if someone had given him a manual to her body because he knew exactly where and how to touch her. The coarse skin of his palms dragged over her breasts, across her back and slid down to grab a handful of her backside. She sighed against his relentless kiss.

But the hand on her bottom had a purpose, and that was to help lift her up. So he could seat her on the long counter beside the sink and stand between her legs. She liked this added height. It meant she didn’t have to crane her neck quite as much to kiss him. She filled his mouth with her tongue while his hands skimmed over the tops of her thighs.

“What are we doing?” she murmured. His lips left a damp trail down the side of her neck, and he pressed her back to lean against the glass of the mirror.

“Right now?” His voice was low. “I’m kissing you. Do you mind?”

“No, but I meant—” Words stopped when his tongue traced her nipple, and need tightened in her core. His mouth moved lower, traveling over her ribs, down over her fluttering belly, and her breath came in huge gulps of air. Oh yes, she knew his final destination, and wonderful anticipation flooded her.
Lower.

He teased her, hovering over where she wanted him to use his mouth, and it forced her to remind him, “I thought you said you didn’t have a lot of time.”

The half-smile on his lips was wicked and sexy. “Are you telling me to get to work?”

“Yes.” It was what she desired. Her hand tangled in his soft hair, guiding him where she wanted it. Heat poured through her body and pumped through her veins when he lowered his mouth and tasted her.

A manual. That’s what he definitely had. Every caress of his tongue, each grazing brush of his lips was an electric charge on her most sensitive area. Her grip in his hair tightened involuntary. “Oh my God, that feels good.”

His response was to kneel and pull one of her knees up over his shoulder, deepening this intimate kiss. It didn’t matter that it was awkward half-leaning back against the mirror with her chin in her chest. Her attention was on the climb toward the pleasure Ethan was sure to give her. This enigma of a man—oh, how she wanted him.

Her moans got out of hand, and he pulled back so his warm breath washed over her skin. “You seem to like that.”

It was annoying that he’d stopped but it only turned her on more. “You seem to know what you’re doing.”

“I do?” He kissed the inside of her thigh and she stifled a groan.

“Yeah, so keep doing it.”

His smile was corrupt and it set her on fire. He set every inch of her on fire when he resumed what she’d asked for. Her skin tingled in anticipation of her arriving orgasm. The crescendo inside was building into something so powerful it took her breath away. She was about to burst, any second now—

He shot to his feet and pulled her down off the counter, his hands struggling to close her robe.
No,
her mind screamed. What was this? He wiped her arousal from his lips, his face alert and anxious.

“If it’s Gio, don’t let him in. Tell him you’re sick, whatever. But he can’t come in.” His voice was so quiet, it was barely a hiss.

The second knock on her outer door was louder, and Ethan cinched the belt on her robe closed. She’d been much too focused on Ethan’s mouth for the first knock to register, but this one she heard. Which meant she was going to have to leave this room and go answer her front door. Her knees shook, not from fear, but as a reaction to being brought to a screeching halt. Inside, her mind continued to protest as she ripped her stare from Ethan’s alert face and exited the bathroom.

“Phillip,” she said when she pulled the door open, announcing who it was.

“Sorry to bother you, but Mr. Abramo has to return to Rome immediately.”

“Yes, Nathan informed me already. Have you notified the rest of the crew?”

“I’ll go to their cabin next. The flight plan is ready for your registration. Mr. Abramo would like to leave within the hour.”

She glanced at the clock, pretending to consider what she already knew about. “That shouldn’t be a problem, thank you.” She locked the door once the South African was gone and shuffled her feet back to the bathroom, filled with anxiety.