Rough Edges Read online

  She covered her mouth with her fist and raced out of the house.

  Victor blanketed the man’s head with his shirt and followed after her. He found her crouched at the bottom of the next hill, several yards from the house, hugging her middle. She sucked in huge gulps of air and rocked slightly as she sobbed with relief.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Not even close. But I will be. Gimme a minute.”

  Victor hovered at her side as relief washed through him. He looked for some way to help but found none, so he simply stroked her hair, hoping it would calm her as it had before.

  After a few minutes, she gathered herself and stood. Her pale gray eyes seemed too bright under the moon, blazing with a kind of warning he didn’t understand.

  “I’m okay now. But if you ever tell anyone that I broke down like his, I’ll cut off your balls and wear them as earrings. Understood?”

  He let his hand fall from her hair and took a step back. He hated it that she had the power to hurt him with just a few words. “You think that’s the kind of man I am? That I’d mock your grief or think you less of a woman because you care about your friend enough to show emotion when you thought he was dead? We’ve been working together for months now. If that’s the type of man you think I am, then you haven’t been paying attention.”

  “I know you’re worried that I’m going to crack like the others. I know you’re watching me. Judging me.”

  “I’m not doing anything that I wouldn’t do with any other man whom I was with in the field. It’s our job to watch out for each other. If you have a problem with that, then you’re not fit to step foot outside of your office. The stakes are too high.”

  “I’m not too weak to be in the field. I’m sorry if that threatens your manliness, honey.”

  Victor laughed, though the sound was empty of all humor. “My manliness is completely intact, honey. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll be happy to prove it.”

  He grabbed her hips and pulled them so tightly against his body it made the armored vest bite into his skin. He knew holding her, provoking her, was a mistake, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. She tested him at every turn, pushing him away when all he wanted to offer her was a little comfort and compassion.

  The second he felt her body heat against his groin, he got hard in a nearly painful rush. She was tall enough that their bodies lined up a little too well. He knew without a doubt that she felt his erection grow.

  The way her pupils flared and her cheeks flushed proved it.

  He should have let her go at that point. But he couldn’t. He needed this contact. And after what she’d been through, so did she. Maybe it wasn’t soft and gentle, but it was definitely the kind of thing that reminded a woman she was alive.

  Victor was definitely feeling alive now. The adrenaline rush of battle was singing through his veins, heating his blood and bringing out all kinds of barbaric instincts. If she even knew half of the things he wanted to do to her right now—with or without her consent—she’d have pressed her gun against his head.

  But she didn’t know what he wanted. What he needed. And he wasn’t about to let go and allow his instincts free rein. He would stay in control long enough to deal with what they had to face.

  After he found the strength to pull his body away from hers.

  It felt too good to have her pressed hard against him. His hands controlled her hips completely, pinning her in place. His fingers clenched against her compulsively as he tried to convince himself to let go.

  Maybe it was the heat of battle, but he’d never before wanted a woman as fast and hard as he wanted Bella right now.

  She licked her lips, leaving behind a moist sheen that glistened in the moonlight. He saw the instant she shifted from shocked to something else. Something hot and filled with acute feminine awareness.

  Her muscles relaxed, surrendering to his hold. She went soft in his arms—something he wasn’t sure a woman as hard as Bella even knew how to do.

  She stared at his mouth for a moment too long, telling him she was thinking about kissing him—something he’d been trying to avoid for too many weeks now.

  They were too far away from the house to even see its light. Darkness enclosed them. The night air swirled around them, humid and scented with wild, growing things. It cooled the sweat of combat and the heat of his growing desire that clung to his skin.

  Her lips parted, and he realized that he’d been staring at her mouth too. Had she noticed?

  A quick glance at her eyes told him she had. There was a knowing quality shining in those pale gray eyes. That, and a whole lot of interest.

  That was all Victor needed to know. If she wanted his kiss half as much as he did hers, she wasn’t going to shoot him for what he was about to do.

  He let his hands slide up her body, skimming over weapons and armor until he reached her slender neck. His fingers trailed along her hot skin, sliding through her hair until her head was in his grip.

  As his boss, she controlled a lot of things between them, but she wasn’t going to control this.

  Victor gripped her hair just tight enough to elicit a gasp from her lips so they would open, then dove in to take what he’d been wanting for far too long.

  The second his mouth covered hers, he knew he was in trouble. This wasn’t just a meeting of skin—a quick thrill of the flesh or a postcombat stress relief. This was coming home. It was something he’d been searching for all his life with no success. Until now.

  She tasted sweet, hot and wild. The soft sound of her voice lifted in a quiet moan went to his head. He thrust his tongue between her lips, giving her no time to deny him.

  The slick skin just inside her mouth contrasted by the sharp little edges of her teeth was a tactile treat. The way she gripped his arms like he was the only thing keeping her upright fueled his need for more of her. He’d wanted to savor this moment and ease her into the idea of having his mouth on hers, but all the plans he’d ever made had dissipated like a puff of smoke in the wind. All he could think about was claiming this space as his own. Leaving a mark on her she’d never be able to erase.

  Anytime for the rest of her life that another man kissed her, he wanted her to think of this moment.

  Some violent, territorial part of him rose up, taking over where his brain should have been. He’d kill another man for even thinking about kissing her. She was his now. He was keeping her.

  Something about that line of thinking seemed wrong, but he didn’t care what it was. Let the rest of the world sort itself out later. Right now, in this moment, there wasn’t anything else he needed.

  Her hips shifted against his, rubbing his erection. A low growl of approval rumbled in his chest. She shivered in reaction, telling him without words that she could handle a man who wasn’t entirely civilized. Which was good, because right now, he felt feral and wild.

  In a move that surprised even him, he swept her legs out from under her and controlled her fall to the ground. His body came over hers, pinning her in place while he feasted on her mouth.

  She uttered some faint protest and pushed against his shoulders. His response was to tighten his hold on her and force her to take more of his weight. He wasn’t done kissing her yet. Not even close.

  After a couple of seconds, she abandoned her efforts to slow him down and simply gave in.

  The uncivilized part of him approved and tipped her chin up so he could kiss her deeper. That seemed to set her off, sucking a sweet sigh of pleasure from her. She gave back as good as she got, thrusting her tongue against his, tasting him and teasing him with the sinuous glide of her wet mouth over his own.

  He needed to devour her. Strip her bare. Fuck her right here on the hard ground.

  He’d wanted her for too long to control the feelings that were flooding him in a wave too powerful to resist.

  His hand t
ried to find her breast, but all he could reach were the hard edges of her tactical vest. He abandoned the search and moved south, needing to feel more of her skin under his palm.

  He pushed her thighs apart wide enough that he could cup her mound. His fingertips met hot, damp fabric.

  That was enough to send him past the edge of reason, all the way to the point where he felt he had the right to unfasten her pants and work his long fingers right up into her sweet pussy.

  The second he reached under her vest to tug at the button of her waistband, she went stiff. Her hand circled around his wrist and squeezed. Hard.

  Pain shot up his arm, clearing away some of the lust fogging his brain.

  This was Bella. His boss. He couldn’t fuck her here on the ground. Hell, he couldn’t fuck her anywhere.

  Victor rolled onto his back and breathed out his sexual frustration. His cock was throbbing, wetting the front of his pants with precome. He’d never been turned on like this before from just a single kiss, but that was Bella—a force of nature, tearing down walls and blowing up every defense he had without even trying.

  He risked a glance in her direction. She was on her feet, weaving slightly from side to side. Her face was flushed, and her mouth was a dark, wet red.

  It took every ounce of restraint he had not to charge her and tackle her right back to the ground where he could kiss her until she changed her mind about stripping out of those pants.

  Just the idea of getting his mouth between her thighs was enough to make his cock lurch toward her in protest. He needed to taste her like he needed to breathe. And once he got his mouth on her, he knew there’d be no stopping him until he was balls deep inside her, driving them both toward sexual oblivion.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” she said, her voice too faint to be recognizable. If she hadn’t been standing right there, if he hadn’t been watching her mouth move, he never would have believed that shaky sound had come from a powerhouse like her.

  The idea that he could do that to her made his head swell. Both of them.

  “It was just a kiss,” he said, knowing every word was a lie. It had been a hell of a lot more than that. There was no way she couldn’t know it, too.

  “You don’t kiss your boss.” The way she said it made it sound almost like a question, as if she wasn’t completely sure of her statement.

  “Apparently, I do. Are you going to fire me?”

  “You know I can’t, not when there’s all that money attached to your continued employment.” She came to stand over him, her combat boots only inches from his head. “But if you ever do that again . . .”

  “What, Bella?” He rose to his feet, trying to ignore the way his knees shook. “What will you do?”

  She stared at his mouth. Swallowed hard. There was want in her gray eyes—the kind of want a man might see only once in his lifetime. If he was a lucky son of a bitch.

  Her lips parted for her to speak, but nothing came out but the tip of her pink tongue. It wet the smooth surface he’d just explored, making him wish he could spend another year claiming the territory as his own.

  She was not the kind of woman he would end up with. He knew that. She wasn’t refined or well-bred or pedigreed. She didn’t have any wealth to speak of, nor did her name carry any political clout. His parents would never approve. Victor was on the path that had been set out for him at birth. He was nearly done serving his time in the armed forces. After that, he’d begin his political career. Whether or not he ended up in the White House was anyone’s guess, but he was almost sure to win a senate seat. His parents were expecting no less.

  Bella would never make a good politician’s wife. Not only did she have too many skeletons in her closet, she was as likely to stab a foreign dignitary in the eye as she was to offer him a drink. Her violent streak was far too wide for her to hide it under a cocktail dress and a string of pearls.

  But even though Victor knew they weren’t a good fit, he couldn’t help but want her. He couldn’t help but want to rip out the throat of any man who so much as looked at her.

  He’d never felt that way about any woman. Ever. It scared him a little that he did now, that she stripped away his carefully cultivated civility.

  “What will you do if I kiss you again?” he asked, his tone a challenge, his chin thrust out in defiance.

  Her eyes roamed his face as if searching for the right answer—the one that would hold him at bay. What she didn’t know was she’d never find that answer in him. He couldn’t think of a single thing she could do or say that would keep him from her. Let her threaten him all she wanted. As long as she continued looking at him the way she did now—like she wanted to eat him for dessert—he wasn’t going to let any silly rules stop him from having her.

  Maybe once he got enough of her, he’d work her out of his system. He’d go on with his regularly scheduled life. So would she. They just had to get past this inconvenient sexual attraction, and the only way he could think to do that was to barrel right through it.

  He felt a grin tug at his mouth. That was his answer: Stop fighting it. Take her. Let her take him. Once they scratched the itch, they could move on. Get back on track to their respective futures.

  He ducked his head and kissed her again, softly this time. Somehow that allowed him to feel the smooth, hot contours of her mouth more keenly. A few more seconds of this, and they were going to be right back where they’d been a second ago, panting and desperate for more.

  The beat of a chopper’s blades in the distance told him there wasn’t time for such things. They had several unconscious men to gather and take in for medical treatment.

  When he pulled away, her eyes were still closed, her lips still parted. He wanted to devour her. Instead, he adjusted his pants over his erection and stepped back. “You should think of an answer, because I’m going to kiss you again, Bella. Soon.”

  She blinked slowly a few times as if she hadn’t quite understood his words.

  “A man should know the consequences of his actions,” he said, stroking her bottom lip with the tip of his finger. “I’d like to know what all those kisses are going to cost me.”

  He watched as she tried to shed her lust and shift back into boss mode. Her spine straightened, her mouth tightened, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the haze of desire had faded. “More than you can afford.”

  His grin widened at the thought of stripping away all that rigidity and making her limp and spent. No way would she be able to find boss mode after he’d made her come a few times. She’d be lucky if she could even stand. He could hardly wait to see if his hunch was true.

  Victor bent his head as if he was going to kiss her again, but stopped short. He watched her pupils flare in eagerness and knew she was right there with him, twisting in need. “I have a feeling you’re going to be worth it. Whatever the cost.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jordyn waited until the guards changed shifts before she snuck into Gage’s room. She’d disabled the audio feed from his microphone, but there was no way she could cut the video feed without alerting security. With Gage asleep, they wouldn’t be expecting any sound to be coming from his room. A blank video screen would definitely be a red flag for them to come looking to see what was wrong.

  There was only one blind spot in his room, and by the time the new shift of guards was in place, checking the video feed, both she and Gage needed to be in it.

  She used a key card she’d programmed to open his door, held her breath, and slipped inside. A dim light set in the ceiling over his bed put off just enough of a glow to monitor his nighttime activities. The guards didn’t put much effort into watching the test subjects sleep since they were all dosed at night with a sedative gas that kept them asleep and contained.

  If Gage hadn’t plugged the tube under his bed as she’d told him to do, his room would be filled with the gas and
she’d pass out within a few seconds of entering. The staff bringing his breakfast tray would find her and she’d be in serious trouble.

  The door shut behind her. Gage didn’t so much as twitch in his bed.

  A little wave of panic churned in her gut. Had he not seen her note? Had he ignored her instructions?

  This was a horrible idea. What was she thinking coming here like this? She had nothing to gain by helping this man, and so very much to lose.

  If Mother found out Jordyn was here, her punishment could kill her.

  She turned to flee. Nothing was worth another trip to the White Room. Not even a man as compelling as Gage.

  “I’m awake,” he whispered, the sound so faint she could hardly hear it over her panicked heartbeat.

  Jordyn froze. It wasn’t too late to turn back. The door was only a few feet away from where she hid in the blind corner. She could slip out and never be discovered.

  But what would happen to Gage? What if Mother began subjecting him to her experiments? If he stayed here he would die.

  Jordyn had given up her freedom so that she could mitigate the damage Mother caused. What good was she if she didn’t act?

  “We don’t have much time before the next shift starts monitoring the cameras. I need you to shove this under your blankets so it looks like you’re in bed. Then come join me.” She tossed a wad of rolled-up blankets across the room.

  He caught it midair, did as she asked, and within a few seconds, he was on his feet and sliding silently her way into the darkened corner.

  “They can’t hear us right now,” she told him. “And they can’t see us as long as we stay in the shadows of this corner. Blind spot.”

  He glanced at the floor where the round pool of light from overhead hit the tile. There was less than two feet of clearance. “Not much room.”

  “We’ll have to make it work. Just for a few minutes.”