Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34

C onnor rushed into the bedroom to find Zoe sitting on the side of the bed, holding her left knee.

"What happened?"

"I tried to pull off the duct tape and tore my skin. It freaking hurts," she said, casting that I'm-irritated glare at him. The effect would've amused him, except for the glistening of unshed tears.

"Hold on," he said, kneeling before her and pulling his pocketknife out of his jeans. "I'll try to get it off without pulling your skin, too."

Opening the scissors attachment, he began cutting the plastic bag around where the tape was and using that to gently pull the duct tape loose.

She hissed once, but otherwise he was able to get the entire contraption free without tearing more of her skin off with it.

"There," he said, moving back as he slipped the lower portion of the bag off her leg and foot once more, then tossing it to the side. "Let's get you up in the bed." Holding her leg while she wiggled back onto the bed, he shoved one of the large decorative pillows they'd use that morning to elevate her booted lower leg beneath it.

"Thank you," she said with a whisper of a smile. The temptation to kiss her again slammed into him, but he barely had his desire for her under control. Kissing her would have him doing things he shouldn't, at least not while she was so incapacitated.

"I'll just get this stuff in the trash," he said, picking up the wet plastic bag and tape. He deposited them in the bathroom trash can and kept the bathroom light on, but closed the door tight, so she could see if she had to get up during the night. The last thing she needed was falling if she was disoriented from waking in a strange place.

"Connor?" she asked, her eyes closed and her voice sounding half-asleep already.

He walked over to the bed, pulling the covers up to her arms, leaving her left leg uncovered. "Yes, ma'am?"

A little smile settled on her lips. "Ma'am. You're such a southern gentleman."

"Not really. My grandparents just drilled politeness into me.

"I would've like'd them," she murmured. Then her face grew serious. "Connor, I don't want to be alone tonight. I'm safer with you beside me."

Fisting his hands at his side, he stared at her gentle face framed by her damp dark hair. Why God? Why are you tempting me with this?

Her eyelids fluttered and she looked up at him with those deep blue eyes. "Please?"

"I'll get the light."

Cursing his own stupidity, he turned off the switch at the door, then climbed into the bed beside her, keeping his jeans on and some distance in the big bed. A moment later the hall door opened and Duke padded into the room to curl up on the floor by his side of the bed. He reached down to pat the dog. "Everything's okay, boy."

He just wished those words were true. But everything seemed to be hanging by a precarious thread. One wrong move and lives could be lost, his freedom could be lost. Turning on his side facing Zoe and tucking his arm under his head, he laid perfectly still, listening to both the hound and Zoe's breathing become rhythmic as they drifted off to sleep. The scent of some kind of flower drifted around him. He remembered the bottle of bath soap she'd picked up while they were out shopping. Gardenias. Subtle and pleasant.

When this was over and she was safely back to being a super-spy, he'd always remember that scent. Especially on those lonely cold winter nights in his cabin.

?

"Langley, watch your six! Johnson cover me! Get down! Get down! No! No!"

Zoe's eyes snapped open as the bed shook. Ignoring the ache in her leg, she turned to her right, laying a hand on Connor's bare arm. "Connor, you're okay."

"Huh?" Startled, he sat up in the bed. "What's? Where?"

She smoothed her hand up and down his arm. "You're in Columbus with me. Remember? You're having a dream."

Inhaling, he flopped back on the bed before huffing all the air back out and thrusting his left arm over his head. "Man, I was back in Afghanistan."

"I thought so. You were yelling Langley and Johnson," she said, scooting closer so she could lay her hand on his chest and stroke her fingers through the dark hair in a soft, soothing fashion.

"Two of my friends." He paused to suck in another breath and let it out. "I thought they were my friends."

"Those were the two who testified against you in your trial?"

"Yep."

She wiggled closer letting her hand slowly wander back and forth over his warm, muscular chest. "What was the dream about?"

"We were on a mission in a village. When we were ambushed." He swallowed hard and his heart started pounding beneath her hand. "But it wasn't Taliban. It was other soldiers. Our soldiers. Then Langley and Johnson turned their weapons on me."

She reached up to smooth her hand over his face and beard. "You're okay. You're safe here with me."

He clasped her hand with his and stared down at her, slowly moving their joined hands back down to his chest, where it no longer felt like his heart would pound its way out. "Geeze. Doesn't take a shrink to tell me what that dream was about."

Zoe rubbed her thumb over his knuckles while he continued to clutch her hand against his chest. "No. I imagine their betrayal after having each other's backs on missions felt like a knife in the back."

"Something like that."

"Tell me about it?" she asked scooting close enough to lay her head on his shoulder.

He tensed beneath her. "I told you about the drug ring and reporting it to my superior officer back at the cabin."

"I remember. I meant tell me about Langley and Johnson. How long did you serve with them?"

"The three of us were on our second tour of duty together. Johnson and I were in boot camp together before that."

"So you trusted each other."

"You have to trust the men in your unit when you're in a foreign country, especially one where you don't know who is a friendly native and who's hostile. Every mission we were on, we knew we had each other's back."

"When did you know they'd turned on you? Before you went to your commanding officer?"

"No. It wasn't until the court martial that I found out. Neither of them would meet my eyes as they gave testimony. I thought they'd be giving evidence about the lieutenant who was the real ringleader. Instead, they testified condemning me."

"It must've been devastating."

"Like a round house kick to the gut. Especially since I saved both their lives, Langley's twice in the five years we served together."

Had he ever told this to anyone else? Living out in that cabin all by himself?

"That's horrible. Do you know why?"

"No, although I have my suspicions."

"Money." Long ago she determined that money was the reason most people did despicable things.

A heavy sigh escaped him. "Yes. One of the things that bonded us from the get-go was all of us came from lower economic families. Lucky enough to live most of my life in the mountains, I learned to hunt and grow vegetables to provide food. My grandpa retired from the railroad and also had veterans benefits from his time in the service, so while we didn't have exorbitant amounts of money, we weren't destitute.

"Langley's family had been homeless, living out of shelters and on the streets until he joined up. He sent all his pay home to support his mom and sister in a little apartment in Denver, which let his sister finish school and get a scholarship to college. Johnson barely escaped gang life in southern California."

"So they desperately needed to stay in the service."

"Yeah." The disappointment in his voice made her heart ache.

"And you think someone offered them money to turn evidence against you?"

He shrugged beneath her. "That or threatened their families. The drug ring in Afghanistan was the first leg of the operation. The crew working here in the states could easily take out their loved ones while Langley and Johnson could do nothing to protect them."

"Sometimes people suck."

"Yeah," he said, rubbing his hand up and down over her arm. "But sometimes they come through for you. Like when your family searched for you."

"Yes, they did."

"Why were you so surprised in the cabin when they showed up? From what I've gathered you've called on them to help you with several operations, especially when you didn't want to bring in government agents."

On the trip up from Virginia, Luke, Matt and Dave had regaled him with all her undercover missions and their exploits in them. So, it wasn't a surprise that he thought her family would come no matter what to help her.

"You've met my family. They're all law enforcement, mostly rule followers. They'll happily put themselves at risk for innocent people and to stop bad guys. You heard Luke call me the family black sheep. I figured when I didn't show up, they'd just assume I was off doing super-secret spy stuff."

His chest moved beneath her as he silently chuckled.

She leaned back on his shoulder to see him. "Why do you think that's funny?"

"Super-secret spy stuff. Sounds like a day at the county fair when you say it like that."

"To me it's easy. It's probably hereditary."

His brows lifted in surprise. "How so?"

Wiggling a little so she was further up on his shoulder and could get a better view of his face in the moonlight filtering into the room. "I told you my grandpa was a spy-chaser back in World War Two."

"I remember. You also told me you weren't a spy. Are you admitting that now?"

She nodded. "I guess so. That's how my grandparents met. Grandpa Zach and his team were pretending to be black market pirates down in North Carolina, looking for Nazi spies. Grandma Sophie's dad owned a bar called Shanghaied , where she served liquor and food. They fell in love and she ended up joining his crew on more missions."

"Did they catch the spies?"

"Yes, they did." She reached up and stroked his beard. "You look a little like a pirate."

"More like an old-time mountain man."

"I like you as either."

Slowly he lowered his head and captured her lips in a soft, tender kiss, that deepened into more. Heat surged inside her. A soft moan escaped and she slid her hand along his jaw to the back of his neck, trying to pull him closer. Sliding his arms around her, he pressed her up against his chest. He was all muscle and heat. She wanted more.

He slid his hand down to her bottom, cupping one cheek to pull her tight to his hips. Even behind his jeans his erection pushed against her lower stomach and the cleft of her thighs. She lifted her left leg up over his hips. The heavy boot falling behind him as his hand slipped under the tail of the plaid shirt. Working his way up her side to cup one of her breasts the callouses on his hands sent goose bumps over her body, hardening her nipples.

"Please," she murmured and was rewarded with his thumb flicking the tender bud. "Mmmm," she moaned.

Gently he pushed her onto her back. Kissing his way down her jaw and neck, the thick hairs of his beard teasing her in a way she'd never felt before. Suddenly his hand moved back out of the shirt, leaving her wanting more. Before she could question him, he was working the buttons at the top of the flannel.

"Is this okay?" he whispered as he slipped the first button free of its mooring. "I need to taste you."

Her lips lifted in a smile at him asking for permission. "Yes. Yes."

Three more buttons were freed and cool air hit her hot skin as he parted the material to reveal her breasts.

"Dear God," he whispered reverently, as if thanking the Creator for making her just as she was.

Zoe watched his eyes in the moonlit darkness. They glistened with unshed tears before he closed them tight.

"Connor?" she asked, reaching up to cup her face in his hands. "Are you alright?"

Blinking, he nodded, then lowering his head to take one taut nipple into his mouth. The tender sensation sent shock waves through her, eliciting another moan from her. She slid her hands into his hair, pulling him closer. Then he gave a tug on her nipple.

"Ah," she gasped with pleasure.

He grinned against her breast. "Like that, did ya?"

"Don't tease me. You know I did."

"Want more?"

"You stop now and I may hurt you."

"Yes, ma'am," he murmured before diving in to lathe the nipple with his tongue.

As she arched her back to give him more access, he slid his hand down over her stomach then beneath the edge of her panties. She parted her legs to give him access to her hot wet heat. His fingers parted the folds and dipped inside as he shifted his mouth to her other breast.

"Connor," she whispered, her body riding his fingers and the waves of pleasure he poured over her most sensitive spots, back and forth, building to a crest only to retreat. Then build again until she slammed over the top in an orgasm as she clutched him to her, inside and out.

Catching her breath, she opened her eyes to see him smiling down at her. "That was…"

He claimed her mouth before she could finish, kissing her slowly, tenderly. She felt cherished.

Then he flopped onto his back, drawing her up to lie beside him.

Snuggling close, she rested her hand on his chest for a moment, then easing it over his stomach to the top of his jeans. She started to open the button. His hand captured hers, stilling the effort.

"Why?" she asked, staring up at him.

"It's been a very, very long time and if you remove the barrier of my clothes, I won't be able to control what happens next. You're still healing, and I won't take advantage of that."

"Even if I'm willing?"

He pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. "Zoe. When I make love to you, I want to make it to a whole person. Doing so now, it wouldn't be honorable."

Honorable .

Any other word she could've fought or seduced her way past, but not that one. So much had been taken away from this man. She would not take his honor from him, even if it would give them both undeniable pleasure.

"I'll be holding you to that promise."

He captured her lips in another long, tender kiss, breaking off before it turned into something more. "I know you will."