Hidden Prey (Lawmen) (22 page)

He drove in deep then held himself still for a moment and studied her. Her body continued to clench around him. She was so keyed up, unable to stop on a dime. She wanted him to move, but his gaze captured her.

With his eyes focused on her, he linked his fingers with hers. He stretched her arms above her head, their hands still clasped, and he began moving in and out again with long firm strokes.

Tension drew her body tight, from her head to her toes. She was so close to the edge, so very close. Her body felt like one sensitized mass of nerves. All of the passion she felt, all of the lust she had for Landon, became stronger as her mind spun with pleasure, her body more alive than it had ever been.

The feelings were so powerful that in moments she found herself shooting toward an orgasm that she knew would send her straight to the stars.

Her eyes widened and her lips parted as she reached the peak. And then he drove her over it with his continued thrusting. She gladly jumped the cliff, losing all control over her mind and body.

An involuntary cry tried to escape her lips but Landon sealed his mouth over hers and drew her cry inside himself. He took it all as her body trembled and shook with the force of her climax.

She closed her eyes as he kissed her and the orgasm took her to another universe. Her body tingled from head to toe and from behind her eyes she felt as if starlight was raining down on her.

“Open your eyes.” His voice was rough, his demand filled with pure desire. “I want to watch you as I come inside you.”

She obeyed and looked into his eyes. The connection sent renewed thrills through her body and to her surprise all sensation began to wind up inside her again. She was close to climaxing a third time.

He kept thrusting and she wished he didn’t have to wear a condom so that they could feel each other skin to skin. She would be able to feel his cock pulsing as it pumped his come inside her.

She knew the moment when he crossed over to join her. She watched his features tense as he looked into her eyes and saw when he was thrust over the precipice.

He threw his head back and bared his teeth as he came hard. All of his muscles on his forearms, neck, biceps and chest stood out. He looked as if he was fighting a battle, trying not to yell as he climaxed.

His cock pulsed in her throbbing channel as he continued to thrust. Her eyes fluttered as more stars appeared, dragging her once again to a place she’d already been to twice.

He kissed her again, taking from her a cry that almost escaped this time. Her body shook, and she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to take one more tremor of her core. She’d never experienced anything like this in her life. She’d barely had one orgasm before. How many times had she come this time? Three? Four?

It didn’t matter as she gradually fluttered down from the stars.

And then he was rolling on to his side, taking her with him so that she was lying in the crook of his arm. He held her close as they both breathed hard and her heart pounded like crazy. She willed her heart to slow and her body to relax.

It took some time, but gradually she felt completely limp, beyond relaxed, and like she’d never be able to move again. It was impossible. She was too sated to do anything more than move even closer to his warm muscular body. The scent of their sex filled the air and made her smile.

He placed his forehead against hers, his sweat mingling with hers. “Do you know how incredibly beautiful you are right now?”

She gave a soft laugh. “All sweaty and with my hair a mess?”

“You look amazing.” He kissed her. “I’ve never seen anyone more gorgeous than you at this moment. With your face flushed, your lips swollen, and how messy your hair is after I’ve thoroughly taken you… Damn, you’re hot.”

“Yes, I’m very hot. And sweaty.” She smiled, totally satisfied. “You look pretty darn good yourself.”

A smile curved the corner of his mouth. “I can stay a little longer.” He brushed her cheek with his fingertips. “Danson and O’Donnell won’t leave their posts until I relieve one of them. But I think I’d better take a shower first.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. “I smell like sex.”

She snuggled closer to him. “It’s a good scent for you.”

“I like it.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand in a slow, sensual circle. “Just not sure it’s the wisest perfume to wear in a case like this.”

“You may be right.” She smiled. “And this might not have been the wisest thing we’ve done.”

It had been crazy, letting him take her in a house with other agents during a time when she feared for her life. It was perhaps the craziest thing she’d ever done, but it had been worth every precious minute. Being with Landon made her feel safe and alive, and ready to face anything that might come their way—

The loud retort of a gunshot tore through the quiet night.

Landon bolted upright in bed, his heart immediately slamming in his chest.

“Gunshot!” Terror was in Tori’s voice as she sat up, too.

“Get dressed and don’t make a sound.” He rolled out of bed, grabbed his jeans from off the floor and shoved his legs into them. “Hurry.”

Thank God his belt was still in his belt loops with his phone and his gun holster. He buckled the belt and didn’t bother put any more clothes on. He grabbed his service weapon from off the nightstand and gripped it in one hand. What the fuck had he been thinking by climbing into bed with Tori?

He hurried to the bureau and shoved it across the carpet to brace it against the bedroom door. He’d locked the door earlier, but it wouldn’t hold. The bureau was heavy, but not heavy enough, so they couldn’t count on it.

From his side vision, he saw Tori snatch her jeans and T-shirt from off a chair and jerk both on.

The sound of gunfire and shouts continued downstairs and then Landon heard the sound of feet pounding up the stairs.

He ran to the window and pulled up the blinds before unlatching the window and shoving it open. He peered outside, his eyes narrowing.

“Come here.” He gestured to Tori to follow him. “I don’t see anything below. I think your best bet is to go out this way.”

The doorknob rattled hard as someone tried to open the bedroom door and Landon’s heart slammed against his chest.

“There’s a trellis you can climb to the ground.” He helped her into the window as men shouted and tried to get in the room. “I don’t know how well it will hold or for how long, so jump when you can.”

“You’re coming with me, right?” Her gaze was filled with horror.

“Hurry. Go.” He glanced over his shoulder and saw the door had opened a few inches and the bureau was starting to move. He turned to Tori. “We’re at the foot of the Huachuca Mountains. Get into the forest. I’ll find you.”

She hesitated only a moment before climbing out. Her voice shook. “Oh God, I hate heights.”

He held on until she had a good foothold. “At least you won’t be dead.”

“I will if I fall.” But she still climbed out the window even as her arms shook with obvious fear.

The men rammed the door hard, and the bureau moved several more inches.

As soon as Tori was on her way down, Landon held his weapon with one hand and swung his leg out the window. He was climbing over the sill when the men forced the door all the way open.

Landon managed to get a shot off at the first man who came through. The man dropped. A second man stepped over the body and saw Landon, who was now out of the window, trying to gain purchase on the trellis with his bare feet.

The man aimed his gun, and fired. Landon bit back a shout as pain slammed into his left shoulder, instantly weakening him.

He almost fell off the trellis. He barely managed to grab it with his right hand, but lost his grip on his weapon, and the Glock tumbled to the ground below. Somehow he managed to hang onto the trellis with one hand.

Another shot hit the sill and fragments of wood exploded near Landon’s face. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold on for long with one hand. He looked down and saw that Tori waited for him at the bottom of the trellis.

“Run!” He gritted his teeth as she hesitated. “Go, damn it!”

A man leaned over the sill and Landon had no choice but to drop to the ground. More pain erupted through his shoulder as he hit the dirt and his vision grayed. A bullet whizzed by his ear.

He felt the hard imprint of his Glock beneath him. He rolled off of the gun, grabbed it, and aimed at the face in the window that he could just make out in the darkness.

The man trained his weapon on Landon, who lunged to the side. He ignored the explosive pain in his shoulder the best he could and got off several rounds at the man now leaning out of the window.

A cry from the man and then his body tumbled over the windowsill. His body landed with a loud thump. He lay still just feet from Landon who didn’t have time to think as a larger man’s form filled the window above. Bullets slammed into the ground a few inches from Landon. He was almost certain he couldn’t be seen well in the darkness as he pressed into the deeper shadows against the wall.

Men shouted in Spanish. Landon was fluent in the language but he couldn’t hear clearly. His mind spun from the pain in his shoulder, his hearing buzzed, and his adrenaline was sky high.

There was no sign of Tori. Hopefully she’d listened to him and ran into the mountains, and was as far away as she could get.

Keeping low, he ran from the house and through a back gate that had been left wide open.

The house exploded.

The power of the blast flung Landon forward. He hit the ground with such force it jarred his teeth and the pain in his shoulder was excruciating.

Something slammed into the back of his head. His vision dimmed and he struggled to maintain consciousness.

Then there was nothing but black.

A tremendous explosion, and Tori screamed as she saw the house go up in a fireball. “Landon!” Fear for him tore through her body. Her heart pounded even harder, a hard rock of a lump forming in her throat.

Stones and twigs jabbed the soles of her bare feet as she ran back toward the house even though she knew no one could have survived that explosion. Her mind rejected the thought that Landon was dead. No, he couldn’t be. He’d gotten out and he was okay. He had to be.

Smoke roiled to the sky above towering flames. No one could have survived that. Were some of the cartel’s men still around? Or had they all been inside?

In spite of the danger, she had to see if Landon was there. She was almost to the back gate when she saw a large form on the ground. It was a man, a big man, and he was lying on his side. Landon? She couldn’t tell. She raced to the body and dropped to her knees beside the man who was naked from the waist up and wore no shoes.

“Landon!” The cry came out as a sob. He was so still. She touched his shoulder and her hand came away covered in blood.

Horror filled her. He was shot. Was he dead?

He groaned and moved.

A measure of relief went through her as she frantically tried to think of what to do. She glanced up and saw nothing but the fire. No men coming after them with guns. No one anywhere.

She had to bind Landon’s wound. All she had on was the long T-shirt she’d worn to sleep in, and the jeans she’d managed to get on before climbing down the trellis. She hadn’t even had time to put on her panties. She tore at the bottom half of her shirt and managed to rip apart one seam.

Panicked, she searched for something to help her, then spotted a knife on his belt, next to his phone holster. She jerked the knife out and cut the shirt enough to get it started and tore off as much of the material as she could.

Heat from the fire ravaged what was left of the house and warmed her skin. She coughed from the smoke and ashes floated around her.

Sirens blared in the distance.

She had to shift Landon’s body to wrap the T-shirt under his armpit and up around his shoulder where he was shot. He groaned with obvious pain. She tied the cloth as tightly as she could, and it grew wet with blood almost at once.

“Come on.” She grasped his good arm. “You’ve got to get up. They might find us.”

He held his hand to his forehead as his eyes opened and she tugged at his arm. He sat up and shook his head, as if trying to rattle his thoughts back in place.

“What are you doing here, damn it?” His words were a little slurred and she thought he probably had a concussion. “I told you to run.”

“I had to come back for you.”

“How the fuck did they find us?” He tried to stand. “It shouldn’t have been possible.”

Somehow she managed to tug him to his feet. He stumbled. He was so much bigger than her that he almost took her down to the ground with him. “I hear sirens, Landon.” She glanced over her shoulder at the burning house. “We can go to the police.”

“No.” He steadied himself. “We don’t know who’s been compromised or if every bit of this was a setup and the cartel managed to get their hands on law enforcement vehicles.” He spotted something and she looked to see that it was his weapon. She scooped it up before he could attempt to and she slid it into the holster on his belt.