Authors: Cassandra Cole
How was she supposed to rest? The wind outside was still screaming at a fever pitch, even after two hours, and Crystal was still kicking herself for even being in this predicament.
From a few feet away, Harper’s breathing was long and soft. He was sleeping like a goddamned baby. How the hell could he sleep at a time like this!
Even with all the things she’d been through in the last few years – treks into the Amazon rain forest, climbs to high mountain altitudes, even hiding from homicidal rebels in Somalia -- she’d never encountered anything like this.
When the sand struck her in the face, it had filled her eyes, her nose, and her mouth, until she thought she would choke. Thankfully, Harper had whisked her into the cave before any serious damage could be done, but she still shuddered at the memory of nearly suffocating from the storm. And he said he’d done this
a few
times.
Now she understood why those men at the base talked about Sean Harper like he was a god. They weren’t exaggerating. He really was a beast. A very attractive, very tall, very muscular beast with a handsome face and gorgeous eyes and…
Crystal shook her head and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She did
not
need those thoughts rattling around in her head, at least not right now. She was a complete mess, covered in sand, sweat, and God only knew what else. How could anyone in their right mind get aroused at a time like this?
With a low groan, she turned onto her side. Harper had given her a light blanket which she laid beneath her to protect against the inexplicable chill of the stone. But that didn’t help with the solid, unyielding surface of the rock. Frowning, she tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. She wondered what time it was.
Something was tickling at her ankle. She reached without thinking to scratch, only for her fingers to come into contact with something small, furry, and spindly.
Crystal’s eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets when she glanced down to see what was easily the biggest spider she’d ever seen working its way up her leg.
Immediately, she leapt to her feet, screaming and jumping up and down like her pants were on fire. The spider went flying and Harper reacted immediately without knowing the threat. He leapt into a low crouch, the knife clutched in one hand.
He looked around and frowned. “What is it?”
Crystal’s legs weakened and she dropped to the floor on her knees, hard. She pointed with a quivering hand off into the darkness. “Spider,” she said in a gasp, “
Gigantic
fucking spider.”
For a long moment, Harper merely gave her a flat, exasperated look before he rose to his full height and shoved the knife back into its sheath. He picked up the flashlight and swept it around the dark parts of the cave. After a moment, he took a few steps and stomped down hard, grinding the spider into the rock floor. Danger passed.
“He’s dead,” Harper said. “If it’s any consolation, you probably scared it more than it scared you.”
“I fucking doubt that,” she said, a hand at her chest.
He bit back a smile. “Are you OK?”
“No, I’m not OK,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were cold. “I hate fucking spiders.”
“You got lucky. That was a funnel web spider. Nasty bastards.”
Crystal shuddered. “Are they poisonous?”
Harper nodded curtly. “Very.”
She suddenly felt faint. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
And then, suddenly, she was. Crystal lurched to her feet and stumbled over to the side of the cave and emptied the contents of her stomach on the stone floor. There wasn’t much – mostly water and a few grains of granola – but she didn’t stop heaving until it had all come up. Trying to draw a deep breath, she trembled.
Christ
, this was embarrassing. She wasn’t normally this much of a pussy, but she was exhausted and she REALLY
hated
fucking spiders. She’d come within feet of Hutu and Tutsi warriors, had a gun leveled at her in Egypt, and been held hostage in the Czech Republic, but the sight of an furry, eight legged critter coming up her leg scared her absolutely shitless.
As she regained her composure, she realized that Harper was standing patiently next to her, waiting for her to finish. When he spoke, there was no judgment in his voice, only concern.
“Feel better?” He extended his water bottle to her and Crystal took if gratefully. She swished some around her mouth to rid it of the sour taste before taking a few small sips.
Slowly, her stomach calmed. “I’m fine…I just…
Jeez,
I’m sorry. This is ridiculous.”
“You don’t like spiders,” he said solemnly, taking back the bottle and capping it off. “It’s a legitimate fear. I understand.”
“No, it’s silly.” Crystal’s reply was on the edge of amusement. “A legitimate fear is being terrified of being stuck in the middle of the desert while a gigantic sandstorm forces you into a cave.”
“With a spider,” Harper added, deadpan, and she laughed. The tension immediately dissipated, and they made their way back to the center of the cave. As she sank into a sitting position, Harper spoke again. “You’re sure you’re OK.”
“I’m fine, considering I just almost died.”
“Well, you didn’t die,” he said softly. “I won’t let that happen.”
Crystal repressed a shiver that wasn’t brought on by cold. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and thank him for saving her, but she resisted. This wasn’t the time or place. She had the feeling that once she touched him, there’d be no going back. Who could have hot sex in a cave full of killer spiders? Certainly not her, or at least she didn’t think so at the moment.
She needed to change the subject to get her own mind on other things. “My grandfather gave me a Cherokee name,” she said quietly.
“Yeah? What is it?”
She smiled, fighting against the liquid lust that had settled in place of her earlier nausea. “
Nacumbea
. It means ‘strong warrior’.” A soft laugh escaped her. “Some warrior I am. How do you say ‘afraid of spiders’ in Cherokee?”
Harper looked at her with admiration in his eyes. “An Apache medicine man named me
Atsidi
.”
“What’s it mean?” she asked, her eyes sparkling.
He seemed reluctant to say. She poked a stiff finger into his shoulder. It was like poking rock. “Come on, I told you mine, you have to tell me yours.”
He smiled. “It means ‘hammer.’”
Well, she could certainly see where that had come from. The man had the brute strength of a hammer, and he crushed every challenge presented to him with instinctual ease.
“That makes sense,” she mused softly. “I like it. It’s a strong name… for a strong man.”
The words slipped out before she could stop them, and Crystal was suddenly very glad it was dark enough in the cave to hide the redness in her cheeks. Harper’s expression, however, was unreadable. After a long beat in which her heart pounded in her ears, he finally spoke. “Strength is all about perception. Without fear, you can’t be strong.”
It was very poetic when he put it that way. It almost made her terror of spiders sound noble.
“What are
you
afraid of?” she asked. There she went again, her mouth acting on its own without checking with her brain. God, she just needed to the hell shut-up. They were having a perfectly nice moment and she had to go and ruin it.
Harper’s gaze rose slowly to lock with hers and the intensity between them nearly stole her breath. He uttered a single word. “You.”
For a moment, Crystal was too shocked to speak. Looking deeply into his eyes, she asked, “Me? Why are you afraid of me?”
“Because you seem to have the ability to make me do incredibly stupid things that I would never otherwise do,” Harper said, his eyes never leaving hers. “We’re stuck in a cave in the middle of the Iraqi desert during a sandstorm and the only thing I can think of is getting you undressed so I can ravage you until we both collapse from exhaustion.”
Crystal’s mouth dropped open in shock as heat shot straight to the core of her. She was instantly wet, slicking the fabric of her cotton panties, and her heart was in her throat.
She couldn’t come up with anything to say. What
could
she say? When she remained silent, Harper arched an apologetic eye brow. “I’m sorry. Too forward?”
“No.” The word escaped her on a gasp and she slowly shook her head. “I mean… I’m covered in sand and sweat and smell like dirty socks… ”
Harper closed the space between them in an instant. She was amazed at how quick he was, given his size. She felt the heat of his body envelope hers. When he spoke, she could feel the current of his breath against her lips.
“I’m a SEAL,” he said, brushing his lips to hers. “The smell of sweat and socks are an aphrodisiac.”
It was all the warning she got before his mouth came down on top of hers. Crystal moaned instantly, her hands going to his shoulders to cling to him as his tongue pressed its way between her lips. The man didn’t ask for entry – he silently
demanded
it.
Far be it from her to refuse him. As his tongue slid sinuously against hers, she drank in the taste of him. Sun, sand, and a delicious maleness that made her throb in acute want.
He nipped and sucked at her lower lip until she was lightheaded, before tugging at it with his teeth. A tremble worked its way through her body and she whimpered. She had wanted
him
since the first time she’d seen him in the gym. But she had never in a million years imagined he might feel the same way.
Harper took hold of the hem of her top and tugged it off over her head. She wore a plain black sports bra beneath, and in that instant, she wished she had chosen something a little sexier. Harper, however, didn’t seem to mind. He stared at her like he was going to devour her on the spot before his mouth lowered to the side of her neck to suck – hard. Crystal inhaled sharply as he splayed a hand against the firm muscles of her abdomen, gradually working his way over her collarbone with a series of stinging nips.
When his hands slid into her pants to caress the mound of her pussy, Crystal gasped in his ear. “
Harper…
” He pressed his fingers into her and a ragged moan escaped her lips.
He turned up the spandex of her sports bra to expose her breasts. Plumping one to his lips, his eye flickered upward to catch her expression. When took her nipple between his teeth, a soft cry of pleasure escaped her.
“Oh…
Commander…
”
He chuckled darkly around the flesh in his mouth. His tongue circled her nipple before he nipped it hard enough to make her jerk in his arms. Harper quickly soothed the hurt with his lips as the heel of his hand began to rotate against her clit.
He kissed his way across her chest to tease the opposite peak torturously. As he did so, Harper gradually increased the rhythm between her legs until she let her head fall back and her thighs quivered. She opened her eyes, realizing that she was still half-dressed and hurtling rapidly towards her climax.
This would
not
do. She took hold of his wrist and pulled it out of her panties. Harper immediately released her nipple from his lips and looked up at her questioningly.
She straightened to face him and pressed her mouth to his for a hungry kiss. Whispering in his ear, she cooed, “I want to taste you.”
His eyes darkened, sending a thrill of anticipation through her. Without a word, he sat back against the rock, summoning her to him with a single look. Crystal watched, transfixed, as he undid his pants to draw out his decadent cock.
As she expected, Harpers cock was huge; deep red and swollen with desire. His gaze locked with hers as he stroked himself slowly, as if he were preparing himself for her. He reached for her and Crystal gasped as his fingers tangled in the braids at the base of her ponytail. His grip immediately awakened the part of her that begged to be dominated.
She had
never
had a man make her feel like this. She let his hand draw her head towards his delicious erection. She didn’t hesitate. In one swallow, Crystal took him in as far down her throat as she could, moaning at the taste of him. Her fingers wrapped around the base of his immense tool and she began to bob her head up and down. Each time she took him into her mouth, she grew a bit slicker between the legs .
Harper’s grip was firm, one hand in her hair, the other at the back of her neck, and he met the ministrations of her mouth with shallow thrusts. Not enough to cause any harm, but most definitely adequate to show her who was in charge. She closed her eyes, finding her own rhythm as she savored him, feeling dominated but somehow completely at ease.
After a moment, she slowed as she felt him working her pants down over her behind and to her knees, exposing her posterior to the cool air of the cave’s interior. Then, all at once, his hand came down on her ass sharply, drawing a shocked sound of pleasure-in-pain from her. “Keep going.” He growled lowly, massaging the place where he’d struck her firmly.