Surrender (The Command Series Book 3) (4 page)

“You’re armed.”

His eyes were blacker than the water below them. “I’d prefer not to have to use it.”

And that, she could tell, was the truth. “Have you before?”

The handsome and emotionless face that peered down at her didn’t change. “My job can get dangerous.”

Not an actual yes, but enough of one and she shivered again.

“Are you cold?”

Not really, but she didn’t want him to know that his words were the cause. “Yes.”

In the lamplight, she watched his hands close on the zipper of his hoodie and ease it down. She wasn’t concerned about the gun that came into her view. It was his pending action that made her breathless.

“No, thank you—”

But he ignored her and closed the distance between them, draping the sweatshirt, warm from his skin, over her shoulders. “If we’re going to be eaten by a lion out here, at least you won’t die cold.”

He didn’t step away, and she had nowhere to go. Her back was against the porch railing. And even if she could get away from him, she wouldn’t. Holy hell, the man was enticing. Did he realize how risky it was for him to stand so close? She slipped her arms into the oversized sweatshirt that smelled like pine and detergent, and zipped it up.

Was that necessary? The sweatshirt was a barrier between their bodies. Again, the thought of his rough hands on her flooded her with heat. Since her head was already tilted up to meet his gaze, she let it go further to the night sky above and gasped.

“What is it?”

“The stars.” She’d been an Army brat, moving around before her father retired in Detroit, but the sky looked the same from all the different places she’d been in the States. But now, a million stars dotted the black, shining in brilliance. The beauty of it halted her brain. “When I was younger, during the summer, my brothers and I would go out into the road in front of our house. We’d lie on the warm pavement and make up fake constellations, then convince our younger brother they were real.” Why the hell was she thinking of the memory, and more surprising, why had she told him about it? Olivia refocused on the diamonds sparkling overhead. “Anyway, I’ve never seen it like that.”

“It looks that way without the ambient light of the cities.”

Her voice was whisper quiet. “It’s gorgeous.”

“Yeah.” There was an uneven quality about his voice that drew her attention. He wasn’t looking up. His intense gaze was cast down on her, and for the second time this evening, it drained all the air from her lungs. Lust burned through her body and she wanted this intimidating man whom she knew almost nothing about to set his mouth on her. His look said that’s exactly what he was thinking about doing.

But he didn’t. Instead, the gaze hardened into something else that looked very much like aggravation. What the hell was his deal?

“Have I done something that would explain why you’re upset with me?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “I need you to get to your cabin so I can go back to doing my job.”

“Oh.” Had she been reading him wrong? “Wait a minute, you told me to leave at dinner, which is probably going to piss Giovanni off. You want to hurry back to that?”

“Maybe I like pissing him off.”

“If that’s true, then spending another minute out here won’t hurt.”

He glared at her, blowing out a frustrated breath. “Do I need to remind you that I have a gun?” he grumbled.

His hollow threat was borderline cute. “Oh, so you do have a sense of humor.”

“What makes you think I’m joking?” He gave her a sharp, intimidating look.

With the sweatshirt off, she could see the full, thick biceps and lean form he had hidden beneath his T-shirt. He was totally lying. All his gaze did was send indecent thoughts flying into her brain faster than a jet engine. Damn, what was this man doing to her?

“You can’t threaten me after you gave me your sweatshirt and manhandled Giovanni when he tried to cop a feel on me.”

“That was—” He stopped himself, looked like he wanted to try again, maybe a different angle. “I can’t afford to waste time on distractions.”

“Excuse me?”

“I find you incredibly distracting.” He spat it out like the words burned his mouth.

He’d just accused her of doing something, but she didn’t understand what. “Why?”

The muscles in his face tensed. “You’re a smart girl, figure it out.”

He blinked and the mask on his face drained away. Holy shit. There was unadulterated lust painted on his face. He sighed, reined in the emotion, and took off, forcing her to follow. His stride was long and Olivia had to take two steps for every one of his. She wasn’t completely out of breath, but then they reached the side of the cabin and his hands shoved her aggressively against a wall, her back slamming into it.

“Be quiet,” Nathan hissed in her ear. “Giovanni and the other translator are heading this way.”

His large hands were gone from her body, but he was much too close. She could feel his warm breath on her face and his gaze locked on her. There was nothing to do but be still and quiet.

And wait.

She wanted to point out that he, once again, was trying to save her from Giovanni’s advances, which was sweet, but also unnecessary. She could handle whiny, sleazy Giovanni. Nathan’s head turned to the sound of knocking on the door, and she didn’t like that. She liked the way he looked at her, even when he was pissed off or
distracted.

There were Italian words around the corner that she didn’t concern herself with. The man in front of her was a threatening presence, sure, but he was also a man with a hard body and shocking face that she was drawn to. Because she liked flirting with danger, and maybe because she liked seeing Nathan uncomfortable, she put a hand on his warm chest and felt his steady heartbeat through the thin fabric of his shirt. No reaction.

The idea of keeping her personal life separate from business died, burned up by lust. She rose onto her toes and claimed his mouth with hers.

He did nothing. He didn’t turn his head away from her, but his focus was only on the men around the corner. It made her more aggressive. She slid her hand up to curl around his neck and bend his head down to her kiss, which he allowed but didn’t respond to. Her mouth drifted to his neck, tracing a line across the stubble of his jaw. Every second she continued to kiss him and he ignored her made her angrier. When she cupped his face with her hands, he caught her by the wrists and stopped her.

His whisper was frustrated. “I’ll give you what you want, just wait a second.”

Footsteps gradually grew quiet around the corner, signaling the men were gone.

“What I want?”

His gaze returned to her. “My attention.”

Even in the darkness, she could see everything. What she’d done was play with fire, and now he was going to burn her into ash.

-3-

His kiss was worse than what Olivia expected. Brutal. Nathan’s mouth was hot as fire and made it difficult to focus. Or breathe. She’d started this because she was curious. Now she was tumbling out of control.

He kissed her as if he was angry with her and yet desperate for more. His tongue parted her lips and tasted her boldly, not asking for permission. It sent a shock wave of heat through her, down to where it settled between her legs.
Holy hell.

The angle of the kiss was adjusted by him, like he wanted to be in charge. If that wasn’t enough, he put his large hands on her hips and trapped her there. As if she would run now. Not in a million years, not even if a leopard ambushed them . . .

“This is dangerous,” she said in between kisses.

“I agree, but you started it.”

“I meant being outside.”

His hands roamed over her body, avoiding the areas she most wanted them to go, teasing her. She sighed against his mouth, tunneling her fingers in his soft, thick hair. She needed him to touch her. Frustrating anticipation built until she was almost in a frenzy and ready to beg for it.

His fingers closed around the zipper of the sweatshirt and eased it down, inch by slow inch, and she could faintly hear the hoodie’s zipper teeth over her ragged breathing. Too slow. She shoved his hand aside and yanked the zipper the rest of the way. Their lips left each other’s for a moment so she could fling it open, and then he returned to her, setting his mouth over hers and his hand on her collarbone. The warmth of his palm was flat against her chest, creeping lower, and his unapologetic kiss stifled her moan when that hand closed over her breast. Her body responded, pebbling under his touch.

The wall against her back was cold, whereas the man over her was hot and firm, making her insane with need. It had been so long. She felt weak and lightheaded, but desperate for more. Her breath came and went rapidly, and it was then she noticed how fast his was too. She sucked on his neck and felt his pulse racing. A reaction after all. The idea that she held this kind of power over him was intoxicating.

“Olivia.” Nathan abruptly went rigid. “Let’s slow this down.”

He must be crazy. “Why?”

He turned his head, looking somewhat dazed. “Because Giovanni won’t like it if I sleep with you.”

Well, that was awfully presumptuous, but she bit back the remark. “I thought you liked pissing him off.”

“He won’t be angry with me.” When she shrugged, his face turned dark. “Upsetting him is
not
something you want to do.”

“I can handle Giovanni Abramo. I thought you were supposed to be more dangerous than him.”

“I am, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an evil son-of-a-bitch.”

She didn’t want to talk about Giovanni right now. She didn’t want to do any talking at the moment. “It’s warmer in my room and probably more comfortable.” She used her most seductive voice.

He looked surprisingly tortured, like he was facing an impossible decision. Here she was, throwing herself shamelessly at him, and he acted unsure of which choice to make. It caused her to second-guess herself. Perhaps he was right—

“Okay.” He released her and gestured to the room.

Thank God.
She scrambled around the corner to put the key in the lock and open the door. She didn’t turn on the lights, but when he came in behind her, the room was bathed in soft light. She made a face, knowing she’d have to turn them off again before she shed her clothes.

She gave him a look brimming with impatience and desire. His shoulders lifted in a sigh when she sauntered toward him. Then she gripped his head and pulled his lips down against hers roughly, igniting the fire again.

His kiss was powerful and consuming, but gone a second later. “I should get going.”

Her head spun, disoriented by this turn of events. “Wait, what?”

“You’re safe in your room now and I need to get back.” The emotionless mask returned and he stood out of reach, as if he wanted to keep his distance. Like he was wary of her. “You have my jacket.”

The bitchy teenager she’d once been wanted to scream:
Mine now.
His reversal had sent her into a nosedive and she couldn’t level off nearly this quick. “What the hell just happened?”

“Nothing happened,” he said, his dark eyes pinning hers, “and we need to keep it that way. Jacket. Please.”

He didn’t want to get too close. Why was that? Was he worried she might
distract
him again? “Okay, Nathan. Come and get it.”

Oh, he both did and didn’t like that challenge. All it took was one large stride and he was right there, hauling her up against him, her breasts crushing into his hard chest. He lowered his mouth onto hers, dominating and aggressive. Her insides turned to jelly under his power.

He pushed the sweatshirt off her shoulders, but he didn’t try to strip it off, which was what she was prepared for. Instead, he closed his forceful hands over her breasts and squeezed firmly. He used teeth on his kiss, nipping at her bottom lip. She groaned against his mouth. Whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t freaking stop. She couldn’t put her hands on him with the sweatshirt bunched around her elbows and she shook it off.

When she reached up to trap his head, it wasn’t there. He’d backed up. The discarded sweatshirt was in his hands and he was already working to pull it on. He’d played her. Gotten her to basically hand it over. Fire burned in her belly now, not just between her legs.

“Good night.” He ducked out the door like he’d been shot out of it.

She stood shock-still, staring at the door for a long time in disbelief and unsatisfied anger that built and built until there was no other thought in her head. What the hell was his problem?