Stranger Mine: a Base Branch novel (15 page)

“
A
re you okay
?” Ryan asked after they’d shed their equipment, weapons, and boots.

“This isn’t at all what I expected. But he’s alive.” Piper unfastened the button at the top of her shirt, and then the next, all the way to the bottom as she talked. “Hell, he’s thriving and happy. Maybe I should feel upset. He is still married to my sister, but I don’t care.”

It was all he could do not to rip the rest of her clothes off, much less concentrate on the words coming out of her mouth. But they were important because she was important. The most precious thing in his life. With the will of a saint he tamped down his burgeoning erection and watched the emotions play across her face. Optimism sparkled in her eyes. Concern crooked her brow. Peace pulled her cheeks. And so much more.

She shrugged and slipped out of the long-sleeve shirt. Next her willowy fingers pulled the band from her hair. Section by twined section, the strands loosened with the help of her deft hands.

So much for not getting hard
.

“In every way, Matthew has been more of a sibling to me and Ivy than Sparrow ever was. So, I guess, my loyalties lie with him. More than that, it’s like I told him, we—Matt, you, me—can’t let other people’s decisions rule our lives. For Matt it’s Sparrow. For me it’s my mother and her inattentive parenting. If she’d been there for us emotionally, instead of trying to prove to the world a woman could do everything without a man, I think we’d have all been okay. But that’s her decision and I won’t let it ruin me. Not for the right man.”

She had him by the balls already. So, the sucker-punch to the heart nearly knocked him over backward off the tidy bunk. Ryan shoved his feet back in his boots, stood, and holstered his sidearm. He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from touching her.

“Go have a shower. It’s small, but clean. Fresh towels are in the cabinet under the sink. I’ll be right back.” He stepped around her and dug the satphone from the ruck, and then strode past without a look. One glance would shoot his plans out of the air before they got good and formed.

“Never seen you scared before.” A wounded quality hung in her voice.

“Not scared.”

“The way you’re high tailing it after what I said, I’d have to disagree.”

With one hand on the knob he relented. Over his shoulder he raked her with his gaze, hovering at her breasts and tilting his head to get a better view of her backside. “Not scared. Excited, Piper.”

“Okay,” she dragged the word over several syllables.

“Get your shower. Finish your wine and have another glass. Relax. I know you trust me, but I’m going to push you and your trust to the limits tonight.”

Her lips parted, but he turned and left before she could question him further. The exterior lights at the house had been turned off as well as the interior lights along the front. A billion stars glittered in the clearing sky, allowing him to see that the tormented lovebirds had vacated the porch. Ten to one odds said they went to bed together. If he didn’t have one more thing to tend to, it’s exactly where he’d be with Piper.

Ryan hit redial on the satphone and waited for the first beep. “Sierra. Hotel. Echo. Papa. Hotel. Echo. Romeo. Delta. One. Nine. Nine. Six.”

After a series of tones the perma-calm voice of Rhonda Merk answered. “Voice confirmation complete. Agent Noble, how may I direct your call?”

“Commander Tucker, please.”

“He’s…” she faltered, “away from his desk at the moment. May I take a message?”

Surprise gathered Ryan’s brow. In all his years at the Base Branch, these were the most words in succession he’d ever exchanged with the meek woman. In person or on the phone. It was also the first time he’d ever heard her voice waver.

“Is Agent Slaughter back?”

“She’s inbound, but still a couple of hours out, sir.”

“Where’s Tucker? Is he okay?”

“Well,” she breathed into the line. Ryan imagined her little mouth pursing as she waffled.

“Just spit it out, Rhonda.”

“He’s still in interrogation,” she whispered.

“Jesus, how long has it been?”

“Too long. For him and Ruez.”

“I’d worry more about the snitch,” Ryan comforted, though his mind reeled. No one ever lasted that long against the Commander. His cold gaze leveled even the hardest criminals in minutes. And if that didn’t work, his practiced hands made them despise their own resolve. Not many people lasted in the business as long as Tucker had. But it seemed time only sharpened his skills to a brutal point.

“You’re right. He’s fine. Everything’s fine.”

“Are you okay?”

Though recently engaged, Ryan always suspected the woman had a thing for their commanding officer. He’d been glad when a couple of the female operatives took her out to celebrate her relational milestone. Because no way would anyone’s fortitude break through the layers-thick wall of metal Vail Tucker placed between himself and any excuse for a personal life.

“Fine,” she squeaked. “It’s just, I’m used to the chaos of thirty people running around me, trying to save the world. With everyone on mission at the same time, it’s quiet here. Too quiet.”

“Sounds to me like you need something to keep you busy and I have just the thing, if you’re up for it.”

“Me? I don’t know if I can help, but I’ll try.”

“Log into the server and—”

“I don’t have access. I just answer the phones and get the Commander’s coffee.”

“Use mine.” He led her into the system and through the maze of files. “You’re looking for one of the most recent files. I don’t know how he labeled it, or if he even did, but search the key words Sinaloa and Gabrone.”

“Okay. How about Sinaloa Hub 187 Gabrone Bookeeping?”

“Sounds promising.”

“Now what am I looking for?”

“The name Matthew Reece. I want to know who, besides Gabrone, handled him. I need to know any hub and any person who knows Reece’s current location. I also need to know who is in line to gain control of the Hermosillo area for the cartel.”

“Give me a minute.” Back in her no-nonsense mode, Rhonda didn’t make a sound as she searched for the information he’d requested. “Okay, give me ten. There’s a sea of names and numbers to go through.”

“I’ll call back in ten,” Ryan agreed.

“Great and thanks. I needed something useful to do.”

“Happy to help.”

He hung up and headed for the exterior shower attached to the front of the bunkhouse. Ryan opened the cedar door. He’d been prepared for a hose and bar of soap setting in the dirt. The sight of an actual showerhead with smooth stones underneath, a series of narrow shelves, and a stack of terry cloth on the high one nearly had him whooping with joy. He slung one towel over the top, close to the nozzle. Next, he set the phone and his H&K—after checking the safety—on the remaining heap. Then he got to work stripping and getting clean for Piper.

“
I
zar Torres
!” Rhonda Merk hollered the name as opposed to her usual, “Voice confirmation complete,” greeting. “He lives in Santa Ana, just south of Caborca.”

“Yeah, we drove through it yesterday.”

“We?” Her mousey voice pitched up two decibels.

He ignored the question.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to…anyway, Torres also has a house in Phoenix.”

“Arizona?”

“Yeah. That’s where he is now.”

“How do you know?”

“Phone records.”

“Nice work. Tucker needs to put you to better use.” Ryan winced at the awkward potential for double meaning, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“Thanks. This is fun. Now what?”

“As soon as he gets out of that room, tell the boss to call me.”

“Oh.” Her disappointment dripped through the phone line. “All right, I will.”

“Thanks again, Rhonda.”

“Oh, wait. Here he is.” All the excitement of a new recruit swirled in her tone. “Commander Tucker!” she yelled. “Sorry to holler in your ear, but he was heading for the lockers.” A moment of complete silence passed. Apparently remembering herself in the presence of the commander, Rhonda calmed her tone. “One moment, Agent Noble, and I’ll transfer your call.”

When she put him on hold he laughed, and then snugged the towel hanging around his waist.

“Tucker,” the man answered.

“One hell of an informational,” Ryan said.

“He’s been trained and he’s a stubborn, prideful man.”

“Aren’t we all.”

“I suppose. But he cracked. We wouldn’t.”

“No, sir.”

“Still a ways to go though. What do you need, Noble? Extraction?”

“I need a team on Izar Torres.”

“Why?”

“The situation with Reece is unusual. Guzman and Gabrone stashed the guy with a family they terrorized for loyalty. They were to retrieve him after a year to make ransom demands on Reece’s family. If he leaves, they’ll burn a young boy to death for the offense.” Ryan scrubbed a hand through his damp hair. “I need all the records of Matthew Reece as a cartel asset erased. Torres is the last with any link to him. I’d do it. Hell, I’d love to do it. But I can’t risk leaving them open to attack.”

“When do you need it?”

“Yesterday, but as soon as possible will do.”

“We’re thin at home base, but I can reroute an incoming team. Consider it done in twenty-four hours. Then wrap it up and get back here. I have a mountain of paperwork for you to complete on this joyride of yours.”

“Yes, sir. I earned it.”

“And then some.”

“You heading back into the room?”

“Seems I’ll be in there for the rest of my life. He’s let off a lot. Copped to knowing about the cargo load you intercepted and two others at a northern site. I had to send teams there too. But he’s holding back on something.”

“If anyone can get it out of him, you can.”

“Quit kissing my ass, Noble.”

“Yes, sir.” He had a much finer one in mind for that.

P
iper licked
wine from her lower lip and considered the gulp of burgundy liquid swirling inside the crystal goblet. The oak, pepper, and berry of the full-bodied fiesta settled on her tongue before she swallowed. Her finger rubbed the glass rim. A whine resonated deep in the cubby of the bottom bunk. She relaxed back, part on the pillow and part on the wall. Her feet tapped together in reined anticipation. Glancing across the room at Ryan’s glass, she moaned. If he didn’t hurry, she’d have an entire crystalline melody prepared. She’d already towel-dried her hair, combed the tangled mass, and even done a few yoga poses to loosen her tight muscles.

Chained to the wall, she’d learned the value of patience. Yet, where Ryan was concerned the skill fled her altogether. She eyed the red ring around her wrist. The cool room soothed the wound. The freedom from the bandage alleviated some of the insane itch the healing process incited.

Done waiting, Piper gulped the last of her wine, set the glass by the wall, and stood to find Ryan. Perhaps her state of undress could persuade him from whatever task he’d set upon. As she reached for the door handle, it swung wide, away from her grasp. The open door displayed a mental feast of orgasm-inducing man. White terry cloth hung low on Ryan’s lean hips, accentuating the rigid V of his abs.

The fuzzy warmth of a quarter bottle of wine morphed into fireside heat as he groaned. Anticipation obliterated her breezy calm, riding her neurons like leather-wearing bikers. Her nipples beaded. Piper wanted to beg him to order her around. To tell her exactly what he wanted and how he wanted it. Thanks to him, she knew how to do it without a word.

She walked to the foot of the first bed, opposite the door, turned toward Ryan, and surrendered herself. Mind. Body. Soul. Back straight, shoulders relaxed, Piper knelt and rested her hands on her thighs. Dropping her gaze from his body stung. She longed to watch his diamond-blue gaze rove her body. To watch his muscles tighten in response. Just as her body coiled for his. But the reward far outweighed the temporary gratification.

Out of her periphery she saw Ryan step inside and drop his clothes into a heap. The door
thunked
closed. Step by slow step he walked past her. Higher and higher thrill whirled inside. The gallop of her heart challenged that of a wild stallion. He moved behind her and placed two things on the floor beside the bed. Then the vibration of his breath tickled her ear.

“Like a unicorn or a repeat triple crown, I didn’t think you existed. And here you are. So powerful and strong-willed. So beautifully submissive.” His big, bare feet stopped in front of her. “Look at me, Piper.”

The sparse hair thickened on his corded calves. His thighs bulged with knitted sinew. Veins swelled beneath the velvety skin of the full erection that jutted from his hips. Up his abdomen, torso, and arms, her gaze roamed. Then over his shoulders, the scabbing gouge, strong jaw, and luscious lips. After the visual tour, she landed on maybe the most precious thing of all. His eyes. Ryan Noble’s honesty and care flowed through those blues. His mischief and endearing humor, even lust and sometimes anger, sparked there too.

“I see all of you, sir.”

His dimples flashed, and then fell away. “I don’t know if I can ever thank you for sharing yourself with me. For letting me inside, not just your decadent body…” He offered his hand, helped her off the floor, and then continued. “But here.” His lips swept her forehead. “And here.” He dropped to his knees and his mouth pressed a kiss over her heart.

Piper swore the damn thing leaped out of her chest. She swallowed past a ball of emotion and grabbed his face. His heat radiated into her palms. When he smiled she held the best part of the world in her hands. Yes, he was a man, the gender she’d been warned against since birth. Yes, he was a killer. Yes, he was her hero. He was her heart, beating outside of her body.

The words played on her lips. Ticked and tormented them.

“Piper, it’s time to put that trust to the test. Do you remember your safe word?”

I love you.

“Bronce,” she said instead.

“Good. Now, go grab the top rail at the foot of the bed and face me.”

“Yes, sir.” She gulped in excitement and trepidation, turned, and walked toward the bed.

“Damn, I actually looked forward to your insubordination. I rather enjoy swatting your sweet bottom. But your compliance gets me hard too,” he growled.

“You were already hard, sir,” she teased. The
smack
sounded a split-second before the sting licked her right butt cheek. Piper gripped the highest metal rail and arched her back, presenting her ass to him. The bold move shocked them both.

“My stubborn woman.” Grabbing the metal just outside her fists, he crowded her from head to toe. Yet, only the heat and power of his body touched her. “I know I told you to face me. I should wear your bottom out, but I think you’d enjoy it too much.”

She would. Her clit ached and she longed for the bite of his hand on her backside. Summoning all the self-discipline she possessed, Piper straightened and did as he’d asked. When she turned, his face hovered only inches from hers. The muscles in his jaw flexed and his lips pressed into a hard line.

“Is your grip firm?” he asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

She could only nod at the intensity of his stare and harshness of his tone. He reminded her of a lion, circling its prey, sizing it up before the attack. And attack he did. With the velocity of a bullet, Ryan’s hand snagged a handful of hair at the base of her neck. The force pricked her scalp. His mouth descended like the second shot from a gun, impacting her mouth with the full weight of his appetite.

Their lips crashed together. Piper firmed her grip to keep from being enmeshed in the metal slats. The loose metal clinked and whined in the upheaval. His lips dominated her own. He pressed her mouth. Plumped it. Scraped his mouth against hers, bumping her nose with his own. He moaned a sweet song of agony. At last his mouth hung over her lips. He breathed in her scent, an expression near pain etching his features and punctuating his gasps.

“Whatever you do, don’t let go…of me.”

Piper pressed her forehead against Ryan’s. “I’m not holding you, but I could.”

“You’re holding me in every way, sweet. In every way.”

“I won’t let go. Not even if you order me to.”

Ryan devoured her with his kiss. Harsh and infinitely tender at the same time. His mouth roved her neck, slipped between the shallow valley of her breasts, skimmed over her belly. His hot fingers caressed the acreage of her skin. He circled her most intimate parts, but didn’t enlist them in the incursion of her senses.

Her fingers itched to plunder the locks of his floppy blond hair and guide his mouth where she wanted it most. But she refused. Instead she focused on his touch. Not what she wanted it to be or what she expected next. She focused on what it was in that moment. In each smoldering moment.

Long strokes of her thighs. Warm suction on her hips. A graze of nails over her ass cheeks. The nip at the inside of her calf. A hand spread wide over her waist. Small kisses skipping each rib.

When he paused, Piper opened lust-heavy lids. Ryan stared at her from where he knelt. He should have appeared vulnerable. Yet, he’d never been more in command of himself, or her. “Turn around, face the wall, resume your grip, and don’t let go.”

“Never,” she agreed.

“Remember you said that.”

The tiniest bit of apprehension mixed with excitement, zinging awareness across her flesh. Piper turned. Her fingers glided over the slats. The metal where she’d held fast only moments ago slid beneath, hot to the touch. She widened her arms and chilly railing greeted her embrace. One-hundred-eighty degrees should make a big difference, lose a bit of the connection. But…

Ryan brushed her long hair to the side and every sense screamed to life. Much like it had when he’d blindfolded her, the denial of one sense enhanced the others. His scent drugged. His simple touches provoked. And those grunts that rumbled his chest and swept his sultry breath across her skin, ramped her need.

“Spread your legs.”

She did as he asked.

“As wide as the bedposts, Piper. I want to see every slick fold and greedy entrance.”

Despite the niggling fear that she knew exactly where he planned to go tonight and how he planned to push her limits, she spread for him. Immediately, his hand rose between her legs. His steady palm splayed and cupped her mons. She arched against his fingers and cried at the bliss of first contact. Hell, he’d been toying with her for damn near twenty minutes and hadn’t even accidentally grazed her goods.

“Do you want to come, sweet?”

“Yes,” she begged.

“Then relax your shoulders and arch your tight ass my way.” His other hand pressed at the small of her back while the other pulled. “That’s it. Relax your tummy and curve your back.” He positioned her just as he wanted, and then dropped his hands.

“No, please. I need to come, Ryan. Please, sir.”

He clasped the tops of her wide thighs and sealed his scorching mouth over her clitoris. Devilish suction tugged on the bundle of nerves. Piper’s palms slicked with sweat. She fought the urge to buck against the strength of his ravenous pulls. Her head sagged between her shoulders and she panted, battling back the orgasm she just requested. It was too much too fast.

Her nipples flushed ruby red on her chest and beaded to the point of irritation. On her thighs, Ryan’s fingers indented her flesh. Between her legs, the point of his chin bobbed as he worked. He sat on his heels in the spread of her legs. His chest and abdomen sat on display. In the part of his wide legs, his flushed sex undulated with the easy rock of his hips. The drip of precum leaking from his thick tip and the impeccable timing of his flicking tongue pitched her over the edge without mercy.

“Oh…Ryan. Oh…aahh…aahh.” Piper hollered until the breath ceased in her lungs. She was suspended in the white world of ecstasy. Lost to her own body. Lost to the world.

Her grip slipped on the rail, jarring her to the reality of gravity. But Ryan’s arms wrapped around her middle. “I have you and I’m never letting go.” He secured her to his chest, allowing her to enjoy the gentle fall from post orgasmic oblivion into mad love. When her breathing steadied he placed her hands back on the rail. “Give me another, sweet Piper.”

“Yes, sir,” she panted.

His fingers tweaked her nipples and already her body started the build. She stretched a little less severely than before, pressing her small, yet amazingly swollen, breasts into his hands. As she settled back, his rigid cock nestled in the crack of her ass. Her hips rocked, milking him with her crevasse, rubbing him against her pulsating rosette.

Ryan dropped a hand to the underside of her thigh and lifted it off the ground. He settled her foot onto the bottom mattress between the wide slats.
Holy Mary!
His hand skimmed higher, and then slid into her wet heat. Piper adjusted her grip and sank back onto his finger.

“God, Piper. You’re so responsive. Wet and ready.”

“For anything,” she goaded, and hoped it was true.

He swept her hair to her right shoulder and nipped her trap. “I think you are.” He added another finger, working her pussy in long, swirling strokes. When he pulled out, those magical digits drew a figure-eight, circling her clit and ass entrance in turn, getting closer with each pass. With a generous swipe of her liquid desire, he flicked her nipple and slid two fingers into her compact opening.

A wave of heat swept her from head to toe. Her pulse jumped several notches and her hands quivered.

“Relax, sweet.” He stilled his left hand while guiding his right hand through her damp lips. A shock of rapture rippled through her as he flicked her clit, and then massaged the sting away.

Maintaining her grip, Piper loosened her muscles and sank against his chest. When he wiggled his fingers a little deeper, the sensation changed from edgy pain to incomprehensible pleasure.

“Ryan,” she moaned, “I can’t…understand. It feels so fucking good.”

“I have you, Piper. I’ll make you feel even better. Just feel.”

Her hips rolled of their own instinctual will, while Ryan finger-fucked her ass and tormented her sensitive nubbin. A sheen of sweat slicked their bodies, but neither stopped the rising tempo.

Orgasm sucked her under the surface as surely and suddenly as a rip tide. It tumbled and whirled her until she couldn’t discern up from down. Left from right. Him from her.

Somehow she clung to Ryan’s neck and burrowed in the security of his arms. Minutes later soft sheets cooled her back. She opened her eyes to find him looming over her. A look of barely contained, lust-filled savagery drew his features, tensed every muscle in his beautiful body.

“Turn over,” he ordered.

With excitement akin to an all-expenses-paid shopping spree at IKEA, she flipped onto her belly on the twin bed and raised her throbbing bottom. Over her shoulder she watched Ryan’s gaze darken as it strayed across her body. Then he was atop her, only his knees and wrists brushing the skin at her thighs and the sides of her breasts. With his right hand, he pulled her chin farther back and fused their mouths. He tempted her tongue from her lips and sucked it into his mouth. After several pulls he released her, and then returned for more. Their tongues quarreled longer still.

“Before I met you, I was content with my life. Happy in most things, but now I know I had no idea what happy was. It’s not smiles and jokes. It’s pleasure and pain. Unimaginable joy and impossible fear. It’s giving yourself to another and having them give themselves in return.” He kissed her lips. “You’ve given me everything, Piper, and everything I am, I give to you.”

She used a hank of his hair and pulled his lips to hers. Stupid tears blurred her vision. She loved his mouth for a long minute, and then levered back to breathe. “I love you, Ryan.”

His jaw flexed and something flashed over his face. He placed two fingers over her lips. “We’ll see if you love me tomorrow.”