High Octane Heroes Read online

  “I’m going to do more than that.” He nudged her knees apart and slid in between her thighs. “But first…I’ll launch my own assault.”

  “Oh, should I be wearing camouflage…?” Her calf slid up the back of his leg. “And should I be carrying a weapon?”

  “Babe, your are the weapon. You’ve completely pierced my heart and laid it open.”

  “Such sweet talk from a grunt.” She wrapped her hands around his neck and drew him down to her. “Shut up and kiss me.”

  He lowered, his mouth claiming hers in a devouring kiss. He braced himself in the front-leaning-rest position so as not to crush her with his weight, the muscles in his arms tight.

  When he came up for air, he forced himself to concentrate on pleasing her. If she let him, he’d spend a lifetime showing her how much he loved her.

  Max started by laying siege to her throat, tracing a path from her chin to the base of her neck and tonguing the spot where her racing pulse beat crazily beneath the skin.

  “I thought the dinner would last forever,” she admitted, her hands skimming over his shoulders and down to his waist.

  “I couldn’t take my eyes off you.” Max continued his attack, firing kisses and nips over her collarbone and the swell of one breast. He captured her nipple, sinking his teeth in, sucking in a strong hold on the defenseless treat.

  Her back arched off the mattress in her surrender to his campaign of lusty torture as he moved down the smooth contours of her rib cage, across the field of taut abs to his ultimate target.

  Max slipped his fingers between her folds and flicked the bundle of nerves—a move that never ceased to set her off.

  Kate buried her heels in the mattress, her hips rising. “Please, Captain, I surrender. Take me.”

  He chuckled. “Not yet. You really should put up a little of a defense.”

  “How can I when you do—”

  He tongued her clit.

  “That!” she cried, her fingers clutching at his ears, pulling him closer. “Oh, please.”

  He pressed a finger into her channel and swirled it around. “Please what?”

  “Do it again, damn it.”

  “Tsk, tsk. Such language from a diplomat’s daughter.”

  “Just fuck me, soldier. Now.” She tugged his ears.

  “Careful. I might need those.” He resisted, not done with her clit, tonguing her until she moaned.

  Her hands fell to her sides, clutching the sheets, and her body stiffened. “I think I will die.”

  “No way. I’ve captured you; you’re now my prisoner.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way, unless it was with you inside me now,” she said in a rush of words, her breathing erratic, her face flushed.

  Max climbed up her body and pressed his cock to her entrance. “I love you, Kate.”

  “If you love me, take me.” She grabbed his ass and slammed him home. “Oh god, yes.”

  Not exactly the response to his declaration he’d hoped for. He’d wanted her to say she loved him too. But too overwhelmed at that point by all the sensations ripping through his body, he let her comment slide into the deep haze of pleasure she always brought him.

  Max thrust again and again.

  Kate raised herself, matching him stroke for stroke, her fingernails digging into his buttocks.

  All his nerve endings, all the blood flowing through his system seemed to center on the one place, that one moment when he shot over the top. One last thrust and he held steady, buried deep inside her. His breath caught and held. At the last moment, he jerked free, his come shooting out over her belly. When he finally dropped down beside her and pulled her into his arms, she snuggled close, her head on his arm, her fingers threading through the hairs on his chest.

  Kate sighed, her eyes drifting closed. “You’re amazing, soldier.”

  “Only because you make me that way.”

  “Uh-huh.” She lay with her eyes closed, her fingers swirling softly against him.

  He drew in a breath, ready to pitch his plea. “Kate?”

  She didn’t respond.

  He leaned back and stared down at her. Her breathing had leveled, her breasts rising and falling in the slow, easy rhythm of one fast asleep.

  Damn. Now he’d have to wait until morning. He pulled the sheet up over them and held her for a long time before he drifted off to sleep. In the back of his mind, he worried that she hadn’t responded to his declaration of love with one of her own. Ah well, there was always tomorrow.

  “Kate?” Max shook her awake early the next morning. “I have to get to work.”

  Her blue eyes blinked open. “So soon?” Her silky dark hair fanned out against the cream-colored pillowcase, the sheet slipping down below her breasts. “I can’t convince you to stay a little longer?” Her hand slipped beneath the covers and swept across his morning hard-on. “Hate to waste…a moment with you.”

  “Your maid will be here any minute.”

  “That’s all it will take.” She rose to a sitting position, planted her hands on his chest and pushed him back against the mattress.

  He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I had something I wanted to say last night.”

  “So, why didn’t you?” She kissed his neck, her body shifting across his, her mouth trailing down to one of his taut brown nipples. “Can it wait until after?”

  He caught her shoulders. “Damn it, woman, I have something to say.”

  As her teeth sank into the nipple, her hand slipped lower to capture his cock.

  Thoughts of the ring still tucked in his jacket flew from his mind as her supple fingers tightened around him.

  A surge of heat washed over his body, pooling low in his loins.

  In the predawn hours of the morning, Kate slipped down his body, the sheets falling to the floor, her hands working magic against his skin.

  Max closed his eyes as Kate pressed a kiss to the tip of his dick, the first taste of what was to come next from her hands and mouth.

  His breath caught as her tongue snaked out to trace a circle around the rim, then slid down his length. A groan rose up his throat, and his fingers laced through her hair, holding her there.

  Kate wrapped her lips around his cock. Her hand cupped his balls.

  Max thrust upward, the head of his dick bumping against the back of her throat.

  After several thrusts, he couldn’t hold back. He pushed her back and flipped her over. Her legs fell open, her damp pussy glistening in the soft glow of a nightlight.

  Max didn’t pause long, thrusting into her, burying himself deep. Moving slower, he drew out to the very tip, savoring the slick heat of her channel.

  When he hesitated at her entrance, Kate’s hands curled around his hips, her nails digging into his flesh as she dragged him back inside her.

  He settled into a fast and furious rhythm, rocking the bedsprings until they squeaked.

  Kate’s head tipped backward, a soft moan escaping her lush, pink lips. She planted her heels into the mattress and rose to take each of his thrusts, her breathing ragged, her body covered in a light sheen of sweat.

  As Max catapulted over the edge, he yanked free of her channel, his seed spilling out across her belly. He rolled to her side and lay on his back for several seconds until he had his breathing under control. “You’re incredible. And we forgot a goddamn condom again.”

  She turned to face him, a smile spreading across her lips. “You’re not so bad yourself, Captain Delaney. And the condom is overkill. You know I’m protected.” Her fingers threaded through the hair on his chest.

  He grasped her wrist and held it away, forcing a frown when he wanted to grin. “There’s something missing here.”

  Kate’s brows puckered. “What are you talking about?”

  Max sat up and reached for his dress mess jacket, hanging where he’d left it on the bedpost the night before. He fumbled to retrieve the single-carat diamond ring from the inside pocket, curling it into his palm before she could se
e.

  Her eyes widened and her hand rose to press against her breast. “A present? But it’s not my birthday.”

  Max’s stern expression softened. “I wanted to do this last night, but you make it hard for me to think straight when you’re lying naked in bed.” He pulled her to a sitting position and captured her hands in his. “I’m a soldier, I like to keeps things simple.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” She batted her eyes, that sexy smile lifting the corner of her lips, making Max’s heart race.

  He pressed a finger to her lips. “Shhh. Let me get this right.”

  She kissed his finger and waited.

  “I’ve got orders. I’m transferring to Italy.”

  “Oh, please no.” Her brows wrinkled. “When?”

  “In three weeks.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Well, damn.”

  “Let me finish.”

  Her fingers curled around his.

  “I don’t want to leave…” he held up the ring, “without you.”

  Her eyes widened and the tears tipped over the edge and ran down her cheeks.

  “Kate Seward, I love you. Will you marry me?” He held out the ring.

  Kate shoved her finger through and cried, “Yes!” Then she flung her arms around his neck.

  Max kissed her long and hard, holding the woman of his dreams in his arms, thanking God for bringing them together.

  A knock on Kate’s door forced him back to reality.

  “Miss Seward?”

  Kate pulled the duvet up over Max and covered her naked breasts. “Yes.”

  Max lay perfectly still.

  The door creaked open and a woman’s face peered around. “Your father is on his way to your room. Do you need help getting dressed?”

  “No, thank you,” Kate answered in a calm voice. “Could you bring me a cup of tea?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  As soon as the door creaked closed, Max leaped out of bed. “I want to ask your father for your hand, just not like this.”

  “Tonight. I don’t believe we have any dinners planned.”

  “I’ll do that.” Max slipped into his pants, grabbed his dress shirt and shrugged into his dress mess jacket. He jammed his feet into his shoes and crossed to the closet, pausing with one hand on the knob. With the other, he blew a kiss. “See you later.”

  Max slipped into the hidden passage and hurried to his room. Since it was early, he changed into his PT uniform and tennis shoes and ducked out the gate of the embassy compound. His heart still pounded against his ribs and he had energy to burn.

  Kate had said yes. Joy filled every fiber of his being, and he wanted to shout to the rooftops. Instead, he ran through the streets of Trejikistan, the steady beat of his feet hitting the pavement bringing him back into focus.

  Four miles out from the embassy, he turned, ready to get back to see Kate, to hold her in his arms again, anxious to hear the words she’d yet to say. I love you.

  As he neared the compound, the streets grew more crowded with young men, heading in the same direction as he was.

  More than one jostled him, bumping into his shoulders and shouting at him in Trejik, their native form of Arabic.

  With his short, military haircut and gray Army T-shirt, Max looked exactly like what he was, an American soldier. Apparently the crowd making its way toward the embassy wasn’t pro-American.

  Max ducked to the side, down an alley. Three dark-haired, dark-skinned Trejikistani’s followed him, waving their fists and cursing him in their language. Two wore baseball hats, and one carried a tire iron.

  At the end of the alley, Max turned. Into a dead-end alley. With nowhere to go and his back against a concrete wall, he’d make his stand.

  He spun, braced his feet and waited, unarmed, undaunted. Three against one might scare most men, but not Max. He was Special Forces, a trained war machine.

  The three assailants skidded around the corner and came to a halt, wicked grins spreading across their faces. With a wild whoop, the man with the tire iron rushed at Max.

  Max dodged the tire iron, grabbed the man’s arm and yanked him hard, throwing him to his rear where the man’s head slammed into the concrete wall. He fell to the ground and didn’t move.

  One down.

  Max waved the other two forward. “Come on.”

  Incensed by their friend’s treatment, the two remaining men launched themselves at Max.

  Max slammed his palm up into one man’s nose and threw a sidekick at the other man’s shin.

  Both men dropped to their knees.

  Determined to end the fight there, Max kicked first one, then the other in the head.

  Both crumpled to the ground and didn’t move again.

  Knowing he wouldn’t last two seconds on the street in his PT uniform with an angry, anti-American mob forming, Max pulled the trousers off the man with the least blood and closest in size to him and dressed. He yanked his T-shirt off and replaced it with one with Arabic writing on it. Max slipped the baseball hat on his head, pulling it down over his forehead. He grabbed the tire iron and ran back the way he’d come.

  Out on the street, he blended in with the mob moving toward the embassy. He kept his head down. Though he had brown hair, brown eyes and a tan from being outdoors, the color of his skin wasn’t the natural dark tone of a Trejikistani.

  Thankfully, the mob didn’t notice, pressing forward and through the gaping gates of the compound.

  Alarmed at the ease of their entry, Max paused at the gatehouse where both Trejikistani security forces and the Marine Corps Security Guards normally stood watch. One marine, dressed in his khaki shirt and royal-blue pants, lay in a pool of blood, unmoving.

  Max’s heart skipped several beats, and he raced for the back of the huge embassy building. Separate from the embassy, this structure housed the heating and air-conditioning units for the entire compound. From the basement of that utility building another secret passage led into the embassy. Max prayed that Kate, the ambassador and his staff had found the passage and were hiding in the relative safety of the basement until the Trejikistani military restored order among the protestors, or the American forces could arrange a rescue.

  While the rest of the mob beat against the solid-steel front doors of the embassy and threw rocks and bricks through the bars covering the lower level windows, Max ducked around to the back, dodging another mob of people trying to go through the back entrance.

  One rioter had a bottle filled with liquid and stuffed with a rag he lit with his cigarette lighter. Max’s body stiffened. If the embassy caught fire, those left inside wouldn’t stand a chance. If they didn’t die from the fire itself, they wouldn’t escape smoke inhalation. And as crazed as the mob was, embassy personnel wouldn’t last long outside.

  Fear for Kate and the other staff members sped Max’s steps. He rounded the back of the utility building and edged through a bush, conveniently placed to hide a back entrance.

  He wedged the tire iron between the door and the frame and forced the lock to give. It took several attempts before the frame bent, the lock gave, and the door opened outward.

  Max rushed down the stairwell to the basement level.

  When he hit the last step, the barrels of two M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles slammed into his chest.

  Max’s hands shot up and he whipped his hat off his head. “It’s me, Captain Maxwell O’Brien, Army Special Forces.”

  The marine poked him in the chest again. “Why the fuck are you wearing that shirt?”

  “I was out jogging and got caught up in the crowd. I had to blend in.” Max dropped his hands and pushed past the marines. “Where’s the ambassador and his daughter?”

  “We haven’t seen either one since Seward told us to get the staff to the safe house.”

  At that moment, two marines emerged from behind a large air-conditioning unit, the ambassador’s arms draped over their shoulders.

  “My daughter.” Seward raised his head and coughed,
his eyes red, his face blackened. “You have to get her out.”

  “Where is she?” Max helped the ambassador to the floor.

  The ambassador shook his head. “She said she had to go back to get something important.”

  One of the marines stepped forward. “She took off before we could catch her and ran back toward her quarters.”

  “The hallways are filling with smoke,” a third marine came out of the hidden passage, his face black with soot. “I didn’t see Miss Seward. Hell, I could barely see my hand in front of my face. It’s suicide to go back.”

  “We have to try.” The marines handed off Ambassador Seward and turned to go back.

  “I’m going. I know where she might be.” Max pushed past them, ripped his T-shirt off and tied it around his face.

  One of the marines who’d challenged him at the entrance grabbed his arm. “You might need these.” He shoved his flashlight into Max’s hand and a M9 pistol. “Semper fi.”

  Two marines followed, tugging their shirts up over their noses.

  Max raced through the passage, the smoke having barely found its way to the lower levels of the hidden escape route. When he came to the passage the ambassador and the marines would have taken, he turned left instead of right.

  “That’s not the way,” a marine called after him.

  “Trust me.” The corridor he’d chosen ended in a storage room stacked with large crates. “Help me.” Max leaned his weight into a large wooden crate at the far side of the room.

  The marines put their shoulders to it and the crate shifted three feet, exposing a concrete wall with a metal panel in the middle. Max dug his fingers into the side of the panel and pulled it open. He didn’t hesitate, ducking into the long narrow hallway with stairs at the end. Not until he climbed the steps leading up to the second floor where the Ambassador’s quarters were did the smoke begin to bother him.

  Once in familiar territory, he didn’t slow, racing past the door panel at the Ambassador’s room to the one beyond it.

  “Check that entrance and the next one past here,” he shouted over his shoulder at the marines. “She might be hiding in there.” Max flung open the small door inside Kate’s closet. Smoke filtered through the closed closet door on the other side. Electricity to the building had been cut off and no light filtered through from the room beyond.