He wrapped his arms around her, his mouth close to her upturned lips. “I worried about you after we left the Amazon last year. I couldn’t quit thinking about you or looking for you.”
Kat wrapped her arms around Connor’s neck. “I was overjoyed finally to see you and be able to thank you personally for saving my life.”
“You are thanks enough.” Connor kissed her slowly, tenderly, as if he had loved her forever.
And she succumbed, kissing him, loving the way his strong fingers stroked her back and his hard body pressed against hers, his mouth taking possession.
Her body tingled with need and desire. Her skin was hot, and she melted against him, glad when the air conditioner kicked on and poured cool air into the room.
She started to unbutton his shirt, but he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to undress. She was!
He smiled against her mouth as she jerked his sleeves down his arms. “Not in a hurry, are we?” he said with a smile to his words.
“We made it home without my getting caught in a jaguar’s spotted coat. If nothing else, that’s a reason to celebrate.”
He chuckled, slipped his hands underneath her shirt, and cupped her bra-covered breasts. “While I slept in my hammock in the jungle on our way to the city, I dreamed of being here with you in my bedroom, with a comfortable bed to sleep on and the air conditioner on high and you safe from the rest of the world. I dreamt what it would be like to make love to you and not be in a rush while I savored every moment.”
“Some other time,” she said, fumbling to unfasten his belt.
He laughed. His large hands were gentle as he coaxed her bra down, her shirt still in place, then ran his thumbs over her nipples in a sensuous heated caress. When she couldn’t make any progress on his belt, she began to unfasten her shirt buttons instead.
That prompted him to let go of her breasts and jerk his belt free. He was naked before she knew it, primed for making love to her.
She loved how aroused he became with her. She didn’t need fancy undergarments to spur him on. Just a lick on his lips and rubbing her body against his turned him on faster than she could believe.
He was fully erect as he pressed his nude body against her while he unfastened her bra and kissed her mouth at the same time, as if he couldn’t quit kissing and touching her before he had her in his bed.
She was burning up, needing him to quench the fire building inside of her, to fulfill the ragged ache she felt for him.
The maelstrom continued as he pulled her jeans and panties down partway and slipped his fingers into her tight sheath. “You’re so wet for me,” he whispered against her mouth, his voice straining with need.
He sounded as glad that he could turn her on with a whisper of a kiss as she was that her touching him lit his fire.
Without hesitating a moment further, he pulled off the rest of her clothes until she was as naked as he was. His fingers stroked her between her legs while his mouth slanted over hers and kissed her with such passion that she felt she would be swept into a vortex of no return.
Her soft moans and frantic stroking over his naked back and arms and buttocks ramped up the pleasure, which prompted him to lift her onto his hips, spreading her before him, and then back onto his bed.
He pulled her tight against him, his erection sliding in, deep, thrusting, and rubbing her, the friction sending her over the edge.
She cried out with complete surrender and dug her heels against him, cherishing the way his cock thrust deeper. He pushed harder, seeking his own release and finding it moments later, fierce primal satisfaction filling his expression.
“Next time, we take it slower,” he promised, rolling over and capturing her, then pulling her against his body.
“Next time,” she murmured against his chest, sliding her hand over his nipple.
“Yeah, after we take a nap.”
Early the next morning, after a day and night spent in bed making love to Kat, Connor poured a second cup of coffee while Kat had joined Maya in the greenhouse. That was when Connor saw a black sedan pull up the drive. Something made him think that the new arrival wasn’t a customer looking for plants to use in landscaping or interior decorating.
He sipped some of his coffee while he watched through the kitchen window as the man got out of his car, shut the door, locked it, and then headed for the front door of the house. He was in excellent shape, wearing neatly pressed khakis, a pin-striped, button-down-collared shirt, and a pair of expensive-looking leather loafers—dressy, but casual. His hair was cropped short, and Connor guessed he was a military man. He strode toward the porch with purpose in his long stride, like he was ready to storm the castle, his face stern, his whole manner starched.
Connor placed his empty coffee cup on the counter and headed for the front door, ready to nip this in the bud and ensure that Kat didn’t have to deal with the man.
Connor yanked open the door, startling the man, whose raised fist had never contacted the wood.
“Who the hell are you?” Connor asked, knowing damn well he had to be one of the men involved in Kat’s Army mission of trying to take down Gonzales.
“Major Roger Singleterry.” He reached out his hand to shake Connor’s, but Connor didn’t offer his hand in return.
Acknowledging the slight, Roger gave him a small smile, but it quickly faded. He stiffened and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I understand Kathleen’s staying with you and… your sister… for a little while.”
The inference was that his sister was a girlfriend, too? Threesomes do it better?
“Kat’s busy,” Connor said, folding his arms across his chest. He wasn’t about to let this jerk see her or intimidate her or anything else. Besides, she was working with Maya in the greenhouse, so he wasn’t really out-and-out lying. Work always needed to be done, and she would be busy.
This time the man’s brows arched. “Really. Well, I need to talk with her.” His icy matter-of-fact tone bugged the hell out of Connor. “Is there a better time to call?”
“No.”
Again, the raised brows. Roger was probably used to giving orders in the military, and Connor assumed Roger didn’t like having a civilian obstacle block him from seeing anything further of Kat.
Connor thought to ask if he could give her a message, just to get the officer to leave, but he didn’t even want to offer that much.
“It’s important,” Roger insisted, not budging from the front porch.
“You and your people can go to hell.”
Roger narrowed his eyes. “You want a battle on your hands? You don’t want to go there, Anderson. I’ve got the resources—”
“Maybe you do, but you’ve got shit where I’m concerned. Kat’s worth more than any damn mountain of resources available to you. You leave her alone. She’s made a home with us and doesn’t need anything further from your kind.”
Roger’s jaw dropped. Connor eyed him with new suspicion. What had the man thought? That she was just staying with Connor and Maya for a few days? And then she would be back to being the Army’s pawn? No way in hell.
“I’m not going until I speak with Kat,” Roger insisted.
Connor heard movement behind him before he saw her, smelled her delightful scent, and knew it was Kat. She had probably heard the car pull up, but when the “customer” hadn’t entered the greenhouse or the outdoor gardens looking for plants, she must have gotten curious.
She slipped in beside Connor, wrapped her arm around his waist, and snuggled close. He quickly encircled her shoulders with his arm. She lifted her face to smile at him, and he took her smile as an invitation to a kiss. So he obliged her, long and hard and thoroughly. Just to prove he wasn’t letting anyone hurt her again.