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“When are we looking at extraction?” Gunner asked as he leaned forward. His fingers were on the back of Sydney’s seat. It almost felt as if he was playing with her hair. Was he?
“Logan said this was a fast-moving mission. We want the civilian out of there within twenty-four hours.”
Sydney nodded. Definitely doable. As soon as Logan returned, she’d start her own reconnaissance work. She could uplink to satellites and get aerial maps of the area to find the best places for them to venture in as they started the rescue operation. As long as she had a good computer and the necessary uplink, she’d be able to access anything that the team needed. Tech had always been her specialty.
Then the jeep turned and headed through the high gates of the resort. Sydney put a smile on her face. She could pretend to be a happy honeymooner. With Gunner at her side, she could do anything.
And she was happy, even if painful memories were trying to push their way into her mind. Peru had been a nightmare for her once, but it didn’t have to be again.
The valet hurried over to the jeep. Gunner was already out and reaching for Sydney. His hand curled around hers, swallowing her fingers. His hold was strong, possessive. And the kiss that he brushed over her lips—it felt possessive, too.
Just for show…or was that something more?
Cale was laughing and saying something, playing his part. Gunner responded, but Sydney was lost.
She actually wished that this moment could be real. That she was just a happy honeymooner. A woman with Gunner.
But this wasn’t her life. She had a mission. A rescue. A civilian who needed her. She’d get the job done.
She’d get her man, too.
Gunner’s arm wrapped around Sydney’s shoulders. He steered her toward the entrance to the resort. She took a deep breath and slipped into her role.
LOGAN’S BODY WAS pressed tightly to the ground. He kept only his head up as he peered through the binoculars to get a visual on the small camp that sat at the base of the mountain. Not a typical rebel group, from what he’d been able to tell. These guys were armed to the teeth, patrolling constantly, and that one tent to the back…the one that housed the hostage…
There’d been no movement from that tent for the past four hours. Logan knew that fact for certain, because he’d been unmoving in his own position for that time.
He shouldn’t have come out alone, he knew that, but before he brought Sydney out there, before Gunner got the rebels in his sights, Logan just had to be sure of his target.
An armed guard headed toward the tent, lifted the flap, and went inside. Logan stopped breathing.
Then the guard came out again, leading the hostage. Logan’s fingers tightened around the binoculars as he stared at that prisoner. Long hair and a beard that hadn’t been trimmed in what looked like months. The man was walking with a faint limp.
This wasn’t a hostage who had been taken a few days ago. This was a man who had been held for a very, very long time.
Logan stared at the man’s face.
And knew the mission was going to be personal.
GUNNER TIPPED THE bellman and shut the door. Then he flipped the lock and turned his attention to Sydney.
She stood in front of a big bed, her blond hair framing her face. Her eyes were wide and fixed on him, but she wasn’t smiling.
Sydney looked nervous. An unusual situation for her. As far as he knew, Sydney was never nervous.
He took a step toward her, and she tensed.
What the hell? “Sydney?”
She shook her head. Then she smiled and gave the light laugh that always made his chest ache. “I swear, I feel like I’m on a real honeymoon.”
If only. He wouldn’t say he hadn’t thought about what it would be like to marry her, because he had. Too many times. Even when she’d been planning to marry his brother, he’d thought—
She should be mine.
Then Slade had died, and he’d hated himself for the jealousy he’d felt.
“Are you…are you okay with being back here again?” Sydney asked him quietly.
He strolled toward the window, then looked out over the lush resort. Within the resort’s walls, everything was beautiful, perfect. But there were other parts of Peru that were savage. Dangerous. Once you left the city and journeyed into the jungle, civilization truly faded away. “I’ve been back here a few times since his death.”
“You have?” Surprise lifted her words.
He knew she’d stayed away. But he’d had to come back. “I tried to find him.” Again and again. “My grandfather would have wanted him brought back.” I wanted him back. He shrugged, trying to push away the past. “But I couldn’t find Slade.”
The floor creaked behind him, and then Sydney’s soft hands were on his shoulders, curling over him. Her touch was warm, soft, and he remembered all the ways that she had touched him during their night together. The ways he’d touched her.
The ways he would touch her again.
He had Sydney now, and he didn’t plan to let her go. Gunner turned toward her. His fingers skimmed over the curve of her cheek. He’d spent the past two years guarding her, determined to protect her from any danger that came their way.
Because Sydney seemed drawn to the danger.
She was the strongest woman he’d ever met, and her brain—hell, the things the lady could do with a computer amazed him. She’d been in the air force, he knew that. A lieutenant colonel. So in addition to her computer skills, there was no plane the woman couldn’t fly. She’d flown their team out of more than a few hot spots around the world.
Slade had been a pilot, too. Not in the air force, though. His brother had done a stint in the army, then gotten civilian flying lessons after his tour of duty.
On a charter run to South America, Slade’s plane had crashed in the wrong spot at the wrong time.
Against orders, Sydney and Gunner had gone in after him.
But they’d failed to bring him home.
“Gunner?” Her voice was soft.
He’d pulled her out of the jungle in Peru. He’d been so afraid she’d die on him. Her blood had stained his hands. She’d shuddered and jerked, cried out desperately.
For Slade.
But Gunner had been the one there for her. He’d always be there for her.
He offered her a smile, when he wasn’t normally the type to smile. He wasn’t like Cale or Logan. They could flirt and charm at will. He knew he had a dangerous edge. One that frightened more than it charmed.
But Sydney didn’t seem frightened. He shook his head and asked, “Why?”
She blinked; then her blond eyebrows rose in confusion.
“Why me?” he asked her. He should have probably just kept quiet, but, hell, he was no prize. His body was scarred…sliced open, literally. He’d been caught by the enemy more times than he wanted to count. And during one bloody, pain-filled capture, he’d been sure that death would take him.
His captors had tied him up and come at him with a knife. They’d wanted information. He hadn’t given it to them, so they’d sliced him over and over on his stomach, his chest. Cuts meant to break him.
But he’d gotten away.
They’d died.
There was nothing light or easy about him—nothing safe.
So why in the hell did Sydney want to be with him? She could have anyone.
“What do you mean?” Sydney still seemed confused.
She was so beautiful. Fragile, though that delicacy was a deception, he knew.
“Why was it me…and not someone else?” Not that guy in the bar who’d had his hands all over her. Sydney could have taken another lover over the past two years. She hadn’t. He knew because he always watched her too closely.
If she had tried to take another lover, what would he have done?
Better not think about it.
With her, his control could be a delicate thing. If she’d actually turned to another, Gunner wasn’t sure that his control would have lasted. That other guy would have found himself in a battle.
“I’m with you because you remind me that I’m alive.”
Her smile seemed bittersweet. “When I’m with you, I feel. I want. I need.”
He felt too much when he was with her. That was dangerous—for them both.
“I don’t like being back here,” she told him quietly, “but I’m glad that I’m with you.” She rose onto her toes. Her lips brushed over his. “I’ve wanted to be with you for a long time.”
He’d been rough with her before, so hungry and desperate. This time, before the mission started, he was determined to use care with her. She deserved care.
Gunner lifted her up. Held her in his arms and then took her to that big, giant bed. He laid her down, slowly stripped her, kissed every inch of flesh that was revealed to him, and he kept a stranglehold on his control.
This time, he’d show her the way things were supposed to be between them. This time, it would all be for her.
He kissed her breasts, loving the tight peaks of her nipples. Like candy. So good and sweet and perfect for his mouth. Her stomach dipped down, and he explored all of her, sliding his fingers gently over her skin, over her sensitive core.
She arched against him, whispering his name. He kept touching her, kissing and enjoying the silken feel of her skin.
“Gunner, I want you.”
Those were the words he needed. He’d never be a stand-in for a ghost, but Sydney wasn’t asking for a stand-in. She wanted him.
He pulled away from her just long enough to push down his jeans. Then he positioned his body between her thighs. One strong thrust—yes—and he drove into her, pleasure pulsing along his aroused length.
Her legs wrapped around him. She urged him to thrust deeper, harder, and he gave in to her. Moving quickly, wanting to give her as much pleasure as she could stand, wanting to give her everything.
When her body tensed beneath his, he knew her release was close. His spine tingled, his body tightened, but he forced himself to hold back.
He needed to feel her pleasure first.
Then she was gasping, calling his name, and her nails were scoring his shoulders. The pleasure washed across her face, brightening her eyes and flushing her cheeks.
Only then did he give in to his own need. He drove into her and let go.
The climax ripped through him, just as strong as the pleasure he’d gotten the night before.
He’d always known that Sydney was a dangerous woman, but he hadn’t realized that once he’d had a taste of the paradise she offered, there would be no turning back.
THE RAP SOUNDED on their door an hour later. Gunner glanced up to see Sydney coming out of the shower. Her hair was still wet, and her clothes clung tightly to her body.
“Must be Cale…or Logan,” she said, glancing toward the door.
Logan would know what they’d been up to. Even though they’d tried to fix the wrecked bed, Gunner knew that the minute Logan looked into his eyes, he would know.
Logan was his friend, and the man could read him too well.
Logan also knew well enough not to say a damn word that would make Sydney feel uncomfortable.
Gunner rose and headed for the door. He checked through the peephole and saw Logan staring straight ahead. After opening the door, Gunner stepped back so that Logan could enter.
Their team leader stalked inside, his body tight with tension.
Frowning, Gunner locked the door behind him. “Did you get a visual?” Sydney asked as she approached him.
Logan gave a grim nod.
Then Gunner saw Logan’s gaze sweep from Sydney, to the bed, to Gunner.
Logan’s stare was…guarded. No emotion.
Gunner’s gut clenched.
“Is Cale coming in for the update?” Sydney glanced toward the door. “I’m sure he needs to hear—”
“I need to talk to the two of you first.” Logan’s words were emotionless. Just like his eyes.
Gunner didn’t like where this scene was going.
“Mercer…Mercer is the one who handed down this job. He asked specifically for our team to handle the mission.”
“We are the best,” Sydney said, grinning a bit.
Logan didn’t smile. “He had a tip about the hostage, and he wanted us to follow up. I wanted to get a visual before I passed on the suspicions to the team.”
“Just what kind of suspicions are we talking about?”
Gunner crossed his hands over his chest and waited.
