Guardian Ranger (10 page)

She hadn’t been interested, until Jasper. He was different. He cared. She trusted him.

He is different.

Maybe he was just the guy she’d always been looking for. Someone to hold her in a storm. To laugh with her in the sunlight. To even love her?

He took care of the protection—he must have been a Boy Scout—then he was pushing into her with a long, slow surge of his hips. Her body quickened beneath him, her heart racing, breasts tightening, sex aching. Pleasure still pulsed through her, and every move of his hips had her already sensitive body yearning more for him.

It wasn’t a slow rise to release this time. His thrusts came harder. Wilder. Deeper.

She felt him along every inch of her flesh, as if he were trying to imprint himself on her body.

The bed shook beneath them. He drove into her, pushing with a leashed ferocity. She met that ferocity, took everything that he had and demanded more.

Because she wasn’t going to settle for less than taking everything that he had to give.

When the climax hit, it seemed to explode over them both at the same time. She held tightly to him, curling her arms around him, and he held just as tightly to her. She could feel the frantic race of his heart—or was that hers? Then she realized it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered in that moment....

Just pleasure.

Just him.

* * *

G
UNNER
O
RTEZ
SWORE
when the lightning hit the tree beside him, coming far too close for his peace of mind.

“Hurry inside!” Sydney yelled from the entrance of the small shack they’d stumbled across moments before.

The ground was soaked, gutted, and their SUV had gotten stuck in the sludge. With the sky opening up above them and the deluge battering down upon them, they’d been lucky to find this dry spot.

He brushed by her, heading inside the small area.

The wind howled behind him, and he turned, shoving the door closed.

Sydney’s footsteps shuffled softly by him in the dark. Then he heard the scratch of a match. Light flared, too brief, too small, but then Sydney was lifting a lantern and the light grew stronger.

There were blankets on the floor of the shack. A few more lanterns.

“Looks like we aren’t the only ones who found this place,” Sydney murmured as her gaze swept around the room, lingering in the corners—in the dark shadows.

He tensed and automatically reached for his weapon, but the other visitor—whoever it had been—was gone.

For now.

“We’ll stay alert,” Gunner said with a nod, “just in case he comes back.” Because while Gunner knew he was one of the best trackers working for Uncle Sam, even he wasn’t much good in a storm like this. All footprints and broken branches that would normally mark a person’s passage would be gone, thanks to the rain and the wind.

The storm would provide the perfect cover for Cale Lane.

But you won’t catch me unaware.

Because Gunner had one motto...
never let down your guard.

Sydney walked closer to him.

Why couldn’t he seem to apply his motto to her?

Her hair was wet—they’d both gotten soaked before finding this place—and she shivered. Immediately, he grabbed for one of the blankets and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Her fingers brushed against his. “Thank you.”

He jumped back, moving faster than if she’d shot him. And he’d been shot plenty of times.

Sydney frowned. “Gunner?”

He cleared his throat. “The storm isn’t going to be letting up anytime soon.” Which meant he and Sydney might have to bunk down for the night.

A night with Sydney.
Hell. More torture for him.

“Why do you always pull away?”

The quiet question shocked him, so he lied. But, in one way or another, it seemed as if he’d been lying to her for years. “I don’t know what you mean, Syd.”

She growled. An angry little sound that shouldn’t have been sexy. Unfortunately, everything she did seemed sexy to him. That was a big part of his problem.

Hands off.
But his hands wanted to be...on.

He put as much distance between them as he could. Since the shack was about nine feet long, that wasn’t a whole lot of space.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Then she started to stalk toward him. “I want a real answer.”

She’d put the lantern down, but the light spilled just enough for him to clearly see that her delicate face was set in determination. She closed in on him.

He raised his hands—
have to touch her
—and curled his fingers around her shoulders. “We’re working a case. We’re partners, that’s all.”

She stared back up at him. Her lips were full and parted, and he wanted to kiss her.

He’d wanted to kiss her for years.

She’s not yours.
He had to keep reminding himself of that fact. Sydney wasn’t meant to be with him. She’d been engaged to his half brother. She and Slade were the ones who should have had the happy ending. The picket fence. That whole picture-perfect dream.

Not. Me.

But Slade was dead now. And Sydney was lifting her hand to touch his face. Her fingers rasped over the faint stubble that coated his jaw. “Don’t,” he gritted out.

“Why not?”

“We’re on a mission—”

“And we’re alone. We can talk, without anyone else hearing us. Without anyone else watching us.” Her hand dropped. He didn’t let her go. Maybe he didn’t want to. “You almost died on our last case. Do you know how that made me feel?”

He’d cheated death more times than he could count. Unlike Slade. Some nights, Gunner could still hear the echoes of Sydney’s cries. He’d had to pull her away from Slade’s body. Force her out of that hell of a jungle and get her to safety.

I lost him, but I damn sure wasn’t going to lose her, too.

She was staring up at him now, waiting for a response, her body a silken temptation. He exhaled slowly. “I’m sure you were worried.” Because Sydney worried about everyone. Her heart was too big; she cared too much.

“I wasn’t worried,” she said immediately, heat in her words. “I was terrified. I don’t want anything happening to you.”

And he’d die before he’d let anything happen to her. She was the whole reason he was still with the EOD. The better to keep watch on her. The better to stay close to her.

He was still touching her.

Hands. Off.
He pulled his hands away, clenched his fists.

“I think about you.” Her voice had dropped to a husky whisper. A pause, then, “Do you think about me?”

Too much.
“Slade.” It was an effort to force the name out. Like cutting open a wound that had just started to heal. “You—”

“I don’t want to crawl into the ground with him.”

He wasn’t so sure. Right after he’d brought her back from South America, he’d had to watch her so closely. Then
he’d
been the one to be terrified. But Sydney had healed in the past two years, become stronger and started to look more like the vibrant woman he remembered, and not a ghost.

“I want to live. I want a
life
again.”

His heart began to pound too heavily in his chest. What was she saying?

“You saved me that day, and, Gunner, I want to be with you.”

She rose onto her toes. Her body pressed against his. Her lips touched his—

He should have pushed her away in that first instant. Gunner
knew
that he should have pushed her away.

He shouldn’t have locked his arms around her as if he was desperate. He shouldn’t have held so tightly as if she were his lifeline. He definitely shouldn’t have kissed her so wildly—as if he needed her more than anything else.

But he’d never kissed her before. Never been so close to the thing he wanted the most. So he kissed her, he became reckless with his need and didn’t pull back. He didn’t push her away and tell her that what they were doing was wrong.

Because it felt too right.

His hand slid beneath her hair, tilted her head back. The kiss became deeper.

She trembled against him. Her fingers were over his chest, her right hand over his heart.

He wanted to strip her clothes away. To kiss every inch of her, to claim her.

She isn’t yours to claim.

The reminder burned through his mind. His head lifted.

“I wanted you to do that,” Sydney whispered. “For so long now.”

He stiffened. This wasn’t hands off. He tried to force his hands to free her.

She shook her head. “You want me. I want you.” She rose onto her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Why can’t we have what we want?”

Because she didn’t know the secret guilt that he carried. If she did, Sydney would never let him close to her again. He didn’t answer her, but he did back away.

Her hands fell to her sides. “Will he always be between us?”

The question was like a punch to his gut.

“He’s gone, Gunner. As much as that truth hurts us both...
Slade is gone.
”

Because he’d left his brother to die in a jungle, seen him get taken down by gunfire that ripped into Slade’s chest.
But I didn’t get him out of there. I got Sydney out.

Slade’s grave was a jungle in the middle of Peru. Slade had never come home, not even in death.

“Why is it me?” Gunner rasped the question when he’d meant to remain silent.

Sydney blinked at him as if lost.

But she couldn’t be lost. The suspicion that he had ate at his soul. “When you look at me, do you see him?” Was that what she wanted? A substitute for her dead lover?

Her indrawn breath was almost painful to hear. “Bastard.”

He was. In every sense of the word.

“I’ve moved on, Gunner. It tore me apart, but...I. Moved. On.” Her chin was up. Her shoulders back. “I let his ghost go. Maybe it’s time you learned to do the same.” Then her phone rang, vibrating in her pocket. She turned away, yanking it from her pocket. “Logan?” A brief pause, then, “Yes, we had to seek shelter in a shack on the south ridge.”

Gunner ran a rough hand over his face. That had been too close for him. Far too close. Another few seconds, and he wouldn’t have been able to pull away from her.

Another few seconds, and he wouldn’t have cared about the secrets that hid in his heart or the guilt that ate him late at night.

Another few seconds, and he’d have taken her.

But he’d held strong. He could keep his control. He’d protect her, always watch out for her, just as he’d sworn to do.

Anything else wasn’t possible. Even if he had to keep being the bastard who held Sydney at arm’s length.

Sometimes you can’t have the one thing that you want most.

Because you knew, deep down, that you didn’t deserve that one thing.

* * *

S
UNLIGHT
STREAMED
THROUGH
the blinds, faint streaks of light that shot across the bed, and slid over Jasper’s body.

And the body of the soft woman in his arms.

He didn’t move when he first woke, too content to keep holding Veronica. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d just held someone. Maybe because there wasn’t a memory.

She was different.

And he was lying to her.

Hell.

The truth would come out, sooner or later. The truth would
always
come out. When he brought down her brother and the EOD agents took Cale away, what would he say to Veronica then?

Sorry about Cale. Sorry about lying to you. But, hey, maybe we can still hook up? The sex was incredible.

It was more than just the sex. More than just pleasure that he’d lose if he lost her.

She’s more than I thought.
She’d slipped under his guard. Strange, when he should have been the one guarding her.

“Why do you look sad?”

His body tensed. He hadn’t even realized that she’d been awake. But his gaze rose to her face and he found her stare on him, seeing
into
him as few others had done.

“I’m worried about you.” That was true, even if there was more involved. Worried about her safety, worried about losing her.

“Why? You’re here to keep me safe, right? The big, bad ranger.”

She made him smile. He bent and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You’re right—that’s why I’m here.” His smile faded.
To keep you safe and to bring down your brother.
Jasper cleared his throat. “We should head back to the main house. See if Wyatt has any more information for us.”

She nodded and slowly pulled away from him. She sat up on the side of the bed, giving him a perfect view of her back and its elegant curve. “I don’t regret anything that happened,” she told him, and looked over her shoulder. “Just in case you were curious.”

He rose slowly. The sheets bunched around his waist. “Remember that.” His knuckles slid down her spine. Her skin was so smooth. She sucked in a little gasp when he pressed a kiss to the base of her back.

Never another like her.

He lifted his head. Rolled away to his side of the bed, then stood. “We’ll head back to the house, check in with Wyatt, then start searching the rest of the property.” Though he was curious about the progress that Sydney and Gunner might have made. They probably had been caught in the storm, too. But the team would be back in action soon.

He grabbed his jeans, jerked them on and yanked his shirt over his head. He heard the rustle of Veronica dressing behind him, and he just had to turn and enjoy the view.

A virgin.
That news still shocked the hell out of him, but it also...made him happy. No one else had ever seen her eyes go blind with pleasure. No one else had heard her sweet gasps when her climax hit.

“What is it?”

She’d caught him staring at her.

Clearing his throat, Jasper told her the truth. He figured she deserved a truth from him. “You’re beautiful.”
And dangerous to me. So very dangerous.

A flush of heat filled her cheeks, and then a warm smile spread over her lips. “You’re pretty gorgeous yourself.”