Mission: Compromised Submissive (7 page)

The men drove most of the day, doing a little field work of their own and finally got lucky.
Nick, a bar owner at the edge of town
, had seen the ass
holes an hour before their drive by body dump. He identified them as Chester Dover and Hector Rodriguez. After a call to the Sheriff, he found that both were from the big city, and had been in and out of jail since their youth. It was time to
give those two a ruling that would set them on the straight and narrow for good and not just a slap on the wrist. This country version of the A
-T
eam fit the job perfectly.
“Let’s go hunting, boys.” Michael’s voice was low and gruff, representing the hardened cowboy he had always been. There was a thin line between revenge and justice, and he was willing to keep it blurred to get the job done.
They had c
o
me across some solid leads, and had no doubt they would find what they were looking for in due time.

The team had finally made it to their
destination and set up camp.
Everyone had begun
to go over all of the Intel they had gathered
, trying to make sense of it all
.
Things seemed to be taking yet another unexpected turn. Vice had been ordered to her quarters to
recuperate
after denying medical assistance.
Army protocol was to be seen in a hospital. Unfortunately, she had brought up the point that they didn’t follow that protocol. Juju was the most trained as a field medic. Everyone had taken the basic six
-w
eek course, but he had continued schooling to the equivalent of a nurse practitioner in the civilian world.
It had taken all Dom had to allow him to strip her down and do an exam and him walking far enough
away
that he couldn’t explode on the poor kid. Juju was a good soldier, but the idea of his hands touching her and seeing her naked pissed him every which way the fuck off. As soon as they got back to the bas
e, he was going to take the
classes. Hell, he would become a damn doctor if it meant never having to go through this type of torture again.
Even Mac had taken up beside her, refusing to leave. He stayed perched at her feet, taking it upon
himself to be her personal body
guard.
The only time someone else was allowed to look was if he said so. This wasn’t it. Fuck. Things were already getting complicated and nothing had happened yet. Well, actually it had. Those
motherfucker
s had taken her. If they would have left her alone, he wouldn’t be forced to rush the subject and would have thought things out a little better on how to handle her.

The second Juju walked out, he barged in. She was still sitting in her bra and panties
,
but he didn’t care. In two steps, he marched over where she sat on the cot. “So? What did he say?” Her eyes widen
ed at his tone. His fear had co
me out sounding angry instead of the true desperation he felt.

Vice glared at him, easing her features some in understanding at the worried look spread across his features. She understood him.
“He said I’ll be fine. It’s just cosmetic. There are a few bruises that go to the bone, and I need to keep antibiotic cream on the cuts but other than that, I’ll live. Now, if only I could reach all of the wounds…” Her eyes twinkled, giving him the first glimpse at the little hell cat he was so fond of since before her capture.

“Hum…
Now, that is a problem.” His hand gently swept the hair off her neck, tickling her skin
. Instant shivers ran up the length of her spine from the simple touch. Her body couldn’t help but respond to him. It never failed. H
e could look at her with that damned
heated gaze and bring her blood to boil in her veins. He was like her own personal drug, and she wanted more. Given everything that had happened, she couldn’t stand the idea of things going back to the way they were. He would either give in and take what she offered, or he would leave her alone forever. T
he only way she would accept rejection
was if he looked her in the eye and told her flat out he wasn’t interested. Then, and only then, would she back off and put it all in the past. Given the way his eyes grated over every inch of her half exposed body, she was pretty confident that wouldn’t happen.

He continued his torture, easing his fingertips down
her arm, stopping at her hand in which he lock
ed together with his. With a tiny little tug, he pulled her body against his demandingly, giving a silent command she couldn’t resist.
She reached up to his lips, arching through the pain to taste the only thing that kept her from breaking the whole time she was under the mercy of those sick bastards. Dom was her strengths, her weaknesses, and her desires, and was still out of her reach. Could it ever work? His tastes were far from what she was comfortable
with
, and there was little hope that he could compromise. Still, was she willing?

When her mouth grazed the softness of his lips, he turned and detoured her to his cheek. Before she could voice her irritation, the feel of something creamy smeared on her shoulder. She jerked away at the sting, but his hand came down against her neck and pulled her
tight. “Hold still.” His voice was low, leaving no room for argument.

“That hurts.” She remained still, feeling her vulnerability for the first time. Under all of her rough and toughness, she was like any other woman, desiring to be wanted, needed, and protected. Of all her twenty
-
eight years, she hadn’t felt the impact of that hole in her life so intensely until this exact moment. She was one to always take things into her own control. Now, could she hand all of that over just like that? She tensed,
more from her re
v
e
lations and less from the pain. He lightened his touch even more.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but this has to get applied.” He hesitated, unsure whether to ask his next question or let it go. Once he did, there was no turning back. Throwing all his chips in the pot, he went all in. “Do you trust me?” His voice had taken on a husky tone he couldn’t mask.

She pulled away far enough to look at him, her eyebrows raising questioningly. Instead of following with her normal line of interrogation
,
she relaxed back against him. “Yes.”

Dom couldn’t help the smile that spread across his features. It was what she didn’t say that spoke volumes. He twisted her around in his arms enough to face forward, sitting between his legs. With one hand he continued doctoring her wounds. The other hand snaked around and took possession of her breast, squeezing and palming
it with meaning. Without a wo
rd, he raised her sports bra
and let her breasts fall free. The moment he touched her bare skin, Vice forgot about the burning and stinging of her injuries. His fingers worked a different kind of heat through her. His fingers came up and twe
a
ked her nipple, sending a shot straight to her pussy. In
a
matter of seconds, he had her juicing where she sat, squirming in
an
attempt to relieve the budding pressure. Everything else faded into the background. His hand worked her higher and higher, sending her away from reality and out of the shadows of the past few days.
She lulled her head back against his shoulder, arching into his touches. When her hand came up to guide him lower, he smacked it away. Startled she sat up, and turned to look at him. Before she could ask, he shook his head. “No. Turn back around.” Unknowing as to why she obeyed, she did. Once she was settled back in her snuggled position, he raised both hands to trail up and down her torso in an erratic pattern. One hand would skate down her
taut
stomach, roaming south below her belly button in a taunting tease while the other played a dangerous game with
her right tit. Together, they worked in harmony.

Dom had to bite his lip in order to stay collected. Vice was the only woman who had been able to erase his need for control and submission. Right now, if she turned again and took control, chances were he would let her. He wanted nothing more than to flip her on her back and sink into her hot wetness. He could smell her arousal soaking through the thin barrier of her white cotton panties.
Damn if she wasn’t irresistible in simplicity. Granted, leather and lace were more his style, b
ut innocent cotton just made it
s way up the list to the top five.

He lowered his
assault, dipping under the waist
band of her panties just enough to tell she was well groomed. Good. He insisted his girl be shaved and clean at all times. One less thing to worry about. Before he got
carried away, he had to stop. It was time to put the true tests into place. Lesson one, turning over control. He had her submitting so far, but until he pushed the envelope, he wouldn’t know for sure.
So, as much as it pained him, he stopped. When he gently pulled her upright and moved from behind her, her hooded eyes bugged, screaming in protest.

It took all he had not to swoop her into his arms and carry her to bed. Instead, he smiled. “Get some rest.” He dropped a single kiss against her forehead and walked out without a single glance backwards.

As soon as the tent door shut behind him, Vice growled
,
“What the fuck?”
She grabbed he
r boot and tossed it
in frustration. How dare he? The audacity! What game was he playing? She stomped over to her cot and laid down, feeling the results of lack of sleep, mixed with sexual frustration and the pain that had made itself noticed the moment he quit touching her. She tried to sleep but only tossed and turned. The longer she lay awake, the more wired she became. This was going to be a long damn night.

Well into the wee hours of the morning, Vice heard noises outside the back side of her tent. She tossed on a pair of sweats and a t
-
shirt, grabbing her gun on the way out.
To hell with a battle buddy. If those fuckers thought for a second that they could come tramping up into their camp to finish what they started, they had another thing coming. She chambered a round and clicked off the safety before silently easing out of her tent. Staying one with the darkness, Vice made her way around the camp, keeping low.
When she reached the back
, she stood r
elieved. Sitting sprawled out in the cab of a Humvee was Dom, listening to
“
Cry to Me
”
by Solomon Burke. The song choice was both entertaining and confusing. He was normally a hard rock kind of guy. Seeing the softer side only added to the appeal. Stepping out of the darkness, she
walked around to the passenger side of the Humvee and opened the door.
He looked up stunned, but the diehard composure quickly returned in a moment
’
s breath.
Time to see if I can shake you up, Mr. Jeremy Jagger. Let’s have some fun.
Vice climbed in the cab on her hands and knees, ignoring the pain her body felt.

The warm breeze
trailed through the open doors and windows,
cascading over her heated flesh. Chills pebbled along
it
s surface
, drawing her nipples into tight buds beneath the thin cloth barrier
. She reached for him,
undeterred
by right and wrong. He was hers, if only for one night. After what she had just been through, she needed him more than ever, and if she had it her way, forever. Unwilling to get her hopes up
,
she gave in to the moment, and pulled her brown t
-
shirt over her head. Without saying a word, she continued to s
trip as he watched on. His defined face
was hard set and unreadable, but the fire that sparked in the depths of his
pitch black eyes told another story. Damn he was gorgeous. There had never been another man who had sto
l
e
n
her breath the way Dom did. He was pure alpha male, wrapped in a beefed up package of walking fuck me please.
When she shucked her bra, she tossed it at him playfully, earning a groan that reassured her to keep going. Once she sat beside him naked, her lips curled up into a seductive grin.

Dom couldn’t help but smile at her bluntness.
With the still fre
sh wounds visible, he knew play
time would have to be changed around. Under normal circumstances, her little display would have been grounds for punishment. Tonight, it was
only
he who received it. “Lay down with your ass scooted to the edge of the seat and your legs propped up as high as they will go.” She stared, unable to process his demands. When he growled, she
jumped
into motion. He got out of the truck and walked around to the passenger side, snatching up a wad of 550 cord out of the back. As he drew nearer, she watched him cut strips of the thin rope and moved to loop them around her ankles.
Her heart beat against her ribs, aching the cracked bones. She remained silent, not wanting him to know the extent of
her damaged body. She wouldn’
t go home and miss the mission. Justice still needed to be brought down on the scum they were after, and she was hell bent on delivering her own form of sweet revenge.
With a precision she had never seen, Dom crisscrossed the strands around her ankles and secured them from the hooks that were positioned on the roof. He paused, weighing his options. If he tied her wrists, he risked irritating the rope burns and cuts she already had. Instead, he walked up between her parted limbs and looked down at her. “Put your hands behind your head and leave them there. I don’t want to
tie them and risk hurting you.”

“Okay…” She moved them sluggishly,
still feeling the tenseness and sore muscles from her capture. What she wouldn’t give for a long soak in a hot bath. Her thoughts floated to a big overfull tub, full of
fragrant
bubbles. Sitting in the mist would be Dom, waiting with two glasses of
champagne
.
What? Why was she considering romance? He wasn’t
the romantic type. If she day
dreamed about it now, it would only lead to disappointment later. He was exactly what he appeared to be. Hard, simple, and emotionless. Which was why he had the bedroom pref
e
rences he did. If he could be in command and stay detached, it kept him from ever opening his heart and getting hurt. Some woman must have do
ne a number on him. It was sad…
because Vice could see a different person buried deep beneath the gruff crust. Dom was a sweetheart cente
r covered in a crunchy shell. He gave off a mean badass attitude, when in all actuality he was the most compassionate and caring individual she had ever met. He would do anything for anybody.