Safe in His Arms (17 page)

“Mandy, you gotta stop, baby. You’re killing me with tears, come on now.”

He rubbed her back reassuringly but, when he shifted her against him, his erection burned against her hip, amazing her all over again. The man
was
always hard. “I’m not having sex with you in the ocean, Mac,” she muttered into his chest.

He froze in mid-stroke and chuckled. She felt his warm breath on her neck right behind her ear for a sizzling moment, then he nipped against her earlobe. A flash of liquid heat burned all the way to her pussy.

“Oh, yeah? It might be fun. Soon, though, soon we’re going to ease this heat. It’s the price for the rescue. That and a blow job. I really want a blow job, sugar.”

She laughed and tipped her head up to look him in the eyes. “You’re such a jarhead. You’re the one that got me into this mess! Why would you get a blow job for rescuing me?”

Mac frowned down at her. “Jarheads are Marines.”

She laughed again. “So? You’re practically bald.”

“I’m not bald.” He looked offended.

His hair was longer, deliciously so, but she wasn’t letting him know she liked it. “Well, your ears are too big this way.”

He squeezed her butt and pressed her tighter to his hips, and she nearly moaned at the feel of his hard, long erection. “The only thing you ever thought too big was my cock, baby, and we made sure it wasn’t.”

Ah, God, that was sexy. “You’re insane, you know that, right?”

A quick wink and he took her mouth in a fierce kiss, driving her crazy with his big hands kneading her the entire time. She threw in the towel at resisting him. She’d just survived a plunge into the ocean, crossed shark-infested waters, and wanted this—him—now, damn it.

She kissed him back with as much possessive heat as she could muster. She couldn’t get enough. She gripped him by his hair and tangled her tongue with his in a battle to show him just what she wanted. She wanted more. She wanted
him
.
Mac.

With a low growl, he hitched her closer and rocked his erection right between her thighs, managing to hit all the right places within seconds. Right when she was ready to rip his clothes off, he breathlessly broke the kiss and grinned down at her.

“Holy hell, sugar, you’re gonna get more than you bargained for. Come on, we gotta get you out of this water. I say we head for the bigger island.” He jerked his chin to the left.

She followed his gaze, trying to tell her body she wasn’t getting to play with Mac right now, but her pussy ached. It felt swollen and so empty she wanted to beg him to simply take her now—screw the sharks, the cartel, and whoever else wanted to kill them—she wanted sex. Now. With Mac. She just needed him, holding her, and making love to her for the rest of the day—or for the rest of their lives.

The thought sobered her up. She couldn’t have the rest of her life, could she? Not with Mac. Not until they had managed to find her stalker and kill him first. She’d realised that in the helicopter. Watching Mac, she’d known, until they found the attacker, she’d never have Mac, never have what she saw shimmering so wonderfully in front of her. First, they had to survive the cartel, then find the attacker. Then, well, then she needed to explain that she couldn’t be with him unless he left his missions. Her or the Navy. Could she do that to him? Be that selfish?

“Mandy? See that, that’s where we have to go.”

She blinked and took a deep breath and pressed her hands against his chest, reassured by his steady heartbeat. He set her down from where he’d been teasing her with his big erection, but kept her close, so close his heat warmed her all the way to her water-logged toes.

The island he’d indicated looked miles away. He tipped her face up with a knuckle under her chin and looked down at her with a concerned expression that quickly turned to a smug grin. “You regretting that offer at the club now, are you?”

A laugh burst free. He’d always done that, made her laugh as a kid when things had been bad. But this was serious. Their lives were in danger. “I regret getting on a plane three days ago, now.”

He grinned and bent to whisper in her ear, “I regret not pulling those damn bikini bottoms down and giving you a ride on something much more fun than the waves yesterday, Mandy.”

Oh God.
His voice deepened on her name and he brushed a hot kiss to her throat, while he manoeuvred one hand between them to cup her breast. She gasped when his fingers found her hardened nipple. He groaned huskily, making her even hotter. “Every night for the past five years I’ve dreamt of nothing else but you, taking you, every fucking way known to man, baby. And then some. Now, get your head on straight so I can get the one above my belt working.”

He let her go except for her hand and cleared his throat, not looking down at her again but focused on the distance with an intensity she envied. How was she supposed to think of anything but him?
He’d dreamt of her
. Of having sex with her for five years? Did he realise she’d done the same? This was her fault. She should have come to him as soon as the attack had happened. Should have called base, got hold of him instead of not trusting him to protect her and himself.

“We head there.” He pointed and she followed his arm to see two mountains peeking out from the choppy water. Both looked wild. And far.

She glanced back up to him, but he was surveying the land mass like he could gauge the distance and the time it would take them to get there. He probably was. The sun had darkened his skin over the past five years. He had more lines on his face and the lock of lighter hair at his forehead now had a scar under it. When he met her eyes again, she tried to hold in how much she loved him. Every crazy inch of him. He’d dreamt of her at night. She’d dreamt of him morning, noon and night. Only Mac. Always, only him. No one compared, no one ever came close to him.

“It’s far, but, if we keep on, we’ll be there in an hour. You were in Africa, you know what to expect. Just remember we stay together.”

She rolled her eyes. “Mac, I was in a desert climate or—”

“It was still wild. I know you, I know you didn’t stay at your base, but went wherever if you were needed.”

The accusation in his tone sent a tiny thrill through her. He’d checked into her, she was certain, but until he’d growled that down at her she hadn’t realised he’d probably freaked out at where she’d been. He slid his hand up to cradle the side of her face. “I never meant to hurt you that night.”

The admission was so unexpected she blinked. Her throat closed up too tight to talk so she nodded again. Whatever he saw in her expression seemed to satisfy him because he flashed a smile, breaking the serious moment. “Good, now, let’s walk. It might be easier for you to swim. Just stay close.”

As soon as he let her go and she lost his body heat, she shivered. The clear ocean here freaked her out, but all she saw was sand under her feet. No sharks. She took a step then another. It was hard, the water lapped at her, but Mac kept touching her reassuringly and he scanned the area constantly, soothing some of her biggest fears.

“There might be sharks, right?”

He nodded tightly. “If we see one, we’ll stop moving.”

“And do what? Wait?”

“For it to pass. They won’t attack us, Mandy. Just remember—”

“To stay close, yep, got that.” She grinned at him.

He shook his head, but he remained alert. They bumped into each other often, but she knew he did it on purpose. After what felt like hours, he stopped them to make her drink water.

She was starving.

“I’m hoping you have food in there because I’m not eating bugs. Or worms.”

He swallowed his mouthful of water before winking. “We’ll find something, but I have food. Don’t worry. Now, jump on my back, I’ll swim us a bit.”

“What? No way.” She wiped the water off her face again, taking a minute to gauge the distance to the island. It was much farther than she wanted it to be. She was so tired of being wet.

“Just get on my back. It’s getting tougher out here and it’s going to get deeper soon.”

The waves had picked up, tugging them this way and that, but she really wanted to walk, rather than swim in deep, maybe shark-infested water.

“I can go a bit longer, then you can save the day, boy scout.”

He squinted down at her and she had the feeling he struggled not to just pick her up. Finally, he shrugged one big shoulder. “Sugar, you are a pain in the ass.”

“I keep telling you that, but you won’t listen.” She stumbled on a rough patch of higher sand bar and Mac caught her arm, steadying her.

“You’re only a pain in the ass because you won’t listen to reason.”

“I don’t hear reason. We’re both out here in the middle of the freakin’ ocean. We’re both tired. You were in a gunfight before we made that crazy sprint for the helicopter. If we’d simply hid, like I said, we’d not be here, would we?”

“Damn, baby, we’re in the ocean not
da Nile
.”

“Smart-ass.” She hated that denial joke. She knew he was trying to get a rise out of her. Probably so she wouldn’t fall to her knees and stop moving. It was hard walking. The sand made it difficult to walk and her combat boots only made it harder, but she knew Mac wouldn’t let her take them off so she didn’t even ask. Her pants were too big and the ocean kept tugging at the material, making walking a chore. “I’m tired, but so are you.”

Brushing her wet hair off her forehead with one big hand, he focused on her face. “I’m also trained to carry packs in water heavier than you, small fry. Under fire. For days. In hurricanes, not bright, sunny days in the tropics.”

Sheesh.
“Fine. In a bit, okay?” She could be stubborn too.

He dropped his hand and shook his head. “All right. But if you slow down, your ass is up and over.”

That shouldn’t be sexy, but with everything else about Mac, it was. She concentrated on wading through the waves and off him as much as possible.

The mountains of the island began to slowly take up her view, blocking everything else, but the closer they grew, the more alert Mac became. Without warning, he picked her up and hauled her on his back.

“Hey!” She hadn’t even slowed down.

“Shoulders, now.”

Mac jostled her so she had a leg hooked over his shoulder and hoisted her the rest of the way up at the same time that she saw the two fins above the surface twenty feet from them.

“Oh, God, oh, God, oh, Mac, don’t you dare get bitten by a shark.” As a child she’d hated it when he and Robbie had gone out into the ocean, diving under where she couldn’t see and too far out for her to tag along. She’d always thought they’d both get eaten by sharks.

“Shhh, baby, shhh. It’s okay. Just let them go on their way. Look and see if you can spot some beach on that mountain for me.”

“Beach?” she whispered. Her teeth began to chatter and she felt her breath catch. The combination of the breeze and her wet clothes with sharks circling was not good for her asthma and she fought the rising panic—or tried to. “Mac, they’re getting closer!”

“Mandy, let me deal with the sharks. They won’t come near us if I stand still. Now, the beach. Tell me what you see.”

Mandy tightened her legs on his neck, then panicked that she’d hurt him. Trying not to watch the large sharks moving closer in a circular pattern, she focused on the island and spotted white. Jerking her attention back down, she saw the sharks had moved off a bit. “Are they leaving?”

Mac shifted her but didn’t move his lower body. “Let’s just give them some time. You see beach?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“Good, good. Where?”

“Straight ahead and to the left of that big, rocky, dark brown part? See that craggy rock? Twelve o’clock, I think?”

He nodded and squeezed her calves with his hands. “Yep, got it. Not far. Half hour, hour tops we’ll be out of this water. You’re doing great, Mandy.”

She stayed quiet. He didn’t appear troubled by giving her a ride on his shoulders, but she knew he had to be exhausted. His training made him tough, but he was only a man. From her vantage point she saw the sharks swimming farther away until she lost sight of them. “They’re gone, right? It’s safe now?”

Mac patted her knees. “Yep, let’s make a break for it.”

Mandy wiggled down and eased back into the water. It felt warmer now, after she had been out of it in the cold air for so long. Taking a deep breath, she was going to tease him when she felt something hit him and knock her backwards a step.

“Don’t move!” Mac didn’t shout but his voice had turned so rough she froze. A second later and she held in a scream as he drew a big, jagged-edged knife out from his belt.

Life felt like it had slowed down. She spotted a fin on her left then Mac’s knife rise up and slash downward. He dived under immediately after and her scream burst free.

Chapter Fifteen

The shark was a big one. Mac let its side swipe him again to get a feel for just how big. The salt water stung his eyes but he could clearly see the grey shape circling him. At least it wanted him and not Mandy. He waited until the beast circled back and punched it hard in the snout. It shook its head but came around again quickly for an attack this time. A tiger shark—alone, he hoped. Mac hit it with his knife on the left and struck out again with his knife under its belly before it could swim away.