Taken by Fire Read online

  He put his head down and said, “I can’t. I’m under direct orders not to touch you like that.”

  “From who?”

  “Devlin.”

  “Is that why he seemed so angry when he walked in on us kissing?” she asked, and he nodded. “So it’s not about keeping me a secret from your friends?”

  “What? No—not at all. I don’t give a shit who knows I like you, that I’m dying to kiss you. That I’d take you right here in the middle of the damned field if I could.”

  She inhaled a shaky breath. “It’s because I could be the enemy, isn’t it? No one wants to risk a breach of security.”

  “Could be. But I think it’s part punishment for arming you in the first place. Dev’s a strict taskmaster as a boss.” And then there was the sister thing, which Stryker didn’t want to think about.

  She gazed at the copse of trees, and just as he began to wonder where her thoughts had gone, she spoke. “When I engage my power, how exactly does it affect yours?”

  “You haven’t noticed that when you work your powers, you turn me on?”

  She blinked. “Oh. I meant like how it was in the plane, how mine seemed to make yours sort of unpredictable. But now that you say it … I’d hoped the turn-on stuff wasn’t only my powers … but you know … forget it.”

  Damn, this new relationship stuff was hard. No wonder Gabe always looked like his nose was out of joint. “Mel, I’m attracted to you. I would be, whether or not your powers pulled at mine. The arousal isn’t what makes me fall for you, okay? The fact that I want to have sex with you when your powers turn me on is an added bonus.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.” He shook his head. Thought about Oz and his damned prediction. Thought about telling Mel what Oz had said and decided against it. “Look, let’s just get to work.”

  “But it’s going to be … painful for you.”

  “More so if Devlin finds out I didn’t teach you anything,” he said. “Just give me a little ice, okay?”

  “Yes, sir.” She faced the forest. “Brace yourself.”

  She shot out a blast of ice shards that stripped the bark off a tree, and Jesus, what that would do to a person …

  She cut herself off as quickly as she could.

  It hadn’t been quick enough for him, though.

  He took a deep breath as the rumble started inside his body, which he tamped down by sheer force of will.

  His cock didn’t pay any mind, remained obviously rock hard. And painfully so.

  “Stryker?”

  “Don’t worry about me. Try again. Think refrigerator instead of freezer. Think soft-serve ice cream.”

  “Right. Got it. I’m starving for ice cream now, by the way.”

  “Concentrate,” he said through gritted teeth. Thought about her naked, splayed for him. Thought about driving into her wet heat until she was screaming his name … wondered if he could find a place to jerk off where she wouldn’t notice.

  She was staring at him and he pointed in the direction of the woods. “Ice. Now.”

  She complied then, sending a cold cone of air whistling toward the trees in a powerful stream that he’d seen kill a man back in Rome.

  He nearly doubled over. “Again.”

  Throwing out her hand, she somehow made snow swirl over the green canopy of trees.

  It was like someone was yanking his nuts out of his body through his throat. “Again,” he rasped, because said testicles were lodged in his esophagus.

  A massive wave of cold coated all the trees in frost.

  He was on his knees at this point. He ached—his body was one giant throb of need; this was the most effective torture Devlin could have ever devised for him.

  “My powers are almost out.”

  Thank fucking God. “Keep going.”

  “I don’t want to do this anymore,” she murmured. “I’m killing you.”

  “No one’s ever died from blue balls,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  Well, no, he wasn’t fine at all. And as she let off the last of her icy blasts, his body was rocked with the most painful urges he’d ever felt. He clawed the ground and tried to breathe, looked anywhere but at Mel, and his eyes fell on the waterfall.

  His erection was a steel rod and fucking painful. Hell, maybe this would be the best thing for him—a cold shower times a million.

  He took off at a dead run, not stopping until he hit the water. Kept going until his body was under the freezing wash and he was shivering.

  Bye-bye, erection; hello, hypothermia.

  “Stryker—are you okay?” Melanie was asking, from directly in front of him. She’d stripped naked, her skin glistening with crystal water droplets, but she didn’t seem affected by the cold at all. Well, her nipples were pert, hard little buds … and this wasn’t helping anything.

  “You’ll freeze.”

  “Um, no. Cold doesn’t affect me. At all.” She glanced down. “Doesn’t appear to be doing you much good either.”

  “Fuck. Mel, please, just give me a few minutes.”

  But she was in his arms then, her mouth on his, so damned warm and willing, her legs wrapped around his waist. His body felt right against hers, his body continuing to beg for mercy from his arousal in an all-consuming way, until he couldn’t think straight … couldn’t see straight.

  That wasn’t from hypothermia either.

  Her fingers wound through his wet hair and his hands held her hips, moved them back and forth, wanting nothing more than to be inside of her, right here and now.

  But fuck, he couldn’t. He promised Devlin, and he did not go back on his word.

  He pulled back, rested his forehead against hers. “Sorry, Mel,” he said over the slight rushing roar of the water, his voice raw.

  “I’m not.” Her blond hair was slicked back from her face, accenting how goddamned beautiful she was, her eyes bright and clear. “I won’t play a part in torturing you anymore. If we continue to do this, we have to work together, no matter what it takes. And I’ll tell Dev that, right after I make you feel better.”

  “Can’t,” he said through chattering teeth.

  “You have to. It’s as much a part of your needs as breathing, Stryker. You can’t be expected to fight your nature.”

  “I have to be strong.”

  “You are,” she told him. “You’re the first person not related to me to stick up for me, in the face of your friends and fellow agents. Your boss. If that’s not strong, I don’t know what is.”

  He allowed her to lead him out of the water and toward the car. She opened the hatch of his SUV and helped him tug off his clothes. He crawled inside while she started the car and put the heat up to full blast. And then she got in, shut the hatch, and cuddled next to him.

  She grabbed the fire blanket, spread it over them, and that, combined with her heat, warmed him. Her kisses covered his neck and then drifted lower as he groaned, and yeah, so much for Dev’s order.

  Stryker might have been cold at one point, but right now, all Mel felt emanating from him was heat and the promise of raw, erotic sex.

  Sunlight streamed through the windows and spread over Stryker’s tan skin, highlighting his ropey muscles, chiseled features, and broad warrior build as he reared up over her to adjust their positions in the cramped space. God, he was a sight to behold when he was aroused, and she doubted there was a female alive who wouldn’t feel her hormones shift into overdrive if she was in Mel’s shoes. Or out of her shoes, as it were.

  As the blanket fell away, she caught sight of his cock, jutting upward so the head tapped against his carved abs. She dragged her gaze down, following the thick veins to the tawny nest of springy curls, and then lower, to the heavy sac beneath. She couldn’t tear her eyes away, realized that for all the times they’d had sex, she’d never actually taken the time to explore him.

  Or taste him.

  Stryker shoved one half of the split b
ackseat forward, creating more room, but when he started to lower himself next to her, she gripped his hips and stilled him.

  “What are you doing?” His voice was beautifully gruff, and his eyes darkened as she leaned in, mouth watering.

  “Something I’ve never done.” She closed her palm around him and caressed, long strokes up and down.

  Lowering her head, she put the tip of her tongue to the tip of his cock. His breath hissed, and she loved that. Loved this. The texture of his tight skin was like nothing she’d ever had on her tongue, and his flavor was incredible. Clean, yet smoky, and she wanted more.

  Slowly, she swirled her tongue over the head of him, and then took the entire cap fully in her mouth. His sharp inhale filled her with satisfaction, and experimentally, she added a little suction.

  “Jesus,” he moaned. “You said you’ve never done this before?”

  A sudden flare of doubt had her lifting her head. What if she was bad at this? He’d probably been with plenty of women who knew what they were doing, and while the very idea of some other woman doing this to him made her ill, so did the thought that she’d be so inept he wouldn’t enjoy it.

  “Hey,” he said, his hand coming down to pet her hair. “You okay?”

  In her palm, his shaft jumped as if complaining about the lack of attention. “I’m fine. But what if I’m terrible at this?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? What you’ve already done affected me like no one else has.”

  She melted a little … and then went back to her task with a vengeance. The moment her lips slid over his cock again, Stryker groaned, his fist tightening in her hair. He let her play, exploring everything about him, from his flavor to his reactions when she touched different areas or changed the pressure or speed of her strokes.

  “That’s so good,” he breathed, as she dragged the flat of her wet tongue down the underside of his shaft, pausing at the very base to place a lingering kiss there. The sound of his breathing changed, becoming raspier and faster, and when she went even lower with her mouth, his thighs trembled. He liked that.

  The knowledge made her smile as she licked him, lapping at the tight skin. Gently, she opened her mouth and sucked one ball inside to bounce it on her tongue, all the while keeping up the fist action.

  “Mel,” he gasped. “I need to … move.”

  She nodded, and as he started to pump his hips a little, she realized why his thighs had been shaking; he’d been trying to hold still, maybe so he didn’t frighten her. Oh, he couldn’t do that. Not with sex.

  She worked her way back up, fascinated by the way he rolled his hips into her touch, her lips, and when she took him deep in her mouth, the thrust of his pelvis brought the head all the way to the back of her throat.

  “Sorry,” he rasped. “Fuck … better … stop.” And yet, he continued to pump, and she was fine with that.

  Totally fine. She was practically shaking with excitement, and her own arousal had become so consuming that she was rubbing her sex on her heel, working herself to near orgasm.

  The SUV rocked with his motions, and she offered up a quick prayer that no one was in the area to see it, especially since, in the afternoon heat, the windows hadn’t fogged up.

  Shifting because her knees were digging into something lumpy beneath the carpet, Mel gripped the hard globe of Stryker’s ass cheek for leverage, increased the tempo of her strokes, and flicked her tongue over his head as she sucked.

  “Stop.” He tugged on her hair, but no way was she stopping. Instinct told her he was close, and she definitely sensed a change in him. His cock swelled, throbbed, and he even felt hotter.

  “Mel … shit … I’m going to come.” He tried to scoot backward, bumping his head on the roof, but she dug her nails into his ass and held him in place. He hissed, and then shouted as his orgasm took him.

  Warm, salty fluid jetted into her mouth, and she moaned at his wild, musky essence. The pumping of his hips became jerky and irregular, and she thought maybe it was a sensitivity thing, if men were anything like women. Slowly, she drew her mouth up, sucking the last drops from him as her mouth popped free.

  “Damn,” he breathed. His head was back, eyes closed, and he was panting as he came down. “Damn.” And then his head dropped forward, and the wicked smile on his face made her heart thump with excitement. “Your turn.”

  Before she could even gasp, he grabbed her, flipped her around and over the back of the seat so she was hanging with her butt in the air. She cried out in surprise, and then she cried out in ecstasy when he spread her thighs and buried his tongue in her sex from behind.

  “You’re so wet,” he said against her, and the vibrations almost set her off. “I love this.”

  She did too. His tongue plunged in and out of her twice more before he licked her valley from clit to core over and over, never lingering in one place long enough to let her detonate. His thumbs spread her wide, allowing this clever tongue to get everywhere.

  “Do you like this?” He swirled his tongue around her entrance. “Do you like the feel of my tongue tasting you? Or …” He latched his lips onto her clit and sucked, and she cried out with the beginnings of release. “Do you like me to suck you off?”

  “B-both,” she gasped.

  “Not done with the options,” he said. And he proved that by penetrating her with his tongue. “Do you like me to fuck you with my tongue? Or …” He put his entire mouth on her core and did some sort of combination lick/flick/suck/swallow that made her scream. “Oh, yeah, you like that. You like it when I go down on you so hard that’s all you can feel while I’m swallowing your juices.”

  He did it again, and this time, he let her have what she wanted. The climax rocked her from her feet to her scalp, and she shouted into the seat as she clawed at the leather. The ripples were seismic waves that set her off again and again, helped along by the lashing of his tongue.

  As the fourth climax peaked, he dragged her from over the back of the seat into his lap, impaling her on his cock so her spine was against his chest. He fell back, planting his fists in the carpet as she grabbed the seat and pumped, working herself through the orgasm that was intensified by the scrape of his cock against her sensitive tissues inside.

  “Faster, Mel,” he breathed. “Fuck me. Fuck me hard.”

  There was no other choice. Her body demanded more and had no trouble following his order. Her silky arousal coated him until they were gliding like they were on oiled rails, and the wet sounds of skin slapping skin filled the vehicle.

  “Yeah, oh … yeah.” His hips came off the floor, bucking her upward so she barely missed banging her head, but it would have been worth the bump. Would have been worth a damned concussion, because as he filled her with hot come, she blasted to another orgasm in an explosion that made her see stars.

  Gasping, trembling, she fell back on top of him. His breath sawed in and out as he gathered her in his arms and rolled so they were tucked, spooning, together. Gradually, her thundering heartbeat slowed, and a beautiful, bone-melting exhaustion set in. They’d had some intense sex, but that just beat everything. Because this hadn’t been sex of need. This had been sex of want, and for the first time, she understood the power of it.

  And for the first time, she felt sorry for Phoebe, because Melanie had no doubt that her sister had never known anything so wonderful.

  * * *

  The stinging tickle in Mel’s scalp was what woke her up. She sat up with a startled gasp, unsure where she was, and she jumped when Stryker’s hand came down on her leg.

  “Hey, you okay?”

  She blinked, bringing him into focus as he lay on the floor of the SUV. He’d pulled the blanket over them, and at some point, the sun had gone down, leaving them in dusky twilight.

  “Yeah.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. “Yeah. I need a shot, though.”

  He patted the floor behind him and came up with his pants. After digging around in the pockets, he handed her a syringe. Quickly, she injected t
he contents and snuggled down in the blanket with Stryker again.

  “This is nice,” she said on a yawn. “I’ve never done this before.”

  “Sleep in the back of an SUV?”

  “Sleep with a man, silly.” She feathered her fingers over his cheekbone, taking what was probably an inordinate amount of pleasure from the simple act. “What was it like to grow up with your family?”

  His hand swept up and down her back. “I guess the best way to put it is that no matter what, I always had someone to turn to. My parents were there when I needed them, but they also had the guts to stand back and let me make my own mistakes.”

  That sounded so … perfect. “Where do they live? Are they nearby? Are they like you?”

  He smiled fondly. “They’re like me. Mom can manipulate water, and my dad is an empath. They’re in England right now. Dev sent them to The Aquarius Group in an agency exchange thing. I talk to them about once a week.”

  “Brothers? Sisters?”

  His toes curled against hers playfully, and she wiggled them back. “I’m an only child.”

  “Was it lonely?”

  “Sometimes, I guess. But it also taught me a lot of independence.”

  “Do you ever wish you had siblings?”

  “Nope. Can’t imagine that with your evil twin you really miss having them either.”

  She’d thought about that a lot when she was younger. “I would love to have a brother or sister who isn’t hell-bent on destroying me.” Stryker tensed, a very subtle hardening of his muscles. “Don’t worry. Phoebe won’t win. I won’t let her. It would just be nice to have family. Someone to call on Christmas day, you know? An overprotective brother or a sister I could shop with. You know, normal stuff.”

  “Trust me,” he muttered, “you don’t want an overprotective brother. I don’t want you to have an overprotective brother.” He tugged her securely against him. “And besides, a family is what you make. The people you choose to surround yourself with. Blood doesn’t make family.”

  “You’re very wise for an only child,” she teased, and then, suddenly, she found herself flat on her back with Stryker on top of her.