Everything she’d ever been was washed away as this new being of pure sensation was being revealed within her. She flung her head back, keening a cry of ecstasy as her first-ever climax burst over her without warning. It electrified her in a blinding shower of tingling sparks, streaking through her like chain lightning, ripping her apart with its power, sending bits of her flying in a thousand different directions.
Jeff rolled over then, pressing her deep into the warm sand as she shuddered around his length and steely power. He took over the rhythm of the ocean and the night, finding her pace and matching it with unerring accuracy. He invaded her very core, now slamming fast and hard, now stroking with aching slowness, until she climbed his chest, clawing him urgently as yet another explosion built, even more powerful than the first one.
“Sing for me, baby,” he crooned.
And sing she did. Her legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him even deeper within her as she surged beneath him in total abandon. Their love was a wild thing, bigger than the two of them, bigger than the ocean behind them, bigger than the entire universe, forcing them both to surrender to it completely.
And in that final moment, when they both let go together, they exploded as one, overtaken by an instant of such perfection it stole their breath away. They gazed deep into each other’s eyes in wonder as pleasure rolled over both of them, all but ripping consciousness away from them.
Kat descended back into herself slowly. She became aware of Jeff’s sand-covered shoulder pressed against her cheek. She reached up languidly to loop her arms around his neck while he pressed himself up onto his elbows to stare down at her.
“Holy Mother,” he murmured in awe.
She smiled up at him tentatively. “No regrets, then? All of me, for better or worse?”
His mouth curved up into a devilish smile. “In sickness and health, until death do us part, darlin’.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think you’re rushing things just a bit? We’ve known each other a grand total of three days. Even I’m not insane enough to leap into marriage on that short a courtship.”
Of course, if she’d stayed in Korea, she might very well have entered into an arranged marriage whereby she would never have seen the groom, let alone spoken to him before the wedding. Had he lived another few years until she was old enough to marry, she suspected Hidoshi would have been just that old school about it. He’d have married her off into one of the handful of remaining ninja clans. What would he have thought of Jeff? After all, Jeff was a highly trained warrior in the modern tradition. Hidoshi might have found it an interesting match-the meshing of old and new.
Jeff rolled over, drawing her on top of him. He grinned up at her. “You’re right. Three days is too soon. I’ll give it a full week. After all, I’m patient. But even you understand that this is a done deal between us. Right?”
A done deal? Was she ready to admit that? The reality of the naked man sprawled beneath her was hard to ignore. But it was a complete departure from anything she’d ever even remotely envisioned for her life. Was she ready to abandon a lifetime of solitude and monkish asceticism to embrace this new and foreign world of emotion and passion and impulsiveness?
Kat had no idea how to answer Jeff’s question. What he was asking of her was huge. Life changing. She’d always considered herself to be courageous, but at this exact moment, she was scared to death. She was standing on the edge of a cliff. Once she stepped off it, there would be no going back. Jeff would sweep her into a new life with him and there’d be no fighting the power of his overwhelming determination to make her his once she gave into it. Such was the promise-and the danger-of Cupid’s Bolt.
Suddenly, something moved abruptly a few feet away. Her discarded jeans wiggled slightly and made a faint buzzing sound. Jeff whipped her over on her back, covering her body protectively with his from this new threat.
“I highly doubt my cell phone is going to assassinate me,” she commented wryly.
“Your-” Jeff sagged on top of her. “Being around you is shooting my nerves all to hell.”
As he rolled half off her so she could reach for the phone, she said, “Then relax already. I can take care of myself.” Still smiling up at him, she answered her phone. “Go ahead.”
It was Aleesha. “Sorry to interrupt your fight-or maybe you two are making up by now, and I’m
Kat blushed fiercely. Thank goodness Aleesha hadn’t sprung that line on her in person! She managed to choke out casually enough, “What’s up?”
“News. We know who the Ghost stole the disk from. Or at least we’ve got a very good idea. I’m afraid you two need to cut your little tryst short and get back here.”
Kat was profoundly relieved that their conversation had been cut off when it had. Jeff rolled to his feet in a single powerful move. He was swearing under his breath as he reached for his discarded clothes-something to the effect of work having a way of interrupting when a person least needed or wanted the interruption. Poor guy. The timing really had sucked from his point of view.
They sprinted back to the cottage, which not only worked out some of the lingering sexual energy between them, but also shook most of the telltale sand out of their hair and clothes.
Aleesha wasted no time in briefing them when they burst back into the warmth and light of the cottage. “Turns out the Ghost robbed an Indian tycoon’s estate a few weeks back.”
Kat nodded. She recalled Jeff’s summary to her of the robbery.
“This Indian fellow just got our frisky Russian oil minister to agree to sell a whole bunch of oil futures to India that were slated to go to the United States. The folks at H.O.T. Watch say the State Department has been wondering how the Indians pulled off the deal. It was apparently quite a coup for India and a big blow to the U.S.”
Jeff interjected. “So, the Indian guy blackmailed the Russian guy. Why was the video in Chinese, then? If the Chinese took the footage, why wouldn’t they have used it themselves to blackmail the Russian into selling them the oil?”
Aleesha shrugged. “Could be they got a ton of money by selling the footage. Could be our Indian guy acquired it by doing a private deal of his own. Could be he stole the video. Hard to tell.”
Kat interjected. “So we still don’t know who the commandos are.”
Aleesha nodded. “Correct.” She threw an apologetic glance over at Jeff as she continued, “Cobra, I floated your idea of impersonating the Ghost to the gang at H.O.T. Watch Ops.”
“And?” Kat asked with ill-disguised interest.
Another apologetic look at Jeff from Aleesha. “They loved the idea. General Wittenauer has already greenlighted the op.”
Jeff’s jaw went rock hard, and Kat thought she detected a hint of redness around his ears. Without a word, he pivoted stiffly and walked out of the room. The back door slammed. Hard. She might have kept her face still and calm, but she flinched all the way down to the bottom of her soul.
The Medusas looked over at her expectantly.
Aleesha asked gently, “You gonna go after him and talk to him?”
Kat sighed heavily. “It wouldn’t do any good. We’ve both said all we have to say on the matter. He can’t stand watching me take risks, and I can’t give up what I do or who I am.”
Aleesha studied her long and hard-until Kat had to actively clamp down on an urge to squirm. Finally, the Jamaican said, “This op isn’t going to be a picnic. You sure you’re up for this mission? It’s going to take one hundred percent of your focus and concentration.”
Kat knew exactly what Aleesha was asking. Was she too emotionally involved with Jeff to give the job her full attention? Kat sighed. Who knew for sure? One thing she did know. She couldn’t possibly back out on this mission now and live with herself. She’d drawn her line in the sand with Jeff. He had to accept her career, or there’d be no future for them.
Belatedly, she answered, “I’ll be okay. Let’s just get on with it.”
But in her heart of hearts, she wasn’t so sure things were going to be okay at all. She and the Medusas had steamrolled right over Jeff, and he wasn’t going to take kindly to that. At the end of the day, he was exactly what he’d said he was-traditional, protective and used to being in charge. It had been too much to ask him to accept her profession-heck, her true identity.
Likewise, she’d made her choice. She was a warrior first and a woman second.
But, God, it hurt to see him go.
