LOGINBLAKEMoving away from a very needy, passionate Sophia was probably the hardest thing I had ever done.Still, I had forced myself away from the woman I wanted more than I had ever wanted anything or anyone in my entire life, and moved across the room. I was sitting on the corner of the desk, my hands clenched and my eyes turned away from her tempting shape sprawled out on the small sofa of my office.It can't happen like this. I can't fuck her when she's vulnerable.And truly, I did want to strip her naked and take her on the desk, on the floor, up against the wall...it didn't matter where or how it happened. As long as it was hot, fast, and intense.I needed to claim the woman I had waited the last twelve years to be with again.Maybe I hadn't admitted it to myself consciously, but something buried deep inside me knew that nobody except Sophia would ever be the woman I wanted.Had I come close to fucking other women? Yes.Had I gone through with it? No.Using another female wouldn't
"I've called in every favor I'm owed in Washington, and I've asked every friend I have there to help."More tears leaked from my eyes as I told him in an unsteady voice, "Thank you."What else could I say to a man who was using every resource he had to try to get my sister out of a hostile area alive?"Not a big deal," he dismissed. "Your sister rescued three American kids.""Debby would never consider herself a hero. Didn't you hear her say not to release any of the prisoners we're holding?""I heard her. Does she speak any foreign languages? Any chance she understands what they're saying?"I nodded. "She understands them. There's very few languages she can't speak, and she spends a lot of time in the Middle East.""Wow," Blake cursed. "Then she has to believe that they aren't going to let her leave there alive.""That's what I'm afraid of right now," I confessed breathlessly.I was so nervous I nearly jumped off the couch as Blake's cell phone rang. I sat up and moved away from him
Rushing over to where he sat, I noticed the video player on the computer screen, but the image had been paused."My brothers tried to warn me the same way. They've already watched it. I have to see it," I begged, placing my hand on his shoulder."She looks like she's been hurt, Sophia. You need to prepare yourself for the fact that she isn't being treated well.""Show me, Blake. I'm not a child. I want to see my sister," I told him firmly.Maybe it would be a shock, but I wasn't hiding from reality.He clicked the play button on the video, starting it.The picture was unclear, and I couldn't understand the language being spoken over the footage, but I focused on my sister intently, ignoring the foreign words to look at Debby as Blake expanded the image to fill the screen.Her face was bruised and swollen, and her long, beautiful hair that she complained about so often had been cut so short that the unseen kidnapper could barely get a grip on it to force her head toward the camera.The
He smiled. "I'm meant to be on break. Honestly, I've had more made up breaks since becoming Marcus than actual ones in my whole life."My mouth curved into a small smile. Somehow, I couldn't picture Senator Roberts taking many days off.We traveled much further than I expected, not reaching the entrance to Blake's property for at least fifteen or twenty minutes. "You weren't joking," I remarked. "This looks almost like a farm.""It is," he replied simply. "Mostly cows. I have a breeding program.""You're a farmer?" Okay, I was just a bit taken aback.He rolled down his window and typed in a code to open the gate before answering, "I think most real cattle operations would call me a breeder and this a hobby property. I don't have enough land to truly raise cattle, and that was never my goal. I'm more interested in creating new varieties.""I take it you didn't study political science in university," I said.He laughed and shook his head as he drove through the entrance. "Not at all. En
SOPHIA It wasn't until the next afternoon that I finally managed to organize my thoughts about Marcus and Blake. Truthfully, I didn't know Marcus. We'd exchanged words once about Debby, and I'd seen him a few times during my childhood. Blake...I knew in every way possible. And I was becoming accustomed to the truth that the person I'd been with twelve years earlier was actually Blake. I released a long breath as I pulled on hiking boots. There was still no news about my sister, and my patience was completely gone. Even terrible information would be preferable to this uncertain state I found myself in. A sudden banging on my lodge room door made me jump. "Sophia." Blake's voice traveled through the heavy wood. After tying my second boot quickly, I was on my feet within moments, hurrying to the door to discover what Blake had learned. I swung the door open, breathing fast with anxiety. "What's going on? What did you find out?" Blake moved past me into my room without explaini
"My parents died in a car accident years ago, so there is just me, Debby, and my three brothers. They all know. Jett told them. Since he got injured on the last mission, he did not have much of a choice. I think they are all trying to get information from different sources. I could not wait any longer. I came to ask Marcus to help when we kept hitting obstacles from conventional methods. I did not realize he had never told anyone but Blake about PRO. Pretty much all of their covers were exposed." "Only to some of the governments," Christine responded. "Basically the very people they did not want to know about them. Our government did not leak the information to the public, so Marcus did not have to tell Aileen or the rest of the family." I thought about how worried this woman probably was about her husband, and I felt guilty. "I am sorry. Really, none of the Roberts family should have had to get involved." "I do not blame you," Christine replied in a quiet voice. "If I had a siblin
She shook her head but started talking anyway. “Natalie thinks I have post-traumatic stress.” Zane raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?” He didn’t know much about mental health, but he was willing to bet that most people who went through what Ellie had would show signs of post-traumatic stress.
“I have to cut my hair,” she murmured. “It’s damaged, and to get it healthy again I have to cut most of it off.” What had taken her years to grow long and healthy would be gone in minutes. Zane looked confused. “Then just cut it. It will grow back.” “It’s the only thing I’ve ever liked about how
“Believe me, I need you,” Zane said honestly, a double meaning in his words, his body reacting just from sitting across from her at the fucking kitchen table. He admitted he wanted her, but not in a way he could tell Ellie. “Will you let me pay you back from my paycheck for the car and other th
ZANE How many days had he been searching? One day had blended into the next, and Zane had been so focused on his mission that he hadn’t done anything else except drink water so he wouldn’t pass out. He was glad he had bought the new SUV a month or two ago. It was snowing heavily at this high a







