And he swore that before the night was done, he would.
Chapter Two
The ringing of her phone woke Sydney. Her hand flew out automatically, reaching for her nightstand—for the phone. But instead of scooping up her phone, her fingers collided with warm, strong flesh.
Not a dream.
Her eyes snapped open, and she found herself staring straight into Gunner’s dark gaze. There was no sleepiness in that gaze, just a deep hunger.
For her.
Then he reached out and grabbed the ringing phone from her nightstand. Silently, he handed it to her.
“S-Sydney Sloan.” Her fingers tightened around the phone. Gunner’s tanned fingers were sliding down her arm.
Goose bumps rose on her flesh as she remembered the night before. The things he’d done to her. What she’d done to him.
More, please.
“Sydney?” Logan barked. “Sydney, are you okay?”
She shot up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest. “I’m fine. Just...sleeping.” Gunner didn’t stop stroking her. He raised himself, and his lips brushed over her shoulder.
She shivered.
“Look, I know you were due to have a few weeks off, but we’ve got a case that we can’t refuse. I’ve got you booked on a jet to Peru at three today.”
Peru.
“I’m going to call Gunner and Cale. They’ll be meeting up with you there.”
I can tell Gunner. He’s right here kissing me, lying naked next to me. She cleared her throat. “What’s the case?” She hadn’t been back to Peru in two years. Not since Slade had died in that jungle, and the place had nearly become her own grave, too.
“An American is being held hostage by a group of rebels.”
Hostage rescue. That was what their team did best.
“He needs us,” Logan said. “So be on that plane.”
“I’ll be there,” she whispered, and then, because Logan would figure the situation out when he had to make reservations for Gunner—and those flight reservations had Gunner leaving from Baton Rouge, Sydney said, “Now hold on, and I’ll get Gunner for you.”
Gunner’s gaze rose to hers. She knew that her cheeks flushed; she could feel the burn. But this wasn’t the time for secrets. They had a case to work. And when a civilian’s life was on the line, there wasn’t room for embarrassment.
Gunner took the phone from her but didn’t look away from her eyes. “Gunner.”
There was a beat of silence. Then Sydney rolled away from Gunner and climbed from the bed before she could overhear Logan’s response to the discovery that Gunner was so close she could just, ahem, hand him her phone first thing in the morning.
She grabbed for a robe. Her body ached in a way that felt so good, and she hated that their time together was already ending.
No, not ending. They were just beginning. They’d turned a corner last night, and there would be no going back for them.
“I’ll be there,” she heard Gunner say, and she looked up as he ended the call.
No man should look as sexy as he did. His hair was a little tousled. A line of stubble coated his square jaw, and his eyes blazed as they raked over her.
“We have at least six hours,” Gunner told her.
Six hours.