Twitch and the guys leapt to their feet, greeting Emily and nodding their admiration.
“Hooyah! Emily. It’s good to see you safe.” Tox turned to Nathan. “Her dad’s been looped in. He’s headed down shortly.”
Harris headed straight for the food. “Emily, coffee? Nosh?”
Nathan turned his back to the group greeting them and headed for the nearest guest room with Emily in tow. “Go get yourselves some dinner.”
Tox eyed the side table, piled high with sandwiches and snacks. Twitch jerked her head towards the door. Harris grabbed two go-cups of coffee, handed one to Assam, and the four of them headed out.
Nathan had no sooner kicked the door shut with his foot than he took Emily’s face gently between his rough palms and kissed her like she was the air he needed to breathe. He led her into the small but elegantly appointed hotel bathroom, started the shower, and proceeded to peel her out of the yoga clothes. Emily went to work on his belt. In record time, they were entwined under the steady flow of water. Emily kissed his neck, bit his shoulder, and ground against him with an urgency that expressed her fear and vulnerability more clearly than words ever could.
“The foreplay will have to wait. I need you inside me now.” She beat him to the punch with her words.
“You read my mind.”
With that, Nathan hoisted her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist and plunged into her. He was moving harder than he meant to, faster than he meant to, but the primal need to mate had taken over. Thrust and retreat, over and over, as he held her ass in both hands and attacked her breasts with his mouth. Emily tightened around him and came with an explosive cry. He joined her a stroke later, spilled into her in what felt like an endless stream. They stood silently for a moment, still connected, the water beating down.
“You okay?”
“Never better.” She smiled against his lips.
Nathan set her on her jellied legs and reached for the shampoo. He skimmed his hands down her arms and sides, stopping at the bandage on her arm.
“They removed a small tracker implant in my shoulder. The cut on my arm must have been an injury they stitched. My dad? Have you talked to him?”
“He’s on his way.”
“Good.”
They finished the shower and entered the bedroom in thick white hotel robes. Nathan pulled Emily onto the bed and held her against his chest.
“Talk to me.”
“I’m fine. That was nothing. My trainer in Georgia once hogtied me in a tree and left me to escape it. Strapped in a hospital bed is child’s play.”
Nathan didn’t speak. He just waited calmly. Emily nuzzled Nathan’s breastbone. They both let out a long-pained sigh, and Nathan wrapped her more tightly in his arms. Emily broke the silence.
“It’s harder when you love someone. They didn’t just take me; they took me from you. Emotion steals focus, but it was impossible to put all that stuff in a box in my mind and just do what I was trained to do.”
“Unpack that box, Em. You’ve spent too long stuffing down your feelings. Emotions can cloud your judgment, but they can also drive you, give you strength.”
“I was scared. I just wanted to get to you.”
“I was on my way. You beat me to the punch.”
She looked up at him with a grin, “Your girlfriend is a ninja.”
“That may be the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.”
After another, slower round of lovemaking, he stood and pulled Emily with him. “Come on. I’ve got some sweats in the closet. After we debrief, I plan on keeping you safe and sound at home with nothing but food and showers and sex and sleep for the next week.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “That’s exactly what I imagined when I was running away. Only you were in a superhero costume.”
“Please tell me it was combat stuff.”
“Nope—tights, cape, the whole deal.”
“Well, I needed to calm my hard-on down. That did it.”
“You won’t wear a spandex Captain America onesie for me?”
“Emily, for you I would wear nothing but a fig leaf and swing from a vine.”
“Mmm.”
“And there goes my hard-on again. Come on. Get changed so we can get back to the good stuff.”