“No.” Kennedy’s voice came from right behind her.
She was so startled, she whirled around and almost collided with Kennedy. “I don’t mind the fl—” She inhaled sharply when she saw the look in Kennedy’s eyes. Dangerous but not threatening. Hungry but not angry.
“No, I don’t think you’re after my money.” Kennedy stood so close Ryden felt her breath with every word spoken.
“G…good, because I don’t give a damn about how much you earn, Kennedy.”
“Good. And my name, Ryden,” Kennedy stressed her name provocatively, “is Harper.” Her gaze never strayed from Ryden’s eyes.
“I know.” She couldn’t stop looking at Kennedy’s mouth.
“And no, I don’t think you’re evil or deliberately hurt anyone.”
“When did you change your mind?”
“When you took that bullet for me.” Kennedy ran one finger up Ryden’s injured arm, caressing it lightly and slowly under the blanket. “That shot was meant for me. If you hadn’t shoved me, it could’ve gotten me in the heart. You didn’t know I had a vest on.”
“I saw him aiming at you.” She was surprised to be answering coherently. Kennedy’s eyes and touch were mesmerizing and put her completely off balance.
“I’m grateful you did.”
“So, are you okay with the couch?”
Kennedy ignored her question and surprised Ryden with one of her own. “What do you feel right now?”
Ryden swallowed hard. She was breathing even harder. “My stomach, it’s fluttering.”
“Mine, too.” Kennedy licked her lips and Ryden’s whole body reacted.
Contrary to anything she’d ever done, she let the blanket fall from her shoulders and placed her hand behind Kennedy’s neck. She pulled her close and, with their mouths touching, said, “I want…” Then she kissed Kennedy softly on the lips and pulled back.
Beneath her hand, she felt Kennedy shiver. As she ran her fingers through Kennedy’s hair, she was filled with an excitement and aggression she’d never known before.
Kennedy gently placed her arms around her waist and pulled her close. She felt dizzy with desire, the pain a distant memory.
“Tell me,” Kennedy whispered.
“I want to kiss you so much I can’t feel my shoulder.”
Kennedy looked from her mouth to her eyes. “Show me, Ryden.” She sounded breathless.
Ryden involuntarily moaned before she pulled Kennedy’s mouth to hers. She kissed Kennedy slowly, licking and sweetly biting her lips, and when their tongues finally met, both moaned in unison. Ryden had never kissed anyone so thoroughly, so passionately, and had definitely never wanted so much to rip someone’s clothes off to feel every inch of their beautiful body.
As though her hand had a will of its own, her fingers threaded through Kennedy’s hair, stroked her neck, then caressed a lazy path down her back, where she felt Kennedy’s muscles tighten at her touch. “This is crazy,” she said in Kennedy’s mouth, unable to let go of those lips. “I don’t want to stop kissing you.”
She felt Kennedy smile against her mouth. “I don’t want you to.”
She attacked Kennedy’s mouth again and sucked her tongue. She moved her hand from Kennedy’s back to her ass and Kennedy moaned.
“Yes.” Kennedy encouraged her, her voice a hoarse whisper.
Ryden pulled their pelvises tighter together, massaging Kennedy’s ass as they kissed.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Kennedy said. “If we don’t stop, I’m going to—”
She didn’t wait for the rest. She grabbed Kennedy’s hand and brought it to her breast. “Touch me.”
Kennedy cupped her breast and Ryden threw her head back, so overcome with ecstasy she saw stars behind her closed eyelids. In a heartbeat, Kennedy unclasped Ryden’s bra and gently caressed her nipples. Men never touched her like this; their fumbling efforts were always abrupt and brief, and her breasts were often an afterthought, a short, unsatisfying prelude to what they really wanted. She was melting under Kennedy’s hands. She almost screamed in pleasure when Kennedy pinched her nipples. “I need your mouth there,” she managed, her heart pounding in her ears.
Kennedy kissed her fiercely once more before she bent to kiss her breasts.
She ran her hands through Kennedy’s hair as Kennedy massaged and licked her nipples. The stimulation was so intense she was rapidly nearing climax. “Harder. Please, Harper.” She lightly pulled on Kennedy’s hair.
Kennedy sucked hard on her nipples.
“Oh, God. I’m…please, don’t stop.” This was another new moment for Ryden. She was about to come, and Kennedy had never even gone under her belt. Was that possible?
“Come for me.” Kennedy sucked one nipple as she massaged the other.
“I want to.” Ryden’s legs trembled, her stomach tightened, then her whole body spasmed as a powerful orgasm shot through her. She would have dropped to the floor if Kennedy hadn’t held her tight. Out of breath, she rested her head on Kennedy’s shoulder. “I didn’t know that was possible.”
Kennedy laughed. “Are you all right?”
“Embarrassed, but yes. I’ve never come with anyone, let alone without…”
Kennedy squeezed her tight, mindful of her shoulder. “Don’t ever feel embarrassed for who or how you are.”
Ryden looked at her. “I don’t want to, not anymore.”
“How’s your arm?”
“Okay, I think, but—”
Suddenly, Kennedy froze and placed her finger over Ryden’s mouth. “Chopper.” She pointed up.
“Helicopter?” Ryden whispered. “Your people?”
Kennedy grabbed the shirt and hoodie off the chair and thrust them toward her. “They would’ve called to say they were coming. Get dressed.”
Chapter Thirty-five
Shield grabbed the Walther from the table and killed the lights. She wanted to berate herself for letting her guard down even for a moment, but she couldn’t regret the past few minutes and the way Ryden made her feel. “There’s a bucket in the kitchen. Fill it up and extinguish the fire,” she told Ryden as she went to the window to try to locate the chopper. She saw a pair of searchlights from above, scanning the terrain southeast of the safe house.
“They can’t possibly know where we are.” Ryden awkwardly poured water over the fire, one-handed. It sizzled and sent out a cloud of steam as it died.
“We have to get out of here.”
“Go where?”
“Jack wasn’t kidding. This TQ will do anything to find us.”
“Jack? Is that the woman who helped us?”
Shield nodded.
“How can they know we’re in this cabin? There are plenty of other houses not too far from here.”
“And I’m sure they have orders to search them all.”
“This hasn’t been used in years.”
“And they’ve probably seen the smoke,” Shield pointed out. “The pilot’s already informed TQ’s footmen of the location. It won’t be long before they storm through the door or blast the place.” She went to the back door and peered out through the small window. “Let’s go.” She gestured to Ryden.
She held Ryden’s hand as they dodged the searchlights and made it across the open field that separated the safe house from the massive park.
“You okay?” Shield asked when they stopped for air well into the tree line.
“Yeah, don’t worry about me. I’ve been through worse.”
“Sure you have,” Shield replied dubiously.
“Hey, I outran every foster-brother bully and their idiot friends. You think some guys in the sky can catch me?” Ryden cradled her arm, the discomfort evident in her voice.
“Gotta hand it to you, Wagner. You don’t take anything lying down.”