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Cora
When Jack had shoved me into a corner, I’d started to worry that Huntley wouldn’t get the chance to rescue me. There had been no way for me to catch my fall. Not after he had wrapped so much duct tape around my wrists that you couldn’t see the rope underneath and followed that up with circling it around my ankles and slapping a strip over my mouth. And he hadn’t been careful with how much force he’d used, either—barely sparing me a glance when I cried out. He’d ignored me, pacing back and forth while muttering beneath his breath about how wrong his plan had gone. After warning his now-dead partner about Huntley’s threat earlier, he didn’t seem too worried about me getting hurt, and I figured that didn’t bode well for my safety.
I was starting to doubt that I’d make it out of this warehouse alive when Huntley showed up with a few other guys. And then I was afraid Jack would kill him instead when he’d turned to look at me, but in the end, everything turned out okay. I’d never have to worry about the hulking guy who would’ve been more than happy to kill me because Jack was the one who died instead.
Tears of relief streamed down my cheeks as Huntley prowled toward me. After dropping to his knees, he set his rifle on the floor to his left and carefully removed the duct tape from over my mouth. He was still gently tugging strands of my hair from the adhesive—since Jack had gone overboard and wrapped it all the way around my head—when I gasped, “You have no idea how glad I am to see you.”
“Probably about as fucking happy as I am to have found you relatively unharmed.” He freed the rest of my hair from the tape and tilted my head back to press his forehead against mine. “If I’d been even just a few minutes later, that bastard might’ve lost it and—”
I closed the gap between our mouths to stop whatever he’d been about to say. I only meant for it to be a quick brush of our lips, but Huntley took control and deepened the kiss. His tongue demanded entry to tangle with mine, stealing my breath until I forgot where we were. But when I tried to lift my hands to grip his shoulders, I let out a little disgruntled whimper because they were still tied and taped. “Fuck, sorry, gingersnap. You have the unique ability to make me lose my head.”
I was grinning like a loon while he went to work at releasing my ankles and wrists. If anyone had seen me, they probably would’ve wondered if being taken hostage and seeing three men die had made me lose touch with reality, but I couldn't help smiling at the realization of how much of an impact I had on Huntley. When I was finally free from all the tape, I heaved a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you for rescuing me.”
“You don’t have to thank me, gingersnap.” He stood and helped me to my feet since my legs were a bit wobbly. “I’ll always come for you because you’re mine. Nobody will ever take you away from me.”
Although I understood how the robbery could’ve changed his mind about the reasons he’d been trying to stay away from me, I was worried about how quick he’d moved from telling me we couldn’t date to calling me his. “That’s not just the adrenaline talking, right?”
“Not even close.” His lips curved into a rueful grin as he shook his head. “I’ve been in combat situations with bullets flying all around me, and I’ve never once felt the need to claim a woman as my own when it was all over. Only you, Cora. You make me feel things I’ve never experienced before.”
I flashed him a watery grin, overwhelmed in the very best way over how he was finally opening up. “It’s the same for me.”
“I’m sorry it took nearly losing you for me to pull my head out of my ass.” He pulled me against his chest, burying his face into the crook of my shoulder. “I was so fucking worried about what could go wrong when I was deployed and what that would do to you, I didn’t stop to think about the fact that danger can be close to home, too. That it could be me struggling with the idea of something happening to you. When I realized my only regret today was the time we lost because I didn’t make you mine sooner, that put it all into perspective for me.”
His heartfelt confession erased my doubts over the speed of his change of heart. “I had similar thoughts when I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it out of this warehouse alive.”
“Fuck,” he groaned as he held me tighter.
“Ahem.” Huntley moved so quickly that I was completely blocked from sight, and he had his rifle back in his hands before my brain registered that the police had arrived. It took hours—and a trip to the station in the back of five squad cars since they wanted to keep all of us separated—to answer all of their questions about the robbery, my time as a hostage, Jack killing his partner, and Jack’s death. They were ready to let me go much sooner than Huntley, but I refused to leave without him. Not when I was the reason he was being interrogated in the first place. If the cops had decided to arrest him, I wanted to be there. Luckily, it hadn’t come down to that because the prosecutor agreed with the detectives about it being a clear-cut case of self-defense since my statement made it obvious that Jack was getting ready to attack.
When we walked out of the police station, Huntley’s SUV was parked at the front curb. The guys who’d come with him to rescue me were leaning against the side of the vehicle, and a big black pickup truck idled behind them with a man I didn’t recognize at the wheel. Huntley lifted his chin in greeting toward him before leading me toward the group by his SUV. He shook each guy’s hand before tucking me against his side. “Things went FUBAR before there was a chance for introductions. Cora, these are a few of my buddies, Cash, Stirling, and Deacon.”
“Nice to meet you all.” I flashed the men a watery smile before pressing my hand over my heart. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me tonight.”
Stirling winked at me, and a growl rumbled up Huntley’s chest as his friend said, “No thanks needed.”
Cash’s lips curved at the edges as he crossed his arms over his chest, but Deacon flat out grinned. “Trust me, getting to see how territorial Huntley is with you is more than sufficient payment.”
Huntley shouldered his way past his friends, tugging me along with him. “And on that note, we’re outta here.”
It was obvious from their laughter that the guys weren’t offended by our exit, so I waited until we pulled away to say anything. “You didn’t have to rush your friends off like that. They risked their lives for me, too.”
“You’ll have plenty of time to get to know them later.” He reached over to squeeze my thigh. “Right now, I need to have you all to myself.”
I laced my fingers through his and leaned back in my seat. “As long as our alone time includes a shower and some food, that sounds great to me.”
“You’ve got a deal,” he quickly agreed.
Less than ten minutes later, Huntley pulled the SUV into the garage of a small house in a community about a mile from the base. He didn’t waste any time in getting us inside and leading me through his bedroom to the bathroom. “I’ll cook while you shower.”
Before my brain had a chance to catch up with my mouth, I asked, “Don’t you want to take one with me?”
“More than I can say.” His hands fisted so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “But I’m trying to do the right thing here, gingersnap. You went through something scary as fuck today, and I don’t want to take advantage of the adrenaline high you’re experiencing right now. You need food, and I’m going to head into the kitchen because I don’t trust myself to stay in here with you for even another minute.”
“I need you more than a meal.”
My soft confession snapped Huntley’s control. He closed the distance between us, cupping my cheeks with his hands as he lowered his head to capture my lips. His hard-on pressed against my belly while he devoured my mouth, our tongues tangling as I clutched his shoulders for balance. When he started to pull back, I wasn’t ready for the kiss to end and whimpered in protest. “Don’t worry, gingersnap. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna put an end to this now. You want me? You’ve fucking got me.”
A thrill of triumph raced up my spine as he turned on the shower and began to help me out of my dirty clothes. When only my bra and panties were left, he quickly stripped down to his boxer briefs. Then he checked the temperature of the water before flicking open my bra clasp and tugging the straps down my arms. His eyes were full of heat as he palmed my breasts and brushed his lips over the hard peaks. “You’re so fucking gorgeous.”
