Ghostwalker 05 - Deadly Game

hadn't taken much prior to his capture in the Congo, but he'd thought that part of his life was long gone. Mari had changed everything. His body was hard and full and one painful ache with just the slight brush of her soft skin against him.
    Nothing had gotten him revved up since his return from Africa, nothing and no one until Mari. Could pheromones possibly be that powerful? So powerful that he was not only sexually attracted, but emotionally drawn to her as well?
    He walked her across the room without answering her. Just thinking about sex was enough to make him feel wild.

    After a few minutes, Mari emerged from the bathroom pale, her body swaying. Ken didn't wait for her to try to walk back to the bed. He swept her up, cradling her against his chest. For a moment she was stiff, holding her body away from his, resistance running through her.
    "Don't fight me. You're as weak as a kitten right now. You can do push-ups tomorrow, but for right now, I'm putting you back in bed."
    She stared up at him with her big, dark eyes and her sinfully full lips and a look somewhere between an innocent and a temptress, and he knew he was lost. "Damn it all to hell," he muttered, stalking across the room and placing her on the bed. "You can't look at me like that, Mari."
    He bent down, framing her face, thumbs sliding over her soft skin once before he took possession of her mouth. He had thought – hoped – that that first kiss had been a fluke, but the moment he touched her lips, teasing and tugging with his teeth until she opened for him, he was in instant meltdown. He kissed her over and over, stealing her breath, giving her his own, drowning in need.
    She was frying his brain. He couldn't even think clearly, his head roaring, thunder in his ears, his heart pounding, and his body so hard and rigid, he rubbed his palm over the thick bulge desperate for relief. She had done that – made him come alive, feel like a man again.
    She'd given him back his life, and if he took what her dark gaze was offering, he might completely destroy hers.
    Ken forced himself away from the edge of madness, jerking his hand away from her and stepping back to shove his fingers through his hair in agitation. His breath came in ragged gasps. He wanted her so much that for one moment he couldn't think coherently, couldn't think about anything but her soft skin and lush body. He took another step back. "This is crazy. Go back to sleep."
    "I'm thirsty."
    His gaze jumped to her face. "I'm doing my best to look out for you, Mari, and you're not making it easy."
    "I'll be good, but I really am thirsty."
    She sat up a little tentatively, and he leaned in to arrange her pillows. His arm brushed her breast, and he bit out a curse between clenched teeth. Ken poured water into a glass and shoved it at her, careful not to let their fingers touch.
    She brought the glass to her lips, dragging his attention back to her mouth. He nearly groaned watching her throat work as she swallowed the water. He dragged a chair to the side of the bed and straddled it, leaning his arms on the top of the back and resting his chin on his hands. "You never wince or avert your eyes when you look at me."

    Mari pressed the glass against her temple. "Do people really do that?"
    "Of course they do, look at me."
    "I have been looking at you." Her gaze drifted over his face and dipped lower to follow the scars disappearing into his shirt. There was blatant interest in her eyes. "People are idiots."
    "God, woman, you're not safe." He took a breath, let it out, and forced his mind away from her sinful mouth. "Tell me about the compound. How could military personnel and, I'm guessing, lab techs be there and not realize what was going on?" She was too much of a temptation to him sitting there looking vulnerable and drowsy and eyeing him like he might be candy.
    She shrugged, hiding her smile at his reaction to her. "The compound is multilayered and they rotate the soldiers coming in fairly often. From the outside, the place looks fairly innocuous. The ground layer has a few buildings, sheds, the airstrip, helicopter landing, that sort of thing, with high fences and a security system. The regular military guards stay aboveground and are housed in aboveground barracks. Most of the regular lab techs have their barracks above ground as well."
    "You live below ground?"
    "We always have. Four floors down. There are two laboratories above us. The first one is for show. That's where he takes men like