He pushed away from the door and moved toward her. She read the heated look in his eyes and her stomach did a flip. She stepped back, b.u.mping into the wall, and for the second time tonight she felt foolish.

He stopped in front of her and just stood there, silently. She couldn't talk. Her chest was rising and falling much too quickly, and her legs suddenly felt like noodles.

His gaze dropped to her wet white bra, then lifted. "If you want me to get another room, tell me now."

She didn't say anything. He lifted a hand to her neck and rubbed his thumb over the line of her jaw.

Kelsey opened her mouth but she couldn't talk. His hand trailed down, lightly, and then the warmth of it closed over her breast. He dipped his head down and kissed her mouth, once, twice, three times, as his thumb traced her nipple.

"Kelsey?"

She twined her arms around his neck and pulled him against her.

His body was hard, warm. And she didn't realize how cold she'd been until he started rubbing the heat back into her with his hands and his mouth. He touched her shoulders, her arms, her hips, filled his hands with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He kissed her ear, the side of her neck. He trailed kisses down her throat, and she tilted her head back to give him a better angle.

"I need a shower," she managed to say.

"Not yet." His hands went around to unhook her bra and then he shoved it aside. His mouth closed over the tip of her breast, and the hot burst of pleasure made her moan and press against him. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, and just when she thought she was going to melt into a puddle he lifted his head and found her mouth again.

There was an urgency to his touch now. He kissed her deeply, hard, and she tightened her arms around him and tried to give as good as she was getting. It was the way he'd kissed her earlier-raw and uninhibited-and she wanted him to keep kissing her like that and never stop. Her bra fell to the floor. She felt his hand at her waist, unb.u.t.toning her shorts, and then they slipped to her feet, and she stepped out of them, never breaking the kiss. She reached for his shirt and pulled it from his jeans, and then he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet so he could walk her backward the few steps to the bed. They bounced onto it together and she yelped.

He covered her mouth with his and pressed his weight into her, and she twined her legs around him and squeezed. He dove for her b.r.e.a.s.t.s again, and she held his head in her hands, letting her fingers curl into his hair as he licked his way down her body.

She heard a low groan of approval and propped herself on her elbows.

"Red," he said, shaking his head and staring down at the bottom half of the only girlie clothes she'd packed for the summer.

"Sorry. Haven't done laundry in a while."

He glanced up at her. "Do not apologize." He kissed his way down her legs, then back up again, lingering over the lace with his warm breath. She closed her eyes and lay back, and then she felt him stripping that away, too.

She sat up and looked at him, feeling self-conscious. He was fully clothed, and she scrambled to her knees so she could balance things out. They knelt together on the bed, and she helped him off with his T-shirt. It was wet and cool, like hers had been, but the skin beneath it was smooth and warm. She sat back on her knees to marvel at his perfect chest, and she realized she was looking at the evidence of countless hours of pain and hard work and training, and suddenly her throat tightened. He was a soldier. He would leave soon. He was going to get on a plane and go somewhere and he might never come back.

His hand combed into her hair. He tilted her head back to look at him. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

He leaned her back on the bed again, and then the urgency was back, and she put everything out of her mind except the feel of his mouth on her and the hard, heavy weight of him between her legs. The bedsprings creaked as she wrapped herself around him and pulled him closer, and she sighed at the bittersweet pain of him pressing against her.

"Oh, man," he said huskily.

She rolled her hips, teasing, and he propped up on his hands and smiled down at her in the lamplight.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you? I haven't done this in a while."

She felt a surge of happiness. A smile and and a personal admission all in one moment. "You going to embarra.s.s yourself?" a personal admission all in one moment. "You going to embarra.s.s yourself?"

He huffed out a laugh, and she saw the strain on his face. She loosened her grip on him and he stepped away from the bed to peel off his wet jeans. Her stomach fluttered as she watched him. Oh, G.o.d. She was the one who was going to embarra.s.s herself. He dug a condom out of his pocket and put it on, all the while watching her. Was that the errand he'd run? Suddenly his rejection at the dig site stung a little less.

He knelt between her legs, and then he was kissing her again, and she tasted his desire for her and none of it mattered, not his leaving or that this relationship was going nowhere. She just wanted to give herself to him and take whatever he had to give her in return.

As she opened herself up for him, their gazes locked and he pushed inside her. He watched her-his face taut-going slowly at first, and then harder, faster. Then his eyes drifted shut, and she wrapped her arms around him and urged him on with her hips.

"Kelsey, baby-"

She squeezed tighter. She lost her mind in a white-hot blaze of pleasure that went on and on and on until she thought she would die. And he held her through it, and then finally, amazingly, he gave a last powerful push and collapsed on top of her.

The moment stretched out. Neither of them said anything. Kelsey wasn't sure she could. She felt spent, boneless, too wasted to move. So she lay there with her heart thrumming underneath his and kept her eyes closed. Finally he lifted his weight off her and she took a deep breath.

He rolled onto his back and pulled her with him.

"They gave you a key," she murmured.

"I gave you you a key." He tucked her head under his chin. "It's my room." a key." He tucked her head under his chin. "It's my room."

She gazed up at the meandering crack in the ceiling. This place was a dump, and yet she didn't want to be anywhere else. Maybe it was the way he seemed so comfortable, lying there with his arms around her. Or maybe it was the way her head fit so naturally against his collarbone. She never wanted to leave.

"You finally stopped shaking."

She tipped her head back to look at him. "You warmed me up."

He ran his hand over her hip and she closed her eyes.

"I get them, too, sometimes. The flashbacks."

She opened her eyes, shocked. She never would have expected him to bring that up again, and definitely not while they were naked together for the first time. She waited for him to go on but he didn't.

"Iraq?" she asked.

"Afghanistan, mostly." He cleared his throat. "Actually, one particular night in Afghanistan."

"What happened?"

Seconds ticked by, and the room was silent except for the low hum of the air conditioner.

"I got my teammate killed."

She rested her cheek against his chest, waiting. She couldn't ask.

"I did something impulsive. In the moment, you know?" He paused. "It didn't go like I'd planned, and pretty soon Adam-that was his name-he's lying on the floor of the helo with his face half blown off, screaming for his mom. I swear to G.o.d, I'll never forget the sound of it."

She covered his hand with hers and squeezed it. Neither of them spoke as she listened to Gage's heart beat. Images of him him on the floor of some helicopter crowded her mind. For the first time, she understood why Joe had never been married. What woman could live with that sort of fear hanging over her head? on the floor of some helicopter crowded her mind. For the first time, she understood why Joe had never been married. What woman could live with that sort of fear hanging over her head?

Kelsey's chest constricted as she realized what a terrible, irreversible mistake she had made. She'd let herself fall for a man who had the power to rip her to shreds. Even if by some miracle he didn't push her away when the job was over, he could still do it. Without even wanting to, he could still break her heart.

GAGE WAITED FOR her to say something, but she didn't. Even more surprising, she didn't pat his hand and start spouting plat.i.tudes about not blaming himself and time healing all wounds or some of the other c.r.a.p he'd heard over the past three months. She just listened. He knew she was listening because he could feel her body tense under his hands. her to say something, but she didn't. Even more surprising, she didn't pat his hand and start spouting plat.i.tudes about not blaming himself and time healing all wounds or some of the other c.r.a.p he'd heard over the past three months. She just listened. He knew she was listening because he could feel her body tense under his hands.

He tried to imagine Kelsey at work in Iraq, digging up women and children and elderly people who had been executed by their own government. He didn't know a lot of people who'd sign up for a job like that.

"So"-he cleared his throat-"do you ever talk to anyone about it?"

"Not really. What about you?"

"Not really."

"I had some friends while I was there," she said. "One friend, really. I talked to him some. He was on a counterterrorism task force, so he'd seen things. He understood."

Gage wasn't sure he wanted to hear this but he persisted anyway. "You talk to him anymore?"

"Not a lot." She sounded guarded now and he knew he'd guessed right. This was an intimate friend. "We run into each other every now and then, but it's not the same. Our relationship more or less ended when I left."

He filed that away for later. How did she run into him still if the relationship was over? A sour ball of resentment formed in his stomach. Which was crazy, he knew. How could he be jealous when she wasn't even his girlfriend? This thing was temporary, and they both knew it, so why should he care who the h.e.l.l she ran into "every now and then"?

She sat up. "I'm going to take that shower now. Want to come?" She gave him a look over her shoulder that made his just-returning-to-normal pulse kick up again. Then she turned to face him, emphasizing the invitation with a view of her lush b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

He sighed. "How did I ever mistake you for skinny?"

She scowled at him and swung her legs over the side of the bed. He caught her around the waist.

"I meant that in a nice way."

"That was so so rude." She swatted his hand. "You are rude." She swatted his hand. "You are not not invited into my shower!" invited into my shower!"

He scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom, ignoring the way she pounded his chest.

"I'm serious!"

"My room, my shower." He put her on her feet in the tub, then climbed in with her. Blocking her exit with his arm, he reached over and turned on the water, and she squealed as an icy spray shot down from the faucet.

"Gage!"

He silenced her protest with a kiss, not letting her up for air until the water flowed hot and her arms draped over his shoulders and she was completely convinced of how attracted he was to her very amazing, unskinny body.

He pulled back to look at her. Lips parted, cheeks flushed, eyes glazed with desire-she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and he had the overwhelming wish to freeze this image, this moment, in his head so he could take a part of her with him when he left.

Nine.

Mia knocked again and glanced at her watch. She tapped her foot impatiently. Finally the door swung back and her jaw dropped open at the sight of the gorgeous, half-naked man standing before her.

She cast a glance over her shoulder. Yep, it was Kelsey's Suburban, parked right in front of this motel room.

"I'm sorry." She turned back to face him, and he hadn't somehow managed to put on a shirt in the intervening two seconds. She concentrated on not drooling as he looked her over with a calm, blue-eyed gaze.

"Excuse me," she said. "I think I have the wrong room."

"Mia?" Kelsey appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing here?"

Mia took in the wet hair, the bare feet, the towel in her friend's hand.

Oh, d.a.m.n. She cast an apprehensive glance at the parking lot. "Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to let you know we're here. Obviously."

The man's eyebrows tipped up. "We?"

"Yes, me. And some... colleagues." She glanced at Kelsey.

"It's okay. He knows everything." Kelsey made quick introductions, acting as if it made perfect sense for a naval lieutenant to be out here in the middle of nowhere providing security for an archaeology dig.

"Kelsey, can I talk to you for a sec? Privately?"

The lieutenant disappeared into the dim room as Kelsey stepped outside and pulled the door shut.

"Oh my gosh, Kels."

"What?"

"Where do I start? The FBI is here. The CT task force out of San Antonio. There's a briefing in ten minutes and they want you there."

The blood drained from Kelsey's face. "Blake's task force?"

"Yes."

"But what does counterterrorism have to do this?"

"Come to the briefing in ten minutes," Mia said. "Behind the diner."

Fifteen minutes later, Mia was leaning against the fender of a black SUV as Special Agent in Charge Blake Reid updated his team. Kelsey and her lieutenant, both in jeans and T-shirts now, walked over and silently joined the group.

Mia watched Blake's reaction, but he didn't miss a beat, probably because Mia had already let him know that his ex-girlfriend and the man providing her security would be attending the meeting.

"I just got off the phone with San Antonio," Blake said. "The remains sent to us by Dr. Quinn have been positively IDed as Khalid Rahim, who was working as a confidential informant for us before he went missing last January." Blake glanced at Mia. "Dr. Voss is here today with a mobile DNA lab on loan from the Delphi Center. She's going to try to get an ID on the second set of remains as soon as they're pulled from the ground." He glanced at Kelsey. "We'd appreciate your help with that."

"Of course."

"We expect to learn that the second body is that of an agent out of our Brownsville field office. He went missing at the same time as our CI while investigating a possible terrorist cell out of Mexico City."

Kelsey's brow furrowed. "Mexican terrorists?"

"Al-Qaeda," Blake corrected. "We believe this particular group is a sleeper cell that we've heard rumors about for years. At the time of his disappearance our agent had a lead on an attack they'd been plotting from their base in Mexico. Our theory is that the CI's cover got blown somehow, and then both he and our agent ended up murdered."

"Tell me about the attack." This from the SEAL.

For the first time, Blake hesitated. "We're still running a background check on you, Lieutenant Brewer. Until that's complete-"