Free Taken by Surprise by Tonya Ramagos

against his chest, the beat increasing as her gaze danced over his face. "One day this tie is going to come off, and you and I are going to play." He dropped a hand to her delectable ass, pulling her closer against him. Sanity teetered as need drove him to say words he knew he shouldn't say, to make a promise he knew he should never put to voice. "When that happens, it will be more than this delicious body I take." He wouldn't stop until he claimed her heart.
    She gasped, a quickly indrawn breath that sounded of too many emotions to name. He surprised her, maybe even frightened her. Good.
    Jackson didn't release her. Not yet. He took a moment to store the memory, to bottle the eclectic scent of her arousal and the innate fragrance he always associated with her. He cataloged the feel of her quivering body against him, the press of her ample breasts to his chest, the way his engorged cock stabbed at the hard plane of her tummy.
    When he finally stepped back, he knew he had crossed a line with her in the last few minutes that could never be retraced. From here, they would either move forward, or lose everything forever.
    That realization made anger slice through him. She pushed him. She always pushed him. For years, she never attempted to conceal her attraction to him, never made a secret of what she wanted from him despite their association at work, despite his close friendship with her brother. For years, he hid, resisted her advances, fought not to take because he knew he wouldn't be satisfied with only part of her. He wanted it all.
    "I've got a plane to catch." He picked up his suitcases and stepped around her. He sensed her turn, felt her gaze following his progress. She didn't reach for him, didn't move to stop him. "Lock the door when you leave."
    Jackson walked down the hallway and out the front door of his apartment. He didn't look back. He could take seeing a bit of fear in her expression. The promise he made, his intent to take all of her, would certainly scare a woman like Mallory Stone. He could take seeing anger. She wasn't one to stand placidly by while someone attempted to take control of anything from her. But if he saw more tears in her eyes, if he knew the sole responsibility for putting them there fell on his shoulders, God help him. If he hurt her just now, he would never forgive himself.
    * * * *
     

    Cambodian forest
     
    Rhonda heard the thrum of helicopter blades, spotted the distant outline of two military Blackhawks in the slowly brightening sky, and knew they had missed their chance of getting out of the forest tonight. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and got ready to listen to the stream of curses sure to split the silence. She heard only the faint sound of Michael's slightly labored breathing.
    "That was our ride out of here, wasn't it?" She studied Michael's stern expression, realizing pain more than anger caused his lips to set in a grim line. He had been hurt back at the compound. She didn't know exactly where or how extensively. She only knew he sustained at least one injury, and she feared it was far worse than the "ding" alpha males of Michael's type loved to claim.
    "Yes." Michael didn't sound angry. He sounded pensive, as if he had already moved on to plan B.
    Preston would have been ranting right about now, tossing out every foul-mouthed word in the dictionary, calling the pilots of those Blackhawks every obscene name he could think of for leaving. Michael remained calm, controlled, accepting.
    She should stop comparing the two men. The contrast between Michael and her ex topped the charts. Nine years of being subjected to constant negativity and anger over nearly every setback, no matter how big or small, made it difficult to not expect the same behavior from Michael.
    "I thought, after that episode with the pangolin back there, we might miss it." The pangolin they mistakenly took for a tango.
    They had veered off course after that, zigzagging this way and that, winding