He seemed stunned for a moment, and then he shook his head.

“You silly fool,” he said. “Don’t you understand that I’m trying to protect you? There are people who want me dead. They blew up my boat! If you stay with me, they’ll kill you too.”

“They think you’re already dead,” she said, rolling her eyes at him. “And even if they don’t, we’ll fight them together. I’m not some kind of doll who can’t talk and think and act, you know. I have this gun and I’m willing to use it to protect what we have. Don’t imagine for one moment I wouldn’t. What kind of pansy do you think I am?”

He looked at her steadily for a moment, and then shook his head.

“I’m not going to change your mind, am I?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head firmly. “You aren’t. You can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it’s going to end the same.”

“Do you have any idea how much seeing you hold that gun is turning me on?”

His comment was so startling that she blinked, unsure of what to say. In that instant he struck, pulling the gun away from her and flinging it across the room. He twisted her arm up behind her, pulling her against his body. She’d gone from being completely in charge of the situation to helpless hostage in less than ten seconds. She felt the length of his body up and down her front, the unmistakable bulge of his erect cock pushing against her belly.

She looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes as she realized she’d failed. He’d just been toying with her. She’d been easy prey for him, and all her thoughts of empowerment meant nothing.

She wanted to bash herself over the head in sheer disgust.

His eyes searched her face, the warmth she’d seen in them earlier completely gone. Instead there was a need, a desire so intense she could hardly fathom it. His mouth came down over hers, and his strong hands crushed her against his body.

Unable to stop herself, she followed his lead, pushing her body against him. She wanted to crawl into him, drink up his essence. The layers of clothing between them scratched at her and she wanted them gone. She needed his touch, now.

He felt the same. She could see it in his every move, feel it in the urgency of his hands against her body.

He wasn’t holding her arms prisoner any longer. She was free to hold him, and she wrapped them around his neck as he hoisted her in his arms. He carried her over to the low, metal desk, lips glued to hers. His tongue thrust in and out, giving her no chance to reciprocate. He wanted her and he was taking her. It was that simple.

Then he pulled his mouth away from hers. Of one mind, they scrabbled at their clothing. Her jeans came off and his came down, and then they were in each other’s arms once more. He lifted her bottom to the desk, pulling it forward to the edge. His cock thrust into her. Hard.

His entry was harsh, no room for tenderness in his touch. He was taking her, claiming her, just as he’d clamed her initially. Again and again he thrust into her, and she pushed back, more aroused than she’d ever been in her life. If he was a stallion mounting her, she was the mare. She wanted him, needed him.

When her orgasm hit, she clawed at him, gasping and bucking like a wild animal. Then he burst within her, shooting his seed high into her body. They collapsed together, spent, their heaving breath echoing through the small concrete hut.

“Wow,” she said softly, unsure of what should happen next.

He gave a little laugh and leaned his forehead against hers, eyes closed for a moment. Then he opened them and looked directly into her face.

“What now?” he asked.

“I won’t let you leave me again,” she firmly. “I’ll hunt you, Sean. You don’t have the right to end this without me. We’re together now, and there’s no way you can deny that.”

“You’re right,” he said softly. “We are together now, and I don’t have the right to end it by myself.”

She pulled back, startled by his easy capitulation.

“How long do you think I would have lasted without you?” he asked, laughing lightly. “By the time I got the phone call from Valzar, I was about to call him. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t live without you. I know it’s dangerous for you to be stay with me, but I’m not going to give you up.”

“I’m not going to give you up either,” she replied. “We’ll just take things as they come. We’ve been pretty lucky so far, you know.”

“Lucky?” he asked snorting. “How do you figure?”

“Well, neither of us has killed the other yet,” she said lightly. “Considering the circumstances, I’d say that’s pretty damn lucky. So now what?”

“Well, we have a plane waiting for us,” he said. “Valzar has a leak in his organization, so he’s not setting anything up for us this time. We’re hoping that whoever blew up the boat doesn’t realize we’re alive.

They’re going to report that four bodies were found instead of two. If they believe the reports, we may be safe.”

“I don’t want to endanger anyone else,” she said seriously. “You know, it’s one thing for you and I to make a decision like this. Skip and Jose didn’t know what they were in for.”

“Yes, they did,” Sean said quietly. “There weren’t any secrets there. But I agree with you, I don’t want to see that happen again. From now on it’s just you and me.”

“So, I guess we go out now?” she asked, looking toward the door. “I would imagine some of the people out there are pretty pissed off at me right now. I hope you’ll stand between us…”

He laughed and dropped a kiss to her nose.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “I’ll always be with you, whatever comes next. We’re in this together.

Although I do have one concern.”

“What?” she asked, suddenly anxious.

“I think we should put our clothes back on first.”

* * *

Valzar leaned back against the jeep casually, hands in his pocket. Sean and his woman were taxiing down the small, primitive runway in a little Cessna. Soon they’d be gone, and he had no idea if he’d ever hear from them again. It would probably be for the best if he didn’t.

There were serious flaws in his organization, leaks that needed to be plugged, sources that needed to be cut off. Two good men had died in that boat blast, and it was just dumb luck that Sean and Sandra were still alive.

He suspected that Rosa might have something to do with it, although he wasn’t sure. He had a lot of suspicions. Now he just had to give his people enough rope to hang themselves. Then the entire house of cards would fall, and he could pick up the pieces of his organization and move forward.

The Cessna was in position now, and he could hear its engines roaring as Sean started his takeoff. The little plane charged down the runway, and then the wheels lifted off the ground. Up into the air it soared, smoothly sailing over the treetops until it was a speck in the distance. Then it was completely gone.

Something like sadness washed over him. Sean had been a good friend for many years, and he was sorry to see him go. He didn’t like to admit it, but he felt something else, too. Envy. Envy touched with jealousy. Sandra was a woman willing to fight to the death for her man. When he’d first met her, he’d thought her weak, but he knew better now. She might be soft and subtle, but she was hardly weak. She was a tigress, and a worthy mate for his friend.

He turned away from the airstrip and nodded to his driver. For a man who had walked six miles through the jungle, he seemed surprisingly unfazed. The driver came around and opened the SUV door for him, and he got in, noting that the leather seats were as perfect and undisturbed as ever. The SUV had cost him nearly 100,000 when all was said and done, fully customized and capable of surviving a hail of bullets. This car was one of ten or twenty that he owned, spread out across the various countries and islands where he did his business. Like him, it was self-contained, holding everything he needed to survive and manage his empire.

For one brief moment he wondered what it would be like if he had met Sandra, if she had fallen in love with in him instead of Sean. Of course, he had many women in his life. They fell all over him. After all, he was rich, powerful, relatively young and handsome.

He could snap his finger and have any woman he wanted.

But he knew deep down inside that none of them were interested in him. They liked his money, his power. They found him sexy because he was dangerous. They giggled with their girlfriends over him, and talked about him in hushed whispers. Briefly, he found himself wishing that he had a woman like Sandra, a woman who would risk her life to stay with him. A woman interested in more than his money and power.

His cell phone rang and he picked it up automatically. It was his lieutenant; they’d found one of the spies.

All business now, Valzar listened closely to the man’s words, his mind spinning through possibilities and planning his next step.

As the SUV pulled away from the airstrip, he didn’t give a thought to the wish he’d made just seconds earlier. Like so many of his wishes in life, it hung in the air behind him, left behind.

Just another forgotten wish…