Not hard enough to hurt, but definitely not gentle.
Rain dripped from his thick hair, running in a rivulet down his cut face. He lowered his head toward hers. “What in the blazes are you doing?”
She gasped, struggling to breathe, trying to keep focused. “The guns. You have the ones that shoot fire.” Her breath panting out, she tried not to notice how easily he held her a foot off the ground. “I saw the drugs, Kellach. The vials. You bastard.”
He frowned. “Damn it, Alexandra.” Slowly, as if to show her how much control he was exerting, he lowered her to the ground and drew out his weapon.
She gasped, the tree to her back, death to her front.
He turned and fired at a cottonwood. A green laser shot from the gun and impacted with the tree, blowing out the middle. Bark disintegrated, and the tree toppled down, hitting several others on the way.
She gaped and shoved water from her eyes. “What the hell?”
“Laser not fire.” Kellach grabbed her hand and slammed the gun into it. “It’s treason for me to even show you this.” Lifting her arm, he aimed the weapon at another cottonwood. “Go for it.”
She lowered her chin, curiosity tingling her hand, and gently squeezed the trigger. A green beam shot out, exploded against the tree, and took out about a foot of trunk. Leaves and branches rained down as the tree toppled.
She swallowed. “I don’t understand.”
“Proprietary weaponry that turns lasers into bullets. No fire, you feisty pain in the ass.” Putting his hand over hers, he retook his weapon. “Not what you’ve been searching for, but apparently what you found.”
Oops. She lifted her head, her heart rate slowing. “What about the vials?”
He tucked the gun in the back of his jeans and took a step back. “My guess? Apollo.”
She straightened. “Guess?”
He wiped water off his forehead. “Aye. My brothers and I all use the cabin. Adam has been conducting research to figure the crap out. My guess is that he did some out here and left the vials, since he couldn’t keep them in our known residences.”
“Oh.”
Kell turned and gripped her lapels, pushing her against the tree. “We are not manufacturing, distributing, or selling Apollo, and we definitely want it off the street more than you do.”
Well, since he put it that way.
“What about Duck? You bailed him out,” she said.
Kell’s jaw hardened in a way that revealed a vein in his neck, making him appear more than a little pissed off. “Pyro told me to bail out his useless nephew, and as part of Fire, I did it. But I dropped the prick at home and moved on.”
She swallowed. “Oh.”
“Believe me, I wouldn’t waste time killing someone like him.” Kell’s voice lowered, and his gaze wandered her face. “You’re all wet.”
That quickly, with three words, her system shot from red alert to inferno. Every ounce of adrenaline coursing through her veins heated, turning from action to passion. He hadn’t lied to her, and his weapon definitely wasn’t the one she sought. “So are you,” she replied thickly, relief flushing through her that he wasn’t the bad guy.
Thunder rolled high above, rain splattered dirt into mud, and the river rushed furiously, but the boughs protected their heads.
She shivered.
He wiped water from her cheek, tracing down to her jaw, her neck, and the center of her chest, his fingers warm. His eyes, already so dark, deepened. His chin lifted, and the power of Kell overcame the energy of the storm.
“Kell—”
“Here and now, Alexandra.” He grasped the bottom of her shirt. “Aye?”
The fury of the moment gripped her, and after her mad dash, all she could do was feel. “Yes,” she whispered.
He tugged off her shirt and tossed it, following up with her bra. The sound he made upon revealing her breasts rumbled through the storm and right under her skin. Demanding and pleased.
He pressed her back and then frowned. “Damn.” He let her slide down his body, feeling every hard angle and impressive muscle. When she’d regained her feet, he removed the rest of her clothing, leaving her nude and him fully clothed.
Vulnerability flushed through her on the heels of need.
He grinned. Shrugging out of his jacket, he gently placed her arms through.
She shook her head. “Ah—”
Quick as a whip, he lifted her and shoved her against the tree again. The leather protected her back, while the open jacket left her bare to him. His head dropped, and his lava-hot mouth engulfed one nipple.
She cried out and arched into him, her fingers curling over his shoulders. Almost frantic, she reached down and tugged his shirt over his head, forcing him up.
Perfection. Even ready to combust, she took the time to marvel and caress his sculpted chest and unbelievable abs. “How are you even real?” she murmured, her voice barely discernible in the raging storm.
His mouth possessed hers. All passion, all intent, all male. No questioning, no teasing—he took and took hard.
Fire lashed to her core, and her thighs dampened.