Oliver (Project Arma Book 7)

Tori parked her car. The sight of Charlie running toward her usually caused a smile to stretch her lips. Today it didn’t. Not after last night.

She’d had a mission. One job. And she’d failed. The failure wasn’t an accident either. It was a judgment call.

There was no way she could have drugged Oliver. Not after spending the day with the man and getting to know him. He wasn’t the bad guy they thought he was.

Tori lay her head back against the headrest for a moment. It brought up one giant question. How could Hylar, Samantha’s boss, have gotten it so wrong?

Sighing, Tori opened her door. Her feet hadn’t hit the ground outside when Charlie was already jumping on her legs. Crying out for a pat.

“Hey, boy. I missed you, too. Sorry I didn’t come back last night.” Instead, she’d spent it with a wonderful man. “I’m sure the sleepover with Sammy went well and she took good care of you.”

Tori straightened before closing the car door. She shot a glance at her friend’s car sitting in the driveway. Dread twisted her stomach.

She wasn’t looking forward to having this conversation. She’d text her friend to let her know she hadn’t gone through with the mission but hadn’t received a response. Now she was going to suggest to Samantha that her boss may have sent her after an innocent man.

Stepping inside, she dropped the keys onto the entrance table while scanning the living room to the left. “Sammy, I need to talk to you.” Tori headed down the hall to her bedroom. “I know you’re probably mad at me. This is going to sound crazy, but Hylar’s wrong. Oliver isn’t—”

Tori halted at the sight of Samantha in her bedroom. Her friend was shoving clothes into Tori’s backpack, looking frantic. Scared, even.

“What are you doing?”

Samantha didn’t look up. “You have to get out of town.”

Tori’s feet remained glued to the floor. What the heck was going on? Was Samantha having some sort of episode? She had always been a bit eccentric, but this…

When Samantha tugged open the next drawer, throwing more clothes into the bag, Tori snapped out of her confusion and marched over to her friend. Grabbing Samantha’s arms, she forced her to pause what she was doing.

“Stop. You’re acting crazy. What’s going on?”

Jesus, Samantha’s limbs were shaking. There was a panicked, almost crazed look in her eyes.

“I got it wrong. I got it so wrong! And I’m so sorry I dragged you into this!”

What was she talking about? “Dragged me into what?”

Samantha scrubbed a hand over her face. “The people I’m working for…” Her breaths shortened.

“Sammy, you’re working for the government on a secret project.”

Silence. The silence stretched so long, Tori wondered if Samantha was ever going to reply.

“I thought I was. But I’m not.”

A chill seeped into Tori’s bones. She almost didn’t want to ask the next question. But she had to know. “Then who are you working for?”

Samantha shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter who they are. What matters is that they’re not good.”

She rummaged through her purse and pulled out a huge wad of cash. Holy crap, that had to be thousands of dollars.

Tori gasped as Samantha shoved the cash into her jacket pocket before zipping it up.

“This is all I could get my hands on. They’re going to come for you, and they’re going to come soon. You need to run. Don’t access your accounts. Don’t use your ID. Just disappear.”

Had her friend completely lost her mind? “Samantha, you’re scaring me. No one is coming after—”

“Tori, I found documents that I wasn’t supposed to find. Information detailing everything.” Her voice cracked on the last word. She swallowed. “You didn’t do what they asked. Now you’re a loose end—and they’re going to kill you. I can’t lose you. Please! You need to run!”

Fear churned in Tori’s gut. “But Hylar—”

“Isn’t who he said he is! And I should have seen it earlier.”

Blood drained from Tori’s face. Samantha was frantic. And dead serious. “If these people are so dangerous, then you need to run with me.”

A tear spilled over Samantha’s cheek. “I can’t. What I’ve created for them…it’s so dangerous. I need to fix this.”

“No.” There was absolutely no way Tori was leaving without Samantha. “You’re just going to get yourself killed.”

The idea had nausea rolling in Tori’s gut.

With trembling fingers, Samantha yanked something else out of her pocket. “I took this a while ago. Just in case.”

She shoved it into Tori’s other pocket.

Christ, was that a gun? “Sam—”

“This is a tranquilizer, made especially for their kind. It won’t kill one of them, but it will slow them down. Knock them out for a few minutes and give you time to run. When they wake, they’ll be slow and weak.”

When Tori said nothing, Samantha pulled her into a hug. “I love you like a sister. Stay safe.”

Tori’s eyes shot open.

Oliver’s strong thigh cushioned her head, the sofa cushion beneath her legs.

The movie still played on the TV.

Samantha. She’d tried to save her. Had saved her. And Tori had let her friend drive away. Back to danger.

Guilt sat in her chest like a rock. Bearing down on her heart.

“Tori?”

For a moment, she didn’t answer. She madly blinked the tears away, not wanting him to see her pain yet again. Slowly, she sat up.

Oliver studied her. “What is it?”

Tori swallowed the lump in her throat. “Samantha saved me. She gave me the tranq gun, the money, and told me to run.”

And she had. Like a coward. Self-loathing clawed its way up her throat.

Oliver pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, his fingers grazing her cheek. Tori didn’t feel deserving of the affectionate touch. “Did she say how she found out he wasn’t who he said he was?”

“She said she found documents. She’s really good with computers…” Her heart pounded.

“Did she tell you what she was working on?”

“No.” Tori should have asked. There were so many things she should have done differently. “She said she couldn’t run with me because she created something dangerous. She wanted to go back and fix it.” When Oliver didn’t respond, she shot him a quick look. He was still studying her. “I’m not lying.”

His eyes softened. “I know.”

“And whatever Samantha created, she didn’t realize who she was creating it for. She probably died trying to right her wrong.” Agony threatened to drown her. Tori had probably lost her best friend, just like she’d lost Charlie…and her mother.

“She could still be alive.”

Oliver’s soft words penetrated her haze of pain. So too did his soothing touch on the small of her back. His hand rubbing slow, firm circles.

“Maybe it wasn’t the bullet to the skull that caused my amnesia. Maybe my mind was just trying to protect itself from losing everyone I love.”

Was that possible? Every memory that returned to her seemed to be riddled with some sort of loss. She’d remember her love for someone, only to lose them all over again.

“I don’t think so.”

She glanced to the side, looking at the beautiful man beside her. “Why not?”

“Because you’re tough. If loved ones were taken from you, you wouldn’t be forgetting. You’d be searching for them. Keeping their memory close.”

She shook her head, biting her bottom lip. “I shouldn’t have let Samantha go.”

He leaned forward, his face near enough for her to see the shards of emotion in his eyes. “Something tells me she wasn’t going to let you stop her.”

His lips were so close. “Kiss me. Make me forget for a moment.”

If anything could ease her pain, it was a kiss from the perfect man beside her.

Oliver only hesitated for a second. Then his lips were on hers. Moving gently. Cherishing.

Awareness rushed from her lips to her core. Then need. Hot, all-consuming need for the man beside her.

Lifting her hands, Tori threaded her fingers through his hair, tugging his mouth closer. She didn’t want slow and gently. She wanted fiery and passionate.

As if he heard her thoughts, Oliver gripped her waist. So firm and sure. His hold anchoring her to the spot.

The movie in the background drowned to nothingness as his tongue slipped through her lips, tasting her. The fear and sadness from moments ago becoming distant memories.

The man’s lips made her forget far more than any head injury could.

Rising up, Tori climbed onto his lap, a bolt of electricity shooting through her at the feel of his hardness pressing against her core.

Oliver tugged her shirt over her head. His lips only leaving hers for a second. Then they were back. Claiming her as his own.

His fingers grazed over her abdomen. She trembled under his touch. He slid his hands around to her back, quickly unclasping her bra.

Cool air brushed Tori’s bare chest. When his hand captured one of her breasts, she whimpered. It was swallowed by his kiss.

God, this man made her feel too much. The bliss of his touch. The utter torture of needing everything all at once.

He caressed her breast. Stroked and massaged. Tori ground her hips against him. The need inside her rising like a wave in a storm.

Oliver tore his lips away from hers, brushing them across her cheek. Her neck. When he reached her breast, Tori’s breath lodged in her throat. His tongue flicked across her hard nipple. Once, twice. Three times.

Tori writhed on his lap, gasping for air.

His mouth enclosed over the peak. Sucking the tight bud.

Her head lolled back, body on fire.

After endless minutes of torture, Oliver switched to the other breast. Licking and sucking, pushing her to the brink, then pulling her back.

She was so focused on the pleasure cascading from her breasts, she barely registered the hand unfastening her jeans, sliding inside, touching her core.

When his fingers glided between her folds, her body jolted. He grazed her clit in slow, seductive strokes.

She instinctively grabbed at his hair as a groan that she couldn’t have held back if she wanted to, escaped her throat.

Yes. Yes to the man who surrounded her and the ecstasy he poured through her limbs.

He worked her, causing the ache inside to become almost painful. Then his finger entered her. She cried out at the welcome invasion. Latching onto his shoulders.

The combination of his mouth on her nipple and his finger inside her had Tori’s entire body throbbing.

“Oliver…” she whimpered his name. Digging her nails into his flesh.

She tugged his head back to hers and kissed him fiercely, her hands sliding down his torso.

Tori undid his pants and reached into his jeans. She wrapped her fingers around him. Felt him thicken in her hold. She stroked him, enjoying the way his muscles tensed. The low growl from his throat.

Quickly, Oliver flipped them around so she lay flat on the couch. Within seconds, he had them both bare. Reaching for his wallet on the coffee table, he grabbed a condom and tore the foil packet open. Once it was on, he returned to her.

Her belly flopped at the incredible feel of his weight above her. At his hardness between her thighs. Tori widened her legs to give him more room.

He slowly pressed inside, pleasure blazing through her.

Once seated, Oliver stilled. They didn’t move. They didn’t speak. He looked at her like she was all that existed in his world. Like she belonged to him.

She did. Every little part of her belonged to Oliver.

His head lowered and he kissed her again. At the same time, his hips began rocking backward and forward.

Tori lifted her hips, meeting his thrusts. Deepening them. Small moans escaped her throat. Ripples of pleasure coursed through her core.

This man, this beautiful man above her, was intense and powerful and so damn important to her. He made her feel things she wouldn’t have thought possible.

When his pace increased and his thrusts deepened, Tori arched her back. He took advantage, latching onto her throat with his mouth. Closing a hand around her breast.

He flicked his thumb over the peak.

Tori fell over the edge. She exploded, shattering into a million pieces, crying out his name.

Almost simultaneously, Oliver groaned. He thrust into her two more times before tensing. A guttural growl vibrating through his chest.

Tori was still throbbing around his length when their bodies went still, her heart hammering in her chest.

It was when his lips found hers again, to give her one final sweet kiss, that she realized she couldn’t deny it. She loved this man. He had her heart—and there was no going back.