Afterburn

by Valentine, Lex

  Bas stared at Ryder wide-eyed, trying to catch up, hardly able to comprehend his words. “Married?” Whatever he had expected to come out of Ryder’s mouth, a proposal had not been it.

  Frustration flickered across Ryder’s face. “Yes! Married! You, me, and a justice of the peace in Iowa or Massachusetts, where gays are not second class citizens. I want a family. I want someone to come home to. The someone I want is you. Are you going to marry me or are you just going to continue being some damned martyr who insists I can’t throw away my career by being involved with you?”

  “I-I…” Happiness and confusion warred within Bas. He wanted Ryder more than he’d ever wanted any other man. After a year together, a wonderful year filled with happiness and lust, Bas knew he loved Ryder deeply. But he had years of ingrained loyalty to the Air Force, years of following their rules and edicts to overcome. He’d already told Ryder he’d be his dirty little secret, but apparently, that wasn’t enough. Ryder wanted it all. Wanted a life with Bas regardless of the fact that he was an active duty pilot with a year left until retirement.

  Ryder wrapped his arms around Bas and their bodies cleaved together automatically, seeking the warmth and comfort only found in each other’s arms. Bas breathed in his lover’s scent and buried his face in the hollow of Ryder’s shoulder, just above his collarbone.

  “I know the heat between us, the combustion, made you think we were like afterburners, something that would last a short while and run out of fuel, but Bas, we aren’t. What I feel in my heart, what I know you feel for me, that’s not operating wet. It’s dry,” Ryder whispered using the terminology for jet engines using or not using afterburners. “This isn’t short-lived. Maybe we do burn hot during sex like an afterburner, but that’s a small part of the big picture. It’s not our whole lives and what I want from you is so much more than just the awesome rush of takeoff.”

  Bas couldn’t believe Ryder was willing to put his career on the line to have a permanent relationship with him. Bas didn’t think he could have done it had the tables been turned. Ryder’s strength of character, of conviction, and his strength of heart were all things Bas admired in his lover. He wanted to be worthy of such a man and his love.

  “If you want me, I’ll marry you,” Bas agreed, his voice shaking with emotion. “I won’t promise not to be concerned about your career, but I respect the fact that you love me enough to brave the possible consequences of that love. I admire that strength in you and I love that you’re willing to put what we have together in front of your career. Most people wouldn’t do that.”

  Ryder tipped his head and took Bas’s mouth in a deep kiss. Bas could feel the sharp edge of passion in the kiss but mostly, he felt the deep abiding love that had grown between them from the moment of their meeting. They held each other tightly but with a reverence neither of them had ever expressed before. When Ryder lifted his head, Bas touched his lover’s damp lips with a thumb.

  “You have to be, without a doubt, the hottest, sexiest man I’ve ever met,” he murmured lovingly, his gaze held by the desire in Ryder’s blue eyes. “I’m the luckiest SOB on the planet to be able to call you mine. And even more than that, I’m proud to have you as a friend, lover, and partner. I wish I could scream it to the skies, but I won’t take that chance and it’s not like I’m the most demonstrative person anyway. It’s enough for me to know that you’ll always come home to me and that my family accepts you and loves you too.”

  A smile stretched Ryder’s mouth, the corners tipping up. “My brother loves how happy you’ve made me. He’s promised never to turn you into a hockey puck. And I have to admit, since my family is splintered over me being gay, it’s amazed me how your family has welcomed and accepted me. Even more, I love how fiercely they protect our privacy and relationship. God help any asshole who asked any of them if we’re gay. They’d be eaten alive. You Marchettis have loyalty down cold.”

  Bas chuckled and pressed himself closer to Ryder. “We do. Family is the single most important thing to us. The Marchetti brothers instilled that into all of their children. Every one of my siblings and cousins would defend you. They all know what you mean to me. They love you because you make me happy,” he said quietly.

  Ryder kissed him quickly, a hard buss on the mouth. “Then marry me, Sebastian Marchetti.”

  The implications clamored for attention in Bas’s brain, but he pushed them away and led with his heart. “Yes. I’ll marry you, Ryder. When and where?”

  The night had been dark with a huge silver moon, but suddenly the sun came out as Ryder smiled with the brilliance of a thousand high wattage light bulbs. “Next weekend. Boston. New England Airshow. Cris and Max and your sisters are already planning it,” he admitted.

  Bas stared at his partner in deep shock. Ryder had already been planning their wedding, had gotten his family behind it. The depths of the man’s love seemed to know no bounds and Bas’s heart clenched with the ache of happiness that all Ryder’s love was for him.

  “You seem to have thought of everything.” Bas grinned as joy bloomed inside him. “Rings?”

  Ryder patted the pocket of his jeans. “Veronica picked them up in L.A. today. They have an inscription in them.”

  “And what would that be?”

  Curving an arm around Bas, Ryder held him close and whispered against his mouth, “Above All. Always Forever, Ryder and Sebastian.”

  Bas blinked. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had surprised and shocked him as much in the space of a quarter hour as Ryder just had. ‘Above All’ was the Air Force motto. He couldn’t think of anything more perfect.

  He reached up and stroked the back of Ryder’s head. “I can’t tell you how much I love everything you’ve said tonight, mushy as it is,” he teased softly.

  Ryder captured his free hand pulling it to his mouth. He kissed Bas’s fingers, his tongue flicking out briefly to arouse. “You bring the mush factor out in me. You’ve no idea how grateful I am to have you.”

  His solemn words and the matching expression in his eyes made Bas realize that what they had was unique. Their love would never falter, nor fade. This was what dreams were made of, his dreams and Ryder’s. All they need to do was grab hold of them and nurture them and never let them go.

  “I do have an idea, Ryder. I know just how you feel,” Bas whispered, staring deeply into his lover’s eyes. “Because I feel the same.”

  Wrapping his arms around Ryder, Bas kissed him. And there, in his brother’s driveway, standing next to the Mustang convertible, Bas and the love of his life became engaged to be married.

  Chapter Six

  Ryder stood on the flightline at Edwards AFB’s Test Pilot School, staring at the jets. He couldn’t believe the day had come. The Air Force no longer owned him. He had officially retired.

  A warm hand cupped his shoulder and he turned, smiling at Bas. “Let’s go home.”

  Bas cocked his head to one side. “You sure? You’re all done? Said your goodbyes to the birds?” He gestured toward the jets.

  Ryder held up his helmet. The words ‘Lt. Col. Ryder Flip Beckett’ stood out on the back of the green surface. “Think I could trade this for a pretty red and gold helmet that says ‘Flip Marchetti’ to match your ‘Babe Marchetti’ one?”

  A laugh broke from Bas and he took the helmet from his partner. He leaned in closer and brushed a kiss to Ryder’s lips. “I think that can be arranged,” he whispered, his dark eyes glowing with love.

  “Good. Because I’ve been waiting my whole life for you Sebastian Marchetti. I’m not about to let you go now,” Ryder said, wrapping an arm around Bas’s waist and bringing their bodies close. He felt his cock stir. “Let’s go home and celebrate my retirement.”

  Bas stared at him solemnly for a moment. “This must be fated because two years later the afterburner’s still trailing those shock diamonds behind us,” he said finally. “I love you, Ryder Beckett.”

  Ryder felt the weight of caution lift from him and pushed his hips
against his lover’s. Wrapping his arms around Bas, he leaned in and kissed him long and slow, tongues tangling languorously as heat instantly built between them. “I love you too, Sebastian Marchetti. Let’s go home,” he repeated. “You have a new airshow acrobatic pilot to train.”

  They broke apart and turned away from the jets, walking toward the Mustang parked nearby. Halfway across the tarmac, Ryder reached out and grabbed Bas’s hand, threading their fingers together. Bas swung Ryder’s helmet in one hand while their linked hands swung between their flight suit clad hips as they walked.

  In the distance, jets streaked across the sky. Ryder looked at Bas with raised brows as a sonic boom shuddered the air around them. Bas grinned and tossed Ryder’s helmet into the backseat of the open Mustang.

  “One canopy closes and another opens. Welcome to the Flying Marchettis, Ryder.”

  “Shall I be one of those sappy men who loves the fact that he works with his husband?” Ryder joked as he got behind the wheel.

  Bas slid into the passenger seat beside him. “You can be as sappy about your husband as you like. As long as you remember that I’m the one who gets to fly inverted.”

  Ryder made a rude sound and started the engine. “Cris is changing the routine for this coming season. There will be two inversions now.”

  The Mustang pulled away from the curb headed toward the main exit. When they paused at a stop sign just before the guard gate, Bas raised his arm and settled it along the back of his seat, his palm laying possessively on the curve of Ryder’s shoulder.

  “Say goodbye, Ryder,” he murmured as the Mustang roared forward, through the air base’s gate and onto the road.

  “Goodbye Lt. Col. Beckett, hello Love,” Ryder said with a wicked grin.

  They laughed together as they drove toward home, a pair of jets screaming overhead, chasing each other across the California sky. Neither Ryder nor Bas glanced up. The roar of the F-35s’ Pratt and Whitney engines under full afterburner echoed across the desert, but the jets no longer held the attention of the two lovers. If anyone asked, they would happily tell how much they loved their country and how much they loved each other. Their silence had ended.

  Breath of Heaven

  For more of Bas and Ryder, make sure you check out Breath of Heaven: An Afterburner Christmas Story available at Amazon and in Audiobook.

  About the Author

  At the beginning of this decade, Lex’s love of romance books took her to author sites which led to fanfic writing and the creation of a blog called Sunlight Sucks. That’s where author Jennifer Leeland first saw her work and encouraged (cough *bullied* cough) her to submit her writing to publishers.

  Now an award-winning, multi-published, PAN author, Lex is a member of Romance Writers of America. After more than a decade in the publishing industry, Lex is still enslaved by the written word, driven to write them and read them. At one time, she had so many books her husband banned her from bringing home anything but digital editions.

  Born and raised in Salinas, California, home of the California Rodeo and John Steinbeck, Lex moved to Southern California in 1992. Creative and a little left of center, Lex is a minority in conservative Orange County where she lives with Rott, her long haired, tattooed husband and a bunch of cats she collectively calls “Babies.” She has one daughter, a millennial who is an artist and gamer. Lex loves loud rock music from any era, builds her own computers, wears body jewelry in her ears and has a double helix threaded with purple titanium, purple being her favorite color, of course. A former IT Geek, Lex works full-time as a bean counter at a 100+ year old cemetery.

  Lex has been online since the early 1990’s and has never had an AOL email address. The domain she’s had since 1995 has become her graphics site Winterheart Design where she creates gorgeous covers and designs book interior graphics.

  For exclusive content direct from Lex, sign up for her newsletter or visit her at lexvalentine.com. You can also join her fan/reader group The Lexicon on Facebook for more exclusive content. For exclusive content including a new serial story as well as free custom graphics and more, you can join Lex’s Patreon for as little as $1.

  Also by Lex Valentine

  Rock My World

  Insolence

  Broken Bonds, Souls in Bondage 1

  Bitter Bonds, Souls in Bondage 2

  Subs For Lunch, Souls in Bondage 2.5

  Flying in the Face of Convention, edited by Sylvia Day

  Sunday’s Child

  Entangled (free)

  Breath of Heaven

  Save Your Love

  Rousing Caine

  Available at Liquid Silver Publishing - Where There’s Smoke

  Available at MLR Press - Extraction

  Available at Decadent Publishing

  Christmas Cowboys, Forbes Ranch Book I MF

  Christmas Cowboys, Forbes Ranch Book II MM

  Praise for Lex Valentine

  “I love Lex's love scenes and savor every word. They portray much more than the physical act. They are descriptive, sensual, passionate, and just plain hot. They also evoke a great deal of emotion and understanding.” Rainbow Book Reviews

  “I love this author because she writes with such feeling and intensity and her characters come alive on the page. Her dialogue moves me.” Reviews by Jessewave

  “I am impressed by Lex Valentine’s ability to create a vibrant world filled with realistic characters, giving them very real human emotions.” ParaNormal Romance Reviews

  “Lex Valentine is an author that deserves more recognition than she gets…She is definitely someone that you should pick up and read.” Night Owl Reviews

  “Lex Valentine is a wonderful storyteller…” Love Romances and More

  “Lex Valentine is an amazing author who incorporates just the right amount of sex in her love stories…” Bitten By Books

  “Lex Valentine is a great author. Whether it be her fantasy or her contemporary stories she always brings the reader into her world and keeps them entertained throughout the whole book.” Got Romance Reviews

  “I love how Lex Valentine brings so much emotion and connection to her stories. I love feeling very invested in the characters. I really am looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.” Two Lips Reviews