“Pretty sure I need an ice bath,” I said, chuckling as I reached for my phone to see the time. Still early, just past six, but since we hadn’t actually passed out until some time well after midnight, it wasn’t quite a restful night.
I wasn’t complaining.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Solo smiled. “We late?”
“Nah.” I set my phone back on the nightstand and moved onto my side to face him. His eyes were finally starting to open, though it looked like it was taking a massive effort.
“I can’t seem to move my body,” Solo said, his words half muffled in the pillow. “Maybe you should wake me up.” He waggled his brows, and I laughed.
“We ran out of condoms somewhere around two a.m.”
“Ah, shit. That’s right.”
I needed to get up, get dressed, and head back to my room for a shower, but I couldn’t make myself move. We’d spent hours going at each other like rounds of an MMA fight, and I was sure when I looked in the mirror later that there’d be bruises or some kind of marking as a result.
But damn… I hadn’t known what I was missing giving Solo the brush-off. Or maybe I had known deep down and didn’t want a taste to turn into a full-blown craving. He’d been the hottest, dirtiest fuck I’d had in my life, everything he’d promised and more. Solo was the same guy whether he was flying or fucking—cocky but with the skills to back it up, aggressive…and unpredictable. It would be hazardous to my health to get addicted to a guy like him.
That wouldn’t happen, though. This thing between us was scorching, that was for damn sure, but it wasn’t going anywhere, and we both knew it.
“You’re thinking awfully hard over there.”
I turned my head to see his eyes were shut again. “How can you tell?”
“I can hear the fucking wheels turning. Do you ever just stop?”
I rolled to my side so I was facing him and let my eyes wander over the smooth skin of his arms hugging that pillow. “Pretty sure I stopped last night.”
He opened his eyes, and they were beautiful. It wasn’t something I’d ever tell him, but I’d never seen lashes so damn thick on a man before. They should’ve looked ridiculous, like he’d lined them with eyeliner and spent time applying mascara, but I knew he hadn’t. His eyes were always this captivating, always this mesmerizing, and not staring into them was fast becoming a problem.
“Hmm, you did, didn’t you. Aaand…?”
I couldn’t stop my grin. “Is that your way of asking if I regret it?”
“Sure, we can go with that. But personally I was aiming more for: was it as good for you as it was for me?”
“Feeling insecure?”
Solo chuckled and rolled to his back, the sheet shifting until it was barely covering his hips. “Do I look insecure to you?”
I let my eyes roam down his body and felt my cock stir. “You look fucking unreal to me.”
Solo whipped his head to the side to look at me. “Yeah?”
“Fuck yes. But don’t try to pull that shocked shit with me. You know what you’re working with. You made that clear the first night we met.”
“Well, yeah. But you’ve never actually admitted it, so I wasn’t sure what you thought.”
Without even thinking about it, I shifted up and over the top of him, bracing my hands on either side of his head on the pillow, the sheet falling off my bare ass but still acting as a teasing barrier between us.
As I rolled my hips over the top of his, I said, “I think it’s going to be very difficult to be around you now, and not think about the way you look and sound when you come.”
“Fuck…” Solo arched up under me, his erection rubbing against mine through the sheets, making the friction all the more sensual.
“I also think you are one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s going to make it even harder to forget last night.”
Solo’s eyes narrowed, and when I would’ve rolled off him so I could go and get ready, he reached up, wound his arms around my neck, and tugged me down so he could suck my lower lip into his mouth.
A low rumble of pleasure left me, and when he released me, he said, “Why in the world would you ever want to forget something as hot as this?”
Why indeed…
My mouth opened to his as I continued to rub my morning erection against his. One last time couldn’t hurt, right?
Clearly on the same page, Solo moved his hand to my ass, gripping me tight to keep me right where I was.
“Now this must be what they mean by rise and shine,” Solo murmured against my mouth, and then he pulled me in for another kiss as our hips moved against each other faster.
I didn’t know how either of us had the energy for another round, but our cocks clearly had minds of their own.
Dropping my head into Solo’s neck, I picked up the pace, the friction of the sheet and his hard, hot cock against mine all I needed for the orgasm that was building…building…
“Fuck,” Solo cried out, jerking beneath me with the force of his climax, and it was enough to send me over the edge.
I thrust my hips into his once, twice, and then…God. I came so hard I nearly blacked out, my moans muffled from my mouth on Solo’s neck. Slowing my movements, I settled my weight on top of him, and he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“I’m not gonna let you forget, so good luck trying.”
I smiled into his neck and then lifted my head. “If you could keep those reminders out of the training room, I’d appreciate it.”
“Are you accusing me of having a big mouth?”
“Biggest I’ve ever seen.”
Solo grinned. “The better to use on you.” He slapped my ass, pushing me into the sticky evidence of my release, and I groaned.
I reached around to remove his hands and then stood up. “I need a shower.”
“Good, I’ll join you.”
When he sat up, I pushed him back onto the bed. “Not here.”
“Why not? You think I won’t be able to keep my hands off you?”
I placed my hands on the bed and leaned in close so we were nose to nose. “I know you won’t.”
37 Solo
IF WE HADN’T already fucked all night, I would’ve called Panther a cock tease. As it was, I didn’t know how my dick was even still functioning, but I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before I was raring to go again.
Panther stood beside the bed stretching what had to be sore limbs if he was feeling even remotely the way I was. How the hell I’d manage to peel myself off the bed I didn’t know, because my body was so spent I’d be feeling it for days. Damn. Who knew what an insatiable animal lay under all that good-guy behavior?
As Panther searched the room for his clothes, I toweled myself off with the sheet and then kicked it away. Folding my arms beneath my head, I watched Panther bend over to grab his ruined shirt, that spectacular, well-used ass on full display. I knew he worked out—I’d seen him in the weight room and going for runs—but having a naked Panther standing in front of you was something else entirely.
He took one look at his ruined shirt and shook his head. “What am I supposed to do about this on the ride back?”
“Keep it off. Your body is sexy as fuck. Keep your pants off, too.”
Panther chuckled, and even that low laugh was attractive, the fucker. “I think that might make for an uncomfortable ride.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Plus, I don’t want you to damage anything I might wanna use later.”
Panther looked around the room, clearly searching for a workable solution.
“Just wear your jacket. Mmm, yeah. Jeans, boots, a leather jacket and nothing else—now that’s a visual I can work with after you leave.”
“After I leave?” Panther made his way over to the bathroom door. “You need to get your ass up and get to base after I leave or you’re going to be late.”
“Eh, I’m not worried about a few minutes.”
“
A few minutes every day adds up, you know.”
“Yes, sir.” I saluted him from where I lay in bed, and Panther flipped me the bird. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
“A few minutes,” he said. “We’re up against the instructors today, so get your ass out of bed and pretend you care about your spot at the academy.”
“I do care. I’m just focused right now. Is it my fault your ass is distracting me?”
“Get up. Now.”
I sat up and pulled the pillow from under my head, hurling it across the room. It hit Panther’s bare ass right before he disappeared behind the closed door.
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I’d been late a couple times now, and honestly, Commander Levy was probably looking for an excuse to tear me a new one. So I swung my legs over the side of the bed and cracked my neck. From behind the bathroom door I could hear the faucet going—Panther doing a quick cleanup before pulling his jeans on was my guess—and as I got to my feet and stretched my back, I reveled in the delicious ache.
Damn, I’d wanted to feel it this morning, and boy did I. Panther had worked me over, and good. I hadn’t felt this satisfied…ever.
Just as that thought entered my head, the bathroom door opened and Panther stepped out dressed just as I’d suggested. With the overnight stubble and slicked-back hair, it was a miracle my knees didn’t give out.
He looked hot as fuck.
Not worried in the least by my lack of clothing, I walked over to him and reached out to finger the chain of his dog tags, then I hooked my finger behind them and tugged him down to take his lips one last time.
Panther opened to me immediately, taking this final moment before we had to head back to base and pretend nothing had changed since yesterday. But when he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me flush against his body, there was no denying it—everything had changed.
As we pulled apart, Panther reached behind him for the door handle, and I walked to the bathroom, about to go and get ready. But before I could shut the door, I heard him call out my name. Not my real name. But my call sign: Solo.
I glanced back at him, and that was when it became crystal clear that Panther was also feeling things he hadn’t felt the day before, because he’d plastered on that familiar, inscrutable expression. “Don’t think this changes anything. We’re still competitors, you know.”
I knew he was trying to re-establish some distance before we had to see one another in class, but that ship had sailed. There was no erasing this from my mind, no pretending it hadn’t happened. So I ran my eyes down over him and reached for my cock to give it a bold stroke.
“As far as I’m aware, we never stopped being competitors. The only question that’s really left now is which one of us will come out on top next time.”
And with that, I kicked the bathroom door shut behind me.
38 Panther
I ARRIVED AT training with only minutes to spare, after a record-quick shower and change of clothes. The rest of the guys were already in class waiting for today’s brief, and as I stepped through the door and spotted Solo sitting in his usual chair at the back next to Gucci, I had to do a double take to be sure I wasn’t seeing things.
How in the hell had he beaten me to class? I’d left before him. Hell, the last time I’d seen him, he’d been butt-ass naked and in no hurry to go anywhere. But as Houdini spotted me and called me over, Solo looked my way, raised his arm, and tapped on his watch.
Smartass fucker. What’d he do, beam himself up?
“’Bout time you showed your ugly mug around here,” Houdini said as I slid in behind my desk. “You’re not usually late. Everything all right?”
With Solo no doubt listening over my shoulder, there was no way in hell I was about to say no. Instead, I nodded at Houdini and pulled out my binder.
“Everything’s fine. Just slept through my alarm, that’s all.”
Houdini scoffed. “That’s all? What, you have a late night or somethin’?”
“Just couldn’t sleep. Drop it.”
From over my shoulder, I felt a breeze ruffle the back of my neck, and then Gucci chimed in, “Scared to go up against the commander, huh?”
I glanced back at Solo’s sidekick and arched an eyebrow. “Do I look scared to you?”
My droll tone made Gucci sit back in his seat, and when he did, my eyes caught on Solo, who was watching me closely while twirling a pen through his fingers. Fingers that had been inside me just last night.
Shit. Don’t think about that.
“I don’t think he’s scared, Gooch. But maybe something else kept him up last night.”
I wasn’t sure if it was just me, but I could’ve sworn Solo added extra emphasis to the word up.
Solo looked at me and said, “There’s only one reason I’d show up late for a hop against the commander, and he sure as fuck better be worth the ass kicking I’d get.”
That mouth of his. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him in it or fuck it senseless. Actually, yes, I did, but thinking about that now wasn’t going to do me any damn good. So I turned back to my binder and took great interest in the words written there.
What they said was anyone’s guess.
“All right, is everyone here?” Commander Levy asked as he walked through the door and headed toward the front of the room, and when he spotted me, he gave a clipped nod. “Nice of you to join us, Lieutenant Hughes.”
What the hell? I hadn’t been late. Guess he’d stuck his head in early. Great, today was starting off fucking stellar.
“As you all know, today’s the day you get to show me what you’ve got. We’re two weeks in, and I want to see if you’ve been paying attention in here and learning anything up there.”
Where usually someone would have something arrogant or cocky to say about the hop ahead and how they’d crush it, no one dared to presume they could, or would, beat Commander Levy.
Although I was pretty sure I knew a certain someone who figured he could win against anyone he was up in the sky against—or die trying.
“I assume you’ve all studied today’s flight and what’s expected of you. Fly smart, clean, and safe. Nobody is looking for a hero up there.” The commander looked around the room, and then his eyes zeroed in on Solo. “There are no medals for being the biggest badass in the sky today, got it? Because that medal is already taken—by me. So go gear up and meet me in the hangar. Panther? You’ll be up first, since you showed up last. Don’t make me wait a second time today.”
As Commander Levy marched out of the room, the rest of the trainees turned on me, unable to resist the shit talking that was synonymous with this job.
“Wouldn’t want to be you today,” Whiplash said, as she passed me by and headed toward the female lockers. “Sure hope Solo was right and she was worth it. Because Levy is on a mission with you.”
A snicker sounded from behind me as I walked into the locker room, and then Solo said, “Yeah. Sure hope she was worth it.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond, because the room was full, and what I wanted to say wasn’t something that needed to be overheard. Instead, I quickly changed into my flight suit and then headed to the bay to gear up, eager and ready to get back in the cockpit and prove myself.
As I passed the viewing area on the way to the hangar, Solo sidled up beside me, his voice low enough for only my ears.
“So. Was I worth it?”
A snort escaped me as I shook my head.
“No? Well, shit. That’s a first.”
“I didn’t say no.”
“You didn’t say yes.”
I stopped and faced him, getting an eyeful of those pouty lips. “Pretty sure coming all over you this morning was a yes.”
Solo’s mouth fell open, and as I backed away, I shot him a wink and then headed toward the hangar for another ride in the sky.
39 Solo
THAT DIRTY FUCKER, I thought as I watched Panther walk away from me for the second time this morning. It was
a killer view to go along with the words that had just come out of his mouth, and I found myself grinning as he disappeared from view and I finally dragged myself into the viewing room. Three-hundred-and-sixty-degree glass walls and a glass ceiling that gave us a full view of what was happening in the sky, only with the comfort of air conditioning instead of standing out in the blazing California sun for hours.
I grabbed a chair that faced the runway, and in the distance I could see Panther doing checks on his plane. Something told me he wouldn’t be playing nice against Commander Levy today, and I couldn’t wait to see him take down our instructor like I knew he had it in him to do.
“We placing bets today, ladies?” Gucci said, grabbing the spot beside me. “Twenty on Levy?”
“I’m sure you meant that as a joke, lieutenant, since gambling on base is not only illegal, but grounds for dismissal,” Commander Heinz said from where she stood cross-armed by the door.
“Oh, uh, Commander Heinz. Didn’t see you there.” Gucci shot me a look that said shiiit and then plastered a smile on his mug. “Course it was a joke. I don’t have a pocket big enough for my large wad of cash.”
“Careful, lieutenant,” she replied, narrowing her eyes. Then she flipped on the switch that allowed us to hear what, if anything, was being said in the air. More useful when there were teams, but also a safety precaution in case there was an issue. There were also two TVs set up in the corner, each showing the camera that was trained on each pilot.
I leaned over to Gucci. “My money’s on Panther, and I’ll raise you another twenty.”
He smirked. “Deal.”
Panther was already turning his jet toward the runway, and I imagined his nerves and adrenaline colliding as he prepared for takeoff. A few seconds later he began to move, faster and faster as he charged down the runway and lifted off. Commander Levy was already up there in the clouds, but the sun was bright behind them, and I had to grab my Aviators to keep from squinting.
Just as I thought, Panther wasn’t fooling around today. When he reached hop altitude and spotted Levy, he instantly went on the attack, and I waited to hear a curse fly out of the commander’s mouth, but he stayed dead silent and laser-focused. Panther wasn’t one for idle chitchat either, not even to himself, and somehow the silence between the two amped things up even more as they engaged, weaving in and out of the clouds.
Danger Zone (The Elite Book 1) Page 14
