by Mandy Harbin
He wasn’t one to mess up. Years of training and missions had honed his skills and perfected his senses, but inside of a week with this woman, he was making rookie mistakes.
He’d torn out of the village the other day when she’d just been trying to do her job. They hadn’t been scheduled to leave for another hour, but the second he realized Caitlin wasn’t where she was supposed to be, he’d gone ape-shit. On the surface, he’d come across as a stern asshole because years in special ops honed him to function in the worst of situations. But on the inside? He’d freaked out. He knew she wouldn’t have had time to go far. He knew his guys had eyes on her, too. He also knew it didn’t take long to make a clean, undetected kill.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he’d lost sight of her again today.
A litany of cuss words ghosted out of his mouth. He’d lost her. It had been short, and she’d been okay, but he’d still lost her. Again. Axle knew it happened all the time with other people, but he’d never lost sight of anyone before Caitlin. He was a sniper, for crying out loud. Keeping his eyes peeled was his goddamn job.
But oh, that wasn’t the end of his stupidity. When Lorenzo made yet another pass at her, Axle couldn’t sit there and listen. She’d turned him down already, but the dude wouldn’t take no for an answer. The man lacked any skills when it came to reading women, and Axle had been about two seconds away from giving Lightweight a personal lesson.
Yeah, rookie mistakes…both professional and personal.
His laptop sounded an incoming call, pulling him out of his downward spiral, and he clicked to accept it.
“Hey, Sis.”
“Bubby,” she said excitedly. “I miss your face!” She wrinkled her nose. “You could’ve at least put a shirt on.”
He chuckled. “I miss you, too, and it’s hot as balls here.” His sister had seen him running around in boxers, but he grabbed the thin sheet and tucked it under his arms to cover himself a little. “There.” He leaned closer and tried assessing her through the screen. “How’re you feeling?”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you going to ask me that every time we talk?”
“You were shot. That’s not something people tend to get over right away …especially how it all went down.”
She sighed. “I’m fine. Taking an extended leave of absence while I think about my future.”
“So you’re not feeling fine at all.”
“Physically, I’m golden. But mentally I’m…”
When she trailed off and didn’t say anything else for several seconds, Axle said, “Fucked?”
She laughed. “Yeah, that. I’m not sure I want to be an agent anymore.”
He let out a breath. It wasn’t a shock, but he’d hoped this wasn’t a path she was considering. “Don’t let that asshole steal your career. You’ve worked damned hard to get it.”
“I know, and I miss the challenge sometimes, but I’ve been enjoying working at the garage.”
“I thought Dad closed it,” he said, frowning at her. Last he’d heard, their dad had retired.
“Yeah, he sold it,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t think he’d agree, but he did.”
“What?” He reared back. “Someone bought that shithole?”
Shelby giggled. “Yep. Already leveled it. Going to put in one of those outside shopping centers.”
“Well, hell. There goes Plan B.” Working at the car shop had been an option for him if he decided not to reup his military contract. So much for that.
“What do you mean?”
“It means, I need this mission to go a lot fucking better than it has if I want to advance my career because retiring from service and living out my years as a mechanic is no longer an option.”
“You’re thinking about quitting?” she asked with a raised voice. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I think about it whenever it’s time to reup. Everybody does.”
“Yeah, but if I’d have known you were even thinking of working at the shop, I wouldn’t have okayed the purchase.”
“Dad talked to you about it?” Why hadn’t he talked to Axle? He knew it was misogynistic to think their father should’ve talk to him first, but Axle was not only his son, but he was the oldest. It was a male dominated industry. The only female to ever work at the garage was Shelby, and it wasn’t as if she’d chosen to work in that field once she was old enough to make her own decisions about her life.
“Don’t get all righteous with me. I’ve been back home way more times than you have. When’s the last time you even stepped foot in the garage, much less rotated a tire in it?”
She was right, and he damn well knew it. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Just hadn’t considered it was sold when he said he retired.”
She huffed, obviously still irritated, not that he blamed her. “Anyway,” she said slowly. “I thought you’d be happy Dad gets to live his golden years on a fishing boat and not underneath a greasy car.”
“Yeah, of course. It’s just a lot, you know?” He hoped like hell their dad didn’t get screwed on the deal, but the land wasn’t worth much anyway. Axle should be happy he was able to get something out of it. The few times he’d visited recently, he’d noticed the area had started to look shabby. His father didn’t get customers because of location, that was for sure. “The poor sap who bought it will probably regret it.”
“I hope not because he can be grouchy when business doesn’t go as planned.” Her smile was tender, and his neck prickled.
“What the hell does that mean?” But he knew. Oh, yeah, he fucking knew. “Your boyfriend bought it.”
“Boyfriend,” she said with a smirk. “That still sounds weird.”
“Goddamnit, Shelby. You let some man you’re fucking buy our family business.”
“He’s not just some guy I’m screwing.”
“No, he was a man you were paid to investigate and then started banging.”
She went quiet, but the look she gave him was anything but meek. “Watch it. Just because you’re my brother and can get away with talking shit others can’t does not mean I’m going to sit here and listen to you act like I’m some whore.”
“I didn’t call you that,” he said, lifting his hands in a placating gesture.
“It was implied. The feds paid me to sleep with him and now that I’m not on their payroll, Mason is shelling out the bucks. Yeah, it’s exactly what you meant.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. Really. I know you’re not a whore. Even if you were hooking up with everyone south of the Mason-Dixon-Line, I still wouldn’t think that.”
She tilted her head to the side and gave him a crooked smile. “Did you say Mason on purpose?”
He shook his head, avoiding a chuckle. “I should probably get used to hearing that name.”
“Yeah, you should.” She smiled fully then.
“Does he treat you right?” he asked.
“Depends on your definition of that.” She wagged her eyebrows.
He lifted his hand, blocking her. “Ahh, I don’t wanna know that.”
She laughed, clearly enjoying his discomfort. Axle didn’t say anything, wanting her to get all the showmanship out of her system. When she got her humor under control, she said, “So, as I was saying earlier, I’ve been working at the garage…the one in Arkansas. I like it, and Mason has been very supportive while I take this time to think about my options.”
“Oh.” He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. “I knew you got attached to those guys when you were put on assignment there, but I didn’t think you’d gotten this close to them.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about them.”
His radio crackled, drawing his attention. “Charlie heading into the barracks,” Acker said.
Axle picked it up, replied his acknowledgment of the message, and put it back on its charging base. He heard the door to the main entry and then the one across the hall.
“What was that?” Shelby asked.
“Caitlin’s back.” H
e looked at his closed door.
“Caitlin?” she asked slowly. “Why did you say it like that?” She cocked a brow.
“Like what?”
“Like you love her,” she said in a taunting tone she perfected around kindergarten. Ever the bratty little sister.
“Jesus Christ, you can be such a nuisance.”
“More than you know.” She grimaced. “Which is why I asked you not to hate me.”
Oh yeah, the message she’d sent him shortly after he’d arrived here. “What did you do?” he asked, but the answer was everywhere.
“Caitlin is friends with one of the guys at the shop. He wanted her protected, and I might have reminded him you were a SEAL.”
He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth to keep from yelling at her.
“I said I was sorry. It seemed really important to him, and you’re the only man who’s recently been to a warzone that I know. I wanted to be helpful.”
“C’mon, Shel. First you ask me to look into Mason’s brother—”
“Oooh, did you find something out about Caleb?”
“And now you’re pulling strings, messing with my structure,” he said over her question. “No, I haven’t found anything out about Caleb Showalter. How the hell am I going to have time to do that when you get me yanked out of downtime to work another operation?”
“Look, I wasn’t sure if there was anything you could do to help with Caitlin, but once I mentioned it, the other guys agreed you could be useful. Heck, when I said we should probably find someone already stationed there instead of relocating you, Gauge said you’d be perfect and immediately started making calls.”
“And Ishmael? I bet he just fucking loved knowing Caitlin was going to be protected by a SEAL.”
“Who’s Ishmael?” She frowned at him.
Axle blinked and, in that moment, reality clicked. Instead of answering her, he asked, “What’s the name of the man who instigated this?”
“Um.” She hesitated, and Axle had no patience for any stalling tactics. He told himself it was because he wanted a name for the person who started this, but he knew the real reason. Whoever the man was had meant something to Caitlin, and he cared enough about her to uproot lives to make sure she was protected.
That rankled, but what pissed him off was that Caitlin had lied to his face about the other man.
“Give me his name, Shelby. You ask me to help with your lover’s brother. You didn’t give me a choice to help you now. I can keep naming shit I’ve done for you over the years without so much as a question. The least you can do is give me a name.”
She nodded slowly. “Hunter Anderson.”
A door slammed, jerking his attention. What was Caitlin doing? Was she trying to sneak away? They were on a base, for Christ’s sake, and if she was attempting to leave without him knowing, she sure was hell wasn’t being quiet about it.
“I gotta go.” He didn’t let Shelby respond before shutting the laptop. He grabbed the shirt he’d discarded and took a step toward the door, but it flew open before he reached it.
He almost winced at the anger rolling off Caitlin. Damn, but if she wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Even angry. There was just something about this woman.
And he hated himself for thinking of her like that. Yes, he was a straight, virile man, but he was also a special operator in the military who knew how to keep his dick in his pants, even if his cock refused his orders too.
“Came to say sorry for lying to me about Ishmael?” he asked.
“I got your apology right here.”
She yanked her arm back and swung in his direction. He didn’t see what she had in her hand, but he deflected whatever it was she threw at him. She yelled as she charged. Pissed off women weren’t part of his combat training, but his skills kicked in anyway. He grabbed her arm and spun her around, holding her by her midsection against his body. She kicked out, her foot connecting with the door, making it slam so hard the walls shook. She gasped out a sound of pain, and only then did he notice she didn’t have on any shoes. He didn’t have time to think beyond that because the infuriated woman had managed to gain enough force when she connected with the door that he lost his footing. Axle tripped over his boots, and he landed on his back on the bed, still holding her to him. She flailed, but he refused to lessen his grip.
“Caitlin.”
“I hate you!”
All right then. He twisted to his side and managed to turn her so that her back was on the mattress, and he rolled on top of her. He grabbed her arms and pinned them above her head.
She growled, and he slapped his halfway free hand over her mouth. It wasn’t really the best position to be in, her beneath him, writhing, but damn. What choice did he have? “Would you calm down?” he said through his teeth. Her movements were making him stir until he became excruciatingly hard.
She slowed, but her breath sawed in and out of her body, forcing her breasts to mash against him. Jesus, he did not need to be thinking about her body when she was pinned beneath him.
On a bed.
While he lost yet another battle with his wayward dick.
After several agonizing seconds, she completely relaxed, and he chanced moving his hand. When she didn’t scream, he pulled it away to prop himself up a little higher, creating some space between their heaving bodies. Though his hadn’t been because of exertion.
At least not yet.
No. He had to focus here. He looked to the side, willing his mind to work, and saw the object she’d hurled at him.
“If you get this pissed when you run out of ink, I’d hate to see how you handle road rage.”
She glared wordlessly.
“When I told you it was a weapon, I didn’t think you’d try using it on me.”
Still nothing. And he was glad her hands were secured far away from his gun.
“Are you always a jerk when you’re attracted to someone?”
He sighed, dropping his forehead on top of hers, losing the hardest battle of his life—resisting her. “No,” he breathed.
The seconds ticked by, and somehow, he found himself closer to her. He was strong enough to hold himself up, but the strength currently in control wasn’t led by his external abilities, overriding the power in his arms. And he’d quickly learned that he had no mental or emotional control when it came to this woman. It was some other force within calling the shots.
“You’ve been a jerk since I got here,” she said, but there wasn’t any fire in her words.
He had his eyes closed. A last-ditch effort to put some distance between them. He knew if he opened them now, he would be a goner.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and he meant it. Completely. “I can’t explain it. Fuck, I wish I could, but you drive me insane, baby.”
Her breath bathed his face, and his mouth dropped closer to inhale the luscious scent that was her. All her. He shouldn’t be doing this. He should not be holding her down on his bed. He knew this. He fucking knew this.
He couldn’t move away. Every time he shifted, thinking he was creating space, he was drawing nearer to her.
“Axle,” she breathed. His name leaving her mouth caused her lips to brush against his. That was how close they’d gotten.
And it wasn’t close enough.
On a strangled groan, he slammed his mouth over hers, his tongue diving in to the hot cavern of her sweet, sweet mouth.
Her moan vibrated against his chest before it reached his ears, and the sensations of feeling her acquiescence in addition to hearing it? It wasn’t dropping a flame onto gasoline. It was a bomb detonating, obliterating his senses and fueling him to take her, claim her, mark her. A feeling unlike any other he’d ever experienced before. And he’d had his fair share of women. But not like this.
Never like this.
Unable to stop his actions, Axle rolled over her fully and thrust his jeans-clad cock between her thighs. Without stopping his assault on her mouth, he released her wrists and grabbed b
oth hands into his, lacing their fingers together, still holding them above her head. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was dry-humping her like some horny teenager waiting for the green light to go further, and he was far from that. But to move away and remove her clothes meant to stop touching her.
He couldn’t. Not yet.
So he kissed her, fucked her mouth with his tongue, as he slammed his aching cock against her over and over. If he kept this up, he’d explode in his pants, but he couldn’t find that thing in his brain that made him care. He’d resisted this woman for days, hadn’t been able to think clearly when she was around him. And now was no different. Still no reason. There was no finesse, no gentle kissing or caressing, gently encouraging her to give herself to him. He was a powerhouse that had been pushed beyond all sanity, reduced to carnal instincts. If he shifted, she could move or someone could swoop in and take her from him, and his animalistic need to keep her pinned for his pleasure blocked out all rational thought.
It wasn’t until she tugged on her arms that he pushed through the lusty fog and released her hands. Still not waiting to move away, he gripped the sides of her face the moment his palms were available as he continued to plunder her mouth. Her hands were free, so if she pushed him away now, he’d muster all his strength to rear back and away from her. It’d kill him, but he’d do it if she wanted.
He needn’t worry about that. Caitlin’s legs wrapped around him, and she thrust up as he plowed against her, her hands grasping at his bare back. That skin-on-skin contact, no barrier between, felt so good he had to have more, the desire finally stronger than the need to stay where he’d been the last several minutes.
His lips trailed down her throat as he pulled down the strap of her tank top, his mouth following the path he forged as he wrenched it and her bra low enough to expose a breast. He wasted no time claiming her nipple, laving and sucking it as if couldn’t get enough, and when it wasn’t enough, he shoved his hand under her and pulled her tighter against him as he devoured her.
And still he needed more.
The incoherent sounds coming from her as he feasted on her body drove him mad. Axle grabbed the other strap with his free hand and yanked it down to free her other breast. He heard material rip, and instead of cooling his ardor, the sound threw him into a frenzy of passion. He delved to the newly exposed nipple and ravished it as he shoved his hands between them and unfastened her pants. With only enough patience to unzip until he had enough room, he slipped his hand underneath her partially unzipped pants and into her panties.
