by J. M. Walker
“No.” I never liked new recruits. They thought they knew it all. But with Vincent Stone being in the military for a while, I had hoped that it wouldn’t be so bad with him. Understanding that everyone started somewhere, you would think I would be more reasonable. Vega had taken a chance on me back in the day. I should have done the same in return. Vega had thrown Vice-One together. We were trained. Specialized. And some of us took that to heart more than others.
“Boss.” Asher came up beside me. “I met Stone while working out this morning. Just wanted to say that I think he’ll fit in.” Asher jogged off, leaving me to my thoughts.
“He might be good for us,” Coby added after the fact.
I met his dark gaze. He wasn’t a man of many words, but when he did speak, I took it to heart.
“After what he’s been through, I’m surprised he wants to continue on.”
“Maybe he needs to,” Coby suggested. “I know if it were me, I would have to do something to keep my mind off of it. I also know that you would want me to move on. You would want me to fight for what I lost.”
He was right. We had a country to fight for. And we had women to save. “Does he know about the girls?”
“He’s been briefed.”
“Good.” We just needed to figure out how to save Vega’s niece. Who knew what she had already been through? I just prayed she was still alive.
“What are we going to do if we can’t find Vega’s niece?” Coby asked, taking the question right out of my head.
“Pray to God she doesn’t suffer,” I mumbled.
“Fucking A.”
We left the barracks, heading out into the hot afternoon sun. We were met by the other guys and a new person who I assumed was Vincent Stone.
“I assume you are the boss,” the large man said, greeting me with a nod of his head.
“You could say that,” I replied, sizing him up. He was huge. Had at least twenty-five pounds on all of us. The tank of a man hid behind his wall of a shape; I could tell by the darkness in his gaze.
“Well, as soon as you need me to start, I am ready,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“All right,” I said slowly. “You’ve met everyone?”
He nodded.
Asher took his gun apart and started cleaning it. Dale and Coby sparred back and forth, nodding our way before continuing.
They were my brothers—so was Vincent now. “You’re a part of us now, Vince,” I told him. “Everything we do, we do it as a unit. No man goes in alone, and no man comes out alone. We are one.”
“Stone.”
“Excuse me?”
“Stone,” he muttered. “Everyone calls me by my last name.”
“All right. Stone.” I clapped him in the shoulder. “Welcome to the Navy.”
“I won’t let you down. I’ve been in this for a long time but I believe no matter how long we do something, we can always learn.”
I cocked my head. “I think you’ll fit right in.”
“My brothers come first. I may not know any of you yet, but I will lay my life on the line to make sure we all get out safely.”
I liked him already.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said, crossing his thick arms under his chest.
“Asher is our newest recruit before you. I’ve known him since I was a kid, and I convinced him two years ago to join the military. Under normal circumstances, it takes years for someone to become special ops but as you may have guessed already, Vice-One isn’t your typical squad. Coby is the quiet one but knows everything there is to know about every kind of gun out there. He also has the best times when it comes to taking a rifle apart and putting it back together. His last kill shot was the furthest on record.”
“Ghost,” Stone stated, staring at the solemn man a few feet away.
“Yes.” Word got around about my brother. He was the best of the best, and I was thankful I had him at my back. “He doesn’t go by that name, so I don’t suggest calling him it.”
“Understood. But he is inspiring,” Stone said. “We would use him as motivation. ‘Be like Ghost’ was our motto for years.”
“Don’t tell him that,” I said, nodding toward Coby.
“No doubt,” Stone grunted. “I hate being the center of attention myself, so I can’t imagine how he feels.”
“He’s told me he believes in teamwork. That he wouldn’t be where he is without the rest of us.” I crossed my arms under my chest. “No I in team.”
“He’s a good man.”
“He is,” I agreed. “Well, Stone. Now that you got introduced to everyone, it’s time we show you how we welcome new recruits.”
“I’m not new.” He frowned, a slight smirk spreading on his face.
“You are to us.” Asher came up beside him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
“We want you to feel at home,” Dale said, coming up on the other side of him. “And we’re going to show you exactly how we do that.”
“How so?” Stone challenged.
“Drinks are on you tonight,” I explained. “But first, how about a little game of dress up?”
***
(Jay)
It had been three weeks since I saw Angel. We talked on the phone every now and again, but it wasn’t the same. It was casual, comfortable. We didn’t talk about us or what we wanted out of our time together. We told each other about our day, what latest movie we had seen or if we had read a good book. It was safe. Did we want more out of what we had? Were we ready? Was it enough? It fucking scared me to give my all to someone again when so much of me had been ripped out at the hands of another man. I had to explain that to Angel. I needed to make him understand that it wasn’t him. It was me. The clichéd truth bothered me.
Music pounded through the brick walls of the clubhouse. Max had decided to throw a party, inviting half of the town over to try and get our minds off of everything. But I was having none of it. I needed to get shit done. I needed to find the taken women. I needed someone to tell me that it would be okay. It would take time but everything would work out in the end. I needed Angel, and I was woman enough to admit it.
The cool night air washed around me, brushing the back of my neck like a lover’s touch. The dark sky was clear, the moon bright and full, surrounded by millions of stars. It was peaceful.
“Mind if I join you, princess?”
My heart skipped a beat at the deep voice. A flutter of excitement rushed through me as I met Angel’s piercing gaze. I opened my mouth to answer but all I could give him was a nod of my head. God, I had missed him. I hadn’t known him for long, but the mutual attraction was there. I never believed in an instant love but instant lust? Hell yes.
When he came into view, I gasped. Bruises and scratches covered his face. “What happened?” I asked, my voice shaky.
“There was an attack on our squad,” he said, sitting beside me on the picnic table.
“Are you guys okay?” My hand reached up on its own accord, my fingers brushing along his cheek.
“We are,” he said, his voice lowering. “Just a little banged up.” He leaned into my hand, placing a light kiss on my palm.
My breath caught. We sat there, staring at each other. God, this man and what he does to me. What he did to my insides. “Everything okay now?” I asked, needing to take some sort of control before I knelt at his feet and begged like a bitch in heat.
He cleared his throat, pulling away from me. “We got in too deep. We did our job, and it backfired.” He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” I asked, a heavy weight settling in the pit of my stomach.
“Not everything, but we have a good start.” He gave me a small smile.
Bringing my knees up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and let out a deep sigh.
“Why aren’t you inside enjoying the party?”
“Because I couldn’t care less about it.” I slid off the table, walking back and fort
h to stretch my legs. My body hurt. I was antsy. “Max throws these parties trying to get our minds off of this shitty world we live in. It used to help, but not anymore. Not for me, at least.” I bent over, touching my toes.
A deep growl sounded from the table. “Jay.”
“Yes?” I smiled, rising back to my full height.
“Come here,” Angel demanded.
“Sorry, baby. If you want something, you’re going to have to come to me,” I told him, a flutter of desire soaring through my body. I had missed the cat and mouse back and forth. His Domination to my submission. I had craved the lack of control for years, and since I had found a man who could give me what I desired, I teased him. Knowing it would end with us crashing together in waves of ultimate ecstasy, I defied him.
“Is that so?”
I jumped at the rough voice in my ear. For a big guy, he moved with ease. I stood still, anticipating the touch of his hands on me. He spoke through his body. It told me how much he wanted me. How much he needed me.
“It’s been almost a month, princess,” he whispered, his hot breath scorching my neck.
“I haven’t noticed,” I lied. Of course I noticed. I missed him more than I wanted to admit. It was easy to be around him, to talk to him. I couldn’t get enough.
“Well, I noticed. Every time I touched myself, I noticed,” he purred, wrapping his thick arms around my waist and pulling me back against his hard body. The heavy weight between his legs pushed into the curves of my ass.
All I could picture was his large hand gripping his length as if it were a lifeline. As if with one touch and he would explode, waiting for the next release. “How often?” I asked, pushing back against him.
“Every damn day.” Angel spun me, pushing me up against the wall. “But I’m going to show you exactly how much I missed you, princess. How much I missed your mouth. How much I missed you giving in to me.”
“You’re bossy,” I said, gripping the fabric of his hoodie.
“You enjoy it. And I enjoy when you submit to me, giving me what I want and what I know you are so desperate for.” His mouth moved along the shell of my ear. “I can feel the heat coming off of you.”
“And I can feel how hard you are,” I panted, arching into him.
“For you, baby. How hard I am for you.” He pushed his knees between mine, roughly spreading my legs. His calloused hands roamed down the side of my body, reaching under my tank top until they covered my breasts. “I’m going to spend the night devouring your sweetness.”
“Please,” I pleaded, fisting the fabric of his hoodie in my hands. Being with Angel would take my mind off of things. Not a damn party. I wanted to dive into his body and spread myself thin. The wakening of emotions and desire, pleasure, and bliss wrapped around me. They ensnared us in beautiful passion. Our hips moved together, rubbing and building a friction so great, my skin burned.
“Fuck, Jay.” His hand reached between my legs, cupping my mound. “Did you miss me, princess?” His tongue peeked out, licking up the side of my neck.
I moaned, leaning into his touch, silently begging for him to destroy me. To make me feel him. “Yes,” I whispered. “I missed you.”
“Fucking right you did.” His thick fingers unbuttoned my pants and lowered the zipper before diving inside to where I wanted him most. “Tell me you dreamt I would please all of your fantasies. Tell me it’s because of me you feel this way. Tell me how wet you are for me.”
“I’m…I’m soaked.” I gripped his collar, pulling him down to meet my mouth. “For you.”
He growled at the same time his fingers delved inside my panties. Not teasing me in any way, he pushed them into me without a warning.
I cried out, shaking against him. Pleasure swam through me like waves of molten lava. He consumed my senses. Everything about that man took over until I gave him all of me.
“That’s it, baby.” He cupped my throat, tilting my head back. “Coat my fingers with your delicious essence.”
“Oh, God.” I spread my legs wider, hinting, needing him to take things further.
His fingers pumped in and out of me. Hard. Fast. Rough. It was everything I had craved over the past few weeks. Everything I had needed since the last time I saw him. I couldn’t understand how someone could have that much effect over another person. With Angel, it had been everything I had imagined.
“You’re going to come, and then I’m going to fuck the shit out of your hot body until all you feel is me.” His hold on my throat tightened. “Look at me when you let go. I want to watch you break.”
I whimpered, gripping his arms and moving my hips against his fingers. A nagging notion forced me to succumb to his controlling wrath. As much as I had promised myself I would never give in to another man’s domination, with Angel, I desired it.
“Move those hips like I know you can,” he demanded, rubbing his thumb over my swollen clit. “Your sweet little nub is hard for me, baby. Does it turn you on knowing your body submits to me before you do?”
“Angel,” I breathed, begging for him to give me the release my body craved. The fight of Domination versus submission battled between us. He wanted to break me. He craved it. And I couldn’t help but give in. It was all in the name of sex, right? Nothing more. Even though I didn’t believe that.
“You’re going to come until I tell you to stop,” he said, pushing his fingers into me as far as my body would allow.
“Oh, dear God,” I cried out, a fast release hitting me hard. His name left my lips on a guttural scream.
“That’s it,” he coaxed, crashing his mouth to mine and swallowed the rest of my cries. “So fucking beautiful.”
“Please,” I begged, riding out the release.
“What do you want, baby?”
“More.” God, I needed him inside of me.
Angel turned me in his arms, pushing me face first against the brick wall. He brushed the hair off the back of my neck, sinking his teeth into the skin. “What else do you want, little girl?”
I moaned, the slight burning pain making the desire I had for him grow into an inferno. “You.”
His fingers remained, his body holding me against the side of the building, his hot, minty breath washing over my exposed skin.
My body vibrated. I needed more. I was about to combust with lust for the man holding me, and if I wasn’t careful, I would fuck him out in the open, not caring in the least if anyone walked in on us.
“Jay, you have a moment?”
I jumped at the unexpected voice coming from the doorway.
Angel chuckled, shifting his body to shield me from Max. “Give us a few.”
“Don’t hurry on my account,” she laughed, closing the door behind her.
“A few?” I asked Angel, pulling his hand from inside my pants.
He winked, sticking his fingers in his mouth, and sucked the juices from my body off of them. He groaned, a wicked smirk spreading on his handsome face. “This is going to be fast, baby. Later tonight I’ll take my time, but right now, I need you hard.”
My breath left me on a whoosh. Never before had a man told me that he needed me in a way it pained him to go without.
Angel grabbed my hand, pulling me toward his SUV. “I hope you don’t mind me fucking you in my vehicle.”
“The way I’m feeling right now, you could bend me over the picnic table, and I wouldn’t object.”
He stopped once we reached the rear passenger door. “And how do you feel?”
I opened the door, crawling into the back seat, and pulled down my pants. “I ache for you. I want you so bad it hurts.” Hooking my thumbs in the sides of my panties, I pushed them down to my ankles. “I want you to destroy my body, leaving me spent and sore, covered in your marks.” When those words left my mouth, I thought it had been too much when Angel didn’t say anything. His dark piercing gaze stared at me. Just when I was about to backtrack what I had confessed, his next words stopped me.
“Fuck. Me. That is the hottest thin
g a woman has ever said to me.” Angel joined me on the backseat, closing the door behind him, and pulled me into his lap. “You want my fingerprints on your pale skin?”
“Yes,” I said, my breath leaving me on a whoosh. “Hurt me, baby.” I kissed him hard, nipping his lip and sucking his tongue into my mouth. The closer it got to fucking him, the more my body vibrated, aware of what was to come in a moment.
Rising to my knees, I waited for Angel to slide the condom down his beautiful length.
“Are you ready?” he asked with a growl.
Showing him I was, I slammed my body down the thickness of him causing us both to yell out. Not giving either of us a chance to get used to the connection, I rode him hard and fast. I took from him what I needed—what I craved. What I had so desperately wanted since the moment I met him. We had already spent a night together but that time it was different. We knew more about each other. We had opened up. We had bared feelings, stripping each layer until there was nothing left.
Angel closed his eyes, leaned his head back against the seat, and dug his fingers into the flesh of my ass.
I leaned down, brushing my mouth along his thick neck. Nipping and sucking, leaving my own mark on him. A possessive need to cover him in my touch took over. My hips sped up. Our pelvises connected in ways I had never felt before. Angel did that to me. He was bossy and brooding. Dark and mysterious. And he was mine. No matter what happened, I knew it. For that moment, there was no one else. It was just him and me in our fucked up world.
“Harder,” he demanded, his dark eyes boring into mine. “Come on, baby. Fuck the shit out of my dick like I know you can.”
My heart sped up, my breathing quickened, and a tingle shot straight down my back. “Please.”
“What do you want, little girl?” he asked, a darkness taking over his words.
I loved when he spoke this way and I knew there were more commands and desires in his darkest of cravings. “Come for me,” I whispered in his ear.
“I’m going to come hard for you, baby. So fucking hard you feel it in your soul.” His hips reared up, pumping into me with so much strength, I came fast. It was so hard it took my breath.
