“Anso will have to get through me to get to you,” he promised, pulling her shirt free and gazing at her beautiful breasts in the moonlight coming in through the window. He cupped the fullness and bent to suckle the nipples as she threaded her fingers through his hair, moaning as he teased the tight buds.
They didn’t trust words. Neither was looking to talk. They both knew how they felt about each another.
It didn’t make sense, and on the surface, it was destined to fail, but there was something so electric about the way they were with each another that it was impossible to ignore.
He hoisted her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. They tumbled to the bed and J.T. buried himself between her thighs, drinking in her sweet taste and loving every texture and nuance that made Hope uniquely beautiful.
J.T. refused to stop until he heard her breathy cries and felt her stiffen beneath his tongue. He would’ve loved to spend hours between her thighs, delighting in the way she moaned and lifted her hips to drive him deeper against her clit, but she climaxed quickly and he was forced to stop.
“That’s no fair,” he said in a husky voice. “I hadn’t gotten my fill yet.”
She grinned up at him and linked her arms around his neck, and he positioned himself at her entrance. Hope lifted her hips and he slid inside. For a blessed moment all he could do was sink into that wonderful, slick heat and groan with sheer pleasure. She clenched all around him, gripping his shaft with her internal muscles, and his eyes almost crossed.
“Hope,” he gasped, her name like a prayer on his lips. He couldn’t hold back. Damn, she was so hot he couldn’t keep himself in check. “I’m going to come,” he warned her, and she giggled, pulling him closer, burying his cock so deep inside her that they were nearly one.
And then he exploded.
“You are incredible,” he breathed, sagging against her, pressing soft kisses along her collarbone before rolling off her.
Hope snuggled up to him and the press of her body against his was the most sublime thing in the world.
“I think you’ve done the impossible,” he said when he could finally speak.
“And what is that?”
“Domesticated me.”
She laughed softly. “And why do you say that?”
“Because for the first time ever, I can’t imagine wanting or being with anyone else. You’re perfection and I never thought I’d ever find a woman like you.”
“I’m not perfect,” Hope said, tightening her arms around his midsection. “Trust me.”
“You’re perfect to me.”
And it was true. He wasn’t just spewing pretty words for her benefit. This was new for him. He was content to lie there with Hope, make love, talk, whatever. He was up for it all.
And it didn’t scare him.
Actually, the more he thought of a future with Hope, the more excited about the future he became.
“How do you feel about kids?” he asked suddenly, shocking her into momentary silence.
“Kids?”
“Yeah, you know, tiny humans that look like you or me?”
“I know what kids are. Um, I guess I want them. Eventually. But not right now.”
“Perfect. Glad to know we’re on the same page.”
Hope laughed and said, “One thing at a time. I might not even have a job to go back to.”
He sobered and said, “When I got out of the Air Force, I was pretty messed up. I didn’t want any attachments, because I didn’t think it was fair to subject someone to my screwed-up past. And to be honest, I enjoyed playing the field. Until you.”
Hope’s gaze softened, but she remained silent, letting him speak his piece.
“I knew there was something about you from the moment I saw you. I didn’t know it then, but I’d found the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”
She gasped. “Are you saying...?”
He kissed her fingertips and stopped at her ring finger. “If you would have me.”
Hope climbed on top of him and smiled, a tear snaking down her cheek. “You better not be pulling my leg, because that’s not funny if you are.”
“I don’t joke about that stuff. Too scary. I’m one hundred percent certain there’s not a better woman out there for me. The only thing I worry about is if I’m good enough for you.”
At that she dipped down and sealed her mouth to his in a fierce kiss. “You are more than good enough,” she said, laughing through tears. “And we can spend our lives proving it to one another.”
Sounded like an excellent plan.
He rolled her to her back, grinning as his heart—and other places—swelled. “So, about those kids...exactly what does eventually mean? Because I have this overwhelming urge to get you pregnant right now.”
Hope squealed with laughter and J.T. set about showing her just how determined he could be when he set his mind to something.
Particularly something enjoyable such as making love to his woman.
Yeah, his woman.
And that was that.
Epilogue
THE FOLLOWING DAYS were a blur.
“So tell me again how Deirdre knew Anso?” J.T. asked, linking his hands through hers as they laid in bed, twined in each other’s arms.
“Apparently, Deirdre met Anso at a benefit, and when Anso learned of her high position within the company and the fact that she oversaw the virology department, he honeyed up to her. He convinced her that he loved her and that they were going to ride off into the sunset together in order to get her to compromise the lab.”
“She must’ve freaked out when she heard he was supposedly dead.”
“Anso must’ve contacted her soon after because she was pretty calm. She questioned me to see what I knew, and thankfully I heard your voice in my head cautioning me to remain quiet. It was the best thing I could’ve done.”
J.T. grinned. “Glad to hear my voice in your head was a welcome thing.”
“I missed you terribly,” she admitted, closing her eyes as he brushed a kiss across her lips. “I never should’ve pushed you away.”
“I never should’ve walked.”
She smiled, her heart swelling with love. And yes, it was love. She knew that now.
“What’s going to happen now?” Hope asked. “What if Anso’s lawyers get him off?”
“That’s not likely to happen. Now that Anso is in custody, they’ve been digging into his background and they’ve found all sorts of illegal activity they can prosecute.”
“Good,” Hope said. “I hope he gets sentenced to life in prison and he gets a bunk mate who makes him his bitch.”
“So vicious,” J.T. said, amused. “But I like it. You know, I was pretty impressed with that punch you landed on the tarmac and then that kick—wow. That was hot.”
She snuggled up to him. “Well, I wish I’d found that spurt of courage when he attacked me in the bedroom. Maybe if I’d put up more of a fight, he wouldn’t have managed to get me to the airport.”
He gently lifted her chin to stare into her eyes. “Listen to me... You did exactly what you were able to do. Don’t beat yourself up. You are the bravest, smartest and definitely sexiest woman alive, and I’ll never let you forget it.”
Hope warmed under his hungry gaze and sighed, knowing she’d never tire of this feeling. J.T. made her feel special and beautiful, sexy and dangerous in all the most wonderful ways.
Somehow she’d lucked out in the love department. She’d managed to find a man who made her hot and sweaty—in good ways—and was pretty damn smart, too.
She smiled and hoped Tanya was watching. Er...maybe not watching, but definit
ely smiling, because Hope had found the man no computer program would ever have been able to find. If only Tanya were still around to see her now.
Oh! And there was one more thing.
“I forgot to tell you,” Hope said, rising on her elbow. “Tessara gave me a bonus and a promotion for my part in routing out Deirdre. I told you Tessara has changed. The company is really trying to change their image. They’ve even started a new committee on laboratory protocols so this never happens again.”
“I’d still feel better if you got another job. I mean, there has to be a lab out there that would salivate to get someone of your caliber on their team.”
This time Hope knew he was only looking out for her and instead of bristling at his suggestion, she smiled at his concern.
“How about you? What are you going to do about Blue Yonder?”
“Teagan changed his mind and wants to keep it going. I told him it was okay if we let it go, but he seems to think that I was right and that the business is going to turn around. The money we got from Tessara is going to keep us afloat for a while to figure out a new strategy.”
She snuggled up to him. “Good. Because I was thinking... How long would it take to get to Cabo?”
He did a double take. “You want to go back to Mexico?”
“I figured it might be nice to see as a tourist this time. You know, instead of running for our lives, we could lie around on the beach and sip little drinks with umbrellas in them. Mexico was quite pretty when I wasn’t jumping off waterfalls and being shot at.”
J.T. hugged her tightly and she thrilled at how safe she felt in the cove of his embrace. “We’ll go wherever you want,” he promised, and she fell a little harder for the man she’d never seen coming, but wouldn’t trade for the world.
Because, let’s be honest, when a man like J. T. Carmichael came along, a smart woman held on.
And Hope was a very smart woman—she even had the PhD to prove it.
* * * * *
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Daring Her SEAL
by Anne Marsh
1
“CAN YOU BE married without having sex?”
In all fairness, Levi Brandon needed the answer ASAP. His SEAL team leader paused, however, in the act of piling into the C-23 Sherpa transport aircraft as if Levi had farted in front of the President or something equally crass. The pained look on Gray Jackson’s face was the only high point in Levi’s day since he’d rolled out of bed for a dark o’clock training exercise only to discover that the US postal system and karma had caught up with him.
Gray slapped him on the back, harder than was strictly necessary. “Little personal, don’t you think, Brandon?”
“I’m talking about myself, here,” he said, humping his gear on board. The plane was a no-nonsense set of wings and wheels, perfect for the day’s HALO training exercise.
While Gray mulled over his answer, the rest of SEAL Team Sigma loaded up with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Levi wasn’t the only guy who felt jumping out of a plane at thirty thousand feet wasn’t the best way to pass the time. He preferred keeping his feet on the ground or his fins in the water, thank you very much. On the other hand, at least when he jumped, he felt something. Even fear was marginally better than the emotional desert in which he usually existed.
“Last time I checked, you weren’t married, planning on getting married, or even dating the same woman for consecutive nights. The better question is...can you go without having sex?” Gray dropped onto the bench beside Levi, buckling up as the door slammed shut and the plane started its taxi down the runway.
He’d tried dating when he was younger. Hell. The word younger made him feel like Methuselah, but the feeling wasn’t inaccurate. Courtesy of Uncle Sam, he’d seen plenty and done more. The civilian women he’d dated once upon a time didn’t understand what his job entailed. They’d seen the movies or read the books, but they still popped out perky How was your day?s like the words were Percocet. And too many times he’d been under orders not to discuss what had gone down.
Or he’d had days that were all training or sitting in a foxhole, waiting for the action to start. Nothing to talk about there, so he’d stayed mute and his gal of the moment had gotten upset. And then when shit did go down? What woman wanted to hear about the kill shot he made at long range or the building he’d cleared at the end of an M4? Sure as shooting, she hadn’t been planning to help him pack for combat deployment, and he hadn’t been packing socks and briefs, anyhow.
Sex was much simpler. He gave an orgasm; she got an orgasm. Or three. Everyone walked away happy, and the next time he jumped out of a plane there were no pesky emotional entanglements messing with his free fall.
He certainly had no plans for celibacy. On the other hand, fate had just slapped him with the moral equivalent of a chastity belt. Levi pulled the marriage certificate out of a pocket of his flight suit and waved it in the air. He needed a second opinion, and sure enough, Sam leaned over and snagged the paper. As the team medic, Sam Nale had even fewer personal boundaries than the rest of them, probably because he’d patched them all up on more than one occasion. Funny how once you’d had your fingers in a guy’s bullet holes you felt like you knew him.
“Levi brought reading material.” Sam unfolded the paper, read it over and whistled, the sound all but drowned out by the steady drone of the engines as the pilot took them to altitude. “And trouble. You’re married?”
“Not on purpose,” Levi admitted with a scowl.
Mason Black held out a hand for the certificate. “When did this happen?”
“I’m blaming you.” Levi flipped Mason the bird. His teammate was a big bear of a SEAL, a damned good sniper, and the second member of their unit to find true love when the
y’d been undercover on Fantasy Island three months ago.
Not that Levi understood how two experienced warriors like Mason and Gray could fall in love while taking down a drug kingpin, but that was apparently what had happened. Levi had been looking forward to giving both of them crap about it for years to come—until he’d checked his mail this morning and discovered he had his own romantic woes to contend with.
“Your girl asked Ashley and I to be the stand-in bride and groom for a beach ceremony. She didn’t tell us we were getting married for real.”
Mason grinned. “Heads up. Every photo shoot with that woman is an adventure.”
“Yeah,” he grumbled, “but can you really imagine me married? To Ashley?”
Ashley Dixon had been a DEA tagalong on their last two missions. As far as he could tell she disliked everything about him—she’d been happy to detail her opinions loudly and at length. Naturally he’d given her plenty of shit while they’d been in their field together, and she’d really hated him calling her Mrs. Brandon after they’d played bride and groom for Mason’s girl.
After they’d parted ways on Fantasy Island he hadn’t thought of her once. Okay. He’d thought of her once. Maybe twice. She was gorgeous, they had a little history together and he wasn’t dead yet although he was fairly certain he would be if he pursued her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who shared her toys, and monogamy didn’t work for him. So how the hell had he ended up married to her?
Mason returned the certificate and Levi jammed it back into his pocket. “Does Ashley know about this?”
He doubted it. “She hasn’t said anything.”
Because if she had known, she’d have found a way to tell him everything he’d done wrong that had led to an actual wedding—with an email, a phone call, or an RPG with a scathing note attached to the warhead. He’d butted heads with her every time he turned around on their past missions.
The Flyboy's Temptation Page 19
