Strike Fast

by Kaylea Cross

  “Oh, I’m sorry. When?”

  “Ten year anniversary is coming up in a couple weeks.” And he was fucking dreading it. May nineteenth was an entire day of torture he was forced to endure each year, when his demons were strongest and the temptation to slide back into a bottle had him on the verge of giving in.

  Tess reached for his hand, startling him, and laced their fingers together. It was scary how natural it felt. How comforting. “Tell me about him.”

  Because he was more comfortable with her than he had been with anyone in ages—other than his teammates, who still didn’t know all the details or how bad his alcoholism had been—Reid did. He told her about how he and Jason had met during Robin Sage and how Jason had pushed his ass through to the finish. How Jason had loved Adam Sandler movies and smoking cigars and bass fishing.

  But he couldn’t tell her about how Jason had died after that last deployment to the hellhole in Helmand Province almost a decade ago. The pain of it was still too fresh. Too raw. He wasn’t ready, maybe wasn’t capable of baring his soul that way.

  Tess’s expression was soft as he finished. “He sounds like a great guy.”

  “He was.” Jason had been the best friend Reid had ever had. And when Reid had lost him, nothing else in his life had mattered anymore. He’d let the darkness take him, because he’d thought he didn’t deserve to be happy if Jason was gone. The guilt had damn near killed him.

  “You still miss him a lot,” Tess said, sliding her thumb gently back and forth over the back of his hand.

  Reid squeezed in silent thanks, and something about the way she watched him, that she truly understood where he was coming from because she had experienced loss, made him continue. “I…wasn’t in a good place after he died. Didn’t handle it too well, and I had a child on the way.”

  He’d wound up a high-functioning alcoholic who got next level drunk when he went on a bender, which back then was all too often. Because the booze at least temporarily numbed the pain. “I got out of the army, eventually got my life together—” But only after a monumental struggle and the destruction of his marriage—“and applied to the DEA. I made a lot of mistakes before that, though.”

  He didn’t tell her about the drinking, or how bad it had gotten, because it was still embarrassing as hell. And he didn’t want to scare her off. What woman in their right mind would want to get involved with a recovering alcoholic? Let alone one who had gone through what Tess had?

  She squeezed his hand. “Everybody handles grief differently. We all make mistakes.”

  How had she handled it? He bet she hadn’t tried to drown her sorrows in alcohol the way he had.

  “And if it helps, whatever your faults, Autumn doesn’t hold them against you. She adores you. Anyone with eyes can see that.”

  That made him smile. “She’s the reason I kept going.” Like corrosive acid, the survivor’s guilt had all but eaten what was left of his soul. Until Autumn was born and he’d found a reason to get his shit together. A reason to start living again. “I’d see that little face looking up at me, and that was all the kick in the ass I needed to get back up again.”

  “Because you’re a warrior, and you love your little girl.”

  “I love her to death.” There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her. He loved his job, but not even in the same realm as what he felt for his daughter. Push came to shove, he would give it up for her if he had to. And some days, it seemed like that was the right thing to do. He’d missed out on so much already, being away so often. He didn’t want to miss the rest, too.

  “I noticed. And it’s adorable.” Tess cocked her head, that endearing little smile in place.

  God, she was pretty, the night breeze gently blowing her hair around her shoulders, her cheeks the same soft pink as her lips. She didn’t wear much makeup. Didn’t need it, and it only would have covered up her natural beauty. Her low-maintenance style was just another thing that set her apart from every other woman he’d been with.

  “She’s a lucky little girl to be that loved,” Tess said.

  “Nah. I’m the lucky one.” She’d saved him, no question.

  The band finished their last song and began to pack up their instruments.

  As the quiet closed around them, Reid cleared his throat. “Should we head back?”

  “Sure.” Tess released his hand and stood, hugging her upper arms as the wind tugged at the hem of the thin sweater she wore.

  Without a word, Reid took off his leather jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She glanced up at him with a grateful smile that punched him straight in the chest, and tugged the halves together. He wished he was still holding her hand.

  They didn’t talk much on the way back to the hotel, and he started to regret having revealed some of his baggage to her. Talk about a downer of a conversation, and he hated to think she was sad now, about to be alone with thoughts of her dead husband for the long hours that stretched ahead. The nights were always the longest.

  All too soon they reached the hotel lobby doors.

  “Well.” Tess slid his jacket off and handed it to him, the lantern-style lights throwing bright gold highlights on her hair and illuminating her green eyes like gems. “Thanks for a great evening.”

  He closed his fist around the jacket. “I’m glad you came.” The instant he said that word, an image of her coming in an entirely different way highjacked his brain. Spread out on her back, naked, her hands in his hair while he pressed his face between her thighs and took his time getting her off.

  As though she’d somehow picked up on what he was thinking, she stared at him, pupils expanding in a telltale reaction of arousal she couldn’t hide.

  A low, primal growl built in his chest as heat roared through him, shunting a rush of blood straight to his groin. Them working for the same agency and having contact on ops should technically put her off-limits, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was what was happening between them and the crazy intense pull he couldn’t resist.

  He stepped closer, reading every subtle sign her body gave him as he closed in. She didn’t move except to tilt her head back, those pretty green eyes locked on his, her lips parted ever so slightly as though she couldn’t quite catch her breath.

  Lifting a hand, Reid cradled the side of her face in his palm, letting the pad of his thumb sweep over the petal softness of her cheek. Tracing the line of freckles that extended from the bridge of her nose and reining in the impulse to kiss each one. “Have dinner with me tomorrow night at my place. I want to cook for you.” Maybe it was too soon to ask, but she knew he wasn’t an axe murderer and had to trust him on some level.

  She blinked, as though waking from a trance. “You cook?”

  He half-smiled. “I’m not a chef or anything, but I won’t poison us.”

  Her lips twitched and her eyes gleamed with silent laughter. “Okay then.”

  Yes. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  A tiny nod, and her eyes still fixed on his for a moment before they dropped to his mouth. Reid couldn’t stop himself from dipping down to capture those soft lips.

  She let out a soft, nearly inaudible gasp as he settled his mouth over hers, and reached for his shoulders. Lust slammed into him so hard it dazed him.

  He dropped his jacket on the ground and slid that hand into the back of her hair, holding her in place as he molded his lips to hers. Slow. Firm, giving her the barest stroke of his tongue across her lower lip before he gently nibbled on it a moment and lifted his head.

  Tess made a sound of protest and gazed up at him through heavy-lidded eyes, her fingers still gripping his shoulders, her lips shiny from his tongue. Reid couldn’t help bending to take another taste, then released her, stunned at the almost electrical charge crackling over his skin.

  Jesus.

  They stared at each other from less than a foot apart, the constrained sexual tension heating the air between them, pulsing with the promise of what would happen if they took things farther.


  Before he could give into temptation and risk pushing too hard too soon, he bent to scoop up his jacket and straightened, never taking his eyes off her. “Seven tomorrow.”

  She nodded, still seeming a little dazed. “Okay. See you then.”

  He gave her a slow smile, the sweet ache of desire spreading through his body. He wanted her. Badly. Loved knowing he’d just affected her so much with a kiss. “Sleep well.”

  She gave a slight nod, the hint of a smile, and then walked through the revolving doors. Inside she paused, looked back at him, the heat in her eyes making the hunger burn hotter. He stood where he was, raised a hand in farewell and watched the fluid movement of her curves as she walked away, already impatient for tomorrow night.

  As for tonight…

  Instead of tormenting himself with thoughts of Jason and battling the demon in the bottle, he was going to fantasize about the woman who’d just rocked his world with a single, innocent kiss.

  Chapter Five

  “You wanna grab a bite?” Kai asked Prentiss the next afternoon, grabbing a towel and mopping at his face. They’d burned a shit-ton of calories with that workout, and he was freaking starving. Normally Khan worked out with them on their days off, but he and Jaliya had something going on today, so it was just Kai and Prentiss. And once they got down to Emerald Warrior, they’d be slammed and wouldn’t get much if any time in the gym.

  “Sorry, man, can’t. Got plans.”

  “Plans?” Well now. “What kind of plans?” He’d just had Autumn last night, so it couldn’t be that.

  “Why are you so fucking nosy?” Prentiss shot back with a half-hearted scowl.

  “Because I like to be kept in the loop.” He draped the towel over his shoulders and followed his buddy toward the gym door. “So?”

  “Dinner plans,” Prentiss said without looking back.

  Kai raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got a date.”

  No answer.

  It was killing him. “Dude, come on. You haven’t been on a date in like, six months. Who is it?”

  “How the hell do you know the last time I went on a date? Maybe I went on one last night.”

  “Did you?”

  “None of your damn business, Maka.”

  Oh, it was serious when he used Kai’s last name. “It’s that hot helo pilot. Am I right?”

  Prentiss sighed and twisted the combination lock on his locker. “Not telling you shit.”

  “You don’t have to, because that just answered my question.” Kai saw a hell of a lot more than the guys gave him credit for. He wasn’t only interested in food all the time. He’d seen Agent Dubrovski at headquarters yesterday, and noticed Prentiss chatting her up prior to the team meeting. “Saw you putting her into your Mustang last night, brother.”

  “She hung out with Autumn while we were in the meeting, and Autumn asked her to come to the movie with us after. I couldn’t say no.”

  So defensive. “It’s all good, man. So, what’s the plan? Where are you taking her out to eat?”

  “I’m making dinner.”

  Kai stopped dead at that and swung his head around to stare at him, utterly betrayed. “Wait, you cook? Since when?”

  Prentiss snorted. “Since always.”

  No way. “We’ve been teammates for four damn years, and you’ve never once made me a meal. What’s up with that?”

  “It’s because you’re a grown-ass man who can cook for himself. And besides, with the amount of food you put away I couldn’t afford to feed you anyway. Beast.”

  Kai chuckled and rubbed a hand over his stomach. “I’m a big guy. Takes a lot of fuel to keep this machine in prime condition.”

  “Yeah, and the rest of us know it. So you can fuel that machine on your own dime.”

  Kai shook his head, unable to smother a grin at the sarcasm. “Why you gotta be so cheap all the time?”

  “Because I have a daughter to support and eventually put through college,” he said dryly.

  Yeah, okay. Good one. Kai unlocked his own locker. “What’s she like? Dubrovski. I mean, aside from hot and crazy talented in the cockpit.”

  “She’s nice. Genuine.”

  Those five syllables might not sound like much, but from Prentiss, they were high praise, especially since they pertained to the opposite sex. He hadn’t had an easy time with his ex since the split. It was good to see his buddy willing to put himself back out there on the dating market again. “Awesome.” Kai hoped it went somewhere.

  Prentiss grabbed his gym bag and shut the locker. “What about you, don’t you have plans with Shelley?”

  Kai barely stopped himself from making a face at the mention of her name and broke eye contact. “Nah. We’re taking a break.” Maybe a permanent one this time, hell if he knew.

  Prentiss looked at him, and even though he didn’t say anything, his reaction was clear. Again?

  Avoiding his gaze, Kai grabbed the stuff he needed for the shower and shut his locker. Ironic, him being embarrassed about how things were with Shelley considering Kai had made it no secret how he felt about Prentiss’s bitch of an ex. But Shelley had a vindictive streak when she was pissed off.

  “It’s fine,” he muttered, for some reason feeling the need to elaborate. But it wasn’t fine, actually. It was exhausting. Always drama. The constant ups and downs made him feel like he was on a freaking rollercoaster. But then she’d do something so damn sweet and kind, and the make-up sex was so damn good, he’d forget about all the bad stuff and believe that things would be better going forward.

  Except it never was for long.

  Unsurprisingly, Prentiss let it drop and thumped a hand on Kai’s back. “See ya tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, brother.” Kai was looking forward to a night chillaxing on the couch by himself. Just him and some quality time with his flat screen.

  Freshly showered and changed into clean clothes, he climbed into his monster of a truck and drove back to his place, already planning what he wanted for dinner. He didn’t have much in the fridge and didn’t feel like doing a big grocery shop on the way home, so he’d just order in from his favorite barbecue joint and watch some rugby.

  The moment he stepped off the elevator onto his floor of the apartment building, the smell hit him. The delicious, mouthwatering aroma of homemade gorgeousness that was coming from apartment 7F. He inhaled deeply. Damn, that woman cooked like a goddess.

  Stepping inside his condo, he tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter and turned to head to his bedroom, but stopped dead when he saw he wasn’t alone.

  Shelley sat on his living room couch, watching him with her arms crossed and a pissed-off expression on her face.

  He tensed and stifled a groan. What was she doing here? He thought she’d slammed the key he’d given her onto the kitchen counter yesterday before she’d stormed out, but maybe not. Or she’d had another spare made.

  “Hey,” he said in a neutral tone. He’d learned to test the waters with her after a fight, gauge her mood. Right now, she looked like she wanted to smack his face.

  Her jaw flexed once, her blue eyes cold as glaciers as she stared him down. “Where’ve you been?”

  Instantly his back went up. He hated it when she questioned him like that. As though she didn’t trust him. “The gym,” he answered, keeping his voice level. If he didn’t, things would escalate fast.

  When he didn’t offer anything else, just stared at her from across the room, hurt crept into her expression. “I thought maybe you’d call me so we could talk this out.”

  Oh, man, the thought of freaking talking about “this” any more made him want to stab himself in the eye just so he’d have an excuse to leave. “You wanted space.” She’d screamed the words at him yesterday on her way out the door. “So I was giving it to you.”

  She let out a humorless laugh. “What I want, clearly I can’t have.” She pushed to her feet, stood there facing him in the short black dress that hugged every curve of her killer body, her long, dark hair cascadin
g over her shoulders in shiny waves, her makeup done to perfection.

  Stunningly beautiful. And yet for some reason so damn insecure inside it baffled him.

  “I’m tired of being the only one willing to fight for us, Kai.”

  And I’m fucking tired of fighting, period.

  Sick of always trying to reassure her, to continually prove he cared and wasn’t cheating on her. He wasn’t stupid enough to say any of that aloud, though.

  “What do you want from me?” he said, tired all of a sudden. This part drained him. It didn’t matter what the hell he did, he could never do or say enough to make her feel secure about their relationship. And the truth was, he was tired of trying. He just wanted a peaceful relationship. Was that too much to ask?

  Her eyes flared. “I want you to love me! That’s all I’ve ever wanted, and even though you say the words, you don’t act like it. You don’t show it the way I need you to. I still come in last, even after being with you for almost a year. I’ve waited for you through missions and weeks-long training exercises, and a four-month-long deployment, yet I still—”

  “I can’t help it that I’m away a lot. It’s my job,” he said, voice tight. He loved his job, had worked his freaking ass off to make FAST, wouldn’t give it up for anything. “You knew going in that that was the deal. I told you straight up how it would be.” He was actually looking forward to the training exercise next week, just to have a break from this.

  “Yeah,” she said bitterly. “I guess I’m just too fucking stupid to realize that you’ll never be able to give me what I need.”

  He had no idea what she wanted him to say to that, and the truth was that right now all he wanted was for her to leave. “Look, I’ve had a long day. Maybe you should just go.”

  Shock flickered across her face for an instant before anger burned in her eyes. “You want me to go? Fine.” She snagged her purse from the coffee table and marched past him, the scent of her expensive perfume trailing in her wake.