Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Aaron's Honor (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Men of Mercy Book 8)

by Lindsay Cross

  She tried to piece together his conversation. She’d heard of Shane Carter. He’d been declared killed in action almost two years ago now. Had Aaron seen Mr. J kill him?

  “You know how bad I want to be there, but I can’t leave her like this. Not until we find out who tried to take her out in D.C.”

  Her. Celine. He couldn’t leave her.

  “Yeah, I feel it too. You’re close. You’ll take him out this time. Just…just let me know when he’s finished, okay? I need to know he’s dead.”

  Her knees went weak and she collapsed against the door. According to everything she’d put together, from O’Keefe at the CIA, what Aaron had told her, and the conversation upstairs, Aaron Speirs had been tracking Mr. J for two years. And he was giving up his chance to catch him for her. He was putting her first.

  “Roger. Out.”

  Heart in her throat, Celine rushed back to the counter and shoved her shaking hands to her hair. She’d been so selfish thinking only about herself and how he affected her, completely ignoring the fact that the man who had not only martyred one of Aaron’s teammates, but had tried to murder his entire team, was within his grasp.

  She should talk to him, explore whatever this was between them and find out once and for all if he had any feelings for her and be ready to deal if he said no.

  Then she had to let him go. He needed to be with his team for this mission.

  Celine grabbed the bread and threw together a couple more sandwiches. A few minutes later she went upstairs to a spotless bedroom and a shirtless Aaron.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but I kinda need to use, you know…” She nodded towards the toilet. Instead of getting all embarrassed, he stood to his full height and crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed. “That’s fine, just try not to touch anything, okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “That didn’t come out right.” He dropped his arms and shifted to his left foot. “Listen, this is kind of my sanctuary. When I’m overseas, everything is so polluted and nasty. But when I’m here, I can keep everything clean and it makes me feel…better.”

  Her heart lurched at his confession. She knew she was a little bit untidy. Her family had bemoaned that fact regularly. But this wasn’t her house and it obviously meant a lot to him. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll try to do better, but I can’t make any promises, I’m afraid I was born a mess – at least that’s what my dad says.”

  He came to her then, and cupped her cheek, stealing her breath right out of her body.

  “That’s enough for me.”

  Celine jumped back, at a loss for how to react. “So your food is in the kitchen. I’ll be down in a little bit.”

  “Take your time, oh yeah, check the sink vanity, there’s something in it for you.”

  Celine stared at her reflection over the mirror, totally dejected at her appearance. Her hair had dried with a big fat crinkle all the way around and hung in limp hanks. With absolutely no make-up, she looked washed out. She was supposed to make him want her like this? Dejected, she pulled open the drawer under the sink. It took her a full minute for her mind to register what was there. Reverently, she reached in and caressed the mini-blow dryer and round brush. He’d even bought her a curling wand. Filling up the rest of the drawer were all kinds of make-up, powders, and brushes.

  She lifted the strawberry flavored lip gloss and twisted off the top, inhaling her favorite scent.

  No, she hadn’t really tried with him, at all. But she would. And he’d have to tell her to her face that he didn’t want her.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Aaron stared at his kitchen and shook his head. She’d made him sandwiches alright, two heaping sandwiches over packed and falling apart. There were more crumbs on the counter than in the loaf of bread.

  Maybe she was right and she just couldn’t help it.

  But she’d been thoughtful enough to make him supper in the first place. He grabbed the plate with a smile, enjoying the warm sensation in his chest.

  The conversation with Merc had left him hungry to be back with his team, but every time he saw Celine he forgot that longing. She blew so hot and cold from one minute to the next he had no idea where he stood, but he intended to find out.

  Aaron polished off the sandwiches, wiped down the counter, tossed the plates in the dishwasher and put the food back in the refrigerator. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw he’d only been down here about fifteen minutes. He stepped into the living room and called out, “Celine?”

  “Be down in just a minute.”

  He glanced at himself, cursing as he realized he’d forgot to put on a shirt. She wasn’t one of his teammates who he could walk around in front of in only his shorts. Noni would have his ass for the lack of respect for a lady.

  She deserved better.

  He noticed his truck parked out front. Well, he could start off by doing his job and protecting her. If anyone figured out their location, the truck would be a beacon. He grabbed the keys and jogged outside. The sun had disappeared and in its place was a large pale moon, filling up the night sky.

  He cranked the truck, keeping the lights off, and drove it around behind the shed. No one knew about this place except for him, and now Celine, but that didn’t bother him so much, he kind of liked sharing his place with her.

  They should be good, he’d called from a secure line to another secure line, making it nearly impossible to trace or track their location. He hadn’t even told Mr. K where they were. There was no way Daniel or Eli could track them. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be prepared just in case.

  Aaron ran inside. “You okay up there?”

  “Fine.”

  “I’m going to be outside for a few minutes checking on a couple of things. Just come to the front door and yell if you need me.”

  “Okay.”

  Aaron went to the shed, grabbed his lasers and headed into the woods. There was only one way into this place, and that was the same road he’d come up. Behind the cabin, past the crest, was a sheer rock wall that dropped nearly two hundred feet. Dense, heavy foliage packed in on the sides. Its defensive position was one of the reasons he’d chosen this place.

  Aaron skirted the road for about half a mile and set up his first sensor, attaching it to a tree at chest level. He didn’t want it low enough that animals would set off the alarm. He set the next detector at the beginning of his driveway, just past the wall of trees blocking it from sight. The last sensor he set at the back door.

  The house was dark when he went inside, even upstairs. “Celine? You asleep?”

  He was halfway up the stairs before she answered.

  “Could you come up here for a minute, I tried to change my bandage but I think it’s stuck.”

  Aaron took the stairs two at a time. He knew he’d been gone too long. She could have re-opened her wounds. “I’m coming-”

  He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. Celine stood in the center of the room, she’d curled her hair into loose spirals that did nothing but make her look like some type of pixie fantasy out of his dreams. Holy mother – how was he supposed to keep his hands off of her looking like that?

  She offered him a crooked smile and gestured to her ankle. “I started to unwrap it but I didn’t want to mess it up, and you said you were a medic right?”

  Aaron scrubbed a hand over his mouth, his gaze locked on the dainty curve of her calf. “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “Will you help me?”

  “Sure, I mean yes.” Damn he was tongue-tied. “Let me get my kit from the kitchen.” He bounded down the stairs, snatched his first aid kit from beneath the sink and was back by her side in ten seconds flat. Celine sat on the bed, her legs dangling just out of reach of the carpet. Moonlight spilled through the wall of windows, painting her platinum hair with a surreal sort of glow.

  Concentrate, she asked you to change her bandage, not rip off her shirt. Aaron dropped to his knees in front of her, opened his kit and cupped her heel in his palm, placi
ng her foot on his thigh to steady her leg. She wiggled her toes, dainty and feminine like the rest of her. “I’m going to unwrap it first.”

  He concentrated on unwinding the bandage, careful not to peel back any dried skin. Then he inspected her ankle. “There’s no swelling, looks like no infection, and most of your wounds have closed.”

  “Going to disinfect it with this, then I’ll put some antibiotic cream on and re-wrap it, okay?” He opened the disinfectant and gently dabbed at her leg.

  He didn’t look up for her nod, instead he concentrated on the task, knowing the minute he met her eyes he’d be lost. He finished cleaning the wound, and applied the antibiotic ointment, then quickly dressed her ankle with a fresh bandage. “There, we’ll change it again tomorrow.”

  Her other foot landed on his thigh and he froze, his gaze following her slim calf muscle to her pale thighs. Celine shifted, her leg falling to the side. Aaron swallowed, his free hand going to her good ankle of its own volition. Unable to take it, he glanced up to see her staring down at him with molten emerald eyes, her lips parted.

  “Celine?”

  “Do you want me, Aaron?”

  He didn’t process her words at first, but when he finally got enough control to speak, he growled. “Of course I do. But you need to rest, you’ve been through a lot.”

  She lifted her left leg and his hand moved up, unconsciously testing the soft smooth skin of the hollow behind her knee. Celine shivered and his grip reflexively tightened.

  “I’ve had enough rest.” She licked her lips and let her legs fall apart another inch.

  His already hard cock turned to steel. “You don’t know what you’re saying, you’ve been through an ordeal, kidnapping, almost killed.” His hand slid up to her mid-thigh as he relished every smooth inch, realizing she felt even better than he dreamed or imagined.

  “Almost. But they didn’t kill me and I need you.”

  Her throaty whisper broke through his barriers. Aaron brought both hands to her thighs and pushed her legs wide, his mouthwatering when she offered no resistance. “You better be sure sweetheart, because if I get started, I don’t think I can stop.”

  In answer, Celine pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her naked beautiful breasts on display just for him.

  He was a man undone. Reverently, giving her all the chances he could, he eased his hands up her legs, over the silky shorts to tug at the waistline. The tight shorts offered little resistance as he slid them down her legs. She was completely bare beneath. As if in a trance, he palmed her pussy, sucking in a breath when he found her hot and wet. Slowly he rotated his hand in a circle, massaging her there and savoring the soft pants coming from her lips.

  “I’ve been thinking about how you taste, wondering if you are sweet down here. Knowing you are probably even sweeter.”

  Celine moaned and fell back to her elbows as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh, inching his way up.

  “This is what I’ve needed Celine, what I needed all along.” Aaron slipped his hands beneath her butt and lifted her to his lips, savoring his first taste with a long slow lick.

  “Oh my God.” Celine lifted her hips and he yanked her back down anchoring her in place.

  “I told you to be ready.” He took her between his lips, suckling her sensitive clit until she bucked out of his hands. She didn’t taste better, she tasted like heaven, like everything good he’d ever imagined rolled into one.

  He wanted to stay here forever, savoring her sweet cries and whimpers, her fingers in his hair holding him to her. He licked her, alternating between fast and hard, slow and easy, restraining himself from testing her depths with his fingers. He knew he’d make her come, could sense she was on the edge. But he wanted to save that spot, to take her fully and make her his. He didn’t understand this need to have her, but he knew it would never change.

  “I’m so close, Aaron please,” she moaned and his cock jumped in response. Knowing it would push her over the edge, he sucked her clit between his lips, lapping up every drop of her juice as she fell apart and came in his arms.

  She was his.

  XXX

  Celine floated down from the first orgasm she’d had in too long. Her body drenched with a fine sheen of sweat and her fingers still curled in Aaron’s silky thick hair as he continued to lap at her already sensitive flesh. She tried to pull him back, to make him stop, but he just growled and pushed her hands out of the way as he slowly worked her back into a frenzy.

  She’d never felt this on fire, or so connected. Aaron made his way up her belly, kissing a path as he went. “You’re so fucking beautiful. You don’t know how hard it’s been for me to keep my hands off you this whole time.”

  His words filled her with sensual power and she arched. “Too long.”

  She stretched her arms over her head offering herself for his touch and he answered, kneading her breasts in his hands, thumbing her nipples, the rough calluses on his palms abrading her sensitive flesh, until she thought she’d scream. And then he took her into his mouth, suckling her nipple between his firm lips in a long hard pull that wrung all the oxygen from her body and left her breathless and gasping for more.

  When he lavished the same attention on her other breast, she let go of the thin line of control that she’d been holding onto and buried her fingers in his hair, anchoring him to her. “Harder.”

  “Damn I love your nipples. When you wore that shirt today, I could practically see them, been wondering what they taste like.” He took her again, his tongue lashing at her peak until she cried out.

  Aaron rose over her, put his hands beneath her arms and lifted her up the bed until they were both lying flat with him nestled between her legs, his hard length pressed against her core through the thin material of his shorts. Aaron cupped her face between his hands, holding her prisoner with his liquid brown gaze. “This is your last chance, honey, I don’t think I can wait much longer.”

  “I don’t want you to,” she breathed out. Impatient, Celine wrapped her hand behind his neck and pulled herself up to take his mouth. He let her go at her own pace, gently licking his lower lip and enjoying the way he pulsed between her thighs. Soft as a whisper, she brushed her lips across his, until he buried his hand in her hair and took possession of her mouth, completely destroying her will to tease him. He didn’t just kiss her, he owned her, made her want more and then gave it to her. His tongue taking control of her mouth with powerful thrusts in a way she’d never dreamed.

  He pushed her beyond need to frantic desperation and she dug her nails into his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing herself as tight as she could against his erection.

  When he broke the kiss, they were both breathing hard.

  “You’re fucking perfect.”

  Aaron yanked his shorts off, his long hard length springing free. His hand slipped between them, his fingers finding her only to tease and circle her entrance, barely tipping inside.

  “You’re ready for me aren’t you? You’re ready for me to take you.”

  Celine whimpered and arched her hips, trying to impale herself on his finger but he pulled back. “No, sweetheart, the first time I take you it’s not going to be with my fingers.” He reached down and lined himself up against her entrance, the broad flat head pushing against her walls. “I’m going to take you and make you mine.” He growled and buried one hand in her hair, holding her head in place, the other anchored her hip as he inched inside her. Gritting his teeth against the exquisite pleasure, he forced himself to go slow. Give her time to adjust to his size.

  “Aaron, please.” She arched, taking more than he’d given.

  “Be still.”

  “I can’t,” she moaned.

  “Celine…”

  “Please, I need you.”

  Her words broke his resistance and he drove forward, stretching her wide and filling her completely.

  Aaron paused, dropped his head to hers and took a trembling breath.
He placed a soft kiss to her lips and then pulled out, plowing inside once more. He took her like that, with long hard thrusts, stretching her to the limit.

  “So close, don’t stop.”

  He increased his pace, slamming into her with hard thrusts that drove her to the headboard. She clawed at his back, urging him on as her orgasm built and built.

  “Come for me, sweetheart. Now.”

  His words sent her over the edge and she tumbled headlong into another orgasm, this one blinding in its intensity. Aaron thrust in to the hilt as he shouted his own release right along with her.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Aaron rolled to his side, pulling Celine with him so that her head laid against his chest, as they both tried to catch their breath. “That was amazing. Are you okay? Was I too rough?”

  She hadn’t acted like he’d hurt her, but he’d gotten so lost in her sweet body that a bomb could’ve gone off and he would’ve missed it.

  “Not even close.” She threaded her fingers through his, her breath fanning against the hollow of his neck. “I was thinking maybe I hurt you.”

  Aaron chuckled and squeezed her tighter. “Honey, I’ll take that kind of hurt any day.”

  Aaron rolled out of bed, went to the sink and quickly washed himself off. Then he returned, slipping back into the same position as before with her head lying on his chest.

  Celine shifted against him, her leg sliding slowly up his thigh to nudge his already growing erection.

  “Be careful, you need to rest,” Aaron said.

  Celine leaned up on an elbow, her chin length blonde hair fanning around her face, and he couldn’t resist sifting his fingers through the silky links. “I’m not going to break, Aaron.”

  The moonlight highlighted her delicate bone structure. She had high cheekbones and the cutest curvy little nose. Everything about her screamed dainty. He would crush her with one hand if he wasn’t careful. “You don’t understand what your body’s been through. You were starved and abused, your body hasn’t gotten its strength back yet.”