“Bring it on. Let him go!” Jett commanded.
“You two stop it,” Lt. Blocker barked. “You’re acting like a bunch of teenagers. We’re supposed to be suiting up for training. We don’t have time for this.”
When Jett realized Blocker was right, he stopped struggling. Fighting could easily get him kicked out of the program and he’d come too far to screw this thing up now.
“Let me go,” Jett said calmly.
“Yeah, let me go,” Weasel atoned.
Neither was released.
“You guys are going to behave?” Blocker asked.
“Considered it squashed,” Jett promised.
After Weasel echoed the sentiment, the men released them.
Jett and Weasel glared at each other for a few minutes longer, but then snatched up the rest of their gear and marched out of the locker room. Though the quarrel was over, Jett remained upset about the whole incident. The voice in his head badgered and condemned his part in what happened.
Across the room, Lt. Johnson slammed his locker shut and stormed out. The fact was he had agreed to participate in the pool though at the time his intension was to keep the over testosterone charged jerks away from Sydney.
Would she see it that way?
Guilt and doubt pricked his conscience. He knew she wouldn’t see it that way. One thing was for sure; he would have to tell Sydney about the pool before another airman, mainly Weasel—or Johnson, dropped the bomb on her.
That would be disastrous.
Jett drew a deep breath. This was not the way to start a marriage. He headed toward his assigned hanger and caught glimpse of Sydney’s curvaceous figure as she walked toward the same hanger.
He waited until she spotted him before he made a two finger salute, but his feet slowed when he caught sight of her swollen eyes and angry face before she jerked her gaze away.
Jett frowned in concerned but in the next second noticed Niecy marching toward her. Niecy boldly met his gaze and shook her head. In that instant, Jett knew Sydney had already learned about the pool.
His heart sank at the realization that his marriage was in serious trouble.
Chapter 23
In a typical Red Flag exercise, friendly Blue Forces engage hostile Red Forces in combat situations. Blue Forces are made up of a variety of units from Air Mobility to Marine Corps. A Blue Forces commander who orchestrates the employment plan leads them. Red Forces are composed of Red Flag's Adversary Tactics Division flying the F-16 and provides air threats through the emulation of enemy tactics. They are often augmented with other U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps units flying in concert with electronic ground defenses and communications and radar jamming equipment.
Jett wasn’t in the sky more than ten minutes before the Red Force had a lock on his plane and eliminated him and his wingman from the competition. Sydney, apparently her concentration was better than his, and Captain Post went on to run perfect circles around the Red Forces and completed their mission.
By the time Serious Garrett landed her jet there was no question among the squadron on just who would complete the nine week combat training as Top Gun.
Meanwhile, Jett had returned to being that caged lion, pacing and waiting for the opportunity to tell Sydney his side of the story. However, Sydney went out of her way for the rest of the day to stay the hell away from him.
Captain Post had no such agenda. “I have to admit that even for you this was pretty low.”
“You got it all wrong,” he seethed ready to defend himself to someone-anyone.
“Sure I do,” Niecy hissed and started to walk away.
Desperate, Jett cornered her before she was able to slip back into the women’s locker room. “You have to tell her I didn’t make that bet.”
Niecy’s head rocked back with laughter.
Jett glared at her and waited until she was through. “I love her, Niecy.”
She folded her arms. “I care.”
“Goddamn it, Niecy. I mean it. This isn’t like...”
“Isn’t like what?” Niecy challenged. “Like all the other women? Like my other friends?”
He huffed in frustration. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with her. He would be better off waiting for Sydney to calm down. “Just forget it.” He turned away.
Niecy raced around him and blocked his escape. “I never could figure out guys like you. Do you get some kind of high hurting women?”
Jett’s frowned deepened. Never in his life had he intentionally hurt anyone and he didn’t know how to go about explaining anything to someone who’d made up their mind without all the facts. “No,” he answered simply and stepped around her.
True, after Valerie ran off and married his brother he went through a period where he sought solace in other women’s arms. At no time did he lead anyone on. In the past, he’d made it clear he wasn’t looking for a relationship-but there was no shortage of women who thought that they could change his mind.
Those were usually the ones he left brokenhearted.
“Just stay the hell away from her,” Niecy shouted at his back.
Jett stopped in his tracks and then slowly turned back to face her. “Sorry, I can’t do that either. She’s my wife.”
At that admission, he watched as Niecy’s smug expression crumble before he walked away again.
Jett tried to give Sydney her space but after three days and more than thirty calls to Sydney’s cell phone, Jett decided to hammer on his wife’s door until she spoke with him. Nearly everyone on her floor exchanged harsh words at the amount noise he kept up.
“Sydney, I know you’re in there,” he shouted through the door. “I’m not leaving here until you talk to me.”
“You’ll leave if I call the Security Police,” another neighbor threatened.
“You hear that, Syd? Do you want to read about this domestic dispute in the Nellis ‘Bullseye’ newspaper?”
Silence greeted his threat.
Jett sighed and slumped against the door. “Please, Sydney,” he murmured, sounding like the broken man he was. “Hear me out.”
Sydney stood on the other side of the door with tears streaming down her face. For the past hour she kept her hand on the doorknob, but had been unable to summon the strength to actually open the door. The pain she was experiencing threatened to tear her into two.
She just needed more time to sort things out, but Jett was determined to rob of that time. If she opened the door, what would he say? What could he say?
He’ll deny everything, the voice in her head warned. It was the only thing he could do. If he denied it, what then? They were married for Pete’s sake. Was that part of the pool, too?
Sydney shook her head. That didn’t make sense.
“Sydney, please,” Jett begged.
“Please,” she whispered. Her hand tightened on the door, but she still couldn’t do it. “Please go away, Jett.”
There was a long pause before Jett replied, “I can’t. I love you.”
Sydney closed her eyes in anger as much as disappointment. With one burst of courage, Sydney wrenched open the door. “If you loved me how could you--?”
Jett flew into the apartment wrapping his arms around her and smothering her lips with a ravenous kiss. The fact she’d opened the door filled him with hope. For a few wonderful seconds, Sydney’s body went limp in his arms and she returned his kiss then pushed at his chest. When her efforts proved futile, she started swinging--first with open hands and then with tightly clenched fists.
Jett’s lips tore away from her sweet mouth so he could dodge her vicious blows. More than a few of her punches found their mark across his jaw and cheeks as well as his chest and arms. “Syd…Sydney...stop!”
“You asshole! How could you do this to me?” She landed fresh blows against his temples that literally had him blinking away stars. Before he knew it, they had fallen to the floor-him wrestling to pin her arms down and her trying to kill him.
“Sydney, you don’t understand. I didn’t partici
pate in the pool.”
“Liar!” She swung again and hit him dead in his mouth.
Jett was almost certain the woman had three hands the way she kept landing blows after he was certain he had her pinned. “Let me explain.”
“What’s there to explain if you didn’t do anything?” she screeched.
He struggled with that one for a moment. “Okay, I should have told you about the pool but the truth of the matter is I’d forgotten about it.”
Sydney stopped struggling and Jett eyed her wearily. Was this a real truce?
“You forgot?” she asked; her chest heaved in exhaustion.
“I know that may be hard to believe, but it’s the truth. “Lt. Hawley told me about the pool nearly two months ago and well, I guess technically-or initially I said that I was in-”
“So you were in on the pool?” She freed her hands and another round of punches landed upside his head.
Jett discovered that his wife was not only fast but she was incredibly strong. Yet, the fear of losing the best thing in his life kept him in the game. Somehow he had to get her to hear him out.
After another five minutes of wrestling, he managed to lock her hands above her head. By that time, they were exhausted. The anger in Sydney’s glare scared Jett like nothing had ever before.
She doesn’t love me anymore.
Instead of explaining, Jett kissed her again. He had to do something to erase the hate glimmering in her eyes. He had to get things back to how they were when they left the casino.
Back to when she said she loved him.
His kiss turned hard. He ignored her attempts to twist away. He even ignored the few times she managed to bite and draw blood.
She loved him-she said so.
Jett released her hands but then ripped open her shirt and broke the straps of her bra so that he could fill his greedy hands with her breasts. Sydney’s hands flailed at him, but he knew she loved things rough.
Hadn’t she said so?
He abandoned her lips and shoved a hard nipple into his mouth. He feasted like a starved man and took her writhing and trembling body as a sign she was just as turned on as he was.
He loved her. He had to make her see it; he had to make her feel it.
Jett tore at his own clothes and ripped them off in record time. He dodged a few more blows to press his lips back against hers. Their tears blended and he swallowed her gasp as he pushed inside of her.
“I hate you. I hate you,” she rasped against his lips while he moved inside of her.
“No. You love me,” he corrected as he deepened his thrust. “Say it,” he ordered. “Say you love me.”
Sydney thrashed her head, but her pounding fists flattened into gentle caresses against his back and shoulders.
“You love me,” he insisted. “You love me.”
“No.” Her hips no longer resisted his rhythm but eagerly met his thrust for thrust. “No.”
She was lying; he knew and decided to teach her a lesson. By some miracle, he stopped his wild thrusting and held back. However, the feel of her vaginal muscles pulsing around his shaft was enough to dangle him over the of pool insanity.
Sydney groaned and wrapped her legs around his hips-desperate for him to finish what he started.
“Say it,” he half ordered and half begged.
Tears splashed down her eyes as she shook her head but she continued to thrust her hips in contradiction. Her head and her body raged a war and Jett, stiff and ready to explode, was caught in the crossfire.
“Say it,” he commanded in a voice he didn’t recognize. “Say it.” No longer able to control his body, his hips moved again. He watched in glorious ecstasy as Sydney’s eyes rolled to the heavens.
Sydney wanted to say the words-needed to; but at the feel of her husband hammering away robbed her of the ability to talk. All she could do was feel and what she was feeling scared the hell out of her.
Pleasure rippled across her body, then the sensation intensified until it became large tidal waves crashing all around her. She gasped and dug her nails into the tender flesh of Jett’s back.
“Say it. Say it,” Jett urged.
The tide had made it to her eyes and caused tears to stream down her face. An explosion erupted in her core and her body shook with violent tremors that caused her to hold onto Jett for dear life. Her mouth moved and formed the words ‘I love you’, but her voice was still M.I.A. so Jett never heard what he needed to hear.
Shortly after her mind-bending orgasm, Jett trembled and his breathing became erratic. Sydney knew his explosion was at hand. She discovered some reserved energy and kept meeting his hips to drive him over the edge. Through the mesh of her lowered lashes she watched his face contort and his jaw tense and relax.
She wanted to believe she was giving him something that no other woman could. She needed to believe their time together had not been a lie.
But he’d admitted to participating in that damn pool--a pool to get her into bed. Had the stakes been double or nothing to get her to walk down the aisle? Hell, it hadn’t been like a real wedding. An Elvis impersonator had performed the ceremony for Pete’s sake.
Now that she had regained her ability to think...she wished she hadn’t. Sydney Garrett was not used to feeling out of control, yet, ever since Jett Colton entered her life, it was a constant state of being.
Jett delivered a final thrust with a loud growl and trembled inside of her. He held her as if he was afraid to let go, but as his weight grew increasingly heavy, she finally pushed for him to get off.
Reluctantly, he rolled onto his side and attempted to pull her close, but she moved out of his reach. Sydney sat up and glanced around, suddenly ashamed of how they’d behaved liked wild animals.
“Syd-”
“This isn’t a problem that you can just screw away,” she said.
He sighed and sat up as well. “I know that.”
“This isn’t going to work, you know.” She refused to meet his gaze. “We don’t know each other.”
“You’re wrong about that.” He reached over and glided a finger down the valley of her breasts. “I think we know each other very well.”
She coiled away from him as if disgusted by his touch. “Sex isn’t a marriage. And I can’t stay married to someone I don’t even like.” She glanced up in time to catch him flinch. Had she successfully hurt him as much as he did her?
She hoped so.
Sydney forced herself off the floor and walked nude over to the door. “I want you to leave. I’ll start the annulment or divorce proceedings after the graduation ceremony.”
“Syd-”
“End of discussion,” she snapped and lifted her chin. She was back in control.
Jett locked gazes with her and tried to read her. After a long stalemate, he snatched on most of his clothes and marched toward the door with his shoes in his hands.
Sydney opened it for him and when he’d cleared the threshold, she slammed it close.
Chapter 24
Once she slammed the door behind Jett, Sydney crumpled to the floor with her heart shattered into a million pieces. Soldiers don’t cry. Her head repeated her personal decreed, but soon her wrenching sobs drowned out its stringent order. At this moment, she wasn’t a soldier. She was a woman.
And a wife.
“I hate him. I hate him,” she croaked, mopping her face. Yet, as she said the words, she knew it wasn’t true. But maybe if she said it long enough it would become true.
Maybe.
Twenty minutes later, she gave up and cursed herself for being so damn weak and gullible. How long had she pride herself for not being another fairy tale chasing, husband obsessing single woman? Sure, she had her share of heartbreaks in the past, but it was never anything that could break her.
Nothing like this.
Did James Colton truly love her?
As if on cue, Sydney’s body throbbed and tingled with the all too recent memory of how he’d just made love to her. Didn’t she t
aste his desperation? How many times did he tell her that he loved her?
Why would he say that now after she knew about the pool? The gig was up. He could’ve just walked away.
Then again, maybe the desperation was her own? She wanted Jett and she went after him. So maybe she got exactly what she deserved.
That thought was followed by another wave of tears. Pain radiated from where her heart used to be. Sometime later, she managed to peel herself off the floor and carried her solo pity party to the shower. There she hoped to wash away her husband’s scent and touch from her body. However, it was an impossible task. Somehow, someway Jett Colton branded her. And as Sydney curled into the bed for the night, she wished fervidly she’d done the same to him.
There would be no annulment—no divorce.
Sydney Garrett still wanted and loved her husband. Somehow, someway, they would work things out.
At least she hoped so.
Jett cursed a blue streak all the way back to his dormitory. He cursed Weasel, nosey Niecy, and all the men in his squadron for coming up with such a childish pool in the first place.
Then at last, he cursed himself.
After so many years, he’d found love and somehow screwed it up. His thoughts roamed to his impossible father, his elusive brother, and his mysterious mother. None of them were able to give what he desperately needed.
It took a lifetime to create and become the cocky, hotshot fighter pilot with the love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude. Walking around with your heart on your sleeve was like walking around with a target painted on your forehead.
Blue Skies Page 14
