Levering himself up, Jamie pressed a kiss to Kyle’s sweaty hair before pulling his fingers free. It took some coaxing to get Kyle on his back, but when he did, Jamie used the rest of the lube to slick up his cock one final time before he hooked Kyle’s legs over his shoulders. Leaning forward, he bent Kyle nearly in half before sinking his cock back into that warm, willing body, sliding inexorably home.
Kyle arched against him as much as he could, moaning raggedly as Jamie filled him up again. His hands clutched weakly at Jamie’s biceps, and Jamie grabbed at them, linking their fingers together. He pushed Kyle’s hands down against the bed near his head, caging him in. Their faces were inches apart, and Jamie couldn’t not kiss him like this, mouths meeting in desperate hunger.
“Say it,” Jamie growled when they broke apart. He drove his throbbing cock into Kyle as hard as he could, loving the way Kyle shuddered all around him. “I want to hear you say it.”
Kyle threw his head back, unable to escape from the relentless pounding Jamie started up. He never looked away from Jamie’s face, gaze full of a desire that had been there since the first night they ever laid eyes on each other. “Yours! I’m yours, sir!”
The words fell between them like a promise, an acknowledgement that this was exactly where they were meant to be, tangled up in each other and holding on as if their lives depended on it. Jamie couldn’t hold back any longer, not when Kyle had submitted so beautifully, given him everything he could ever want—a love, a promise, a future together, if they survived.
Groaning, Jamie gave into his desire to come, fucking his way to orgasm deep inside Kyle’s body. The sounds Kyle made—gasping little cries and broken moans—were the final catalyst that tipped Jamie over the edge. He came with his cock buried deep in Kyle and his face pressed against the curve of Kyle’s neck. Jamie chased that last, heady spark of pleasure as he emptied himself in Kyle with a harsh groan.
He could feel his heart beating in his chest, the pounding in his head as he came down from a high he honestly didn’t want to leave behind. The intimacy of the moment, how close they were, lulled him into a deep sense of satisfaction he didn’t want to let go. Jamie finally pressed a kiss to the pulse fluttering in Kyle’s warm, healed throat before he reluctantly sat up. He lifted Kyle’s left hand to his mouth, pressing a lingering kiss over the ring, holding it against his lips for a moment as he stared down at Kyle’s blissed-out, satisfied expression.
“Yours,” Kyle murmured, voice sounding slurred and satisfied.
“Yes,” Jamie agreed. “Mine.”
The smile Kyle gave him was slow and sweet, almost shy, in a way. Jamie turned Kyle’s hand over and pressed a kiss to the pulse in his wrist. He never thought he’d ever make it to this place of ease and contentment with another person. He never thought he’d find someone to look past his name, his wealth, and the inherent trauma from war abrading his soul to see the man underneath. To want him, and not the veneer of who everyone thought he should be.
Jamie carefully pulled out, rubbing a soothing hand over Kyle’s stomach as he did so. Kyle’s cock was still mostly flaccid, Jamie’s need to claim him tonight denying them both their favorite indulgence of building up the oversensitivity in Kyle to the point he came again in a short amount of time. There’d be time for that in the morning, and every night after.
Jamie slipped Kyle’s legs off his shoulders and let him stretch out. He got off the bed and headed for the bathroom, wetting a washcloth to clean himself up and filling a glass with water. He drank it down before filling it up again and took both back with him to the bedroom. Kyle had dragged down the duvet and gotten comfortable on the bed, though he still looked to be in a hazy state of mind. Jamie wiped him clean before coaxing him into drinking the entire glass of water. Jamie set the empty glass on the nightstand before crawling into bed and getting under the sheets.
Kyle lay down beside him and Jamie curled an arm over his back, stroking his hip. He let his touch drift a little, trailing his fingers over Kyle’s ass before gently slipping two inside his hole, plugging him up. Kyle sighed softly and curled closer. The diamond on the engagement ring glittered in the low light as Kyle rested his hand on Jamie’s chest.
“I mean it, you know,” Kyle murmured. “I’m yours. Always.”
Jamie traced the engagement ring with a finger before he kissed the top of Kyle’s head. “I know. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now go to sleep so you can fuck your cum out of me in the morning.”
Jamie chuckled, hiding his smile against Kyle’s hair. “Is that going to be a post-Thanksgiving tradition from here on out?”
“More like post-anniversary tradition, but yes, it damn well better be.” Kyle propped himself up just enough to kiss Jamie gently on the mouth, licking lazily inside. “You know what I like. Just one of the many reasons why I said yes.”
Yes to marrying Jamie. Yes to staying.
Yes to loving him, for better or for worse.
Jamie kissed Kyle again, holding him close, refusing to let go.
In the quiet of their bedroom, the problems stemming from the Pavluhkins, Declan Wolcott, and his father’s political aspirations seemed distant and unimportant. Jamie knew that would change, that Stanislav wouldn’t consider it a win unless they were all broken on his terms.
Jamie would do everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen.
INDEX
Short descriptions of words, acronyms and phrases used in the story that weren’t readily explained in text. Included as well are character names.
Bennett, Carter: CIA Deputy Director in the story.
Brannigan, Kyle (Staff Sergeant): Former Strike Force operative, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a sniper, metahuman (rapid healing), code named Reaper, hails from Boston, Massachusetts.
Brown, Annabelle: Former Night Stalker pilot, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a pilot, metahuman (anti-gravity, flight), code named Icarus, hails from Asheville, North Carolina.
Callahan (née Montgomery), Charlotte Jacqueline: Jamie’s mother, billionaire, socialite, hails from New York City, New York.
Callahan, Jamie (Captain): Previously a Recon Marine, currently leading Alpha Team, metahuman (enhanced strength and durability), code named Apollo, billionaire heir, hails from New York City, New York.
Callahan, Leah: Jamie’s little sister, billionaire heiress, socialite, hails from New York City, New York.
Callahan, Richard: Jamie’s father, billionaire, senator, Senate Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Republican presidential candidate for the upcoming election, hails from New York City, New York.
Chan, Madison: Previously a Recon Marine, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a demolitions specialist, metahuman (energy blasts), code named Nova, hails from Los Angeles, California.
Chatter: Chatter is a signals intelligence term that refers to the volume/quantity of intercepted communication, whether between people or electronic methods.
CIA: Central Intelligence Agency. Civilian foreign intelligence service of the United States tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information throughout the world.
Delaney, Sean: Former CIA officer specializing in deep cover, currently an agent in the MDF’s intelligence division, metahuman (phase power), code named Wraith, hails from New Seattle, Washington.
DOJ: Department of Justice. A federal executive department within the United States government responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice in the nation.
Dvorkin, Alexei (Staff Sergeant): Former Strike Force operative, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a close combat specialist, metahuman (pyrokinesis), code named Inferno, originally from a refugee city in the Ukraine, hails from Boston, Massachusetts.
EAMSG: European Alliance Metahuman Security Group. The European equivalent of the United States MDF within the story.
Exfil: Extraction, also exfiltration. Military term for immediately removing and relocating person
nel out of a hostile environment and taking them to a secure area.
FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, and its principal federal law enforcement agency. The FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.
Gailani, Matthew (Captain): Current Strike Force operative who used to lead Kyle and Alexei’s old squadron.
GRU: Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye. English translation of the Cyrillic acronym for the Russian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate. Similar to the CIA.
HALO: High altitude, low opening. Method of delivering military personnel, equipment, and supplies from a transport aircraft. For personnel, the parachutist free falls from high altitude before opening their parachute at a much lower altitude.
HUD: Head-up Display. Usually found in an aircraft or on a vehicle, but I put it on a high-tech tactical goggles.
JAG: Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Legal branch of a military dealing with military justice and military law. Primarily serve as legal advisors to the command they are assigned to. Their advice covers a wide range of military and civilian laws.
Jansen, Nikolaas: Facilitator of black-market deals between buyers and sellers who run the gamut of social and class status, metahuman (empath), originally from Amsterdam, Netherlands, currently from London, England.
MDF: Metahuman Defense Force. A hybrid federal agency/military group in the United States that deploys metahumans and humans on a domestic and international basis to deal with metahuman terrorists.
Metahumans: Humans whose natural immunity to Splice changes them into people with various powers within the story.
MIA: Missing in action. A military designation assigned to combatants who go missing during wartime or peace time.
Nazari, Amir (General): Director who oversees and leads the Metahuman Defense Force.
NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer. A military officer who didn’t earn a commission. Usually they are of an enlisted rank and are promoted to officer. In contrast, a commissioned officer usually receives training in leadership through a military academy and don’t come up through enlisted ranks.
Night Stalkers: A special operations force of the United States Army that provides helicopter and other aviation support.
Ovechkina, Ekaterina “Katie” (Sergeant): Previously a Recon Marine, currently second-in-command of Alpha Team, communications specialist and hacker, metahuman (telepathy), code named Viper, hails from Chicago, Illinois.
Overwatch: Military term for a group, team, or individual who provides support to another unit while they are engaged in combat.
Pavluhkin, Stanislav: Son and heir to a Russian oligarch and the Presnenskaya Bratva, metahuman (precognition), hails from Moscow, Russia.
Pavluhkin, Yakov: Russian oligarch and head of the Presnenskaya Bratva, hails from Moscow, Russia.
PMC: Private military company. A privately owned company that provides armed combat and/or security services to other companies, government agencies, and the military in a support role.
Presnenskaya Bratva: A Moscow-based Russian gang originating in the Presnensky District, the largest and most powerful crime syndicate within the Russian mafia, one with a wide international reach.
Reborn IRA: Reborn Irish Republican Army. An organization still fighting in the future for full autonomy from the British government in order to bring about a united Ireland.
Sanchez, Trevor: Previously a Recon Marine, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a medic, metahuman (telekinesis), code named Bones, hails from Dallas, Texas.
Secondment: A military term for the temporary transfer of a person from their main duty to another assignment. The term is used more in the UK than the US, but I liked it, so I used it.
SERE: Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. A military program that provides U.S. military personnel, Department of Defense civilians, private military contractors, and other at-risk agents and personnel with training on how to evade the enemy, survive and resist the enemy if captured, and to escape.
Sons of Adam: Homegrown U.S. terrorist group with nativist tendencies who want to take back the country from the government. Occasionally fields metahumans in their fights against the U.S. government and targeted groups.
Splice: Toxic chemical within the story that has a 95 percent kill rate. Those with immunity to it get turned into metahumans.
State Department. U.S. Department of State. A federal executive department within the United States government responsible for advising the President, handles foreign policy issues, and is responsible for international relations with foreign entities.
Stirling, Ranisha (Rear Admiral Lower Half): Deputy director who supports the director in running the Metahuman Defense Force.
Strike Force: My made up alternate version of the very real Delta Force, a highly classified special forces operational unit.
Williams, Donovan: Previously a Recon Marine, currently assigned to Alpha Team as a transport specialist, metahuman (enhanced spectrum eyesight), code named Tank, hails from Atlanta, Georgia.
Wolcott, Adrian: Former casino magnate and older brother to Declan.
Wolcott, Declan: Previously an Army Ranger, honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, past owner of North Star International, a private military company, current fugitive and terrorist.
Author’s Notes
Thank you so much for reading this story! I really hope you enjoyed it.
It honestly takes a village to whip my stories into shape. I couldn’t have wrangled it into order without the help of my usual alpha readers Kelly and Pilar. As always, a massive thank you to Leslie Copeland for her awesome beta skills, keen eye to detail, and saving the story from a bad plot decision brought about by too much overtime at work and lack of sleep. Thanks as well to Bear for her friendship and turning this monster into an actual formatted book. You can all thank Lily Morton for the plot bunnies she’s feeding when it comes to future books, because I certainly do.
Thanks to Jersey Devil Editing for nit-picking the hell out of this story. The War of the Commas and Hyphens continues. Also thanks to Kasmit Covers for the amazing cover. Their hard work is always appreciated.
Again, I have never been active military, so if I got any of the terms and actions wrong, my apologies. I tried to extrapolate as best I could when accounting for the story theme and its timeframe in the future. I also know nothing about the CIA, spies, and espionage. I’m winging it and making stuff up as I go along, but hopefully my winging it makes sense.
I would be thrilled and grateful if you would consider reviewing In the Blood on Amazon or Goodreads. I appreciate all honest reviews, positive or negative. Reviews definitely help my books get seen, so thank you!
www.haileyturner.com
Cover design by Kasmit Covers.
Professional Beta Reading by Leslie Copeland: [email protected]
Edited by Jersey Devil Editing.
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Other Works By Hailey Turner
Metahuman Files
01 – In the Wreckage
02 – In the Ruins
03 – In the Shadows
04 –In the Blood
05 – In the Requiem
A Metahuman Files: Classified Novella
01 – Out of the Ashes
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