by KaLyn Cooper
“I was just thinking about the future of Katlin’s team.” She tilted her head toward the kitchen door. “This is the first time they will face death together…but not the last.”
“Let’s give them a minute,” suggested Mike. “Katlin has been holding it all in since Francis and I told her. Maybe she’ll let her guard down in front of her girlfriends.”
Ava didn’t think so. Katlin knew the other women looked up to her as a leader which meant she had to show unwavering strength. No. Katlin would wait until she was alone, probably in the quiet of her bedroom, before she would let the tears flow and purge her body of emotion. It might not even happen until after her husband was in the ground. This amazing young woman would deal with her loss in private, never allowing anyone to see weakness.
“Ava?” Tom called her name, obviously not for the first time.
Damn. She’d lost her place in the conversation.
“Are the other members of the joint task force coming today?” Tom finished his question.
“Yes, they should be here shortly.” Ava listened to the hushed voices of her girls, hearing compassion but not the actual words. “I think I’ll go check on Katlin.”
As Ava opened the laundry room door, Jack Ashford strode into the kitchen and pulled Katlin into his arms. “Everything’s going to be fine, now. I’m here, and I’ll take care of you.”
Katlin’s entire body went stiff and her eyes widened in obvious shock.
From behind Ava, she could feel the tension radiating off both men. She quickly stepped into the room and then to the side, allowing Katlin’s father and uncle to take control of the situation.
Their help wasn’t needed.
Katlin practically shoved Jack away and pasted on a smile. “Thank you so much for your concern, Mr. Ashford.” Her father and uncle stood on either side, both wrapping a possessive arm around her shoulders. “As you can see, my family is taking wonderful care of me. I expect the CACO to arrive shortly. I’m sure my husband’s funeral arrangements can be handled efficiently through him.”
Nita Banks, a.k.a. Lady Harrier, stepped in front of Jack. “Mr. Ashford, it was so kind of you to come to give your condolences, which I’m sure you were just about to offer.” No one had missed Nita’s usual sarcasm given the quiet snickers that filled the packed kitchen.
Grace Hall, a.k.a. Lady Eagle, the peacemaker on Katlin’s team, moved next to Nita. “Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Ashford. It was nice of you to take time out of your very busy schedule at Homeland Security to drive all the way down to Quantico.” Her auburn hair flew through the air as she twisted to take in everyone else in the room. Green eyes flashing, she asked as much as she announced, “I think we got this.”
Jack’s gaze caught Ava’s she nodded along with everyone else. Definitely not what the man had expected. She had to give the guy credit though, he covered his faux pas with the expertise of the politician he was to his core.
“Excellent.” Jack clasped his hands together in front of him. Looking directly at Grace, he smiled. “You are absolutely right, Ms. Hall. My schedule is slammed today, and I am expected on The Hill in just a few hours.”
His eyes softened as he turned his attention to Katlin and reached out, clasping her hand in both of his. With no remorse whatsoever on his face or in his voice, Jack said, “I’m sorry for your loss. If there’s anything I can do to assist you, please don’t hesitate to ask.” His voice took on a husky quality and quieted. “You know you can call me anytime. You have my private number.”
Katlin snatched her hand away and wound her arm around her father’s waist. “Thank you, Mr. Ashford. I can’t imagine any reason that I would need to bother you, but it was kind of you to offer.” She leaned into her father. “I’m quite sure we will be able to handle any situation that arises.”
Jack’s gaze swept the room before returning to Katlin. “My sincere condolences.” He turned toward the front door and took two steps before he stopped and spun around to glare at Nita and Grace. “Katlin may have a week of mourning off,” his gaze found Lee Lu and Tori standing on the far side. “But I expect to see the four of you on the range at dawn tomorrow morning.”
Ava swore she saw the man smirk as he turned to finally leave.
“That man gives me the heebie-jeebies,” Lee Lu said above a whisper.
Tori, a.k.a. Lady Falcon, the tallest member of Katlin’s team, threw her arm over top Lei Lu’s shoulders. “He totally creeps me out. I’m so glad I don’t have to work for him.”
Ava grimaced. Their future assignments were already set. After their training with the CIA, all five would be assigned to Section 7 of Homeland Security.
4
“I’m concerned about Katlin. She isn’t showing any emotion and it’s been two days,” Ava noted to take her mind off the warmth of Tom’s hand at the small of her back as they walked up the steps to her general’s quarters.
For more than a dozen reasons, the Marine Corps Base Quantico had been selected for the top-secret, all-female training project. Since it was Ava’s brainchild, she had been placed in charge of the joint task force and designated as the commanding officer, so she rated on-base housing a few miles from Katlin’s home.
“She’s fine.” He waited behind her as she unlocked the front door. “What did you expect?”
“At least a few tears. Do you think she’s in denial?” Ava glanced over her shoulder at the very handsome man she’d known for over twenty-five years. She found the gray threads at his temple extremely sexy.
A year ago, she had dated a Congressional aide who was five years younger than Tom, yet was nearly gray. Not only did he look like an older man, but he had acted like one. Tom appeared to be in his early forties rather than pushing fifty-five and stayed very active by running daily and putting in hours at the gym every week.
He made her feel young and beautiful when they were together.
Following her through the door, he turned to flip the deadbolt. “I think she’s past that stage. Katlin is very based in reality and looks at every situation with an analytical mind. It’s only been nine months since she lost her mother, which was a shock to all of us. I miss my sister. Her accident was so unexpected.”
Ava tossed her car keys into the hand-painted bowl she had picked up on her last trip to Kabul. “I almost pulled Katlin from the program the day we informed her that her mother had been killed. She totally lost it that day, falling apart in my arms. I guess that’s what I was expecting this time, too. But there’s nothing. Completely different reactions. I expected puffy, bloodshot eyes when I saw her this afternoon. It is as though she were dealing with the death of someone she didn’t even know.”
Tom followed her into the living room where lights had been turned on by a timer hours before. “She’ll be okay.” He stepped up behind, her placing his hands on her hips and bending down to kiss the side of her neck.
Heat radiated from his body into hers. “She knows she has to hold it together through the funeral tomorrow. Perhaps, after everyone clears out and leaves her alone, that’s when it’ll hit her.”
He spun Ava around to face him. “I’m tired of dealing with death.” He laid his lips on hers in the most gentle, tender way. This was the side of Tom she liked the most. “I want to celebrate life by making you moan and beg for me to slide into your hot, slick body and show you the best thing life can bring.”
She started unbuttoning her blouse, shedding the part of her personality that demanded she be the tough Marine Corps general. She, too, was tired of dealing with the horrors of war, the sadness of loss, and the overpowering responsibility that came with the stars she wore on her shoulders. She had smashed glass ceilings her entire career. It had cost her a husband, the children she would never bear, and many lovers along the way. But it was worth it to be one of only five women to ever wear stars and the USMC globe and anchor.
Thankfully, Tom wasn’t like any of her previous lovers. He wasn’t using her to forward his career, no
r did he expect her to quit her job and become the perfect officer’s wife. She wasn’t sure where their relationship would go beyond the next several hours in bed, but she was positive, at least for their time together, she would feel nothing pleasure as a woman. “Race you to the bedroom,” she teased.
“We’re in no hurry.” Moving his hands to her shoulders he slid her blouse off and tossed it over the back of the sofa. He cupped both breasts in his large hands and rubbed his thumbs over her nipples. They hardened instantly, pressing against her white lacy bra.
Tom bent his head and sucked one pebbled peak into his mouth, nipping gently as he withdrew.
God, she loved when he did that. The sensation traveled directly to her clit as though he’d taken her bundle of nerves into his mouth and sucked until it hardened. She moaned when he moved to the other breast and repeated the sensual torture.
Squeezing her thighs together, she needed more. “Tom,” she called to him between rapid breaths. “Let’s go upstairs.”
“I’m happy right where I am.” He lifted his head and captured her mouth with his in an unhurried kiss. She opened for him and he languorously explored her mouth while his hands worked over her breasts, abrading her hard nipples against the wet lace.
He moved one leg between her knees and stepped into her, forcing her legs apart. When he gently pinched both nipples, she arched her hips against his muscular thigh. It still wasn’t enough.
“I need more,” she told him on a stuttered exhale.
“I know.” His heated gaze was filled with promise. “I’ll take care of you…several times tonight.”
“Tom.” She looked into his light blue eyes in warning.
The man had the nerve to grin.
He hiked up her skirt and dove his hand beneath the matching lace panties. She normally hated wearing that uniform but was now thankful for the morning meeting at the Pentagon. A belt and zipper, then shoving down slacks would have taken much longer for his hand to find her center.
He deftly parted her folds and quickly found her clitoris, using her damp heat to circle the swollen nub. “Is this what you need, Ava?”
“Yes, and you know it.” She spread her legs wider to give him better access.
With his other hand he lifted a breast out of the bra cup then bent his head to take it into his mouth. Sucking hard, he flicked the underside of her clit.
Ava’s entire body shook as Tom increased the pressure of his dual assault, riding out her orgasm.
She threw her arms around his shoulders and collapsed onto his broad chest. As she rose to awareness, Tom was rubbing his hand up and down her spine. With great effort she picked up her head.
“That was one.” He laid his lips on hers but didn’t linger. He kneeled and slid the panties down her legs, stopping to lay several kisses just above her thigh-high stockings. “I think we should continue this in a bed.”
“Get some sleep, sweetheart.” Katlin’s father dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
Katlin shut the door behind her father then turned to lean her back against the sturdy wood, shutting out the rest of the world. For two solid days her home had been invaded by so much brass it had intimidated some of her closest friends. Admirals, generals, colonels, captains—the highest ranking officers from every branch of military service who had ever worked with her father—had used Ty’s death as a reason to reacquaint themselves with Major General Michael Callahan.
Brown-nosing had always irked Katlin. Watching field grade officers offer their condolences to her father, then try to make him more comfortable in a situation where comfort was unnecessary, became almost comical. There were also so many Navy lieutenants and Marine captains, her own rank, serving as aides to the men and women wearing stars, she had started herding them outside to the patio where they could relax out of sight. More times than she could count, she’d sent them to the Class VI store for more ice and beer, often to give them something to do while their bosses reminisced with her father or they quietly discussed current situations throughout the world.
Taking a deep breath, Katlin cleared her mind and relaxed her body.
Tori stuck her head into the hallway from the kitchen. “They all finally gone?”
“Thank God, yes.” Katlin didn’t move, allowing the door to hold up her overtired body.
Tori stepped into the hallway and handed Katlin a glass of Riesling. “Wine?”
Katlin straightened and gave her friend a one armed hug. “You have no idea how much I needed this.” She savored the taste of the chilled Riesling, rolling the crisp flavors over her tongue before swallowing.
Nita appeared with a glass of red in one hand and a plate of cheeses in the other. “If Major Dickhead got any further up to her dad’s ass, I was going to have to get my extractors to pull him out.” Katlin loved her friend’s wit. Nita often used sarcasm to redirect a conversation, especially when it came to the reason she quit medical school.
Grace was right behind her with a basket of assorted crackers. With a grimace, she agreed. “Major Dickerson certainly tried to occupy your father’s time.” She nudged Nita with the basket. “I’m tired of hiding in the kitchen. Let’s go sit in the living room.”
“There were more stars here today than at a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting,” Lei Lu commented as she brought four bottles of wine into the living room.
Tori huffed. “Two members of the JCS were here today.”
“They’ve worked with my dad for years,” Katlin tried to explain as she lowered herself into her favorite overstuffed chair and put her tired feet on the coffee table. “They were around for my mom’s funeral, too.” She was proud she was able to say those words without choking on the deep gash in her heart that was still too fresh.
“They all seem to know you,” Lei Lu noted. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much public display of affection from senior military officers as I have in the past two days. I swear, everyone needed to give you a hug.”
“Most of those people have known me since I was a child, and all too often they think of me as the little girl with blonde hair and perfect manners who served them drinks.” Katlin tried every day to overcome that image. Although many saw her today as the grieving widow, only a few recognized the woman warrior inside.
Tori slid her a glance. “I guarantee Jack Ashford doesn’t look at you that way.”
Katlin held in a shiver. She personally didn’t care for the man at Homeland Security. He tried far too hard to get close to her, touching her more often than a man in his position should. She barely knew him. In a way, he was her boss since he sat on the joint task force that controlled the project. She tried to be nice, little more than cordial, careful not to give him or anyone else the wrong impression. She wasn’t interested in any man. None of them were to be trusted, least of all with her heart.
“He showed up often enough,” Nita observed as she layered several pieces of cheese on a cracker.
Lee Lu smiled. “The stars certainly didn’t like seeing him here,” referring to the four women generals who created the project.
“Oh. My. God.” Nita pounced on each word. “Did you see Major General Birkhoff light into him when he tried to follow Katlin down the hallway?”
“Christ, yes.” Tori rolled her eyes. “Like Katlin couldn’t go pee without an escort.”
“I was hiding, to be honest with you.” At that point in the evening, Katlin had more than enough of people, noise, and whispered side conversations.
She’d needed a few minutes of peace and quiet. She’d locked the door behind her and stretched out on the antique, full-sized bed she had moved into the master bedroom the day after Ty left on his last mission. The century-old bed was another inheritance when her family had cleaned out her grandparents’ Virginia home. One more thing Ty hated. Well, Katlin hated the leather and dark wood king-sized bed that she had shared with her husband. Several months ago, she had moved both of them out for life…at least sh
e thought she had.
“I’m sorry, but I just needed to get out of there and clear my head,” Katlin admitted. “I didn’t mean to strand you with kitchen duty.”
“We totally understand.” Grace poured more wine into every woman’s glass.
Nita’s face broke into a coy smile. “I hung outside with all the men. Guess who has a dinner date on Friday night with Admiral Russell’s aide?”
Feminine banter filled the air. Katlin sipped the cool golden liquid and followed it with a piece of smoky Gouda.
Perfect.
She glanced around her small living room at the women who had become her friends as well as her team. Together they had endured so much more than any group of women ever had, yet their training wasn’t over. They would be tested over and over again. Deep in her heart, she knew they would succeed. Her friends would always be there for each other, just as they were there for her that night.
Tomorrow, she would bury the man she loved…and hated. She would do everything expected of her. She would endure another wave of home invasion before she finally moved on with her life.
As she glanced at each woman—Grace, Tori, Nita, and Lei Lu— Katlin knew their future together was God’s plan, and she had to see it through, one day at a time.
Katlin inhaled deeply, slowly filling her lungs. “Ladies, I’m going to call it a night. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me these past few days.” She rose from the chair, exhausted to her very bones.
Everything hurt, except her heart, which should have been shattered by the news of her husband’s death. But it had been broken the day before he left for the Middle East. Over the past few days, out of nowhere, a good memory would rise to the surface. All too often, though, a bad memory jabbed her, the pain catching her off guard, as though she were picking up a shard of glass and accidentally cut her hand. Some wounds would never heal.
Katlin’s gaze swept her friends. “Feel free to stay here. Eat. Drink. Spend the night. Go home. You’re adults. You figure it out. I’m going to bed.”
