Men In Uniform Anthology

by Delilah Devlin

  Chapter Five

  The next morning, Jessie entered the small living room, moving gingerly. Her sex was still hot and swollen. She could feel the heat between her legs every time her thighs moved together. Not something she’d ever experienced before. She forced herself to move with a natural gait but wasn’t sure she was pulling it off. Not by the quizzical glance Spider shot her way.

  “You okay?” he asked, a half smile curving his mouth.

  Giving up, she rolled her eyes and gave a grimace. “I can’t walk straight.”

  Lord love him, the man pressed his lips together, but his twinkling eyes gave away his mirth. “I’m sorry.”

  She held up a hand. “No, you’re not.”

  He strode toward her and put his arms around her, holding her loosely against his tall frame. “Was I too rough?”

  “Stop.” Her cheeks were already heating. He’d been rough, all right, so had she, but she’d loved every minute of it.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  She slapped his arm. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  “I’ll admit I’m feeling a little male pride.” At her scowl, he wiped away his smile. “But I’m also very, very sorry.”

  She huffed a breath then leaned against him, enjoying the way he smelled this morning—of soap…and bacon. “You cooked?”

  “Had to do something to get back in your good books.”

  “In my pants, you mean.”

  He sighed. “I’m guessing that’s out of the question for a while.”

  They stood, standing together, swaying just a little. It was comforting.

  She ducked her head to hide her expression. “I’ve never…enjoyed it quite so much.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed…it.”

  “I think it was all those muscles,” she said, squeezing his biceps.

  “Not my dick?”

  “Nope.” The muscles had only been part of it. The smoldering intensity, the deliberate attention he gave to every reaction she’d given him…and yes, his gloriously hard and thick dick… She shivered.

  “Now that you’re up, I’ll make sure to wash those sheets again. I imagine they need it.”

  She groaned. “I’m going to blush for a week.”

  “Is that why you’re wearing my shorts again?” he murmured against her hair.

  “Mm-hmm. My new jeans were too stiff.”

  His chest jerked against hers, and she couldn’t help smiling as he laughed.

  His thumb slipped under her chin and tilted up her head. He kissed her. “I haven’t been with anyone in a while.”

  “It’s been a really long time for me, too,” she said. Left unsaid was her wish that this interlude wouldn’t be the end. She really liked this man.

  He set her away. “Come eat. And no touching.”

  “Because…?”

  “I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Not much we could do anyway.”

  “There’s plenty,” he said, his eyebrow arching.

  “Yeah…but feed me first.” She moved toward the table and took the same seat she had the night before. Scrambled eggs and bacon, buttered toast. She breathed in the aroma, and her stomach growled.

  They ate in silence, their gazes clashing every now and then. Her blush receded, a little. But she wasn’t uncomfortable. Last night had been special. She still felt an inner glow.

  After cleaning up, they went outside and checked the trip wires. He wore the holster on his hip. He looked natural wearing it, like a cowboy of old.

  “Are we fooling ourselves?” she asked, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the clearing. “He won’t give up.”

  He moved closer, drawing her attention back to him. His gaze locked with hers. “We have two weapons. Handguns. I can’t do better than that unless I use a credit card and hit a gun shop in Roanoke.”

  “Maybe we should call the police. Or the FBI.”

  “If we do, will they believe us when we tell them you were attacked, and who your assailants worked for?”

  She blew out a deep breath. They were in over their heads. All she could see in their futures was more violence or a lot of jail time. Both prospects left her feeling infuriated and helpless. Not emotions she liked harboring. What had she brought down on Spider? He didn’t deserve any of this. “I like being here, with you, but this will never end if we don’t do something…”

  He sighed and then nodded. “We need proof. If we let the powers that be conduct the investigation, they might never arrive at that truth, and we’ll both be left swinging in the wind.”

  So he did understand how dire their situation was. “I’m sorry you got tangled up in this.”

  He strode to her and reached for her hands. Giving them both a squeeze, he said, “We’re in this together. I have no regrets, Jessie. We’ve had time to catch our breath, but now we have to do something. We need to come up with a plan—and we may need some help.”

  She knew he meant his SEAL buddies. She shook her head. “I’d hate to put anyone else in Malcolm’s crosshairs.”

  “My friends are used to being targets, but they have to come in with their eyes wide open. They could kill their careers if we’re unsuccessful.”

  They’d risk so much more than just their careers, but she didn’t dare voice her fears. That would make them too real. “I hate this.”

  He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Jessie drew courage from his strength. She didn’t know how she’d managed to get this lucky, having a man like him willing to risk so much. They’d only known each other for two days. “You hardly know me,” she whispered.

  He pressed a kiss against her temple. “Not true. I knew everything I needed to know the second I first saw you, fighting so fiercely.”

  And she knew him. He was a SEAL, all in, all the time. No hesitation. He’d jumped into a battle not his own, and then he’d kept her safe. “Okay, let’s do this.”

  …

  Tank, Mojo, and Cutter arrived later that night. Spider sat on the porch as they drove up, and then guided them around the trip wires.

  He’d called them from town earlier, filling them in on what had happened over the past few days. As he’d expected, they’d been more than ready to help.

  They all took seats on camp stools on the porch. Spider handed out beers he’d chilled in a cooler.

  “I Googled your girl during the drive,” Tank said, his eyes narrowing. “She’s hot, buddy. But MC Technologies…?” He shook his head. “I’m not sure how we can get the goods on Cassidy.”

  Spider raked a hand through his hair. “We’ve been bouncing plans around all evening.”

  “You going to introduce us?” Jessie asked, her voice soft and tentative as she exited the front door of the cabin.

  All the men stood, and Spider made the introductions. He waved Jessie toward an empty chair, but she slipped her arm around his waist and leaned against his body.

  She was beyond beautiful, her face makeup free and clad in blue jeans and a small tee that hugged her slender but strong frame. He knew how this looked but didn’t mind one bit. Jessie’s problem had become personal. To all of them. She was now family.

  “Any of those ideas better than the rest?” Tank asked, a dark eyebrow rising.

  Jessie cleared her throat before Spider could say no. “There’s a pre-wedding reception planned that will take place at MCT on Wednesday night. I checked Facebook; he hasn’t called it off. I can get invitations for you from the printer. They’ll get you through the door. While I play nice in front of a crowd, you can make your way to his offices. I can draw you a map, give you the codes…”

  “No,” Spider said, pursing his lips. He didn’t want her anywhere near Cassidy.

  She gave him a baleful glance. “He can’t do anything with everyone watching. He invited congressmen, friends of his. I’ll call tomorrow and let him know I’ll be there. That I had cold feet, but I understand now how import
ant this is to him and MCT.”

  His eyebrows lowered. “You think he’ll believe you after what happened in the woods?”

  “For all he knows, I took care of my attackers alone. He may wonder, but he has no way of knowing. And I can tell him that something happened in the woods that frightened me, and that I need his help because I’m scared.”

  “So he may think you want help covering up the fact you killed two dudes?” Tank said, frowning.

  She shrugged. “If I implicate myself in a crime, he may feel he has some leverage to keep me in line.”

  “Again, no, Jessie,” Spider said, as heat rushed through him. Once she stepped inside Cassidy’s realm, he wouldn’t be able to protect her.

  “Does make sense,” Mojo said, shrugging when Spider aimed a glare his way.

  “What if he’s already figured out that you had help?” Spider growled. “What if he knows about me?”

  “Then I tell him I was lucky to have a SEAL show up, but I’m also worried about you being implicated. That you’ll stay quiet, because you don’t want your career to end.”

  “Goddammit.”

  Tank fished out a beer from the cooler, twisted off the cap, and handed it to Jessie. “I like you. You’ve got guts.”

  Jessie ducked her head and smiled.

  Spider shook his head. “Don’t encourage her.”

  “Look, we’ll be quick,” Tank said. “Break in, copy the files she’s going to walk us through how to find, and then we fade away. We’ll let her know the second we have what we need.”

  “When you get back to the reception, signal me, and I’ll say I need to hit the ladies’ room,” Jessie said. “Instead, I’ll go out the nearest exit, and we’ll meet up in the parking lot.”

  “As soon as we have what we need, we head straight to the FBI.”

  “Not we,” Jessie said. “You’ll drop me at the door. You’re not getting mixed up in all of this.”

  “Jessie, I’m already neck deep.”

  Her gaze met his and held. “Spider, you’re a SEAL. Your commander won’t understand why you didn’t do this by the book. Why you didn’t call the authorities after I was attacked, no matter how much I pleaded with you. Please. Let me do this—alone.”

  He drew a deep breath. “I don’t like this. Not any of it.”

  “I don’t either, but Wednesday night, it ends.”

  …

  The group huddled around the small kitchen table while Jessie drew detailed plans to help the team find their way to the executive suite of MCT. She described what she could recall of the security setup—where the cameras were, where the security desks were, how many staff would be patrolling the hallways, what the code was to get inside Malcolm’s office, his computer password, and what folders on his desktop they needed copied. The first order of business would be how one of the team would slip inside undetected to bring equipment and weapons.

  “Catering will come through the cafeteria’s delivery port,” Jessie said and sketched the entrance. “Kitchen staff always wears those white uniforms. If you can pick up one of those, you should be able to slip inside with a caterer’s rolling cart. Black Hat’s catering the event.”

  “One of us will have to mingle with the kitchen staff and caterers,” Tank murmured. “I can’t mingle.”

  Spider smiled at the thought of Tank, whose moniker derived from his large frame, “mingling” undetected.

  Mojo raised his hand. “I’ll head into Roanoke in the morning to find a uniform.”

  “I brought gear,” Cutter said. “Comm gear, weapons, leg holsters, masks…”

  Jessie’s eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t even know what you were facing when you left Little Creek.”

  Cutter shrugged. “Tank said treat it like an op. We’re not going in using armor and camo, but I still figured we’d need toys.”

  “No one has to do this,” she said. “You don’t have to risk your lives or your careers, not for me.”

  Tank frowned. “Malcolm Cassidy is breaking the law. Those weapons he’s selling could be ones we face on a battlefield someday. We have to do what we can to bring him down. We fight the bad guys. It’s what we do. Doesn’t matter that the bastard’s an American. Pisses me off more that he is.”

  They hunkered down to walk through scenarios. Near midnight, they pushed back from the table and headed out to the porch and the cold beers.

  “So, I sent you fishing…” Tank said, shaking his head.

  Spider grunted. “Yeah, it’s apparently not my thing.”

  Mojo waggled his black eyebrows. “Looks like you snagged a very pretty fish.”

  Jessie grinned. “He caught a crappie yesterday. I had to gut it.”

  Tank groaned and pressed a hand against his heart. “Bro! You let me down.”

  Spider laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t have the heart to tell her I’ve dressed out deer. She really enjoyed waving that filet knife as she chided me about my squeamishness.”

  Jessie swatted his arm, and the men chuckled.

  He caught her hand then carried it to his mouth. After he’d pressed a kiss against the back of her hand, Tank cleared his throat.

  “I’ll go grab those bedrolls from the bedroom.”

  “Do that,” Spider said.

  Jessie narrowed her eyes, warning him.

  He didn’t pay her any mind. They’d be making love inside the bedroom, regardless of the company outside. He knew she wasn’t really shy.

  …

  Spider’s friends made a lot of noise after he pulled her by the hand into the bedroom. The second the door closed, he pulled her into his arms.

  “They’ll hear,” she muttered, although it was all for show. She wouldn’t have cared if they’d watched, she wanted him so badly.

  “What do you think all that ruckus is about? If they do hear anything, they won’t say a word. They like you.”

  “How do you know? They just met me.”

  “Every one of them gave me the signal.”

  “What signal?”

  “You didn’t see them tip their chins?”

  “No.”

  “Yeah, well, they did. You have their seal of approval.”

  She groaned. “Funny.”

  He glided his hands along the gentle curve of her back to her rounded ass and cupped both firm globes. “I want you, Jessie.”

  She sighed and nuzzled into the corner of his neck. “I want you, too.”

  He squeezed her bottom then moved backward and began to strip. She did the same. In a minute, they were naked and already breathing hard.

  Jessie reached out and wrapped her fingers around his shaft.

  “No foreplay?” he asked, a small smile curving his mouth.

  “Not in the mood.” She tugged on his cock, forcing him to step closer. While she rubbed her thumb over the cap, she tilted back her head and licked her bottom lip.

  Spider wasn’t stupid. He read her invitation and dipped his head. The moment his mouth touched hers, she opened beneath him, sighing when he stroked his tongue inside her mouth.

  She pumped her hand on his cock. “I want this inside me,” she whispered against his lips.

  His hand closed around hers, forcing her up and down one more time, then he pulled it away, turned her to face away, and pushed her toward the bed. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he encouraged her to bend over the mattress then pushed apart her legs. He went to his knees behind her and planted kisses on her ass while his fingers traced her folds. “You have to be quiet.”

  “Can’t make any promises,” she murmured.

  He fluttered his fingers against her, inside her, caressed her with his tongue. When he slipped his cock into her, she fisted her hands in the bedding and braced against him.

  With one hand planted on the mattress and the other fisted in her hair, he stroked as quietly as he could, slowly building momentum. His cock tunneled into her slick pussy, interior ripples of arousal caressing his length. His thrusts deepened until she took every inc
h, and his lower belly bounced against her ass.

  He paused and stepped outside her legs, which forced her thighs closer together. Now, he pounded, the sounds louder than before as moisture slicked his groin. She was getting wetter, her back curving deeper. He leaned over her, placed his hands on the mattress, then glanced down to watch her ass shiver as he thrust sharper and harder.

  “Yes,” she hissed. “Harder. Please, please, please.”

  Spider gripped her tighter and hammered.

  Her sighs rose, filling the room with her soft, sexy sounds. Lord, he loved the noises she made. Loved how fierce she was. Loved that she could take it rough and dirty. Hell, he was pretty sure he loved everything about her. He didn’t want this night to end and felt torn about the game they’d play to take down Cassidy, because when it was over, where would that leave them?

  Could he walk away? She was way out of his league, but he’d fight for her if she gave him even a hint that she’d want him to. He slid a finger into the top of her folds, wetting the top, then moved it up to the crease of her ass and fingered her hole.

  “What is it with my ass?” she said, gasping.

  “Don’t like it?”

  “Didn’t say that.” Then she groaned when he sank his digit inside her.

  “One day, I’m going there, Jessie.” Her ring tightened around his finger.

  “You’ll never fit.”

  He drew back and fit another finger inside.

  “Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck…”

  Spider gritted his teeth as he felt her ass and her pussy clench. She liked it dirty all right. And she hadn’t demurred when he’d said, One day…

  So maybe this was just what she needed now. Stress relief. Distraction. Comfort. Gripping one side of her hip more firmly now, he powered into her, unconcerned for the squeaking bed frame or his percussive thrusts. She was his. For now. For as long as she needed him.

  Chapter Six

  Wednesday evening, Spider watched from the woods surrounding MCT’s headquarters as Jessie stepped out of the taxi.

  “Hello, Ms. Tamberlin,” a man waiting to greet dignitaries arriving for the party said. “Mr. Cassidy asked that we escort you inside.”