by J. L. Drake
One by one, the men entered the house. Their clean gear didn’t go unnoticed, but their stressed expressions sent a chill up my spine.
Cole immediately made a beeline for Savannah, and a fully tattooed man granted me a halfhearted smile.
“You must be Sloane. I’m Mike,” he pointed to himself, “and that’s Keith. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You too.” Before I said anything else, he disappeared upstairs.
“Hey,” John appeared, “change in plans.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” He glanced over my shoulder to someone before he brought his eyes back to mine. “I’m going to change out of my gear, then I’ll meet you at the table.”
Cole slapped Dell on the shoulder, giving him a thanks and let him know they’d be down to dinner in a few minutes.
Fifteen minutes later, the team joined us at the hastily reset table. Before the men had even settled, Mark had two steaks on his plate and was reaching for the potatoes. He looked over, catching my amusement.
“I’m eating for two. Mia isn’t here tonight.”
I grinned at him, but it slipped when Cole sat at the head of the table. The tension was as thick as the steaks in front of us. John was the last one to join us and sat next to me. His warm hand reached over and squeezed my leg as a silent hello. I covered his fingers and returned the gesture.
“All right, boys,” Abigail spoke first, “there’s no strangers at this table. Out with it.”
Keith cleared his throat and pointed his fork in John’s direction. “Shouldn’t the hero speak first?”
“Luck,” John corrected.
“You can call it luck,” Mike’s voice boomed across the table, “but that luck saved your brothers.”
Keith waited for John to speak, but when he didn’t seem to want to elaborate, Keith picked up the story.
“We were getting into position to rappel down when John suddenly shouted at us to stop. With North Rock screaming in our ears, we waited for an explanation.”
“I had a bad feeling.” John finally spoke up. “Our gut is everything in this job.”
“Well, then what happened?” June leaned forward on the edge of her seat.
“At least fifty cartel were waiting for us like rats in the grass,” Keith snarled. “If we hadn’t stopped when we did, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
“To brothers ’til dust, in instinct we trust.” Mark raised his glass in lieu of a toast.
“Hear, hear,” Cole chimed in, and we all joined him.
After dinner, the team left to debrief with Frank via video chat, while we spent the next hour cleaning up and preparing for tomorrow’s breakfast. I found myself alone with everything done. At a loss as to what else to do, I shrugged my coat on and headed out into the cold. A layer of frost blanketed the ground and muted my footsteps as I walked to my cabin.
“I don’t want to scare you.” His voice came from somewhere above. He stood with his back against the door, his face in a shadow. I loved how attractive he was. No man would ever compare from here on out.
“I thought you were still with Frank.”
“Wasn’t a lot to debrief about. I just had a bad feeling.”
I took two steps and admired the view in front of me.
“So, you’re a hero?”
“Only because of you,” he whispered.
Huh?
“I’ve had a pretty strange last seven hours.” He stepped into the light and held out a hand for me to take. “I’d really like to spend the next seven with you.”
As soon as I closed the door, he hovered above me again. He brushed my hair back and cupped my face.
“They call me a hero, but really, it was you, Sloane.” He leaned in and kissed the corner of my mouth. “You had my instincts on high alert, and when I felt that kick in my gut just before we descended, everything inside of me screamed it wasn’t safe.” He paused. “I have to question myself. Would I have stopped my team if you hadn’t honed my senses with your questions?”
“But you did.” I returned the kiss and craved more of him. “Focus on that, John.”
“All I could focus on was you, Sloane, getting back to you. I saved my team, my brothers, the people I would die for, and all my mind wanted to think about was you.”
“Lust is a bitch.” I tried to give him a sloppy out, but I didn’t really want him to take it.
“No.” He pulled his lips from the slope of my neck and gently held my chin in his hand, so I was forced to look at him. “Not lust, need. There’s a difference.”
I couldn’t recall the last time someone had spoken to me the way John had. Maybe never.
“I’ll ask you this once. Are you dating anyone?”
“No.”
“Good answer.” He grinned.
An ache settled in the center of my chest then plunged straight down between my legs. I shifted my weight to the other foot to find some kind of relief. A storm brewed inside my veins, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Heat and hunger bubbled to the surface, and my clothes suddenly felt too hot.
Both his hands pressed above my breasts and slowly slid upward to remove my jacket. It fell to the ground as his fingers inched to trace my collarbone.
“Now I know how Cole felt,” he whispered more to himself. “Sometimes it only takes one look to be captivated by someone.”
I wished I had something to say, but I was lost in the moment, so I reached for his sweater and held on to the bottom of it. He stepped back and reached over his head to tug it off.
The low light cast shadows in the grooves of his stomach, and when he took a breath, his chest puffed up, and I wanted to cry. No man should be this good looking.
“This…” I ran my fingertips over his tattoo that spread across his shoulder and half his chest. A lion was nestled between some swirls, and a scroll had been inked over his pec. It was John 14:6. “It’s my favorite verse.” I smiled warmly. “Yours too?”
His eyes moved away for a moment, and when they returned, I saw it was raw topic. “I lost my way once, and now I won’t again.”
I nodded and let the topic go.
Slowly, I worked the buttons of my blouse through the tiny holes while his hands flexed at his sides. A small grin traveled across my lips as I saw him fight for control.
Flexing my shoulder blades, I let the sheer fabric slip away from my skin and float down to land on top of my coat.
“Wow,” he whispered as he took a step toward me and backed me up to the cold wooden door. I was soon trapped by his hips. “I didn’t want to like you, Sloane. I don’t deserve your smile, but when I saw you and this,” his hand slipped over my bottom, “I lost my fight to stay miserable.” His eyes squeezed shut like he was struggling. “This isn’t going to be easy. I carry a lot—”
I shook my head and ran my hands up his chest to place a finger over his warm lips. His eyes opened.
“When is life ever easy, John?” I whispered and saw so much pain there it seemed to settle into the sexy lines in his face. “But having someone to share it with makes it a lot easier.” Before I could go on, he leaned back and sucked my finger into his mouth. A jolt of lust spread through my stomach, and just like that, I was ready to go.
It had been such a long time since a man made me feel this way.
I moaned.
Wait, did I just moan? Oh, my God. I was thankful for the low light because he chuckled as he sucked a little harder. My free hand went to his belt and tugged it open while he did the same to mine.
Removing my finger, he dove down and caught my lips, and his hand pressed flat to my stomach and moved inside my panties. A fever heat flashed across my face when his finger found my slick opening and pushed in.
I tried to gasp for air, but he kissed me harder, so I shamelessly ground myself into his hand and took everything he offered me. Two then three more fingers pushed my walls, and I whimpered, wanting more. His lips broke the kiss and traveled to my nec
k, and I sucked in a much-needed gulp of air.
“John,” I half moaned, and my head flopped backward, just needing some support—anything to let me fully enjoy what he was doing.
“I need to see you.” He pulled his fingers free of me, lifted, and carried me to the conference table. With one arm, he pushed my paperwork aside and laid me back, so I was sprawled out lengthwise on the mahogany table.
“Jesus,” he huffed.
Chapter Nine
John
Using all my willpower, I slowly peeled her out of her shoes and jeans. As much as I ached to ravish her in the alpha way, I took my time. Sloane deserved to be treated like a lady. She was everything I wanted in a woman, and I had waited way too long to ignore that.
Her slim, naked body waited for mine, and all I could do was stare and savor the moment, almost afraid this couldn’t be real. Guilty thoughts tried hard to break through this happiness, so I knew I’d have to do something fast before they consumed me and ruined the moment.
Removing the rest of my clothes, I eased between her legs and gawked at the feast that was before me. I reached forward and dragged the tips of my fingers from the tops of her plump breasts, down over her nipples, through the lines of her toned stomach and between the crease of her thighs. She bit down on her lip and closed her eyes as though she could barely handle the feelings I was bringing to her.
“John,” her words had my erection flexing toward the warm slit that begged me to enter, “so help me God.”
I loved that she was on the brink of losing it, because so was I.
With the pad of my thumb, I circled her nub twice, then I lined up and slipped in all the way to the root. Her back bowed, and a marvelous sound fell from her lips. Her long dark hair spread wildly around her and bounced about when I started to thrust. I couldn’t get enough of this woman. I didn’t know where to look. My eyes left her hair and her face as I now found myself fascinated by her stomach that flexed as I dove deeper and deeper. My God, she was beautiful.
A thin layer of sweat broke along the back of my neck, and my vision blurred as I lost control. Her nails dug into my arms as she desperately clung on, but I needed more. So much more. I crawled above her, hauled her up, and balanced on my knees as she rode me. Every time she came down, I would thrust harder. Her screams only fueled my need to go on. As her walls fisted me, I buried my face between her breasts and let go. We both came. She shuddered and bucked, and I held tight to her shoulders to keep her against me.
“John,” she mumbled.
“Yeah.” I kissed her neck.
“Before, when I was at Zack’s, were you already in town or did you come to find me?”
I smirked at the realization Dell might have told her what I did.
“Truth,” she added.
“Yes,” I admitted, “I came to see you.” She was putty in my arms as I walked her to the shower to clean up.
“I’m glad you did.”
“Why?” I figured I knew why, but I wanted to hear what she had to say.
“Because I got to see a side of you that you don’t share with anyone else. It makes me feel special.”
“Good.” I carried her up the stairs cradled in my arms. It felt good to be naked with her, like our bodies were meant to coexist. I kicked the door open and turned on the water.
“How are you?” I grinned as the warm spray soaked her long hair.
“Mm,” she moaned, “so good.”
“Me too.” I kissed the drops of water from her temple, loving the way my body reacted whenever I kissed her. Soap lathered between my hands, and I turned her around to massage her scalp, and her body leaned back against mine. Her silky skin awoke my erection, so I pressed it into her back, and she started to move to create friction.
Damn, she felt amazing.
Removing my hands from her hair, I traveled down to her neck and chest and spread the soap as I moved about.
Her nipples grew firm and erect while I played with them, and she let me know she liked it by the way she reached back and started to pump me. My fingers inched farther south, and to my surprise, with her free hand, she directed me back to her opening. We both built one another up. Our moans and grunts filled the steamy bathroom, and I was glad we were in her cabin and not inside the walls of Shadows.
When I found my release, I bit down on her shoulder, and she bucked and shook in my hold. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen, Sloane losing herself in my arms. The way her body jolted and vibrated drew my animal instinct to the surface. I whirled her around and spoke slowly through my locked jaw.
“I want more.” I craved to be inside of her, but I could see she was spent. “But I’ll savor what we just had until later.”
Her big blue eyes looked just as hungry as I felt, but she gave me a nod, and I turned off the water.
I tucked her into bed. I wrapped my body around her and nuzzled my head into her hair and drank in her sweet scent. I wasn’t tired. Truth be told, I could have done that all night, but she was spent, so I let her sleep. Once again, I took the time to admire this gorgeous, sexy woman. I knew she had just given me two of the greatest moments I would ever have. In the last how many years, I realized I had been dead inside, and I wanted to savor the memory as long as I could.
Just after three, I felt her stir and I knew she was awake. With her head on my shoulder and her hand on my chest, she started to trace my muscles.
“You should be asleep,” she whispered. I smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Thinking about your last mission?”
“A bit, yes.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“There’s not much to discuss.”
“We either talk about it here or across the table we just christened.”
We both laughed.
“I don’t know,” I rubbed my head, “I rather like you in that silk blouse, tight skirt, and glasses.”
“Mm.” She laughed a little more. “Well, what else are you thinking about?”
A nagging question did linger in the back of my mind. It had for some time now, and I was sorry she had brought it to the forefront. I wasn’t sure I wanted to bring this topic up yet. I so enjoyed the lightness we had just now.
“Tell me something about you.” I decided to start there.
“Like?”
“I don’t know, just something.” She went back to her delicious tracing as she thought.
“I have been around hospitals since I was nine,” she started, and that immediately caught my attention. “My mother is a neurosurgeon.” I flinched, and I felt her fingers stop. It took all my effort not to change the subject. If she noticed, she didn’t react, which I was learning was an amazing quality in Sloane.
“I thought you told the girls she was in the Army?”
“She was but later stepped away. She helped me understand how the brain worked and why things happened the way they did. Understanding how the brain works is key to understanding how to help when things go wrong. You can begin to understand how to navigate through new brain pathways, how to help people find a new way, a new path. It can make life a lot easier, in an otherwise frightening situation,” she paused, “for everyone.” She shifted to her belly and looked up at me.
I was sure every negative emotion I’d kept hidden from the world was now written in bold big letters across my face. Panic and anger fought to bubble up inside me, but her eyes flickered with something completely different, so I forced it back down and went for a puzzled smile instead.
“Something tells me the great Agent Black, hero of his team, was holding back on me earlier.” She moved to her knees and straddled my legs, and the heat from her arousal had my hands twitching.
“You have no idea.” I flipped her over and spent the next two hours showing her what a Special Forces officer’s endurance was really capable of.
Just after dawn, my alarm went off, and I carefully unfolded myself from Sloane to get dressed. She looked beautiful in the early morning light. The ti
p of a breast was highlighted in a beam of sunshine. I couldn’t help myself as I leaned down and softly sucked her nipple into my mouth. I forced my hands to stay put, and along with it the desire to dive down between her legs for a taste.
Oh…but it tested all my willpower.
She stirred, and I waited a beat before I broke contact with her. With one last look, I slipped out of the cabin and into the cool, brisk air.
I should get a fucking medal for leaving her alone this morning.
“Morning.” Savannah winked as she whisked by with a handful of toys from the living room.
“Morning.” I beamed back, but the silly grin quickly fell from my face as Davie appeared with a radio and clicked the button a few times.
“Another one bites the dust.”
“Fuck!” I snatched the shitty device and headed to the morning meeting I was about to be late for.
I tossed my broken radio in the middle of the conference table with a growl.
“We have drones that hover and drop bombs, we have navigation systems that can get us out of the darkest corners of the world, but yet the military cannot make a damn radio that works.”
“Jacob,” Cole jumped in, just as pissed as I was, “our CIA informant tried multiple times to reach us through our comms on the last mission to warn us of this.” He tapped a key on the board, and video footage from a drone showed the cartel moving in on us, something we should have known in real time.
“General Csaba,” Frank’s voice crackled through the speaker phone, “has not taken this lightly and will report it to the appropriate party.” Mark glanced at me with the fear of God on his face. General Csaba had a reputation for being a fierce son of a bitch. Cole had to deal with him after he returned home from his captivity in Mexico a few years back. I knew it was hard on him mentally to relive what he went through with Csaba, who questioned his every move on his disappearance. The fact that he was still reeling from the loss of his and Savi’s baby didn’t help. Even Keith and Mike had a taste of the general when they were starting up Dusk. I had my own view on the man but kept it to myself.
