Chapter 18
Somebody better be bleeding or on fire. Or both.
Fucking A.Of all the times…
I step into the humid night air and insects whir around me as I scan the area with a glare.
The last twenty-four hours have tried me in ways I didn’t know possible. And what I’ve just done in there with Camile is going to complicate the hell out of my life.
I spot Evan standing a dozen paces away. My tone is as friendly as an executioner’s. “What’s up?”
He gives me a fleeting smirk as he glances toward the closed door behind me. “I wondered if I was going to have to knock again.”
I flip him off. “You got me out of bed.”
I’ll refrain from telling him I was in bed finger-fucking the woman I have no business rolling with.
Evan says, “Sorry about that. But?—”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Truck jogging toward us. Scout is coming out of his cabina too.
That’s when I know something is going down. Everyone is in go mode.
“Shit, this looks bad.”
Evan motions toward town, his expression is all business now. “We got a callout. They need all the strong men they can get for an extraction. One of the team leaders came to find us.”
Truck is pulling on his T-shirt over his ripped abs as he says, “The guy said one of the dogs found someone.”
A shudder rolls through me as adrenaline starts to take up residence in my muscles, chasing away the other chemical cocktail of sex hormones.
“Let me get Camile. She’s coming with us.”
Truck’s expression turns dark. “Good plan. It wouldn’t be smart to leave Camile or Belle here without protection. Especially if people see us in town. Belle’s with Justice, they’re coming now.” Evan hooks his thumb toward the yellow cabina.
Something stirs my nerves. “We go as a unit and take the trucks. I don’t want to take any chances that one of us has a run in with the rebels.”
“Great minds,” Truck says as he checks his weapon’s magazine.
A concerning thought hits, but Evan asks what I’m thinking before I do. “Are we sure this is real and not some ploy to get us out in the open at night?”
“That’s what I was wondering. We need to keep our eyes open.”
Justice and Belle join our circle—Justice looks strapped and ready, Camile’s coworker just plain looks alarmed. He grabs Belle and pulls her closer when she hesitates, then offers his opinion. “I think it’s legit. I met that guy earlier in town today. He was working with one of the teams.”
A moth the size of a helicopter buzzes me. I swat it away. Instead of getting hit in the face by its wings, I get smacked on the forehead by a gigantic rain drop.
We all look up at the inky sky as if we”d be able to see clouds. Rain is not what this situation needs.
All of us crowd under the eave of my cabina as a torrent unleashes around us. As rain often does in places like this, it’s zero to downpour in seconds. “Let’s wrap this up. I’m glad we have a visual on him from earlier. That’s good information.”
Everyone mumbles their agreement.
“Alright, we roll out in three minutes. Take your own protective gear.”
After looking out at the rain, they all glare at me. Oh no. “You’re not coming inside. You can forget it.”
Evan’s smirk is back. He quirks a brow. “I wonder why.”
“Just get your shit and get ready to roll.”
Without another thought of concern about their asses getting soaked, I spin on my heel and storm through the door.
As I slam the door and click the lock, I brace myself. This is gonna hurt. Seeing Camile wearing the flush of my orgasm is not what I need right now.
Damn you, fate.
I’ve had punches to the gut that didn’t even touch the blow of seeing her beneath that blanket. The sight of Camile in my bed makes my feet glue to the floor, a knot twist inside my chest, and a stab of eagerness roll through my cock.
I’d never complain about helping a person in a dire crisis, but man, I sure do wish I was coming back to crawl into that bed right now.
It pains me to break the news. “We gotta roll. Get dressed, sweetheart.”
She raises her head, sleepily pushing her hair back from her face. Her cheeks are still flushed. Her eyes are soft and sexy as all fuck.
“Are you okay—” When she registers my expression, she scrambles off the bed.
I catch her as she stumbles, grabbing both her upper arms, and pulling her against my chest.
Dammit. She smells good. I close my eyes and drink in that scent. Like honey, sin, and bad decisions. She’s the kryptonite to my control.
I press my face against her hair and wish that I didn’t have to go to work.
“What’s wrong?”
“One of the rescue teams found someone. They need more men to help.”
Her body stiffens as her small hands fist my T-shirt. “Are they alive?”
I can’t stop myself from pulling her tighter to me. When I kiss her temple, she leans against me. Molding her tall, lithe body to mine from knees to shoulders.
“I presume so since we’re being scrambled in the middle of the night. Otherwise, they’d wait until morning. It would be safer to dig then. We need to roll and we have to hurry. The team is waiting outside.”
She tenses and looks up at me. “I’m worried.”
I lean down and scoop up her things. She quickly shimmies into her bra. I guide her arms into her shirt and pull it down, tragically covering her tits. As she pulls on her panties and shorts, I say, “We’ll be fine. All of us have made careers out of surviving dangerous situations.”
“I know… I just.”
I kiss her mouth this time. Probably too fast and definitely too hard. But it is what it is. I’m feeling raw and edgy.
Then I swing her toward the door before my libido has me doing something even more stupid than it’s already caused. I grab my pack off the floor. “Belle’s waiting with the guys, you’re both going with us. I’m not leaving you here alone.”
She grabs my arm and stops me by the door. “Thank you…for that.” With a shy glance toward the floor, Camile says, “Maybe your nickname should be the King of Orgasms. Undoubtedly, you gave me the best one of my life.”
I look down at her and wonder how the fuck I should proceed.
A smart man would leave it at this.
A mistake, but not the end of the world. We didn’t have sex without a condom which is what would have probably happened.
I don’t travel with them because sex and ops don’t mix.
Since that didn’t happen, there’s no chance we’ve created a child. There’s no regret on her part about letting me inside her body.
A little voice in my head says, but you were…
My fingers tingle at the memory.
“You’re welcome. Now we really need to go before I take that taste of you like I’m dying to do.”
The wind lifts the curtains on the window next to the door and stirs her hair. She’s so pretty, still flushed from my kisses, from my hands being on her.
Maybe I was saved by that knock on the door.
Maybe I was cursed by an interruption.
Maybe I’m just fucked all the way around.
What happened shouldn’t have happened. We both have missions. I’m not shopping for a relationship.
Without my permission, my hand raises and brushes her hair back. “I loved every second of it.”
I pull back and draw a sharp breath.
Her gaze hardens. “The way you shut down and that stoney expression that wipes away all traces of what you just said is why I can’t figure you out. What aren’t you saying?”
I shake my head tightly.
The set of her jaw matches mine. Tartly, she says, “If you say that getting me naked was a mistake, you better sleep with one eye open.”
My brows go up. I glance at the window. “Uh, babe…”
“Now, let’s go get this done.”
She rips open the door and slams into Evan’s muscular back.
When she looks at me, her eyes are popping. “Oh crap. I didn’t know they were right outside the door.”