SIXTEEN
T hey barely made it into the car before it started. The argument about whether or not May was really going through with the proposed training session.
She banged her door a little too hard. As he circled the car to get behind the wheel, his strides were stiff. His shoulders set for a pending battle.
Hell, he’d rather storm into a war than fight with May. Their night had begun so perfectly, too. Ending on a sour note was something he wanted to avoid. But one glance at her profile and the firm jut of her delicate chin told him he was in for a nuclear meltdown if he didn’t toe the line.
She ripped the seatbelt out with a whir and clicked it into place. He did the same. Before he started the car, he locked his hands on the wheel, feeling the leather give beneath his tight grip.
“Don’t even say it, AJ. Don’t tell me that I’m not going there. Not when it’s the only way to get inside that hangar without marching in there with an army or a federal search warrant so we can find that bomb.”
His molars mashed together. “You are not considering taking him up on that offer. Didn’t you see his expression, May? If he isn’t suspicious of us, I’m a fucking soccer dad!”
She narrowed her eyes, but it didn’t cut off the angry lightning bolts shooting from their depths. “I said I’d check our plans, not sign up for it. I was playing a role, same as you. Now drive. I’m not arguing about this with you until you’re calmer.”
“Until I’m calmer?” He choked down the rest of that angry retort and drove out of the parking lot after what started as the best night of his life. Dinner with May was the closest thing he’d had to a date in years. It wasn’t supposed to end with a fight—he was supposed to carry her to bed and strip her slowly while worshipping every inch of her body.
Instead, the instant they got back to the room, the argument picked up where it left off.
Henner faced May. Between them, the line was drawn in the sand, and they stood on opposite sides.
“No.” His tone was final.
She tipped her chin down, eyes widening. “No?”
“No. You’re not going in there.” His pulse hammered in his temples.
The moment Simpson sent over that bottle of wine, Henner felt on edge. Every cell in his body knew it too. They were in danger. Their cover possibly blown.
And then there was the way that Simpson looked at May when he made the offhanded comment about them still being in the area. On the surface, it was casual conversation, but Henner wasn’t fooled. The major general was on to them.
“You are not telling me what to do. I’m not some delicate woman—”
“That’s not what I’m doing, May.” His voice came out rougher than intended, but he didn’t back down. “I’ve worked with women in the military. I know they’re badass. This is different. This is keeping our cover intact. If the op is blown, it’s over—all of it. Right now, we know that bomb is in the hangar. Not moving. That could all change with one phone call.”
She blinked, her anger flickering as her calculating mind took over. “If Simpson knows about the bomb and has some control over where it goes…” She trailed off.
He nodded. “Then we’re already running out of time.”
She crossed her arms.
“Oh, here it comes. You can’t leave it alone and see reason.”
She ignited. “Is this one of your ‘no common sense’ comments? Because I’m not going to stand here and listen to it!”
God, he wanted to kiss her until there was nothing left to say. Nothing but sweet words would remain.
“I don’t like that Simpson bumped into us again. How stupid would you say he is on a scale of one to ten?”
“Six?”
“Okay, well, that’s four too smart for my peace of mind. I don’t want you going in there, May.”
Her dark eyes flashed with frustration that seemed to quiver all through her body. “We have to do this, AJ. I have to do that training.”
“Like hell you do.” You have to give me your mouth.
“Don’t you see? This is our best shot at getting closer to getting into that hangar. There’s no reason for Simpson to be suspicious. What have we done? Went to a military gala—not so out of the ordinary for people in my line of work. The training is the perfect cover. I do the training, and you get to snoop around.”
“Exactly. All those things you listed are reasons why he would be suspicious. No one’s ever used training as a cover for an op before, and I’m not sure it will work now.”
She sighed. “You know what I mean. Now who isn’t using any common sense?”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. Traces of her body wash clung to his skin, as if the woman had claimed his very pores.
Hell, she had. And his heart.
When she stepped closer to him, his body reacted. A SEAL always had control over his pulse rate, but this time he didn’t. Where May was involved, all the rules flew out the window.
“This is a terrible idea.”
She tilted her head to search his eyes. “I’ll be safe. There will be witnesses.”
He saw why she thought this was a solid plan. He really did.
But it wasn’t.
Because Simpson was dirty. On the take. And he undeniably steered them away from that hangar then cut their tour short with a made-up story about a meeting.
It may have been coincidence that Simpson chose the same restaurant he and May had, but something was off, and Henner never ignored his instincts.
His gut screamed that this was a trap.
“I have to run everything past Con before we take action.”
“I know he’s your CO, and it’s only right that he knows what we’re doing. But what if he vetoes our plan? This is how we get our hands on the bomb, AJ!”
He leveled May in his stare. “And I want a tracker on you.”
She snapped her mouth shut but he watched pink irritation spread across her cheeks.
“Isn’t this how relationships work? You have to take into account how your spouse thinks or feels about something. There are discussions in relationships too.”
“What are you getting at, AJ?”
“I want to know where you are every second. If shit goes sideways, I’m getting you out. That’s why I’m ordering a tracker on you.”
She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure people in a relationship don’t order the other to do anything .”
He cut his fingers through his hair—the action harsh, raw. Real. “You’re right. Wrong choice of words. I’m new at this, okay?
“This…” His voice wavered, and he steeled it as he stared down at May. “This moment right here …is why Blackout isn’t allowed to have significant others or family. This is why we aren’t allowed to get married or have kids. The team can’t be compromised, the op can’t be compromised. And right this minute, May…I’d give it all up for you.”
Her sharp intake of breath rocked him just as much as the look on her beautiful face.
He sliced his hand through the air. “We’re not supposed to be in a relationship, but everyone else on Blackout seems to be doing it. Look at Con. And almost every member of Alpha is married or has kids.”
Her eyes softened. “You really do want kids?”
He swallowed the burning lump lodged in his throat. “I used to. I might still…”
For a pulsing heartbeat, neither of them spoke.
Then she stepped closer, closing the small gap between them. Bridging it.
“AJ…” Her voice dipped low as the fight in her slipped into something deeper. “You’re right—we’re partners on an op. We’re not supposed to have this.”
His chest felt like it was caving in.
“But I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“Good.” His voice was a rasp.
“Fine.” Hers wavered with emotion.
Everything about her going into that training was a risk, and she was the one thing he wasn’t willing to lose.
He curled his fingers around her wrist, drawing her up against his body. His lips hovered an inch away. “Tomorrow? The battle begins. But we have tonight.”
* * * * *
AJ crushed his mouth over hers in a hard claiming that shook every nerve in May’s body. Her lower belly flared with heat, and her pussy squeezed with desire.
But the molten passion she had for this man melted any walls left standing around her heart. She threw herself into kissing him back, twining her arms around his neck.
He slid his hands up her torso to cup her breasts. “Take off your dress.”
“Take off your shirt.”
In a flurry, they tore off their clothes at the same time and then threw themselves at each other.
He lifted her. She hooked her thighs around his middle and planted her lips on his strong neck as he carried her a few steps to the bed.
For a long moment, he didn’t lower her to the floor or the mattress. He simply held her, and she wrapped herself around him, fearing that to let him go was to give up moments like these for the rest of her life.
The things he’d said to her, about relationships and significant others and kids…they felt like fiery sparks flying through the air with no place to land but her heart.
She took his mouth for her own and claimed him the same way he claimed her whenever they kissed. Cradling her ass in his hands, he lightly teased a fingertip over the curve, down toward the place she wanted his fingers…his mouth…his cock.
He thrust his tongue into her mouth and rocked his stiff erection against her pussy. A spasm of lust made her clamp her thighs more tightly around him.
Their kiss raged out of control. She sank her fingers into his short hair and flipped her tongue over his in a series of gymnastics she couldn’t wait to mirror in bed.
For endless moments, they stood that way, locked in each other’s arms. When he tore from the kiss, he let her slide down his body inch by slow inch.
His cock pressed into her skin and aroused her even more.
On a whim, she dropped to her knees and tore into his pants.
“May.”
She reached into his boxer briefs and curled her hand around his thickness. Aiming it toward her lips, she panted in desire.
“May. May…Christ, May!”
She took him, sinking her mouth over his length from mushroomed head to base in one swift glide. He dug his fingers into her hair, unsettling the strands she’d worked so hard to smooth out for their special night.
The pressure of his fingers on her scalp told her how much he loved her mouth if his groan didn’t say it just as loud and clear.
She sucked on him, hollowing her cheeks. Withdrawing and swirling her tongue up the veined length.
A shudder rolled through his tight muscles. “Fuck, woman. You’re so goddamn beautiful right now, hair messed up with that look in your eyes and your lips around my cock.”
She hummed, a throb of need in her pussy almost too much to bear. But she wanted to give him this, something to remember when they finally walked away from each other.
Why did they ever need to walk away? He said it himself—Blackout was bending rules. They were taking what they wanted.
And if AJ wanted her…
He gripped her arms and pulled her to her feet. His cock bobbed between them, but it was the heat in his eyes that drove her wilder.
“Drop your panties and bend over the bed.”
She sucked in a sharp breath.
He shucked his clothes and fished out a condom. Little shocks of desire made her hands tremble as she followed command.
Naked, feeling more beautiful and sensual than she ever had in her life, she bent over.
“Palms on the bed.”
“Oh my god…”
He edged up behind her, his body heat searing over her skin. She curled her fingers into the covers and held her breath as he grasped her by the hips and drew her back into his hard cock.
He tunneled into her slick folds and kept on going until he bottomed out at this new, deeper angle.
They both went still. She cried out and squeezed around him. In slow twitches, he withdrew. They held their breath and released it in a rush as they came together again. And again.
Dizziness clouded over her mind. She loved this man with her whole heart. Everything about AJ was perfect for her, right down to the way they argued.
His fingers dug into her hips perfectly too.
“AJ…I…I love you.”
He froze, half inside her. For a moment, she didn’t know how he’d react to her confession. Panic started to rise inside her.
Then he shoved his cock deep again. “May. God, May. I love you too. So damn much.”
In a hard jerk, he pulled out and flipped her onto the bed, sinking into her as their gazes locked.
Tears of joy welled from the corners of her eyes. He loved her. It was all she needed. Armed with their love for each other, they could march into this op together and come out unscathed.
He claimed her mouth in an endless kiss as their lovemaking took a new turn, to tenderness. Her inner walls pulsed around him.
“Oh my god. I’m so close. AJ…”
“Come with me, darlin’. Come now.” He churned his hips, driving his cock over her G-spot in shallow thrusts that sent them both soaring.
As their bodies tremored in release, reality crashed over her in waves too. The heat between them might have erased all doubt, but the danger remained.
After long minutes, AJ dropped his forehead to hers. “This doesn’t change what we might be doing soon, if Con gives the go-ahead.”
“I know.” She nodded and extended her fingers up his jaw, enjoying the prickle of his beard growth and the angles of his jaw.
Silence cycled between them like the pleasure had moments before. Soon, they’d be walking into the lion’s den…and just as they’d declared their love, there would be no turning back.