CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“That shouldn’t surprise you.” Boone pressed his hips against hers, and she felt his erection. “Surely, you’ve noticed the way my body responds to you.”
“Well … I …” No one—no man—had ever spoken to her in such raw, carnal terms. “You say the most outrageous things.”
Luna was nearly overcome by a driving urge to tackle him to the ground and molest him, and her heart was racing so fast, she worried she might be having a heart attack.
“Maybe it seems outrageous because you haven’t been with a man who truly cares about you and values you. You’re smart, beautiful, and incredibly sexy.” With each word, he kissed his way back up her neck.
She tilted her head to give him better access, the arm holding her laptop fell limp at her side, and her eyes drooped shut.
“You think …” Man, he was making it hard to concentrate. “You think I’m sexy?”
The feel of his warm breath brushing over her flesh sent goose bumps roaring across her entire body.
“Fuck, yeah.” He nibbled on her earlobe. “I can’t believe no man has ever told you that before.”
“I’ve only had one boyfriend, and he never talked the way you do.” Being with Boone, a real man, made her realize what a waste of her time Tyler had been. “And we never … well, you know.”
He stopped kissing her neck, drew back his head, and looked at her with surprise.
Heat flooded her cheeks, and doubts crashed through her brain. Had she just made a huge mistake admitting that to him? Would he lose interest in her now?
“You’ve never had sex before?” Unlike Luna, Boone appeared to have zero hangups when it came to conversations of this type. “So, what I’m hearing is that I’ll be your first?”
“Um, yeah, I hope so.” Luna was a twenty-four-year-old virgin. An anomaly these days. “I mean … if you’re still interested.” She wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t.
“Fuck, yeah, I’m still interested.” He grinned and rested his forehead against hers. “I’m stoked about it and honored you trust me with something so precious. Don’t get me wrong, it wouldn’t have mattered one way or another, but knowing I’ll be your first is fucking hot as hell.”
“Oh, good. Phew.” She relaxed. “I was worried you might change your mind.”
“Not a chance.” He shook his head.
Luna’s phone pinged in her back pocket. Boone stepped back to give her room to move, and she instantly missed his warmth. She tugged her phone free and saw Emily’s name on the screen.
“It’s a text from Emily.” She put her phone back in her pocket. “I need to call her.”
“Sure thing.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll grab my electronics and drop them off with you. I’ve got to run out to my place later to start gathering up my gear. Can you join me? We could grab something to eat on the way out there, maybe get in a short ride up to watch the sunset.”
“I love that idea.” She’d missed seeing Patience and Sassy. “I’ll text you when I’m done with my call.”
“Sounds good.” He gave her a yummy kiss, skimmed her hair over her ear, and walked away.
She tilted her head sideways and enjoyed the view of his tight butt as he made his way down the hall. She watched him all the way until he disappeared into the stairwell.
“Be still my heart.” She fanned her face and pushed off the wall.
That man was fine as heck, and she couldn’t wait to see him naked.
“Oh, my gosh. I’m going to see Boone Langston naked!
” She squealed and did a little happy dance, then composed herself with a quick look around and headed into the ops center.
Once she had her laptop connected, she opened the encrypted video program and placed a video call to Emily.
“Hey, girl!” Emily’s bubbly personality was like a burst of happy energy through the screen.
“Hey, back.” Luna had become pretty close to her in the years since her sister met Caleb.
Emily knew all about what happened at The Farm. Mason, the love of her life, had almost been killed there due to Luna’s selfishness. Yet neither one of them ever blamed her for him being shot. Just the opposite.
The first time she saw Emily after he was shot, she’d visited Luna in the hospital, pulled her into one of her famous hugs, and said, “I am so glad you’re okay.”
Luna had cried and apologized over and over again for being so stupid.
Emily had looked her in the eye and told her how happy she was that the men who did that to her were either dead or spending the rest of their useless lives in prison.
Then she’d gently scolded Luna and told her she never wanted to hear her referring to herself as stupid again.
Emily was a real sweetheart, right up until you messed with someone she cared about. That’s when the claws came out. The entire O’Halleran family was like that—loyal, honorable, stalwart protectors.
“Hang on a sec. I want to close my office door so we’re not interrupted.” Emily disappeared from view, a door clicked shut in the background, and she plopped back into her chair. “So, how are things going over there? How’s the new guy working out?”
“Boone? He’s incredible. He’s so good at this stuff, and he’s really fitting in well with the rest of the team.” She spent a few minutes telling her all about his ranch, the horses, how he was teaching her how to ride.
“Oh, my gosh, you like him! And by that, I mean you have a thing for him!” Emily reacted in her typical exuberant way. “Not that I blame you. He seems like a pretty great guy, and he’s certainly easy on the eyes.” She shook out her hand and said, “Hubba hubba.”
Luna couldn’t help but laugh. “He is all of those things, and yes, I have a thing for him.”
“Please tell me he’s into you, too, or else I might have to kill myself.” She was so wonderfully dramatic sometimes.
“Yeah, I guess you could say we’re sort of, kinda seeing each other.” Why was it so hard for her to just come out and say it?
“Sort of. Kinda. What the heck does that mean?” Emily lifted a giant mug that had Decaf? You mean broken coffee, right? printed on the side and took a long swallow.
It was only eight fifteen in the morning in Washington State, and everyone knew how much Emily needed her coffee to start the day.
“Okay, yes, Boone and I are officially dating.” Saying it out loud actually felt pretty dang great.
“It’s very new, but the chemistry between us is off the friggin’ charts.
My stomach drops—in a good way—every time I see him, and I think about him all the time.
Seriously, I’ve never felt anything like it before. ”
“Oh, girl, I know exactly what you mean,” Emily said. “I just look at Mason and I want to jump his bones.”
“Well, we’re not to the jumping bones stage yet.” But Luna hoped to be very soon. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Duh, of course,” she said before taking another sip.
“Do you get scared or worried whenever Mason is on an op?” Luna was somewhat timid about asking for fear she might jinx the mission.
“Every single time,” Emily said. “But you have to remember they all have a ton of experience and are incredibly good at this stuff. Not to mention, they have you and the rest of OSI backing them up.”
“That’s pretty much the same thing Boone said.”
“He’s a smart guy. You should listen to him.”
“It’s so weird because, in the past, I’ve worried about the teams whenever they’re out there, putting themselves in harm’s way. But … it feels different this time.”
“Because it is. This time it’s someone you … dare I say, love?” Emily’s voice went up at the end.
Did Luna love Boone?
He made her feel special, treasured, even. She wanted to be with him all the time. She definitely loved kissing him and couldn’t wait to be intimate with him. Even if she was a little bit nervous about how that would go.
Was that what love felt like?
“Girl, don’t fry your brain thinking too deeply about that.” Emily rescued her from her mental turmoil. “I only mentioned it because of the way you look when you talk about him. And because it could be the reason you’re feeling differently about this mission.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” About the mission and about her loving Boone.
“Now, about the mission …” Emily turned in her chair and grabbed a huge binder off her credenza. “Let’s start figuring out what those guys are going to need and how to get them where they have to be so they can take care of business and come home.”
“What’s our first step?” Luna had never been responsible for the logistical aspects of a mission—actually getting the teams where they needed to be.
Emily had created the process, established and nurtured intel connections all over the world, and built relationships with suppliers and military leadership to ensure their operators had what they needed when they needed it.
If Dark Ops needed a helicopter in a Colombian jungle, one would miraculously be there when they needed it.
That’s how Lucas became a part of Dark Ops. Dulce had been kidnapped and flown to Colombia. The team went after her, and Lucas, who lived there at the time and owned a small airstrip, provided them with an old Vietnam-era helo.
No matter where the teams were in the world, Emily always came through for them. She was also in charge of working with the operators to ensure they always had the best, most modern gear and weaponry available.
Luna had asked if she could learn her processes to better assist the Dark Ops team.
Since the entire organization was continually growing, Emily welcomed having someone to back her up.
Being the SME, subject matter expert, and single point of failure put a lot of pressure on her and was far from ideal for an organization like OSI.
For the next hour or so, they talked through the details, ordering the supplies the team would need, including MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), climbing bags to stow their gear, and ammunition. Now they were getting ready to call Khalid Sukher, her contact in Aliabad.