Chapter 14
Brain vacillated between being pissed off on Aspen’s behalf, and impressed as hell at how she’d treated the entire nasty incident with Spence.
He couldn’t believe Derek had the nerve to confront Aspen at the organizational day.
Of course, the ass probably thought she was alone, and he could say whatever he wanted and not have any repercussions.
But Derek clearly hadn’t planned on Aspen being willing to take him on right then and there.
Nor did he suspect she’d have so much backup.
As soon as Brain saw what was happening, he’d headed for Aspen.
He knew his team would have his back, and he wasn’t surprised Ghost’s team was there too.
Fletch had probably been watching Annie, and when he saw something going down around her, everyone mobilized.
While Brain was still pissed about the entire incident, Aspen seemed to let it slide. She’d talked about Annie all the way back to his house and was as happy as she could be to mentor the teenager.
“She’s amazing,” Aspen said happily. “She caught on immediately and realized how much faster she could shimmy across that pole if she hooked her knee around it and used her leg muscles to take some of the weight off her arms. That gave her enough strength to be able to pull herself up at the end and ring the bell. I loved seeing her smile.”
And Brain loved seeing Aspen smile. He squeezed her hand resting on his leg. “You did good.”
“I did, didn’t I?” she asked.
“Are you okay about what happened with Spence?” he couldn’t help but ask.
Aspen sighed. “Yeah. It was bound to happen sooner or later. He’s a dick, and he obviously thought he had the upper hand.”
“He’s going to cause problems at work,” Brain said. “Well, more problems.”
“He’ll try,” Aspen agreed.
Brain liked that she wasn’t trying to blow off his concerns.
“But after today, he made my decision on whether to get out or not easy. I’ll tell the major tomorrow that I’m done.”
“You okay with that?” Brain asked. He couldn’t imagine leaving the Army, but then again, he had a hell of a close-knit family he’d be leaving if he did.
“Yeah. I am. I’m actually excited about what’s ahead for me. I’ve got about two more months, and I’m sure the major will take me off the team to make room for my replacement. It’s probably best for everyone involved anyway.”
“It sucks. I’m sorry,” Brain said.
Aspen shrugged. “You know what? I’m okay with it.
Even if they replace me with a man, I still feel as if I helped smooth the way for someone like Annie in the future.
Maybe she won’t have as hard a time as I did, simply because she isn’t one of the first women to be on the teams. At least I hope so. ”
“I know so. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks. I’m proud of myself,” Aspen told him.
“I talked to my commander about the hurricane that’s brewing out in the gulf,” Brain told her.
Aspen blinked at his change in topic. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. They say it’s supposed to keep on gaining strength, and it’s heading straight for Houston.”
“Fuck,” Aspen breathed. “They’ve been hammered with storms in the last few years.”
“They have. And if this one continues on the same trajectory, they’re probably going to ask for volunteers to head to Houston to assist where necessary.”
“Are you going?” she asked.
Brain shrugged. “We’ll decide as a team if we are or not. It’ll depend on if something more important crops up elsewhere.”
Aspen huffed out a small laugh. “You know, in the past when things like a storm or tornado or something happened, my team was asked if we wanted to volunteer, but it was an individual thing. Like, the last time, Hamilton couldn’t go because one of his kids had a thing at school he felt he needed to be at, and Buckland just didn’t want to go.
It was never an all-or-nothing thing on whether we’d go or not.
Knowing that you and the others decide to be all in, or all out, just hammers home the fact that I’m making the right decision.
” She squeezed his hand and turned a little in her seat.
“If you guys say yes, I’m going too,” she told him.
Brain smiled. “Okay.”
“Just like that?” she asked skeptically.
“Just like that,” he agreed. “You’ve more than proven to me and the rest of the guys that you can hold your own. You’ll be a huge asset, and we’d be happy to have you at our side.”
Aspen smiled. She tugged her hand out of his grasp and flattened it on his thigh. “I think I need to thank you for rushing over to my aid today, even if I didn’t really need it.”
“Yeah?” Brain asked.
“Uh-huh.”
Her fingers brushed against his inner thigh, and Brain caught her hand in his once more. “You want me to wreck?”
Aspen shook her head. “Nope. I’m hoping you’ll drive faster. I want you, Kane.”
He glanced over at her and saw she was staring right at him. Open. Honest.
Without a word, he pressed his foot to the gas and his Challenger shot forward.
Aspen laughed and beamed at him.
Brain had wished to have Aspen under him more times than he could count, but he’d never wanted to push her too fast. He’d known months ago that he wanted more from her, but had been content to move at her speed. To get to know her. To make out and hold her, but not go further.
He would’ve waited as long as it took for her to want him with the same intensity, but thank God he didn’t have to wait anymore.
“You sure?” he asked, not wanting any misunderstandings between them.
“Yes,” she said simply.
Needing to distract himself from the feel of her hand on his thigh, Brain said, “I’ve got condoms. I’m clean, but I don’t want you to worry about anything besides enjoying yourself this first time.”
“I’m on the pill,” she told him. “I had an ovarian cyst when I was a teenager. The docs put me on the pill so they wouldn’t keep forming.”
Brain’s adrenaline spiked. But he tamped down his excitement. “Still, this first time, until I can prove to you that I’m clean, I’ll stay gloved to protect you.”
“Okay. But, Kane? I trust you. I wouldn’t be agreeing to sleep with you if I didn’t. And for the record, I don’t jump into bed with just anyone. It’s been three years for me.”
Brain split his concentration between her and the road. “Three years?”
“Yup. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t take care of myself in those three years,” she said breezily.
She was killing him. Talking about touching herself was enough to make his cock jump in his jeans.
Aspen obviously felt it because she chuckled. “You like that thought?”
“Fuck yeah,” Brain breathed. “I’ll be lucky if I don’t shoot off like a teenager the second I get inside you, just from imagining what you look like touching yourself and getting yourself off.”
“If you do, you can make me feel good until you’re ready again,” she told him easily.
“Oh, that’s a given,” Brain told her. “I’m not coming until you do. At least once.”
“At least?” she asked with a quirk of her brow.
“At least,” he confirmed.
“I think you’re driving too slow,” Aspen told him breathlessly.
Brain smiled and nudged his speed up another mile an hour. The last thing he wanted was to be stopped by a cop. That would delay his getting inside Aspen, and at the moment, that was all he could think about.
Aspen knew she was coming on strong, but she couldn’t help it.
She was more than ready to make love with Kane.
When they’d officially started dating, after they’d gotten back from Afghanistan, she wasn’t so sure about the intense feelings she had for him.
She’d felt as if they were moving too fast, that she was falling for him too quickly.
But the more time she spent with him, the safer she felt… both her body and her heart.
Kane was one of the good guys. She knew that down to her very bones. And lying in his arms last night made everything crystal clear.
She loved him. Loved being in his arms. Loved falling asleep with him and waking up in the morning with his arms still around her.
He could be moody and grumpy, but he never took out his moods on her. He was a good friend, a good teammate, a hell of a soldier, and she wanted to connect with him on a more intimate level.
Sleeping with him could break them apart. Giving in to the sexual tension might make them realize that was all they had…but she didn’t think so. She wanted to think that being intimate would only bring them closer. Time would tell.
She wanted to forget about Derek, and getting out of the Army, and all the other stressors she’d experienced lately, and just enjoy being with Kane.
He pulled into his driveway and into his one-car garage and was out and walking around to her side before she’d even undone her seat belt.
Grinning at his eagerness, she let him help her out of the car and, without a word, he wrapped his arm around her waist and led her into the house. The second the door shut behind them, his lips were on hers, and he backed her against the wall.
For the first time in her life, Aspen truly let herself go. She didn’t worry about seeming too eager, or not eager enough. She didn’t think about what she should do with her hands, or if she was moving too fast or too slow.
She just did what felt right.
As Kane devoured her mouth, her hands slipped under his shirt and up his chest. She dug her fingers into his pecs and flicked his nipples. Kane growled and lifted his head, but Aspen didn’t want him to stop. Didn’t want him to slow down. She wanted him, now.
She pushed his shirt up, and he got the hint, ripping it off. Aspen ducked her head and took one of his nipples in her mouth, nipping at it, then sucking—hard.
He grunted, and before she was ready to let go of him, he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and laughed as he started for the stairs.