Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
NATIONAL HARBOR, MARYLAND - FOUR DAYS LATER
Hands in his pockets, Roman stared at the calm water outside their hotel room at the Gaylord National Resort. He and Harper had chosen to stay outside D.C. in the same hotel where Natasha and Wyatt had married since the President had instructed them to stay local for the time being.
As soon as they’d returned from Afghanistan, the teams met with the admiral, CIA director, and, via web call, President Bennett for an after-action debrief and to find out if they still had their jobs.
The President promised Roman he wouldn’t need to worry about his uncle or his family’s safety, which had made Roman feel better. But it’d take some getting used to that his uncle was no longer hanging over his shoulder, and he could truly breathe easy now.
Roman had also delivered a couple of apologies for lying, but the President had already forgiven him. Thank God.
The teams were ordered to take sixty days off, and everyone, even Finn, seemed happy with that idea. Normally, they all griped about downtime, but after the hell they’d been through, they needed that time to recover—both mentally and physically.
POTUS had requested that Knox operate a little less, and Knox agreed that until the baby was born, he’d hang back with Jessica and Harper when the teams had to spin up. Well, he’d try, at least. The guy couldn’t handle his teammates being out there without him.
Overall, Roman felt as though they’d all rolled onto the mother of all landmines in the Middle East, and yet once again, the sucker had failed to blow. They sure as hell needed to be more careful with who they trusted after Will’s screwed-up attempt to break them apart.
POTUS also agreed to change the CIA black site prison system to prevent such a problem from happening again, and Talon Fox would find himself living in one of the new sites as well. And no Xbox, Chris made sure of that.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.” Roman turned and eyed his cell phone on the table at his side, nearly forgetting he had Emilia on speakerphone waiting for him to continue talking.
“I’m a bit surprised you didn’t know about my uncle.
Well, that The League wasn’t aware of Luciano’s extra-curricular activities. ”
“Technically, I’m not part of The League anymore,” Emilia responded, her tone slightly strained as if she’d been working out when he’d called her.
He and Harper wanted to provide her with an update about what had gone down in Cape Town, but news traveled fast, and she’d already learned the truth. Only, she’d waited for him to reach out.
“And yeah, I had my reservations about your uncle, but after you and I became friends at Rosario’s wedding, I sort of put my worries under the rug. I’m sorry you were going through all of that,” Emilia went on, her voice soft. “You should have come to me.”
Harper stood from the bed, dressed in only a pair of pale blue silk shorts and a matching camisole.
Her long legs drew his eyes and had him wanting to rush through this conversation.
He angled his head, studying her. So damn grateful everything worked out.
And he needed to shake that feeling that it was all too good to be true.
Why was he so afraid this was all just a dream, that he was really in a coma after getting hit by the car in Barcelona, and one day he’d wake up to find he was still under his uncle’s thumb and Harper had moved on?
Fuck. Maybe he did need to talk to Riley Logan, the therapist the guys had all begun seeing to support Chris’s PTSD. He sure as hell didn’t want his fears to ruin what he and Harper finally had—a relationship.
“You okay?” Harper mouthed. She knew him well, and she knew his thoughts were starting to spin out.
“I found it odd that The League leader in Spain didn’t make the connection that your uncle was corrupt, so I did some digging,” Emilia said a moment later.
And shit, Roman knew what was coming next.
Harper slipped her arms over his shoulders and linked her wrists behind his head. Gorgeous brown eyes pinned on him as she mouthed, “Relax.”
Yeah, he was tense and with good reason. He’d been on edge for years. There’d be some adjustment time.
He gave her a small smile and set a quick kiss to her lips.
“The Spanish League leader turned the other way,” Emilia dropped the news. “A friend of your uncle’s. We’re handling it. I’m sorry.”
Well, that made a hell of a lot more sense. And if Roman had gone to The League for help at some point, then he’d possibly have endangered everyone he cared about. Everything happens for a reason.
“No, like I said, I should have done things differently.” So many things. But they were where they were now, and he had Harper in his arms, so . . . “Maybe we can reconnect later? I can apologize about five hundred more times,” he joked.
“Say hello to Harper for me.”
“Will do.” Roman reached for his phone, taking Harper with him as he leaned to end the call.
“Tell me something. Maybe some facts about sex,” she said in a soft, playful voice. She was trying to calm him. Help control his thoughts.
“Facts about sex, huh?” He closed one eye for a second. “Well, intercourse usually takes anywhere between one hundred and five hundred thrusts before orgasm is achieved.”
“That’s a big range. I’m gonna say you’re well above the upper end of that range.” She rolled her tongue along the seam of her lips. “Give me another.”
“Female orgasms last three times longer than male ones.” His cock was growing hard with this conversation, but her strategy worked because the blood rushed from one head to the other.
“Well, that sounds fair.” She chuckled. “One more.” She lifted her hand and teased her fingers through his hair, a few locks falling over his forehead.
“Post-sex sadness is a thing.”
“Which means we should keep having sex as often as possible so we don’t have to deal with the sadness, huh?” She continued to comb her fingers through his hair. “Getting long.”
“Want me to cut it?” He shot her a lopsided grin, and she rolled her eyes as if the idea were crazy.
“Absolutely not. It’s super sexy.” She teased her lip between her teeth. “I could run my fingers through your hair all day.”
“Oh really?” His hands skated down her back and to her ass. “There are other things I could do all day, and they don’t involve my hair. Well, maybe you might pull on it a little while we make love.”
Harper cut off his words with a kiss, her tongue sliding between his lips to swirl with his.
He was so in love with this woman. She set him on fire in every possible way.
She was his soul mate. His entire world.
He wanted to bring her to Florida for Easter to spend the holiday with his family.
And spend a million more holidays with her, too.
“You think I did enough for Ezra’s family?” she whispered a moment later after their lips parted.
Not what he was expecting to hear after such a hot kiss.
“You reached out to his wife and let her know what happened to him, and thanks to you, the government is helping her transition to a safe place in the U.S. with enough money to get her set up.” This woman and her big heart. “I really am lucky,” he murmured.
She leaned back in his arms to find his eyes. “Ditto,” she whispered, and then an ugly thought struck him.
“I still need to have a word with Zack.”
Harper frowned and let go of him, and damn it, he’d killed her flirty and fun mood. But she needed to know he wouldn’t be letting that go.
She huffed out a heavy breath and turned away from him, but he circled her wrist and brought her back to him in one quick motion. Her palms went to his chest as she peered up at him. “He was following orders. He’s a good guy, I promise.”
His shoulders fell with frustration. “Just a little talk.”
“How little?” She narrowed her eyes. “Like, I mean, he won’t need to write with his left hand for a month or anything, right?”
“Possibly.” He grinned, and she playfully went to slap his chest, but he snatched her wrist once again. “Mm. You’re going to get yourself in trouble, babe.”
“What kind of trouble?” She waggled her brows and kissed the air in his direction. “Like the naughty kind or the good kind?”
He scooped her into his arms, forgetting all remnants of hip or back pain that still hung around. “Is there a difference?” He tossed her onto the bed, and she squealed as he pounced, bracing himself with his arms so as not to crush her.
“Such a bull.” She hooked her ankles around his back as he hovered over her.
He ran his palm down her cheek, her eyes glittering with passion as she stared up at him.
“We have to be at Liam’s in an hour for the ‘Band is Back Together’ party,” she reminded him when he settled onto his forearms, his shaft pressing tight to her sex. The silk material of her shorts and his black briefs were the only things separating him from entering her.
“So?”
“You’re not exactly a sixty-second man. Remember, five hundred-plus thrusts.” She smiled, her dimples appearing. “And I still need to shower.”
“Okay, well, how about we make love while we shower? I can wash you.”
Harper wet her lips and skated her thumb down the center of his body to the hem of his briefs. “Thought you wanted dirty? Cleaning me sounds like the opposite.”
He sank lower to bring his mouth to hers so she’d feel the vibration of his words. “Oh, I’ll get you good and dirty first, don’t you worry,” he said in a husky tone before kissing her hard.