CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MARSHALL
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Pop.
We got him. Al-Kharafi is dead. Better still, I got him. So at least I can say I completed my last mission if I end up six feet under.
Apparently, bleeding out makes me dramatic.
I collapse to the ground and let the Delta operators take over.
After three hours of chasing them, it’s over.
Mickelson drove into the side of their SUV, almost taking us all over a cliff. Fortunately, both vehicles slid to a stop with the enemy’s tilting and eventually flipping onto its side.
Thank god, they couldn’t get away.
I was drained from the blood loss and my sight was blurring, but the moment I saw Al-Kharafi climb out sunroof and start running, I ripped Rodrigues’s gun out of the palm of his hand and pointed.
Then shot.
Al-Kharafi dropped to the ground. I opened my door and walked as I kept shooting. Then another as I stood over him, right in the center of his forehead.
“Photo,” I called out.
“Right beside you,” Forte said and handed me his phone. “Took a couple.”
I collapsed to the ground.
Then, sitting in the dust of the desert, I synced our phones, grabbed the file and then sent them to Josh with the words: mission complete.
Then, and only then, I let myself pass out.
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THE FLIGHT HOME to the United States was long and, despite the army medic stitching me up, the first place I’m taken is the hospital.
There was no shower before being airlifted just a few miles from where we took down Al-Kharafi, so I can still feel the sand all over me. Even the change of clothes didn’t help.
They don’t fit well so that isn’t helping.
I just want to get home, have a shower, beer, and huge steak.
And then respond to the text message I’ve read a dozen times since connecting to the US network when we landed.
From Trina.
Marshall. Where the fuck are you? Tell me you’re okay or I swear I will kick your damn ass.
I grin again.
“Here we go,” the nurse says, handing me a bottle of antibiotics. “Two a day for seven days. You should be okay as the wound is nice and clean, but if it does get infected please see your doctor immediately.”
It will be fine. I’ve had flesh wounds before.
This one is pretty deep, but I can move my arm well enough so it’s just another scar to go with all the other.
I slide off the table and reach for my shirt, hating that I have to put it back on.
God, I want a shower.
“Hey home boy.” I hear a familiar voice and turn. “Heard you were hanging out with some of my buddies.”
I grin when I see Ryder.
“Yeah. Their party sucked.”
He snorts.
Then I freeze, my hand halfway into the sleeve of the T-shirt as I watch Trina circle around the former Delta Force operator.
My god she’s beautiful.
Her text was pretty to the point, but it didn’t portray the true emotion that sparkles from her worried eyes.
Well, well, well.
I think my little wolf might care.
And I don’t like that she was worried about me, knows whatever it looks like she knows, and is here. I’m happy as fuck to see her, but why is she here?
Ryder thumbs over his shoulder. “Couldn’t get this one off my back so she insisted she drive.”
“Well, have you been in a car with him?” Trina crosses her arms.
All her little lies are covers for a vulnerability and I’m starting to figure her out.
“Miss me, little wolf?” I smirk, as her eyes run over my abs and dilate. I wait a few seconds longer before I dress, enjoying the impact I’m having on her. She chews her bottom lip, then seems to snap out of it. Abruptly. Clearly she doesn’t like that she’s given away so much.
“You know what they say, keep your enemies closer and all that.” Trina shrugs casually.
Ryder laughs and grabs my big duffel bag, hoisting it over his shoulder. I’m glad for the assistance as my arm is hurting like fuck.
“Don’t stop taking those antibiotics,” the nurse says as we walk out.
I wrap my good arm around Trina’s shoulder as we follow the Ryder down the hall and whisper in her ear. “I missed you too, if it makes any difference.”
She doesn’t shrug me off. In fact, I am almost certain she slightly sinks into my hug.
A few seconds later, Trina lifts her face, and despite the height difference, we’re close enough for me see the full emotion in her eyes. It almost takes my breath away.
It’s fury and wild.
“I thought you were dead.” Her voice is rough, but soft as if holding back all I can see inside those blue globes.
“I’m hard to kill, little wolf.”
Our eyes remain locked as Ryder presses the elevator button. So many unsaid things pass between us as I drop my arm and run a finger over her forehead to brush away a stray lock of hair.
“He is,” Ryder says. “I’ve tried a dozen times.”
I wink at Trina, and she rolls her eyes at both of us.
Somehow my hand rests on her lower back and because she hasn’t pushed me away, I’m not moving it.
“Tell Josh if he wants a briefing he can wait until tomorrow morning. I need a shower.”
“He’s not expecting you.” Ryder suddenly pulls his phone out of his pocket and glares down at it. “Are you kidding me?”
My eyebrows shoot up.
“Problem?”
“Yeah, apparently a dark chocolate emergency. What is this?” He holds up the image on his screen.
Trina grabs his hand and angles the phone her way. An odd sensation fills my chest. I do not like her touching him. Despite being a married man, the fact she has her hands on another male is triggering me.
That’s new.
“Mr. Mister’s chocolate nuts? She wants them now?” Trina groans.
He nods. “Yup. Where do we get them?”
Another message beeps.
“ We aren’t getting them. They are only sold on the other side of the city.” Trina shakes her head. “I need to get this guy home.”
I couldn’t agree more. My shower is calling my name. I have sand from Kuwait in my butt cheeks. I am not driving around so Savannah can get some special celebrity whatever goddamn chocolate nuts she’s craving.
I also need to take these pain meds and get a good night’s sleep.
“Look, I can grab an Uber—”
“No,” they both say.
“I’ll grab one. Trina can take you home.” Ryder glances between us then focuses on her. “Think you can do that without killing him? We just got him home.”
I twist my mouth in a grin waiting for her response.
“I can’t promise. But if he doesn’t talk on the way home there is a higher possibility.” She lifts a shoulder.
Man, I have missed her.
Laughing, we take the elevator down to the ground floor. I shake Ryder’s hand, and he kisses Trina on the cheek—risking his life once more—then hands me my duffle bag.
Why does he need to keep fucking touching her?
“I’ll take it.” Trina tries to intervene, and I ignore her, lifting it above her head and throwing it over my shoulder with my good arm.
I don’t miss her eyes taking in my bulging bicep.
Hashtag, not sorry.
“It’s twice the size of you, don’t be ridiculous.” She props out a hip.
“Andddd, it begins again. Do not fucking kill one another.” Ryder waves out a hand and walks off.
I stare down at Trina and she finally breaks, muttering as she walks to her car. “Fine. No talking.”
I stare at the small blue Toyota and scrunch my face.
“How the fuck did Ryder fit in there?”
“Just get in, unless you want to walk?”
“No thanks. I just walked hundreds of miles across—”
I stop talking.
Shit. That was nearly a big fucking slipup.
I toss my bag in the back seat and climb into the passenger seat. Trina gets behind the wheel and my eyes slide over her body. She must have come straight from work as she’s wearing a tight black skirt and blush-pink silky blouse. I can see the curve of her breasts and hint of cleavage.
Oh yeah, these are the soft curves I’ve been dreaming about for days.
“Eyes on the road soldier,” she says, but there’s little heat in her words. In her eyes...
“Why? I’m not driving.” I smile and turn to look out the windshield.
After a few minutes as we head toward my home, Trina finally breaks the silence and glances at me briefly. “So, are you okay?”
I swear this woman is going to give me whiplash.
“I am now.” I nod.
Does she realize I mean now that I’m with her? She won’t. While I was shocked to see her at the hospital and I’m still not clear what she knows, the fact she came with Ryder to pick me up says something.
Something she is not willing to admit out loud.
Trina bites her bottom lip, holding back from asking more questions or saying how she feels. I know what it feels like to worry about my buddies in the forces. I can only imagine how it feels to be on the sidelines with almost no information and fretting.
Whatever this is between us, and despite it being new, that doesn’t mean her worry isn’t valid.
Yes, we have sexual chemistry that’s off the charts, but I’m beginning to think there is much more going on between us. That she’s here right now with me confirms it.
At least in my mind.
I reach out my hand, place it on her thigh, and squeeze. She does a double take at me and slows for an intersection.
“Hey,” I rasp. “It’s okay to be worried. I don’t know what the team told you, but I am fine.”
“They said you were shot. That’s not fine.”
Fair call.
Trina tries to push me my hand away, but I grab her fingers, and her eyes lock with mine.
“They didn’t tell me a single thing, Marshall. Nothing. Do you know how that feels? You kiss me then go to some dumb country and get shot? What if you’d died? I can’t yell at you if you’re dead.”
I want it noted for the record that I don’t laugh and it’s one of the hardest things I have ever done. Goddamn, I want to smile.
I want to kiss her and laugh and swing her around.
Instead, I nod and ask an important question. “Who was in the military?”
“What?”
“Who. Was. In. The. Military? That you cared about? Or care about, little wolf.”
Present tense.
Damn, it suddenly occurs to me that she might still have this person in her life. Perhaps there’s a guy. An ex. Or someone that won’t let her go.
Is that why she’s not willing to date anyone else?
I don’t like that one little bit.
“A lot of people,” Trina replies as the traffic starts moving. It’s such a bullshit answer.
I release her fingers and decide to let her response hang in the air for the rest of the drive home. I give her directions, knowing she’s never been to my home in Hermosa Beach, and close my eyes.
“Wow. Nice digs,” Trina says, surprised, as she pulls into the driveway of my five-bedroom, two-story home.
It is nice.
It’s a place where I can rest after the craziness of my daily life. I can hear the waves of the ocean as it’s just a two-minute walk to the beach. I dreamed of this house for years while stomping through sand and crawling on my knees.
Much like I was the past few days, except this time it was the woman sitting beside me in my visions. I certainly didn’t think I’d have her in my home this quickly.
“Thanks for the ride home.” I remove my seat belt and go to move but flinch, remembering my injury.
“Stop.” Trina jumps out of the car before I can say anything, and by the time I’m out she has my bag out of the back seat.
“Think I proved I can carry that, little wolf.” I grumble as she marches up the steps to my home looking like she’s dragging a dead body.
“You’re so stubborn. Can’t you let anyone help you?” Then she drops it to the floor, clearly struggling with the weight.
I can’t help my smile as I punch the code into my door, and it clicks open. Then I plant my hand on the wall above her and lean in. Her breath hitches and my cock hardens as those baby blues of hers dilute.
“Yeah, I can. If you really want to help me, I have an itch, want to scratch it?”
“Ugh.” Trina shoves my chest, but I barely move an inch. Instead, the corner of my lips twitch as I watch her fight her arousal.
“Fine.” I shrug. “Please carry my bag inside for me. I am weak and injured.” I push off the wall and head inside, chuckling to myself while Trina grunts as she lifts my duffle and then drops it on the floor in the entrance with an oomph.
“Close door,” I say out loud and keep walking.
The door automatically clicks shut behind her.
“How did you—”
I walk into the kitchen hoping like fuck she’ll follow. I’m nowhere near done with her and the flicker in her eyes as I leaned in a moment ago told me she’s been thinking about last weekend as much as I have.
“Marshall, I have to go.”
I grab a glass and fill it with water. After being in the desert, I’m thirsty for what feels like weeks after.
“You said you wanted to help me.” I taunt as she bites her bottom lip. “Can you help me take my bag upstairs?”
“No. You’re fucking with me now.” She props a hip.
I drop the glass on the counter and stalk toward her like the hunter I am. She doesn’t move, just stays deathly still as I cup her face with my hand.
“Yes, little wolf, I am. Because I’ve thought about this moment a million times over the past few days when I wasn’t sure I was coming home.”
“Marsh,” she whispers, closing her eyes.
She cares.
Goddamn it, this woman cares about me.
“And I’m not going to hold back. This time when my lips land on yours they’re gonna move over every inch of your body. So, if you want to run, now would be the time.”
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Trina doesn’t move. Instead, her eyes glow, showing me just how aroused she is, her lips part invitingly.
“One more chance.” I rasp, my mouth barely an inch from hers.
Tick.
She arches seductively into me the moment I slam my lips down on hers. Both of us let out a guttural moan and claw at one another like we’ve waited ten lifetimes for this kiss.
Fuck me. My little wolf tastes like spice and apples as she opens and I take complete possession of her. Twisting and lapping, our tongues dance, claiming all the desire we’ve ignored for so damn long.
When I feel her fingers press into my biceps, real damn close to my wound, I try for as long as I can to ignore the pain.
I am not doing anything to give her cause to run.
Nothing.
With my good arm, I sweep it under her legs and lift her. “Wrap your arms around me.”
“You’re wounded.”
“Fuck the wound.” I growl and stride through the kitchen and almost run up the damn stairs. In my bedroom, I drop her bedside the door to the bathroom and kiss her again, pressing her into the wall.
I pepper kisses down her neck and my cock hardens further as she lets out sexy mews.
God I want to lift her leg and slam into her right her. But I’m filthy.
“Stay there,” I order her in a rough voice and rip off my T-shirt. Her eyes roam over my chest and then I drop my pants and hear her intake of breath.
I’m commando.
Trina places her hand on my pec and begins trailing it down over my abs.
“I’m dirty.” I grip her fingers, and her eyes snap up to mine. “You’re coming in the shower with me.”
I see her blink but don’t give her a second to take control of the situation. She’s with an alpha male and it’s time this little wolf learned where she belongs in the pack.
Underneath me.
Although I’ll happily let her ride me.
I tug her blouse open and let out a curse.
“Goddamn, these are the sweetest little tits.” I lower my mouth and tug down the lace, sucking on her nipple while she moans.
Her fingers lace through my hair. “Marshall. I need...”
“I know what you need.” I straighten and spin her around, unzipping her skirt while she palms the wall to steady herself.
Her skirt falls to the floor as I tug her panties up so they press against her clit.
“Oh fuck,” she cries.
Holy fucking hell. Why did I wait so long to take control of this woman?
I run my hand down her back, taking in the softness of her tanned skin, then brush her long dark hair over her shoulder.
My mouth clamps to her neck.
“Ready for me to fuck you darlin’?” My hand rounds her body, flattens on her stomach and then slides down inside her panties.
“Yes. Oh yes!” She cries the last part louder as my fingers slip through her wet flesh.
She’s absolutely soaked.
My control snaps. I spin Trina around, lick my fingers and slam my mouth on hers again. “Fuck the shower. I need to be inside you right goddamn now.”
I lift her, carry her to the bed, tug down her panties, and then line up my cock.
Shit.
Condom.
“Do not move. Do not fucking move.” I growl.
I grab a rubber from my bedside cabinet, rip it open and snap it on. When I’m between her legs again I widen her thighs with my palms and lean in.
With one long lick I have her screaming and arching off the bed.
God she tastes like heaven. So much better than in my dreams.
“Jesus.”
“Marshall will do.” I smirk, but it vanishes when I straighten and press the head of my cock against her soaking entrance.
“You’re impossible.” Trina reaches for my neck and tugs on the ends of my hair as I push inside her.
“So tight.” I ground out. “Suck me into your pussy.”
“Harder, Marsh. More. I want all of you. Please.”
I smirk again. I knew she’d be a dirty girl. There was zero doubt she would be amazing in bed and now I get to have all of her.
Finally.
Lifting her legs over my shoulder, I thrust in balls deep as she strangles me with the walls of her sex. Yes! Christ she’s tight.
My mouth takes one of her still lace covered nipples again, and I suck it hard, letting it pop out. Then the other one.
“Oh god. More, Marshall. More,” Trina pleads.
I pull out, then thrust in again, then again, watching as my wild wolf tosses her head and arches in response.
Lifting her hips with my good arm, I speed up my movements, eager to fill her with my first load. We both know this isn’t going to last long. The buildup has been insane.
“I’m going to come,” Trina warns. “Oh, shit.”
I drop her hip, use my thumb to circle her clit as I continue to pound into her. A firestorm plows through me, watching her fall apart, and sends a shock of pleasure right to my goddamn dick. We climax together, our screams filling the room as sweat layers our bodies.
Holy hell.
What a way to come home.
I drop to my elbow beside her and let her legs relax back down. My arm aches but I don’t care. Panting and catching my breath, I open my eyes and tilt my head, smiling at her.
Trina stares at me like she’s in shock.
I press my sweaty lips to hers. “We’re doing that again.”