Chapter 35
SCOTTIE
Mikey unbuckled his helmet as he raised his other hand, offering a black briefcase to Dom. The very damn Black Box we’d been after all this time.
“Any problems?” Dom asked. Mikey shook his head.
“Not one,” Mikey answered.
Hearing his voice for the first time shot chills down my spine.
“What the actual fuck?” Duncan exclaimed, rushing forward. Mikey quickly dropped his helmet to the side, pulled off his balaclava just as Duncan slammed into him. Ford sprinted toward him, tackling both of them and they all fell to the ground.
“How the hell…? What the hell is going on?” Bernie asked and then jumped onto the pile of massive men.
“I’m so sorry, guys,” Dom said. “I wish I could’ve told you sooner.”
I couldn’t move. My feet cemented me to the sandy ground as the team slowly sat up. Whacking and patting Mikey as if to reassure themselves he was actually there.
“You have a fuck ton to explain because clearly something happened,” Ford hissed, narrowing his gaze at both Dom and Mikey.
Mikey shook his head, sand dusting from his hair, and he brushed at the beard growing on his chin. “Your button bomb works amazing, Bernie.” Mikey quickly stood up and undid his vest, tossing it to the side by his helmet.
There it was. The same hole, still stained with unusually bright blood.
“My button bomb? You mean the damn prank shit I built?” Bernie rose from the ground, dusting off his pants.
Mikey nodded, a grin spreading across his lips. “And I borrowed one of your fake blood packets you used last Halloween, too, Duncan.”
Duncan sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back on his palms as Ford grunted, rising from the ground. “So, you put them together, and set it off when Dom took the shot. Meaning this fake death was fucking planned?” he grumbled.
“Again, we’re sorry,” Mikey muttered, the smile falling from his face as his eyes slid across the base to mine.
I inhaled a shaky breath but remained still.
“Okay, explain in blunt terms, please,” Bernie said, looking between Dom and Mikey.
Mikey still refused to pull his eyes from mine. Everything swirling in them. All of the unspoken words waiting at the tip of my paralyzed tongue.
Dom placed a hand on Bernie’s shoulder, clinging tightly to the Black Box. “When Mikey came to me with the coordinates, I knew we had to do something desperately different. A Hail Mary. I came up with the idea of faking his death because al-Jabari wouldn’t be looking for a dead man. Mikey remembered the prank you and Duncan pulled last Halloween, I accidentally spilled the words ‘Devil’s Throat’ around the intel guys, and here we are.”
“Karim is both extremely smart and extremely stupid. He played right into your plan, then, didn’t he?” Ford said.
Dom and Mikey both nodded. “Though, I don’t recommend putting one of those button bombs right next to your body. That shit hurts.” Mikey rubbed his chest, his eyes still hooked on mine.
“You fired a blank, which is why you didn’t shoot at all until that exact moment. Which is why you didn’t try and shoot Rashid or Karim first,” Duncan reiterated.
Dom gave him a smile. “I ordered Mikey to not say anything. I needed the reactions from you guys to be genuine. I needed this to go off without a hitch especially since we still weren’t completely sure about Reyes and I wanted to flood him out. Also, I couldn’t tell you guys sooner that Mikey’s death was fake in case one: Reyes had managed to recruit someone else and there was another mole we were unaware of. Or two: if Mikey really didn’t make it home…”
My lieutenant commander slid his eyes to mine. I still had yet to move as my heart couldn’t quite seem to accept that Mikey was right in front of me. That he wasn’t actually dead. The relief flooding my system was almost as draining as the grief it once held. “Please don’t be mad at Mikey. This was my idea. My orders.”
Mikey took a slow step toward me.
“I’m not mad,” I whispered. My vision blurred, tears crashing against the dam. Tears that were building for an entirely different reason than they had this past week. When did I get so soft? “Seven days. It’s been seven days.”
Mikey nodded, his eyes softening. “I know,” he whispered. Coming toward me.
I shook my head, disbelief still running hot through my veins.
“Seven days without food or water,” I added.
Every step he took sent a ricochet of anticipation hot across my skin.
“I packed plenty of MREs and found water in towns along the way.” His shadow swallowed my entire figure as he stopped in front of me, an inch away. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. There it was. Not a memory of his sweet scent, but the actual smell.
“Hi, Scotch, baby,” he whispered, so quietly even I barely caught it.
My jaw trembled. I wanted to reach out and touch him, wanted him to wrap me up in his arms and hold me.
I needed to know he was real.
But I refrained from touching him, knowing that there were still so many boundaries in place.
“Will you fucking kiss her already? Damn,” Bernie grumbled out loud.
My eyes shot open, widening with shock, and connected with Mikey’s gaze.
He blinked a couple times, startled, and then bit down on his lip, attempting to stop the obvious smile. “How long?” he shouted over his shoulder.
“Since you said ‘fuck this,’” Ford answered.
I chanced a glance over Mikey’s shoulder. Ford crossed his arms, a smug grin on his face as Bernie pulled his lips in between his teeth like it was obvious. Duncan grinned, baring both his top and bottom teeth, and then wiggled his brows.
Calloused palms suddenly clamped down on my cheeks and Mikey rammed his lips against mine.
My soul quieted. Every stormy thought in my head silenced. Nothing but the aggressive velvet pressed to my mouth and our team’s cheering made its way through my head. Whoops and hollers bounced around the gym. Mikey chuckled, his chest vibrating against my body, and he smiled, briefly breaking the kiss.
“Mmmmm,” I whined, pouting that he ended it so quickly.
A hand slipped to the nape of my neck and he dove right back in. Ignoring everyone and everything else, I succumbed to his kiss. To the electricity rippling hot between us. His tongue trickled across my lips, asking for entry, and I parted them just enough. He shoved his tongue between my teeth. Roaming my mouth, he tasted everything he could. I reveled in him. In everything he offered me.
Stepping tighter into my body, he deepened the kiss. I tipped onto my toes, swirling warm and hot with the very obvious display of affection. What would have normally embarrassed me, didn’t. I wasn’t about to lose this.
I wasn’t about to lose him again.
My fingers twisted into the sides of his combat shirt, tugging him closer. I needed him. All that pain in the past seven days was all worth it because here he was. There was no more grief. There was only him.
Velvet swept across my lips, wet and hot. His kiss. Calloused thumb brushed up and down on my cheek. His touch.
Him.
Mikey.
Breathless, swimming in the absolute peace he afforded me, I danced my own tongue against his. He tasted better than I could’ve remembered. And I would never miss the opportunity to kiss him again.
“Alright, you two, go get a room,” Duncan called out over Mikey’s shoulder.
Slowly, Mikey pulled away, breaking the kiss only wide enough to speak. “How ’bout a vehicle in the motor pool?” he whispered to me, and I looked up at him through slitted lids. He winked, his arrogant grin back on his face.
I stared at him, my heart racing. Normally, I would’ve said no. That was probably what I should have said, but right now, the idea of alone time with him, of just being with him sounded like exactly what I wanted.
“Okay,” I said, running my tongue over my swollen lips.
His grin morphed to shock as his jaw fell to the ground. “That’s it? No protesting? Aren’t you even a tiny bit mad at me?”
I nodded. “Yes, to all of that.”
“Well, damn, alright,” he said. Releasing my face, he spun around.
Dom waved, silencing whatever Mikey opened his mouth to say. “I’m gonna go take this to the colonel so we can get started on decrypting it. So we can take down the motherfucker Karim al-Jabari once and for all.” He hoisted the Black Box and then walked away.
Mikey’s fingers slipped into mine, and he pulled me into his back but said nothing.
“I’m gonna, uh, go get food,” Ford tossed a thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah, um, I’ll join,” Duncan quickly stated.
Bernie rolled his eyes, and looked at Mikey and me. “We all know what you two want to do. So, go fuck someplace where we won’t see or hear it. We’ll be waiting whenever you guys get back,” he bluntly stated and shook his hand at the two of us, shooing us away.
“We’re just going to talk,” Mikey called back.
“Just talk? You’ve got one hell of a grovel ahead my man since you let her think you were dead for seven days. I’m pretty sure a good fucking would help.” Bernie winked as Mikey flipped him the bird.
“Who says I’m the only one who has to grovel?” Mikey spat.
Duncan raised his brows. “Because it’s you, Mikey. Duh.”
But the earlier words of casual confirmation from the team had me taken aback. I furrowed my brows, ignoring the last comment. “Wait, you guys are all okay with this?”
The three of them nodded. “Obviously,” Ford said, grinning.
“And I’m not going to get in trouble? Mikey won’t get in trouble?” I asked.
Bernie chuckled. “No. We’re not going to tell anyone else.”
And at least right at this moment, everything was perfect. Mikey was here. We had the Black Box. My team was fine with this. All that was left to do was take down Karim, which after everything we’d been through, that seemed like a piece of cake.
Mikey grinned and I was suddenly being dragged through the base. I’d never even walked into the motor pool, had no idea what it looked like, because Mikey and Dom always went and retrieved our vehicles. But as we rounded a corner and slipped past a gate, I recognized the landing pad and helicopter off to the left.
He guided me around another corner and rushed past a wall of sandbags. A row of vehicles lined the inner edge of the fortified location. While the inside of the motor pool was all but vacant of soldiers, there were Humvees, armored trucks, and other assortment of vehicles parked around me. On the far end was a fueling station and opposite the row of vehicles looked to be a mostly deserted maintenance bay.
All crudely constructed, all prepped for quick and easy dismantling, I furrowed my brows, wondering why it was mostly empty.
“Food and shift change, Scotch,” Mikey explained, answering my unspoken question.
“Oh, hush.” I rolled my eyes as he ducked around a Humvee. The sun dipped lower, settling an orange glow with the setting of the day. Nightfall would soon be here. My first night spent with Mikey. My first night I wouldn’t spend feeling so broken and alone.
Caught between two tan Humvees, the metal obscuring us from guard patrol or anyone else, Mikey shoved me against the side of the vehicle without hesitation.
“Uh uh,” I admonished, shaking my head as he reached to hoist me from the ground.
His gaze narrowed, pressing his body directly against mine. “Why the hell not?”
“Like Bernie said, you need to grovel, and we need to talk, because I’m still a little mad at you,” I muttered.
He smirked, cocking a brow. “Didn’t stop you before. You’ve always been slightly mad at me.”
“You’re an asshole, Blondie, you know that?” I replied, giving him a smile. He leaned forward, resting an arm above my head. “And you haven’t showered in seven days.”
“I’m aware. Of both things,” he said. My heart jumped, a giggle escaping my lips, and my eyes widened, shocked by my own response. “You’ve gotten soft on me.”
Narrowing my gaze, I sliced him a glare. “No, I haven’t.”
He inhaled deeply, dropping his arms to his side. “I’m really sorry. I can’t imagine how it must have felt.”
I sucked in my cheeks. “This is all your fault, you know?” A tear slid down my cheek. Raising my hand to wipe it away, he beat me to it and quickly swiped the stain away. “For seven days I thought you died. For seven days I believed that my last conversation with you left you thinking I wanted nothing more than a good fuck from you. That was it. And you broke your promise.”
“Technically, I didn’t break my promise.” His tender gaze swallowed mine, and he brushed a strand of hair away from my face. “I wouldn’t make you a promise I couldn’t keep.”
“So, are we talking now?”
A gentle smile softened his face. “I missed you.”
Another wave of overwhelming undecipherable emotions washed over me and the word vomit was uncontrollable. “I’m so sorry, Mikey. I was selfish. I was just scared. There’s something about you that just honestly terrifies me. I’ve always been driven, able to ignore my emotions and set them aside to make sure my career works out. That whatever goal I’m working toward isn’t blocked by anything else. Or more specifically, anyone else. But every time I’m around you, I let go and find myself saying ‘fuck it’ way too often. Except I don’t mind it in the moment, and even afterwards it seems to be fine until I blow shit up and—”
“I love you too, Scotch,” he bluntly silenced me. His palms cupped my cheeks, a calloused touch raising my cloudy gaze to his. Blinking through the tears, I inhaled sporadic breaths. Those three little words had never been spoken to me before. And in such a calm way. There was not an ounce of hesitation or uncertainty that coated his sentence.
“You love me?” I whispered, feeling so feminine, so unburdened. So unlike me yet feather light.
Mikey tenderly smiled and pressed a gentle kiss against my forehead. I closed my eyes as he pulled away, lingering an inch away from my face. “For the first time in my life, I’m not alone,” he began. Warm breath washed over my skin and I wrapped my arms around his waist. “You’re home. You’re my home. I’ll always come home.”
I inhaled deeply and tucked my face against his chest. “But you died.”
A soft chuckle rumbled in his body. “Even death can’t keep me from you. From loving you. Where you are, is where I want to be.”
Pulling away from his chest, I looked up at him suddenly so sure. “I love you, Mikey, and I’m sorry it took me so long to recognize it.”
He grinned. “Damn, I should’ve died sooner if that’s what it took to get you to admit that.”
“Oh, just shut up, Blondie. Besides, you”re not allowed to do that again.” I playfully slapped him against his back.
“Dom may order it.” He tipped his head.
“Well, then fine. But…like…ugh…” I grumbled.
Fingers rested beneath my chin, and he tipped my head up. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I bit down on my bottom lip, warmth rising to my cheeks. “So, are you gonna put my name down on the papers? Oh, and that offer to move into your house after…”
“We can talk about that later,” he replied and captured my mouth with his.
Later sounded good with me.
Right now, I wanted to spend every second in the here and now. This moment with him. Every cell in my entire body lit on fire as he deepened the kiss. The roaring hot touch of a hand sliding down the side of my body fueled the flames ignited in my core.
Pulse racing, I slung my arms around his neck. Actually climbing into a vehicle would take too much time.
He needed to take me right here, right now.