Operation 23 Premature Celebration
Xander Vale
One week later…
When Xander woke in Cassidy Morrison’s bed, he had to take a second to remember he wasn’t dreaming.
The room was still dim, early morning light easing through dark curtains and touching the edges of furniture that was pure Cassidy.
Heavy wood dressers. A large worn, leather recliner positioned in front of an eighty-five-inch flat screen.
Little to no decorations except for a framed eight-by-ten of Cassidy in uniform—younger but already so serious—standing shoulder to shoulder with four other Marines in some other country.
The nightstand held a simple wrought iron lamp, a charging cable, watch, reading glasses, and a glass of water.
Xander rolled onto his side and looked around. He’d learned so much about Cassidy in his house.
Not HOS.
Cassie.
There were more photographs in the hallway of him in service. A few pictures from fishing trips too, Cassidy holding up a ridiculously tiny catch while two friends laughed beside him, his smile rare and almost boyish.
One photo in the living room showed him on a dock at sunset at their family’s cabin. He had longer hair, and a thicker beard as he used his hand to shield his eyes.
Another framed image showed a much younger Cassidy with his arm around an older woman Xander learned was his mother, both smiling.
Cassidy had confessed she’d threatened to never make his favorite blueberry lemon pound cake if he frowned in her picture.
She lived in a super nice retirement village in Santa Barbara that he paid for, with his sister as her caretaker, after her cataract surgery had left her with ocular hypertension and blindness in one eye.
The house was warm and lived in. Masculine and clean without being sterile. It smelled like coffee, leather, and his spicy cologne. Xander pressed his face into the pillow and smiled.
His boyfriend’s pillow.
That word still tripped him out.
Boyfriend.
It felt too small for a man of Cassidy’s stature. Too ordinary for a man who’d taken bullets for him.
But it also felt perfect, because the word made his stomach flutter as if he was a teenager with his first crush.
He had a boyfriend.
And that boyfriend had kept him awake half the night with slow, capable hands, hot words seared into his skin, and kisses that’d left him unraveled in the sexiest way.
He stretched beneath the sheet, sore in places that made heat crawl up his neck, as he laughed quietly into the pillow.
God help him. How was he going to survive this man?
Cassidy’s side of the bed was empty, but not cold. He hadn’t been gone long. Xander pushed himself up, ran a hand through his sleep-mussed hair, and went to the bathroom.
He freshened up, brushed his teeth, splashed water on his face, and stood for a moment staring at himself in Cassidy’s mirror.
He was different but not in obvious ways.
There were still shadows beneath his eyes. The last week hadn’t been easy.
The press had turned Bennett Ashford’s name into a feeding frenzy after LAPD confirmed his connection to the hired attackers, and River Blackwell had come forward with a signed witness account.
Entertainment shows had run timelines, motive theories, old interviews, and comparison charts between Xander’s award wins and Celestine Ashford’s losses. The internet did what the internet did and built an empire of noise around it.
Bennett had fled the country within hours of the story breaking, which only made him appear guiltier. His lawyers released statements and his PR team denied everything. None of it mattered.
Xander wanted nothing else to do with any of it and chose to let the police and his legal team handle it. But he’d made one thing clear. He did not want to press charges against Celestine Ashford, nor did he want his legal team to harass her regarding her husband’s criminal activities.
He pulled on his boy shorts, comfortable with leaving his shirt flung over the recliner. He liked the way Cassidy feasted on his body with his dark eyes.
He followed the sound of the news playing from somewhere beyond the bedroom. Roxie and Ranger met him in the hall, except they weren’t alone. Cassidy’s fat calico cat, Scout, shot around the corner with Roxie trotting behind her and Ranger following with little interest.
Scout leapt onto the back of the sofa, looked down at both German shepherds, swatting at their heads.
Xander laughed. “What is happening here?”
Scout stared at him as if the rules of the game were obvious.
“Good morning, babies. I’m sure you’re both smart enough to outwit that spoiled cat.” Xander petted both dogs. “Good luck.”
He left through the sliding doors already open to the deck.
Cassidy sat at the patio table beneath the large umbrella, shirtless and barefoot, wearing dark sweatpants riding so low the hard cut V of his hips and the dark hair well below his navel were visible.
A large mug of coffee sat beside his laptop while the morning news played from a small outdoor television mounted on the wall. He was scrolling through something on the laptop, brows drawn, jaw set.
Xander wanted to ruin that immediately. He walked straight to him, pushed the laptop back with one hand, pulled Cassidy’s chair out with the other, and climbed onto his lap.
Cassidy gripped his hips automatically. His eyes lifted, dark and amused. “Good morning to you too.”
Xander settled more comfortably across Cassidy’s thighs. “Mmm, mornin’.”
“You planning to let me finish that email?”
“No.”
Cassidy’s thumbs moved against his hips. “You’re spoiled.”
“Recently, yes.”
Xander leaned down and put his lips to Cassidy’s throat.
“Lane,” Cassidy hummed, tilting his head back.
Xander sucked at the place beneath his jaw where Cassidy’s pulse kicked.
Cassidy groaned. “You still haven’t had enough?”
“Never.” Xander hissed.
Cassidy’s body seemed to like his answer, his cock growing thicker where it dug into Xander’s thigh.
He placed slow, open-mouthed kisses along Cassidy’s throat, savoring the delicious taste of his sun-warmed skin.
“You’re trouble,” Cassidy muttered. “In very short shorts.”
He chuckled against Cassidy’s lips. “You like ’em?”
“I love ’em.”
The word slipped out almost naturally.
They both paused.
It wasn’t the big word. Not exactly. But so close.
“I do,” Cassidy said quietly. “I love this. You sleeping in my bed and being here in the morning. In my house. On my lap. All of it.”
He touched Cassidy’s cheek. “I love it too.”
Cassidy’s gaze softened.
“I love it very much,” Xander whispered, then kissed him.
Cassidy let him have the moment. Let him sink deeper into the kiss, lick into his mouth, and shift closer until his cock was nestled in the cleft of his ass.
Cassidy kissed the way he always did when they were alone, with patience and control that somehow made everything he did that much hotter. Xander began to rock his hips, shallow at first, instinctive and lazy from the afterglow of last night.
Cassidy made a tortured sound and caught his hips more firmly. “Sweetheart…”
Xander made a frustrated noise. “No.”
“Yes.” Cassidy laughed under his breath.
“Why are you stopping me?”
“Because I have to go talk to God and Day before they leave.”
That cut through the haze, but only barely.
Xander leaned back. “About what?”
Cassidy massaged his rough palms along the inside of his thighs. “A proposition.”
“A proposition?”
“Yeah.”
Xander studied him. “Business?”
“Yes.”
Xander rolled his eyes at the lack of more information. “Are you leaving soon?”
“In about an hour.”
“I’m clear today.” Xander slid his fingers lightly over Cassidy’s chest hairs. “Can I go with you?”
“To the hotel?”
“Yes. I wanna say goodbye to the guys before they leave. Properly.”
Cassidy swatted his hip lightly. “Go get dressed.”
Xander leaned in, giving him one more kiss that was full of a promise he intended to keep later. Cassidy took it with a low hum, fingers biting into his hips for one glorious second before he released him. Xander slid off his lap, grinding his ass along his cock.
Cassidy gritted his teeth. “Ahh, that was cruel.”
Xander glanced back over his shoulder. “A little something to think about.”
Cassidy’s laugh followed him into the house.
Xander Vale
Slade dropped them at the service entrance of the Luxford Beverly Hotel just after ten.
Xander wore dark shades, a loose jacket, and a bucket hat pulled low on his forehead. It wasn’t exactly invisibility, but he moved fast with Cassidy in front of him so that people would only have time to think, Hey, that guy looks kind of like Xander Vale.
Cassidy led him through the service corridor and into the elevator. The doors closed and Xander removed his hat and sunglasses.
Xander tipped his head slightly. “You’re tense.”
“I’m working.”
“You’re always working.”
Cassidy glanced at him, his gaze heated. “Not always.”
Warmth moved through Xander’s body so quickly his face heated. Cassidy’s lips curved as if he knew just what he’d done.
Xander stared in fascination. “I used to wonder if you ever smiled.”
Cassidy met his eyes.
“I also remember thinking how much I wanted to make you smile.”
Cassidy inched closer as if he were about to kiss him, when the elevator doors opened.
“Damnit,” Xander muttered.
They took the private hallway to God and Day’s suite. Loud male laughter carried through the door before they even reached it. Cassidy knocked once.
Free opened the door. His smile bright enough to light a room. “Awww, the lovebirds are here.”
Cassidy glared. Xander laughed and stepped inside behind him.
The suite was full. Both lieutenants were on the couch.
Day had his legs stretched out, reclining his back into God’s chest. Wes and Law were at the table near the window eating breakfast that looked like it came from the downstairs restaurant.
Tech sat opposite of them with two laptops in front of him and a half-eaten plate of fruit. Steele leaned over his shoulder, watching whatever he had playing on the screen. Ruxs and Green were playing a video game on the large television, which seemed to be the source of the raucous laughter.