Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Jane nervously walked next to Storm as they headed for the beach on the following Saturday. They were late, but Jane wasn’t as worried as she might’ve been. Storm had kept her up way past her bedtime the night before, and she wasn’t complaining.
He’d worshiped her body, going down on her and giving her two bone-melting orgasms before he’d encouraged her to get up on her hands and knees. He’d run his hands over her ass, telling her that he’d fantasized about taking her from behind before proceeding to do just that.
Jane had had sex in that position before, but she’d always felt self-conscious about it.
She knew her butt was big. No matter how hard she tried to lose weight—which wasn’t very hard, if she was being honest—she’d never been able to lose it from her butt.
But last night, Storm had made her promise to never lose her ass, swearing that he loved it too much.
He’d taken her hard and fast, even pushing her down to her elbows at one point as he worshiped her butt while he fucked her.
She’d felt more cherished than she might’ve expected while being taken from behind.
Storm never let her think for a second that he didn’t know it was her he was fucking.
He said her name often and encouraged her to look back at him as much as she was comfortable with.
In short, he was absolutely perfect, and they’d both slept like the dead, waking up late and not even caring.
But the closer they got to the beach and the more people Jane saw, the more she regretted being fashionably late. The second they stepped foot on the beach, heads turned to stare at them, and the familiar feeling of overwhelming shyness overcame her.
Unconsciously, her steps slowed just slightly, and she started thinking of excuses that would let her leave early.
“Easy, baby,” Storm told her softly. “It’s okay.”
Damn, she thought she’d hidden her reluctance.
These were his people. His SEALs. Raising her chin, she put on a brave face and made a vow to herself to do whatever it took not to embarrass the man next to her.
“That’s my girl,” he told her.
And even that little bit of praise made her feel better.
Storm walked them over to Rear Admiral Dag Creasy. Except he looked very different than the way she usually saw him. Instead of his uniform, he had on a pair of swimming trunks and a tank top. Jane knew he was only a few years older than her, but he was still very much in shape.
“'Bout time you made it,” Dag teased Storm.
The man at her side didn’t even tense. He simply shrugged. “Hey, you’re the one who keeps telling me I need to relax more. So this morning, I relaxed and slept in. Can’t have it both ways.”
The rear admiral chuckled. “True.” He turned to Jane. “Good to see you again, Jane. How are you?”
“I’m good, Sir,” she said.
“None of that ‘sir’ shit today,” he told her immediately. “It’s Dag.”
“Yes, Sir…er…Dag,” Jane said awkwardly.
The pretty woman at his side grinned and held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Brenae, Dag’s wife. It’s good to meet you.”
“I’m Jane,” she told her.
“Sorry, I should’ve done the introductions,” Storm said with a squeeze of the hand he was still holding.
“Jane works in our building and is responsible for the mail. She does a hell of a job organizing all the shit that gets sent to us, and I don’t think operations on base would run as smoothly as they do without her. ”
Jane blushed. “He’s exaggerating,” she told Brenae.
“I doubt it,” the rear admiral’s wife said. “I know Storm, and he doesn’t compliment anyone lightly. If he said it, he believes it.” Her eyes flicked down to where Storm was holding Jane’s hand, and she smiled. “Welcome to the family,” she said easily.
“Oh, but—”
“Thanks.” Storm interrupted whatever Jane was going to say.
“I saw Rocco and the others over that way, and Wolf and his team have commandeered the prime piece of beach real estate next to them,” Dag told them. “They were all asking about you earlier. You might go and get the hellos out of the way before you get Jane a drink.”
“Sounds good.”
“Oh, and I know it’s Saturday and all…but I wanted to tell you that NCIS called late last night. They think they know who sent the bomb.”
“They do?” Storm asked. “Who?”
“Lieutenant Simon Sandburg.”
Jane looked up at Storm and saw no recognition in his face. Dag obviously saw the same thing, because he kept talking.
“He was a lieutenant who was court-martialed for misappropriation of government property.”
“That’s right,” Storm said, nodding. “I remember that case. He was the guy who was in charge of the heavy equipment, and he had his unit working jobs for the locals and was pocketing the money, right?”
“That’s him. He also couldn’t account for several heavy trucks when it came time to come back to the States.
NCIS tracked his accounts and flagged several unidentified deposits, but he refused to tell them where he got the money,” Dag said.
“He was court-martialed six months ago and is still in the area. He wasn’t shy about telling anyone who would listen that he’d been screwed, and that the real people who should’ve been disciplined were the commanders of the base. ”
“They were cleared, right?” Storm asked.
“Yup. Clean as a whistle. Sandburg was guilty as hell and apparently is just bitter he got a dishonorable discharge. He hasn’t found a job since he was kicked out, and I’m told he spends a lot of his time at the local pubs drowning his sorrows.
Shit thing of it all is that he’s got a wife who’s working her ass off to keep their heads above water, but it isn’t enough.
NCIS says they’re going to lose their house in a few months. ”
Storm whistled. “Sounds like he’s got an ax to grind.”
“Yup. Anyway, I just wanted you to know. NCIS and the local cops are going to talk to him this weekend.” Dag looked at Jane. “So you won’t have to keep looking over your shoulder for too much longer.”
“Good,” Jane told him. She didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t really been too worried.
It was always in the back of her mind, especially since Storm had warned her to be on the lookout, but she never seriously thought anyone would be after her.
She didn’t have anything to do with Sandburg being discharged, so there was no reason for him to come after her.
“I love you, Dag, but…enough. We’re here to relax and have fun, not talk shop,” Brenae lightly scolded.
“Sorry, sweetheart. You’re right. We’ll talk later,” Dag told Storm.
Storm gave the rear admiral a chin lift, then he was pulling her away.
“Nice to meet you, Brenae,” she called out as Storm led them toward his men.
“Same!” the other woman returned with a smile and wave. “Have fun!”
Storm didn’t give her time to worry about meeting his men. One second they were walking down the beach toward them, and the next they were surrounded.
“Hey, Sir!”
“Good to see you, North!”
“You’re late!”
The greetings came fast and furious, and Jane couldn’t help but smile. The men seemed down-to-earth, and she loved that they didn’t hesitate to give their commanding officer hell. In her experience, the more relaxed people were around their boss when they weren’t at work, the better the boss.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Storm told his men. “No offense, but I’d rather hang out and stare at Jane than your ugly mugs.”
Everyone burst out laughing. Jane knew she was blushing, but she couldn’t help her huge smile.
“Everyone, this is Jane. I think most of you have seen her around the base. Jane, this is Rocco, Gumby, Ace, Bubba, Rex, and Phantom. They’re a hell of a SEAL team, even if they are a little rough around the edges.”
“It’s good to meet you,” Rocco said, holding out a hand.
Jane shook it. “You too,” she told him. Then she did the same with the other five men.
When it was Phantom’s turn, he held her hand for a little longer than necessary.
Jane felt as if he was examining her as they locked gazes.
Finally, he nodded before dropping his hand.
She had no idea what he’d been looking for, but hopefully he wasn’t too disappointed in whatever he’d seen.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Phantom,” she told the extremely tall man. “All good things,” she hurried to clarify.
“Then whoever you’ve been talking to was lying,” he told her calmly. His friends all laughed, but Jane didn’t even smile.
She shook her head. “Nope. I know you’ve got a reputation for being extremely gruff, but anyone who did what you did…risked your own life and career to rescue someone who desperately needed a champion is someone I’m proud to know.”
Jane felt Storm squeeze her hand, but she didn’t take her gaze from Phantom’s.
He stared at her for a moment longer before nodding and looking at Storm. “She’ll do,” he said, then turned and headed for a red-haired woman behind him.
“That’s high praise coming from Phantom,” Rocco told her.
“We’ve all seen you around and appreciate your efficiency.
I remember one time when I’d been called down to the mail room because I was expecting a very important package, and no one seemed to know where the hell it was even though the tracking showed that it had been delivered to the base.
You personally took the time to track it down.
It had been delivered to the wrong office, and the secretary there was new and was too busy trying to learn everything else about her job to deal with it.
I appreciate you going out of your way to find it. ”
Jane nodded. She didn’t remember the specific incident Rocco was talking about. She spent a lot of time trying to find misplaced letters and packages. “I’m glad I was able to find it for you,” she told him.