Chapter 24
It was nearly noon when Ashlin woke up, surprisingly refreshed.
She had fallen asleep before Clint had returned to their room from his top-secret whatever.
The rest of the team had barely made it back to their rooms before dawn broke around four thirty.
She’d needed a straight eight hours of sleep to make up for all the time she’d missed over the weekend.
Napping was nice, especially when interspersed with awesome sex, but it hadn’t given her the deep sleep that her mind and body needed.
She rolled over and found Clint on his back, completely naked.
So was she. After Sexcapade Sunday, when they hadn’t bothered getting dressed for nearly twenty-four hours, they’d slept naked together from that point on.
Ashlin loved his body. She ran her fingertips through the dense hair on his chest that tickled and teased her nipples when she rode him.
She guided her hand down his flat abs until she found his trail of hair just under his belly button.
She followed it, letting it tickle her palm until she ran into his morning erection.
Ashlin debated on taking him into her mouth or hopping up and going for a ride.
She stroked him once and licked the head.
His breathing barely changed. She took the head into her mouth and sucked while her hand pumped his shaft.
She watched his stomach form perfect hills and valleys into a hard sixpack, yet his breaths barely changed their rhythm.
Clint burst upright into a sitting position.
He grabbed her under the arms and picked her straight up until she was practically sitting on his face. He licked her soft folds once.
Ashlin shifted her hips and widened her knees, trying to direct him to the perfect spot.
He grinned up at her and moved her back gently, lowering her until she slid onto his hard cock. “Show me how much you love me this morning.”
Without moving she smiled down at him. “I was, but you didn’t let me finish.”
“Another minute and I would’ve finished in your mouth. Now move before I flip you over and take over.”
Loving the control he gave her, especially in bed, she started to move, slowly up and down, then faster. Within minutes they were both sweating and close.
“Come for me, Tiger,” Clint growled through clenched teeth. “I’m so close, but you always come first.”
There was something so satisfying about knowing she had this kind of control over him. That she could make him completely lose control. If she weren’t so close, she would’ve slowed down just to torment him. She only needed a little more stimulation. “Touch me,” she demanded between pants.
“Anything you want.” He moved his hand and laid it flat on her lower belly, then shoved his thumb into her slit, quickly finding that bundle of nerves.
He only had to rub it twice, and she flew, reaching the stars and the darkness of outer space as every muscle in her body released.
Clint arched up and groaned, burying himself deeper inside her.
They’d made love once more before Ashlin’s stomach growled.
“I need to eat something,” she announced as she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
“No, you’re not taking a shower with me.
I’m starving, and I want to see if today’s chef will make me beef stroganoff.
Yesterday’s chicken marsala was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. ”
“Hurry up.” Clint walked naked to his duffel bag and started shuffling through his clothes. “I’m looking forward to another medium-rare ribeye. I’m going to have to find out what seasoning he uses. His were even better than my dad’s.”
They were finishing lunch when each of them got the group text from Kayla, telling them they had been ordered to fly back to D.C. that night and report to the Homeland conference room they’d been using. They had to be in the sky before midnight.
“Shit,” Clint murmured under his breath, looking around at the empty dining room. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I have a lot to tell you in the room.”
Ashlin sucked in the last spaetzle noodle and forked up the remaining bite of meat covered in delicious gravy.
“It’s a good thing I’m not stationed here.
I’d have to run five extra miles every day.
I wonder, though, if we could get a chef to come into our condo on DuPont Circle and cook for us once a week? ”
“That could probably be arranged,” Clint suggested.
As she and Clint were leaving, Shadow and Mick wandered into the dining room.
“Did you guys get the text that we’re leaving for Washington?” Clint asked.
“What the fuck was with that? That—” Shadow quickly stopped himself “—she could’ve waited until later to send out that message. It fucking woke me up,” he sneered.
“Quit your bitchin’. You could have gotten hours more sleep if you hadn’t been scrolling and texting on your fucking phone. It’s not like you’ve got a woman at home waiting for you.” Mick smacked Lukas’s shoulder.
Ashlin and Clint stepped into the empty elevator. As soon as the doors closed, she turned to her husband. “Is he always that grumpy in the morning?”
Clint chuckled. “I have no idea. Javier used to handle the men. His attitude may keep him from getting the SNCO position.”
She could tell by the look on her husband’s face that he was concerned about Lukas Murillo.
Once in the room, Clint sat on the bed and pulled her into his lap. His face was serious. She wasn’t sure whether it was about the recent encounter with Shadow or he had something else on his mind. It certainly wasn’t sex.
He leaned in as though to kiss her, but instead he whispered in her ear, “I doubt this room has been bugged, but at this point we can’t trust anyone. I don’t have my bug detection equipment with me, so we’re going to act like we are sweet-talking.”
“Clint, I love it when you whisper sweet nothings in my ear,” Ashlin said, playing along, wondering whether Mia had brought her bug finder. “Does this have anything to do with the abandoned camp?”
“Oh, yeah, my love,” Clint said in a normal voice. Then he whispered, “You and Kayla are flying the plane tonight, but we’re not going back to Washington. We’re going to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Our mission is that camp about a hundred and fifty miles from there.”
Ashlin leaned back and stared into Clint’s deep blue eyes. She ran her fingers through his long, dark hair. Still holding his head in her hands, she asked, “Have I told you today that I love you?”
He pulled her into him, his big hand on the back of her head, pushing her face into his chest. He said in such a low tone she wasn’t sure whether she’d heard his words through her ear or through his chest. “I love you so much. I hate that you take oversight and you’re not near me.
I feel like I can’t protect you when you’re out on a hill, watching for bad guys. ”
“I’m fine out there.” She smiled into his chest. “I’ll kill any bad guys before they can get to you. Speaking of bad guys, do you have any idea who the mole is?”
Clint rocked her side to side. “No. Katlin is doing another deep dive on my team. It’s definitely no one from Black Swan. There was a lot of encrypted chatter going to the camp in between the two satellite passes. One call was made from our last neighborhood in Texas.”
Ashlin jerked back and stared Clint in the eyes.
She couldn’t help herself. But to stay in character just in case someone was watching or listening, she pasted on a smile and cupped his cheeks.
“I love you.” She leaned in as though she were going to kiss him and used her hands to keep anyone from reading her lips.
“Are they going to figure it out before we land?”
“That’s why we’re not telling anyone where were going.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Be on the lookout for any of my team acting even a little bit off.” His next kiss was slow and deep.
Music crescendoed from Ashlin’s phone.
Clint raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like something out of Star Wars.”
“Nope, it’s the score from The Ghost and the Darkness movie. It’s Kayla.” She swiped the screen to answer. “Tiger, here. Secure?” Asking whether she needed to make the call protected.
“No need. I’m just checking to see if you and your husband had a nice conversation today?” Kayla wasn’t being exactly covert.
“Yes, I know, and you get a front-seat view tonight.”
“Perfect, why don’t you come to my room, and we’ll talk about the flight plan? I’d go to your room, but I’m single and not interested in seeing all that PDA. Besides, I’m sure your room smells like sex.”
Ashlin laughed. “Gladly. You’re right. Probably. I’ll be there in ten.” She hung up and turned her attention to her husband. “I have to go to her room and discuss the flight plan.” She kissed him briefly. While her face was still close to his, she whispered, “Is there anything else I need to know?”
Clint shook his head and gave her a quick kiss before standing and forcing her to put her feet on the floor. “I need to make some calls back to my headquarters. I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”
Twelve hours later, Ashlin touched down on the runway of Holloman Air Force Base.
She and Kayla had decided to use the higher security base next to the extremely protected White Sands Missile Range rather than the closer Kirtland Air Force Base because it shared the runway with Albuquerque International Airport.
Holloman was accustomed to top-secret test aircraft, so the ground crew acted as though their Black Swan jet was nothing impressive. They efficiently moved it into one of their guarded hangars.
Since Ashlin had flown and was required to do the post-flight checklist, Mia and Kira took care of unloading the little bird from Van’s C5.
The night crew seemed a lot more interested in their new helicopter, though they expertly positioned it next to their jet and moved on to the next aircraft, performing night maneuvers.