by KaLyn Cooper
When Nita’s eyes raked over Griffin, Grace suddenly became very jealous. Protective even. She didn’t like the way her friend looked at him.
“He’s big enough to handle both of us.” Nita’s little pink tongue licked her top lip. She had once told their team about having a threesome. To Grace, the idea of sharing herself with two men, at the same time, had been beyond conceivability. The mere thought of sharing Griffin with another woman was infuriating, especially since she had never had sex with the man who now stood so close she could feel waves of his body heat.
“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve doubled down.” Griffin’s grin moved into a grimace when her eyes met his. Obviously her face was covered in shock. He pulled Grace back into a one armed hug. “But this little lady is more than enough woman for me.” He then bent down and placed a firm, reassuring kiss on her lips.
The tingle that passed through her made her forget his previous words so she deepened the kiss.
“Good save,” Nita said in a low voice as she walked by.
“Lady Eagle.” Tori’s voice echoed from inside the hangar. “Tick. Tock. You going to help me pre-check this plane or do I have to do it all by myself?”
Reluctantly, Grace took a step backward and almost tripped over her own bags. “I…I…” She pointed toward the hangar. Her brain seemed scrambled. She hated that, but it always seemed to happen when Griffin was around. “I need to go check the plane…see…I’m a pilot. I…I…”
Griffin grinned then chastely kissed her trembling lips. “Go preflight the plane.” He picked up her bags. “I’ve got these.” Without looking back, he headed to where Katlin and Alex were loading bags into the hold.
Grace stood frozen in place. She touched her fingers to tingling lips and wondered what had just happened. For over a year, Griffin had kept her at a distance. She had firmly placed him in the friend category, but often wondered if friends kissed good night. Not that any of their previous kisses had ever contained the heat and desire of that last one.
She watched Griffin carry his gear, and hers, as though it weighed nothing. Admiring his broad back that veed perfectly to his hips, and not for the first time, she admired his tight buns. She giggled inside, wishing she had seen that great butt in tight football pants when he had played for the University of Georgia.
She’d never admit that she really had a thing for men’s backsides. Kevin had played club soccer for Iowa State University and had worn baggy shorts on the field and off. He hadn’t had the defined bottom that football players sported, or a ripped body like their school’s famous wrestlers, but he had a sweet heart and a very even disposition. He’d been hers for most of her life, until God decided to call him home.
The pain of missing her husband’s presence had lessened over the years. She’d had the one true love of her life. Maybe at some point in the future, she’d find a good man and settle down. They’d have a few children who she would love unconditionally. She would be contented for the rest of her life loving her kids with all of her heart. If she were lucky, she would grow deep affection for their father. Right now, though, she was concentrating on her career.
As Grace walked toward the sleek, black Gulfstream 550 jet she began her preflight checklist. The guards provided by the Turkish government may or may not have kept her team’s plane secure, but USSOCOM hadn’t contacted them during the mission, or since, so she felt more confident everything would be fine. After a bomb had been discovered on their plane several months ago, security protocol now included secret cameras posted all the way around the hangar, constantly monitored by a the operations center.
They had to be vigilant. Their team had taken out Nassar al Jamil—a U.S. educated Muslim extremist who wanted to start his own country on land now claimed by Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Azerbaijan. A few weeks later, they had ended the life of his brother, Turhan, who was developing nuclear weapons in Tikrit, Iraq, but there were at least four more immediate brothers and dozens of half-brothers in the region.
These were intelligent men. Most of them had been educated in the United States, some attending advanced education schools taught by the U.S. military in support of standing up a stronger Iraqi army. Many had connections in the United States, diplomatically as well as in the shadow world.
Someone had accurately connected the unique black jet with the death of Nassar al Jamil. Given the family’s fundamentalist attitudes toward women, even the best analysts at Section 7 doubted anyone knew it had been the Ladies of Black Swan who eliminated the would-be dictator and the nuclear bomb maker. But no one could be sure.
Grace had been concentrating on every detail of the exterior when Griffin approached her slowly and stood just outside her personal space. “A date.”
“Huh?” Grace’s brain couldn’t function when he was this close. She took a step back and looked up at him. When she inhaled a deep breath to clear her mind, the scent of man, spicy shower gel, and the essence of Griffin assaulted her. Instead of calming her, her heart beat even faster. “Now, what can I do for you?”
His salacious grin made her blush. “Oh, baby, I can think of a lot of things you can do for me, and to me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Men.”
“No. Man. While we’re dating, I’ll be the only man in your life.” It was both a command and a statement in one.
Raising one eyebrow she asked, “So we’re dating now?”
“Yes, starting just as soon as we get back on U.S. soil.” Griffin was being really pushy and Grace couldn’t decide whether she liked that trait or if it made her angry. Kevin had never put demands on her. He would ask. If she disagreed, they would discuss it like adults, calmly and without emotion clogging the issue. Sometimes she gave in and other times he backed off.
Never had she felt the pressure that Griffin was putting on her. Taking orders from her superior officers and team leader was one thing, but bending to the notions of the man who had no right to put demands on her, well, that was another thing altogether.
She grinned and poked the bear. “So, let me get this straight. When we return to the United States, you’re going to ask me out on a date?”
Griffin stepped right up to her but didn’t touch her. “No. As soon as we land, you and I are going out. I’m taking you someplace nice for supper, then we’re going for a walk and end up back at my place. I’m not going to pressure you, but I guarantee at some point in the near future we’ll end up in bed together.”
“No.” Grace dodged around the big man and continued her exterior check.
Griffin spun and maneuvered in front of her again. “What you mean, no?”
Once again, Grace slid past him as she ran a hand over the surface of the plane. Reaching up to check the handle on the hold, she informed him, “Our orders are to bring Black Swan directly to D.C. Because you happen to be on board, you, too, are going to Washington. Any ideas of ending up back at your place are totally out of the question.”
She rolled her lips into a thin line, biting off her grin when she heard him sigh.
“Fine,” he retorted. “Then I’ll give you a choice, your place or mine?”
Grace glanced at the darkening sky then at the runway. Quickening her pace, she noted, “When we’re in D.C., I usually stay with Katlin. She has five bedrooms…and a no men rule.”
“I’ve been in Katlin’s condo before,” he countered.
“Yes, for parties.” She went on to explain. “After Katlin walked out one morning and found a half drunk, completely naked man sitting at the breakfast bar staring at the hallway to the bedrooms, she declared her condo a testosterone free zone for sleepovers. Seems the guy couldn’t remember who he’d been…uhm…sleeping with and was afraid he’d walk into the wrong room. Did I mention Katlin was in nothing but a short robe?”
“He’s lucky he left with his balls intact. Okay. So not your place. I’ll be staying in one of the employee apartments at Guardian Security so problem solved. We’ll go to my place.”
; She felt her jaw drop as she looked up into his handsome face. “I don’t give a monkey’s uncle what you think. There is no way in heck I’m going to make the walk of shame through Guardian Security. Several of those men have been our bodyguards in the past, and probably will be again. That’s a definite no freaking way.”
His smile showed two rows of bright white teeth. “So you’ve agreed to sleep with me.”
“Daggum it, I’ve done no such thing.” Before he could trap her into going at it right there and then, Grace bent over to take a close look at the landing gear. She made a mental note that the front tires were starting to show a little wear. She’d put that on the maintenance list for next week since they were going to be down for at least ten days. Thinking back, the jet was close to needing an annual checkup. It might be better to schedule its yearly—
“So we’re all set, right?” Griffin’s comment tore her out of her checklist.
“What? What are we doing?” She had to be careful or he’d have her agreeing to live with him before she even knew what happened.
“We’re going out to supper and play it by ear.” He enunciated each word as though she was hard of hearing.
“Yeah. That’s fine.” Grace glanced over to where a soldier sat on a tractor, ready to pull the plane out to the tarmac. She signaled for him to attach to the front wheels. “We need to get going.”
Griffin waved his hand in a you-first gesture.
She rolled her eyes then trotted up the stairs. He was probably checking out her butt. That’s what she’d be doing if he’d gone ahead.
“I’ve got the steps. Let’s get her in the sky.” Katlin slid past Grace, reaching for the button. Quietly she noted, “Quite the show you two put on. We’ll all expect details, you know.”
“I’m not sure I’ll have time for wine and a chat.” Grace gave her friend and team leader a big smile. “I have to get ready for a date.”
Chapter 4
“I don’t care that it’s only one o’clock in the afternoon, I’m headed to bed,” Tori announced as she trudged to her place, the next one down the hall from Katlin’s. Their friend, Harper Tambini, owned the only other condo on that floor, but she was currently at Marine Corps Base Quantico teaching bomb making at the FBI Academy. As an explosives expert, she sometimes accompanied the Ladies of Black Swan on missions. Grace hoped she would get to see both her, and her fiancé Rafe, before they were called back out again.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Nita chided. “Since you flew from Batman, Turkey to Moron Airbase in Spain, you could have slept while Lei Lu and I flew the plane to Quantico. But no, you had to get into a poker game with the men.”
“Nita, you’re just jealous that you had to fly the last leg with me rather than sit back in that testosterone enriched environment and enjoy the man scape.” Lei Lu used her key to unlock the condo door.
Nita ignored the truth.“And who names these airstrips? I was the one who felt like an idiot calling the air traffic controller ‘Moron Tower’ as we prepared for takeoff.”
Grace laughed. “How do you think I felt asking Batman for permission to taxi?” She loved these women. She had two sisters and a brother, but she was closer to these four women than she’d ever been to her own siblings. Although she’d spent a wonderful childhood in a warm and loving home, she’d been through so much with these women. Starting with their special operations training where they encouraged each other to make it through, to their firefight less than thirty-six hours ago. There was something to be said about bullets and bonding.
In some ways, it was a sad fact that her own family knew nothing about her current life. They thought she wore business suits to work every day as an international banker. Grace was pretty sure they thought she was in Paris dining on fine cuisine with handsome, wealthy bank owners. She glanced down at her black duffel bag filled with sweaty, dusty, stinky, camouflage uniforms and shook her head. Somewhere in there were at least seven packages of meals ready to eat, the twelve-hundred calorie kind, in case it was the only food that may be available for a day or two.
Her parents had no concept of how the military worked. Just because her husband had been killed while on active duty, the Navy was not about to let her out of her contract. But Grace hadn’t done anything to correct their misconceptions. During her top-secret special operations training, she had been briefly allowed to go home for Christmas. She’d left all of her uniforms on base and traveled home in a very conservative suit. Her mother had made the comment that she looked like she worked for a bank. When asked directly by members of her family over the holiday dinner, she had told them she was in international relations. Ever since then, whenever talking with family, they asked if everything was going okay at the bank. She wasn’t sure how her father would feel if she told him the truth.
Refusing speculation, Grace stepped into the beautiful condo. There were several elements of an opulent life. True, most of that life was Katlin’s, but Grace shared in it as well. The huge U-shaped couch with an ottoman in the middle dominated the living area.
A twelve person Brazilian mahogany dining room table, which surprisingly got filled on a regular basis, matched a long hutch filled with china so fine fingers could be seen through the plates when held up to a light. The drawer on the left held silverware that was real silver having been passed down through Katlin’s family for generations. The next drawer contained Irish linen tablecloths and napkins, another family heirloom.
Grace deposited one of her two duffel bags into the large cabinet just inside the door. Because of her date with Griffin, she was going to miss the post-mission gun cleaning party. She’d have to tear down all of her guns tomorrow and thoroughly clean each and every crevice, especially her sniper rifle. The fine sand in that region of the world always seemed to creep into her receiver.
On the way to her bedroom, Grace admired the eclectic combination of pictures, hand-painted by artists all over the world. Each of them had personal significance to her best friend, but after hearing the stories behind their acquisition, Grace also felt an attachment to every piece of artwork throughout their D.C. home.
And it was her home. Although she loved the Miami Beach condo they all shared, and the Callahan family compound in Costa Rica, this place was home. The bedroom she had chosen as hers was filled with her life.
Even though Grace had slept for hours after leaving the cockpit in Spain—mostly so she could ignore Griffin and the inquiring looks from her friends—she still felt tired as she dropped her second duffel just inside her bedroom door. As her gaze swept the room, relief washed through her, comfort replacing the lingering tension from the mission. She stared at the ever-so-familiar bed, longing to lie down and lose herself once again.
Thoughts of Griffin ping-ponged through her brain. She wouldn’t want him in that bed. It had been their bed. The one she’d shared with Kevin their entire married life. An umph escaped as she let out a huff of breath. What an abysmal day that had been, trying to buy a bed together. The one before her was a true compromise. She had wanted a colonial style four-poster bed with fancy burl wood. She had been willing to give up the lacy overhead canopy which Kevin claimed insulted his manhood. She had to admit then, as well as now, it was a bit frilly. He, on the other hand, had wanted black and chrome. He’d been completely enamored by platform style beds, and she wanted one that she’d need a stepladder to get into.
They had finally settled on the nondescript brown wood with a curved headboard padded with black leather and footboard that couldn’t be seen when lying down. The lines of the dressers were boxy, but the handles were dashes of chrome to meet Kevin’s wishes.
She could still remember the gorgeous oak bed with the ornate sculpted headboard and panels of inlaid burl. The footboard followed the same contours with smaller but matching inlays. The tall posts on each corner could be connected by decorative bent-iron rods, giving it the appearance of an open air canopy. On each dresser and nightstand, the top row of drawers extended out s
everal inches giving them a three-dimensional look.
Grace had loved it.
She assessed each piece of furniture individually and concluded she really didn’t like it. Except for the fact that the bedroom set was the first thing she and Kevin had purchased together, she found no other redeeming factors.
Trying to remember her exact savings account balance, she brushed the need to know aside. She had enough money to buy and furnish an entire home in high quality furniture, then to decorate it under the guidance of a professional. Except for a few gorgeous dresses to wear out clubbing, and a shoe fetish she would deny to anyone except the women she worked with, Grace had spent very little money since leaving college. Katlin refused to accept rent from any of them, so they took turns buying groceries, Grace had simply banked and invested the majority of her paycheck. She rarely thought about the money she had received when Kevin died. On the advice of a military financial planner, she invested most of it, but first paid off the mortgage on his parents’ home. It just felt like the right thing to do since Kevin had been there only child. Since he had loved her nieces and nephews so much, she had also set up an educational trust for them. The rest had just continued to grow in the past four years.
As a preacher’s daughter, Grace had grown up very conservatively and conscious of every penny her family spent. They never took vacations because many of their parishioners couldn’t afford them either.
Grace had been astonished at their first military paychecks. Together, she and Kevin had made a very respectable salary. They’d chosen early on to save conservatively so they would be able to afford a home by the time they both made lieutenant commander. With their lives together completely planned, they had decided that would be the perfect opportunity for Grace to get pregnant and for them to start growing their family.
In just a few months, she would be considered for those gold oak leaves. Her hand automatically covered her womb where Kevin’s baby would never grow. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a child. She could almost hear her biological clock tick.