But…shit. That meant it was down to me and Solo, and while I would’ve liked us to be the top two, that wasn’t going to happen.
Solo and I broke position to congratulate Whiplash and give her a hug. She shook Levy’s hand, thanked him for his time and tutelage, and then stepped back in line, where Solo and I awaited our fate.
My pulse was racing, my palms sweaty as the class quieted down and Levy took center stage.
I could feel Solo watching me. I glanced his way, and he mouthed, “You nervous?” When, I nodded, he said, “Don’t be. You deserve this.”
If I wasn’t already madly in love with him, that would’ve done it. He, like me, was ready to hand over the prize he’d come here to win, and if that didn’t speak volumes, I didn’t know what did.
“For the first time in the history of the Elite, we have a tie for the top spot.”
Solo and I whipped our heads in his direction, and my head began to buzz.
“It’s not impossible, but has certainly never happened on my watch before. However, after tallying up each of these two men’s points, there was just no way to separate them.” Levy paused. I was struggling to keep up with what he was saying, but then he spelled it out crystal clear.
“The joint winners of the Elite program this year are Lieutenant Grant Hughes and—I can’t believe I’m going to say this—Lieutenant Mateo Morgan. Congratulations, men. I have never witnessed such polar opposites work with such synchronicity in the sky straight out of the gate. The two of you are an unbeatable combination.”
As the deafening roar of boots on the floor joined the hoots and hollering, my heart nearly exploded as Solo tugged me to him and wrapped his arms around me.
“Well, if this isn’t fitting, I don’t know what is,” he said, then clapped me on the back and kissed my temple. “We both like it too much on top.”
He pulled back from me, his wicked grin guaranteeing I’d be thinking about that for the rest of the afternoon, and then the rest of our class engulfed us in a bone-crushing hug.
Life was good. Hell, it was close to perfect. As I stared at Solo over the crowd of people offering up their congratulations, I knew that with him by my side, there was nothing but clear skies ahead.
35 Panther
I NEVER UNDERSTOOD why we were given a whole day to pack up our gear before leaving the barracks. As Navy people, we knew the importance of packing light, and considering most of our belongings could fit into one bag, it didn’t take more than an hour to get our stuff together—unless, of course, you were Solo.
After our big win yesterday, we’d spent the night out with the rest of the trainees celebrating, and soon after crashed in my room wrapped up in one another.
It’d been the perfect end to a whirlwind twelve weeks, and I hadn’t seen hide nor hair from him since dawn when he’d crept out of my bed. His excuse had been he had a lot to do today. But as I stared at my stuffed duffel on the floor at the end of my bed, I wondered what exactly could have kept him so busy for the last few hours.
Tomorrow was graduation day, and I still couldn’t believe that twelve weeks had passed by so quickly. It seemed like just yesterday we’d arrived. Well, that wasn’t true—I’d changed a lot in that time. At the beginning of all of this, I’d been single in both mind and focus, and then Solo had stepped into my path and my entire world had shifted on its axis.
My hopes and dreams had taken a huge detour from the road I’d originally set for myself. But the more I thought about my options and this new road I now found myself traveling, it seemed like the exact right direction for me.
Here I was, completely and madly in love with a man I both cared for and respected more than I ever imagined possible. I was finally in a good place with my father, and as for my plans beyond graduation… Well, that was up to fate now. I knew what I wanted, and if my luck stayed strong and I somehow managed to get that last piece of the puzzle, I would be the happiest person on the planet. But it was best not to get ahead of myself just yet.
It had just turned six when I picked up my phone and opened up the app to text Solo. He better be bringing food if he was rocking up here this late in the day, but just as I was about to shoot off the request, there was a loud knock on my door.
I headed to the door and pulled it open to see Solo standing there with his newly buzzed hair spiked up at the front, a grin on his handsome face, and a pizza box in hand. I gave him a long, leisurely once-over before saying, “I’m not sure what looks better to me right now, you or that pizza box you’re holding.”
Solo chuckled and stepped forward. “Bet I can help you decide.” He leaned across the box for a kiss, and when his lips met mine, I had to grip the door a little tighter so I wouldn’t float off on cloud nine.
Damn he tasted good, better than anything that could be in that box, but before I got carried away, I made myself step back and let him inside. As Solo walked by, the delicious combination of his cologne and pepperoni pizza filled my nostrils, and I quickly shut the door, wanting to lock him inside with me here for one last night.
“So did you get everything packed up?” he asked.
“Yeah, about an hour after you left.”
Solo flashed that heartbreaker grin of his. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were being a little bit…snarky with me, Lieutenant Hughes. What’s the matter, you miss me?”
I took hold of his waist, tugging him back against my front, so I could wrap my arms around him.
“The second you left my bed,” I admitted. Solo’s hands landed on mine, and when he leaned his head back on my shoulder, I nuzzled in against his neck. “As soon as you’re gone, I want you back. Sorry if that’s a problem for you.”
Solo turned his head. “It’s not. But today I had to leave for a good reason.”
“No reason is a good reason.”
“No? Not even if it was to get you a graduation gift?”
I loosened my hold on Solo and shook my head. “We said no gifts.”
“Yeah, I know,” Solo said, turning and looping his arms around my neck. “But I ignored you.”
I blinked and leaned back to get a better view of his devilish grin. “You ignored me. Nice to know.”
Solo nipped at my jaw. “What? You didn’t think I’d become all sweet and compliant now that I admitted I loved you, did you?”
That made me laugh. “Hell no. But now I feel shitty because I didn’t get you a gift.”
“Well, don’t. This one’s kind of for the both of us.”
“The both of us?” Okay, now I was intrigued.
“Yep.” Solo gave me a quick, hard kiss, let me go, then took a step back and reached for the button of his shorts.
“Your gift is in your shorts?” I laughed, and Solo raised an eyebrow.
“Are you saying what’s in my shorts is not a gift?”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, what’s in there is definitely something special, and what you do with it a total fantasy. But—”
“But what?” Solo asked as he kicked out of his flip-flops, flicked open the button, and slowly drew down the zipper.
“But you don’t need anything extra to impress me.”
Solo licked his lips and slowly drew his shorts apart. “Oh, I already know that. My cock is a gift from God, Panther. This gift is from me to us.”
36 Solo
PANTHER’S BOOMING LAUGH made everything in my world make sense. Humor lit his perfect features and joy radiated off every inch of him.
Yesterday had been one of the best days of my life. Not only had Panther and I won our final hop together, we had—by some kind of miracle—ended up scoring the exact same on the leaderboard, securing us the top spot. Something that had never happened before in the history of the Elite, ever.
If that had happened to the Solo of twelve weeks ago I would’ve had a shit fit like no other, and no doubt demanded a rematch or some kind of face-off dogfight. But sharing this moment with Panther had only enhanced the victory. It had
made it all the sweeter knowing that the guy at the top with me was not only one of the best pilots I’d ever seen in my life, but he was also one of the bravest men I knew.
All I’d had to do was get my ass up in the air, fly the jets, and try to keep my mouth from getting me thrown out of the course. Panther? He’d had to overcome the expectations of every instructor in the course, along with his father’s, and do it all while trying to get past the trauma of being ejected from a faulty Hornet.
Standing with him yesterday had made me proud as hell. There was no one I respected more than Panther, who was currently eyeing me like I was his meal for tonight instead of the pizza, and I hoped like hell he liked the “gift” I’d gotten for him.
“Okay, tease. How long are you gonna make me wait for this gift?” Panther asked, his eyes glued to my hands that were holding my now-open shorts.
“I don’t know. It might be fun to make you wait.”
“Remember, payback is a bitch.”
“Hmm, yeah. But maybe it’d be worth it.”
“Solo…” Panther growled, and the frustration in his voice finally made me inch my shorts lower. As I cleared my tight black boxers, the tension in the room became palpable, and when I let them go and they hit the floor, Panther cursed.
I waited for him to catch up and get past the erection I was sporting courtesy of his scorching once-over. His eyes finally latched on to the clear wrap around my left thigh then quickly flew back up to mine.
“You got a new tattoo?”
I stepped out of my shorts and kicked them aside. “I did.”
Knowing how much Panther liked the stars that decorated my right thigh, this idea had struck just recently, and seemed like the perfect gift for graduation. It was something I had a feeling both of us would enjoy.
Panther bit his lip and flushed, which did nothing to dissuade my excited cock from thinking it was about to get some action.
“Can I see it?”
If I had my way, he would see it, touch it, lick it, and do all kinds of things to it—when it was fully complete and healed, of course—but for right now…
I started to unwind the saran wrap from around my thigh, Panther watching with fascination. I knew he could see the dark shape and shading of what was below, but judging by his silence, he hadn’t yet clued in to what exactly I’d had inked onto my skin.
“You did this today?”
“I did,” I said. “I wanted something to remember my time here at the Elite by. Something to remember the first time I saw”—I pulled the final piece of wrap free—“a panther.”
As the bold outline and shading of the sleek jungle cat came into view, the silence that fell was like that of a church. It was full of awe and reverence as Panther took a step toward me and slowly went down to his knees, and when he was eye level with my newly inked thigh, he finally spoke.
“Solo… Mateo… This is…” He looked up at me, and the love and wonder shining from his eyes told me everything I needed to know.
“You like?”
“Like?” Panther’s eyes fell back to the intricate artwork that depicted the striking hunter with eyes the same shade of blue as his, prowling around my thigh toward its prey. “This is stunning, beautiful, and even those words seem inadequate for how much work has gone into this. It’s not even finished yet, is it?”
“No,” I said around the lump in my throat. The way Panther was looking over his namesake, completely enraptured by the image, made it difficult to concentrate, let alone talk.
“Turn around,” he whispered. I slowly pivoted. “I love the way his tail wraps around the back of your thigh here…”
I loved that too. When Panther touched me just beneath the ink and said, “Spread your legs a little,” I was grateful to be facing the table.
I braced my hands on the top of the surface and closed my eyes. I couldn’t wait until the tattoo was complete and Panther could put his mouth on me. Fuck, I was close to begging him regardless.
“I know I can’t yet, but the way the artist has shaded this makes his fur look so sleek that I just want to touch it.”
Trying to get a hold of my composure, I looked over my shoulder and saw him studying the image with hungry eyes. “Then I was right?”
“Hmm,” Panther said as gaze found mine. “This is a gift for you and me.”
A wicked smile curved Panther’s mouth. He got to his feet and took my face between his hands.
“This is by far the best and sexiest gift I have ever gotten in my life. I’m going to enjoy it—and you—often.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Unable to resist him any longer, I reached for the waistband of his jeans and drew him to me. The second our lips met, he opened for me, and as we stood in the center of his room on this last night here at the base, I knew it was the beginning of so much more. I couldn’t wait to see where the future was going to lead us.
37 Panther
“MY OH MY. Aren’t you a sight.” Solo whistled, and I watched him in the bathroom mirror as he strolled up behind me, his eyes trailing up and down my body. He stopped, so close his front pressed to my back, and then he set his chin on my shoulder and met my eyes in the mirror. “I don’t think this view will ever get old.”
“It better not. In case you’ve forgotten, you’re stuck with me.”
“Mhmm. Mine for life.”
I shot him a wink. “And on the Elite plaque.”
A huge grin took over Solo’s face. “No one else I’d rather be stuck with.” He kissed my jaw, his touch radiating heat through my entire body.
Would it always feel like this? Would I always crave him with such intensity that it scared me? God, I hoped so. I never expected that my time at NAFTA would change my life so dramatically, at least not my personal life. I’d had my eyes on the prize, but I’d won more than a trophy and bragging rights—I’d also won a partner in life. Solo had blown into my path from out of nowhere, just like the hurricane reputation that preceded him. My instincts had been on high alert from day one when I saw him in that shady bar, and they’d ended up being right on. I knew Solo would be dangerous if I got too close, but I never imagined how exhilarating or fulfilling my life would be if I just let my guard down and invited him in.
“Turn around,” Solo whispered.
“If I do that, we’ll be late to graduation.”
“Who cares?”
“You. You’ll miss all the adoration people will throw your way for being such a big shot.”
“On second thought, we should probably get going.”
I laughed as Solo dropped his hands from my hips, then turned to face him before he could go too far.
“I’m proud of you, you know,” I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back toward me. “When I met you, you were this cocky pilot who couldn’t play well with others, and now—”
“I play well with you?”
I shook my head, groaning. Leave it to Solo to lighten up a serious moment. “Well, you do that well too, but I meant how you are with others. You went from drawing sky penises to actually showing everyone you know your shit and are one of the best pilots in the Navy. That’s a pretty radical change.”
“Well, I haven’t grown up that much. I’d still like to go up there and draw something obscene in the sky for graduation.”
“You would not.”
“I would.”
“Solo, you can joke about it all you want, but you know as well as I do that you don’t have to do something crazy like that for attention. Everyone can already see how amazing you are, like Levy. Hell, even my father.”
Like he was uncomfortable with the compliments, Solo shrugged and looked away. But I wasn’t having that. Not today.
I held his chin, forcing him to look at me, because I wanted him to hear this next part, really hear it. “You know who would think you’re even more amazing if they were here? Your family. God, their jaws would be on the fucking ground watching you. An
d your brother? I know you idolized him, but I think he’d be thinking the same thing about you today.”
Solo’s eyes grew watery, his jaw quivering ever so slightly. “I hope I…” He shook his head, and I dropped my hand from his face as he wiped at his eyes. “I just want to make them proud. I fucked it all for so long—”
“You were grieving. You acted out. You’re human, as much as you hate to admit it, and hey, maybe drawing dicks in the sky was cathartic for you.”
A choking laugh left Solo. “Well, as long as we’re talking sentimental shit, the fact that you gave your father such an epic beat-down told everyone who the boss in your family is. You took out a fucking legend. I know you hated the fact that people assumed you skated through the Navy because of your name, but if anyone is still stupid enough to believe that, I will cut their shit off.”
My head fell back as I burst into laughter. “Oh God. My own personal bodyguard—”
“Fucking people’s shit up. Yes.” Solo grinned.
As my laughter faded, I leaned in and kissed him softly. “Thank you,” I murmured against his lips. “For saying what you did about me and my father.”
“What can I say? I’m your number one fan.” He kissed me again as a horn began to blare outside my room. Just like with the Navy Ball, we’d all rented a couple of limos, but this time I wouldn’t be going alone.
I pulled back and looked over my man, making sure everything was perfectly in place. Dear God, he was gorgeous. Seriously breathtaking, especially in his dress whites.
“Perfection,” I said, and as the horn blasted again, I held my hand out. “You ready to graduate at the head of the class?”
Solo laced his fingers through mine. “Damn right. Let’s do it.”
IT WAS STRANGE… I’d always expected this day, the day I proved my worth to everyone, to be the best day of my life. Instead, the ceremony had passed in a bit of a blur as I thought about what would come next.
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