Classified (The Elite Book 3)
Page 15
“Yeah? You like it?”
“Are you kidding? I fucking love it.”
Solo moved to the wall opposite the bed, where flames danced inside a sleek, modern fireplace. “What about this? Can you imagine spending all night in bed with this baby in the background?”
“Hell yes, I can. It’s perfect.” My eyes trailed up to the framed picture that hung above the fireplace, a picture of two jets side by side in the sky—
“Recognize this?”
I jumped off the bed to get a closer look, and when I realized what I was looking at, I gasped. “How did you… How?”
“I asked Levy to get a shot of us during instructor training. Not bad, huh?”
The angle of the photo meant Levy must’ve been in front of us, because it was a head-on shot that showed Solo and me in F/A-18A Hornets gliding over the clouds side by side. Even though I’d taken the offer with the Blue Angels, I still acted as a guest instructor during time off, which meant going through another round of training with Solo. How Levy had managed to get this shot of us was beyond me, but it was incredible.
“Solo, this is unreal.” I turned, gesturing to the rest of the room. “This is all unreal. I can’t believe you did all this. It’s just…” There I went again. Completely lost for words.
“I’m glad you love it.” A shy, proud smile crossed Solo’s face, and God… I couldn’t love him any more than I did right then.
My fingers twitched; I wanted to grab the ring I’d hidden in my pocket and give it to him right then, but no. I’d had this thing planned for so long that I could wait a little longer for the perfect moment.
After all, what were a couple more hours in the span of forever?
SOLO
PANTHER DIDN’T HAVE to say a word—it was all right there in his eyes. When I’d told him I was taking over the renovation, I knew exactly what he’d love, and no matter the price, I’d made it happen. It had all been worth it to see the look he was giving me now.
“There’s more,” I said.
“I’m not sure if my heart can take much more.” He pressed a palm against his chest and took a deep breath. “Okay, show me.”
“These,” I said, heading over to the glass doors, “are pocket doors. Check this out.” I slid one side open, the door disappearing into the wall of glass, and then I did the same to the other side. The effect was such that it looked like the bedroom was somehow outdoors, the space just one wide-open room.
I stepped out onto the terrace, where the retaining walls were low enough that, even sitting at the table in front of the outdoor fireplace, we’d still be able to see the ocean.
“Now this is heaven,” Panther said as he came up beside me. “Oh, hey, we can have dinner up here when it’s nice.”
“Which is every night in Southern California.”
He grinned. “Exactly. And lounges too, huh? Just how private is this terrace?”
“Damn near a hundred percent, unless there are perverts out in boats using binoculars. Why?”
Panther reached for me, gripping the front of my shirt and moving in close. “I was just thinking about that night we came here and jumped the fence…”
I groaned and, needing him even closer, reached down to grab his ass, hauling him against me. “Trespassing on our own property…”
“It wasn’t ours then.”
“No, but if you ever need a repeat of your one night of criminal behavior, feel free to let me know.”
Panther nipped at my lip, asking for entrance. “I think we could find ourselves enough trouble on this terrace, don’t you think?”
“Fucking count on it.” I closed the gap between us, but barely got a taste of him before we heard a loud thump outside the bedroom door, followed by footsteps, and then a couple of the movers appeared in the doorway.
“Mr. Morgan,” one of the guys called out. “We’ve got a chair here that was marked for the master bedroom. This it?”
I kept Panther right where he was in front of my body to hide my erection and nodded. “Yeah, come on in. There should be two, and they can go on either side of the fireplace.”
“You got it.”
As they hauled in the furniture, I brushed my lips across Panther’s. “I think these movers are going to get more than they bargained for if you don’t stop teasing my dick.”
“Guess I’ll have to be stealthy.”
I grinned. “Your specialty.”
I squeezed his ass, and Panther moaned against my lips, and fuck, who could resist that sound? I angled my head toward his and stole his lips again, sweeping my tongue into his mouth.
Good thing it always seemed to be what Panther wanted too.
Another loud thump made me look back to make sure nothing was getting destroyed in there. When I was satisfied nothing seemed to be wrong, I turned back to Panther.
“So,” he said, running his hand down my chest. “I’ve been meaning to ask. You sure you’re still okay with me coming on as an instructor at NAFTA? You’ve been there a couple of years now, so it’s kind of your territory—”
“Fuck that. You know I’ll be better behaved with you around more.”
Panther lifted a brow. “I don’t know about that.”
“Levy is practically drooling to have you, and trust me, I’d rather deal with those little punk hotshots with you whooping their ass in hops.”
Laughing, Panther nodded. “I did learn a few new tricks since graduation that I can put to good use.”
“Mhmm. But living together, working together now… I hope that’s not too much me for you.”
“Trust me, I’ve been counting down the days until I get you back twenty-four seven.”
“You might regret that countdown.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.” I lifted his hand up to my mouth and kissed each of his fingertips before entwining them with mine. “As much as I can’t wait to see you back in your uniform at NAFTA, I have to admit I’m going to miss that sexy little Blue Angels flight suit.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I got to keep it. I’ll even let you take it off me later.” Panther winked, and shit, there went my dick again.
Over his shoulder, I could still see the guys in our bedroom, so I moved us out of the doorway and over to the edge of the terrace. This side had the best view, because not only could you see Huntington Beach directly below, but also the Black Rock Cliffs that would always, in my mind, be synonymous with Panther and the two of us together. It was one of the main reasons we’d been drawn to this house, but there was still one more thing Panther hadn’t yet seen.
“Look up,” I said, pointing at a spot off in the distance. “I want you to see something.”
Panther squinted up at the sky. “What am I looking for?”
“Just wait for it. You’ll know.”
As we stood there in silence, my chin resting on his shoulder, I thought back to how far we’d come to get to this moment. From getting shot down by Panther at that sketchy bar to being rivals at the Elite, to friends and lovers, and now, each other’s forever. Never once had I questioned that someday we’d end up here, in a home we owned together, watching sunsets and planning the rest of our lives together.
“There it goes.” Far enough away that we couldn’t hear the takeoff, but close enough we could see it from where we stood, a 737 ascended over the ocean at an angle. It left from the same airport by the abandoned park, where we’d watched takeoffs and landings from the rusted merry-go-round.
“Now we can watch from our place anytime we want. No tetanus shot required.”
Panther smiled, his gaze trained on the plane disappearing into the clouds. “I love you, you know that? I can’t believe you did all this.”
“Well, I didn’t arrange the plane—”
“You think that makes the rest of this any less impressive?” Panther shook his head and then met my eyes over his shoulder. “You thought of everything. Thank you.”
I kissed the tip of his nose.
“I love you. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”
“I do.”
My heart skipped at those two simple words. Would I hear them again tonight, when I asked him the most important question of our lives? The one I’d been planning on asking for months now and had just been waiting for this day to finally arrive?
Fuck yes, I would hear those words from him. I never did anything halfway, never asked a question I didn’t already know the answer to. Panther was mine, and he had been from the first moment I saw him, even if at first he’d tried his best to deny it. He wouldn’t be denying me tonight, and goddamn I was ready.
As another jet took off in the distance, capturing Panther’s attention, I could practically feel the heat and weight of the ring where it rested in my jeans pocket. I ran through the timing of my plan in my head, making sure that even with the moving happening downstairs that everything was still on track. Then I grinned against the sun-warmed skin of Panther’s neck, loving that I had one last secret before he knew everything.
And just how was I planning to propose to the love of my life?
It was classified.
Thank You
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About Brooke Blaine
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Brooke Blaine is a USA Today Bestselling Author of contemporary and LGBT romance that ranges from comedy to suspense to erotic. The latter has scarred her conservative Southern family for life, bless their hearts.
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