He slipped his tongue deep in Ariel’s mouth, needing a final taste, and then did the unthinkable. With a nip to her lip, he ended the kiss, pulling back with regret. His dick ached with unspent need and roared for completion, but he didn't want to take Ariel like this. When he did have her, he would savor the entire experience.
“Fuck, Ariel, but…”
“Aiden?” Her stormy eyes looked at him, glazed over with lust.
“We gotta get you out of these clothes.” He held back a groan because that's exactly what he wanted; Ariel naked and wrapped around him as he sank into her wet heat.
He disentangled her legs from around his hips and waited until she was steady on her feet. Once she stood without assistance, he took a step back and stabbed his fingers into his hair, jerking at the roots. The pain helped him focus on what he should do, rather than what he wanted to do. He took another step, and then another until he ran up against the opposite wall. These prefabricated living quarters came with a premium on space. He wished he could put more distance between them because all he wanted was to unzip his fly, strip her out of her clothes, and finish what they’d begun. But, it was his responsibility to take care of her, and that meant not letting her make the biggest mistake of her life. Her reputation wasn’t worth a quick fuck. Not to mention he didn't want to ruin what they had before they even began. He felt there was more to Ariel than a one-night stand. She smelled like his forever.
“I want you.” He tugged at his hair and drew his elbows together in front of his face. She needed to know how much he wanted her, but also what he would do to protect her. “But, we need to get back before we’re missed.”
He didn’t miss her deep breathing. How could he when her breasts heaved up and down? The woman was a knockout. She might be covered in a baggy flight suit, but he had a good idea what he’d find underneath.
He pointed to the door. “I’m going to step out while you change.”
“Aiden…” Her eyes shimmered.
“You know exactly what will happen if I don’t because there’s no way I’ll stop. I don’t want your men, or my crew, talking about what might or might not have happened in here.”
She took in a couple of deep breaths and gave a nod. “I…” Her entire body shuddered, then she looked at him and gave a weak smile. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, hun. I have every intention of defiling you, but not at the expense of making a spectacle of it. This thing between us…stays between us. You hear me?”
She gave a slow nod. “I do.” Then she shook her head. “I told myself I wouldn’t let you kiss me, but I couldn’t stop.”
“I know, but you were humping me pretty damn hard." He loved the flush in her face. "Don’t worry, doll, I’ll get you stripped for real and screaming my name before too long. For now…” He pointed to the door again. “It’s safer if I wait outside.”
“Okay.”
“And one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“I want your bra and panties off under my clothes. Next time we’re alone, I want to feel you.”
The poor thing gulped and that made his heart rate spike.
He pulled on the door and left her alone to change. His cock protested and he agreed. Leaving that room may have been the hardest thing he’d done in years. A quick readjustment helped relieve some of the ache in his dick. He needed to rub one out or he was going to go insane.
Boots slapped on the floor from down the hall. He slumped to the floor and drew his knees to his chest. No need for anyone to see the tenting of his pants. Duncan rounded the corner and pulled up short. His gaze flicked to the door and his brows arched.
“Didn’t expect to see you out here, sitting on the floor.”
“Watch it,” he said, sharper than intended, then covered it with a laugh. “I don’t know why women always take so damned long to change.”
Duncan’s face split into a grin. “Yeah, my wife takes forever, too.”
He needed to shift the topic of conversation. Duncan was entirely too perceptive.
“How’s it going back there?”
“Not too bad. Caleb woke up for a second. The flight nurse said that was a good sign.”
“How is he?”
“Caleb or the nurse?"
"Caleb."
"Disorientated. Groggy. His speech is slurred, but he knew his name, the date, and that there’s a storm coming. Andrew says those are good things. He seems to be a pretty damn good flight nurse, really knows his stuff. I guess they have to keep waking him up every hour though with the concussion.”
“How does that help?”
“I have no clue.” Duncan gave a shrug.
“Did you come looking for me? Or just wandering the halls?”
“A little of both.”
“What part of buddy-up did you not understand?”
“Aw, come on. You don’t mean that for us.”
He arched a brow. “How can I expect them to follow that rule if my own crew doesn't?”
“Well, I wasn’t looking for you. I was actually heading to the galley.”
“Taking the long way around?”
“Unless you want me outside. I actually do listen to you sometimes. This is the shortest way.”
Ah, he forgot about that. The galley was located two levels down. From the sickbay, the quickest route was outside and down the stairs. Duncan might be wandering alone, but he was at least adhering to that rule.
“Have you looked outside recently?” He was curious about how the storm was doing.
Duncan gave him a sheepish look. “It’s getting bad out there.”
“You went outside, didn’t you?” His eyes narrowed as Duncan looked away.
“I opened the door and shut it just as quick. This thing coming at us is a beast. Have you looked at the storm track recently?” Duncan wasn’t scared. He loved storms and practically bounced with excitement.
“No.” He’d been busy with other things, like how far he could shove his tongue down Ariel’s throat. It was time to focus and prepare for Julian’s arrival.
“Not that it makes one bit of difference,” Duncan said, “but it’s coming straight for us.”
“That should be interesting,” he said. “Have you ever been in the eye of a storm?”
“This will be the first time.” Duncan crossed his arms and leaned against the bulkhead. “Have you?”
“No.” Thoughts of the storm took care of his raging erection. He felt comfortable standing up. “We need to keep a close eye on this thing.”
“No shit.” Duncan agreed. “I was going to whip up something for dinner and see what I could prep ahead of time. If we lose power, at least we won’t go hungry.”
“Hungry? We’re stocked to feed over a hundred hands. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
“Well, I’m more of a comfort food kind of guy. If you want to live off cold cereal, so be it. I’m cooking dinner and breakfast. Julian should pass overhead by morning, don't you think? Then we're halfway done as the trailing edge slams back into us.”
“I don’t know. Let’s check the weather map.”
The door to Ariel’s room opened. “Hey Duncan.” Ariel gave Duncan a tentative wave. “What’s going on?”
Aiden jerked his thumb toward Duncan. “He’s headed to the galley to cook and we’re headed to the bridge to take a look at Julian’s path. Duncan says the storm has shifted its path and will head right over us.”
She looked between the two of them, then focused on Duncan. “You're kidding, right?”
“Not from what I saw.” Duncan shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “The eye should pass right overhead.”
“Wow.” Her fingers fluttered over her belly.
He loved that she didn’t ask if they would be safe. It didn’t matter. They couldn’t leave. Whatever happened would happen, but this wasn’t the first storm the rig would endure. He had faith and realized Ariel leaned on him for that support.
“It’s going to be fine.” There was no reason not to reassure her. “You ready to check in on Julian?”
Her tight nod made his gut clench. Despite her calm exterior, she was scared.
Duncan stepped into the gap. “Don’t worry. We’re going to be fine. It may get loud and the rig will groan, but that’s just her speaking to the storm. If you want, you can join me in the galley. Sometimes, keeping your hands busy helps.”
She took in a deep breath, and Aiden thought for a moment she would go with Duncan, but then her attention shifted to him. “That sounds great, but I need to call back to base and check-in. Maybe Aiden can take me down after we're done, and we can whip something up together.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Duncan said. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Hang on.” Her attention turned to him. “Almost forgot my stuff.” Ducking back inside, she returned with an armful of wet clothes.
Aiden loved the way his clothes swallowed her slim frame and had to silence the growl of possession in his throat knowing she wore nothing underneath them. Duncan couldn’t leave fast enough, although could Aiden trust himself enough to be alone with her?
As Duncan disappeared down the hall, she glanced up at him through the dark fringe of her lashes. “I guess we should go check on the storm?”
“You’re going to be the death of me, you know this, right?”
She nibbled at her lower lip and smiled. “Is this crazy? Has this ever happened to you before?” Uncertainty pooled in the depths of her eyes. There was more to that question than she was asking.
“If you’re wondering if I’m the kind of guy who runs around kissing women he’s just met, let me remind you that I work on an oil rig, two weeks on, two weeks off. My time off is spent with the most adorable nine-year-old you’ll ever meet. I don’t have time to screw around. So, no, this doesn’t happen to me. What about you?”
She practically spit out her laugh. “You’re kidding, right?” She made some vague gesture down her body, oblivious to her natural beauty. “Who would want this?”
He gaped, then closed his mouth. “You have no idea, do you?” Her blank stare told him everything he needed to know. He would tell her later, but for now, they had a job to do.
“We need to get back to the others and then call in with a status update. At some point, we’re going to lose communications over the satellite radio.”
Her amazing lips twisted as she nibbled at them. “I’m a little scared, to be honest, and I’ve been in some hairy situations before.”
“Tell me about them.”
Her head slanted to the side and she regarded him for a long moment. “It’s not that interesting.”
“Come on, female helicopter pilot, ex-military? You can’t tell me there’s not a story in there.”
“Well actually…”
The way her eyes lit up with a flood of memories made his heart swell with an uncharacteristic warmth. Physical attraction aside, he wanted to climb inside this amazing woman’s mind to see what made her tick. She might be scared about being stranded on an oil rig while a hurricane blew overhead, but she had the balls to tackle a male-dominated field and excel.
He was thrilled to have her undivided attention. She spoke animatedly about her decision to go into the military and about the difficulties she faced in basic training. While they loaded her team’s clothes into the laundry, she told him about her selection to become a rotary wing pilot.
Chapter 9
Ariel
Talking about her time in the military brought a rush of emotions, some good, some bad. Aiden seemed interested and asked really good questions. He made it easy to talk about everything. Ariel couldn’t believe the things she shared.
“You’re pretty incredible, you know.” Aiden closed the door to the washing machine and filled up the detergent dispenser.
“Not really.”
“Tell me about your solo flight in a helicopter. That had to be incredible.”
She glanced up at the ceiling and smiled. It had been more than incredible.
“Well, I remember setting my alarm for 8 a.m. It was a Sunday in May and I was nervous as shit. I woke ten minutes before my alarm. Sunshine filtered through my windows and I stared at the dust dancing in the sunbeams. It was a surreal moment. I also remember being terrified and pulling the covers over my head.”
“You’re kidding? I can’t imagine you being scared of anything.”
“Well, I was. It was my first solo flight and a major step towards becoming a helicopter pilot.” The same rush of emotions and adrenaline spiked in her veins telling the story as when she'd flown her solo.
“I take it you found your way out from under the covers?”
“I did. Once I got over that little bit of fear, I jumped out, put on my uniform, and drove to the flight line. I can still feel the butterflies.” She laughed. “Isn’t that funny? After all these years, I can feel the jangle of my nerves. It was bad, too. I was so sick to my stomach. All my classmates were there to watch, some of them wanted to see me fail.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, sad to say. They wanted to see the chick fail. I was the first in our class to solo. Many of them resented me for that.” She peeked up at him. “Don’t ever repeat this, but I was so nervous that I puked in a trashcan right outside the training building.”
“You threw up?” He slapped his hand on his thigh. “Now that, I don’t believe.”
“Of course, I couldn’t let any of them know, but I spewed chunks. It actually made me feel ten times better, getting that out of the way.”
“I guess it did. Keep going. Your story about puking and hiding under the covers is entertaining.”
She grinned. “Well, I performed the preflight checks with my instructor. He climbed on board and we lifted from the helipad and hovered behind the hangar. It was hot as hell, or maybe it was just nerves. Anyway, my flight suit was soaked in sweat. He had me fly a few laps around our planned touchdown point. Everything went perfect, and my nervousness went away. I think that was his plan.”
“Makes sense.”
“When we touched down, I felt calm and had everything under control. He asked me if I was ready to fly by myself. I remember my cheeks hurting from my grin. I was still scared, but as ready as I would ever be. My confidence had returned, not that there wasn’t a little fear. It felt like standing on a ledge. You don’t want to take that leap, but you know it’s the only way you’ll ever fly.”
“I love how you describe it.”
“It was one of those life moments. I’ll never forget it. My instructor exited the helicopter and as soon as he was a safe distance away, I lifted back on the lever that controls altitude. He told me to adjust for the difference in load. Without him in the seat beside me, the helicopter behaved differently and I had to compensate for the difference in weight distribution. It rose faster than I anticipated and I nearly shit my pants.”
Aiden huffed a laugh. “I doubt that.”
“It was close, but actually everything went smoothly after that. I hovered back and forth, all by myself, no instructor telling me what to do. It was hot as shit and the one thing I remember was the death grip I had on the stick. Sweat beaded my brow and rolled down my face, but I didn’t free up a hand to wipe it off. The sweat stung as it hit my eyes, and I couldn’t see for a bit. I had a death grip on the controls. All in all, I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn’t have time to realize how amazing the whole thing was. I do remember one moment when I glanced over to the empty co-pilot seat and realized I was by myself. It’s difficult to describe, but a mixture of pride and an intense thrill spread throughout my body. I may have said Woohoo! but don’t you ever tell anyone that either.”
“Surely people in the tower heard. I’m sure you got ribbed for that.”
“I would have if I’d remembered to activate the radio. It wasn’t a perfect flight, but I did it. I was the first in my class to solo and finished first in my class.”
/>
There was something oddly soothing about sharing such a personal memory. It made Aiden feel less of a stranger. Add to that, the very domestic task of doing laundry with him, and it felt normal. Everything about Aiden felt…right. She didn’t know how to describe it other than to say it felt like he’d always been in her life.
“Well,” Aiden said, “you’re pretty amazing in my book. Thanks for sharing that with me.”
“I never really thought of it that way." She admitted. "I guess I’ve done some pretty cool things."
"Is that something you always wanted to do? Not many women become pilots, let alone battle-tested combat pilots."
"As a little girl, I always wanted to fly helicopters. And I was a medevac pilot, not a combat pilot. There's a distinction.”
"Is there?"
"Yeah, I didn't get to shoot at anything."
"Did you ever get shot at?"
As she was landing in a small clearing, the flashes of gunfire burst from a rocky scree. Two men stood up from behind a large boulder with an RPG. A smoke trail headed toward her position…
She wasn't ready to answer that question.
“Well, I think it's amazing. There aren't many little girls that want to grow up to be helicopter pilots."
"I suppose not. What about your daughter? What does she want to do?"
"Callie wants to grow up and be a princess.”
“I never wanted to be a princess. I always wanted to be the knight heading out to slay dragons.”
He laughed. “I can see that. You’re a badass.”
“Well, I’m not sure about that.”
He leaned in close, crossing his arms in an obvious tactic to keep from reaching for her and pulling her close. She felt the need to be held by him. It was an undeniable force and tugged at her. Resisting it was difficult.
“Trust me, Ariel, you’re a fucking badass.” His eyes sparked with admiration and she straightened her posture, loving his praise. He didn't seem to be the kind of man to hand it out easily.
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