He smirked. “I was counting on that. So, how do you want me?”
“You know,” she said, her eyes darkening.
He jerked at the belt on his pants, anxious to free himself. “Take off that dress.”
She slipped the straps off her shoulders. Her hand went to the side zipper, and she allowed the dress to fall in time with his pants and boxers.
He pulled back far enough to take in her long legs and firm ass, and he couldn’t resist lightly swatting her there. He knew she loved it, craved it, by the way she slowly caught her bottom lip between her teeth and moaned.
His hands smoothed up the backs of her legs and caressed her. When he guided her forward, she braced her forearms on the counter and tilted her ass in the air.
“There’s wet, and then there’s wet,” he said as he spread the folds of her pussy to position the head of his cock there.
“You know what you do to me.” Her eyes matched his heated intensity in the mirror.
“Ditto,” he said with a smile and thrust inside of her, holding on to her to keep their bodies flush with each movement.
She groaned at the impact, and her fingertips curled into her palms, converting her hands to fists atop the counter.
Her breasts bounced as they moved as one, and her face pinched tight when he reached around between her legs with one hand and feathered his touch over her sensitive spot.
His eyes caught the wound on her abdomen, and he paused at the sight. It was still so damn hard for him to believe the love of his life had taken a bullet. And somehow, she came away from it with minimal damage. Maybe her mom really had been looking over her.
“You okay?” she whispered, and he brought his gaze to hers in the mirror.
“More than okay,” he responded in a low voice.
He lowered his mouth to her shoulder and gently bit, pulling his focus back to the moment.
“No hickeys,” she warned, her eyes lifting to the mirror, and he glimpsed her reflection, keeping his lips on her skin.
She didn’t trust him to be good, and hell, he probably had no intention to, so she twisted her neck, offering her lips instead.
They had each other. She was his person. She’d always be his person. And he’d always protect her whether she liked it or not. And maybe—just maybe, he’d consider letting her protect him, too. Never with her life, though. Only her heart.
She orgasmed, her sex clenching him hard. Her body quivering. Then he whispered into her ear as he came, “I love you, Mrs. Bennett.”
Epilogue
Election Night
Elaina, Liam’s daughter, yanked on Knox’s sleeve. “You have nothing to worry about.” She tucked her dark hair behind her ears and shot him a toothy smile. Elaina was ten now. Her birthday had coincided with Knox’s honeymoon, and since everyone had come along, they’d thrown her a huge party on the island.
He crouched to her side. “Actually, I think I do. Who is this Kenny kid you’ve been hanging out with for almost three months?”
Her cheeks softened into a rosy blush. “He’s so smart. Funny. Totally amazing.” She smirked. “He’s a lot of fun.”
“Exactly what kind of fun are we talking about?” Liam asked, overhearing their conversation, and his eyes nearly bulged as thoughts of his daughter and Kenny probably now plagued him.
“Dad,” she said with an exaggerated eye roll. “Fun as in fun. Not fun as in what you do with Mom.” She turned and sashayed away in her yellow dress, and Liam coughed into a closed fist.
“Did I hear her right?” Liam asked as Knox stood upright. He guzzled his beer and lowered it a moment later.
“Looks like she knows about sex,” Knox said, fighting a laugh.
Liam braced a hand on Knox’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “Never mention Elaina and that word in the same sentence again unless you want to die.”
“You’re in so much trouble when she’s older.” Knox smiled as he always did when his eyes landed on Adriana, his beautiful wife, across the crowded room as they waited for the official announcement.
The numbers were more than favorable for a Bennett win.
It was the conversation he was going to have with his dad afterward that had his heart in his throat.
If he said no . . . then what?
“Elaina said not to worry, remember.” Liam straightened and dropped his hand from Knox’s shoulder.
“She also said she’s having fun with Kenny, so—”
“Thanks for that. Wait until you have kids. I swear you’ll lose your bloody mind.”
“Worth it, though, right?” Knox loosened the knot of his navy tie and rolled his sleeves to the elbows, the room much hotter than it was before.
Asher strode up to them, a whiskey in hand. “You’re not nervous, are ya?” He wedged himself between Liam and Knox. “Your old man has this in the bag. Hell, I think your mother’s spy days gave him a ten-point bump.”
“Since when do you talk politics?” Knox side-eyed him.
“Since Bravo is on the line,” Asher replied in a low voice.
“Speaking of Bravo. You’re the last one of us on the team not married. You planning on changing that any time soon? You do have twins on the way,” Liam said.
Twins. Yeah, the Big Guy was going to lose his mind when they were born.
“Jessica wants to wait until after the girls are here like Eva and Luke did. But we’re thinking Fiji or something. Nothing traditional.”
“Yeah, I didn’t exactly take you for a traditional guy.” Knox looked at Adriana. She was laughing at something his dad was saying to her.
“We having a powwow here or something?” Owen clutched his son in his arm like he was carrying a football instead of a baby.
Asher handed Liam his whiskey and reached for Owen’s son. “Give him to me, I need the experience.”
“Don’t drop him.” Owen carefully handed him over. “You, uh, think Matthew and Lara will ever date?”
“You trying to give me a heart attack?” Luke shifted the fabric of the swaddle away from baby Matthew’s face.
“Well, we all know how friendships turn out,” Liam said with a laugh, eyes on Knox.
“Funny.” Luke straightened. “I heard about Kenny. You got your hands full already.”
Liam scowled and downed the rest of his beer then tossed back Asher’s whiskey as well.
“Maybe you need to hit the range later,” Owen said to Liam when Matthew began to cry, and Asher handed him back like he had a ticking time bomb in his hand.
“Damn. Bravo is turning into a real baby factory,” A.J. said while striding up with Wyatt at his side.
Liam grinned. “So help me, Emily better be having a boy. Daughters are too stressful.” He glanced at his wife across the room, who was chatting with Eva.
Emily was two months pregnant—a miracle by most doctors’ standards. And the only one who’d seen it coming was Elaina.
“I hear you, man.” Knox smiled, his nerves dying down a touch with all his buddies around.
“Maybe you’ll be next,” A.J. said to Knox. “Or hell, you.” He looked at Wyatt. “Maybe you have a kid out there you don’t even know about.”
Wyatt nearly choked on his drink. “Hell no.” He lowered the glass from his mouth. “No kids for me. You guys can have all the little ones you want. Pop them out left and bloody right for all I care, but I’m good.” He shook his head for extra emphasis.
“They’re about to announce the results!” Harper yelled, garnering the guys’ attention.
“And?” Knox swallowed.
“What do you think?” Harper grinned, her eyes lighting up. “I, uh, think you’re about to become the First Son.”
“Is that a thing?” Asher looked around at the guys as if they’d have a clue.
“I don’t know,” Luke said. “Sounds like a thing.”
“Come on.” She waved them to the stage where Shonte, his dad’s campaign manager, stood.
Shonte turned on the large flat s
creen on the wall behind her and stepped off to the side as the news announced, “And that’s it, ladies and gentlemen, Isaiah Bennett has just become the next president of the United States.”
Knox bowed his head at the news, his lungs letting go of a deep breath.
Maybe tonight wasn’t the best night to spring the news on his father, but the guys couldn’t wait. They needed to know their fate, too.
Adriana rushed across the room to get to him, and when she flew into his arms, he gathered her in for a tight hug. Their lips met in a searing kiss, tongues tangling, and hell, his heart was dancing.
“You still going to tell him tonight?” she asked a little later once the balloons and confetti raining down had settled.
His palm went to his shaky stomach. Nerves striking again. His dad was the next POTUS. Is this real? “We need to know. It’s been killing us.”
“I thought I did a good job keeping you distracted during the wait.”
Yeah, she had kept him busy.
Their first home purchase, which was a block away from Emily and Liam’s place. Adriana had discovered Emily shared her love of Patrick Swayze films, so they’d had a few movie marathon date nights together as well.
They’d also moved her dad closer. He even scored a job at GW and tonight marked date three with a colleague of his. Adriana had encouraged him to abide by an eight-date before “you know what” rule. Yeah, those were her words exactly.
Then there was their intimate wedding on Virginia Beach, and a honeymoon with friends on a secluded tropical island.
“You’re not a distraction, babe. You’re my wife.” He brought his forehead to hers, resting it there, as he tried to slow his racing heart.
“Mm. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you say that. And I have the notebooks from when I was a teenager to prove it.”
“Notebooks?” He lifted his head. “Hearts with my name inside?”
“Hearts with our names inside,” she repeated and bit into her lip. “Adriana and Charlie Bennett forever. I didn’t know you’d become a badass SEAL and adopt a new name back in the day. Sorry.” She pressed up on her toes and sealed her mouth to his, and he pulled her against him, holding on tight to his wife even though they were in the middle of a massive crowd in the heart of Atlanta.
They’d found their way back to where they always belonged, hadn’t they?
“You ready?” It was Jessica.
He’d swear the Scott siblings had the worst timing.
Knox removed his tongue from his wife’s mouth and resisted the urge to adjust his pants with his boss so close to him.
“You’ve got this.” Adriana reached for his tie and tightened the knot, then gave him a nod, and he couldn’t help but slip his hand over the curve of her ass in that tight-fitting gown and pull her back against him, even with Jessica there.
“Thanks for having my six,” he whispered into her ear.
“Always.”
He left her side and crossed the room with Jessica, heading toward his father.
His dad stopped talking to the governor of Georgia at his approach. “Everything okay?”
He swallowed, took a magnum-sized breath, and nodded. “Yeah, but there’s something we need to talk about.”
His dad smiled, his Denzel-grin, and reached for his son’s arm. Bringing his mouth close to Knox’s ear, he said, “The answer is yes, Son.”
Knox lifted his brows in surprise. “You don’t know what I’m gonna ask,” he returned, glimpsing Jessica out of the corner of his eye, not sure what to make of his dad’s words.
“I do, and the answer is yes.”
Rydell must’ve talked to him. Taken the chance and told his father before election night, anticipating he’d win. And gambled that the president-elect wouldn’t throw everyone under the bus at the discovery of the teams.
“Ninety-nine percent.” His dad shifted his head to the side to catch Knox’s eyes, then slapped a hand over his shoulder. His brows drew together, a touch of emotion on his face. “You handle the one percent for me so I can do my job and take care of the ninety-nine.”
Knox closed his eyes and nodded in understanding at what his father was asking of him.
“Thank you,” he said, forcing his vocal cords to work.
“No, Son, thank you.”
Knox smiled, remembering what Adriana had said in her speech in this very hotel ballroom months ago, then he changed it up a bit and said, “Don’t thank me, just be the kind of a man worth taking a bullet for.”
He gave his dad a hug, then he strode away with Jessica at his side toward where Bravo and Echo were crowded off to the side of the room, along with Adriana.
“What happened?” Jessica asked as they approached the teams.
“We talking to him or what?” Chris spoke before Knox could answer Jessica.
“No need.” A smile raced across his face with his teammates’ attention fixed on him. “Looks like we’re back for another four years.”
“You jerking my chain?” A.J. stepped forward.
“No, man, I’m not.” Knox grabbed at his chest as if his heart might explode.
A.J. turned toward the teams. “Brothers,” he said with a nod and clapped his hands together. “We’re back. And we need to celebrate.” He looked at Wyatt. “Maybe I’ll even buy you one of those girly mojitos you’ve been talking about.”
“It’s an open bar,” Harper said with a laugh. “And what makes a mojito girly?”
A.J.’s palm flattened on his chest. “Anything alcoholic that requires a straw is girly. A real man drinks something that’ll grow hair on his chest.”
“I’m not a huge fan of chest hair,” Harper said. “Except on Henry Cavill. Superman can rock the chest hair all day, all night.”
“Henry who?” Chris asked. “I thought you liked Captain America, not Superman.”
“I, uh.” Harper turned to face Chris and stumbled, almost falling forward in her heels and into his arms, but Chris braced her forearms to keep her upright.
“You and that actor may have the same name,” A.J. began, “the one who plays Mr. America—”
“Captain,” Chris corrected him, still not letting go of Harper.
“Whatever.” A.J. flicked a dismissive hand. “We both know . . .”
Their conversation faded into the background when Knox’s eyes cruised over to his wife, and she shot him a massive congratulatory smile.
They did need to celebrate tonight, but right now there was something he needed to do first.
He cut a path straight to Adriana and held out a hand. “‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner,’” he said, doing his best to maintain a straight face, hoping to hell he got the line right from one of her favorite Patrick Swayze movies. “Dance with me?”
She placed her palm atop his open hand, her gaze whipping up to his face. “You’ve watched Dirty Dancing with me a thousand times—”
“By force,” he added in case his brothers heard.
“Right.” A grin teased her lips. “But, babe, you never learned to dance.”
“Because a movie can’t teach me.” He pulled her into his arms and surprised her by spinning her around. One of the guys whistled. And then another. He’d catch hell for this later, but he didn’t care.
She gasped when he dipped her. And when he lifted her into the air by the hips, she braced his shoulders as he held on to her and moved in a three-sixty.
“Have you been faking the whole I-can’t-dance thing all these years?” she asked when he lowered her heels to the ground. “Or you finally learn some moves?”
“I might have picked up a thing or two.” He pressed his mouth to hers as the slow song ended.
Liam and Emily strode up next to them on the dance floor a minute later.
Then Jessica and Asher. Owen and Sam. Luke and Eva.
Roman remained off to the side of the dance floor while almost everyone else joined them.
“A.J. took over the DJ booth. He does realize this i
s a presidential event, right?” Chris shouted over Florida Georgia Line now blaring throughout the room.
“Maybe these people need a little excitement in their lives.” Finn extended his hand to Harper for a dance.
But hell, Chris was on the other side of her with his palm extended, too.
Knox couldn’t help but notice Roman’s gaze on Harper while he brought his beer to his lips as if curious who Harper would choose.
“Who will she pick?” Adriana asked, bringing his attention back to her. “Apparently neither,” she said before he could answer.
Harper flicked her finger, motioning for Elaina to join her instead.
Finn shrugged.
Chris held his palms open as if saying, Well, I tried.
And Jessica shot a scolding look at the both of them.
“Yup,” Knox said even if no one could hear him. “We’re back.”
Bonus & Deleted Scenes
Did you get a chance to read Stealth Ops Bonus Scenes 4.0 or 4.5? These scenes were released after Finding Her Chance. They take place right before Finding the Way Back, featuring the barbecue & other events leading up to the Situation Room.
Download 4.0
Download 4.5
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Stealth Ops: Echo Team (Books 1-5) will release next.
Continue for a few deleted scenes!
***
Deleted Scene 1: Flashback to Prom
She’d only been nervous like this twice in her life—the day she joined the agency and the night of senior prom.
She’d had every intention of going to the dance alone, but Knox had called that afternoon and announced he’d be at her door at seven.
Her fingers had trembled as she slid up the zipper at the side of her floor-length platinum-colored satin gown. Her dad would’ve had a heart attack at how low the back dipped if he hadn’t already drunk himself to sleep that night.
Finding the Way Back: A Stealth Ops Novel Page 32