by Jaime Lewis
Thinking of how Ace held her in his arms, telling her in every way possible how much he loved her brought tears back to her eyes again. She had shed so many happy tears throughout the night. He was everything she had imagined he’d be as a lover.
The moment he first slid into her wet heat was like the world shifting on its axis. Feeling the stretch from his girth had almost sent her spiraling out of control before he started moving. But as he hovered above her and gazed into her eyes, taking her hands and linking his fingers with hers bringing them above her head, then seeing a lone tear slip down his cheek, she knew at that moment that was the man she would love and cherish for the rest of her life. He had made good on his promise he made to her months ago back in Afghanistan. He made sweet love to her. Well, at least the first round of sex that is. The next couple of times were what she would call adventurous and pleasurable. He had also kept the promise he made last night as well. He had fucked her until the sun came up.
The bathroom door opened, causing her to look up, and there he stood, taking her breath away. He was wearing a pair of navy-blue swim trunks paired with a well-worn grey t-shirt fitted snugly over his torso and arms. Seeing the morning stubble along his jaw made her want to rub her cheek against it.
Ace smiled, “Sweetheart, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to call our friends and tell them the barbeque has been canceled and just keep you in bed all day.”
Alex licked her lips. Would that really be a bad thing? No, but she did need to get up and get things prepared before everyone arrived.
“How about just a kiss, and then we can pick things back up after our guests leave? Maybe put the hot tub to good use.” She winked at him and wiggled her eyebrows.
Ace stalked over to the bed. His stride was smooth and silent, like a sleek panther stalking its prey before it pounced. Bending down, he kissed her and then flipped her over and gave her bare ass a good slap.
“Ow! What was that for?” She exclaimed, rubbing her hand over her stinging butt cheek.
Ace grinned. “You should’ve learned your lesson last night about teasing me.” Oh yeah, she remembered the spanking he’d given her last night.
He gave her one more kiss, then told her he was going to make sure the grill was cleaned and ready.
She stared at his back while he walked out of the room. Man, did she love him!
Chuckling at herself and thinking how bad she had it for him, she reluctantly pulled herself out of bed and walked to the bathroom to get ready.
◆◆◆
“Well, well, well…the just fucked look shows well on you,” Tenley said as she strode through the back door out onto the patio.
Alex turned and smiled at her best friend, “Yeah, well, I’d love to know what that wild animal was that Ace and I heard when we got home. It sounded like it was coming from your house.” She grinned. “But I guess Potter was able to take care of it since we did see his truck in your driveway.”
Tenley’s face turned a crimson red as she put the food she was carrying down onto the table. She turned back to Alex, “Y-you heard us?”
Alex was laughing. Nothing embarrasses Tenley, and to see her face turn that red made her laugh even harder.
Alex shook her head. “No, we didn’t hear a thing, but you confirmed what I thought.” At that moment, Ace walked out on the pool deck and came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“What’s so funny, and Tenley, why does your face look like you have a terrible sunburn?”
Alex started giggling again and tilted her head back to look up at Ace. “It seems that we weren’t the only ones ‘busy’ last night. Although, I believe I won the bet.”
Tenley’s jaw dropped. “The two of you bet that Potter and I were having sex.”
Alex looked at Tenley, still laughing, “Oh yeah, Ace said no way because Potter wouldn’t want to ruffle any feathers in our little circle of friends, but I disagreed. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other when you think the other one isn’t looking, and let me tell you friend…there is definitely an attraction. I knew it was just a matter of time before the two of you ended up in bed together. So, tell me, was it good?”
A huge grin spread across Tenley’s face; the redness barely visible anymore. “You have no idea. He is huge and his tongue. Oh my god, his tongue can do amazing things.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, I don’t need to hear this. I’m going to the store to get ice and maybe a bottle of bleach to douse the image I now have of my best friend from my brain,” Ace uttered, drawing laughter from the women.
Stitch walked out onto the patio as Ace gave Alex a quick kiss. He looked at Ace and then at Alex and Tenley.
“What’s going on?”
Ace grabbed Stitch by the back of his shirt and pulled him toward the back door he had just walked out of.
“Trust me; you don’t want to know. My brain is now ingrained with an image of Potter that I never wished to know. Your best choice is to come with me to the store and let them finish their conversation.”
After Ace and Stitch walked into the house, Alex got herself under control and looked at her friend. She saw that Tenley was glowing and happy. But then a good fucking made her happy too, but this was different. Tenley looked relaxed, like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders.
“Why are you staring at me?” Tenley asked, getting up from the lounge chair and walking over to the table where the food was going to go.
Alex smiled at her. “So, last night. Was it a one and done, or is there a future for the two of you?”
Tenley shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Last night was nice. Hell, who am I kidding? Last night was off the charts. He rocked my world. I was expecting him to leave right after, but he surprised me by staying the night. Do you know how long it’s been since someone cuddled with me after sex?”
Alex gave her a sympathetic smile. Apparently, this ex of hers was more of an asshole than Alex originally had thought. “Ten, I don’t want to open old wounds, but how bad was it with Chaz?”
Frowning, Tenley said, “It was just sex for him. There was no romance, no connection, just hard, rough sex. As long as he got off, he was satisfied. But Potter, man, when he pulled me into those massive arms of his after loving me, I felt complete. I know, I probably sound stupid; I mean, I don’t even really know the guy. Hell, he probably thinks I’m some whore who jumps into anybody’s bed.”
“Ten, I’m sure he doesn’t think that. I understand exactly the feelings you’re having, and one important thing I’ve discovered with the guys on the team is they may have a reputation of being players, but deep down under their SEAL of armor, they are just men wanting a fairy tale life of their own. But finding the right woman for them is difficult. You have to remember what their job entails. All the traveling, not being able to come home and talk about their day at work, sneaking off in the middle of the night to who knows where and wondering if they will make it back home alive. It’s a commitment you have to make to stand by him and support him.”
Alex watched as Tenley absorbed what she was telling her. “Let me ask you this, do you want there to be another time?”
Tenley shook her head, yes. “I’d like to see if things could work between us, but I don’t know how he feels about it. We didn’t discuss it. We kind of skipped the talking and proceeded to the sex part. But I guess I’ll know when I see him when he gets here. Anyway, enough about my night, how did yours turn out? I would’ve never guessed that Ace was such a romantic. You guys stopping for dinner gave Potter and I just enough time to get your bedroom transformed.”
Alex wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I was wondering how all of it was done, considering Ace didn’t even know about my plans to seduce him.”
“Ace sent Potter a text right after you guys left and asked him if we’d mind helping.”
“You guys are so sweet. It was beautiful.”
“So, tell me, did Ace totally rock your canoe?�
� Alex busted out laughing and started telling her all about her romantic and seductive night.
◆◆◆
The afternoon barbeque was shaping up to be an enjoyable one. With the temperature hovering in the low 90s and the sun shining brightly, everyone was in the pool, trying to stay cool. The whole team was there, and surprisingly, a few of them brought dates. Only Stitch and Skittles came stag.
Potter was the last to arrive, and Alex couldn’t have been any giddier when he marched right up to Tenley and kissed her in front of everyone, making it noticeably clear he was staking a claim to her.
The women who came with Frost, Dino, and Diego were nice. Irish’s date, Suzette, on the other hand, was something else. She had a reputation of bagging many men, particularly SEALs, as she often hung out at Bayside. She was attractive with long blond hair, blue eyes, and a kick-ass body; even though her big boobs were noticeably fake, her attitude totally sucked. According to Ace, she had her eye on Potter and had been trying for the last year to get into his pants. Potter, however, doesn’t want anything to do with her. As for Irish, Alex was going to have to speak with him. He could do so much better than Suzette. Since she’d been here, all she had done was whine about how hot it was and how none of the food was ‘healthy.’ Irish told her that if she was hot to get into the pool, but she didn’t want to because she didn’t want to get her hair wet. Alex wondered if she had only accepted Irish’s invite today, hoping she’d got a chance to see Potter. If that was the case, it backfired on her.
Tenley was sitting at the table across from Irish and Suzette and had overheard their conversation and leaned over to Alex and whispered, “Christ, by the size of her big tits, she’s got enough buoyancy to keep her afloat. She won’t have any problem keeping her head above water.”
Alex had just taken a sip of beer and couldn’t hold back her laughter and ended up spraying beer all over anyone within a foot or two. Unfortunately, the two sitting across from her didn’t fare so well. Fake Barbie’s face was covered in beer spray, including her hair that she didn’t want to get wet. Oops…
Wiping his face and trying to hold in his laughter, Irish peered over at Suzette, who was blotting her face with a napkin and frowning. “Well, your hair is wet now, so you might as well get in the pool,” he told her. She gave him a nasty look, and with an annoyed huff, she got up from the table and stormed inside, sending Alex and Tenley into a fit of giggles.
Alex got herself under control, and got up and took the seat next to Irish. She placed her hand over his on the table, “Irish, you know that I consider you family, so I have to ask–what in the hell were you thinking of bringing her here?”
He smirked. “Well, you’re not available, sweetness, so a man has to scratch his itch somewhere.” She scrunched her nose up in disgust, and he chuckled.
“You need a woman to settle you down.”
He shook his head and pointed at her, “That’s not happening.”
Ace walked up behind Alex and placed a hand on her shoulder, and then scowled down at Irish. “Are you bothering my woman again?”
Standing up, Irish held his hands in front of him and smiled, “Nope, she came onto me. Blame her.”
Alex gazed up into Ace’s eyes and could see the playfulness sweeping through them. She sighed, “He’s right. I did initiate contact with him first.”
Ace eyed her over and grinned, “Is that so?” He pulled her up and dipped his head to whisper in her ear, “You seem overheated, I think you need to cool off.”
Alex was so focused on Ace that she hadn’t put two-and-two together until she felt herself being launched into the air before splashing down into the chilled water. She surfaced but couldn’t touch the bottom. Damn, she hated being short sometimes. Ace jumped in after her. She wrapped her legs around him and rubbed her crotch along his very noticeable erection. Hearing him groan, she smiled, looking into his eyes.
“You’re playing with fire, sweetheart,” he said, taking a handful of her hair and tugging gently. It gave him full access to the side of her neck. He kissed his way up her neck to her jaw before diving into her mouth.
It was a good thing that Stitch interrupted them, or things could’ve gotten pretty wild right there in front of their friends.
“Hey, Alex. There is a Wanda Varney on the phone for you. Says it’s regarding some property you called her about.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Alex was both excited and nervous as she drove into town. The call from her real estate agent was to let her know that the building she had her eye on to serve as the foundation’s clinic and administrative offices was back on the market because the previous buyer had backed out due to lack of funding.
The building had the perfect layout for what she was looking to do, and the price was a steal, which is why the agent called her today because she knew the building wouldn’t last long at that price.
It was in a nice section of town, and only a couple of doors down from Club B&W. Ron and Sal were the ones who had initially told her about the abandoned building.
The sun was starting to set as she parked in an open spot outside the building. Ace wasn’t happy when she told him to stay at home and entertain their guests, but he eventually relented after making sure she was armed.
She got out and noticed Ron was standing in front of the club, and she waved to him.
“Hey, what brings you down here today?” He leaned down and kissed her cheek, and she explained about the real estate agent calling her.
“That’s great. Well, I won’t hold you up then. Let me know how it goes.”
She said bye and walked down the sidewalk with a little skip in her step and met Wanda in front of the three-story brick building. As they both entered the building chatting up a storm, neither one had noticed the black sedan with dark tinted windows pull into the empty parking lot across the street.
◆◆◆
Alex’s phone rang just as she and Wanda were finishing up touring the building. With a few layout changes and, of course, some cosmetic work, it would be everything she imagined it to be. She smiled when she saw it was Ace. She couldn’t wait to tell him the place was hers. She excused herself for a moment.
“Hey!”
“Alex, where are you right now?” He asked hurriedly, and she knew that tone. Something was wrong.
“Wanda and I are getting ready to walk out. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Take Wanda and head toward the back door on the west side of the building. Potter and Stitch will meet you there. Do exactly what they say.”
She felt a chill race up her spine. “Ace, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”
“I got a call from Ron from the club. After you went into the building, he saw a man come from the parking lot across the street. He said the guy was acting suspiciously, so he continued to watch him from inside his club. When he went straight to your vehicle and opened the back driver’s side door and got in, that’s when he called me and the police.
Alex couldn’t believe this was happening. And when had Ace and Ron exchanged numbers?
“Alex…are you there?”
She shook her head. “Yeah, sorry. Ace, where are you?” She took Wanda’s arm and started leading her toward the exit Ace told her to go to.
“I’m at the Club along with the police. We didn’t want to spook the guy, so all of the action is around back. They’re going over a plan to take him into custody.”
She reached the back door and cracked it open. She breathed in a sigh of relief, seeing Potter standing there. He said something into the small mic clipped to his shirt.
“Okay, baby, Potter and Stitch got you. Go with them, and they’ll keep you safe.”
She wanted to ask him where he would be, but he had disconnected. She looked up at Potter.
“Let’s go,” was all he said, placing her behind him as if using himself as a human shield. Wanda was right behind her as Stitch brought up the rear. She did notice a couple of cops positioned at va
rious locations. They walked quickly down the block. As they approached a white brick building, the back door opened, and Ace stood there. She did not miss a beat as she ran to him. As he squeezed her tight, she felt his heart beating in his chest.
Two hours later, the standoff was finally over, leaving Alex in a state of denial, along with a long list of questions that she was only going to get answers to from her former employer.
She rubbed her temples. “I don’t understand. Williams was in the house with the rest of the team when it exploded. They had his DNA. I went to his funeral. Why?!”
The man who had snuck into Alex’s car had been one of her former colleagues. One who she thought had perished during the attack in Afghanistan. She had so many questions, but most likely, none could be answered because Williams had taken his life before the police could apprehend him.
They did find an ID on him with an alias name, but a valid address, so it gave the government a starting point to investigate.
Ace rubbed her back. “Greed can be an evil adversary.”
“I know that, but out of everyone on the team, Williams had the most loyalty, not to mention, he was my friend.”
“Honey, he wasn’t your friend. He played you and had all means to eliminate you.”
That was obvious since they had found a stockpile of syringes, zip ties, ropes, and several guns when they searched his car. Imagining what he had in store for her sent a shiver up her spine.