by Lisa Hughey
And her head went light.
“We’re not in charge of this op. Jack is.” He dropped his arms and rubbed at his knee. The one with the prosthetic below it. Her heart squeezed tightly. She could already tell that he wouldn’t want her sympathy. So she didn’t ask if he was okay, even if she wanted to. Badly.
However, she hated the fact that he was so blasé about their serious lack of intel.
“So you just blindly follow orders?” Her bitch was back. Not really his fault. Except he was so damn calm. So damn low energy. So damn accepting.
“He’s my CO on this job,” he said mildly. “And it’s my first for Stone Consulting.”
“Why’d he have you do this?” Based on what she knew of the Stone family, they had a whole lot more personally invested in this mission than a potential new employee who had no connection to Maria Torres. She would have thought they’d be all over this job, wanting in on the action.
“Because Jack, Bliss, Connor, and Ava are known to be supporters of Maria’s and also Fernandez’s biggest vocal opponents. If they came to Vegas and started hunting around, they could send Ortega and his operation to ground. Jack is known to be relentless.”
Rissa had discovered Jack’s tenacity during the job that reunited Jack and Bliss.
“True.” Rissa still didn’t get why they’d trust a new prospective employee with such an important job.
“I’m the secret weapon.” But he said it with a self-deprecating smile as if he didn’t take himself too seriously. “No one knows about me yet.”
Rissa wanted to roll her eyes. Yes, he was so special. “What don’t they know?”
She waited impatiently. He was still smiling about his secret. What didn’t she know? She was missing something crucial here.
He hesitated one more moment, then said, “Jack is my brother.”
Chapter 3
Yeah, he knew how to stop a conversation cold.
And he wasn’t gonna lie, the whole situation still felt weird. It was the first time he’d admitted aloud to anyone but family—and wasn’t that an odd word? Family—that he was related to the Stone siblings. The Stones had not just welcomed him with open arms but they’d yanked him through the door, shoved him into a seat at the table, and handed him a plate of turkey and stuffing, before he could even process that he wasn’t all alone in the world.
“You’re Jack’s brother? But…how?”
John skimmed his gaze up and down BB’s gorgeous body, lingering on the swell of her breasts and the curve of her ass. Her cheeks flushed at his lazy perusal. He couldn’t resist needling her just a little. Maybe as payback for her less-than-accommodating attitude earlier. “I’d think a woman as shit hot as you would know about a baby daddy.”
She thunked her head into her hand. “You know what I mean.”
“Half-brother.”
“Another one?” She burst out before her eyes rounded as she realized how inappropriate her comment was.
“Yeah. Daddy dearest is a complete dog.”
John had yet to meet his father. He wasn’t too keen on it. He’d been pissed after his mother’s revelation. As he discovered more about his sperm donor, meeting the man had dropped to the bottom of his priorities. But in searching for his father, he’d found half-siblings galore.
And that was a serious bonus. Oddly, though he hadn’t been searching for them, he was starting to like the fact that he had a group of people who had his back.
Her mouth rounded in a plump O. Her lips were slicked in all-American flag red. A color of power and patriotism. All control and attitude.
Fuck him. He tried to stop his thoughts from going to sex. But it was difficult. He hadn’t had sex in forever. Right now he was hard enough that he felt like his dick would crack off if he even moved. Marissa Evans, Rissa he corrected, was smoking hot. Perfection in female form. She was so out of his league, she was in another stratosphere.
Not to mention almost a complete bitch.
Almost.
There were glimpses now and then of a softer, sweeter woman but then the strident witch would come roaring back.
Although it might be worth putting up with the bitch for the sweet surcease of her body. At least once. Maybe several times. Maybe for one night.
About ninety-nine percent of the time, she had balls of steel. But every once in a while he’d catch a glimmer of vulnerability which made him think that the bitchy attitude was actually an act to mask something else.
Usually he went for sweet women. Low maintenance, easy-going, fun-loving. No drama and no fuss. Until that sweet woman started wanting things he didn’t want to give, and then he’d end it. Being in the military, he’d seen enough broken marriages to know that he should steer clear of anything permanent. Being deployed, having to keep secrets, not being able to come home every day. He refused to consign any woman into virtual single motherhood like his mama, or die and leave a woman all alone, again like his mama. Simple, uncomplicated, and short term had been his pattern his entire adult life.
He’d never been tempted.
But suddenly he was out of the military. He wouldn’t be gone all the time. He wouldn’t have to keep secrets. Or at least no national secrets.
A relationship, a concept he’d sworn off of for so long, was now a possibility. But there was no way in hell this woman would ever go for a washed-out and used-up military man with half a leg. Because, except for her attitude, she was perfection.
She was the embodiment of sexy, sultry beauty. Voluptuous curves, high cheekbones, plump lips, exotically tilted eyes of a striking aquamarine, thick lustrous black hair that swung in a sexy curtain, skimmed her shoulders and framed her smooth, unmarred pale skin.
And he was the polar opposite of perfect. He was a patchwork of scars mostly outside, some inside, mended back together after the IED had ripped his life apart. A messy work in progress, broken but not bowed, flawed but not defeated. He’d worked damn hard to rebound from the destruction, but those scars defined him. Defined who he was, up to this point in his life, and he certainly wasn’t going to let her perfection bring him down.
What the hell was he thinking anyway? This wasn’t a date. They were working on a mission that had the potential to send his life in a completely different direction. This week held the promise of regaining a sense of purpose. The last thing he needed was a hookup with her.
John shoved out of the flimsy patio chair. The metal feet screeched across the concrete deck. If he hadn’t had his gaze firmly planted on her face he would have missed her slight flinch.
“I’m going to go ice my knee.” He patted his swollen knee joint, to remind her, and himself, of his imperfection. The touch emphasized he was the exact opposite of her physical flawlessness, just in case she’d forgotten.
“You want to call Bliss and see if she can come stay with Maria?”
For a few reasons, John, Rissa, and Maria were staying off the Strip at some sort of hotel timeshare place.
One, they thought the noise and chaos of the Strip would be too much for Maria. Jack sure as hell been right on that point.
And two, they wanted to be physically distant from the Stone family.
The idea was to be covert while they were investigating this potential link to the kidnapping from eight years ago. The whole family was coming in town for a wedding. Everyone arrived tomorrow for a pre-wedding family vacation. At the end of the week, Jack and Bliss were tying the knot.
John couldn’t be more thrilled for his half-brother. Jack and Bliss seemed idyllically happy.
Although he wasn’t sure, John thought the collaboration between him and Rissa was a test drive for partnering with Adams-Larsen on more jobs. Perhaps he would learn what her company’s real work entailed. Because on the surface there didn’t seem to be much crossover between a humanitarian aid company and an image consulting firm.
One thing he’d learned about Jack, he didn’t do anything without thinking through the consequences and results. So if Jack thou
ght partnering with Adams-Larsen was a good idea, then he had his reasons and it was going to happen.
Which meant John couldn’t fuck it up by having sex with his temporary teammate. No matter how much his dick wanted it.
When alternate housing for him, Rissa, and Maria was proposed, he’d been happy to carve out a little distance from the rest of the Stone family. He still wasn’t completely comfortable when they were all in one place. His four siblings, Jack, Riley, Connor, and Jess, plus their assorted significant others, and Shelley as a surrogate mother, could be a little overwhelming.
However, he was starting to seriously question his sanity in agreeing to share this suite with Maria and the BB. He’d thought it would be plenty big enough for their little team. After all, he’d lived in barracks at Camp Leatherneck. This suite was a fucking palace compared to those living quarters. But that was before he’d become crazy and inadvisably attracted to Rissa Evans.
His stump was hurting. John limped back and forth to the ice machine down the hall. Fortunately the kitchen was stocked with a large soup pot so he brought that and the ubiquitous ice bucket with him. It was still going to take a ton of trips to get enough ice for his ice bath.
He dumped the ice in the giant Jacuzzi tub which was in a nook open to the master bedroom and separated only by a half wall. He’d been given the room with the king-size bed and the larger separate bathroom so that Maria and Rissa could have the room with two beds. Maria was still considered a bit of a flight risk. She’d gotten better in the past six months, more comfortable being around people, but she still had trouble trusting anyone but herself. Which of course was not a surprise.
BB appeared in the kitchen with their ice bucket. “You want help?”
If she’d been perky or condescending, he probably would have brushed her off but after her grudging offer, he surprised himself by answering, “Yeah. Sure.”
They walked to the ice machine in silence. The lack of conversation was easy, until it wasn’t. A strained quiet filled their awkward trips back and forth from the ice machine to his room. The first time she walked into his bedroom, she stopped cold. “Wow. Nice tub.”
She eyed the deep bowl with a multitude of jets and big enough for two. John had a visceral and physical reaction to her appreciation. He pictured her naked, wet and glistening, as bubbles frothed around her showgirl-worthy, truly magnificent breasts. He got lost in wondering what color her nipples were and then wondering what she would taste like.
The violent reaction to the images bombarding his brain was so intense, heat rose between them. And his semi, which he’d sported most of the day, stiffened into a good little soldier. Ready to show her how nice the tub was and how nice he could do her.
He so needed to get laid.
Then he remembered he was missing half his leg. Yeah. So not happening. At least not with her.
She awkwardly turned toward the Jacuzzi and dumped the ice in the slowly filling bowl.
“So how’d it happen?” She was angled away from him as if she didn’t want to gawk.
“What?” John was still in a daze from the hot fantasy his brain had conjured as he pictured her naked and willing. His body reacted to the sensual image of sliding into her slick wet heat. Reality struck. He didn’t have a chance in hell. She gestured to his leg, still not looking him in the eye. And that was more effective than an ice bath on his erect dick.
“Can’t really tell you. It’s classified.” He said wryly, “However the nutshell, unclassified version, is I got blown up.”
“I’m…sorry.” Her voice was soft.
Softer than he’d ever heard it, every trace of bitch was gone. But damn if he wanted her fucking pity. Except when she finally gazed at him, those blue-green stunners didn’t reflect sympathy. He wasn’t sure what was there, but thank Christ it wasn’t pity.
“Thank you for your service.”
“The civvie contractor next to me wasn’t as lucky.” John recalled the quiet, civil engineer who’d ended up dead beside him, his body a broken, grotesque skeleton.
And yeah, the loss of his leg was horrible, life changing. But at least he had a life. On his good days he could be philosophical and admit his injury was just a cost of doing war.
Sure, he had bad days where the depression and the “why me?” got to him. But when his brain started to spiral that way he tried to remember that contractor’s lifeless eyes and be thankful for his survival. The loss of his leg was a serious blow in many ways but he was one of the lucky ones whose prosthetic options were varied and worked. “So I count my blessings.”
She placed her hand on his forearm. The contact sizzled up his arm and down his body. And his wilted erection banged right back into place. John deliberately stared down at her smooth fingers, with those no-nonsense practical nails, wrapped around his arm. Lust flared sharp and sudden in his belly. He tilted his head at an angle to hide his gaze and wondered if she was sending him an unspoken message.
She uncurled her fingers and took a big step back. “I’m…glad you’re okay.”
That instinctive move away from him told John everything he needed to know. With that one scotch freeing his tongue, he couldn’t help but push. “Not glad enough to help me with my problem though, right, BB?”
“Problem?” But her gaze drifted to his crotch and sure enough, her eyes widened at the boner throbbing against his zipper. Instead of running away, she licked her plump red lips. The temperature in the room shot up about a hundred degrees. Her face flushed and her nipples hardened into tight little peaks that pushed against her thin cotton blouse and told him she was as turned on as he was.
Dammit, he ached.
Rissa swayed toward him. But then a sound from the other room hit both their ears as a pot banged on the stovetop. Maria was awake and apparently in the kitchen. Saved from a mission-altering mistake by their team member.
“I’ll just…go check on her,” BB said. Her voice came out in a breathy rasp, and he wondered if that’s what she’d sound like in the middle of sex. He didn’t even think that she realized what she’d done when she cast one last, lingering glance at the erection that still hadn’t gotten the message that he wasn’t getting any.
Rissa pivoted on her heel and rushed out of the room as if a band of Afghani insurgents were on her six. That act brought him back to reality. The only people who’d seen his leg were his doctors and nurses. His last girlfriend, and he meant that term loosely, at the time hadn’t been able to deal with the recovery period for an amputee when the last thing on his mind had been sex.
So here he sat over a year later with a massive boner and nowhere to put it. And since he’d waited so long to show his mangled leg to a lover, he certainly wasn’t going to start with the beautiful Ball Buster.
His ego was pretty healthy but no sense in getting shot down hard by Miss A plus.
He quickly stripped down and removed his prosthetic with a mangled sigh. His injury was transtibial, which meant he still had use of his knee joint. John braced for the frigid water. The relief for the stump and joint would be fantastic. But he was literally going to freeze his ass and balls off.
He slid down into the water. The shock wilted his erection right quick and his balls shriveled into tight little sacs trying like hell to draw up and hide. Nothing like ice water shrinkage to get rid of an unwanted boner.
John groaned at the frigid cold and then tried to focus on the throb of pain in his knee joint rather than the freezing burn everywhere else. He tilted his head back and leaned against the rim of the tub.
John lifted his right leg out of the water and rested it along the edge of the tub and sank his hips farther down. The position was a little awkward, his half leg in the ice, which spread his crotch wide, unfortunately his cock bore the brunt of the cold but it was easier on the rest of his body. He groaned again when the cold finally started to work on the ache in his residual limb.
The door to the bedroom burst open and Rissa barged in to the tub area. “Are
you okay?”
She was breathing hard. Her gaze skimmed over him checking for injury or hurt. But as she figured out he was fine, her focus lingered on his abs before dropping to his dick.
He was so stunned he didn’t even bother to cover his now less-than-impressive package.
Amazingly, his cock responded anyway as he took in her partially unbuttoned blouse and the tantalizing peek of blue lace. Even with the extremely cold water, he started sporting wood. Fantastic. He needed to get her the hell out.
Was he okay? “Why wouldn’t I be?” He ignored the deep pounding of his heart, the beats echoed loudly in the pulse of his erection.
She continued to stare as she squeaked out a breathy, “Oh.”
Then as if she finally registered his state and the fact that she’d burst in on him naked, she started babbling. “Oh my God. I’m sorry! I didn’t….” She whirled around so that her back was to him. “I thought you were….”
“Thought I was what?” He really did want to know because he’d seen the distress on her face when she’d barged in. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he’d finally found something that could fluster the innate cool confidence she exuded.
“I heard you groan and thought maybe you were hurt.” Her head tilted back and she murmured at the ceiling. “Fuck.”
Hell yes. Let’s do it. He could be out of the tub and at the bed in a matter of seconds. But now that she was facing away from him and was embarrassed, he became conscious of the fact that he was naked.
And she’d been worried that he was hurt.
“Just because I’m missing part of my leg doesn’t make me incapable of—” anything except continuing to be a Marine, “—taking care of myself.”