Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Handling Haven: A Deimos/Trident Security/Delta Team Crossover (Kindle Worlds)

by Samantha A. Cole

  Fishing into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet and phone and placed them on her night stand. He’d discarded his socks and sneakers earlier out in the living room. Carefully climbing over Haven, he slipped under the blankets and stretched out beside her on the queen-sized bed, resting his head on the spare pillow. She turned on her side, away from him, clutching his forearm to her chest. Scooting closer, he spooned her, his front torso against her back. He stayed awake until her soft breathing told him she was no longer having the nightmare, then closed his eyes and followed her into slumber.

  Haven woke up feeling safe and secure . . . and something poking her in the ass. A heavy weight lay across her waist and slow, steady breaths tickled her neck. She stayed perfectly still as her eyes blinked open. It was hot in the bedroom, but that probably had a lot to do with the hunky guy spooning her in his sleep. The military wristwatch on the arm that was wrapped around her was a dead giveaway. Well, that and the fact she highly doubted anyone would break through the property’s high-tech security system just to climb into bed with her and fall asleep—if anything, they’d do it to slit her throat.

  As her mind cleared, she remembered him putting a pillow on his lap last night as they watched the movie, encouraging her to lay down and relax. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to, since the only time she’d ever relaxed in the past was when she’d been alone, but apparently it had worked. Somehow, Frisco had gotten her to drop her defenses and let him take care of her. What was she going to do about him?

  She wanted nothing more than to roll over and wake him up with her lips on his and her hand down his pants. Last night in the shower had proven all her girlie parts were in working order, but masturbating and fucking a man were two different things. He’d already told her he could handle her disability, that he wasn’t bothered by it at all, but could she trust he wouldn’t regret it later or find her lacking in some way? While her mind still held onto slivers of doubt, her heart told her something else. Frisco was the type of man she’d spent her teen years and early twenties dreaming about—strong, confident, good-looking, smart, gentle—everything the alpha males had been in the romance novels she used to read. But he was so much more than that. He had her daydreaming about a normal life again—one with a future.

  “You’re thinking too hard,” he murmured in a sleepy voice. “I’m not going to jump you, but there’s nothing I can do about the morning wood. I’m a guy, remember?”

  Oh, she definitely remembered, even without the stiff reminder. “Is there any particular reason you’re in my bed?”

  “Mm-hmm. I had no choice. You grabbed my arm and flipped me over you after I carried you in here. By the way, you snore.”

  Haven scoffed. “I do not!”

  “Yes, you do, but I’m not complaining. It’s cute.”

  Turning, she faced him, chest to chest, as he adjusted the covers over them. His eyes were still shut as if he didn’t want the day to start. When she inhaled, his potent, male scent teased her nose and made her mouth water. She brushed her fingers over his brow, and that made him lift his eyelids, but he remained silent as she gently traced the contours of his face. “What do you see in me?”

  His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t know who I’m supposed to be. I’ve pretended to be so many different people over the years that I don’t know who Haven Caldwell is . . . hell, that’s not even my real name.”

  “I won’t ask what it is.” He grasped her hand and kissed her fingertips. “You’ll tell me someday. But you’ll always be Haven to me—not the one before you were hurt, but this one. I like you, baby, a lot—warts and all. Hell, I’m half in love with you. I’d give anything for you to take a chance on us. There’s never been a woman in my life I couldn’t stop thinking about 24/7, someone I craved to be with all day and all night. You’ve become an addiction I don’t want to recover from.”

  God, he was pushing all the right buttons. Not wanting to think anymore, just feel, she leaned in and brushed her lips against his. His eyes widened, but instead of kissing her back, he pulled away. “Be very sure, Haven. I want you to be positive you’re not going to regret this, because I don’t think I’ll be able to walk away from you if you do. This isn’t a one-night stand or just a fling until the op is over.”

  Her hand trailed seductively down his T-shirt-covered torso, over the waistband of the tan shorts he’d worn to bed, and further to the hard bulge underneath. His breath hitched, and he groaned as his hips flexed forward. Haven placed soft kisses over his whiskered jawline. “I won’t ever regret this. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted someone for more than one night or a weekend—but with you, it’s beyond that. I’m falling for you. I’ve tried to fight it, but I can’t anymore—I surrender. Remind me what it’s like to be alive again, Frisco. Make me scream your name.”

  Thrusting his hand into her hair, Frisco held her head in place as his greedy mouth took possession of hers. She parted her lips, inviting him in. He didn’t hesitate, plunging his tongue inside and dueling with hers. Shifting onto his back, he took her with him until she was lying on top of him. His hands skimmed down her torso and grabbed the hem of her tank top. Dragging the fabric upward, he kissed her chin. “Can you lift yourself up a second?”

  Putting her weight onto her arms, she gave him room to pull the shirt over her head. She then relaxed on top of him again, and he tossed the garment aside. Her lacy, pink bra went next. Frisco then rolled them over until Haven was on her back and he was on his side next to her. Staring at her bare chest with lust-filled eyes, he reached back and grabbed a handful of his shirt and yanked it up and off. A split second later his mouth latched onto her right breast, and he sucked on the taut peak. Haven cried out as pure pleasure shot through her. Her hands went to the back of his head to hold him there. His tongue flicked back and forth over the one nipple while his fingers found the other, teasing it. His free hand skimmed down her abdomen, and cupped her mound before pulling on the string of her cotton shorts. Haven reveled in the feel of his soft skin over the hard, powerful muscles in his back.

  Frisco pushed her shorts and underwear down and found her wet and ready for him. Haven thanked her lucky stars she’d trimmed things down there in the shower yesterday as he left her breasts and licked his way down her torso. After removing the last of her clothing, he spread her legs and settled between them. He kissed her inner thigh and lifted his gaze to hers with a raised eyebrow in a silent inquiry. Haven fell for him even more at that moment. She nodded and her husky voice was filled with want and need as she said, “Yes, I felt it. Please, do it again.”

  He complied with her request. “Tell me if something hurts or doesn’t feel right, baby. This is all about you right now. I want you to close your eyes and let me discover what you like.”

  Haven’s heart wanted to beat out of her chest. She stared at Frisco for a few moments, but when it was clear he wasn’t continuing until she shut her eyes, she followed his order. The first thing she felt was him kiss and then nibble on her other thigh. He returned to the first one and did the same, only this time a little higher . . . closer to where she wanted him the most. He cupped the back of her knees and gently pushed them toward her chest, exposing her even more.

  Grabbing handfuls of the fitted sheet on either side of her, she twisted them as Frisco ran his tongue up her slit, groaning. “Damn, you taste delicious.”

  He did it again, this time plunging his stiffened tongue inside her, causing Haven to cry out. “Oh! Yes! Frisco!”

  As he licked, nibbled, and sucked on her folds, his fingers found her clit and tormented the tiny bud. Haven squirmed as he stoked the flames starting to consume her. Her blood was like lava in her veins. His talented mouth and hands caused her body to sing in a way she’d thought it would never do again. His tongue alternated between flattening and dragging over her labia and becoming rigid, before impaling her.

  Haven was drowning in a sea o
f pleasure, and, without warning, her climax slammed into her. She shrieked Frisco’s name as she writhed and shook uncontrollably, her back arching off the bed as he wrung every ounce of ecstasy from her body. Multi-colored lights flashed behind her eyelids as she gasped for air. She wasn’t a stranger to orgasms, but never before had it been more than just a sexual release. This man had taken her to heights she’d never known existed. She felt like she was floating among the clouds in the sky, as she luxuriated in a euphoric descent.

  Finally, she opened her eyes and found him staring at her, a satisfied grin on his face along with the evidence of her completion. The corners of her mouth lifted upward in a lazy smile as her breathing slowed to normal. In a mellow daze, she basked in the afterglow. “Wow! That . . . was incredible.”

  He gave her swollen clit one last kiss. “Glad you liked it, but we’re just getting started, baby. I hope you’re not hungry, because I don’t think we’re leaving this room before lunchtime . . . or maybe, dinner.” Releasing her legs, Frisco rolled off her to the edge of the bed and stood. He quickly shucked off his shorts and underwear, grabbed his wallet from the night stand, and retrieved a condom. She watched, with renewing lust, as he ripped open the foil package and removed the latex circle. Like the rest of his toned physique, his cock was a thing of beauty. It was long, thick, and erect against his lean, hard abdomen as he rolled the protection down over the dark purple crown.

  Climbing back onto the bed, he crawled up her body, kissing, nipping, and licking her flesh on the way up to her mouth. She tasted herself on his lips and tongue, as her hands roamed over his shoulders and back. Looming over her, he reached down and lined up the tip of his cock with her pussy, then rocked his hips against hers. Slowly, he entered her, sheathing himself within her slick heat.

  “Damn, baby. You’re so tight. Please say I’m not hurting you.” He clearly had scant control over his urge to fuck her with abandon but he somehow managed to hold onto it.

  “I’m . . . fine. Oh, please! More, Frisco! Don’t stop!”

  His length and girth stretched her inner walls, as he went deeper with each restrained thrust. Leaning most of his weight on his forearms, he dropped his brow to her shoulder as he withdrew and advanced again until finally he was buried to the hilt inside her.

  Lifting his head, he stared into her eyes, taking in her every response as he made love to her at a maddeningly slow pace. Haven dragged her hands down his torso and clutched his hips, digging her fingernails into his taut ass cheeks. “F-Faster, please!”

  His hips picked up speed at her urging. A tornado of mixed sensations ripped through her body as his pelvic bone struck her clit with each thrust. The onslaught was too much for her to even try to hold back, and, once again, she screamed his name as she flew apart. Her walls quivered and clenched around him, making him groan and curse as his body tensed. With one final, near-violent plunge into her depths, he stiffened and roared his release.

  Finally depleted, he collapsed on top of her, yet kept most of his weight on his arms as his chest heaved for oxygen. His pecs brushed against her still sensitive nipples with each ragged breath. Moments passed before he mumbled into her neck, “Does your pharmacy deliver?”

  Bewildered at his question, all she could manage was, “Huh?”

  “I don’t want to leave this bed and I only have one more condom. We’re going to need a lot more than that.”

  Fifteen

  G rabbing his soda, Frisco took a swig, before putting it back down next to his empty plate. Slim made a damn good burger. This was the third different one Frisco had gotten over the past week and a half, and each one tasted better than the last. He was determined to sample every version on the menu before deciding which was his favorite. It would be a hard choice, but he was willing to give it a try.

  It was a beautiful day, and he hadn’t had trouble convincing Haven to come to the park for lunch after their side-by-side physical therapy sessions. She was getting stronger as each day went by, but was still unable to put all her weight on her legs without assistance. However, her progress, thus far, was a great motivator for her to stick with the rehabilitation. The therapists agreed it was only a matter of time before she could stand on her own. As for Frisco, he probably had another two or three weeks before he’d be cleared for full duty again. Part of him couldn’t wait, but the other part wanted to stay as the Deimos-Army go-between. The mission obviously wouldn’t last forever, but working with Haven every day and sleeping in her bed every night was becoming a hard-core habit he didn’t want to break. He was worried that when the mission was over, she’d try to kick him out of her life again because she was too scared to see what the future might bring them. He was determined to fight for what he knew was right. He’d always heard that when you met the person you were destined to spend the rest of your life with, you’d feel it in your gut—and it was true. Now he just had to convince Haven it wasn’t indigestion.

  “So . . . tell me how you hooked up with Deimos.” He’d told her all about his family, friends, and past, but she hadn’t been as forthcoming about her own. If this was going to work between the two of them, she’d have to learn to open up to him. He hadn’t said a word to her about the nightmare she’d had the other night when she’d mentioned her mother and someone named Tara. He’d discreetly asked Avery about Haven’s past, but she said she was as clueless about it as he was. He wasn’t sure if he believed her but he let it go. Carter had told him that neither he nor Jordyn knew about their fellow operative’s past either, so Frisco was going to have to get it from the horse’s mouth or not at all.

  She raised an eyebrow at him as she swallowed a french fry. “I was recruited.” That’s all she offered him, and her hesitation prompted him to spin his hand in circles, encouraging her to continue. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You want the whole sordid story, don’t you?”

  “I’d like to hear it, yes.”

  “Fine,” she huffed. Her gaze went to the small lake behind him, and she took several moments before she spoke again. “I grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan. My father walked out on my mom, my sister, and me when I was four . . . Tara was six months at the time. As far as I know, my mother never heard from him again. She tried for years to have him tracked down for child support, but it was like he disappeared off the face of the earth. I used my contacts a few years ago to find him—intent on making him suffer and hand over all the money we’d been denied over the years. I wanted to donate it to a charity to help single mothers. Apparently, though, he’d been leading a double life—the name on my birth certificate was an alias. Turns out he was a bigamist who’d illegally married my mom, but I guess he decided he didn’t want two families or couldn’t handle it. The whole time Mom had been trying to track him down, he was only a hundred miles away, living with family number one. He died about two years before I found out who he really was. He’d never lost his wandering eyes and hands, and a mistress’s husband shot the two of them after walking in on them one afternoon. Once I found that out, I let it drop. His legal, first wife and kids didn’t need to know he had other kids out there. They were dealing with enough crap. Why should I make them suffer for his sins? Going after his meager estate would have just rubbed salt in their wounds. In fact, the guy that killed him, saved me the trouble.”

  Frisco remained silent. He didn’t think she was kidding, but he also doubted she would’ve killed someone in cold blood, that wouldn’t have been an authorized hit.

  “Anyway, Mom did her best to raise Tara and me. We called ourselves the Three Musketeers. Things were tight growing up, but Mom always found inexpensive ways for us to have fun. She was a great woman. After my father disappeared, she got a job as a secretary at a small advertising firm. Over the years, they grew, and she got an education from the ground up. When I was old enough to watch Tara for a few hours each night, Mom went back to college and got her degree. I was twenty-one and finishing up college—pre-law—when she got a huge promotion to vice president at the sa
me firm she’d been working for all those years. Tara and I were thrilled for her. Mom had really come into her own. She’d even been dating this nice guy for a few months. Nothing serious, as far as I knew, but he was good to her.” Haven took a sip of her soda, but Frisco could tell she was lost in her memories. Her gaze was still everywhere but on him. If that made it easier for her to talk, it was fine with him.

  “The promotion came in right before summer, and Mom decided she was going to start treating us to the big vacations we’d never had growing up, but had always wanted. The first one we took was to London and Dublin. For two weeks, we went everywhere we could and saw places we’d only read about or saw online. It was awesome, and Mom said we were starting a new tradition of traveling to new countries every year. The following spring break, we chose Paris and Madrid. I was going to be doing a summer internship in preparation for law school, so we went in March . . . of 2004.”

  Frisco’s stomach sank. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, and it wasn’t good—not that he’d expected it to be, based on her nightmare. But Haven continued as if she needed to get it off her chest. “Again, we had so much fun. We’d been in Madrid for three days, and I’d woken up early that last morning and convinced Mom and Tara to get up too, even though my sister wanted to sleep late.” A sad smile appeared then faded quickly. “We were going to take an hour trip to San Lorenzo de El Escorial and decided to eat breakfast when we got there. A little after seven in the morning we left the hotel and walked to catch the train from the Atocha station.”

  Where three of ten terrorist bombs, planted by members of al Qaeda, had exploded about twenty or thirty minutes later . . . shit.

  Her voice had trailed off as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Frisco stood, rounded the table, picked her up in his arms, and sat again with her on his lap. “It’s okay, baby. Sh. It’s okay.”