It had taken two days to finally get clearance to leave the hospital, and another to travel here to Montana. Wade had to stay in DC for debriefings and other security clearance protocols, then he had a whole bunch of meetings to attend about Rahim and his network. She didn’t know when he’d be finished or what he’d be doing next, let alone when they’d see each other again. That didn’t help the constant buzz of anxiety in her stomach.
They spoke on the phone every night, and though he played it cool she could tell he was physically and mentally exhausted. It still wasn’t easy for him to open up to anyone, not even her, but he was gradually letting her in even more, little by little. The latest intelligence Wade had relayed to her said the immediate threat from Rahim’s network was over, but the ongoing one was not.
Now that the war had been brought back to U.S. soil, the tide had shifted irrevocably. Everyone was on edge. The cleanup effort at the bombing site was an enormous undertaking and very expensive. Officials had rushed to downplay the danger and the threat level to the public. But Rahim’s operatives and others like him were out there, actively looking for an opportunity to strike.
Sighing, she snuggled deeper under the throw quilt her mother always kept draped over the back of the couch. A gentle hand rubbed up and down her calf. “Need anything?”
“No, thanks,” she murmured, and let her heavy eyelids drift closed. It felt good to be home, and awesome to spend time with her parents again. They’d listened patiently to everything she’d told them about Wade and the bombing, though certain things about Wade’s past and his job she’d kept to herself for security reasons. Her mother had fussed over her and Erin had been more than happy to let her.
The nausea she’d experienced that first day at the hospital had continued right through until morning, then dissipated. It hadn’t bothered her since, but now she was constantly fatigued. The doctors said it was likely more from stress and exhaustion than mild radiation sickness, and she hoped they were right. Thankfully her levels were normal, her body having already absorbed or shed any of the radioactive particles she’d been exposed to, and she hadn’t experienced any other symptoms. Right now the worst thing was that she missed Wade so much it hurt.
Hairy sighed again and rested his chin on her thigh. Shifting her cast against her hip to make her arm more comfortable, she let herself drift, secure in knowing that she was safe and surrounded by her family.
She woke sometime later when Hairy let out a low woof. Erin sat up, blinking groggily. The TV was still on but her father had paused the movie. “What’s wrong?” she muttered, rubbing at her eyes. Hairy jumped down and ran to the window, ears perked, tail up.
“Someone’s here.”
Fully awake now, Erin leaned back to peer through the gap in the curtains behind the couch. A pair of headlights swung around as the vehicle parked at the top of the driveway next to the garage. Her father got up and went to the door, opened it with Hairy at his side. She couldn’t see who it was, but she could hear their footsteps crunching against the gravel at the base of the porch steps.
“Evenin’,” her father called out.
“Hi, Mr. Kelly.”
Her heart leapt. She’d recognize that deep voice anywhere.
“Wade!” Vaulting off the couch so fast her mother gasped and spilled popcorn everywhere, Erin raced for the door. Her father stepped aside, a big smile on his face, but she barely noticed, her eyes all for the man coming up the porch steps. He was dressed in a dark leather jacket and jeans, and the grin he flashed her in the midst of the heavy stubble made her heart stutter.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
With a glad cry, Erin flew across the porch and threw herself into his arms. Her cast thunked against his back, sending a flare of pain up her arm, but she ignored it. Wade caught her with a good-natured grunt and chuckled, his arms closing tight around her. She thought she might burst from happiness as she clung to him, drawing in the scent of leather and spicy soap. “What are you doing here?” she asked against his neck.
“Finished up early this afternoon, told Robert I needed a few days and caught a flight into Billings. Surprise.”
Lifting her head, she beamed up at him. “Best surprise ever. Come in.” She snagged his hand and drew him into the house. After introducing him to Hairy and her parents, his mother insisted on feeding him and they sat around the family room while he ate. He seemed perfectly at ease with them, which surprised her, given how tense and uncomfortable he’d been when they’d first come stateside a week ago. Already the adjustment was becoming easier for him. Unless he was just putting on a good show. Either way, she loved him to pieces for his effort.
Her parents must have guessed how much she wanted to be alone with him because they both bid them goodnight and headed upstairs to give them privacy, even though they were both nighthawks like her and usually stayed up until at least one. As they hit the stairs, Wade looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. “I should…probably head to a hotel now.”
She almost laughed. He was so adorable, worried about offending her parents by staying with her. “Wade, I’m twenty-six, not sixteen, and they know how I feel about you. You can stay with me at the cabin.”
His eyes lit up. “Cabin?”
“There’s a guest cabin I use whenever I come to visit, about a half mile away. You can drive us there and save me the walk back.”
Smiling, he reached up to cup her cheek in one broad hand and she leaned into his touch. “Missed you.”
“Prove it.”
“I plan to.” Grinning, he pulled her to her feet. “Come on. You ride shotgun and navigate.”
Though the idea of jumping him in the cab of his rental had its merits, Erin contented herself with pressing against his side and gliding her right hand all over him as he drove, mapping every muscular curve and dip she could reach. The pain in her left arm wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been a few days ago but the cast was awkward and covered part of her hand. She was so damn hot for him already, her body achy and tingling at the thought of his mouth and hands all over her.
“You’re playing with fire,” he warned, his amused tone belying the hungry glint in his eyes when he looked over at her.
“I’m stoking the fire,” she whispered back, coming up on her knees to nibble on his earlobe. They had lots to talk about and plenty of uncertainty to tackle, but that could wait. Right now she wanted to feel him naked against her, feel him slide deep and hard inside her and know she was his.
“Trust me, the fire doesn’t need stoking.” He caught her hand and pressed it to the rigid length of his erection jutting against the front of his jeans.
She’d left the kitchen light burning. The moment the front door shut behind them she grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back against the wall, ignoring how the cast encumbered her as she lifted up on her toes to capture his mouth with hers.
Wade gripped the back of her head with one hand and her hip with the other, jerking her tight against him as they devoured each other. She moaned into his mouth at the feel of his tongue gliding against hers, at the press of that hard, hot body. In between deep, searching kisses they peeled off each other’s clothes, dropping them on the floor on the way to the stairs that led to the bedroom in the loft.
Naked, Wade swung her up in his arms and carried her upstairs to the queen-size bed set under the eaves. He laid her down on the sheets and came down on top of her, and in the light streaming in from downstairs, she saw the jagged gash on his hip and thigh. She gasped and pushed him upright with her good hand to see it better. The wound looked deep, and over a foot long. The stitches were red and raw looking. “What happened?”
“Knife,” he answered, tugging her back up with a hand in her hair and seeking her mouth once more.
She opened for the erotic glide of his tongue, a delicious somersaulting sensation curling low in her belly as she ran a gentle hand over his hip. “But—”
“Just kiss me,” he muttered against her lips, and she
heard the desperate edge of need he’d kept buried until now.
Though she wanted him just as badly and longed to soothe that desperation she sensed in him, she didn’t want him to feel even a second’s discomfort when they made love. She pulled back slightly and pushed against his shoulders. “Let me on top this time.”
He hesitated for a moment, searching her eyes in the dimness. Finally he gave in and allowed her to help roll him onto his back. The faint light streaming into the room outlined the lean, sexy lines of his powerful body and the hard, thick erection she couldn’t wait to feel inside her.
Tingling all over with anticipation and desire, Erin straddled his hips, careful not to touch his stitches, and bent to kiss him. He fisted one hand in her hair and held her fast as he kissed her so deep and hard it made her dizzy. Tearing her mouth free to drag in a breath, she trailed a line of kisses down his jaw and neck, over his chest and belly while her right hand snaked down and curled around the rigid length of his cock.
Wade bit back a groan and wrapped his hand around hers, holding her still. She looked up the length of his body and their eyes locked. She could see him battling with himself, fighting back the urge to take. But there was no need. Smiling, she reached up to stroke her fingertips, exposed at the end of the cast, across his bristly cheek. “Let me love you, Wade.”
His eyes flared at that but he didn’t protest and after a moment he relaxed his grip, releasing her hand to let her do as she wanted. And what she wanted was to show this man everything he made her feel, and everything she felt for him.
* * *
Wade’s heart was pounding almost as hard as it had when he’d pulled her out of the debris after the bombing. He was strung so tight, so desperate to claim her, he didn’t know if he could handle giving her control right now. But she’d made it clear how much she wanted this and there was nothing he’d deny this woman if it was within his power to give it to her.
Pulling in a deep breath, he consciously made himself relax and gave himself up to her.
Her hand was like warm silk as it flowed over him, her touch loving and reverent at the same time. She was so damn gorgeous on display for him like this, her perfect curves illuminated from behind, those round, pert breasts with their tight pink nipples rising and falling with each breath. The grip on his cock was pure, perfect torture, a slow glide down and up, combined with a squeeze and twist around the head. Groaning at the pleasure of it, he set an arm around her back and lifted his head to capture a nipple in his mouth.
Erin moaned and awkwardly cupped the back of his head with her casted hand, still stroking him with the other. “I want you so much,” she whispered, shifting to rub his rigid cock against her damp slit. The soft, wet sound of it ramped his need even higher.
He switched to the other breast and rocked up against her, adding to the pressure and heat. It thrilled him to know how much she wanted him. These past few days without her had felt like a fucking eternity. He needed to be buried inside her, to feel her grip him tightly as her inner muscles fluttered around him and she came undone in his arms.
Suddenly he couldn’t wait another second. “Baby, ride me,” he gritted out, needing her so much it shook him. He’d take her slow and sweet next time, wake her with soft kisses and languorous caresses until she was begging for more. Right now he needed her hard and fast to take the edge off this unquenchable need before it killed him.
Humming in agreement, she managed to grip a fistful of his hair despite the cast and twisted his head up to meet her kiss. She licked and sucked at his tongue, swallowed his guttural growl as she stood him up and slowly eased him inside her tight, wet sheath. Her hips shifted, did a little circle that almost blew the top of his head off before she finally sank all the way down and took him deep.
Wade struggled to breathe and dug his fingers into her hip, held on tight as she began to move in a slow, torturous rhythm that was as hypnotic as it was agonizing. She was the fucking sexiest thing he’d ever seen as she rode him, those green eyes heavy-lidded with growing pleasure and the certainty of her feminine power over him.
She guided his mouth back to her tight nipple and he obliged her, making love to the sensitive bud as she rocked and swayed atop him, drawing out the pleasure for both of them. Her little gasps and sighs added to the heat, bringing out the intense possessiveness she made him feel. She was his and he wanted her to know it in every fiber of her being. He felt the climax coiling low in his belly, his muscles drawing tight as the release built deep inside.
Riding him harder now, she widened her knees a little and slipped her right hand between her legs to stroke her clit. Her throaty moan of enjoyment wrapped around him, her inner walls squeezing and caressing him until he couldn’t hold back anymore. He seized control. Gripping her hips tight in both hands, he lifted her slightly and held her in position while he thrust into her.
She moaned his name and dug her nails into his shoulder, stroking the fingers of her right hand faster between her thighs. Over and over he plunged deep, reveling in her growing cries of pleasure, the slight sheen of perspiration on her skin as she climbed those last few steps to orgasm.
Her breathing hitched, a thin cry of need spilling from her parted lips. When he bent to suck on a tight, pink nipple, she shattered. Her inner muscles contracted around him, increasing the heat and the friction. White-hot ecstasy burned him. He held her firmly in place and let himself go, pumping his release into her body, his ragged groan of relief muffled against the soft cushion of her breasts.
Gasping, hearts pounding, they clung to each other as the waves gently faded. Erin sighed in contentment and kissed the top of his head, her hands gliding over his damp shoulders. Feeling totally relaxed for the first time in over a week, he drew her down to lie full-length on top of him, still buried deep inside her and wishing he could stay there forever.
He ran his fingers through the long, silky strands of her hair, basking in the sense of peace and rightness he felt with her. She was safe and sated in his arms, giving him what he’d so desperately needed since he’d first heard about the bomb going off at Langley. She’d seen him at his best and worst, and still loved him despite everything, warts and all. To him it was nothing short of a miracle.
“Spoke to my sister today,” he said.
She turned her face up to his. “How did it go?”
“Better than I expected. There’s still so much I can’t tell her or my brother about my job, but they both still wanna see me. I was thinking I’d drive down there tomorrow and stop in for a visit.” He ran his fingertips up and down the valley of her spine. “Come with me?”
At that she lifted her head and smiled at him. “I’d love to be there when you see them again.”
“Good, because I have a feeling we’re gonna need a buffer, and you’re about the best people-person I know.”
She snuggled back against his chest, that little smile still in place. “I’ll be happy to act as your buffer, but I bet I won’t need to.”
They lay together for long minutes until their heartbeats returned to normal, until all the unanswered questions between them crowded his brain. “How long until you go back to Bagram?” he finally asked.
She sighed, the sound sad. “Probably as soon as my cast comes off in another six weeks.”
With his chaotic work schedule and her staying in Montana, those six weeks wouldn’t give them much time together. He didn’t like knowing there was a hard deadline coming up. “How much longer do you have left in your tour and contract?”
“Seven months on the tour, and eleven months in my contract.”
He let the quiet spread between them for a minute before continuing. They hadn’t talked about the future or anything about continuing their relationship, but since they’d already admitted they loved each other, he figured that meant there was a future. “What will you do after that?”
A subtle tension crept into her muscles. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on what happens with us.”
She lowered her gaze, focusing on her fingertip as she drew a gentle pattern over his chest. “Will there be an us when all that’s over?”
He drew back to scowl at her, stunned that she’d even question that. “There better be.”
She glanced up, as though startled by the warning tone, and a relieved smile curved her mouth. “What about you? What are you going to do after all this is over?”
“Robert’s offered me a consulting job. Minimal travel, most of it stateside. Pay and benefits are good. Helluva lot better than my last stint with The Company. And I could do a lot of it via conference call or video meeting. Which means I could work from Montana as easily as anywhere else.”
Her face lit up. “You’d do that?”
He tried not to be offended by the surprise in her voice. “Hell yes, I would. But what do you want? I mean, after you’re done with the Army.”
“I’ll get a job at a hospital here. And I want to do some riding therapy with wounded vets. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time.”
He could easily see her doing something like that. And she’d be damned good at it. Maybe he could even help from time to time. “That it?”
She shrugged, not meeting his eyes.
Uh-uh. Putting a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face up until she met his gaze. “What about weddings and stuff?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Define ‘stuff’.”
“You know, kids and whatever.” She’d be a fantastic mother to some lucky kids.
“Someday, yeah. Wedding first though. You?” She seemed almost hesitant to ask him.
Heroes in Uniform: Soldiers, SEALs, Spies, Rangers and Cops: Sexy Hot Contemporary Alpha Heroes From NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors Page 59