“You gotta woman, brother?” I asked.
“Yes, to one of the three questions. You ass wipes ready to go?” he asked, his smile fading.
The car ride over to the hangar was spent going over what I had found about the oil company. Jasper was telling me a funny story about Jason when we walked into the hangar, and I froze.
Blake.
What the hell was she doing here? She looked fucking gorgeous standing next to the commander in a tight knee-length skirt and a pair of fuck-me pumps – and I would gladly do just that as soon as I could get her alone.
“Ladies. Nice of you to make it. I think you all know Agent Blake Porter,” the commander said.
I glanced up to look at Blake. I had been so stuck on her shoes I hadn’t noticed that she was frowning at me.
“The CIA was nice enough to loan Blake to us. She’ll be at the 707 for the foreseeable future,” he continued.
The guys all said hello and welcomed her like a long-lost friend. Clark had a wide shit-eating grin that I was trying to understand. Something wasn’t right. I looked between her and Clark one more time and felt my temper rise. I cut my eyes to Blake, and her frown deepened.
The commander, not paying attention to the tension in the room, made his way to the door. “Blake, it’s a pleasure to have you. I trust that Clark has got you settled and if you need anything else the team will take care of you.”
There it was, the confirmation I needed. Clark had been taking care of her. I needed to hold my shit together for about ten more minutes until I had enough time to gather my shit and tell the commander I needed a transfer. I had zero issue going to a line unit as long as it meant I didn’t have to see Clark and Blake cozied up together.
“Thank you, sir. It’s a pleasure to be on the team,” she replied.
The door closed behind the commander, and Clark turned to me, a hard look on his face.
“Outside,” he demanded.
“Absolutely.”
Without another word, I headed for the door and didn’t bother holding it open for Clark. I had my fist cocked back ready to punch the wall when Clark stepped outside.
“I wouldn’t do that, brother.”
“Would you rather it be you, brother,” I growled.
“You need to stop and think. Don’t do this to yourself or to her again. I don’t know what it is about that woman that makes you lose your ever-loving mind, but you need to think long and hard about the next words you’re going to say to her. You and I, we’re brothers, we can get over anything. That woman in there just took a huge leap of faith, and if you break her heart again, she’ll be gone. For good this time,” he warned.
“She’s been staying with you?” I asked.
“No. She’s at the base hotel,” he answered.
“That place is a piece of shit. How could you let her stay there?”
The base hotel was nothing short of a rent-by-the-night frat house. Young boys that live in the barracks rent a hotel room when they want to bring a girl back to base but don’t want the hassle of getting busted with a girl in their room.
“Seriously. That woman scares me a little. She can handle herself just fine. Cool your jets and go talk to her.”
“I lose my shit around her. I can’t seem to stop doing it. I’m completely unreasonable when it comes to Blake Porter,” I admitted. “I’m sorry. I know better than to think you’d take my girl.”
“Oh, I’d take her in a heartbeat - if she wasn’t yours. I’ve never loved a woman like you love Blake, not even my own wife. How fucked up is that? When I caught her and my little brother in bed, I was more pissed my own blood would turn on me than I was that she had fucked another man. I haven’t missed her a single day since I got shot of her ass.”
“Thanks for watching out for her.”
I didn’t wait for Clark to reply. Blake was less than two hundred yards away from me, and I had wasted enough time.
When I entered the hangar, Jasper and Lenox were showing her the cage where we kept our gear, and I paused to fully take her in. She looked so out of place in a sexy pair of heels and business attire, walking around dirty gear and night vision devices. She laughed at something Lenox said, and my heart jumped in my chest. I was not going to fuck this up.
I moved to her, grabbed her hand, and without a word I tugged her out of the cage, through the cavernous space and straight out the door. I didn’t give zero fucks my team was howling with laughter.
“Are you here for good?” I asked as we walked up to the SUV we drove over in.
“Depends,” she answered.
“On?”
She wasn’t going back to Virginia, or if she was, I was out. I’d gladly give everything up for our second chance.
“Your next words.” She cocked her hip out, her hand going there, and a sassy smile graced her beautiful face.
I did what came naturally, what felt right.
I drop to my knee in front of her.
“Marry me.”
“Was that a question, Levi McCoy?” she laughed.
“Not unless you need it to be,” I told her.
“Yes.”
“Yes to what?” Before I stood, I needed clarification.
“Yes. I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear you say those words. A hundred times, yes.”
I got to my feet and pulled her into my arms.
“Right now, Blake. I want to go right now and make you my wife. No more waiting. I cannot wait one more day to finally be your husband.”
“Are you crazy?” she laughed.
“Yes. I’ve been told that I lose my mind when I’m around you. It’s true, but I have to say this is the most rational idea I’ve ever had.”
“He is totally insane when it comes to you,” Jasper’s nosey ass said from behind me. “So, do you two need a ride to the courthouse? Don’t think you two are getting hitched without the team there.”
“Looks like we’re getting married, boys,” Blake called out, shaking her head at me. “If you ever think about leaving me again, just remember I have perfect aim and am well-trained on a variety of high-powered weapons.”
“Noted.”
And after twelve agonizing years, I finally kissed her. When her tongue came out to meet mine, she tasted just like I remembered, sweet like honey.
“I love you, baby,” I whispered when I broke the kiss.
“I love you, Levi.”
Chapter Eighteen
Blake
We got married that afternoon in an unremarkable ceremony by the Justice of the Peace in a boring courtroom. It was perfect. I was surrounded by a group of extraordinary men, and their women, as I married the most remarkable, unforgettable man I’d ever known. I didn’t need the flourish of a big wedding, all I wanted was Levi McCoy. And when the Justice of the Peace pronounced us husband and wife, I felt like the scale that was my life was finally balanced. We made it. It took a while, but we made our way back to each other.
We won.
The seven of us were standing outside the courtroom near the parking lot when Lily, Lenox’s wife, announced we were celebrating at their house tonight. I tried to protest, being that she was pregnant with a one-year-old at home. I told her we could wait and have some catered event later so she didn’t have to worry about playing hostess.
“Good luck convincing my wife she can’t have a party,” Lenox chuckled.
“I don’t want to impose,” I explained.
“Family is never an imposition,” Emily, Jasper’s fiancé, told me.
“Is that alright with you?” I asked Levi.
“Whatever you want to do, baby, I’m good.”
Clark sighed an over-exaggerated groan. “Great. Another one has handed over his manhood.”
“As long as you’re sure. I’d love to spend time with you all.”
Lily and Emily both seemed really great; I couldn’t wait to get to know them better – and their kids, too.
“Perfect. Emily and I will
take care of everything. I’m so excited,” Lily beamed.
“I’m taking my wife home before we come over,” Levi announced and I about jumped up and down hearing him call me that.
“That will give Lily time to hide the knives from Rambo.” Everyone turned and stared at Clark. “What? The chick is crazy scary with a knife. I’ve seen her handy work first hand.”
“Can you please have one family gathering without talking about fighting, fucking, or killing? Just one?” Lily whined.
The guys all laughed at what must’ve been an inside joke, and I felt Levi’s lips at my ear. “Are you ready to go home?” he asked.
Home.
“So ready. Are we picking up my stuff now? I only have a suitcase, and it’s packed ready to go,” I told him.
The rest of the contents of my apartment were being shipped down, courtesy of the CIA relocation allotment.
“Is that so? All packed up?” he teased.
“What can I say? I was hopeful,” I said with a smile.
“We’re leaving.”
Levi didn’t wait for the guys to say goodbye as he drug me across the lot to his truck. This one was different than the one he had in high school but no less cool. It might not have had the modified loud exhaust all the teenage boys had, but it was jacked up and pretty. He helped me up before he rounded the hood and got behind the wheel.
Before we pulled out of the lot, an old Hunter Hayes song started to play. When the first keys of “Wanted” started to come through the speakers, he turned it up. And the moment his smooth sexy voice hit my ears, the memories rushed back. But this was no longer about the past. We had a future. I cocked myself sideways to get a better view and goosebumps broke out over my arms. Every so often he would take his eyes off the road and glance at me, his golden eyes heated as he belted out the words of the song. His head swayed in perfect rhythm, and his hand was strumming on the steering wheel.
So damn sexy.
When the chorus hit, I felt every word he was singing deep in my soul. He made me feel like that song was written just for us. He did that with every song he sang. It was like he believed the words, he felt the music. When he licked his lips between verses, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. When he bit his bottom lip, it sent chills to all the right places. I heard him chuckle before he picked back up the lyrics and kept going. Yeah, he’d caught me. I couldn’t bring myself to care nor could I stop studying his profile, his sexy jawline, full sexy lips, the slope of his nose. I’d had this man every way a woman could. I’d given him my virginity when I was a teenager, but as I sat in his truck listening to him, I felt like I was seeing him for the first time. When the last of the song played, he was pulling to the main gate and lowered the volume.
“Baby, you have to stop looking at me like that,” he said as he rolled down his window and handed his ID to the MP.
The MP waved us through, and I asked, “Like what?”
“Maybe you’re not looking at me any particular way. It’s just you. When you look at me, I feel like I’m the best version of myself.”
“I hope you always feel that way. I love watching you sing to me.”
Some emotion flashed across his face, but he quickly masked it and ignored my comment. “We’re here. What floor are you on?” he asked.
I gave him directions to the room and handed him my room key. He was back to the truck, suitcase in hand, within minutes. On the drive back to his apartment he told me stories about Lily and Lenox and her getting caught up with a guy named Roman. I’d helped to gather intel on him, but I had no idea what agency was using the information. When he told me that they were also high school friends my heart clenched. They had only been back together again going on two years, and they were working on baby number two. Jasper and Emily were planning on getting married later in the month.
We pulled into a nice apartment complex, the exterior was beautiful and well kept. Very different than the downtown high-rise I’d been living in. I like this much better. There were trees all around and green grass. His building was around back; these looked more like townhouses with attached garages.
“Before we go in, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I told him.
“Everything alright?” he asked, his attention now on me.
“Everything is perfect. I wanted to say this to clear the air. Today when you walked in and saw me, and the commander mentioned Clark helping me… you know that…”
“You don’t need to say it. I trust you. I was just shocked to see you at first. Right before we went over to the hangar, I was thinking about the letters, wondering if you were even reading them, not blaming you if you weren’t. All I’ve thought about since I got home was how I was going to fix what I had done. And, maybe I was a little jealous. Clark has been walking around smiling and texting a bunch. When I found out you were the person he was texting, I was a little jealous. I missed you. I wanted to be the one talking to you.”
“When your first letter came I was too afraid to open it. I had five letters before I started reading them. After I read the first one, I knew what I wanted to do, but I needed someone to tell me I wasn’t crazy. Clark was the only one I felt comfortable talking to. All the times before that, he was simply checking on Levi’s girl as he put it.”
“What did you want to do?” he asked.
“Come straight here. Clark had already been sneaky and put a bug in the commander’s ear about me and was trying to maneuver me on one of your ops. When I called him and said I wanted to come and I was putting in for a transfer, or I was handing in my resignation, he told me he was confident the commander wanted me. It turns out he was right. It took a little longer than I wanted to get down here.”
Levi smiled a sad smile and shook his head. “He is always the one in the background making sure that everyone is happy, but he refuses to move on himself.”
“He’s not ready. He says that it doesn’t bother him, but he doesn’t trust women. I suspect that you guys are the only ones he truly trusts. I don’t blame him. What his wife and brother did to him is screwed up.”
“He told you about them?”
Oh hell. I hoped I didn’t just cause a problem. “He did. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. I’m happy he told you. You’re right, he doesn’t trust, and if he told you that story, it means he trusts you more than you realize. That’s a good thing. You ready to go in now?”
“Oh yeah, more than ready.”
“One more thing. Those shoes are sexy as fuck, and you will be wearing them for me another night when I can throw those sexy legs over my shoulders. But today, I want to enjoy my wife nice and slow.”
Chapter Nineteen
Levi
“Ohmigod!” Blake breathed against my neck. Her legs locked tight around the small of my back; her hips tipped up giving me the perfect angle to thrust deep.
We had walked into the house and straight into the bedroom. I might’ve pointed to the kitchen on our way back, but I cannot recall for certain. I was on a mission with a singular thought to get my wife to bed.
I had taken my time working her up with my hands and mouth, ignoring her grunts and whines of protest when I wouldn’t speed things along. I wanted to taste every inch of her, and I did. There was no place I hadn’t sucked and kissed before I finally settled between her thighs. This time, unlike in Oman, I kissed her sweet and long as I pushed inside. There was no mistaking I was making love to her. It didn’t matter that it was wild and energetic, and there was groping and squeezing; every last bit of it was pure love.
Her arms snaked around my back, and she fisted my hair, tugging my head back. I gave her my eyes, and she panted, “I love you.”
I closed my eyes and let her words settle over my body. I fought back the guilt and pain, but there was no room in our bed for those things. We were starting over, and I had the chance to right all of my wrongs. We would never get back those years, but that no longer mattered.
Today was now, and she was mine.
“I love you, Blake. So goddamn much.”
I set a ruthless pace, her hips coming up to meet my thrusts, and when her nails scraped down my back, I felt the first signs of my orgasm fast approaching.
I planted my elbow next to her head and balanced, letting my other hand move over her heated skin down to her clit. Her hips bucked, her head thrashed side to side, and she let out a long sexy moan. When the last of her orgasm faded I planted deep, heat snaked up my spine, my balls tightened, and white-hot pleasure exploded.
“Blake,” I groaned.
I rolled us to the side, keeping the connection. With the sweet smell of sex lingering in the room, I took Blake in, her flushed skin, her dazed eyes, the rapid rise and fall of her chest. How did I get so damn lucky? I wanted to fall at this woman’s feet and thank her for loving me.
She brushed her sweaty hair from her face and with a wicked smile she asked, “Do we have time for a shower?”
“I know that smile,” I told her.
“You got to play. It’s only fair. I want you to feel good, too,” she pouted.
Blake was quite possibly the only woman in the universe that would pout because I hadn’t let her touch me. I wanted today to be all about her. Again, how did I get so lucky?
“Baby, if that felt any better I would’ve passed out,” I explained.
“You know what I mean.”
I kissed her forehead and rolled again, so she was on top of me. “I’m all yours. You can take whatever you want.” She swiveled her hips, and I bit back a curse.
“Now you have me conflicted,” she moaned and rocked back.
“About?”
“Well… do I want this?” She paused and lifted herself gliding up by still hard dick. “Or do I want to take you in the shower and taste you?” She slid back down. “Both would be so good.” Up she went again. “But I haven’t tasted you in so long.” And she slammed herself down.
My fingers dug into her hip, and I held her still. “You’re killing me. You have two point five seconds to make up your mind before I do it for you.”
The visual alone was enough to make me want to come again. She was magnificent sitting on my lap, her tits swaying, her toned thighs squeezing my legs all the way down to where we were connected. She had to make up her mind, and fast.
Finally Free (Levi): A Black Ops Romance (The 707 Freedom Series Book 3) Page 10