And Noah – oh God, how she missed him. She never got the chance to finish that conversation with him the last day she saw him. It tore her heart out to think that would be the last time they ever talked.
As she drifted off to sleep with the gentle rocking of the plane, her unconscious mind took over and replayed the entire scene in her dreams of when she met Noah. She was twenty-two, just out of college, and had convinced her editor of the Atlanta Journal to send her to a top-secret military base in the Middle East to interview members of the elite, covert military group, the Delta Force.
With her dad’s business ventures, he had developed friendships with some high-ranking government officials, who helped Brianna get the exclusive interview of the Army’s “quiet professionals.” There were stipulations, of course. She couldn’t know any real names, no pictures were allowed, any article for publication had to be approved by the DoD first. She also had to be blindfolded upon her arrival and departure, and she was not allowed to leave the base unescorted at any time. Young, impetuous, and ambitious, she jumped at the chance and never even considered the implications of her safety. She hopped on a military flight and fifteen hours later, she arrived at the top-secret base.
As she exited the Humvee, she took in her surroundings, and thought it resembled the old TV show MASH, but with sand colored tents instead of the Army green. Large Army tents scattered throughout the base, Humvees, Jeeps, and large trucks moved slowly through the streets. It was incredibly hot, hotter than Atlanta ever thought of being, and she immediately wondered how the soldiers could tolerate it for so long. She strode towards the tent her escort pointed out, and thought of how she would approach the band of elusive soldiers.
She was glad she had her sunglasses on, because her eyes must have been as big as saucers. One man was sitting in a folding chair, wearing his government issued hat, Oakley sunglasses, no shirt, and his fatigue pants rolled up to his knees. He was evidently working on his tan, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from his chiseled chest, the muscles in his shoulders, his arms and…oh wow, his six-pack abs.
His thighs and calves were obviously just as cut as the top half of him from the form of his pants. She looked back to his face, and instantly turned an even deeper shade of red than she already was from the heat of the scorching sun. From his mega-watt smile, she knew she had been busted practically drooling over the man.
“Are you our new recruit?” There was a smile in his deep voice, teasing her, and clearly pleased that she liked what she saw.
“Umm…I’m…uh…Brianna.” There wasn’t a coherent thought in her mind. She had no idea how she even strung those words together.
He continued smiling as he stood. She couldn’t hide her shock, as she drew in a sharp breath. The man was huge. He had muscles bulging everywhere, and he towered over her 5’6” frame. She knew he had to be at least 6’4” and rock solid. He had short black hair, a strong, square jawline, high cheekbones, and though she couldn’t see his eyes, she could feel them looking right through her. She knew she looked like an idiot just standing and staring, but she had literally never seen anyone like him in real life. So much for making a good first impression.
“Well, Brianna,” he continued, still smiling, “good to meet you. I’m Reaper. Meet the rest of the team,” as he gestured to the other men sitting in the ragged chairs strewn around the outside of the tent. “This is Rebel….this here’s Bull…this one is Shadow – watch out for him…..and this is Judge.” Each man nodded and smiled, as she said hello after Reaper introduced them.
No real names. Got it.
As she looked around at the other soldiers, who had agreed to be interviewed and let her tag along with them on the base, she realized that every one of them were built like linebackers. Every inch of them was covered in muscles. Every one of them was tall, had thick bodies, and seemed to be completely at home in these desert surroundings. She quickly realized they were able to assimilate anywhere they went, because of the rigorous training they completed. They all also obviously took exercise very seriously, from the looks of this group.
Over the next six weeks, she spent a lot of time interviewing the men and getting to know each soldier. They all understood her assignment, and that she genuinely wanted to give them credit for the work they were doing. She learned their different personalities fit their nicknames, or call signs, perfectly.
Reaper was the official leader of the group, and she’d heard another man, outside this group, call him Captain at one point. But he hadn’t followed up with a real last name. She wasn’t allowed to go into action with them, so she could only guess what had earned him the nickname Reaper. She had a hard time fitting the image of the bringer of death with the man she was getting to know.
Rebel was just that – a rebel. He went against the grain of what most others said. He always played devil’s advocate, and argued the opposite view, even if he inwardly agreed. He just liked to look at all the angles and make sure everyone else did, too. He seemed to be the most level-headed of the group, though. He could easily see the pros and cons of any situation and helped bring balance to the team.
Bull was as big as a bull, though not as cut as some of the others. He was not as cut as Reaper, but he was taller and thicker. With those that he knew well, he was easy-going and liked to joke around. He was more reserved around outsiders, and it took longer for her to break through his wall. Once she finally did, she felt she had a friend for life. But something told her to never take that friendship for granted. Once his trust was betrayed, there was no getting it back.
Shadow often snuck up behind her, without making a sound, and scared the crap out of her. She wondered how men this big could move as stealthily as a common housecat. He couldn’t even scratch his own back, because his muscles were too big for him to reach around, but he could move silently behind his unsuspecting victims. His booming laugh when she jumped out of her skin, repeatedly, was infectious, and she could never stay mad at him.
And then there was Judge, also known as Richard Hollingsworth. He was Reaper’s best friend in high school. Of course, she didn’t know his real name then. That came later…much later. But she remembered seeing him there on that base. He wasn’t part of Reaper’s direct team, but the friendship was still evident.
She quickly learned her way around the unmarked tents. Though the team had already been sent out on assignment a couple of times, she wasn’t allowed to go with them, and they weren’t allowed to talk about their top-secret missions. So, she kept to the generic questions of why they had chosen this path and how they prepared mentally and physically. She asked questions about their standard equipment, the types of terrain they had been deployed in, and how long they had worked together as a team. They gave just enough information for her to write her article, but not enough to win any great awards.
One night, after a mission had obviously went very well, there was a small celebration in the 1st SFOD-D tent. The chairs and cots had been moved to the sides, and a makeshift dance floor was laid out. One man used his MP3 player to play DJ. They used footlockers as coolers, with beer bottles chilling on ice, and someone had put snacks in various locations throughout the tent. Others from the base joined in the revelry and enjoyed a “night on the town,” in the middle of nowhere. It was all in good fun and allowed everyone to experience a little bit of home.
Brianna and Reaper had enjoyed light, playful flirting over the past couple of weeks. It was never anything too overt. He said or did things that were just embarrassing enough to make her blush from time to time. Then he would comment on how he loved to see her blush, because of him. She remembered his playful, teasing laugh every time, and hearing it rumble through his massive chest only made it that much worse for her.
The music was rocking and everyone was having a great time. At first, Brianna wasn’t going to attend, because she didn’t want to intrude. At the insistence of others, she thought it would be rude to not go, so she reluctantly agreed. Reaper was leaning
against a post inside the tent, holding his chilled beer bottle, and laughing at someone’s poor attempt at a popular dance move. Brianna had just stepped into the tent and was clapping and cheering the performer on, along with the others.
The song ended and the DJ put on a slow song. Brianna was talking with one of the female soldiers, as her eyes grazed over the crowd. She saw Reaper looking at her, and his lips curled into a sensuous smile while mischief danced in his chocolate brown eyes. She felt a flitter in her chest that settled low in her abdomen, but couldn’t tear her eyes away from his. She felt a smile creep across her face, despite any attempt to keep it inside. Oh, he knew what he did to her insides all right. He turned them to liquid. Hot liquid at that.
Oh God, he’s coming this way!
Reaper pushed against the pole and stood, facing Brianna, then made his way across the floor to her. She stood still, as if rooted to the floor, unable to move as he made his way through the crowd with ease. Like a panther on the prowl, she thought.
“Want to dance?”
“Sure.” She hoped she at least sounded calm, because inside she was anything but calm. This man just made her nervous inside, but in a very good way.
He took her hand and led her to the dance floor, then wrapped his strong arms around her waist. She hooked her hands behind his neck, and he pulled her closer to his massive body. She liked the way she fit against him, pliable under his touch, and seemed to just meld with his own body. She tried to think of something else – anything else - before she made a complete fool of herself.
She glanced up and saw he was watching her, and she felt like he could read her every thought. She felt her face heat with her blush. Look away!
She felt a low chuckle rumble through his chest more than she heard it. She looked back up and asked, innocently enough, “What?”
“I love to see you blush. It’s sexy.”
Well, hell, so much for playing it off.
She started to say something witty back, but couldn’t think of a single comeback. Damn!
“Hmmm…I must make you nervous. Nothing to say to that?”
“I’m not nervous. Just not giving in to your mind games!” OK, that was a little better than just blurting out, “I want you. Now!”
“We’ll see about that.”
He’s smirking now!
Shadow appeared out of nowhere, as usual, and tried to cut in on their dance. Reaper shot him a look that was quickly masked, and Shadow moved around them to dance with another girl. Brianna realized she just got her first glance at how this team was so effective. She knew they used hand signals to keep from speaking and giving away their location, but they also had facial signals down to a science.
“What was that look?” she asked Reaper.
“What look?” He didn’t even have the decency to look like he’d been busted in the act.
“Yeah. Exactly.”
Reaper chuckled easily, and that was the end of that line of questioning.
After several more dances, beer, and ribbing between the soldiers, Brianna thanked everyone for including her, and said she was heading back to her tent. Reaper threw his empty beer bottle in the garbage and said he’d walk her back to her tent. She knew that, technically, she wasn’t allowed to move around the base after dark without a military escort, but the fact that it was Reaper walking her made her as giddy as a middle school girl with her first boyfriend.
As they walked along the sand road to her tent, she found it so easy to talk to him about anything. He was asking all the questions now – about her life back home, her family, her….boyfriend?
“No boyfriend…not anymore anyway.“ He could tell by her tone of voice that it ended badly, and he guessed, correctly, that the ex-boyfriend had cheated and was caught red-handed.
She told him about her sisters and her parents. Then she talked about how she got into journalism, but didn’t want to be a TV anchor, because it was too stuffy and boring for her. Out in the field, with the excitement, is where she saw herself. He also correctly guessed that her parents were not thrilled with her decision to avoid the hotel management career.
It occurred to her he could garner any information he wanted from her, in just the phrasing and timing of his questions. She wondered if he learned that from his advanced training, or if it just came naturally to him. She knew there was no point in asking that. Any questions about specific training courses wouldn’t be answered anyway.
Just as they reached the entrance of her tent, he stopped her. As she turned to ask him what was wrong, he wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her close and bent to brush his lips against hers. He pulled back for just a second to look into her eyes and saw the same desire there that burned in his, then covered her mouth with his. This time with a deeper, more demanding kiss.
His tongue ran across her lips, teasing and tempting her to open her mouth to him. When she did, he dipped his tongue in, allowing it to caress and dance with hers. Her hands locked behind his neck, pulling her whole body up closer to his. She felt his massive hand run up the back of her neck, fisting into her hair, and tilting her head slightly for him to deepen the kiss even more.
Breathing heavy, they tentatively pulled back from their embrace. He looked around, checking to make sure they were still alone and unseen, then turned back to Brianna.
“Reaper, I need to tell you something. As badly as I want this to happen, and believe me when I say I do, I don’t do one-night stands.”
“Noah.”
“What?”
“My name. It’s Noah.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to say, at first. No real names were allowed, because there was just too much at stake. But he just told her without being asked. She didn’t know what to make of that. “Noah, I don’t mean to lead you on. Really.”
“We won’t do anything you don’t want to do.” His voice was low, deep, and so seductive.
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to…” There was that chuckle, rumbling through his chest again.
“Ok, then, no pressure. I will stop whenever you say.” His light kisses brushed along her jawline, to her ear, and down her neck. He had to feel her pulse increase, because she could feel her heart pounding.
Barely able to speak now, she almost whispered, “Hmmm….and if I can’t say when?”
“I’m here to protect you….even from yourself.” He walked her backwards into her tent. Then his mouth reclaimed hers with an intense desire and need. Her fingers rested on his massive shoulders, and suddenly she was running her hands across his chest, down his stomach, and then around to his back. She felt as if she couldn’t get enough of him. Then she felt his hand splayed across her stomach, underneath her shirt. The heat from his touch was searing her skin.
First his hands went up, cupping her breast through her bra, the pad of his calloused thumb rubbing her sensitive nipple. The traitorous nipple was already hard from his embrace, but puckered even more at his touch. A moan escaped her mouth, and he caught it as he deepened the kiss. Then his other hand cupped her ass and pulled her even tighter to him, and she felt his erection pressed against her lower abdomen.
He deftly unhooked her front-clasp bra and ran his hands over her breasts, heating the desire that had pooled between her legs even more. He walked her backwards, until she was against a pole, and bent his mouth to take her nipple in it. He licked and sucked on it, then drew his teeth over the sensitive skin, and ran his hands over her entire midsection.
His hands made their way down her stomach to the button on her jeans. He unbuttoned it with one hand and slowly reached in. She realized he was giving her ample time to stop him, but she could no more stop him than she could stop breathing. His long fingers reached the top of her lacy panties, and she was instantly glad she was at least wearing attractive ones today.
His fingers lightly brushed across the top of the lace and against her stomach, as her fingers dug deeper into his shoulder muscles and the butterflies grew stronger in her
stomach. He flattened his hand, and his fingers slipped under the lace, covering her mound and lightly stroking just above where she really needed his hand to be right now.
When she again didn’t stop him, she felt his finger reach the mound of ultra-sensitive nerves in her clitoris, and she would have sworn she saw stars. He rubbed it in small circles, making her want him more and more. Then one of his massive fingers rubbed along her sensitive folds and pushed inside her. She moaned deeply, and he pulled back to watch her face. She tried to lean into him, but he wouldn’t allow her.
“I want to see you.” His low, rumbling voice sounded almost pained with desire.
Even though she felt very self-conscious and exposed, she completely trusted him with this intimate moment. He moved his finger slowly in and out, tortuously slow, as her desire built higher and higher. When she didn’t think she could take it anymore, his fingers stopped for a split second, as he pursed his index finger and thumb together. He quickly pushed inside her again, rubbing against her most sensitive area, as he increased his speed.
“Just let go. Let me watch you come.” He was whispering in her ear now, and it was so damn sexy, she couldn’t stop. Digging her fists in his shoulders, she leaned her head back, and his gaze remained constant on her face. She climaxed to his fingers in her, releasing a moan that relayed her complete pleasure. As she lifted her head, his mouth found hers again. But this time, the kiss wasn’t urgent or demanding. It was gentle and almost sweet.
She opened her eyes to see him watching her again. “Damn, Bri. You just don’t know what you do to me.”
Before she could respond, a call came across the loud speakers, calling the team to the command center. He kissed her again before saying, “Duty calls.” He stopped at the opening of her tent and turned to look at her. “Don’t think this was a one-night stand, Bri. It’s not by a long shot.” He flashed her that heart-stopping smile of his and was gone in an instant.
Wicked Games Page 3