by Desiree Holt
At the pilot’s signal, he and his teammates moved to the cabin door and slid it open, pushing against the force of the air outside. And began the countdown.
One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi.
Iceman leaped and disappeared into the dark of the night sky, Mustang right on his heels.
Extending his arms and legs to balance himself, he let his body fall through the air currents, waiting until the last minute to open his chute. They landed in the small clearing he had memorized from the map and pulled in their chutes. Both of them stared into the jungle, listening for the sound of running feet.
Come on, come on. We need to hurry the fuck up.
Five minutes. That was what they agreed based on the time of the other HALO drop. Otherwise, he and Iceman would have to go hunting in the jungle. He alternated between checking his watch and scanning the area. High above, the chopper hovered, waiting for the signal to extract them.
At the four minute count, his ears picked up the sound of feet rushing through the jungle, disrupting the foliage, and then they were there, Cliff “Falcon” Schrader from the other team and the rescued captive. Mustang pressed the button on his radio.
“Come and get us. Now.”
The helo flew lower until it hovered scant inches above the ground.
“Get your ass in gear,” Bandit shouted.
Falcon dragged the pale, bedraggled man to the chopper and practically threw him into the cabin. Falcon heaved himself in as Casino and Bandit took up positions in the open doorway, feet braced on the skids. Mustang and Iceman backed toward the helo, guns at the ready, watching for the enemy. The two of them had just reached the chopper and were being hauled inside when Mustang heard the heavy pounding of footsteps headed in their direction and loud voices shouting. He and Iceman paused and sprayed bullets into the foliage as men emerged.
“Haul ass,” Bandit yelled. He and Casino began laying down cover fire with their HK MP5N 9mm NATO assault weapons. Mustang and his teammates loved the compact MP5s, developed specifically for the SEALs. The heavy artillery certainly gave pause to the rebels who burst into the clearing. The two SEALs never took their fingers off the triggers as the chopper lifted into the air, only scrambling back inside once they were safely in the sky.
Mustang sprawled on the cabin floor with his teammates, taking deep breaths, weapons by their sides. Mission executed as planned. Falcon looked over their rescued hostage, handing him a bottle of water, checking his body for injuries.
“Just another day at the office,” Bandit joked. “Right?”
“Without a doubt,” Mustang agreed. “Didn’t miss a step.”
Would he be able to say the same about his relationship with April?
Chapter Two
April leaned back in her chair and rocked her head from side to side, stretching out her neck. She’d been sitting in the same place since morning, taking only a short break for a lunch she’d ordered in. The bankruptcy case she was working on for one of the partners was complicated and involved a lot of interrogatories. Documents that were part of her job to prepare.
She loved the law, its intricacies and complexities. She was sure she didn’t want to be an attorney, but all the prep work fascinated her. And if any of the cases made it to court, she tried to find an opportunity to slip into the courtroom and see the lead attorney in action. Knowing she had a hand in putting a case together was all the satisfaction she wanted or needed.
When the door opened, she looked up to see Diane sliding in, balancing two Starbucks coffee cups. She closed the door with her foot and carried the cups to the table.
“Skinny decaf mocha latte,” she smiled, handing the cup to April.
“You are a goddess,” April told her, lifting the lid and inhaling the steam. “How did you know this was just what I was craving?”
Diane pulled out the chair next to her and plopped into it. “Because you’ve been in here all day, and if it was me, that’s what I’d be dreaming of.”
“Are you okay to take a break now?”
Diane nodded. “I just have cleanup paperwork left to do. Won’t take me much time at all.” She sipped from her container. “So what’s with you and the wild horse? You still riding him? Got him broke yet?”
“Diane!” Heat crept up April’s face, and she bent forward over her coffee. “We’re just…having a great time.”
“Uh huh.” Diane chuckled. “Iceman says he’s a wild man with the women. Like the horse. That’s where he got his code name, you know.”
“So I hear.” She snorted a laugh. “From you and too many other people who show way too much interest in my sex life.”
Diane grinned. “He’s a legend, sweetie.”
April tore the corners off her paper napkin. “I don’t want you to think the sex between us isn’t great, because it is.” Heat crept up her cheeks. She wasn’t used to discussing her sex life, even with Diane. “But I’ve had the feeling from Day One he was holding something back.”
“In the bedroom? You mean he’s distracted when you’re having sex? Damn, April. That sure doesn’t sound like him.”
“No, no, no.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “He’s definitely enthusiastic and inventive.” She held up a hand. “I know. TMI. But sometimes I get the idea there are things he wants I’m not giving him.”
Diane took a sip of her coffee. “Are you sure you aren’t just imagining this?”
April lifted one shoulder. “No, it’s just…a feeling. A certain tension I sense when we’re together. Or sometimes a look I see on his face.”
“Maybe you should say something to him. It can’t hurt, you know.”
“I can’t. I’d feel really uncomfortable asking him something like that.”
“Like what?” Diane laughed. “Surely, when the two of you are, you know, in the midst, as they say, you can tell him how much he pleases you. And how much you’d like to please him. So if there’s anything he wants, you are totally open to it. You don’t want him to feel he has to hold back.”
“If you want to know the truth, I think he’s getting ready to live up to his reputation in more ways than one.”
Diane frowned. “What do you mean? You think he’s ready to break it off so soon?”
“Maybe.” April shrugged. “I think I’m already way past my expiration date.”
“What? Oh, honey I am so sorry.” Diane sighed. “I hoped you’d be the one to make him change his habits.”
“I’m not sure anyone can.” She fiddled with her cup.
“I’d at least like to think it’s not because of the sex. I know I’m repeating myself, but like I said, I feel as if he’s got some kind of invisible shield around himself where sex is concerned. As if he’s holding something of himself back in bed. Like he’s scared to really let loose.”
“Can’t help you there.” Diane leaned back in her chair and took a healthy swallow of her coffee. “I think that’s your department.”
April shrugged. “I thought we were setting the sheets on fire. But now I get the weirdest feeling the fire’s cooled down. I mean if he wants out of this, why doesn’t he just tell me? Or if he wants more, tell me that.”
Diane covered one of April’s hands with hers. “If that’s how you feel, you have to make him tell you what it is. It’s obvious the man has feelings for you of some kind or he wouldn’t keep seeing you. Ask him what the roadblock is.” Diane studied her coffee cup. “I really, really think you should talk to him about it.”
April tilted her head. There was something in Diane’s voice that tickled her nerves. “You say that like I’m crazy. Is there something you want to share with me?”
Diane was silent for a moment. Then she smiled. “No. Nothing. But I meant what I said. If you think he’s not giving his all, don’t let him hold back and walk away from you. If you really want to hang onto him, maybe that’s something that could tip the scales in your favor.”
“Do I want to hang on if he’s ready to leav
e?”
“I don’t know, girlfriend. That’s a decision only you can make.”
“I know, I know. And you warned me about him to begin with, so I didn’t go into this with stars in my eyes. And that’s okay,” she assured her friend quickly. “I went into this with no expectations.” She chewed her bottom lip. “It’s just that I have the feeling there really is something between us. That he knows it and is fighting it. And that whatever is holding him back in the bedroom is part of the whole picture.”
“I wish I had a better answer for you. But let’s say you’re wrong. Are you saying you don’t want it if he offers it?” Diane asked.
“That’s not the issue. He’s not going to offer. And it’s no good to want something it’s obvious you can’t have.” She stared down at her hands. “I just wish we could have found something like you and Charlie have. You guys have been together a long time.”
Diane’s smile softened. “He’s amazing, you know. Charlie, I mean.”
“I do, and I think it’s great you guys connected. I’ve lived here long enough to know a lot of SEALs never get into that kind of relationship.” She took another swallow of coffee, feeling a touch of sadness creep over her. “I just don’t think that’s in the cards for me. At least with Fletch. I just wish I knew what the real problem is.”
“Charlie said something once that made me think he was in a relationship a long time ago.” Diane frowned. “Only something happened and it ended badly. I don’t know what. Maybe she broke up with him, broke his heart, and now he’s gun-shy.”
April sighed. “Yeah. I just don’t want him to think—never mind.” She swallowed the last of her coffee. “I better get back to work. I have one more document to finish before I’m done, and Fletch is coming over tonight. I want time to get ready for him.”
“Then I’ll let you get to it. But take my advice. Speak up or toss him out. Don’t let this drag on. You be the one in control, okay?”
“Okay, Mom.”
After the door closed again, April leaned back in her chair and stared at the work in front of her. One more hour, then I’m done for the day.
Mustang was coming over for dinner, and she wanted it to be special. To have time to prepare both the food and herself. And maybe to figure out what the invisible wall between them was.
****
“That was incredible.” Mustang leaned back in his chair and smiled at April.
His smile was always her undoing, hitting right at the center of her being. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Are you kidding?” He lifted his wine glass. “Lasagna’s one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.”
“Why don’t you finish your wine, and I’ll clear everything away here.”
She’d spent too much time during the meal staring at him, but holy cow! In his jeans, polo shirt, and western boots, he was a mouthwatering mouthful. He had told her about the couple that took him in after the death of his parents. At night sometimes, lying in bed, she could imagine him astride a horse, riding with the wind, as totally in control as he was with everything else.
She needed something to do with her hands. Something to occupy herself. They had both been on edge during dinner, although they had done their best to conceal it. Every so often, she had looked up and caught him watching her with a look in his eyes she couldn’t quite define. It was obvious each of them was holding something back. But if he was trying to figure out the easiest way to break it off with her, she was going to get in her licks about sex first. At least, she’d go out in a blaze of glory.
More than a dozen times, she started to say something to him, then changed her mind. No, she’d wait until they were in bed. She’d been so nervous all day, mentally rehearsing what she could say to him. How she could say it. Trying to figure out what his reaction would be and how she’d handle things if it all went sour.
She had a plan already in her head. Once they were in bed, naked, she’d go to work on him with her mouth and her hands the way he loved. Then, when she had him hanging on the edge, she’d pry it out of him. Because she really wanted answers.
She could hardly concentrate while she put away the leftovers and loaded the plates and silverware in the dishwasher. She had taken great care showering and dressing for tonight. And naughtily left off any panties. When she bent over the dishwasher, the skirt rode up and she knew he could see her bare flesh.
“Jesus, April.” His breath hissed through his teeth. “Are you deliberately trying to drive me nuts?”
She turned and gave him what she hoped was a sexy smile. “Maybe.”
He rose from his chair, all six foot four of him. She looked at him over her shoulder and saw heat burning unmistakably in his slate grey eyes. The muscles in his rough-jawed face were tight with hunger. One large hand cupped her chin, tilting it up so he could brush his mouth over hers. “I’ve only satisfied one kind of hunger so far tonight. I need to feed the other.”
“Someone’s in a hurry tonight,” she teased, but she was glad. It made her plan that much easier to put into play.
“Someone can hardly ever keep his hands off you,” he whispered, nipping the place where her neck and shoulder joined. His hand reached beneath her top and lifted it over her head, tossing it to the counter.
“No bra, either.” His voice was tight with control. “Naughty girl.”
“I like being naughty,” she told him. Maybe that would give him a hint.
His tongue danced over the upper swell of her breasts, pausing to trace a line in the valley between them. When he pulled a nipple into his mouth, she felt the tug all the way to her cunt and had to clutch his upper arms to steady herself.
“What do you say we take this out of the kitchen?” he murmured in her ear, his voice husky.
“O-okay.”
She started to push away from him, but he swept her up in his arms and strode with determined steps to her bedroom. Standing her next to the bed, he took a moment to rake his eyes over her. Her skin prickled with the hunger in his gaze, the intensity of it warming her entire body. Just the caress of his eyes always made her liquid and weak. She stood there, powerless as he began to remove the rest of her clothing. And when she was completely naked, her body quivering with desire, he took her mouth in another kiss, this one so ravenous and claiming it actually made her shake.
She closed her eyes, giving herself over to the feelings sweeping over her, feeling Fletch’s big hands as they lifted her to the bed. When she opened them, he was removing the last of his own clothing, kicking his boots to the side and climbing onto the bed with her. When he pulled her into his arms, his body vibrated with tension, the same coiled energy that was always there when they made love.
Holding something back.
No! Not this time.
She wrestled herself from his grasp and pushed him onto his back. He stared up at her, a quizzical expression on his face. “What’s up, sweet thing?”
April took a deep breath, pulled her thoughts together, and shifted so she was straddling him. “Listen to me.”
“I’d loved to.” He gave a shaky laugh. “But you’re making it damn near impossible. Could you just lower those sweet breasts a little for me? Or slide that delicious pussy a little closer to my mouth?” He licked his lips. “You make me hungry. And not for more lasagna.”
“No. I don’t think so. I’m in charge right now. So pay attention.”
His hands tightened on her thighs. “Sugar, I don’t think I could do anything else right now. But can we make it quick?”
“We’ll make it as quick or as slow as I decide,” she told him as she slid down his body to kneel between his thighs. “I’m calling the shots.”
A thrill of power shimmied through her. Maybe she should have shown this side of herself before.
She leaned down and trailed the tip of her tongue up one side of his shaft and down the other.
“Don’t move,” she ordered, as she cupped his sac with one hand and wrapped the fingers of the othe
r around his thick, swollen cock.
“That’s a promise,” he told her in a strangled voice. “What are you doing?”
She looked up at him. “If you have to ask, I must not be doing it right.”
April licked her lips slowly, pleased to feel his cock twitch against her body. Tonight she was going to take Fletch—Mustang—right to the point of no return, then yank his pass to move forward until he gave her some answers.
What was he hiding? What did he want that he was so afraid to tell her? Show her? She worked his shaft expertly, licking the soft skin covering hard steel and moving her fingers up and down in a slow cadence. The head was now a dark purple, with a bead of fluid sitting on the slit. She flicked it with her tongue, then delved into the slit itself and rasped against the sensitive nerve endings there.
“Jesus!” Mustang whistled the word through his teeth. “April—”
“Mmm.” He tasted delicious as he always did, his musk a mixture of essence of male and some spicy, earthy cologne. She licked him like a lollipop, sucked him deep into her mouth, then slid her wet lips all the way to the root, just the way she’d learned he liked it. One of her hands continued to squeeze and fondle his balls, her fingernails lightly scraping across the sensitive surface.
When his balls tightened in her palm and the pulse in the vein around his cock throbbed harder, she released her hold on him and moved up his body.
Mustang reached for her, but she brushed him aside.
“Hands beside you,” she ordered. “No touching until I say so.”
Something flared in his eyes, something unfamiliar and dangerous. Then it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
April drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. So far so good.
Avoiding his mouth, she sucked at the hollow of his throat the way he did hers, knowing how it affected the rest of the body. Then, oh so slowly, she slid lower, a tiny little bit at a time, nipping at his skin and soothing the little bites with her tongue. When she reached his nipples, she took each one in her teeth in turn, biting down on them. He groaned as she swirled the tip of her tongue around them.