by Susan Stoker
She nodded under him. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he confirmed, pulling himself up again so he could watch her. “Start slowly, yeah, that’s it. Feel good?”
“Uh huh.”
“Damn. I can feel how much you like it. Okay, Smalls, this is gonna go fast. I can’t hold back. Rub yourself hard. That’s it, harder, sweetheart. Make yourself come around my cock, I wanna feel it.”
Bryn frantically used her fingers to press against her clit as Dane pounded into her. He wasn’t holding back anymore and it felt absolutely fantastic. Bringing her other hand between their bodies, she reached around and pressed against the base of his dick, where he’d told her he was extra sensitive, and the second she did, he groaned, thrust himself inside her and held still. With one last flick of her fingers over her clit, Bryn exploded. It wasn’t quite as mind-blowing as the G-spot orgasms Dane had given her, but it was still intense.
She felt the base of his dick twitch under her fingers as his head tilted back. The veins in his neck stood out as he shuddered over her with his own orgasm. He dropped down on top of her, then rolled them until she was on top.
Bryn heard and felt his hot breaths in her ear as he struggled to regain his composure. She wiggled, seating herself on top of him more comfortably, smiling when he stayed inside her even as he softened.
“I love you.”
Bryn smiled and snuggled down onto Dane’s chest. “I love you too.”
“It makes all the difference in the world,” Dane said softly.
Knowing exactly what he was talking about, Bryn agreed. “Love makes orgasms harder and sex so much better. Can we do that again?”
Dane laughed and Bryn felt him slipping out of her.
“No! Don’t laugh, you’ll…darn. Too late,” Bryn grumbled as she felt his cock soften enough that she lost him. She sat up and straddled Dane’s stomach while looking down at him. “I’m not going to change.”
“Good.”
“I mean, I’ll always be weird. I can’t stop wanting to know stuff, Dane. It’s who I am.”
“And I love who you are, Bryn. As long as you take the time to explain things to me when I don’t understand them, and you’ll listen when I tell you something is dangerous, I don’t give a shit.”
“I’ll try.”
“Good. Then be weird. I love your weird.”
She grinned and moved her hips down until they were over his flaccid cock and wiggled, feeling his semen leak out. “If you’re gonna come inside me, then it’s only fair that you have to deal with the aftermath as much as I do.”
“Don’t you remember the last time? It doesn’t gross me out, in fact, it turns me on. Knowing my come is dripping out of you and how it came to be there in the first place. It’s sexy as hell, even if it is messy.”
Bryn looked down in disbelief at his rapidly hardening cock, then back up at him. “Cool,” she breathed.
Dane pulled Bryn down and captured her lips with his own. He pulled back after an intense kiss and said, “Thank you for not making sex awkward. With only one hand, I can only do so much. You made it fun.”
“That’s ’cause it is. At least with you.”
“That it is. Wanna try another position?”
“Yeah,” Bryn immediately answered affirmatively.
“Ride me. That’ll free my hand up for…other things.”
Bryn smiled and lifted up, this time letting Dane notch himself exactly where she wanted him. She sank down over him and sighed in contentment.
Life was good. More than good.
Epilogue
Dane rolled over in bed and reached for Bryn, not surprised to find himself alone. He glanced at the clock. Five fifty-three. He swung his legs over the side of the mattress and headed into the bathroom.
After taking care of business, he slipped a pair of worn black sweats up his naked legs and went looking for Bryn. Ever since she’d moved in, he’d gone to bed naked, not feeling a shred of self-consciousness. Not with her.
Leaning against the doorjamb, he watched Bryn for several moments. She was sitting on the couch, cross-legged, laptop in her lap, muttering under her breath. Dane had no idea how he’d gotten so lucky, but not a day went by that he didn’t thank his lucky stars. They’d lived together for two months, and each day was better than the last.
The sun wouldn’t be up for another couple of hours, but they had a busy day in front of them. He waited a beat before shuffling into the room and sitting next to her, putting his arm over her shoulders and pulling her into him and kissing her temple.
“What’cha lookin’ at?”
“Did you know that two-point-seven million dogs and cats are killed every year because shelters are too full and there aren’t enough adoptive homes?”
“Hmmmm,” Dane murmured, and nuzzled her hair off her neck so he could inhale her unique coconut scent. She’d taken to using his soap rather than her own, so now she usually smelled like her beachy shampoo and him. Every time he got close to her, her scent mixed with his made him want to be inside her.
“That’s five out of every ten dogs and seven out of every ten cats. Not only that, we’re paying to put these animals to sleep. One to two billion dollars of our taxes goes to pay for the shelters. It’s so heartbreaking, Dane.”
“What brought this on, Smalls?” Dane asked, massaging the back of Bryn’s neck gently.
“I was re-watching season five of Mythbusters,” Bryn told him sadly, not looking away from the computer screen as she scrolled through a site that featured homeless dogs.
“Can’t teach an old dog new tricks?” Dane asked, remembering the episode. They’d watched the shows so many times, and discussed them at length, that he’d mostly memorized which shows were in which season.
“Yeah. I wondered about the dogs, then started thinking about a stray I saw the other day in Rathdrum. Then I started wondering about what would happen if it got caught, if anyone would adopt it. I started researching, and now I think I want to go and adopt a ton of dogs and cats to make sure they aren’t murdered.”
Dane smiled at Bryn, loving how enthusiastic and gung-ho she was. She never ceased to amaze him with the goodness of her heart, and how she kept at something until her brain was completely finished gathering enough information to be satisfied she completely understood it.
“We’re busy today, sweetheart. But I swear, as soon as we get back from our honeymoon, I’ll take you down to either the Rathdrum or Coeur D’Alene shelter and we’ll find ourselves some pets. Okay?”
Bryn sniffed, but nodded.
Dane turned her face until she was looking at him instead of the computer screen.
“You been up long?”
“No. Only since four-thirty.”
“You nervous about today?”
She looked at him in confusion. “About what?”
“Getting married? Seeing your parents again after so long? Anything?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “No, not particularly. As long as you love me, nothing else matters.”
“I’ll love you forever, Bryn.”
She beamed at him. “Right.” Then she turned back to the computer, clicking on a new tab to open the local shelter’s adoption page.
Dane smiled and kissed her temple once more and got up and looked at his watch. They had plenty of time before they were supposed to be at Smokey’s Bar. He hadn’t thought much of Bryn’s idea at first. Who got married in a hole-in-the-wall bar? But the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.
It was where he and Bryn’s relationship really started; the day he’d yelled at her in the grocery store didn’t count. They wouldn’t have to worry about serving food or alcohol, since they were having both the wedding and reception in the bar, and it would certainly be a unique wedding they’d always remember.
Rosie and Bonnie from the library would be there, along with a few other employees. Both sets of parents would also be stopping by, even though Bryn’s were only staying for the civil
ceremony itself. They weren’t thrilled about staying in such a small town as Rathdrum, preferring bigger cities, and didn’t really approve of the wedding being in a bar in the first place.
Truck, Ghost, Beatle, Coach, and Blade would also be there. Hollywood was staying home to look after his wife. Kassie had been really ill with morning sickness recently. And Annie had a school thing that Fletch and Emily didn’t want to miss.
Dane hadn’t realized how much he missed hanging out with his friends until they’d come up and hung out at the impromptu barbeque he’d thrown a few months ago. It was awesome to see all the guys again when they weren’t in the middle of an op.
Luckily, there was no chance of Knox taking revenge on either him or Bryn, or otherwise ruining their big day. He’d been thrown in federal prison. Dane didn’t know if the man knew for sure it was him who had gotten him arrested, but he had to have a pretty good suspicion.
Right after he and Bryn had turned out of sight of his homestead, Ghost, Beatle, and Coach had swooped in and subdued Knox and his wife. Then the ATF and FBI had come in and searched the property, finding not only illegal guns and ammunition, but enough fertilizer and homemade bombs to blow up every building in Coeur D’Alene.
Knox’s wife got a light sentence after the abuse she’d been forced to endure had come to light. But Knox himself would be in jail for what would probably be the rest of his life. He wasn’t getting any younger, and the sixty-year sentence meant he’d most likely die in jail.
Dane put the man out of his mind and thought about his almost-wife instead. Life with Bryn was never dull, she constantly kept him on his toes, something Dane had never thought he’d want. But she made every day worth living. She still worked at the library, and he’d bought half of Steve’s business, splitting the workload, which give them both more than enough money to live on and time to spend with their families.
Dane went and started the water in the shower and looked down at the healed wound on his arm. The stump hardly ever bothered him anymore. The phantom pains had just about disappeared altogether. Kids would sometimes make comments about it, but Bryn would simply explain to them the mechanics of his prosthetic, if he was wearing it, or how he’d been wounded serving his country.
She didn’t dwell on it, simply treated him like a man. Her man.
Dane wandered back into the living room and leaned over, taking the laptop out of Bryn’s lap and ignoring her “Hey! I was looking at something!”
He picked her up and carried her toward their bathroom. “You can look at it later. I have something you can examine in the shower.”
She wound her arms around his neck and smiled. “Eighty-one percent of people who’ve had shower sex want to have it again.”
“Good to know we’re in the majority then,” Dane told her.
“What position are we trying this time?”
“Well, we’ve done it sitting, doggy style, Superman, Under Arrest, and the standing splits—which was amazing, but I know you were sore for days afterwards—so I thought today, our wedding day, we could do it our old standby way.”
“You just love holding me up.”
“I do.” Dane grinned at her and pushed his sweats off. He was already hard. It seemed like all it took was one look at Bryn and he was more than ready to take her.
Bryn peeled off his T-shirt she’d thrown on when she’d climbed out of bed earlier that morning. He took her hand and helped her into the shower as he always did. As soon as his feet were stable, he grabbed her and she jumped up, hooking her legs around his waist.
“Thank you for taking my name today, Bryn,” Dane told her seriously.
“Bryn Munroe,” she mused, rubbing her nose against his. “As much as I appreciate you telling that Knox guy you were Dane Hartwell, I think I prefer your name to mine.”
“This’ll be the last time we make love as boyfriend and girlfriend,” Dane said with a smile, shifting Bryn in his arms until he could reach down and notch himself between her legs. When he was settled, he moved his hand back to her waist to support her and slid home.
Bryn’s head fell back and she groaned while squeezing his length with her inner muscles.
“You’re so wet, Smalls. Why is that?”
She grinned slyly. “When I got up, you looked really hot. I wanted to do some research, but I kept thinking about you naked in our bed. I know most of the time you wake up horny, and morning sex is your favorite. So I…got ready for you.”
“Fuck, you’re my perfect match. I love you, soon-to-be Bryn Munroe. I’m keeping you and never gonna give you up. Not ever.”
“And I love you, Dane Munroe. Thank you for loving me even though I’m a freak.”
“Thank you for not giving up on me when I was an ass.”
No more words were spoken as they lost themselves in each other. Even though neither was perfect in the eyes of society, they were perfect for each other.
* * *
Thirty-Two Hours Later
* * *
“You guys know why the commander called us in?” Blade asked. “We just got back from Fish’s wedding. I could use about twelve hours of nonstop sleep.”
“He happy?” Hollywood asked.
“Fuck yeah, he’s happy,” Beatle confirmed. “Couldn’t stop smiling throughout his wedding. Even when Bryn interrupted the officiant to explain where the tradition of rings came from. I think he’s found the best way to distract her when she starts going on and on about something.”
“What’s that?” Fletch asked.
“He kisses her. Shuts her up every time,” Beatle said with a smirk.
Everyone chuckled, happy that Fish had finally seemed to find what he needed in order to move on. He’d experienced every Delta Force member’s worst nightmare. They were all thrilled he had been able to not only get on with his life, but find a woman who was able to heal his heart at the same time.
Everyone stood and saluted as their commander entered the room. His eyebrows were drawn down in a worried frown, and the tension in the room suddenly became thick. Looked like that twelve-hour nap wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
The commander sat and immediately handed out folders to the men around the table. “Wheels goin’ up in two hours,” the officer told them. “The daughter of the Danish Ambassador to the United States has been kidnapped. She’s a college student and was on a research mission in Costa Rica when she was snatched.”
The commander tapped a photograph inside the folder. “This is Astrid Jepsen. Age twenty-two. She, along with two other classmates and her teacher, were taken when they were doing research in the jungle outside a small town called Guacalito. Nearest big city is Liberia.”
Blade’s chair screeched and fell over as he abruptly stood. “What are the names of the other hostages?” he asked urgently.
The commander shuffled through his papers as he searched for the info Blade wanted. “Jaylyn Jones, Kristina Temple, and Casey Shea.”
Blade’s arm swung before anyone could react. He turned and punched the wall behind him, leaving a fist-sized hole in the drywall. Before he could follow through with a second punch, Truck was there. He grabbed his teammate from behind in a bear hug.
“Let me go!” Blade hissed. “Fuck, Truck, let me go!”
“Not until you fucking relax and tell us what’s wrong so we can fix it,” Truck told him calmly.
“They’ve got my sister!” Blade yelled, then sagged in Truck’s arms. “Casey Shea is my sister.”
“Fuck. Talk,” the commander bit out.
Instead of Blade explaining, Beatle spoke up. “As he said, Casey Shea, the professor, is his younger sister. They have the same mother but different fathers, that’s why their last names are different. She’s twenty-seven and has her PhD in entomology. She took a small group of students from the University of Florida graduate program to Costa Rica to study. They’ve been there, what, a month? Month and a half?” Beatle asked Blade.
He nodded. “Yeah. About that. They
had a week and a half more before they were coming home.”
“When is the last time you heard from her?” the commander asked, not looking up from the piece of paper he was writing on.
“About six days ago. She called from a pay phone—collect, if you can believe it—to let me know she was good, and all excited about her research and the info they were gathering.”
“Did she give you any indication that things were hot down there?” Fletch asked.
“No. None. If she had, I would’ve gotten her ass home,” Blade said firmly.
The commander looked up at the Delta Team sitting around the table…and at Blade and Truck, who were still standing. Truck had let go of his friend and now stood with his hand on his shoulder in support. “The question now becomes, can you all do this mission? Or should I call Trigger and his team? They’ve covered for you in the past,” he glanced at Hollywood, then finished, “when you couldn’t make a previous mission.”
“We’re takin’ this,” Ghost said firmly.
“I’m not sure—” the commander began.
“No, Sir. All due respect. We got this. Yes, Casey is family, but all that means is we’ll be more careful, plan in more detail, and do everything in our power to get all four hostages home, safe and sound. You have our word. This is our mission. Let us bring Casey and the others home.”
The room was dead silent as the commander eyed each and every man around him. Finally, he nodded. “If it were my wife, daughter, or sister down there, you guys are the ones I’d want to go and bring her home. Now, let’s plan.”
Truck slapped Blade on the back and picked up both his and his friend’s chairs from where they’d fallen on the ground.
As the others around them began to talk strategy and logistics, Beatle leaned into Blade and said in a low, earnest tone, “I might not like bugs, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get Casey back to you. Lay in an ant mound, eat cockroaches, or make friends with every fucking mosquito I see. You have my word.”