by Bex Dane
"I'll do all that I can to make sure you never have to fire a handgun. And if you do, I promise I'll be there before you need to reload. Ask Rogan. He knows I always cover him."
"Wow. That sounds like a nice friendship."
"Your life is in their hands, you're more than friends. You're brothers."
I nodded and a warm breeze from the canyon blew over us. He closed his shoulders around me, his hands, and the gun inching toward me. "Um."
"You feel more comfortable now?" Something warm touched my abdomen. I looked down to see his hand pressing the gun flat on my stomach. His other hand massaged my hip. My toes tingled, and the hair on the back of my neck danced.
"Yes," I breathed. It was not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be. I had faced my fear and succeeded and with him behind me, it was thrilling. I could see why Falcon was attracted to the power and skill required to shoot a gun accurately.
"You see how the gun is part of me?" His hand with the gun inched up my stomach, stopping under my breasts.
"I see how incredibly sexy you are when you handle one. You're a good teacher too. I enjoyed my lesson."
"Watching you give it a try is arousing." His other hand grabbed my thigh and squeezed as he sunk his teeth into my neck and started sucking.
I tilted my head and closed my eyes. The man's hot mouth always reduced me to mush. "You find my fear stimulating?"
He stood so close, the potent energy ricocheted in the space between us. "Mmm. Everything about you stimulates me."
God, his raspy voice sent a jolt straight to my nipples. His hand with the gun trailed up my chest. I bit my lip and held my breath as the barrel brushed my nipple.
"Uh, are there bullets in there?"
"No." He lifted the gun, pulled the slide back and showed me the empty chamber. He popped out the magazine and placed it on the table. "Not loaded. Just playing."
Oh my, not loaded. Did that make this any less lethal?
He ran the barrel back and forth across my nipple. His hand spanned my stomach and tugged me back against him, smashing his hard cock into the crease of my ass.
"Falcon…"
I gasped as his foot kicked the inside of mine out and his knee bent in, molding our bodies together as one. "You wet for me?"
I closed my eyes and groaned, struggling to absorb all the majesty Falcon was giving me.
"Dangerous metal caressing your skin. Bet you're soaked."
He knew me too well. I was wet between my legs before the lesson ended and totally turned on now. He trailed his teeth up my neck and jaw to my mouth. As I lost myself in the kiss, he slipped the tip of the gun inside my blouse, worked it under my bra, and swiped it over my nipple. His hand around my hips moved down and cupped between my legs. My body lit up for him. With the California sun setting on us, the picturesque canyon beyond the house, and his talented tongue working magic in my mouth, I felt entranced. I reached up and tugged his hair to deepen the kiss. He was a necromancer and I'd fallen under his spell.
After awhile, he groaned and gently removed the gun from my bra. He turned me to face him. Once he had full access, his tongue dove in deep, challenging me to fight back. We both grunted and pulled each other closer. We had to answer this urgent call and it couldn't wait.
Something hard pressed between my legs. Oh shit. The gun. I broke the kiss. "Falcon…" How far would he take this?
"It's part of me. Don't you want it inside you?"
What? "You're not putting that thing inside me."
He pressed his lips to mine and grinned. "No?"
"No."
He slid the barrel of the gun over my sex and I gasped.
"What if I keep it on the outside?"
Oh my God, was he asking permission to get me off with a gun? He bent down and reached for the hem of my skirt. He raised it slowly, exposing my thighs and ass to any of the neighbors with binoculars. Not to mention, his crew of commandos could return to the house at any moment.
"Just right here." His voice pleaded as he massaged the gun over my underwear. He wanted it bad. It meant something to him I would probably never understand. Maybe he wanted me to face my fear of guns, or maybe he wanted me to accept that guns were a huge part of his life. The man needed to learn to express himself with words, because this form of communication was hazardous to my health.
The tip of the gun dialed in on my clit. He kissed me, forcing my back to arch while his firm arm supported the small of my back. His mouth crashed down on my lips and he kissed me with the same rhythm as his strokes. The gun became sandwiched between us as he moved his hips closer to mine, but he maintained total control, not missing one beat or giving me any breaks. He didn't hesitate or back off.
"Let me put it inside you," he said against my lips.
Oh my lord, he wanted to take it further. "I don't know."
"Let go and try something new. You're safe and you want it bad."
It was crazy and reckless. I had no idea why I wanted it, but I did and he sensed it coming off me. "Okay," I whispered.
His mouth turned up in a grin like I'd given him a present. Falcon wasn't the kind of man you could buy a material gift for. He fed off this kind of test of trust and limit pushing. He kissed down my chest and fell to his knees where his head was at a level he could see everything.
He used his gun like a hand, moving my panties aside and gliding down to tease my sensitive parts with the metal. I balanced my weight on his shoulders, and my body locked up.
"Relax, mi paloma. I got you in my hands right here."
I moaned and clawed at his shoulders as my body became weak and I surrendered. Only with Falcon could I let go like this and indulge in something new and scary. I'd never let anyone else touch me with a gun, but his fearlessness broke down all my defenses. No more diva or fame, no bodyguard, no threats. Only him and I existed as we trusted each other with something we both wanted.
"Yeah, baby. Yeah." He kept up his relentless teasing on my clit with his weapon as his raw, unguarded eyes watched with intense fascination. This made him come alive like it was some long-held secret fantasy of his. He was sharing part of himself with me and God, it was resplendent.
I gasped as I felt the gun work deeper between my legs and become slick with my wetness. He stared in locked concentration, watching the gun we had just fired sink inside me. "Fuck, yeah." His voice was a low rasp. The thick metal stretched me until his fingers reached my opening. His mouth latched onto my clit, and he worked the gun out and back in. He hummed and I knew he loved this. It felt phenomenal.
My nails dug into his neck as I felt my orgasm rise in me. He moved my leg up over his shoulder to get better access. I threw my head back and moaned as I fell over the edge. A wave of pleasure shot through me like a bullet. He continued to work the gun in and out as the involuntary pulses clenched around the barrel, moving on his fingers pressed there. We'd made a deadly mess and he had a front row seat to view it.
As I caught my breath, he carefully withdrew the gun and helped me stand up straight. He wrapped his arms behind me and grinned.
I smiled back at him.
"You just rocked my world." His grin grew in a luxurious smile.
"Mine feels tilted on its axis."
The gun slid out from between us, and his hard dick pressed against me through his pants. "Let's go upstairs."
"No, let's stay here," I replied. Upstairs felt much to far away.
He glanced around the yard and his eyes stopped at the side of the house that led to the front door. "Upstairs, baby."
Uh oh. Did someone see us?
I nodded, pulled my skirt down and walked in front of him into the house. The slippery wetness between my legs rubbed my skin as he followed me silently up the stairs. The second we hit my room, he closed the door, set the gun down, and moved on me lightning fast.
He tugged off my clothes and our arms tangled as I worked open his pants. He groaned and forced my back to the bed as he lifted my leg behind the knee an
d pierced me with his hard cock.
"Yes, God, yes." It felt so good, his rigid dick moving in and out of me. The sexy roll of his hips, the dark hairs on his abdomen undulating with his thrusts. Falcon's intense eyes on me, dark with desire and lust.
He'd worked up a sweat, and we mashed together in a hot, wet, sticky mass. His lids lowered, and he powered home. I closed my eyes and let the glory of it all roll through me. He grunted to get my attention. Yes, we needed to look at each other through this. I needed to see what I did to him and he wanted to show me.
His thrusts sped up and I could feel it growing like a river up against a dam. Higher, deeper until the dam broke and the pressure gushed out. I moaned a loud, drawn out cry and throbbed around his dick, panting and gasping for breath. His chin came up, exposing his gorgeous Adam's apple.
Falcon groaning out his climax while coming inside me had to be the most carnal act I'd ever seen. I was lucky to witness something so rare. I'd made the right decision by saying yes and allowing us to share this moment.
He collapsed on me and kissed me hard. He stopped, rested his head on my chest, and proceeded to let out a long chain of curse words in Spanish. It was some long sentence about how he died a thousand deaths and came back to life in my sweet pusssy.
I caressed his head and laughed.
It was beautiful.
Chapter 23
An hour later, Falcon still held me in his arms. The sun had set and he hadn't constructed his chilly wall between us like he always did when he left the bed immediately following sex.
I offered up a silent plea.
Stay. This time, stay.
Maybe fucking me with a gun was what he needed to lower his guard. Trusting him with my life was a huge leap of faith for me. Hopefully, he understood and appreciated the gesture. Far more meaningful than physical gratification, we connected on the deepest level possible.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, he disengaged our limbs and slid out of bed. I watched him pull on his pants and sit in a chair on the opposite side of the room.
He didn't turn on the lights, but in the evening shadows, I saw his body slumped and a forlorn grimace on his face. I'd lost him again to his demons.
"Come back to bed."
"Gotta clean my gun." His voice scratched.
He stood up and took his gun into the bathroom. I closed my eyes and fought the ping of shame the censure in his voice elicited.
Why did I say yes out on the back patio? He seemed angry now he had to clean his gun. No, the gun didn't cause this. He put this physical distance between us every time, his passive-aggressive reminder to warn me off getting attached.
He reappeared in the bathroom doorway and leaned his shoulder against the frame. The bathroom light highlighted the silhouette of his broad shoulders and long hair hanging loose.
"Thorne's wrong." His deep voice startled me.
I pulled the sheet up to my chin. "About what?"
"I'm not rusted."
Clearing my throat bought me a second to process what he'd said. Okay, so he'd overheard my conversation with Thorne at the hospital. Which could've been bad, but after that, he'd taught me to shoot and shared a private and intimate moment with me. Well, as private as it can be in the backyard.
"Titanium doesn't rust," he continued before I caught up to him.
"He's not talking about your dick."
"I know. Heart's titanium too."
Falcon processed things quicker than I did. He was shrewd. Probably smarter than me. "I don't get it. Your heart's not rusted?"
"Nope. Can't get rusty at something you never did."
Oh. Oh. He was going about it in an indirect way, but I understood his insinuation.
"Your heart's never loved?" I asked him quietly and carefully, trying not to pressure him to open up.
He gazed out the window at the changing night sky. "No one except my mama."
Oh God. That hurt to hear. I could only imagine how it felt for him to admit it out loud. A life without love would be meaningless.
"Tried to find her."
My throat constricted. My mom. "I know."
"One man against an army down there."
"Come here."
He shook his head.
"Come back to bed. I can't stand to watch you over there anymore. Come here and let me touch you."
He paced to the bed with his head down. When he reached me, I pulled his face to mine and planted a kiss on him. "Thank you for sharing that with me. I know it's hard."
He climbed into the bed, lay on his side, and faced me. His hand reached for my hip, and he stared into my eyes. "I needed training. That's why I became a sniper. With the right motivation, you become freakishly accurate."
"I saw on the news when Guillermo joined forces with Manuel."
"I thought you didn't like to face your past."
"I didn't. Still don't. It's hard to talk about. But late at night, when I couldn't sleep, I'd look things up. See who had died, flare ups, who'd gotten arrested."
"Were you looking for me?"
"Possibly. I think so. The fifteen-year-old girl inside me always had hope you were out there fighting for us and looking for my mom."
His hand skimmed up my side and back down again. "I was, mi paloma. Anytime I got leave, I'd head down and do my surveillance. Look for her. See who was getting too powerful. Took them out. Manuel was the hardest to get alone. Ended up tricking Torrez into bringing him out in the open. Rogan and Dallas helped me take him down."
"Oh, well. That was nice of them."
"I've helped them out many times. Dallas at his wedding, Rogan with Tessa. They owed me."
"And now they're helping you with Ivan?"
"Yeah."
"You need to let me in on the planning."
"No."
"C'mon. I already know the plan. You're going to poison him."
"Jesus, woman. Don't talk about it."
"No one can hear us. At least tell me when."
He growled. "We'll leave right after your concert in New York."
"Leave for Veranistaad?"
"Yeah."
"But the sting is set for two days later."
"We'll be back before they drop dead."
"That quick?"
"In and out. Alibis on both ends. A concert then a sting. No one will notice us missing or be able to piece together a reasonable timeline for us to travel and return that fast."
"Wow. So no guns?"
"Oh, we'll be fully armed under our robes. We'll pose as Saudis. Something goes south, it'll be carnage and escape."
Oh my. He sounded so confident. "Hmm. Well, I'm terrified."
"You'll be safe here. Got a guy named Helix to watch you."
"Not scared for myself."
His hand wrapped around my neck, and his face drew closer to mine. "You're scared for me?"
"I like your titanium heart."
"And dick."
"Yes, but if you die, I'll miss your heart."
His hand squeezed my neck. "You'll miss my heart?"
"You might think you haven't loved, but you have. The years you stood by Rogan? That's love. Risking your life to fight for your country? That's love. Searching forever to find my mother. That's love."
"That's just doing what's right."
"It comes from love. And one more you need to acknowledge. Rescuing me and Soledad? Paying for our educations and expenses so we could make better lives for ourselves? That's love."
His shoulders tightened as I told him I knew his secret. "Call it what you want, it's what I do."
"It's love. You have an experienced heart. Shines like polished metal." I placed my palm flat on his left pec, feeling his warmth and heart beat against my fingertips.
"You're crazy." He tried to dismiss me, but we both knew I was on the right track.
"And the first woman you love with that heart will receive a tremendously invaluable gift."
He tucked his head into my neck and kissed my shoulder. "I
won't die," he said against my skin.
I tugged his head up by the ears and forced him to look in my eyes. "Promise?"
"My promise doesn't mean much to you."
Ouch. In all my bitterness, I never stopped to think that Falcon might feel bad for failing me.
"You couldn't keep your promise. I forgive you. I know she's probably dead." My voice cracked.
"Jesus, babe. I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me into his powerful embrace.
"It's okay." Tears stung behind my eyes. My inner fifteen-year-old clung to Falcon like he could make it untrue, but I had to learn to face reality. Sometimes we lose people we love.
"Lost my mom too. Also at Manuel's hands."
Oh God, Falcon was finally opening up and sharing honestly with me. "I know."
"He's negotiating his last deal down under with the devil. He's got a choice of a burning cell or a scalding cauldron."
"Yeah." I nodded with my head on his chest.
"And our mothers are up in heaven looking down on us together in this bed," he said.
"Yeah." I giggled. "Hopefully they weren't watching earlier with the gun."
My head bobbled as he chuckled. "Nah. They cover their ears for that."
"Probably."
After a few quiet minutes, he spoke again in a quiet murmur. "The chances of me not coming back are slim. The falcon flies above the fray."
I appreciated him trying to reassure me, but this mission was extremely dangerous, and I wouldn't feel comfortable until it was over. "I hope so."
"We're the best in the world. Alpha Squadron doesn't fail. Okay not true, we've had some serious fuckups over the years, but we haven't lost a man yet. Shrapnel wounds and broken bones, yes, but we're all still breathing and fighting."
"Are Diesel and Blaze Alpha Squadron?"
"Yeah. Torrez is taking Diesel's place. He's a retired SEAL. Not part of Alpha Squadron, but Torrez wants Ivan as bad as I do. Fucker killed a lot of people and hurt a lot of women. He's been scaring you. Shot one of my men. He's history."
"Just be careful."
"Never. Always balls to the wall."
I laughed. "Okay. Well, do whatever works to keep you alive and get you back here."
"I can promise that."