Risking It All

by Stephanie Tyler

  He waved her in. The TV wasn’t on—he’d just been in the semi-darkness thinking. Waiting.She stumbled through the door and giggled.

  “Let me guess—Mai Tais?” he asked.

  “No. Those are only for Hawaii. For Virginia, and SEAL-land, we have tequila.”

  “So why are you holding a bottle of champagne?”

  “For you. For us. To celebrate your promotion and my sending the grant.”

  With the moonlight shining behind her, she looked even more beautiful than she usually did. Her cheeks were flushed from alcohol and from fun, and compared to last night she was a different person.

  He knew, of course, that she wasn’t easily going to get over what she’d learned about David. It would be a scar she always bore, and some took longer to heal than others. But the fact that she wanted to be with him to start that process, well, that told Cash that maybe his luck had changed. Maybe she could go to Africa and wherever else she had to for her career, and things would work out between them.

  History didn’t always repeat itself. And that area in Africa, while still dangerous, had changed a lot in the past years. Moderately safer, less risk, and there were people he could call.

  You could go yourself.

  Yeah, he wasn’t ready for that. Might never be.

  “Well, I still can’t drink,” he said, “so I’ll let you do that part of the celebrating. I’ll have to think of something else to keep myself amused here in SEAL-land.”

  “I’m trying to make up for the fact that I was such a downer last night. You had this big news—”

  “I was glad I was here for you, Rina. Glad that I was the first one you thought of.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “You looked like you were deep in thought when I knocked. Still do.” Rina had put down the champagne bottle and moved behind him, massaged his shoulders, her fingers kneading the muscles he hadn’t even realized were tight.

  “Don’t even think you’re getting another interview,” he murmured, even as her fingers added the right pressure to the muscles in his shoulders, then rubbed his neck. When she started to run her fingers through his hair, he knew he was done. So done.

  “I had fun during our last interview,” she said.

  “You sure did.”

  “I didn’t realize it was so awful for you. But I’m sure I can make it up to you.” She leaned in to kiss the back of his neck and if he’d ever find anyone he was this comfortable with again…Considered if he was going to have to, or even if Rina would want more when this video was done. After all, she’d had a small taste of the way his life went—the secrecy, the pulling out in the middle of the night for nowhere and everywhere. She was strong, yes, but in his experience, it took a special woman to deal with it.

  She still had so much she needed to try on her own. He wasn’t sure if she really understood what she was getting into.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “Well, you never talk about your family,” she said.

  “I know.”

  She nuzzled against his neck, kissed along his collarbone, he loved the way her tongue tasted against his skin.

  “I like it when you share with me.”

  “I’ve got plenty to share.” He shifted, took her hand and put it between his legs.

  “Tell me one thing.”

  “What will you give me in return?”

  “Mercenary, aren’t you?”

  “Hey, you could be disparaging my future career,” he joked. Then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and gave her a long, lazy once-over. “How about I give you a detail and you give me…”

  She rolled her eyes. “For each detail, I’ll take off an item of clothing.”

  “Not a bad offer. But I’m not sure. I might need to have an incentive first, before I start. I’m shy, you know.”

  “Yeah, right,” she said. “You’re very good at what Hunt called evade and escape today.”

  “E and E is a very serious skill. Not something to be underestimated,” he said, not taking his eyes from her as she pulled one sneaker off and held up her naked foot for inspection.

  “That’s not quite what I had in mind,” he muttered.

  “Brothers or sisters?” she asked, and he knew she wasn’t about to let him off the hook. He leaned back, put his hands behind his head.

  “Just me. They must’ve broken the mold,” he said, then jutted his chin toward her chest.

  She wagged a finger at him and tossed her other sneaker in his direction. He caught it easily with one hand and flung it behind the couch.

  “What? Naked feet don’t turn you on?”

  “Anything naked on you turns me on.”

  “Well then, you’d better start answering some questions. I’ll give you an easy one. How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

  He closed his eyes and smiled, probably too widely, because she picked up the sneaker that was still close to her and threw it at him.

  “Your aim’s getting better. Must be all that time hanging out with the SEALs.”

  “Cash,” she warned and, yeah, he could listen to her say his name all day. And night.

  “Hey, you asked the question.”

  “And the answer is?”

  “Too young. At the time I didn’t care.”

  “Avoidance won’t get my shirt off,” she reminded him.

  “Thirteen,” he said quickly.

  “You were thirteen when you had sex for the first time?” she asked. He stood, walked over and helped pull the shirt over her head.

  “Actually, I was twelve. An early bloomer, I guess. Where I grew up, things were a lot more open,” he murmured as he palmed her breasts through the black lace bra. “This is the next item to go, so keep asking your questions.”

  She shivered as his thumb traced a nipple that hardened instantly under his touch. “Were your parents military?”

  He shook his head, forced himself not to tense up as his hand poised on the front clasp of her bra. “Not military. Missionaries.”

  “Your parents were missionaries. Like, spreading the word of God, missionaries?”

  “Yes. But they were also doctors. So they were really in demand for their medical skills. The missionary part was an extra.”

  “Did you ever…I mean, the missionary thing…”

  “I never planned on following in their path,” he finished for her as he took her bra off. It was always the first question people asked, although if they’d known him for longer than five minutes, they already had the answer. “I kind of went screaming in the opposite direction from an early age, which is why they let me have a wide berth growing up. Next question?” he asked, hands poised at the waistband of her skirt.

  “Where are they now?”

  “Africa,” he spat out. Skirt was off, and she stood before him in only her underwear and why wasn’t she distracted enough to stop asking questions yet?

  He would have to start losing some clothes for this to work. He lifted the hem to pull off his own shirt, but she was talking again.

  “Is that where you grew up?”

  “I was born there,” he admitted, used his thumbs to pull down the lace thong and he was ready for her to take him to paradise. Enough talking.

  “So you could give me some tips about the country, then. I’ve got my uncle’s journals and some maps, but with you I’ve got first-hand information.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. Your clothes are off and I know what I want.”

  “We don’t have to go over it now….”

  “Not now. Or maybe not ever.” The words came out before he could stop them. She pushed away from him and grabbed her shirt, held it against her. “I’m sorry. It’s late.”

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No.” He shook his head, held out his hand for her. “Nothing you said. It’s just been a long week.”

  “Better watch out or you’ll tarnish your superman image,” she teased, smiled
as if she understood even when she couldn’t possibly.

  “Yeah, superman,” he said quietly. His shoulders tensed, his body felt like lead and his head was now pounding. He only wished he could take her up on that offer of champagne.

  RINA SENSED immediately that her joke fell flat—the air between her and Cash changed completely. “Hey, look, if you don’t want this anymore…”

  “What? You’d say, all right and walk away that easily if I said I didn’t want this anymore?” he demanded, and yes, something was very wrong.“I don’t know what I’d say—”

  “Maybe that’s the problem.”

  “You didn’t let me finish. I don’t know what I’d say, but it wouldn’t be all right. I’d have to find the way to talk you into not walking away from me. From this.”

  “Really?”

  “Really,” she said, letting her arms, and the shirt, drop as she moved closer toward him. He was spooked, had gotten that way when he’d talked about his family. If she thought about it, he always got that way when she brought up anything to do with his past. She’d just been a little too preoccupied to see it.

  “I’m telling Mac tomorrow, when he gets back,” Cash said suddenly.

  “And then what?” she asked, and he shrugged.

  “Didn’t say I’d thought it through.”

  “If anyone’s telling Mac, it’ll be me.”

  “Yeah? And what are you going to tell him?” he asked.

  He’d folded his arms across his chest in that maddening way that made her want to yell at him, while simultaneously pushing him down and taking all his clothes off.

  Would it always be like that, she wondered, and suddenly she knew exactly how to answer Lieutenant Johnny Cashman. “I’m going to tell Mac that I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  And then she did push against his chest and when he uncrossed his arms out of reflex, she tugged his shirt the rest of the way out of his pants and pulled it over his head.

  He didn’t resist. And right before she kissed him, she paused, her face tilted up toward his.

  “So, you think?” he asked.

  “Yes. I also think that you might be the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever met,” she said, then kissed him hard enough to make them both groan. And in that kiss, she had her answer back from him, the slowest, hottest, make-your-toes-curl kiss that she was sure she’d remember for the rest of her life.

  “Are you really going to say that?” he asked, when he’d come up for air.

  “Would you care if I did?”

  “Hell, yes. I’d care,” he said, stopping her from taking off his pants by snagging her wrists. She stared into those blue eyes that could look as stormy as the ocean, but were calm and clear now.

  “How much?”

  “A lot,” he said. “And I want to be there when you tell Mac.”

  She pushed him back into the recliner and straddled him, then caught his wrists, and pinned them above his head. He could break away easily, but didn’t.

  “And what are you going to do while I talk to my uncle? Just stand there?” She sucked a nipple between her teeth until it pebbled and he groaned, bucking his body into hers.

  “No, I’m not just going to stand there,” he managed to say, as though speaking and thinking were too hard for him to handle in that moment. She reached down and unfastened his pants, slid her hand inside and circled his shaft. Cash shut his eyes and smiled. And then he opened them and looked right at her, and when he spoke, his voice was firm and steady.

  “I know I’m falling in love with you, Rina. I don’t know how I know—but I do,” he said, lowering his arms. “Now finish what you started here.”

  “Leave it to you to turn it into a command,” she murmured, and yes, she was going to make love to him, so much so that he’d be incoherent.

  She had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t mind one bit.

  She took his wrists and placed them over his head. “Stay,” she said. “Just like that.”

  “You don’t see me resisting, do you?”

  “Not yet,” she murmured, moved down so her mouth was between his legs. She caught the head of his cock with her lips, ran her tongue along the tip slowly and he groaned so loudly she was sure everyone in the free world heard him. She took him farther into her mouth, glanced up at him. His head was thrown back, a smile of pleasure on his face, eyes closed and hands still above his head. With his pants only half-down, he looked wicked and wanton. And she liked it that way.

  She took him deeper still, one hand reaching up to stroke him at the same time, the other cupping his balls. His hips rose and fell under her steady rhythm as she swirled her tongue around the head of his cock. He relaxed under her touch, trusted her, and after a few minutes he was bucking beneath her in earnest, murmuring in a language she didn’t understand. Yet, she wanted more, wanted to hear the rough tone mixed with gentle words.

  “Rina, please, I’m close,” he whispered. And suddenly his hands were on her, pulling them both up to their feet. He took her by her hips and raised her so she was forced onto her tiptoes. And then he lifted her completely off the ground while she was still pressed against him.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders and she thought he was taking her upstairs to bed. Instead, he walked them over to the living room wall, pressed her up against it gently. He lowered her body slightly in his arms, so his arousal made direct contact with her sex, already so warm and wet for him.

  “Man, you’re strong,” she said, feeling so comfortable, so safe in his arms.

  “So are you, Rina.”

  And then he entered her in one long, slow stroke, made her cry out with pleasure, with relief. She held his biceps, felt them rock-hard under her palms. His skin, damp with a thin sheen of sweat, glowed in the dim light and she was very glad she’d closed the door behind her when she’d come inside.

  “Hold on,” he pleaded, as he thrust inside her deeply. “Don’t let go….”

  “I won’t, Cash. I won’t let go,” she promised, then held him tightly and let herself fly into the blissful orgasm she’d been waiting for all day.

  17

  CASH COULD GO again easily. Maybe twice more, if he pushed his body to the extreme of his physical limits where his mind entered a zone that turned pain into something very akin to pleasure. But he’d chosen a shower, rather than another round on the O-course.

  He’d dropped Rina off at her hotel room earlier that morning so she could sleep a little more. He was on base by 0500, got in a run and some extra PT before it was time for the last day of filming to start.Rina and her team had finished ahead of schedule, and evidently under budget, too. From the cuts he’d seen, he had to admit that the video looked as if it was a winner, and even Hunt had grudgingly said that the whole film experience hadn’t been terrible.

  Of course, Hunt had still refused to be interviewed, but Cash knew Rina had long given up that hope.

  He planned on being in his office for about fifteen minutes to catch up on some paperwork before he headed out to the ocean. But he stopped short when he heard Zoot and Keith’s voices coming from the meeting room. The door had been propped open slightly by a camera bag, and Cash paused, mainly because he didn’t feel the need to be filmed that second.

  “Yeah, well, whatever it is she’s doing, she’s getting us great exposure to these guys,” Keith was saying. And that’s when Cash really started listening.

  Zoot was laughing at his assistant. “Jeez, you are so innocent. What the hell do you think she’s doing to get this kind of in?”

  “She told you that? That she’s sleeping with one of these guys?”

  “Stella told me that. Well, she didn’t exactly tell me, but I heard her talking. Something about pulling out all the stops, and not letting any Navy men stand in the way. Getting the job done by any means necessary.”

  “Sex is always necessary,” Keith said. Both men laughed and Cash now wanted to crush something before the anger quickly t
urned into something else, something he didn’t want to think about. That feeling though, hung heavy on his chest when he walked away. He didn’t want to hear the rest. Didn’t need to. He got it. Took a little longer this time, but he got it.

  AT THE BEACH, the first thing Cash did was run straight into Rina.

  “I’m late,” he said, by way of hello and pushed past her toward the sand. If he could just get out of her range, he might be all right.She grabbed his arm and he looked at her reluctantly. “Hey, you seem upset.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re angry. Did I do something to upset you?” she asked. How the hell could she do that? Be so open and honest with her feelings and questions. It wasn’t the way he’d been raised or the way he’d been trained, although by this point in his life he couldn’t really tear the two things apart.

  Either way, he wasn’t planning on telling Rina anything. “Nothing I didn’t expect,” he said. He had to get a grip here.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, and pushed against his shoulder. Even though it wouldn’t have budged him an inch, he stopped.

  She’d put her hair back today, and it emphasized her big brown eyes, and the hurt he saw in them.

  Hurt was something he didn’t deal with. “Nothing, Rina. It means nothing. Just go on with your job and I’ll go on with mine, all right?”

  He walked away, knew she stood watching him long after he disappeared past the bend that lead to the beach and beyond.

  You’re being ridiculous.

  Last night, she’d been talking of telling Mac about the two of them. Today, he was listening to two goons, one of whom sported a purple Mohawk and looked as if he’d never been laid in his life.

  He’d speak with her after today’s exercise. Clear the air. And he’d deal with whatever she told him. If this whole thing turned out to be one, long scam…

  He shook his head to clear it. He’d been through worse and come out the survivor.

  THE TEAM was well past the surf in a rubber raft that looked far too flimsy to get anyone anywhere safely, let alone the four big men who’d jumped on board and began to paddle.