by J. M. Madden
Mustafa fell against Jack, but it didn’t look real. Jack didn’t think so either because he plowed a fist into the man’s gut, doubling him over. Something about his body language made her cautious. “Jack, don’t…”
But it was too late. Quicker than a snake Mustafa drew a lethal looking knife from somewhere and launched toward Jack. Andrea’s weapon was in her hand faster than she’d ever drawn it before, and the little gun bucked in her hand as she drew down and fired. Mustafa jerked back, blood blossoming high on his chest. She almost squeezed again but Jack took him down to the ground on his face. He had flex cuffs poking from one of the cargo pockets on his pants and he used two to bind Mustafa. Then he turned back to Andrea, urging her to release the little Tomcat. He reset the safety then tucked it back into her waistband. He grinned into her face. “You are amazing,” he told her softly.
She barked out a laugh and sagged into his arms, simply glad that they both were alive.
Chapter Fifteen
Jack wanted to chew nails. Andrea sat on a gurney, shaking her head for the paramedic. Her beautiful face had been cleaned up but she would be bruised for a while. Overall, the crash didn’t seem to have done her any harm. The way she was crouched somehow gave her the flexibility to get away from the exploding airbag and all other dangers. The paramedic said she would be sore for the next few days but he didn’t really see a need to transport her. Especially considering they had other patients.
The children.
As a final fuck you, Mustafa had left the warehouse after spraying a round of bullets toward the children. Dylan, the oldest, had dived to cover the smaller kids. He’d been shot three times, once in the back and once in the right thigh. The third bullet had skimmed along his right forearm and was lodged in the wrist. He’d already been transported because he’d been the most emergent. Three of the kids he’d protected had single gunshot wounds. They were being transported as well. One child had died, pronounced on the scene by EMS. Tiny Isabella, sister to Sophia, the girl Mustafa had left unconscious in the parking lot. Even he, hard as nails former SEAL, teared up when he heard Sophia ask where her sister was.
“I have to get out of here,” Mike growled, his own voice choked as they heard the girl crying. The mother hadn’t arrived yet. Maybe she was going directly to the hospital so she could be with her surviving daughter. What a terrible position for any parent.
One of the SEALs was also being transported. He’d been point man and one of the bullets had gone through his Kevlar vest, lodging in his collar bone. A second had gone through his right calf. He was also on the surgery list.
None of the terrorists other than Mustafa had survived; the assault by the fire squad had guaranteed that. Their bodies would be collected eventually.
Jack felt…emotional. The only other time he’d felt this way had been back at the FOB when he’d regained consciousness and realized Dorian was gone. As soon as he’d thought about him- he’d see the bullets strike his body and the light leave his eyes, all over again. Then the physical pain had sunk in and Jack had allowed it to pull him under.
This pain was similar. For the rest of his life he would remember the sight of all the little broken bodies. The only brightness in his world at that moment was Andrea.
As if she felt the weight of his heart, Andrea looked up at him. With a nod from the paramedic she slid off the gurney and went to him. “What’s wrong?”
He turned on his good leg and limped through the vehicles, tugging her along behind him. People were everywhere and for a moment he felt anxiety tightening his chest. No, he was all right, he told himself. And Andrea was all right. That was the most important thing. Andrea.
“Jack, stop.”
She pulled on her hand and he paused.
“Look at me.”
He didn’t want to. She would see everything there in his eyes because he was too unraveled at this second. Too much had happened and he hadn’t had a chance to deal with it all yet. Lifting his eyes he let her see the panic there.
She fucking smiled at him, and pulled him into her arms. Andrea was literally half his size, but in that moment it felt like she’d wrapped herself around him like the wings of his own guardian angel and was holding off the storm with a single-minded determination.
“I love you, Jack. It’s all going to be okay. I promise. We’ve done our part. Let’s let the rest of the people do theirs.”
He nodded and she cupped his head in her hands, pulling his mouth down to hers. One of the helpful paramedics had given her a wet cloth to wipe the blood away, but she still gasped when they kissed. She drew back. “Guess I need to wait for my split to heal a little,” she said, smiling lopsidedly. Going back up on tiptoes she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, breathing into his neck. Jack straightened, just lifting her with him. Even with his knee screaming in pain he preferred to hold her against him.
“Ahem,” a voice interrupted.
Jack knew who it was, so he took his time setting Andrea back on her feet. Then, her hand wrapped tightly around his own, he turned to face Silas “Crash” Branson.
“You made a mess, Bishop,” the tall man said.
“I did,” he agreed. “And took out a lot of bad guys.”
Si tipped his head. “Agreed. Mrs. Winters did as well. Good job.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Mr. Mustafa has been transported to the hospital under military guard. As soon as he’s stable he’ll be taking a ride with me to answer some questions. As of right now I have enough federal charges to bury him in any prison I want. If he actually goes to trial, it’ll be for the death penalty.”
“It’s too good for him,” Andrea murmured. Jack let go of her hand but wrapped his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close to his side. “Does the team know?”
There was a flicker of emotion in Si’s pale eyes. “Yes.”
Jack knew that the death of Si’s own son haunted him. He’d been a SEAL and overseas at the time of the boy’s death. Not much affected Si, but this case definitely did. There was a SEAL on Team Ten who would be escorted home to bury his little girl.
What a heartbreaking situation. If there was anything more they could have done he didn’t know what it would have been. Andrea’s arm tightened around his waist, as if she knew he was battling the guilt of feeling they should have been able to do more.
“The response team needs to debrief you on what happened tonight. Then I’ll get you a ride back to Powell’s house.”
“His truck was totaled,” Andrea murmured.
Si nodded, a slight smile twisting his lips. “We’re taking care of it.”
They headed to ‘response command’ a super high tech trailer where they could monitor everything about the situation. It was big enough that there was an interview room in the back as well as a small drink station area. Someone gave them a couple of cups of surprisingly good coffee. A man in the suit joined them almost immediately, introducing himself as Joshua Woods, PR liaison for the Bone Frog Division of Homeland Security.
“Okay, Mr. Bishop. I’m glad to see you weren’t injured in your… operation tonight. Mrs. Winters, if you wouldn’t mind stepping out for just a few minutes I need to clear up a few things with Mr. Bishop.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” Jack said, voice implacable.
“It’ll just be for a few minutes,” Mr. Woods said, smiling like he expected to be listened to. “Then she can come back in.”
“You’re not sending her to stand outside,” he growled, “like she’s a damn witness to a shoplifting incident. She single-handedly identified the leader of a terrorist cell, several times in fact, and played an instrumental role in rescuing those kids. Don’t treat her like less than a hero.”
Woods’ mouth hung open like he’d never been spoken to like that before and Andrea was beet red. Jack sent her a quick smile and squeezed her hand. And once they got the ground rules down, Woods was surprisingly tolerable to deal with. His job was to be aware of e
very single detail so that it didn’t come around to bite them in the ass later; when, well, if the media got a hold of it. As of right now, there was a report of loud noises and a motor vehicle crash on Hampton Boulevard in the early morning hours. The murder of a Navy SEAL’s child hadn’t even been whispered about in the news. The government would keep everything as quiet as possible, so as not to encourage further violence from either side. Jack had no doubt that Homeland Security would put a lid on the situation quickly and permanently.
Jack knew that Woods had the ear of Silas Branson, who had the ear of the president. Every single detail would be relayed to the president.
The SEALs on the team would have a difficult time of it. Jack remembered a few times when something had happened at home and they’d had to approach one of the men, disarm him, hopefully peacefully, and tell him what had happened. It was one of the hardest jobs of his career. He couldn’t imagine the finesse it would take to disarm an entire SEAL team to tell them what had been going on stateside. And the operator who had lost his daughter would bereft, unable to comprehend the loss. Then the guilt and anger would move in— at himself and others. Soldiers had committed suicide for less.
It was a terrible situation.
Silas got them a ride back to Mike’s in one of the many black SUVs hanging around. The sun was glaring and he felt like he had a hangover, his head throbbing terribly. His body had taken a beating, just like Andrea’s, and they each needed some ibuprofen and a place to sleep off some of the pain.
Luckily, Mike was more than willing to have them there. Goose welcomed them home as only he could, but he seemed to sense that they weren’t up for roughhousing. Still, Andrea took the time to lean down and pet him. They went to the kitchen and raided Mike’s fridge, noshing on what they could, then they headed to their separate bedrooms. Jack didn’t even make any pretense about going anywhere other than with her.
“I want to take a shower,” she said softly.
Jack let go of her hand so that she could do that, but she took it again and guided him into the bathroom. “You need one too,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him.
He smiled slightly, agreeing, and stripped his clothes off. His knee was swollen and angry from being used so hard. It wouldn’t be long before he’d need a complete replacement, but he was putting it off for as long as he could.
Andrea turned the water on and stripped down in front of him. Immediately the pain of his abused body faded and interest took its place. She glanced back and saw him looking at her ass, and grinned. She stepped into the shower and beckoned him in.
Jack had never done intimacy well, so showering with a woman was a little odd for him. When you were in the military you got used to cleaning up in communal, same sex areas, but this was very different. “You’re not getting any water,” he growled. “Shift sides with me.”
“In a minute,” she said, her breasts shifting and swaying as she soaped her body. Jack was unable to move. He just stared at her, rubbing her hands over her body. And the more he stared the more his body reacted. Andrea pretended not to notice but he saw the grin on her face as she leaned over to glide her hands down her legs, then back up. On the way back up, though, she deliberately bumped his erection.
Her face was completely innocent when she looked at him, rubbing her breasts with her hands. He frowned, but when he opened his mouth to say something she stepped forward and started to slide by him. He took note that she rubbed herself as much as possible over him before she stepped under the water. Jack turned his back to her and began scrubbing his own body, while trying to maintain his control. There was no way he could resist doing something with her rubbing her body that way. Maybe she was just trying to kill him and get it over with.
Then he felt her hands on his back, lathering him up. It was…completely enjoyable, and he paused, letting her work. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and he groaned. That was one area he hadn’t even been aware of being sore. Then she did the most delicious thing- she leaned into his back and her hands swirled their way around to his dick. Jack drew in a deep breath and leaned forward to brace his head on his arm against the back tile wall. Andrea’s soapy hands ran up and down his length, swirling teasingly over the head, then back down his length again to caress his balls. He’d had women do this for him before, but none of them had felt as good as Andrea did now. His tiredness faded as she worked him, getting him closer and closer to that edge.
Jack didn’t want her to finish him this way, though. As enjoyable as it was, he knew being balls deep inside her would be so much better.
He turned, breaking her hold, and she stepped back into the water, grinning at him. Before he could say anything she stepped out of the shower. “Rinse off,” she told him.
Jack did as he was told and took a minute to catch his breath. He was still iron hard but a little more clear-headed when he stepped out and grabbed a towel. By the time he walked out of the bathroom Andrea had toweled off and was waiting for him by the bed. “I know this isn’t the ideal time,” she murmured, “but I’m afraid we’re going to get done with everything and you’re just going to disappear again.”
He shook his head once. “I don’t think I can,” he admitted, forced to be honest.
At those words she gave him one of the most brilliant smiles he’d ever seen from her. “Really?”
He nodded, the tentative joy in her face letting him know that to her, he’d made the right choice. It would be a while before he was completely convinced.
Andrea didn’t press for more. She knew that that was a big concession from Jack. They hadn’t talked about where this interlude between them was going, but she at least had some acknowledgement from him that he was invested. It was better than last time.
She walked toward him deliberately letting him look his fill. He was silhouetted against the bathroom light, making him look even stronger and more imposing. Then he held a hand out to her. Andrea took his hand in hers, letting him fold her fingers between his own. They stared at each other for a long time and she could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking about Dorian. “You know, above all else, I think that he would want us happy.”
Jack nodded, though he didn’t look completely convinced.
It would take them both some time. For now though, she planned on enjoying what they had.
Tugging at the towel around his waist, she pulled it off, then caught it to move around and dry off his shoulders, which were still glistening from the shower. The bullet wound looked good. It had scabbed over. She was surprised it hadn’t started bleeding again when he’d been fighting. She’d only heard what he’d done, but the evidence of several close encounters was there on his face. His right eyebrow had a huge knot right near the top of his scar. His lips had a purple haze around them, like he’d been hit but the bruise hadn’t completely developed yet. When she’d been soaping her legs she’d seen his knee. It was scraped raw and looked swollen, like it would be tight to bend. The scars of the old injury chilling her. There was bruising on his ribs but that could have been from several different incidents. Leaning forward she pressed a kiss to his pec, above his nipple, then worked her way across. Her belly brushed against his erection and she pressed herself against him, looking up into his eyes. They were shadowed, but she could see the softness in them for her.
Tugging on his hand again she led him to the bed and nodded for him to lay down. He did, and as soon as he relaxed into the bed she could see how good it felt to him. But he held one hand out to her.
Andrea crawled across the bed and straddled his hips, pressing his cock forward for the moment. Then, bracing her hands on his chest, she smiled down at him. “It seems like so much time has passed, but it really hasn’t, has it?”
He gave a single shake of his head. “Just a few days. Barely that.”
She wedged her hips down against him a little, and her body began to take him in, but she paused. They were both tired but she didn’t want it to be over too quick. She slid fo
rward along his length and gasped. The head of him had just bumped against her clit. Oh, that was very nice. She slid back along his length, then forward again, doing the same movement.
His incredibly strong hands landed on her hips and he began to drag her forward and backward along his length. His mouth opened and he narrowed his eyes at her, as if daring her to protest. Andrea had no plans to, because it felt so good. The teasing in the shower had been fun, but it had gone both ways. She was as hungry as he was.
Jack paused for a moment, drawing her feet forward. Her legs had been taking most of her weight, but his adjustment had made her pubic area the point where her weight rested. When he gripped her hips and began moving her again, the friction was stronger and harder, and she knew it wouldn’t take her long to orgasm this way.
She had planned on this being a slow, gentle build because they were both tired and sore, but she was already frantic for release. Reaching down she stroked a finger over her clit.
“Do what you need, Andrea. I want to watch you come.”
She arched her back as she focused on the swell of heat that was building, and drove her body toward it. Jack kept up a steady rhythm for her, even when her own movements began to stutter and just as her orgasm began to roll over her, he tilted her pelvis and slid inside. Andrea cried out, her body not her own as the pleasure wrenched through her. Jack moved just enough to keep the contractions coming. She felt him flex inside her a couple of times and let out a low groan as his own orgasm struck. He went completely still, allowing the contractions of her orgasm to propel his own, and it was one of the most incredible things she’d ever seen. His entire body tightened beneath her, but he didn’t move but a few bare inches to keep both of their pleasures going.
She lost track of everything as they rode that wave for as long as they could. At some point she fell forward and he wrapped his arms around her. Andrea couldn’t remember experiencing anything so fierce yet so gentle, and she pressed a kiss to the side of Jack’s neck as she fell asleep.