“What’d you think?” he asked her.
She was laughing. Beaming. Trembling. “Oh my God, that was amazing! Intense. Oh my God, Beck.”
He laughed too and worked on getting the harness off. Once that was done, she turned and threw herself into his arms, covering his face with kisses, her body vibrating against his. “I can’t believe I did that,” she said again. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”
He wasn’t sure he could believe it either, but he was glad she had. It had been amazing and intense, sharing that experience with her, giving that thrill, sharing that magnificent moment of utter faith and love.
“Here’s your certificate.” Ethan approached them with a smile. “Good jump, Beck. I take it you know this pretty lady?”
“This gorgeous woman is my girlfriend,” Beck said, not even stumbling over that. “Hayden, this is Ethan Langham.”
“We met briefly when I signed in,” Hayden said.
“So this is why you specifically requested to jump with Beck.”
“Yes.”
Beck smiled, shaking his head in amusement and pride at what she’d done.
She turned to him. “So. You never told me that you started the Trident Foundation.”
“Oh. Uh. Right.” He shrugged. “No big deal. I have to do something with all that money.”
“Apparently you do a lot more than just hand over checks.”
“I do what I can.”
“Oh, Beck.” She grabbed his face in both hands and planted another kiss on his mouth. “I love you even more for that.” Then she whispered, “I think skydiving makes me horny.”
He choked and clasped her hips. “Oh yeah?” He knew the feeling.
“Yeah. It must be the hormones. Dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin. I think you’d better come back to my place.”
“Damn.” He swallowed, his dick already growing stiff. “Yeah, I think I better.”
—
In her bedroom, Beck grabbed Hayden up in his arms and kissed her, hot, hard, and deep. She kissed him back as he walked them across the room. Pausing beside the bed, he slowed the kiss, licking into her mouth, playing with her tongue, their breathing fast and shallow. Her murmurs of pleasure filled the quiet room as he laid her on the unmade bed.
“What’s happening here?” he murmured, coming down over her. “You didn’t make your bed today, Professor. That’s not like you.”
She smiled against his lips. “I was distracted.”
He moved between her legs and she lifted them, her knees brushing up along his hips and ribs. He devoured her mouth again, hands fisted in her long hair now released from the bun she’d had it in earlier. She did the same to his hair, tugging at the tie that held the bun in place until it spilled over his shoulders and around their faces.
They rolled across her bed together, whispering words of love, relief, and thankfulness. He stroked her hair off her face, kissed her cheeks, her throat, his hands moving all over her. Then their clothes were gone and there was nothing between them but the love and trust he’d felt while they were flying through the air, and he braced himself on his arms and stared down into her gorgeous eyes, beaming up at him with emotion.
“Can you hand me a condom,” he requested huskily, hoping there were still some in her drawer.
Her lips parted and she gave him a slow blink. “Do we need to use one?”
Christ. “Hayden…”
“I’m on the pill.”
He knew that. He’d seen them in her bathroom.
“I haven’t had unprotected sex with anyone else. Have you?”
“Christ. No.”
“Then we don’t need one. If you trust me.”
A groan rumbled in his chest. “I trust you more than anyone, Hayden. Are you sure?”
He wanted that so much it hurt, that last barrier gone between them, so they were as close as two people could be, but he was also determined to protect her.
Her fingers slid through his hair and she rubbed her fingertips over the base of his skull. Sensation licked down his spine, gathering in his low back. “I’m sure.”
Her smile sucked all the oxygen out of his lungs. Christ, that smile. “I fell in love with you the first time you smiled,” he said slowly.
She gazed back at him, wide-eyed.
“The tequila tasting night. You laughed at something Carrie had said, and after that I couldn’t take my eyes off you. You were so beautiful. You are so beautiful.” He bent his head to capture her mouth with his again, a long, heartfelt kiss. He pushed back and found his shaft, sliding it through her wet heat. Another groan ripped from his chest at the incredible sensation of pure contact. His body throbbed with need.
He found her opening and locked his gaze with hers as he pushed in. The physical sensation was out of this fucking world, shocking and electrifying, but the emotions that poured through him were nothing he’d ever experienced—this ultimate trust and intimacy made it all the more intense and profound.
“Beck,” she whispered on another soft moan. “Feels so good.”
“Yeah. So fucking good.” He pulled back and nearly lost his mind at the sublime sensation. She was wet and hot and tight. A growl rose in his throat and he again pressed into her slick heat. He couldn’t stop his body from moving now, in and out of hers. Her thighs gripped his hips and she met his strokes, their eyes joined, her lips parted, her soft cries exciting him even more. He sank deep and pulled away, pressure building inside him dark and fast.
She rocked up into him and her body clenched around him as she gave a long, low wail, her body arching beneath him, her fingernails biting into his shoulders in sweet stings. The feel of her gripping him like that pulled him over, and the pressure building low inside him released. Hot electricity ran up his spine, down his arms and legs as he pumped deep and hard into Hayden’s body, marking her in the most primitive, intimate way there was, with his seed inside her.
They soared.
The world spun around them and time fell away as they flew, stars surrounding them, brilliant, incandescent, radiant. So slowly, they floated back to earth, wrapped in each other’s arms.
For a long moment he couldn’t speak. Then he nipped her ear with his lips. “You’re mine, Hayden. Never letting you go.”
She held on tight, her lips against his shoulder, ankles still hooked around his back, holding him there. “Never,” she agreed.
He lifted his head from where he’d buried it in the side of her neck, to gaze solemnly down at her. She blinked hazy eyes at him, the corners of her mouth lifting. “I love you,” he said quietly.
“I love you too.”
He kissed her again, putting all his emotion into the kiss, until they were both breathless again. He rolled to the side, bringing her with him, his cock half hard, still inside her.
“Jesus, Hayden. I wanted to teach you about pleasure. About using your senses to experience it all. But that was nothing…without you. Without your love. This…this is everything.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Everything.”
They lay quietly together for a while, petting and kissing. Then Hayden said, “Tell me about the Trident Foundation.”
“Huh. Well, I started it as a way to raise funds for operators’ families. My original plan was to make money and then donate it to other nonprofits that are already serving the special operations community. But then I realized if I wanted to make sure operators and their families were properly cared for, we needed to do it ourselves. I want that control. I want to stay small, so we can respond quickly when there’s a need.”
“You give money of your own?”
“Of course. But I don’t want to just hand over money. I want to help.”
“That’s so awesome, Beck.”
“A few months ago, a helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan and all the operators on board were killed. We were able to help the families with a bunch of different services. I mean, they’re overwhelmed at a time like that, grieving, but also having to deal
with so many things.”
“You must have people running the foundation for you.”
“Oh yeah, for sure. There’s a great team. I needed experts involved, but I try to help when I can.”
“Would you have been able to keep doing that if you moved to Boston?”
“I’d definitely keep the foundation going, but I wouldn’t be able to be so involved. That was part of my decision too.”
“Do your parents know about it?”
“No.”
“Beck. You should tell them.”
“Whatever. They wouldn’t care.”
She sighed. “I think they would. I just…I love you so much, I can’t imagine anyone not caring, especially your family.”
“Well, you haven’t met them yet.”
“Yet?”
He kissed her forehead. “You’re in my life now. They’re going to have to know about you. Any skeletons in your closet you haven’t told me about? Because chances are good they’ll do a background check on you.”
She choked on a laugh. “I have nothing to hide. But if they want you to marry some wealthy society woman, that’s not me.”
“I think I made it clear I don’t care what they want. I want you and that’s all that matters.”
She gave a sigh of contentment. “I never would have thought this would happen. We didn’t seem to be a very likely couple.”
“You thought I was some playboy bartender.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I am.” He grinned.
She tried and failed to stop her answering smile. “And cocky too.”
“You love that about me.”
She shook her head. “Well, you are fun-loving and spontaneous, and I’m all serious and nerdy and rigid. But we have way more in common than I ever thought. You with your causes. Me with my research.”
They both lived life with a purpose that was bigger than themselves. They’d both overcome obstacles. There would be more facing them, but he had that same feeling he had with Marco and Cade—together, they could conquer anything.
“I know more than anyone that life’s not just fun and games,” Beck said seriously. “Despite what you first thought about me.”
“I know.” Her smile gentled and her eyes warmed. “And I love that about you too. And I love how you showed me we can have fun even when we’re trying to do some good.”
“What I want the most? To make you happy.”
“Oh.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I want that too, for you. So much, Beck. I hope I can do that.”
“I know you can.” He kissed her nose. “Just be with me.”
His chest full of a complex mix of love and longing, gratitude and fear, he stroked her damp hair back from her face, admiring her glowing beauty. Goddamn, he was a lucky sonofabitch. He’d never thought he deserved something like this, but somehow he’d found it. “I’m not really sure how to do a relationship. I’ll probably fuck this up again. Just tell me, Hayden. If I close off. If I say something idiotic. Just tell me.”
Her smile made his heart clench. “Same goes,” she whispered. “Don’t let me hide from life behind my work. Make me live it.”
“I will.” He paused and smiled too. “And those who drink from the agave will live happily ever after.”
She laughed. “Right. Good to know.”
Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
“I need to have a word with that man.” Hayden and Carrie strode toward Conquistadors, Hayden outpacing her friend in her haste to get to the bar.
“Calm down,” Carrie urged her. “Maybe you should stop and think about exactly how to handle this. You know what happened last time.”
Hayden paused. She eyed her friend. “Okay, yeah. Maybe you’re right.”
“I know you’re surprised by this, but remember what he said before? He was only trying to help.”
She sucked in a big breath. “Right. Right.”
“Do you think he has some other motive than trying to help?”
Hayden considered that as she let the long breath out. “No.”
“Then why are you so upset?”
She tipped her head back. “I don’t know. I just don’t like surprises. You know that.”
Carrie smiled. “Sure. I know that. I thought you were getting better about it, though.”
“I’m trying. I just don’t like him doing this without telling me.”
“What would you have said if he’d told you?”
“Um. I probably would have tried to talk him out of it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know! It just feels…” She paused. “I don’t want him to think I’m after his money.”
“Oh, Hayden.” Carrie patted her shoulder. “I think he knows that. So here’s how this will go. You’ll go in there with an attitude of curiosity—you’ll ask questions, and not make assumptions. Okay?”
This was very good advice. Hayden knew that. She was practical and sensible. She could see the logic in that approach. “Okay.”
They entered Conquistadors. The bar was full this Friday night, and they searched out somewhere to sit. “Two stools at the bar.” Carrie pointed.
The bar was good because then Hayden could watch Beck all night. She and Carrie headed over and slid onto the stools.
Beck spotted them and his smile, as always, made her heart flutter and her belly do a little flip. She smiled back at him despite her annoyance. He approached them, looking so goddamn good in his low-slung dark jeans and black T-shirt, his hair pulled back into the usual knot. “Ladies,” he greeted them, his eyes fastened on Hayden. “Would you like to try our new special tonight?”
“Um.” Hayden and Carrie exchanged glances. “Sure.”
“It’s called El Diablo Picante.”
Hayden’s eyebrows rose. “Is it.”
He grinned and turned away to mix the cocktails. He turned over two old-fashioned glasses into a saucer of lime juice then coated the rims in a mixture of something. Hayden wasn’t sure what it was. Then he combined ingredients in a cocktail shaker, some unfamiliar, others—like the tequila and the squeezes of fresh lime and lemon juice—more recognizable. He added ice and shook it. She admired his biceps and chest muscles flexing as he did so.
“I feel you objectifying me,” he said with an arched eyebrow.
Hayden grinned. “Maybe.”
He strained the mixture into the glasses and with a flourish garnished them with cinnamon sticks. Then he set their drinks in front of them.
“What’s in this?” Hayden reached for her glass.
“Tamarind concentrate, tequila, lime juice, simple syrup, lemon juice, and Cointreau.”
“And the rim?” Carrie peered at her drink.
“Sugar, salt, cayenne, and cinnamon.”
“Interesting.” Hayden took a sip. “Mmm!” The spice of the tequila mixed nicely with the orangey sweetness of the Cointreau, and the spicy sugar mix on the rim added to the complex flavors. “This is really good!”
“You sound surprised.” Beck set his hands on the edge of the bar.
“Not at all.”
“Uh-huh.” He paused. “So how are Gina and Colin? Settled in?”
“Yes.” Her aunt and uncle were all moved into Torrey Pines Lifestyle, a lovely complex with extensive grounds that Uncle Colin would be able to spend time in. Jeff and John had come back a couple of times to help their parents go through their belongings and decide what to keep and what to get rid of, and to help them move.
“Good. I know they’re going to be happy there.”
“I hope so.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“When a woman says that, it’s never a good thing,” Dussen put in from the stool next to Carrie.
Hayden rolled her lips in on a smile.
“I’m afraid,” Beck agreed. “What’s up, Professor?”
“The Michael and Kathy Miles Foundation?” She arched a brow at him.
“Ah.”
He nodded. “A good name, don’t you think?”
“Beck.” She held his gaze, trying for stern. But inside, she was a mushy marshmallow. “You named a foundation after my parents?”
“Yeah.”
“And the foundation is giving Vanguard ten million dollars?”
“Yep.” He leaned closer. “The foundation believes your research fits with its goals.”
“There wasn’t even a funding opportunity announcement. An application process.”
“Nope.” He smiled. “I told you I like control. My foundation. My decisions.”
“Beck.” Her heart expanded in her chest, so full of love and gratitude she could almost cry. “You didn’t need to do that. We got the funding from Bäcker.”
“I know I didn’t. I wanted to. I messed it up last time, but I really do want to help you. You know…for the greater good.”
She closed her eyes, the corners stinging with tears.
Marco approached and slapped Beck on the back. “Are you making them drink that concoction?”
“It’s really good.” Carrie frowned at Marco.
Marco held his hands up. “If you say so.”
Carrie turned to Hayden. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Hayden blinked at her friend, still teary-eyed. “What’s that?”
“Well.” Carrie swirled her cocktail in the glass. “I’ve decided to go to Spain for a year.”
Hayden’s head snapped back and her mouth dropped open. “What?”
Carrie bit her lip. “I’ve been feeling a bit…” She paused, then met Hayden’s eyes. “I’m happy for you and Beck, I really am. I’ve just felt a little bit at loose ends lately. Work is good, but…you know.” She shrugged. “I really want to take pictures, not be in them.”
Hayden knew that. “Your photos are beautiful.”
“Thank you. I want to do more of that. So I applied for a scholarship at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Madrid.” She gave a tentative grin. “To study photography. I just found out today I got it.”
Hayden shook her head. “Holy shit, Carrie.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m supposed to be happy for you, I guess. Congratulations! I don’t know anything about this place. But…Geez, I’m kind of shocked. I had no idea…What am I going to do without you?”
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