Tinderbox (Flashpoint Book 1)

by Rachel Grant

  Morgan glanced toward their table of a half-dozen Special Forces operators without meeting his gaze. She frowned, then turned for the food line.

  Bastian grunted to the group and, like Cal, grabbed his tray and crossed the room. Pax couldn’t help but stiffen as the man walked in Morgan’s direction, but he merely gave her a sharp nod, then sorted the items on his tray into the compost, dish, and garbage bins.

  Slowly, the others on his team vacated the table. They didn’t seriously believe Morgan would join him, did they? Maybe they feared being called as witnesses if Pax made an ass out of himself again.

  He stayed rooted to his seat at the now-empty table, waiting for Morgan to exit the food line, eager yet dreading to know where she’d choose to sit.

  At last she stepped out of the service area with a laden tray. She glanced in Pax’s direction and came to a dead stop. She frowned in obvious indecision, then took a deep breath and walked his way. She paused next to the seat across from his at the empty table.

  He nodded toward the chair. “Have a seat.”

  She shook her head. “I need to talk to your XO. He’s not in his office. Can you give me his cell phone number?”

  “Sit, and I’ll text it to you.”

  “I don’t think I should.”

  “Sit, Morgan. I’ll behave. I promise.” He smiled at her. “Do you really want to eat alone?”

  “Who says I’d eat alone?” She flashed a smile as she set her tray on the table and sat.

  She wore cocky well, and she was right. No chance would she be alone at a table for long. That might have something to do with why Pax wanted her with him.

  He had a few issues to sort out when it came to Dr. Morgan Adler.

  He pulled out his cell phone and found Captain Oswald in the address book. He attached it to a blank text. “What’s your number?” he asked.

  She recited the digits. He entered them in his phone and hit Send. “Done.” He tucked his phone away. “Why do you want to speak to my XO?”

  She outlined her questions about the cell phone recovered from her apartment and the missing monograph. “Also, I’m trying to remember if Broussard left anything else. The apartment was furnished, and there were a few items in the cupboards in addition to books on the shelf. I want to go over everything. I want Oswald to authorize Ripley to take me there.”

  “Sounds like a good idea, but you shouldn’t go. It’s not safe. Have someone pack everything and bring it to you.”

  “But they won’t know what’s mine and what might be Broussard’s. And they wouldn’t recognize if things have been moved.”

  “You think you’re CSI?”

  She snorted. “Hardly. But we both know the gendarmes aren’t doing anything. And who knows if or when Police Nationale will get here. I need to do something. What if I’m right and Broussard found something as valuable as water?”

  “What if you’re wrong but you put yourself back in Desta’s sights? He’s been quiet. Leave it alone. Stay on base. If I were still in charge of your security, I’d lock you in your CLU at the end of the day.”

  “You’d make me a prisoner when I’m trying to do my job.”

  “It’s not your job to figure out what happened to Broussard.”

  “Maybe not, but at least I’m human. At least I care that a man disappeared.”

  “I care that Broussard went missing.” But I care about you more.

  She glared at him. “Don’t you dare tell your XO not to let me do this. It’s my life. You are no longer head of my security detail, and you’ve made it clear we will never be a thing, so you have no say in what I do.”

  He took a deep, calming breath, and told himself not to screw up and make a scene again. He gave her a curt nod and tried to smile. God, she was beautiful. Her long blonde hair was loose and free, and he wanted to dive in, wrap it around his wrists, and pull her to him for a hot deep kiss.

  Instead, he took a bite of his cheesecake. It didn’t come close to satisfying his hunger.

  He’d woken up with a painful hard-on this morning after a night of frustrating, never quite fulfilled sex dreams featuring Dr. Morgan Adler and her perfect body. He pulled out his cell phone and found the last number texted. He tapped out a quick message: God, you’re beautiful.

  Her phone chimed. He smiled, realizing the sound came from her breasts. She’d tucked her phone in her cleavage again. She reached into her top.

  He shook his head. “Don’t read it now.”

  Her brow furrowed in question.

  “Later. Eat your dinner.”

  She stared at him for a moment, her expression quizzical, but then she shook her head and resumed eating.

  He typed another message: You have the sweetest fucking lips. The things I want to do to you.

  And another: Which is why I go insane at the idea of you taking risks. But I have no claim on you or right to interfere. So I won’t.

  Followed by: But know that I want to protect you, because just being near you brings out the caveman in me.

  And finally: You’re so fucking beautiful. I hate it that you’re completely off-limits. But you are.

  He hit Send on the last message, stood, and picked up his tray. “Have a good evening, Morgan.”

  She studied his face, then nodded. “’Night, Pax.”

  Pax’s phone vibrated on the nightstand. He groped for it in the dark room, groggy from sleep. The call couldn’t be about an urgent mission, or Cal’s phone would be going off as well. He cracked open one eye to see who his caller was.

  Morgan.

  Alarm filtered through him as he stabbed at the answer button. It was two a.m., something had to be wrong. “Morgan? Are you okay?”

  “If having frustrating sex dreams is okay, then I’m fine.”

  He wanted to be annoyed she’d woken him, but part of him couldn’t help but smile. He’d been deep in a dream that was all about arousal with none of the payoff himself. “I can’t help you there,” he said softly. He glanced over at Cal, who grabbed his pillow and rolled over on the bed.

  “Thanks for the texts,” she said.

  He’d wondered if she’d reply. He’d sort of hoped she wouldn’t. But at the same time, hearing her voice with that husky, whispery lilt was a pleasure he was glad he hadn’t missed. Hell, he was already sporting wood thanks to a dream that featured her gorgeous ass.

  “I meant every word. Including the part where I said you’re off-limits.”

  “I know. I was thinking we could…talk. You wouldn’t be violating orders if we’re just on the phone.”

  “I can’t. I share my CLU with Cal.”

  On the cot next to him, Cal made a noise that sounded mildly irritated.

  She made a harrumphing sound. “I take it he’s there right now.”

  “He’s trying to sleep. I can give him the phone so you can apologize for waking him.”

  She let out a soft laugh. “Don’t you dare.” She paused. “Okay. If you aren’t alone, then you can just listen as I describe all the things I want to do to you. Starting with licking your abs and working my way down.”

  Aww, shit. She wasn’t going to play fair. “Don’t do this, Morgan.” How many times had he said those words to her already?

  “First I’ll strip to the waist, because I know you like my tits as much as I like your abs, and I want to slide my breasts against your bare chest and abs as I work my way down to your cock.”

  He closed his eyes against the mental image. “Stop,” he whispered.

  “You mentioned my lips. Can you imagine them wrapped around your cock? The pleasure you’ll feel as they slide against your thick, hard prick and I take you deep into my throat? I’ve been fantasizing about going down on you since we were at the market together.”

  His phone vibrated as she spoke. He glanced at the screen and realized she’d sent him a text. Like a masochist, he opened it. She’d sent a picture of her lips with the note: Sweetest fucking lips? You got the fucking part right.

&nbs
p; Holy hell. He was done. He couldn’t listen to her without jacking off, and he couldn’t jack off with Cal trying to sleep on the cot next to him and probably wishing he could shoot his dumbass roommate.

  “I need to go, Morgan.”

  “Do you want to slide your cock between my tits, Pax?”

  Well, now that you mention it…

  He shook his head. She was singing some sort of siren song, calling him to the rocks that would crush his career.

  It’s not like sex with Morgan would be a Uniform Code of Military Justice violation.

  The fallout would be more like a reprimand. But it would look bad on his record, and he was already on Captain Oswald’s shit list for the scene in Barely North.

  Her father’s a general with the power to make my life hell.

  The phone vibrated again. Powerless as a moth to a flame, he opened the text, and there were the breasts he’d been thinking about since she stripped for him that morning in her CLU.

  Every man had a breaking point, and Morgan Adler had just found his. He kept the phone to his ear and pulled on sweatpants over his boxer briefs and listened to her whisper about all the dirty things she wanted to do with him. He slid his feet into a pair of shoes and grabbed his key. He was at the door when he remembered condoms. He grabbed a box from his locker, then covered the mic on the phone with his thumb as he gently opened the door and slipped outside.

  Morgan’s unit was on the back side at the other end of CLUville. Less than a two-minute walk, during which she described sucking on his cock in great detail.

  Finally, he stood before her door and interrupted her titillating bedtime story. “Open the door, Morgan.”

  “What?”

  “I’m about to make your fucking dream come true.” He paused, then added, “Literally.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Morgan jolted upright on her cot. “You’re here?”

  “Yes. Now open the damn door before someone sees me.”

  She leapt from the bed and lunged for the door. She fumbled with the lock. How did the mechanism suddenly turn complicated? She disengaged the bolt and yanked open the door. Pax, big, beautiful, sexy, tall Pax, stood right outside. He stepped into her CLU with authority and closed and locked the door. Then he took the phone from her hand, hit the disconnect button, and set both their phones and a box of condoms on the desk next to the door.

  Finally, hands free of unwanted objects, he took her breasts into his palms and stroked his thumbs across her nipples. She’d stripped down to her panties for the selfie and hadn’t bothered to put her T-shirt back on, now she berated herself for not taking off the underwear.

  Pax dropped to his knees and took one nipple into his mouth and sucked.

  She gasped as pleasure flooded her.

  When it came to her breasts, she liked a hard suck, and Pax didn’t disappoint. But then, she’d been describing what she liked on the phone. Apparently, he’d been listening.

  He dropped lower, bringing his face level with her crotch. He took a deep breath, and she knew he was taking in the scent of her arousal. “I’m wet and ready for you, Pax. But you aren’t going to be inside me until after I’ve had your cock in my mouth.”

  He slid a finger against the wet fabric of her underwear and hooked it under the edge to slide the crotch to the side. He leaned in and licked her, then he dipped his tongue inside her vagina, and she bucked against him.

  “Wrong. I was just inside you.” He yanked the scrap of fabric all the way down, then he spread her legs and gave her swollen clit attention that made her dizzy. His fingers slipped inside her and stroked as he slowly rose to his feet.

  His mouth met hers as he scooped her up and pressed her against the only open section of wall, where he’d pinned her twice previously. He grabbed both her hands as he had before and pulled them above her head, holding them in one hand. He supported her with one arm and the pressure of the wall at her back. But this time, he abandoned her mouth and sucked on her tits, and she was ready to combust with the intensity of how good everything he did to her felt.

  He raised his head and met her gaze. He released her wrists, freeing his hand to slide between her thighs and stroke her clit. He slipped two fingers inside her. “This is how we’re going to do this. I’m going to fuck you blind. You can suck on my cock to your heart’s content, but you aren’t calling all the shots. I’m a little angry that I’m even here, because I told you the rules, why we can’t do this, and you pulled the stunt with the phone. So now that we are doing this, it’s going to be my way. I’m not some meek boy you can boss around.

  “Tonight is all we get. I’ll fuck you until I’ve had my fill, then I’ll slip out of here before the base gets active. If I get caught, I’ll own it. I will not lie. But otherwise, this is don’t ask, don’t tell, all over again. Tomorrow, if we see each other, you will act like you did in the cafeteria tonight, and I will do the same. There will be no further texts or phone calls between us. If my cold attitude will hurt you, speak now and end this. If you can accept my terms, say yes, and we’ll fuck.”

  He stroked her clit through his entire speech, rendering any answer but yes impossible, but then, she had no problem with his terms. At least they’d have a few hours.

  He lowered her feet to the ground. She slipped a hand into his sweatpants and pulled out his hard cock. “Yes,” she said and dropped to her knees before him. She stroked the length of his shaft and grinned up at him, then pressed his penis between her breasts for a brief moment before opening her mouth, licking the tip, then taking him deep. She sucked with the tip in the back of her throat, eliciting a groan from him.

  He pulled off his T-shirt and kicked off his shoes, while she dropped his sweatpants and briefs to the floor.

  Once he was fully naked, she gave in to the fantasy that had sustained her for days. It was a simple fantasy, really. She slid her mouth up and down his shaft, while he threaded his fingers in her hair and slowly disassembled. She sucked, he enjoyed. Simple gratification.

  She brought him to the brink, then looked up at him. His face was tight with pleasure, but even more mesmerizing were those brown eyes and the way he looked at her. As if he’d never seen anything more incredible than her going down on him. She released him from her mouth but continued to stroke his prick with her hand. “Do you want me to swallow, or do you want to come on my chest?”

  From the way his eyes widened, she guessed that coming on her chest held more appeal than he’d realized. Well, he did say he was a caveman when it came to her, and nothing said “mine” more than that. And she wanted to be his. She wanted the caveman. He had all the testosterone she’d been missing over the years combined in one man.

  “Neither,” he said, surprising her. “I’m going to come inside your hot, wet pussy, but first I’m going to lick you and make you even wetter.”

  He scooped her up and tossed her on the cot. In one smooth motion, he grabbed her calves and spread her legs, pressing back, pinning her legs open as his tongue found home. She bucked when the pleasure got too intense, but he pressed harder against her legs, giving no quarter, making her take the intensity until a fast, hard orgasm erupted from within her.

  She screamed, and he reached out and covered her mouth, reminding her that the containers had thin walls.

  But even so, he didn’t let up with his tongue, and her orgasm continued, finding new heights. Finally, he released her, and she panted from the pleasure. He grabbed the box of condoms and slipped one on. Then he pressed against her vagina and slid home. The feel of his cock inside her mixed with post-orgasm sensitivity was intense. Hot. Amazing. The friction of his thrusts awakened dormant sensations. She’d had good sex before, but somehow, she didn’t remember it being quite this good.

  It was that damn tidal wave. It had finally come in, and the buildup made it all the more powerful.

  Pax Love Blanchard lived up to the hype she’d built in her mind.

  She wrapped her legs around his hips, loving t
he slide of his skin against hers. His mouth found hers for a long, hot kiss as he thrust within her. She was wrapped in a feast of sensation, enjoying the rich flavor of a long-simmered reduction. There was no way one night with Pax would ever be enough.

  She wanted to possess him as fiercely as he wanted her. Her man. Her Green Beret. Mine. Mine. Mine. She chanted the words in her head as her orgasm built, but then the word slipped out. “Mine,” she gasped as she came a second time.

  He muttered a curse as his muscles tightened. He arched his back as he came, making a soft grunt that was followed by a low pant that told her the orgasm has been as powerful for him as hers had been.

  He didn’t collapse on top of her or take a moment to relax. No, not her Pax. He placed his hands on her hips and rolled until he was on his back and she straddled him, still inside her. He met her gaze. “Yours. For a few hours,” he said in a husky voice as he thrust upward with his hips.

  Given the choice between a few hours or never, she’d take this and try to be satisfied. She could fall in love with Pax, if he gave her half a chance. It was a good thing he’d made the rules clear.

  He rolled with her again and slid from her body. He left the cot and disposed of the condom, then returned to her a few minutes later with a cloth he’d dampened in the sink. “I’m going to go down on you again, but I don’t like the taste of spermicide.”

  She grinned at his practicality. “I’m the same way, so you need to wash too.”

  “Already did.” He then proceeded to use the cold washcloth to tease her clit.

  “Holy fuck,” she panted, unable to believe he was able to elicit a response from her so quickly.

  His tongue followed the cloth, then he grazed her clit with his teeth, triggering a harsh jolt of pleasure. “You are so fucking beautiful,” Pax said, his gaze locked on her center.

  “My pussy is beautiful?” she asked with a laugh.

  “Hell yeah. It’s a goddam masterpiece.” He met her gaze. “And the view of the landscape from here is magnificent. Your blonde curls, the indentation of your belly button, and those full, gorgeous tits.” He stroked his tongue across her clit, then slipped it inside her vagina. “The slick feel of you against my tongue, your tangy taste, the sexy smell of your arousal, and the noises you make when you come. Fuck. It’s almost too much. My senses are on the brink of hedonistic overload.” He scooted back. “Roll over and put your ass in the air.”