Erika followed him up the stairs to their second floor rooms and slammed the door behind them as she followed him into his room.
"What the hell were you thinking when you decided to go out drinking? How is that going to help your daughter?"
He liked the silence better. “If I sat here waiting for your illustrious colonel to work his magic, I'd go fucking nuts."
"So you had to go get sloshed?” She crossed her arms under her breasts, offering them up to him.
"I'm not drunk. God knows I tried. But I'm not. Don't you dare judge me, Erika. That's my daughter out there. My three year old daughter is at the mercy of a man who hates me.” Dammit, he felt tears stinging the backs of his eyes.
* * * *
"Aiden, I'm sorry.” Shit, she could tell he was about to bawl like a baby. The stick she'd had up her ass deflated, her shoulders slumped. Wide-eyed, she closed the distance between them.
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she tugged him close. Her cheek pressed to his chest and put the top of her head at the perfect level to allow him to rest his head. The fruity scent of her shampoo filled his senses as he buried his nose in her hair.
"I think I know how I can keep you distracted until we hear back from the colonel."
* * * *
Erika pressed her naked body closer to Aiden's, savoring the heat. The smell of sex lingered in the air, a poignant reminder of what they'd shared. She'd expected fast and furious when she held his hand and led him to the bed. What she'd experienced had been so different.
The pieces of her shattered heart testified to the difference. Aiden had been tender and passionate, his emotions close to the surface, visible in his eyes and on his face. They'd been palpable in his touch. As he drew out her pleasure and coaxed her body to a shuddering climax, Erika realized why she never let another man get close to her. Why she'd dreaded seeing Aiden again.
She'd never stopped loving him.
Part of her was convinced she'd moved on, fallen out of love with him. Buried deep inside her heart, so deep it might never have been seen again, was the love she still felt for Aiden Greene. It had been covered by layers of apathy and cynicism and hurt, but it had never dissipated. The stark reality frightened her. Not only was Aiden the only man she'd ever loved, he was the only man she'd ever love.
That was why, she realized now, she'd wanted to avoid this assignment. Subconsciously, she'd wanted to keep those feelings buried. Knowing she still loved Aiden would bring her nothing but pain. She couldn't live the life he wanted any more than he could be happy following her lifestyle.
She'd lost her virginity to the man she loved in a strange twist of fate. That was the one outcome she'd never regret. The revelation of her feelings for Aiden explained why she'd kept most men at bay all these years. And why, when she did allow a man to slip through the crack for a brief moment in time, she hadn't been able to take the relationship to a physical level. All this time she thought Aiden had scarred her for life. In a way, he had.
The light from the bathroom cast a faint shadow on the bed, providing enough illumination for her to make out the sprinkling of hair on his chest. She glided her palm across the contours of his abs and pecs, the steady thrum of his heartbeat pounding in her ear. Tugging the sheet from his hips, she admired his soft erection, resting on a nest of dark pubic hair. The penis was an amazing thing. In its present state, it couldn't do much of anything. But engorged with blood, it gave them both incredible pleasure.
Her hand strayed down his abdomen, brushing the hair cradling his penis. Her fingers traced along the edge, dipping into the crease where pelvis met thigh. She traced the muscles there, hard as a rock under soft skin. For a man who spent his days behind a desk, he had an amazing body. He put that hour a night in the gym to good use. She trailed her touch back up his leg, brushing his balls along the way. As she watched, his penis stretched a little, looking like a turtle poking his head out of his shell.
She shouldn't be curled up her exploring Aiden's body, she should be asleep. It continued to elude her, however, even though she needed the rest. Once the colonel managed to secure clearances for Aiden, he'd be relentless in his pursuit of Sonny.
She shouldn't have been so hard on him earlier, despite the fact his decision to find a bar had blindsided her. She'd expected him to ... to ... what? Pace the floors and worry? Go berserk waiting? They probably would have ended up fighting if he'd stayed. Instead, he'd tried to release some of his tension. Only to have her yell at him anyway.
Maybe it was a good thing she'd never been involved in a serious relationship. She hadn't been blessed with the being-supportive-and-understanding gene.
Peering over Aiden's chest, she looked for the clock on the bedside table. Good grief, was it really only twenty-three hundred?
"What time is it?"
Aiden's sleep-roughened voice washed over her body, titillating her nerve endings. “I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
"No, I was having the most wonderful dream that a drop-dead gorgeous woman picked me up in a bar and then took advantage of my drunken state."
Gasping in mock indignation, she swatted his chest. “You said you weren't drunk."
"Then, after having her way with me, she wouldn't even let me sleep because she couldn't keep her hands off my cock."
Now she was embarrassed. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"Then I woke up and realized it wasn't a dream and I'm one lucky son of a bitch.” He slid out from under her and propped himself up on one arm. “What do you plan to do with this hard-on you created?” He shifted his hips, poking her in the thigh.
"I'm not sure what I should do.” Her body knew, even as she played coy. Her nipples ached for the touch of his tongue, her pussy clenched and yearned for the filling thrusts of his erection. Satisfaction was temporary with him around.
With a pained groan, he dipped his head to suckle at the pulse point on her neck. “God, woman, you're so freaking sexy I don't understand how you stayed a virgin for so long."
The pressure of his lips sent thoughts scattering, but she clung to one bit of reality. She knew exactly why she'd never made love to another man. She couldn't when her heart belonged to another. It had nothing to do with her being a frigid bitch. Aiden proved that every time he touched her.
With a wiggle, she worked her hand between their bodies to grasp him and was rewarded with a loud moan. She clenched and unclenched her hand, loving the way he throbbed in response. Wanting more, needing to give him more, she slid down the bed until her mouth was even with his hips. Her finger followed the thick vein running the length of his erection, causing it to jump. With her thumb, she stroked over the ridge in the deep red head and traced the path around the tip.
Aiden's breathing grew ragged and shallow. The muscles in his abdomen twitched with her every stroke. His moans punctuated the silence.
She loved the power she had over him at that moment. Anything she might have asked of him would have been granted. All she wanted was his pleasure.
A million years ago, he'd taught her what he liked, what he needed, and encouraged her to practice to his heart's content.
She blew a puff of warm air across the sensitive head, teasing him with the possibilities. Instead of taking him in, she lowered her lips to the base of his erection, feathering wet kisses over his balls. She sucked one in her mouth, rolling her tongue around his testicle. She repeated the gentle suction on the other one before turning her attention to the thick shaft. The salty tang of his skin tasted delicious on her lips.
Bracing one hand behind his erection so that the groove between her thumb and index finger cradled it, she wrapped her lips around him, nibbling and sucking her way up, stopping shy of engulfing the head. He groaned in frustration when she worked her way back down. The throbbing vein pulsed against her mouth, the steady rhythm a testament to the strength of his arousal.
After tormenting him several more times with near sweeps of the head, she backed off to pay attention to the
ticklish skin of his inner thighs. His hands clutched at her shoulders, trying to draw her back. When the bite of his fingers grew hard, she knew she'd pushed the limits of his patience far enough.
Without warning, she swooped down on him and drew the head between her lips, scraping it with her teeth as she took him deep in her throat. She smiled as she heard the colorful expletive that escaped with his groan. He wrapped her hair around his hands then cupped her scalp, guiding her as she moved up and down on him. The trembling of his body reverberated through her mouth.
She stopped her motions and allowed him to take over, fucking her face. Even more power came with her actions as it enabled her to concentrate her efforts on stroking her tongue and teeth over the head, allowed her to taste the salty fluid dripping from the head of his penis. His muttered curses turned to a chant, his body tightened. His feet pressed against the mattress, lifting his hips, plunging him deeper, until she could take no more. His coarse pubic hair tickled her nose as she buried her face, inhaling the musky smell she'd come to associate with his arousal.
"God, Erika, I'm going to come."
The desperation in his voice didn't give any indication whether he wanted her to stop or to suck him dry. Not that it mattered. She had every intention of keeping him in her mouth until he gave her all he had to give.
"Now, honey, now,” he bellowed, a cross between pleasure and pain just as the first pulse hit the back of her throat.
The stream filled her mouth, the taste slightly bitter. She milked the last bit out of him with her hand squeezing the base and her tongue flicking the tip. He shuddered violently, then his body relaxed back against the bed. Freeing his hands from her hair, he gripped her under her arms and hauled her on top of him.
"Dear God, woman, you're amazing."
A reply didn't seem necessary. She rested her cheek on his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart and feeling his breath on her temple. With his arms holding her close to his body, sleep finally claimed her.
Chapter 11
A loud banging noise dragged Erika from the depths of a very pleasant dream. Snuggling closer to Aiden, she tried to drift back to sleep.
"Dammit, Greene, get the hell out of bed.” The unidentified sound from moments before quickly became someone trying to wake up Aiden.
The colonel.
Shit.
If he was banging on Aiden's door, that probably meant he'd already been to her room.
"Aiden, wake up.” She shoved at him a couple of times, then took the covers with her as she climbed out of bed. Deciding against fumbling around in semi-darkness for her clothes, she flicked on the light, not caring if she woke him since he needed to get his butt out of bed anyway. Scrambling, she shoved her feet through her underwear and stepped into her jeans. Panic ratcheted up a notch when she couldn't find her bra. There was no way she'd face the Colonel braless.
"Aiden, get the hell out of bed.” It was damn hard to holler at him without yelling loud enough to be heard in the hall. Her barked command was punctuated by another round of sharp raps on the door.
"What the—” Aiden's eyes popped open. Finally.
"The colonel's at the door.” Her lost bra materialized as she flung the bedspread back on the bed. As she finished getting dressed, she couldn't help but admire Aiden's drool-worthy body as he hopped out of bed and jumped into his clothes.
She noticed his bare toes peeking out from the bottom of his jeans as he answered the door. Good grief, even the man's toes were sexy. Something she shouldn't be noticing at a time like this.
Colonel Covington brushed past Aiden and pushed into the room. His keen eye took in the rumpled bed and her disheveled appearance. So much for hoping he wouldn't.
Busted.
"Major, I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down."
Talk about conduct unbecoming an officer. Now she just had to wait for the official reprimand. For the first time since she'd seduced Aiden into taking her virginity, the possible repercussions of her actions dawned on her. She was on official business, ordered to protect Aiden and bring him safely to Bolling AFB. Nowhere in those orders did it say to boff his brains out. Double shit. She'd like to say to the colonel that this was why she'd argued against being given the assignment. However, the thought that she'd end up in bed with Aiden had never crossed her mind. Not until she saw him and the old repressed feelings came flooding back.
She stood at attention waiting for the fallout.
"At least now I know why you didn't answer your door. For a minute there I feared you'd succumbed to Marilyn after all these years."
Chad? He'd been worried she was in bed with Chad? “No, sir, he's not my type."
"But Greene is."
"That's not—"
"And you and Greene have a past."
Her stomach bottomed out at the casual reminder. She didn't need to ask how he knew. The AFSA briefing on Aiden, when the threat from Sonny first came to their attention, had been damn thorough.
"Sir,” Aiden stepped forward, coming between her and the colonel. “Don't fault Erika for any of this. I took advantage—"
The colonel held up his hand. “Please, Greene, I don't want details.” He turned to face Erika. “All I want from Major Dalton is her promise that she will not let anything stand in the way of doing her job. A job the United States taxpayers pay her to do. Expect her to do."
She hated it when he threw out that “taxpayers’ money” line. She took her job seriously, she understood the responsibility incurred as a member of the United States Armed Forces. “I promise, sir.” He was letting her off? He could lecture her about American citizens getting their money's worth all he wanted if he was letting her off.
"That's good enough for me. Now, if you two will come with me back to my room, we have some intelligence data to go over."
"My clearances came through?"
The colonel nodded. “I didn't come here to interrupt a,” he glanced at the bed, “a good night's sleep. I can be very persuasive when I need to be. Are you ready?"
* * * *
Aiden pocketed the key to his room and bobbed his head. Erika was a little slower to respond, and tagged along behind him as they crossed the hall and entered the colonel's suite.
The colonel gestured to the couch while he pulled up a chair for himself. A manila folder rested on the table between them, beside a laptop computer. Opening the file, Aiden noticed the first piece of paper on the pile. It was the documentation of his clearance, strictly regarding the matter of Miguel “Sonny” Ramos. The colonel trifolded it and handed it to Aiden with the admonishment that he keep it with him at all times.
"It goes without saying that what you are about to be told goes no farther than this room. A man's life and national security depend on it."
He said that for Aiden's benefit. The colonel trusted Erika or she'd be doing something different as a career.
"You are correct about information being leaked to Ramos. I can't say any more than that. However, the informant had nothing to do with him learning of your alternate identity. He doesn't even know you lived under an assumed identity after you left counterintelligence."
"Then how the hell did Sonny track my kids?"
"He has somebody damn good working for him here in the States. Our agent didn't even disclose anything that would put you or Major Dalton in jeopardy. We took very calculated risks with the little information we allowed to be leaked."
The AFSA and the FBI managed to squash any press stories on the car bomb at Aiden's apartment complex in order to keep his alternate identity out of the paper. That didn't stop neighbors from talking, or noticing that Aiden wasn't around, and his car wasn't in the parking lot. There was little the AFSA or the FBI could do to prevent that sort of information from being disseminated without raising suspicion.
From there, it took basic private investigation work to trace back to Aiden's ex-wife and children. What took extra effort was sneaking past the agents assigned to guard th
em. It was being portrayed in the local media as a stranger abduction. No other details were being released, not even to the ex-wife. So far, no one remembered seeing anything suspicious at the park where they'd gone to play with a babysitter. One minute Samantha was there, the next, she wasn't. The AFSA and the FBI were working together to find her.
Aiden watched as the colonel laid out crime scene photos. Aiden's hands fisted and unfisted as he stared at the pictures of the familiar playground. He taken Samantha and Christopher there, watched them play on the jungle gym. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he listened to the facts, information that brought him no closer to locating his daughter.
"I need to call Nancy."
Beside him, he felt Erika flinch at the mention of his ex-wife. Why did he need to talk to Nancy? She'd refuse any offer of comfort he put out and he couldn't do any more than he already was, at this point. His knee-jerk response to speak with the mother of his missing child hurt the woman sitting next to him, the one who had done so much to help him.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. As far as everyone back in Cincinnati is concerned, you went MIA after the explosion. The police don't know what happened to you or where you are. You are officially a missing person. While we monitor the house phone lines for bugs, we can't take the chance that Ramos or someone in his organization could intercept the call and trace it back to you. Not until we're ready for him to find you."
"I thought I was dead, sir."
"After the second attempt on your life, we realized such drastic measures weren't necessary. That said, we have not shared that information with the Cincinnati police."
"It would have been nice to know that."
"And we would have, if Major Dalton had maintained better contact.” Colonel Covington held up a hand. “I know, she was trying to keep Sonny from finding you."
"I'm ready now. Every minute Samantha spends with that madman is one too many.” God, he wanted to go on the national news and offer himself up to Sonny. Anything to get Samantha back in his arms, safe and sound. But he knew Sonny would not just let his daughter go in exchange for his life.
The Class of '93 Trilogy: Deadly Briefs Page 14