by Violet Paige
“Good.” I slapped him on the shoulder. “Call in our coordinates. I’m going back in for a sweep.”
“But the building is on fire. There are too many rooms to cover in the hotel.” Karl tried to urge me to stay. “There could be more explosives. Don’t go back in there, man.”
“I’m not leaving until I know our team is out.” I ran into the burning building, ignoring Karl’s warnings. I wouldn’t leave anyone behind.
I ran into the side door, scanning through the smoke for any sign of the Ranger or Delta teams. I tuned in to my army instincts, knowing they would help me detect enemy presence.
I darted room to room, calling out for my men.
“Crane, over here!”
I peered through the smoke, my eyes landing on Newt.
I jumped over a fallen door. “I have two men trapped under this wall,” Newt yelled.
I nodded as he grabbed the other side of the wall. Together we lifted the wall high enough for the Delta team to roll out.
“Thanks,” Newt shouted. “I’ve already covered the second floor. Do you have all your men?”
“No. I only have the comm guy.”
“All right. My team is accounted for. I’ll take the rest of this level and I’ll meet you at the south exit.”
We ran in opposite directions, searching for the rest of the Ranger team. I knew with Newt looking, the search would be thorough. If my men were here we would find them. Two Special Forces Rangers were worth at least five soldiers searching.
Part of the second floor had collapsed into the first level. There were places in the floor where the ground gave way, exposing a basement. It must have been how the target escaped. There were always tunnels and secret exits. No matter how accurate or timely the intelligence was we received, the target always seemed to be a step ahead.
I kicked open a door, my anger growing. I pulled two more men out of the hotel, assembling everyone at the south entrance with Newt and the Delta team.
Karl was able to call in two helicopters with his radio. Fifteen minutes later we had enough air support to load the injured teams and get out of the city.
I let my legs dangle over the side of the door, watching the desert blur past me as the helicopter flew them back to base camp. We had found everyone. The injuries may keep some of the men from staying on the team, but by some miracle no one had died. I shook my head, knowing I was one of the ones who almost died today. Everything could have ended. Was that how I wanted to go out? Had I given my life everything I should have? I knew what the answers were.
I decided then. No matter what it took, I was going back to Oregon. Back to Olivia.
18
Olivia
I leaned over the railing. The ocean was calm today. Calmer than usual. I inhaled the saltiness of the air, letting it fill my nose and lungs. Soon the house would be sold. Soon I have to move on. Find a job. Find an apartment. Maybe open another restaurant.
I peered at the horizon. It had been a month since Jake left, but some days it felt like I had just spent the night in his bed. He had burned something inside me so hot I’d never forget it. It didn’t help that he was in all my dreams.
I pivoted on my heel, when I saw the Jeep.
It was flying down the driveway, kicking up dirt and rocks as the tires spun out of control.
I steadied myself against the railing. No. This couldn’t be happening.
Jake jumped from the Jeep and walked up the stairs, his eyes locking on mine.
“You’re here?” I whispered.
He nodded, walking toward me. His eyes set in determination, his hands reached toward me. “I’m here.”
I didn’t know if I should punch him or hug him. Scream or cry. Run or throw myself on him, but he didn’t give me room to decide.
His mouth landed on my lips hot and heavy, forcing his tongue deep in my mouth. He kissed me, sucking and biting at my lips, wrapping me into his arms until I felt he would crush me with his embrace.
I tried to wiggle free, but he held me kissing me breathless. My legs turned to jelly, and I grasped at him needing him to hold her upright. How was this happening? Where did he come from?
He looked in my eyes, but the only answer I saw was his desire for me.
I had questions and I needed answers, but the look he gave me spilled open the memories of the last night we had together. My core began to melt and all I could think about was taking him inside.
He grasped my face between his palms. “I came back for you.”
I nodded, wrapping my arms around his neck as he lifted me to his chest. I kissed him wildly, sucking at the corners of his mouth, tasting the mint on his tongue, inhaling his male scent. He carried me up the stairs, shoving open my bedroom door.
My room was packed. Boxes lined the walls, but I still had a bed. He lowered my feet to the floor and began stripping the clothes from my body. He wasn’t gentle or easy. There was nothing else to say, only to let the desire take hold and show us the way back together.
I matched his desperate tugs while I urgently piled his clothes on the floor next to mine. His naked body was standing in front of me, but before I could do anything, Jake lifted me in his arms and dropped me on the bed.
I drank him in. The beautiful smoothness of his chest and the ridges of his hard muscles. His hardness eager to fill me. My hands flattened against his chest, trailing over him until they landed between his legs.
I wrapped my fingers around his thick cock, watching as he jerked at the contact. I settled back on my knees, licking my lips. I had wanted this the last time we were together, only I didn’t know how to tell him. Everything in the barn happened so quickly, I let him take control. I wasn’t going to end this day with another regret.
Slowly I lowered my mouth against his shaft, letting my tongue lick at the bead of dew on the wide head.
“Fuck, Liv,” he groaned, grabbing the back of my head.
I’d dreamed about this. How he would taste. How soft and silky his skin would be against my mouth. I licked him up and down before sinking my mouth over him.
I smiled when I heard the guttural moan erupt from his chest. I wanted all of him in my mouth, but he was too big. I began to move over him, each time taking him deeper. My tongue swirled around his shaft, relishing the taste of him. My eyes darted up and I saw him staring at me. Hungry for more. Hungry for me.
There was a deep ache between my legs and I whimpered. I kissed the tip, eager to please him.
Jake pushed me back on the bed. “My turn,” he growled. “Are you going to give me what I want?”
“Oh yes,” I moaned as he hiked my legs over his shoulders, gripping my ass in his palms.
There was nothing gentle and easy about the way his tongue plunged between my legs, but I immediately opened for him, needing it, desperate to feel the heat he could give me.
His tongue darted between my folds, licking and tasting before stopping to suck on the bud that was pulsing with want.
I whimpered. “Please, Jake.” I only wanted one thing. I wanted him inside me. All of it, his hot tongue, his magic fingers, his thick cock.
“I came back to make you mine, Olivia.” He kissed the inside of my thigh.
Oh yes. That sounded good. I wanted that. He settled my ass back on the mattress before his hands pushed my knees wide again as his tongue lashed against my entrance. I knew I was dripping wet, but I didn’t care. He was doing this to me. Making me lose control. Making me want him with every flick of his thick tongue.
“Tell me you want me to take you right now,” he growled kissing my stomach.
“I do.” I nodded.
He flipped me on my stomach, sending my ass high in the air.
“I wanted to make you mine before I left, but I couldn’t.” His hand flattened against my back.
The want and need for him hurt. I wiggled her bottom toward him, finding pleasure when I felt his tongue lick against my entrance.
“I wanted it too,” I moaned, knowi
ng I couldn’t hold off my orgasm much longer. It was building at a frenzied pace, burning me from the inside out. One thrust and I knew I would spill into the rush of sensation.
I looked over my shoulder as he pushed the tip of his cock against my dripping pussy. He was gorgeous and sexy. His body dominated mine with power and control that was so incredible it made me feel feminine and delicate. As if I was made for this man to pleasure and fill. He was everything solid and strong, and I could give him everything soft and light. I wanted that feeling like nothing else.
Everything in me was pulsing for him, aching for him to fill me like he did a month ago. Only this time I wanted more. I wanted the heat of his seed. I wanted him to fuck me into oblivion. Erase the past month. Erase the hurt and the loneliness.
He reached forward grazing my nipples between his fingers. It shot a bolt of electricity straight to my clit. “Ohh, Jake. I need you.”
“I need you,” he growled, thrusting deep and hard inside me.
I screamed and bucked as he gripped my hips and plunged farther. But I closed my eyes and felt the delicious hum take over my body. The pain turned to ecstasy as he pumped strong and urgent strokes against me.
The month apart made my need for him desperate and raw. His powerful thrusts took me to the peak of my orgasm in seconds. The heat flooded me as I convulsed and vibrated in his hands. His shaft sank into me once more before I heard him unleash a roar over my back. He pulsed, forcing his hot release to spread through me. I clenched around him, needing it deep inside to soothe me. To bring us back together.
“Fuck,” he groaned, lowering my hips to the bed.
I rested my head on the pillow, feeling the exhaustion cover my body. Jake’s damp and warm skin pressed against me as he pulled me into his arms.
“Are you ok?” he whispered.
I nodded. Everything was better than ok. I stroked his arm, draped over my waist.
“I wasn’t going to speak to you again,” I murmured. “Never.”
He kissed the back of my head. “I know.” His fingers swirled over my stomach. “And I was going to show up with roses and an apology. But…” his words trailed off.
My skin tingled and my body hummed. I felt the hot stickiness seep between my legs and felt an ache. Suddenly I needed him again. One time wasn’t enough.
I rolled toward him, my breasts rubbing against his chest.
“I love that you give me your body the way that you do.” His hand slid to my ass, squeezing it in his large hands. “You know exactly how I need you, don’t you, Liv?”
My knee fell to the side when I felt his hand move over my hip and down my thigh. I looked in his eyes, biting down on my lip when I felt his finger trail around my throbbing bud.
“It’s because I need it the same way,” I moaned. My eyes locked on his while he began to stir the want for him.
“I didn’t want to leave you.” He curled a finger deep inside me, bowing me off the bed.
“I know.”
His mouth came down on mine, this time tender and slow. His tongue twined along mine, taking time to taste and kiss. I felt the fire in his touch. My hips rocked against him and I felt his shaft come to life against her thigh.
“Can we?” I breathed. “I need it again. I need you again.”
He kissed along my throat and behind me ear. “I need to fuck you all night.”
I whimpered not knowing if my body could take it, but I would try. I would let him lick and suck me. Kiss me. Put his hands where he wanted. Move my body so we could make each other feel alive. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do with him now that he was in my bed.
He rolled me on my back, hovering over top of me. His broad shoulders blocking everything from view. I was sore and my body ached and I knew the minute he pushed inside me it would sear from the inside out, but nothing else mattered.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking my ankles against his back. He slid his cock against my folds, covering himself in our wet heat before pushing deep inside.
“Ohh.” I clutched at his back. My nails digging into his skin the deeper he hit my inner walls. It was like fire lighting through me.
He breathed into my ear, his rhythm slow and deep.
I looked into his eyes. The same eyes that had broken my heart. The ones that had walked out of my life. But now I saw my future staring back at me.
He drove into me with a powerful thrust, grinning with achievement. “I’m going to make you come like this.”
I nodded. Please. As long as he was inside me the world was right again. He was alive. What we had was real. It wasn’t just a memory. I meant everything to him that he meant to me.
“Will you come for me, Olivia?”
I knew I didn’t have a choice. My body was already seized with the fever of my orgasm. I clenched around him, feeling the vibrations take hold. Jake wrapped his arms around me, his mouth covering mine as he pumped again, releasing his essence inside me.
“Come, baby,” he whispered as I gasped and clung to him.
The waves crashed around me until I felt the soothing feeling stretch through my body. He was home. Finally, I slept.
19
Jake
I buckled his jeans and crept down the stairs. She would need sleep. I left Olivia under the covers.
I saw the boxes in every corner of every room. It might take some time, but I’d help her unpack them. She wasn’t going to have to sell this place. It would be our home. The perfect place to raise our children.
I smiled. This was what I should have done all along. I never should have left her. It took almost dying in the ambush to realize the most important thing in my life was Olivia.
I opened the fridge in search of food. I was starving.
The wind howled outside and the wind pelted the windows. It was too dark to see which direction the storm came from. I had lost track of time. I had taken one look at Olivia on the porch and my groin took over for a while. All the lust and primal need for her had broken free.
The second round was for her. She needed to know I could take her to bed in more than one way. Rough and wild wasn’t always my style. I could love her with slow strokes, pushing her to her limits in a whole new way.
I grabbed some butter and cheese before searching the pantry for bread. I wasn’t a cook, but I could whip up a few grilled cheese sandwiches.
Within minutes the kitchen smelled like grilled cheese and I heard footsteps overhead.
“Hey.” Olivia appeared in the doorway.
“Hungry? It’s not gourmet but I was starving.” I grinned at her.
She crossed the room, throwing her arms around my neck. The sobs were light at first, but as I wrapped my hands around her waist her body began to shake.
“What’s wrong? What is it?” I felt the panic. The fear was spreading through me. I didn’t know what to do.
She sniffed, trying to regain control before she could look at me. I looked down at her. The tears rolling down her cheeks. “I woke up and thought you were gone.”
“Oh, God.” I pulled her to my chest, pressing her against my bare skin. “No. I’m not leaving. Never.” I tipped her chin toward me. “You’re mine, baby. You couldn’t get rid of me if you wanted to.”
She smiled. “Never leaving?”
“No.” I kissed her lips gently. “You’re mine. I’m yours. It’s a forever thing now.”
She loosened the grip on my neck. “What do you mean?”
I had learned a lot as a Ranger. I had learned how to read the enemy. How to anticipate danger. How to train. How to prepare my body for combat. But it took losing my best friend and almost dying a second time to learn time was fleeting. Nothing was guaranteed.
I had hidden his secret from Olivia long enough. We needed to start our future now. She had to know the truth.
“We need to talk.”
Her eyes widened. I could sense the fear.
“I’m not leaving. That’s not it.” I led her to the kitchen ta
ble.
“All right. What is it?” She waited for me to answer.
“Here’s the thing.” I rubbed at the scruff on his jawline. “I have no doubt you want all the same things I do.” I pulled her into my lap. “I want a future with you. I want to live here with you. I want a family with you.”
She swallowed hard.
“You want all that don’t you, Liv?”
“Yes. It’s everything I want. It’s all I could think about when you were gone. I thought it would never happen.” Her voice was quiet.
I squeezed her to me. “I knew you did or I wouldn’t have taken you the way I did.”
She looked confused and I knew I had to explain.
“Baby, you’re mine now.” I felt her pulse quicken. “You’re mine. The one woman made for me. The only one I’m supposed to spend my life with.” I inhaled. “I knew it the minute I laid eyes on you. But I had to leave again. And I couldn’t promise you I’d make it back.”
“I was scared you wouldn’t come back.” Her voice was quiet.
She lowered her eyes and I felt the sadness from the memory. It was enough to bring me to his knees, separating a man from his woman was a living hell.
“Hey.” I tilted her gaze toward me again. “I didn’t want to leave you. I hated it. But my mission wasn’t over. I made a commitment to those men that I would get them out alive, and I had to do it. I had to do for them what I couldn’t do for Elliot.”
My heart pounded. All the pain was still there. The pain of watching Elliot die. The pain of leaving Olivia. It never left me.
“Keep going,” she whispered. “I want to understand.”
“You and I couldn’t be together until I finished the mission. I swear I wouldn’t have left you if I hadn’t given my word. But I don’t break a promise. I never break my word.” His throat tightened. “The past month was absolute hell without you. But I’m back for good. But in order to be back for good and never have to leave again, I had to tell the Rangers you were pregnant.” My hand moved to her stomach.
She gasped. “Pregnant? We didn’t use protection this time.”