Target: A Military Romance (Unwanted Soldiers Book 1)

by Aden Lowe

  My mouth tingled with the loss of his. "More than sure."

  He bent and lifted me into his arms and strode for the bedroom, and set me on the bed. The bedside lamp clicked on, causing me to blink against the sudden brightness.

  "I want to see you. All of you."

  In an uncharacteristic burst of boldness, I pulled my shirt off over my head, then held my breath, waiting for his reaction.

  He trailed one finger along my collarbone, until he reached the strap of my bra, then hooked his finger under it and pulled it off my shoulder. Then he repeated the same thing on the side, and traced along the top of my breasts.

  I shivered, wanting so much more, but he seemed content to keep stroking just above my nipples. Impatient, and needing more, I reached back and unhooked my bra and let it fall. Looking up at him, I reflexively braced for criticism.

  Trick surprised me with a little chuckle. "My girl's impatient. I like that."

  Unaccountably, my heart raced even more with his choice of words. Was I? His girl? Yes. I wanted to be, even if he only said it in the moment. More than anything, I wanted to be his.

  Calloused fingers skimmed over my breasts, circling my nipples, making them even harder and more desperate for his touch. "Fucking beautiful." He opened his jeans and left them loose around his hips, then sat beside me. "I need to taste you, baby." When his lips touched mine again, one hand curled around my neck.

  His touch was so gentle, yet filled with such strength, it made me feel completely feminine, completely safe and protected. That fact he leashed all that power, just for me, awakened something in me. This was what a man was supposed to do—control his strength, and use it to comfort and please. Why had I never realized this before?

  He wasn't alone in wanting to taste and touch. I let my fingers follow the line of his arm, trace his shoulder, then slide down over his chest. Muscles rippled under my touch, telling me how much I affected him.

  ***

  The pads of her fingers skimmed over my chest, then paused at my nipple. My breath hissed out in reaction to the storm of sensation she created. Everything in me urged me to take her, hard and fast, to bury myself inside her, and never leave. And at the same time, I needed to go slow, to savor every nuance. I would never get the opportunity to experience her for the first time again. I wanted every moment seared into my memory.

  Her mouth held endless fascination for me. The silky skin of her inner lips, the velvet of her tongue, the smooth strength of her teeth, it all combined to make me want to stop time, and just live in that moment. But I needed more, too, so I left those treasures to kiss down her neck.

  Satin-smooth skin tempted me to nibble and kiss, finding all her most sensitive spots. The little sounds she made acted as my guide to her pleasure. Scraping my teeth lightly over the skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder earned me a long moan. A lick along the hollow of her collar bone brought a gasp.

  She panted as I kissed down over her chest, and dragged my mouth across the tops of her gorgeous tits. The closer I came to her nipples, the more her back arched as she sought to direct my attention. Finally, I gave in and drew the hardened peak into my mouth.

  Fuck! She was delicious. I could spend the rest of my life licking and sucking at her flesh, and die a happy and fulfilled man. She pulled me closer, moaning and arching into my mouth, but before long, that was no longer enough for either of us. I left her nipples, promising to return to them later, and worked my way down her smooth belly.

  Lying half over her like this, my hard-on pressed against her thigh, her cries filling the air, all urged me to go faster, to give us both what we needed. No. This had to be right. Perfect. Later, we could go hard and fast, or however she wanted. For the moment, I forced myself to take my time and pay attention to every inch.

  When I made it to the waist of her soft cotton pants, I paused to gather my self-discipline. Nothing, no situation, had ever tested my control like this. And then, she lifted her hips for me to peel the pants off her. My hands shook but I managed.

  She lay there in her pink lace panties, thighs open, skin flushed with passion. "Trick, don't stop. Please."

  Need surged through me so hard, I had to back off for a minute. Nothing in life had prepared me for passion like this. I shifted to kneel above her, and tore the flimsy fabric from her body. At my first touch, she whimpered and arched her body, begging for more.

  Growling, I parted her and bent down. The first taste of her had my balls tightening, ready to go. I set out to use everything I knew about a woman's body to learn what she liked best, and to make this as earthshattering for her as it already was for me.

  The whimpers and cries Lauren made for me filled me with a sort of pride, and when she fell over the edge of her orgasm, I felt as if I'd just won some huge award…no, better. The prize of a lifetime.

  "Trick…more. I want you inside me." The breathless words urged me to get rid of my jeans and roll on the condom I removed from my wallet earlier.

  For one endless moment, I hovered over her. The oddest sense that what I was about to do with her would change me forever took my breath away, and I hesitated. But then I looked into her eyes, dark with desire, and her beautiful face flushed with passion. I slid slowly into her, totally captivated by the way her body accepted me. We fit together, a perfect melding of hard and soft, curve and angle. Sheer perfection.

  Finally, I had come home. The feeling caught me by surprise, but I didn't question it. At least, not then. The sensations of loving Lauren overtook me, and I lost myself in bringing her, and myself, as much pleasure as possible. She met me, thrust for thrust, her nails digging into my back. And when she came for me, locked around me in orgasm, I fucking fell over the edge. Her body wrung every bit of strength from me, and I collapsed to the side to keep from crushing her.

  Lauren clung to me as we both recovered our breath. "That was…I don't know what it was."

  Yeah, I didn't know either. But I did know nothing would ever be the same again. I rolled, pulling her on top of me. "It was…something special."

  "Mmm, yes. Incredible." She nuzzled into my neck. "I had no idea sex could be like that."

  I hadn't either. And that scared the holy piss out of me.

  We dozed off, and woke a while later to make love again. In the early morning, we showered together, which turned into shower sex. While she dried her hair, I quickly cleaned up from dinner, and made coffee, and tried to keep from thinking about how deeply she affected me.

  She smiled as she accepted the steaming mug and took a sip, then lowered herself carefully to the sofa. "Trick, we should talk."

  I didn't like the sound of that. Usually when a woman started a conversation with that phrase, it meant a huge blow loomed in a man's future. "Okay."

  She curled her legs under her, careful of her injured foot. "I'm not…um, I'm not very experienced with men. I hope I didn't disappoint you."

  The uncertainty in her eyes broke me. "Lauren, no. Being with you was unlike anything I've ever experienced. Everything about you is absolutely perfect." I scooted closer to brush my finger over her lips. "Fucking perfect."

  That beautiful flush I'd come to recognize came from arousal covered her cheeks. "I'm glad."

  I put both our mugs on the coffee table and leaned in to kiss her. Yeah, my world would never be the same, and I had to walk away from her when this was over. I just hoped I could survive the loss. Everything I felt, but couldn't say, went into that kiss.

  The door opened, shattering the moment, and Flag and X-Man stomped inside. "I smell coffee." Flag went for the kitchen without a glance in our direction, but X-Man paused for a second, gave me a knowing smirk, then went on.

  One more light kiss, then I reluctantly left Lauren to hear the news. "What did you find out?"

  Flag took a long sip of his coffee. "Her face, and yours, are fucking everywhere. TV, newspapers. They've put out that you kidnapped her, that you're armed and dangerous. Cops have orders to use lethal force. No
mention of X or me."

  "Motherfucker. Richardson did that." I sighed. "Okay, you get any good news?"

  "I got hold of Ransom and Heller. They're still babysitting Crazy Terry T. And he's been talking." X-Man grinned. "Turns out, he's actually pretty close to his sister."

  That was interesting. "What kind of stuff he talking about?"

  "Stuff like that Tabitha bitch has it bad for the Senator, and she's going to be the First Lady when he's elected, only the Senator doesn't know it yet." The words fell like bricks, and took a moment to sink in.

  The light bulb went on in my head. "She's behind the attempts on Lauren." A cold rage settled into my gut.

  "So it would seem."

  Lauren's voice came from just behind me, sounding small and hurt. "Tabitha had Poppy killed? She wants to hurt me?"

  Fuck. I turned and wrapped her into my arms. "It's okay now, baby. I got you. She can't hurt you now."

  A tremor wracked her body. "You don't know her, Trick."

  Chapter twenty-three

  Why didn't I see it before? I always felt odd around Tabitha, and now I knew why. She hated me, wanted my life. I should have seen it all to begin with. And now, she not only wanted to hurt me, she endangered someone I cared about more than I should.

  If we were found, Trick would be killed. No warnings. No chance to explain. Hate surged through my heart. Hate for Tabitha for starting all this, but for Jared, too. He ultimately called the shots. He told law enforcement I had been kidnapped. No doubt, he'd also told them plenty of lies about Trick.

  The men all sat down at the table with their coffee, looking very serious. Normally, I would be wary of intruding on their discussion, but since it pertained to my life, I sat down beside Trick.

  The way he put one arm around my hips and pulled me closer to him on the bench made my heart swell. He didn't mind that his friends knew something was going on between us. He wasn't ashamed. It made me feel good.

  "Ideas?" His fingers trailed along my arm, raising goosebumps.

  Flag shook his head. "We're basically pinned down here for the time being. X and I can still move around, though who knows when that'll change. The two of you could be disguised, I guess, but that isn't easy, especially not long term."

  Trick nodded. "Yeah, that's about what I thought. So what do we do about it? I don't want to stay this close to the center of the hunt."

  "Agreed." X-Man traced the wood grain of the table. "We could get Rufus to bring in more resources and throw up a sort of smokescreen while we move. But that would cost."

  I listened to them hatch, discuss, and discard various ideas. Was I missing something? "I'll be right back."

  In the bathroom, I dug into my bag where I'd placed it on the floor. Trick managed to grab my makeup when he got the rest of my bathroom things at the hotel. Armed with that, and a pair of scissors, I went to work.

  An hour later, I stepped back and surveyed my handiwork. Not salon quality, but passable. And even people who knew me would have trouble recognizing me. I went back out to the kitchen, where Trick and the others were still deep in conversation. Without a word, I returned to my seat and waited.

  Flag noticed first. He glanced at me, then did a double take, and let out a low whistle. "Damn. Talk about disguises."

  Trick turned to me, and his gaze took in everything, from my now-short hair, to the blue streaks I'd added, and the elaborate pin-up style makeup. His eyebrows went up. "Wow. How did you…" His words trailed off and he made a gesture to indicate my hair.

  "You like it?" Suddenly, nerves assailed me. It was a bit too late to do anything about it if he didn't like it.

  "It's incredible. And fucking hot as hell." He leaned in to kiss my neck and whisper to me. "Makes me want to fuck you right here and now."

  My face heated with embarrassment. "Thanks."

  Flag grinned, and I was sure he'd overheard Trick's remark. "I don't think anyone is going to recognize you now." He tilted his head a little. "You sure you're not some master spy, or something, just changing disguises?"

  I laughed. "I'm sure. Now we have to figure out how to keep Trick from being recognized." I turned to him. "And I'm not sure you'll like my idea."

  "As long as you're not putting me in drag, I'll live."

  "Actually, I was thinking the opposite." I gave him my most convincing smile. "Did you ever want to be a rock star?"

  "Lauren, what are you thinking?" Mild suspicion filled his gaze. "I don't have hair down to my ass, or tattoos. Not even a drug habit."

  A giggle escaped me at the thought of him looking like a glam rocker. "I was thinking more along the lines of shaved head, beard, and a few other small adjustments."

  "Shaved head, huh? I can do that."

  X-Man nodded. "Disguised like that, especially if we all play the part, it could work. I think we should wait a few days to test it, let the news media move on to some other big story, though."

  Flag's coffee mug thumped on the table. "Miss Johnson, I have a confession to make. At first, I expected you to be sort of an airhead, and not particularly smart. I've just decided you're a damn genius. With a little preparation, we could waltz right into Richardson's office, without anyone recognizing us."

  "What kind of preparation?" The suspicion returned to Trick's face.

  Flag grinned. "There's a thrift store in town. I'm sure we could find some raggedy ass clothes to make us look like starving musicians searching for our big break. And we could pick up an old van pretty easily. Hell, even go all out and get a couple of instruments from a pawn shop. We could breeze through every roadblock from here to DC, no sweat."

  Excitement caught me. "You really think it'll work?"

  Trick gave a slight shake of his head. "Yeah, I think it will. We'll still need to be careful, but if they're looking for the two of us, being a foursome combined with the disguises will throw them off completely." He turned to X-Man. "How long you think we need to wait to move? I want to put that Tabitha bitch down as soon as possible."

  His anger was for me. He wanted to protect me, keep me safe, and not just because he'd taken on the job. My heart swelled a little. A delay to wait for something else to capture media attention had a huge benefit. It meant more time with Trick, more time before he went back to his life, and forgot all about me.

  They talked a little longer, until I dug around in the pantry and found one of those quick one-pan meals that included all the ingredients. Trick offered to help, but I refused, easily able to manage on my own. We ate lunch in relative quiet, then Flag excused himself to sleep. X-Man talked with Trick a few more moments, then followed Flag.

  Self-consciousness overcame me as Trick sat there and just looked at me. Finally, I could stand it no longer. "What? Do I have something in my teeth? On my face?"

  He chuckled. "No. You're perfect. I'm wondering how to convince you to come back to bed with me. I really want to get to know this new you." He waggled his eyebrows to make sure I caught his meaning.

  I looked at him for a long moment, pretending to consider. "Well, maybe you should try asking."

  His face went serious and the blue of his eyes deepened. "Lauren, will you come to bed with me, and let me have you again?"

  The way he looked at me, with such desire, gave me courage. "I will. On one condition."

  Worry flickered through his expression, but he remained serious. "What condition?"

  "I'd like to be sort of in charge this time." I waited, anxious, to see how he would take that. Could I even do that?

  His groan surprised me. "Fuck! Can we go now?"

  Heat gathered in my body. I nodded and stood, taking his hand, and led him to the bedroom. Standing there by the bed, seeing the heat in his eyes, and the way his erection bulged in his jeans, I felt like the most powerful being in the world. He actually wanted me!

  His beard drew my attention first, and I brushed my fingers over it. So different from the clean-shaven look when I met him. "I like this." I had to stretch up to reach his m
outh, to kiss him. A low growl as I traced his lips with my tongue encouraged me to continue. I probed the seam of his lips, and he opened for me. The effort to not take control made him shake a little, and I smiled against his mouth.

  I burned to have his bare skin pressed to mine, so I lifted his shirt and pulled it over his head, and followed with mine. He growled again as I pressed against his chest, the heat of his skin scorching me. "Fuck, baby, you're killing me here."

  That was good, right? Doubt assaulted me once more. What did I think I was doing, trying to take the lead? I never had the courage to do something like this. The thought of how his skin would taste drew me onward, though. I couldn't resist. I licked along the side of his neck. The slightly salty-sweet taste drew a moan from me. That taste was so uniquely Trick, I would forever associate him with it.

  Continuing down his chest, I marveled at the smooth skin over hard muscle, and the perfect angles. Muscles trembled as I touched and kissed and licked. A nip just below his pec rewarded me with another groan. A flick of my tongue across his nipple brought his hands to my hair, and he held me to him for more.

  Instinct and desire were my guides as I kissed my way down his ribs and abs, and reached his jeans. The button of his jeans refused to cooperate, and frustrated me. He opened it for me, and allowed me to push his jeans down his hips.

  His erection sprang free of his underwear, and I stared in awe. Giving oral never appealed to me in the slightest. But now, I couldn't wait to have him in my mouth. I circled the tip with my tongue, unsure how to go about doing it.

  "Baby, you don't have to—"

  "I want to. I want to taste all of you." I took a deep breath. "I've never done this before, and I'm not sure how." The confession left me shaking.

  He groaned. "Baby, anything you do is perfect. Just do what feels right to you."

  "Can we get on the bed?"

  "Absolutely." He kicked out of his jeans and lay back on the bed.

  Feeling awkward being the only one dressed, I shed my clothes, too. The way he looked at me, like he could devour me, made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.