Brooks (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Gold Team Book 1)

by Riley Edwards

  “He built this compound, though he calls it a palace, of course. Tactically it is perfect. Nothing but miles and miles of bare earth. A spotter would see dust rollin’ from a vehicle before the palace walls even came into the driver’s view. Less than a mile from the Iraqi border. Easy smuggling, easy day.”

  I couldn’t help the smile that formed. “Now you’re getting’ it, Doll.”

  Once the humor of her statement had worn off, something hit me—just how much she’d changed. She’d gone from offended woman to team member. She’d once bitched about alpha males and SEAL lingo and now she was spouting it off herself. She’d thrown a hissy fit over me offering to help her with her bag, accusing me of being sexist, to not uttering a word when last night I brought her stuff into the house for her. Then there was her public display of affection. Not to mention, thus far every kiss we’d shared, I initiated. That was what had taken me by surprise, not that she’d necessarily done it in front of the guys, but that she’d done it at all.

  “I think Zane’s right. We need to wait this out. After the transfer he’ll send away some of the guards,” she finished.

  “You and Brooks are still on recon tomorrow night,” Declan stated. “Let’s hope the tablets aren’t what’s being transported out.”

  “They're not.”

  “How do you know?” Max asked.

  “I just do. I feel it. As long as he has those tablets, he knows I’m coming for him. And he wants me dead more than he wants the money from the sale.”

  “Wonderful,” Dec mumbled. “I don’t want any hero shit, Tatiana. I even catch a whiff of you thinkin’ about going rogue, I’ll yank your ass from this op.”

  She held her hands up in front of her like she was warning off an attack. “Just stating the facts. He’s got a hard-on for me. My gut’s telling me, he wants to dangle the tablets in front of me thinking he can get me to come to him.”

  “And that’s exactly what we’re doing,” I pointed out.

  “The difference is, now I have you at my back.”

  There it was. She trusted me, trusted all of us to help keep her safe. I didn’t believe for a second that if the opportunity arose, she wouldn’t go kamikaze on Al Issa. Not that I could blame her. But personal vendettas clouded one’s judgement. I understood her need for retribution, but I wouldn’t allow her to die in the process.

  Chapter 31

  “Wake up, Doll.”

  I opened my eyes and snuggled closer to Brooks. Every muscle in my body was deliciously sore. When Brooks had told me he was going to remind me how much I liked “other parts” of him, he wasn’t lying. The second we’d gotten into the bedroom, he set about making sure I’d never in this lifetime forget. Not that I needed the reminder, but again, I wasn’t dumb enough to pass up three really great orgasms.

  “Morning,” I mumbled against his chest.

  My hand that had been resting on his pecs near where my cheek was pressed started roaming. If I was awake, I might as well cop a feel. He was warm, and smooth, and hard. His chest and abdomen completely bare of any hair. Which was strange because he had thick, dark leg hair that tickled my skin as I rubbed our legs together under the sheet. His forearms also had a smattering of hair, enough that it obscured some of the tattoos he had there. They all were military-related; a flag, eagle, old-style black powder gun, a faceless warrior.

  Brooks slowly rolled me to my back. All thoughts of tattoos and lack of chest hair flew out the window as he loomed over me. He brushed my hair away from my face and stared down at me.

  “You’re so beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, still not used to this big, strong, handsome man giving me compliments.

  “I think we need to talk.”

  Without permission, my eyes closed and my body stiffened. Oh, no. How had I read the situation so wrong? We’d agreed neither of us wanted complicated and I’d stupidly allowed myself to start having feelings for him. I was so, so foolish. Why would I ever think a man like Brooks would be interested in anything more than a little fun on a mission? I was easy. A convenient lay. I knew I shouldn’t have allowed myself to believe when he told me otherwise.

  “Stop.” His voice was no longer rough with sleep.

  “I’m not doing anything, Brooks.”

  “Yes, you are. I’ve lost you again. You’ve gone back into the fucked-up place in your head where you think the worst.”

  “It’s not fucked-up. We don’t need to have any talk. I get it.”

  “Really? What exactly do you get?”

  He nudged my thighs farther apart and settled himself into the cradle of my hips. There was no way I wanted to have this conversation lying in bed naked with him. I needed to be fully clothed and standing. Actually, I preferred to have this conversation never.

  I still hadn’t answered him when I felt his hand move between us, not stopping until it was between my legs.

  “Mm. Wet already,” he groaned. “Tell me what you get, Doll.”

  How embarrassing.

  His hand disappeared and the broad head of his dick was now pushing inside of me.

  “Do you get that things have changed?”

  He pushed in a little more.

  “Do you get that shit got complicated?”

  He was inching his way inside of me and it was frustrating as hell. I lifted my hips, trying to get him to give me more, but he pulled back.

  “Answer me, Tatiana.”

  “Yes, I get it.”

  He slammed home and my breath was caught in my throat. Damn, he felt good.

  “Why aren’t you moving?” I complained.

  “Do you get that this got serious before we left Bahrain?”

  I was having a hard time comprehending what he was saying.

  “What?”

  Brooks slowly pulled out and eased back in. Over and over. His unhurried strokes were building something deep.

  “I’m not letting you go after this mission is over.”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  “You’re staying with the team.”

  “Okay.”

  He hadn’t stopped moving, not his cock as it tunneled in and out of me. Not his hand on my face that caressed my cheek, and not his other hand that was flexing as he held my thigh.

  “Brooks,” I panted. “More.”

  The force of his thrust increased and my orgasm was approaching.

  “I’m falling for you,” he whispered.

  “Okay…What?” I tried my best to focus on his face through my haze of desire. “What did you say?”

  He dropped to his elbow, giving me more of his weight. “I said,” he started, and kissed my forehead before he continued, “I’m falling for you.”

  My rapidly-beating heart was now threatening to seize. “What does that mean?”

  “Haven’t you been listening?” He smiled.

  “Um. No.”

  “I’ve been talking.”

  “For future reference, if you want to have a talk where I pay attention and participate in the talk, you shouldn’t have it while you’re fucking me.”

  “I’m not fucking you, Doll.” Now I was really confused. And the orgasm that had been building was retreating. “This is us, talking about something important while we make love.”

  “Make love?”

  “I’m speaking English, baby.”

  “I know that—” Brooks slammed into me, cutting off my snarky comment. “Oh, God.”

  Gone was the leisurely pace. My back arched, my hips lifted to meet him, and my orgasm was racing forward.

  “You gonna stay with me?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Not good enough.” He slowed. “Tell me.”

  “I’m gonna stay with you.”

  “I’m not gonna let you go,” he warned.

  “Okay.”

  “Tatiana, I’m gonna hold you to it. You’re mine.”

  He pushed his face into my throat and kissed me there. I couldn’t help it, I snapped. I loved the
feel of his mouth on my skin, his weight and heat surrounding me—overwhelming me. I felt safe and protected. Wanted. Sexy. Loved. My hands groped at his back trying to find purchase, my ankles crossed, and my heels dug into his lower back.

  “I’m falling for you, too,” I told him.

  Brooks went wild. It was fucking beautiful. If this was what he called making love, I prayed he wanted to make it every day. One orgasm broke and his mouth slammed down on mine, swallowing my screams. He didn’t stop to give me a second to catch my breath before he started building another.

  I wrenched my lips from his and begged, “Baby.”

  All he did was growl and speed up his pace. Sweet Jesus, I was going to die.

  “One more,” he demanded. I tried to shake my head no but he wasn’t having it. “Come on, Doll. You’re close. Just let go.”

  “I can’t.” And I couldn’t—it was too much. He was building something big. Way bigger than an orgasm. He was building hope and need. It was too scary.

  “I swear. Swear it, Doll, I will catch you. I’m there with you. Let go and fall.”

  I had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about my orgasm, though I couldn’t stop that, either. I toppled over the edge, my pussy convulsed and endorphins flooded my system. The pleasure was intense, but the swelling in my heart was bigger.

  “Okay, Brooks,” I moaned and let go.

  Either he’d catch me or I’d fall fifty stories to my death.

  Only time would tell.

  Chapter 32

  “Would you stop fucking pacing?” Max grumbled.

  “They’re late,” I reminded him.

  “And you wearing a hole in the floor gonna change that?”

  I flipped him the bird and continued walking back and forth, stopping in front of the window every few seconds to look out and see if they were back.

  Tatiana and Declan had patrol tonight. They’d made the half-mile walk to the small town near the Raqa’i border crossing. They should’ve been home already. I was unusually on edge. My gut in knots. Something was wrong. I could taste the sour mix of dread and apprehension.

  “It’s only been ten minutes,” he spoke again.

  Only? Shit could slide from normal to fucked in less than ten minutes.

  I thought back over the last week we’d been in Saudi Arabia. I’d had seven magnificent days with Tatiana. We’d had our recon date, it had been the single best date of my life. Guns, NVGs, a hot chick, and adrenaline. What more could a man want? During the assignment, she’d been the perfect partner. She may have questioned her instincts but I didn’t. She was thoughtful in her movements and mindful of our limitations. She was smart. I had to keep reminding myself that she knew what she was doing.

  Twelve minutes, now. Fuck.

  Declan was with her. He’d protect her if shit went south. He was one of the best in the business. Unless he was taken out first. Goddamn it, why didn’t I stop her when she pushed to be on rotation for patrol? Because she would’ve had your balls, you idiot. I could live the rest of my life castrated if it meant Tatiana’s fine ass was sitting at home safe.

  Every second that ticked by was like a blow to my heart. If I’d thought I was in deep last week when I admitted I was falling for her, I was dead wrong. I hadn’t known there was such a thing as abysmal. The depth of my feelings for her were boundless, endless, incalculable. I knew more about her than any other person in my life. Seven nights lying in bed after we’d made love talking about everything and anything. I knew every detail of her life and she knew mine. I hadn’t held back anything. She knew all my secrets, my deepest fears, ugly shit I never thought I’d admit to another human being. I’d spilled my guts between learning her favorite food was chicken nuggets from McDonald’s and her favorite movie was A Walk to Remember.

  I wasn’t falling for her, I was in love with her. And now she was fifteen minutes late coming home from patrol and a goddamn dragon was breathing fire in my belly. Serious as shit, what had I been thinking? The man who’d had her captured and tortured was six-fucking-miles from us. He’d find nothing but pleasure in carving her up again.

  I was getting ready to grab my gear and go in search of them when they walked through the door. I took her in from top to toe and nothing looked out of place.

  “Hey.” She was beaming and I felt like an asshole. She obviously enjoyed working and there I was thinking about chaining her ass to the bed so she couldn’t leave the house. Shit. I was no better than James-fuckstick-Monroe.

  “Hey, Doll. How was patrol?”

  Max chuckled from the couch and I cut my gaze to him. He’d find my size twelve boot up his ass if he told her I’d been pacing like an animal.

  “Boring. Sorry we’re late.” Declan was giving her the evil eye and I wondered what that was all about. “But I had to make a small detour.”

  “What kinda detour?”

  “The kind that could’ve gotten us in trouble,” Declan mumbled.

  “You’re a drama queen. No one was going to get into any trouble.” She shook her head at Declan and made her way across the room. “I saw a vending machine but I couldn’t carry this around the whole night, so we had to go back and get it. It was kinda out of the way. That’s why we’re late.”

  “You fuckin’ kidding me?” I smiled and took the can of Orange Fanta from her hand. “You went back to get me a can of soda?”

  “Not any soda. Your favorite. Can you believe there’s a vending machine all the way out here in the middle of nowhere that has Orange Fanta?”

  She was amazing. Guilt washed over me. I’d been thinking about how much I hated her on patrol and she was doing something kind and fucking awesome for me. Man, I was a dick.

  I tagged her around her waist and hauled her close. “Thank you, Doll.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Her smile damn near knocked me on my ass. So beautiful and bright.

  “Let’s get you to bed, I’m sure you’re tired.”

  Max barked a laugh. “Tired. Right.”

  “Hold up, Zane’s calling.” Declan stopped me before I could drag her back to the bedroom and show her some naked appreciation.

  After a few clipped one-word answers, he handed Tatiana the phone.

  “Hey, Z,” she greeted. “What?” Her back went ramrod straight and she said, “Let me put you on speaker so I don’t have to repeat everything you say… Yes, I’m sure. Whatever it is you need to tell me, my team has the right to know. I don’t have any secrets from them.” She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Yeah, you’d like to know the answer to that. But I said, my team, not my boss.”

  Her boss? Her team? Had she made the decision to stay with Z Corps? Had Zane made her a job offer? She had told me she was not going back to The Company no matter what, but she’d never told me she’d talked to Zane.

  “Leon Brown is MIA,” she told the room as she put the phone on speaker. “Go ahead, Z.”

  “Leon Brown hasn’t been heard from for seven days,” Zane said.

  “Seven? So the day after he set up Tatiana?”

  “Yes. And that was exactly what that was. Brown ordered the firing pin be removed.”

  “Why?” Tatiana asked.

  Her question gutted me, there was so much pain in her voice. She started to pull away from me, but I held her closer and refused to let her go.

  “Tex and Garrett are still working on the why. I’m gonna owe Tex a kidney by the time this mission is over. Do you know how much he charges? A whack, that’s how much.”

  Tatiana went rigid and I wanted to kick Zane’s ass. She had no idea he was joking. No doubt Tex’s services were expensive but I also knew Tex had never charged Zane full price. As a matter of fact, he often times didn’t charge Zane at all.

  “What do you think?” Declan asked Zane.

  “I think Tatiana was marked the minute you guys walked into the UN annex. I think he had eyes and ears on her at all times. I think he was worried she was getting too close to something and he needed
to take her out.”

  “You think he’s dirty? Part of the Omni?” Max was now standing next to Declan.

  “I think he’s dirty, yes. Part of the Omni, doubtful. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have his hand in Falcon Holdings.”

  “But I was investigating Lucre on Leon’s orders,” she reminded Zane.

  “Lucre. Not Falcon Holdings. I don’t think you were supposed to stumble on that bit of fuckery. Listen, I hate to continuously slam the CIA. Okay, I don’t really, but I think the CIA wants Falcon up and running. From a tactical standpoint it makes sense. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t. They knew about Falcon, they can watch the money flow. Leon knew our objective was to sweep up Falcon in our takedown of Lucre. As we dismantle Omni, we’re gonna hit as many of their subsidiaries as possible.”

  “Who do you think took out Leon?” Declan inquired before I could.

  This was more of the same bullshit games the CIA played. It always played out like a bad movie. At least they were predictable if nothing else. Though they rarely got it right, always needing someone else to clean up their mess. I understood their main objective was information gathering, however they were quick to tuck tail and run when shit hit the fan. I was happy Zane refused to take contracts from them, he’d been burned and didn’t believe in second chances. Not to say we still didn’t get caught up in their games, case in point our current situation.

  “No one. I think he’s gone to ground. Someone’s not happy Tatiana’s still breathing. Not to mention, the rest of you. He underestimated her, and my team. He’s fucked and my guess is on the run.”

  “Perfect,” Tatiana muttered.

  “Leon Brown is a pissant. We’ll worry about him after you take down Prince Douchebag Al Issa. Your mission’s been approved for tomorrow night. Tex is taking the lead on intel. He’ll guide you in. Tatiana was right. After the shipment of goods was transferred, only four guards remained. Zero-dark-thirty you’re a go.”

  I waited for Tatiana to perk up a little at confirmation she’d called the play correctly, but it never came. She was folding into herself, arms crossed in a protective gesture, a frown marred her pretty face. The only good sign I saw was she looked pissed. Steely determination shone in her eyes.