Dangerously Hot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#4) Page 24

  “Sergeant San Ramos,” Mendez barked, and Lucky scraped to attention. All the guys snapped to as well.

  “Sir, yes, sir,” she replied.

  “The world owes you a huge debt of gratitude. You found him and you stopped him. But no one’s going to acknowledge that publicly, so we’re acknowledging it here.”

  He lifted his hand in a salute. All the other guys did the same—but to her, not to the bird colonel in their midst. Her eyes felt gritty and misty, but she returned the salute sharply, swallowing the lump in her throat.

  “As promised, you are relieved of duty,” Mendez said. The guys shuffled and cleared their throats. Kev looked over the top of her head, his eyes carefully blank.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “As you were,” he said to the group at large. Then he turned to go. But he stopped and turned back. “But I should tell you, Sergeant, if you wanted to stay, HOT could use an operator like you. Think about it.”

  He spun sharply on his heel and disappeared through the door. The guys all blinked at her. And then Hawk slapped her on the back. It was startling, but she didn’t want to shrink from his touch the way she usually did when anyone but Kev touched her. No, it kind of filled her with warmth. Like she belonged.

  These guys were family. She got all misty when that realization hit her, but Hawk just grinned.

  “Helluva mission, huh? Just think of all the fun we could have if you hung around.”

  Then he filed out the door. The other guys followed.

  Except for Kev. He was still standing there like a stone pillar when the last man walked out. The door closed and it was just the two of them.

  He wouldn’t look at her.

  “Just say it, Kev,” she said. “I can take it.”

  For the first time in days, his gaze collided with hers. His eyes were no longer blank. Her heart skipped a beat. No, they weren’t blank—but she didn’t know what emotion that was staring back at her.

  “I’m sorry. I let you down. I promised I wouldn’t let him take you, but I did just that. I failed to protect you, and I won’t ever forgive myself.”

  Her chest felt oddly hollow at that moment. Because her heart was his, and it hurt to think he was torturing himself over a promise he never should have made in the first place.

  But she knew why he had, and she knew why he was beating himself up so badly over it.

  “Oh, Kev,” she said, and her voice broke just a little. “I don’t care about that. I only care whether or not you still love me.”

  It was his turn to blink. His jaw hung open and then he swallowed hard. “Of course I do.”

  Her laugh was rusty. “Well, I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking you didn’t, so forgive me if that’s what I care most about. Because I don’t care that you didn’t keep your promise. How the fuck were you ever going to be able to guarantee such a thing anyway? You did your best, and that’s all you were ever going to be able to do.”

  His gaze fell to the bandage on her throat. “He cut you again. He nearly killed you. If that had happened…”

  “Well, he didn’t,” she said fiercely. “And I took care of myself, thank you very much. So you see, you did keep your promise, because you trained me to defend myself. You were there with me, even when you thought you weren’t.”

  His head dropped. He clutched the back of one of the chairs and stood there for a long moment, just breathing. “I can’t stop thinking about it. About what could have happened. That cut on your neck…”

  She got angry then. They’d come through so much, and no way was she going to let his past dictate the future for them both. To hell with standing back and waiting for the right moment to touch him again.

  The right moment was now. She surged forward and put her palms on his jaw, turning his head toward her. He shuddered and she knew he felt the same heat and need that she did. Just touching him like this was enough to make her skin itch.

  “You have to stop,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “It’s not your fault what your father did to your mother and sister, and it’s not your fault what Al Ahmad did to me. You can’t spend your life blaming yourself for the actions of others. And not only that, but dammit, I’m getting really pissed here because who says I need rescuing, huh? You taught me to rescue myself, and I did it, so be proud of me, okay?”

  He turned then, the full force of his gaze hitting her, making her breath catch. So handsome. So lonely and broken. So hers, dammit.

  “I am proud of you. You did it, Lucky. You got him. I only hate that you had to do it alone.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Well, I don’t.”

  Hell, yes, she’d been scared. But now she was pretty stoked that she’d survived. She hadn’t just taken whatever Al Ahmad dished out. She hadn’t been broken and helpless and needing rescue. And she wasn’t going to withdraw from the world now that she was free.

  Hell, no, she was embracing it.

  “I’m strong,” she said. “Stronger than I ever believed possible, and that’s thanks to you. If you’d been there to take care of him for me, I might not know what I could do. I’m glad I know. I’m glad I don’t have to run away and hide ever again. I can face myself in the mirror every day, knowing I was strong. You did that, Kev. So if you want to wallow in self-pity, you go right ahead. But I’m not doing it with you.”

  Her heart thumped hard as she waited for him to say something.

  “Jesus,” he finally breathed. And then he grinned. “You really are a ballbuster, aren’t you?”

  Lucky laughed and blushed at the same time. Then she held up a fist. “Never piss off the hand of doom. Capable of taking down terrorists with a single twist.”

  Kev winced. “Kinda glad I didn’t realize what you were doing at the time.”

  “Fear me, Kev. Fear me.”

  He laughed then. “I definitely fear you. I fear you’ll wake up one day and decide you really shouldn’t love a loser like me. And then what am I going to do?”

  She frowned. “You aren’t a loser. Stop it.”

  He reached out and ran a finger over her lips. “So fierce. It was just a figure of speech, darlin’. I know I’m a mighty fine catch.”

  Her breath hitched. “Turning up the drawl, are you? I know what that means.”

  “What’s it mean?”

  She arched an eyebrow. “It means you want to get into my panties.”

  “Is it working?”

  “Oh, yeah. Definitely.”

  Finally, after what seemed like a year, he tugged her into his arms. Lucky sighed as she wrapped her arms around his waist—carefully avoiding his bullet wound. This was home. Right here, in his arms.

  “Better hang on,” he said, tilting her chin up with a finger. “Because I’m about to demonstrate my patented panty-melting kiss.”

  “Stop teasing and just do it.”

  He did.

  ***

  Kev woke from a deep sleep to the sound of the ocean washing the shore. It took him half a minute to remember why he was hearing the ocean, and then he pushed himself up and grinned. Had to love R&R. He turned to look at Lucky’s side of the bed. It was empty.

  But that didn’t worry him. He yawned and stretched and got out of bed. Then he walked out onto the lanai and found her wearing one of his shirts, standing at the railing and sipping coffee. She looked up when she heard him move, her eyes bugging out as she did so.

  “Kev, you’re naked! What if someone sees you?”

  He shrugged and peered at the beach. “I don’t see anyone out there.”

  “There are neighbors and they could walk by, you know. Beaches in Hawaii are public.”

  He shrugged again. “So they get an eyeful.”

  He turned to look at the breakers rolling in. In the distance, he could see Kaena Point, the northernmost point on the island of Oahu. Before him, there was nothing but beach and palm trees. It was January, but it was warm and heavenly.

  “I could get used to this,” he said.


  She shook her head as she came over to his side. Wordlessly, she handed him her coffee cup. He took a sip and leaned against the railing.

  “It’s peaceful, isn’t it? I missed Hawaii.”

  “There’s a lot to miss.” They hadn’t talked about the future, not really, and he didn’t know what she wanted. Oh, he was pretty sure she wanted him, but what if she wanted to live here more?

  Then he’d come with her. Leave HOT when his enlistment was up and become a beach bum. It could work.

  She laughed softly and he turned to look down at her. “What’s so funny?”

  “You. You’re thinking about what you’re going to do if I want to live in Hawaii.”

  He blinked. “How did you know that?”

  “Because I know you. Because I love you.”

  He set the coffee down and wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah, you do, don’t you?”

  She knew him better than anyone. He’d always been so alone, since he was sixteen and lost his family, and he’d closed in on himself in many ways. He’d never thought anyone would know him, really know him, the way a family was supposed to.

  He loved that someone did. That Lucky did. He squeezed her. She squeezed back. He put his cheek on the top of her head and just stood there, watching the waves.

  He was happy. And sad too.

  “I wish Marco was still alive. I don’t know how that would affect us, but I still wish he were here.”

  “Me too.” She sighed. “Marco and I would have always been friends. I’m positive of that, because there was no animosity between us. I think he was just ready to move on, you know?”

  “Maybe he was,” Kev said. They’d never know, of course, but he no longer felt guilty about loving Lucky. He’d stayed away when she was Marco’s wife. He had never done anything inappropriate, and he never would have. But after they’d divorced, who knows what would have happened? Maybe he’d have gotten the courage to ask Marco if he minded.

  She pushed back a little bit until she could see his face. Her eyes were dark and filled with emotion, and it made his heart twist. He was growing used to that feeling, even if it still scared him sometimes. To need someone so much… God.

  “I’ve been thinking about something, and I want to know what you think.”

  Her fingers smoothed over his skin, setting up an ache deep down.

  “Keep doing that and you’ll know what I think in about three seconds.”

  She smirked. “Always thinking with your dick. I like that about you.”

  “Hell, yes, you do. Especially when I use it for such naughty things…”

  “Hold off on the naughty train for a few minutes, okay?” She sucked in a breath and fixed him with a steady look. “I want to come back. To HOT. I want to be a part of the organization, and I want to get the bad guys.”

  His mouth went dry. For a variety of reasons, not all of them positive. On the one hand, she’d be with him a lot. On the other, it was dangerous. Could he handle knowing she was in danger?

  “You aren’t saying anything,” she said, frowning.

  “I’m shocked. And, yeah, worried.”

  “Mendez isn’t going to throw me into operations like the one we just went on. But I have a skill that’s pretty useful to you guys and I want to use it.”

  “Honey, I hate to break it to you, but any one of us can twist the balls off some guy.”

  She sputtered. And laughed. Then she smacked him. “You son of a bitch, I’m talking about my language skills!”

  He grinned. Damn she was tough. And his. So very his. “All right, so you can talk pretty in another language. I guess that’s useful.”

  She said something in that language that he was kind of sure was a curse. It was, however, pretty.

  “I can think of some other things you can do with that tongue if you’re running out of ideas,” he told her.

  She arched an eyebrow. “Who said I was running out of ideas?”

  “No one. But a man has to try.”

  “Oh, baby, I’m happy to use my tongue on you in just a few minutes. But first I want to know what you think. What you really think.”

  She was looking at him with a mixture of hopefulness and wariness. And he knew then that all he wanted was for her to be happy. If being a part of HOT did it for her, then he’d have to deal with it. Because she was strong and beautiful and perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

  “I think so long as you keep going to bed with me each night and waking up with me each morning that I’ll follow you wherever the hell you want to go. Come back to duty and join HOT. I’ll be right beside you. Or stay here and surf all day, and I’ll still be beside you.” He frowned then, remembering how she looked on the surfboard when she was shooting back to the beach. He wasn’t stupid enough to think it was an easy thing to do. “On the other hand, I’ll wait on the beach for you. But whatever you decide, I’m there.”

  Her eyes got glassy. “That’s pretty much the sweetest thing you could have said.”

  “That’s me, babe. Sweet.”

  She laughed even as a tear spilled down her cheek. “Never stop making me laugh, okay?”

  “Deal.” He reached down and swept his arm behind her knees, pulling her up and into his arms.

  She gasped. “What are you doing? You have to be careful with the wound on your side.”

  He silenced her with a kiss as he carried her into the bedroom. Then he laid her on the bed and tugged the shirt up and over her head, baring her naked skin for his pleasure. The thin line on her neck was healing fine, but it was the angry red scar of her gunshot wound that made him want to kill Al Ahmad all over again. Yeah, he’d stopped because she’d asked him too—and she was right, because if he’d killed the target, he’d be spending his time in a military prison instead of with her.

  But damn if he didn’t wish he’d blown the fucker’s brains out.

  Kev closed his lips over one tight nipple and sucked. Her fingers threaded into his hair as her back arched.

  “You still want to know what I’m doing?” he asked a few moments later.

  “Stop talking,” she said on a moan.

  He chuckled softly as he moved down her body. And then he spread her open and licked into the heart of her while her moans grew louder. When she came, he made it last, loving the way her body shuddered and clenched.

  Then he moved up her body and slid home, right where he wanted to be. He groaned with the rightness of it. Instead of moving, he just held himself there, feeling her surrounding him. It was the sweetest kind of torture.

  Her eyes opened, tangling with his. “Kev?”

  “I kind of liked it when you were Mrs. MacDonald,” he said.

  She blinked. “Is that a marriage proposal?”

  He flexed his hips and she sucked in a breath. “Yeah, I think it is.”

  “Oh,” she said as he rocked into her again. Her legs came up and gripped his waist. “Ask me again. And again. And again…”

  He withdrew and then surged forward. “Marry me, Lucky.” He began to move, harder now, deeper and more sure, driving her toward the peak. “Marry me, marry me…”

  “Oh, yes, Kev, yes…” She closed her eyes and arched her back. “Yes, definitely, I will… I will… I will…”

  Her climax was exquisite. She gripped him hard, her body clenching around his, pulling him toward his own peak. He drove her up the bed, pushing them both as far as he could—and then the tension snapped and he came, pouring himself into her with a rough cry.

  When it was over, they lay tangled together on top of the sheets. A soft, plumeria-scented breeze filtered into the room and blew across their bodies.

  “I love you,” he said softly, feeling happy and content and shaken to his core all at once.

  She lifted her head from his chest and kissed him. “I know.”

  He pushed her tangled hair over her shoulder. “I was worried about saving you, but it turns out I was the one who needed saving.”

  “I th
ink we both did.”

  “Now you’re stuck with me. You agreed to marry me, and I’m not letting you back out, even if I did ask while using sexual satisfaction as leverage.”

  “Evil man.” She pulled him over until he was settled in the cradle of her hips again. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at him. “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be than stuck with you. Stuck to you, stuck under you, over you…”

  He was already growing hard again. “I like the way you think…”

  THANK YOU!

  Thanks for reading Dangerously Hot! If you like the Hostile Operations Team, here are all the stories in the series thus far.

  Book One: Hot Pursuit (A Novel) - http://amzn.to/1imc6uA

  Book Two: Hot Mess (A Novella) - http://amzn.to/1lHJRvU

  Book Three: Hot Package (A Novella) - http://amzn.to/1ehFjVc

  Book Four: Dangerously Hot (A Novel) - http://bit.ly/1iYe7xU

  (You just read this one.)

  Book Five: Hot Shot (A Novel)

  Coming Summer 2014!

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