Tex, page 17
He let out a hard breath. “Knee jerk. My ex-wife was on the jealous side.”
“You were married?” she asked.
“Yes. Navy wife. Intelligence, no less.”
Nora covered her mouth. “Not very if she let you go.” He laughed softly. “Sorry, that wasn’t very nice. But jealousy shows a lack of confidence. Do I look like I’m a woman without confidence?” There was a hint of tenacity in her voice. One more thing he liked about her.
“No, ma’am.”
Her face smoothed out. She sighed too. “I get how the past can color your perceptions. I struggled a lot with my supposed relationship with William.”
He stepped forward and pushed strands of hair behind her ear. “He was a fucking idiot, Nora.” A hint of a smile softened her expression as she slipped her arms around his neck. “Seriously, a loser. I’ll try not to react like you’re Debbie if you forget that Lipton ever influenced your life.”
She looked up at him and he didn’t want to think about the past. Instead, he wanted to think about now. She gave him a lopsided smile. “I think I can get aboard with that.”
He drew her closer. “Good. It’s a solid boat.”
The fragrance of freshly mown grass drifted in on the soft evening breeze, the chorus of insects blending with the hushed sounds of nightfall. The view from the kitchen was of his green backyard with the pool glistening in the still-light horizon, the purple shadows and silhouettes darkening the landscape. The sky reflected the fading colors of the early summer sunset, the glassy surface of the water mirroring the midnight blue, soft pinks, and grays of the darkening sky.
The softness in her gaze unknotted something that had been in him for so many years, and although he wouldn’t have admitted this out loud, she gave him the kind of emotional comfort he had never really felt from anyone except his mom, dad, and brothers.
Slowly she ran her hand up the back of his neck, exerting a hint of pressure.
Tex lowered his head, gently covering her mouth with his as he tightened his arms around her. She caressed his back, her movements slow and languid, soothing, as he pressed her closer, her mouth going pliant beneath his. The scent of jasmine clung to her skin, and her kiss tasted faintly of lemonade, her sensual textures elevating his awareness of her. She sighed and moved her hands across his muscled back, and he savored her touch.
Very slowly, Tex withdrew, his voice a little gruff. “I’d better get going or we won’t eat. We’ve got an early call in the morning.”
He wanted to talk to her about where they could take this expanding relationship. But there would be time during dinner.
She nodded, emotion darkening her eyes as she gazed up at him. “Get going then,” she said, laughing softly as she slapped him on the butt when he passed.
“Keep it up, lady.” The dire warning in his voice was tempered by his grin.
“I intend to,” she said, giving him a mock insolent look. “The stairs are that way.”
He chuckled. “I do live here.”
“So you do,” she said, turning away.
When he got back downstairs, she had everything laid out on the table. He liked that she understood grilling was his thing. He prepared the steaks, slathering them with his own mixture of steak sauce, barbeque sauce, and pepper. He got them on the grill with a satisfying sizzle.
“How do you like yours?”
“Medium rare,” she said, collapsing in his hammock, her body sprawled on the netting and one leg hanging over the side.
“Me, too,” he said.
She smiled. “My legs feel like lead,” she muttered in disgust. “You’d think I was out of shape.”
“There is nothing wrong with your shape.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
Her lashes drifted shut, and she grunted, “Thanks.” She pushed off the deck with her foot and swung the hammock slowly. “You guys are inhuman. Didn’t you say something about rucking with eighty-pound packs?”
“Sometimes it's a hundred,” he teased and realized he was smiling. Again.
Another grunt, which didn’t sound all that complimentary.
He frowned, taking in her lifeless form. They had put her through the wringer today, but once they got on that plane and made their jump, it was going to be ten times more grueling. But after today, he didn’t have any reservations about her embedding with them. She was definitely a woman who could hold her own. He enjoyed being with her, even in this low-key time.
A few more guarded walls crumbled. A smart move or stupid one, he wasn’t sure which yet, but he believed he wanted to move forward with whatever came after this mission was complete. He wasn’t going to fight whatever was between them. She was easy to be with and he admired her determination and grit. She was completely dedicated to this mission, her motivation altruistic.
When he looked up again, she’d drifted off to sleep and was snoring softly. Shaking his head at how fast she’d dropped off, he closed the lid of the grill and went inside to grab a beer from the fridge. He unscrewed the top and went back out to the deck. She was still sleeping, her lips, which he’d kissed earlier and ached to again, were softly parted, and the disheveled, shoulder-length champagne blonde hair was tousled around her head. His eyes lowered to her chest, taking in her breasts beneath the plain T-shirt and the way the unfettered fullness of her rose and fell from her even breathing. Her hard nipples captured his attention, round and enticing against the cotton material, making him remember how she tasted against his tongue.
Ignoring the heat settling in his groin, he took another swallow of beer. It was scary how he felt she could easily fit into his life. Norfolk was thirty minutes away and Nora understood what he did for a living. She understood he was pledged to Uncle Sam most of the time. He hoped she understood that when he did make a commitment, he was all in all the time, just like he was with the Brotherhood and the Teams. But that was the adventure, and it wouldn’t always be that way.
He polished off his beer and checked the steaks. They were done. Transferring the meat to a plate, he turned off the propane tank and walked over to the small table on the deck. The aroma of the meat must have woken her. She sat up in the hammock, combed her hair away from her face with her fingers, and rubbed at her eyes. She slowly stood and straightened, then grimaced and placed a hand at the small of her back, and he could only assume her muscles had tightened up while she slept.
“Sore?”
“A bit. It’ll pass,” she said in a no-nonsense voice. “Maybe I need another workout to loosen up.”
He pointed the tongs at her. “Don’t get me riled up, lady, or our food will get cold.”
“Aye, sir,” she said, saluting.
She joined him at the small table, her movements slow. She was still waking up. “I have something for sore muscles,” he said. “You really did well today.”
“Thanks.” She poured dressing over her salad and added some croutons. “I wasn’t going to give up.”
He laughed, not at all surprised to find out she had a competitive streak to go along with all that determination.
A comfortable silence descended between them as they started on their meals, and he was amazed how they’d gone from adversaries to friends in such a short time. Not to mention lovers, too. He much preferred this easiness between them, all the sexual awareness, and the promise of more to come in the future.
“So, I guess you’re stuck with me,” she said, forking up another bite of steak.
“I want to be stuck with you,” he said. It was time to tell her how he felt.
Nora, still feeling the effects of sleep and the almost satisfied soreness of her muscles, didn’t miss the inflection in Tex’s voice. He meant he wanted to be stuck with her for the foreseeable future.
Her mouth went a bit dry, and she took a sip of water. It was one thing to overcome a past of failed relationships. She understood that completely, but she was well aware they had something special, something she wanted, but was completely wary of grasping and holding onto it.
“You understand what I’m saying. I want you in my life.”
“Yes, I got that.”
“But?” His gaze was intense and as serious as she’d ever seen it.
“Tex…Michael. I will admit this is wonderful and unexpected, especially after all that we went through when we first met.” She balled the napkin in her lap between her hands. “I’m just scared.”
“What are you scared of?”
“You leaving and never returning. You dying out there somewhere and I won’t know how or why.”
“That would be something beyond my control, Nora. It’s always a risk when I go out.” He set down his fork and placed his elbows on the table. “Life offers no guarantees. You know that as well as I do. It doesn’t matter what you do for a living. Death finds us all.” She shivered at the look in his eyes. The wisdom beyond his years. He sat back and smiled softly. “But I think it’s more important how we live, than where, why, and when we die. Do those things matter? Isn’t your dad the same man in your heart as he was when he was alive? Nothing’s diminished at all. It’s just a perception of things that are tangible, like his body. But the man you knew hasn’t changed.”
That stumped her for a moment. “I don’t have answers to those questions right now.” She needed to think seriously about what he said. She wanted to be optimistic like Tex. After all, that was his nature. There were no obstacles SEALs couldn’t supersede, no outcome he couldn’t impact in his favor, either with intelligence, skill, or sheer force of will. Or a cunning combination of all three. She was more a pragmatist, a realist, who understood the odds weren’t always in her favor, no matter how much power she wielded. She ached to say she thought they had a future, but she held back because she just wasn’t sure she could go through a death…his death in the field.
She swallowed hard, battling more emotions, more insecurities, and feared there were no answers to losing him that way, something that would always come between them.
“We have a mission to complete, and I would never pressure you to make a quick decision. That’s something you need, especially after losing your dad like that. The thought of my loss that way does hit close to home. I would want you to be sure.”
“And, you’re sure?”
“I’m sure that what we have together is more than we’d have apart. I always thought I was just a fuck up in relationships, but now I know, I was just with the wrong person. This feels right to me. Does it to you?” he asked, never more sincere, real concern outlined in every inch of his handsome face.
Her voice was hushed, her heart skipping, then thundered on with a ferocity she felt it might explode from the sudden intensity and the truth of her answer. “Yes, it does.” How could she not agree? He was right there, Tex of the forever drawling voice, blue eyes that should be outlawed for their penetrative abilities alone, and ridiculously sexy grin that never failed to set her pulse pounding. Not to mention how he was in bed with her, taking her to places she’d never been, without fear, censure, or ridicule. He wanted her every bit as much as she wanted him. So it made sense to ponder this out and really decide what she could live with, and if she could bear losing Tex like that. Something that may never happen.
Without saying anything else, he started to pick up and she helped him. Once the dishes were over, they went upstairs.
Nora slid between the cool sheets, listening to the sounds of Tex shedding the remainder of his clothing. When he got in beside her, she reached for him as he stretched out beside her. He sighed and drew her against him, molding her to his long, hard frame.
She closed her eyes, an odd ache in her chest as she thought about not having this with him. It physically hurt. Splaying his fingers against her scalp, he turned her head, his mouth finding hers in a softly searching kiss. His gentleness mesmerized her, binding her to him with threads of sensation, and she moved closer, wanting to hang on to all the poignant feeling his tenderness awakened in her.
Her awareness for the infinite gentleness in his every touch, awareness of how cherished he made her feel washed through her.
Sliding her hand across his naked chest, she pressed him back, and he caught her head, holding her mouth against his as he yielded to the light pressure. He drew her with him as he rolled to his back, and with his arms encasing her, she straddled his hips.
His breath caught, his voice so gruff it was barely audible as he whispered against her mouth, “Take me, babe.”
“Tex,” she murmured softly, then rising, she guided him into her.
On a ragged intake of air, he tightened his arms around her, molding her tightly against him. Aware of every breath, every heartbeat, every movement he made, Nora began to move.
He whispered her name, locking her hips against his as he groaned and pumped into her.
She was so primed for him, that the moment he touched her clit, she came in a cascading liquid heat, the pleasure biting deep and continuing to tingle way down in her core.
Hauling in a ragged breath, he dragged his hands up her back, relaxing his hold on her hips and she unleashed an assault on his senses. A tremor coursed through him, and she felt him lose himself in the need she was creating in him. She loved how this big, bad, dangerous man surrendered to her. Nora experienced a rush of emotion so overwhelming it left her unsteady, but she forced her body to respond, moving against him, pushing him deeper and deeper into the sensations without mercy.
Bending down, wanting to give him all she had to give, Nora yielded her mouth to him, and he shuddered again and twisted beneath her, his words barely coherent as he ground out, “Nora, fuck—”
She rose, drawing him with her, and he went rigid beneath her, suspended at the very edge of release. Overwhelmed by all the feelings she had for him, she leaned back, giving him the full depth of her as he arched up, tremors coursing through him as he climaxed deep inside her.
With protectiveness welling up in her, she cradled his face against her shoulder, holding him with every ounce of comfort she possessed as the aftermath left him shaking.
She held him like that for several moments, feeling so surrounded by him that it was almost as if he had drawn her inside his very soul. And she closed her eyes, soaking up the feeling of being with him.
He held her as though absolutely nothing else mattered, as though he needed her above all else. This physical and emotional security would allow her to be as honest with him as he’d been with her once she figured out how she truly felt about everything. His words were profound. I think it’s more important how we live, than where, why, and when we die.
At 0600 after a somewhat restful sleep, Tex waking her up in the middle of the night wasn’t exactly…restful, they were all closeted in a ready room not far from the airfield where they would be boarding a C-17 cargo plane. They would then jump off at night into the jungle.
She shivered and took a breath. It was true she was an aviator and was used to being thirty-thousand feet into the air, but that was when she was in control. Ground-level combat made her nervous. In a jet, she steered, attacked, and laid down cover fire. The enemy was a blip on the radar, flak flying in the sky, targets to take out.
“Good morning, people,” Commander Dade said, walking in with a dark-haired woman with striking green eyes. “This is Officer Hannah Grace.” In the front of the room there were three monitors, one with a picture of a fighter jet, one with a map, and the other two service record pictures of aviators. “You are tasked with recovering a downed F18-S.”
“There isn’t an F18-S, sir,” Nora said.
“You are on the ball, Lieutenant. There is only one. It’s a prototype. F-18-Special. Five days ago, it left the USS Annenberg on a test flight. Something went wrong with the plane, and it was set down in the jungle,” Hannah said.
“Set down?” Nora looked at the schematics of the plane that were in a packet on the table in front of her. “F-18s are normally landed.”
“They are. Points for you again, Lieutenant.” She clicked on a video that played out showing the prototype actually going from a jet to a hover, then landing on the ground.
Commander Dade said, “This is the primary mission. You are to HALO jump over the jungle of Venezuela, patrol to where the plane is concealed, and retrieve it.” He switched his gaze to Cameron. “You will assess the damage to the plane, Petty Officer Ryan, and repair it.” His eyes returned to Nora. “And you will fly it out of the Jungle back to the carrier.”
“What is the secondary mission?” Bondo asked.
“We have received intel that the pilot and RIO were captured alive and are being held here at Baramita Airport in the Guayana Region, North of the Amazon. Your team will be tasked with rescuing him.” Hannah walked to two pictures. “This is Lieutenant Commander Raul Lopez, the test pilot and Lieutenant Sam Waters, his RIO. We had originally believed they had been killed, but intel indicates they’re being detained. Unless they’ve given up information, the people who have them don’t know jack about the prototype.”
“And if they have?” Bondo asked.
“Then they probably have the plane and are waiting for you. It will be a disaster if it falls into the wrong hands. If you can’t retrieve the plane. It must be destroyed.”
“The usual suspects?”
“Yes. The blending of the National Liberation Army known as the ELN and dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Our beloved FARC,” Hannah said.
“Those guys need to get legal jobs,” Easy muttered.
“This group is supporting Brazilian miners or garimpeiros in stripping Venezuela of their gold. The garimpeiros are also armed. And of course, we have our usual drug traffickers as well. The biggest threat is Hezbollah. We suspect they have a base there in the jungle.” She bit her lip. “I have spotty intel they are the ones who have our aviators. If that’s the case—”
“We get it,” Brawler said. “It’s imperative we’re successful.”
