Cover Me (Elite Force 1)

“Could we just have sex twenty-four/seven?” she whispered against his mouth. “Seems like we communicate best that way.”

He nipped her bottom lip. “Believe me, I would if I could.”

“You mean you’re not a superhero?” She stared at him in mock surprise.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, not meeting her eyes.

Her hands grazed down his back until she cupped his tight, amazing butt. “No comeback, for once? That’s a shocker.”

He shrugged. “I don’t really know how to joke about it. I’ve spent a lot of my life training for this.”

“How long? Spell it out,” she asked, hungry for everything she could learn about him. They had so little time left together, with his impending deployment, her own uncertainty about her future. “I can’t know what you don’t tell me.”

“PJs spend nearly two years training overall. Indoctrination course at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, then on to Airborne School at Fort Benning. Combat Divers School next.” He paused. “Are you bored yet?”

“I’m impressed. Please continue. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know.”

“Okay, since you asked… Then Navy Underwater Egress Training at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Survival school up in Washington.” He shivered melodramatically. “Freefall Parachutist School after that.”

Now she was more than impressed, she was awed. “What else could be left to learn?”

“Special Ops Combat Medic Course, then our PJ Recovery Specialist Course, finishing up at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.”

“I knew PJs were a highly specialized group… but, wow, I didn’t have a clue.” She sifted through it all. So much training, so many places. “How do couples manage to stay together during all that time apart?”

He angled his head back, his cocoa-brown eyes meeting hers somberly. “If a couple can’t handle the training, they aren’t going to be able to handle the stress and separations of military life. Our divorce rates are high.”>Dampness sealed her cheek to his and she knew the tears weren’t only hers. Her own had nothing to do with pain and everything to do with the emotion welling inside her.

His hand in hers spelled over and over, “I love you. I love you.”

And he kept repeating the words in her palm as he moved inside her, thrusting, determination stamped on his face that he wasn’t leaving her behind. And she trusted him, with her heart and with her body. This was the Flynn she’d known before, but stronger, more mature, the man she’d dreamed he would become.

Bliss swelled inside her, tingling and spreading until even the roots of her hair shimmered with the impending…

Release.

Her arms flung wide, her fingers twisting in the sheets as ripple after ripple crashed over her. Flynn covered her mouth with his and she realized she must have been moaning with the power of the orgasm slamming through her.

Or maybe he was covering his own shout of completion. His muscles bunched against her. His skin darkened with the flush of desire culminating. Just seeing him launched a fresh wave over her until her body lay spent and his arms gave way. He collapsed on top of her, his weight a welcome blanket grounding her to earth again.

His forehead rested on hers, his mouth so close she could read most of what he said, enough to understand the gist. “I love you.”

“You told me.” She cradled his face in her hands the way she still cradled his body inside hers.

“I want to be sure you believe me.” He slid beside her, stroking her hair from her brow. “If I could go back in time.”

“We can’t go back. But we can start from here. A day at a time being honest with each other.”

“Okay, then, I’ll take that.” Relief shuddered through him as he kissed her once, twice, again, punctuating his words. “God, I’ll take that. Because it’s more than I expected to ever have and more than I deserve. If you really can give this a day at a time, then I will work my ass off each and every one of those days, earning your trust back.”

He tucked her closer to him, his chin resting on top of her head. His rapid breathing slowed, evened out until a slight snore ruffled her still-damp hair.

Holding him to her, holding on to the moment, she waited a little longer to be sure he slept deeply. Because she had one last loose end to tie up before she committed to him fully. She needed to send Brett an email to tell him she was sorry, but she had made a mistake. She couldn’t meet him and she didn’t love him.

Her heart still belonged fully and irrevocably to Flynn Everett.

Chapter 16

Hot springs bubbling around her, Sunny straddled Wade’s lap as he sat on a submerged rock step. Only their shoulders and faces peeked above the lapping water. The springs refilled from the geyser in the middle, heated naturally from the mountain’s volcanic core.