BEAST (24 page)

One day after his talk with Bruce,
Christopher walked into the lockers and the guy’s all
turned and
looked at him. His brow gathered and he quickly thought back to what
he and Ashleigh had done during their workout
. They hadn’t done anything overtly sexual had they? No, he was very mindful of the damned security camera and now that they spent most mornings with each other, that problem was generally satisfied before even arriving to work.

He shrugged and frowned. “What? Don’t tell me you guys got another bet on me?”

Carlos gave him a snort
. “We never had a bet on you.” He looked away quickly. Christopher’s frown deepened.

“Then w
hat?!”

TK was the one to answer. “
Commander
just announced that we got called on a mission.”

Christopher’s face paled.
“When?”

“Seven days.”

Christopher swallowed.
It had only been a month since he had asked for a change of position. It hadn’t been enough time
to find a new post…And now he understood why the guys were giving him ‘the look’. They looked forward to missions so it wasn’t that. It was because he was in a new relationship. 

You never wanted to be sent on a mission right after getting married, having a baby, starting a new relationship. The superstition was that something would happen to you and sure as shit you’d leave someone a widow or fatherless. He didn’t buy into the superstition but…he couldn’t deny that he had seen it happen time and time again; whether it was because the guy’s mind was preoccupied, or because he was trying to be too careful could very well be the reason. Regardless, being in a new relationship was the kiss of death on a mission.

He left the lockers and went straight to Bruce’s office.

“Sir, I heard we’re scheduled for a mission.”

“Christopher…I couldn’t get you off the roster in time. You’re going to have to serve this one.”

His charcoal eyes were dark and troubled. “What if I’m able to find a new position before we ship out?”

Bruce shook his head sadly. “You’d still have to hit the best qualified list and get selected before you could be considered in a new position; and that’s the only thing that’s going to get you off the roster. Just to BQ takes two weeks alone. I’m sorry son. My hands are tied.”

Christopher thanked him and left. Damn.

One more mission.

That night Christopher took Ashleigh out for dinner. He preferred eating at home even if they picked up something and carried it back.
Although,
preferably he liked cooking for them
and that way he had leftovers for lunch the next day and
could make sure that
Ashleigh was eating healthy.
But he wanted to tell her about the news some place nice.

Ashleigh was excited about going out. More than anything she was just happy to dress in something other than sweats for her man. She put on a sexy red dress. It was size 14 and she thought that she could have worn it in a size 12. Now she was allowing her mind to accept the fact that she was no longer the fat girl. Yes, there were a lot of people that would look at her and still see someone that could stand to shed more weight. But luckily, that is not how she saw herself.

They sat in a dimmed restaurant that had a candle on the table and soft music playing in the background. She
smiled
.
“Baby, what do you think about the six of us renting out a house for the weekend when we go down to Georgetown? That way Lance and Rick can be discreet and
Lance w
on’t feel so left out
with us there
.”

Christopher had been quiet and thoughtful when Ashleigh spoke. He looked at her
. H
is mouth drew down at the corners. “Sweetheart…I’m not going to be able to go to Georgetown.”

“What?
But w
hy?”

He reached for her hand. “We got called on a mission. It starts in seven days.”

Ashleigh’s mouth dropped open. A mission; with guns and fighting and terrorists…and of course she couldn’t stop her mind from recalling all the news around Bin Laden’s capture and death. Would Christopher be involved in something like that?

His hand squeezed hers. She looked at him, her eyes troubled. “Christopher…”

“Sweetheart, I’ve been putting in for a change of d
uty. I asked to be removed from
the task force. But this came up before my Commander could get it to go through. But this will be the last mission I’ll need to go on. Just one more, honey. Okay?”

She gripped his hand.
“How long?”

“Two months.”

A harsh breath left her. She watched his eyes. “What are you going to be doing?” She had brought up his missions before but could tell that he didn’t like talking about it with her. It was still kind of vague to her.

“We’re not going to know that until we get briefed.”

She didn’t speak for a moment and then she swallowed. “Will you be going to places like
Afghanistan
of Iraq or will you be staying in the states
?”

He shook his head slightly. “I don’t know, Sweetheart.”

“Have your missions ever been in places like
Iraq
?”
He didn’t answer.
“Do you really fight terrorism by going after drug dealers and gang members, Christopher? Or do you actually hunt down
real
terrorist like Bin Laden?!”

He reached out and stroked her
cheek
. “Sweetheart, I do exactly what I told you I do.” She was studying his eyes but found that she couldn’t read them; he was just looking at her with lots of love and sincerity. “I can’t tell you exactly what I do because it’s classified. And when I don’t share these things with you, it’s not because I’m trying to be secretive. It’s because what I tell you might risk your life, my life, my team’s life…and the safety of our entire nation.”

She cupped her hand over his and kissed his palm. “I understand.” She closed her eyes and nodded. She wouldn’t ask him again. But of course it made it worse…not knowing just how dangerous her man’s missions were.
She gazed at him, noting his big toned body
and she remembered the look of his
team. They were big and in top physical condition. Guys like that weren’t just sitting around drawing up plans. Guys like that are who carried out those plans…

“And you’re not going to have to go on any more after this?”

He nodded. It caused him so much anguish to see her so distraught. “I won’t be placed on missions
, no
,
but
I’ll still be active. You understand that
don’t you?
I
can still
be deployed-”

“I understand that.  It’s the…missions that…”
that re
quired him to do things that were
extra dangerous, things that others couldn’t, things that no one could know about…

He
watched the emotions cross her face and
wished he hadn’t taken her to a restaurant and that they were back at home where he could pull her into his arms and kiss away her fears. He looked down at the remainder of his partially eaten meal.

“Do you want to just get boxes and take the rest of this home?”

Ashleigh nodded. He paid the bill and they went back to his house. His brain couldn’t stop wondering if he should have asked her to marry him weeks ago. Yet that would have definitely fed into the superstition. And he couldn’t ask her before leaving
--
that wouldn’t be fair to her if…It would feel like a desperate move to reassure her that he would return. And Christopher didn’t picture asking her to marry him in that way.

~***~

While Christopher fed Maggie, Ashleigh picked up Christopher’s guitar and began plucking absently on the strings. He peeked
i
nto the living room before joining her on the couch.

“Do you want me to show you how to play?”

She shook her head. “No.” She passed him the guitar. “I want to hear you play.”

He placed the strap over his shoulder and watched her. He played several love songs before he realized that she was on the verge of crying. Christopher abruptly stopped. 

“Ashleigh, baby, I’m sorry! I was trying to make you happy not sad.” He had already placed the guitar to the side and pulled her into his arms where she buried her face into his massive chest.

She tried to chuckle but it just came out like a sorry croak. “I’m okay. I just…two months
is
so long.” Damnit…she knew that she sounded like a whiny baby and that’s not what she wanted
,
especially now that she had grown accustomed to seeing him every single day. She didn’t want him to think she was one of those needy people that didn’t know what to do without a man constantly at her side, though that is pretty close to how she was feeling. She wanted him to focus on coming back safely…not on her emotional stability.

He rubbed her back and sighed. “Two months is a long time. But it’ll go faster than you think.” She suddenly moved her hand beneath his shirt and his muscles tensed at her soft touch before he melted into butter.

“I think we should make every single night memorable.” She looked at him with open desire. Christopher silently nodded his agreement before he leaned forward and kissed her, his hand moving behind her head. There was desperateness to their kissing. Ashleigh’s hands clutched him and when he stood, lifting her, she wrapped her arms around his neck without breaking the kiss.

Christopher carried her to his bedroom and partially covered her with his body as he lay her down on her back. He sat up on one elbow and looked down at her. Her lids were heavy and half hooded as she, in turn, watched him.

“I love you; more than anything.” He whispered.

Her breath caught in her chest and the tears that she had been fighting finally sprung into her eyes. She wiped them quickly and sniffed back tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry-”

“Don’t cry Ashleigh…” He showered her face with kisses; attempting to kiss away her tears. With trembling hands she reached between them and pushed one down into his pants. Christopher sighed and lifted himself up enough to undo the button and pull down the zipper. Ashleigh gripped his semi-hard cock while his eyes closed and his own breath became strained. She quickly craned her neck forward and kissed his jaw until he turned his head so that she could kiss his lips. She kissed him hard and frantically and Christopher rolled onto his back, eyes still closed. Ashleigh moved on top of him and he could hear her soft cries of desire, passion, sadness…

And then he felt
the kisses
trailing down his torso and suddenly
her tongue jab
bed
at his frenulum and he groaned. Her hand on his shaft was firm, causing it to quickly swell. And when her warm, wet tongue danced around the sensitized head, Christopher’s body began to tremble and his hips thrust forward.  He licked his lips and blew out a loud breath, resisting the urge to bury his fingers in her hair, resisting the urge to fuck away his misery.

Finally he cupped his hands on each side of her face and thrust gently in and out of her mouth. Ashleigh groaned
,
her eyes closed in deep concentration, tears wet on her lashes.

“Love you, Ashleigh…”  He moaned. “Love you…”

She released him and he opened his eyes to see her tugging down her panties and hiking up her dress. There was a lost, anxious expression on her face as she quickly straddled him. Christopher’s lips parted at the sight of her. She was pure sex. He should have fucked her mouth. It’s what she wanted. With a groan she lowered herself onto him. He saw her grimace and he didn’t move, though the feel
of her tight passage made standing still nearly impossible
.