Soldier With Benefits (Military Men Book 2) (13 page)

“Don’t worry, Mac. Everything will turn out okay.”

Mac forced a smile, trying not to worry. She wished she shared Louie’s confidence.

Chapter Eight

Six days later

“Did you hear that girl talking on the cell phone again?” Mac asked Carolina when they left the site of the second interview.

“What girl?” Louie demanded.

“There was a girl at the first place,” Mac said. “A teenager. We didn’t see her, but after we arrived, the phone went a few times. The same thing happened today.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Carolina opened her mouth in a dainty yawn. “There’s nothing sinister about a kid and a phone. It was a young girl. Don’t you have sisters? Girls are always talking on the phone. Boys too.”

“It might be innocent,” Louie said. “What does your gut say?”

Mac thought back to the hour-long visit. “I don’t know about my gut, but today I felt as if I were in the crosshairs of a rifle the entire time we were there.”

“See, this is my problem with the whole deal,” Louie said to Carolina. “We can’t control who they have inside their house because we can’t search it beforehand. We can only secure the perimeter.”

“You’re paranoid,” Carolina said to Mac. “I have one more interview to complete. You can’t bail on me now.”

“We’re not bailing,” Mac said before Louie could snarl at Carolina and upset her. “All we’re saying is that we want to take things easy and try to control the variables.”

“We could send in a team earlier,” Tai suggested, flexing the arm where he’d managed to cop a bullet scratch. It didn’t seem to slow him down, the man was sharp and alert at all times. “Keep the place under surveillance to see if anyone suspicious enters the building before we arrive.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Louie nailed Carolina with a hard stare. “Send us all the information as usual. We want one extra day to prepare this time. This is nonnegotiable.”

“We’ll see about that,” Carolina muttered as they stopped outside her lodgings. She stomped from the vehicle, her displeasure clear in her determined departure.

Tai shook his head. “She’s not a good person to cross.”

“It can’t be helped,” Louie said. “I’d rather have her pissed and alive and the rest of us in one piece. We’ll have a strategic meeting when we get back.”

They drove to home base without incident, their meeting going well as they formulated a plan of attack and lots of variations in case everything went to hell.

“I’m going to check my email,” Mac said.

“No problem.” Louie watched her walk away, his gaze lingering on her butt. A sharp nudge in his ribs ripped his attention free. “What the hell…”

Simon scowled. “Do you want everyone to notice?”

“Notice what?” Louie decided to play dumb.

“
Exactly
.”

“Do you have anything to add to our plan?”

“Nah, it’s good. Unless Carolina comes back with something off the wall, we should be sweet.” Simon paused. “You know we could always turn up an hour earlier or later than we’d planned.”

“Not a bad idea. Let’s keep that in reserve. I’ll be glad when this last interview is over,” Louie said. “Coming to the gym?”

“Yeah. See you there,” Simon said.

Hopefully not straightaway. He’d hated every moment of the two interviews Carolina Eastern had arranged so far, spending the time strung out and jittery, every sense hyperalert. He’d managed to hide it, but the third one might be the death of him.

Mac was still checking her email when he arrived in their room. She glanced up, her eyes red, her face shiny with tears.

Alarm shot through him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She scrubbed at her face with her hands. “Nothing’s wrong. These are happy tears. Your friend’s wife, Summer, sent me an email. She said Dad is fine, although insistent that the people at the vineyard are doing something illegal. Your friend is going to investigate.” Her eyes shone with gratitude. “My father insists on checking out the place again and your friend is going with him. That’s the best way to handle my father. He’s stubborn.”

“It’s obviously hereditary,” Louie said.

Mac didn’t bite at his comment. She stood and threw her arms around his neck, pulling his head down so she could kiss him. Louie wasn’t about to argue about a little lip lock. The more time he spent with her, the more he was convinced she was the woman he wanted to live with for the rest of his life.

Their lips met, gliding together with the ease of familiarity. Her taste rolled over him, her lithe body pressed close to his. Her soft groan went straight to his groin, his libido going from low simmer to a conflagration at her first touch.

“Mac, sweetheart.” Louie pulled away a fraction, dropping his hands to cup her ass to hold her in place. “I need you.” His hips moved, rubbing his cock against her stomach in illustration.

She laughed. “You always need me.”

“Newsflash, I’m breathing and I’m a guy.”

“It wouldn’t be as much fun if you were a girl.” Her tongue slid over her bottom lip, moistening it while she unfastened the top button of his shirt.

“Your mouth is so sexy. I like kissing it. I enjoy it pressed against my skin.”

“Like this?” She skimmed her lips over the skin in the V of his shirt. She lifted her head to nibble at his neck. “Or like that?”

“All of it.” Hell, he enjoyed it all. From the first touch, his future was set, and he’d tried to subtly woo her. At least she always welcomed his touch, and she’d started to share her private life with him. That was a start. “I told Simon I’d meet him in the gym.”

“We’d better hurry this party along then.”

The sparkle in her eyes and the husky note in her voice sent a signal straight to his balls. He stared for an instant, mesmerized by the naughty grin on her face then she went to her knees in front of him. Competent hands unfastened his belt and worked down his zipper.

Anticipation thrummed through him as he stared at her head. She brushed her cheek against his erection, humming lightly. Although he’d planted his feet solidly on the floor, he wondered if he’d manage to stay upright when she put her mouth on him.

“We’ll do it this way now,” she said, tugging on the waistband of his boxers. His clothing rustled as she yanked his trousers partially down his legs and dragged his boxer waistband down until it rested below his scrotum, lifting his balls and cock higher.

“What about you?”

“I can wait until tonight.”

Louie made a sound of approval. “Sounds like a plan.” A hell of a good plan.

“I suppose I should hurry.”

“Simon is waiting.”

She glanced up at him through her dark lashes, her sexy lips pursed. This was the carefree woman he’d met in Fiji. Full of fun and open to experimentation. Her autumn hair alive with color and her golden eyes full of sensual promise. They’d made love outside in the cool night breeze and spent countless pleasurable hours in one of their rooms. “You’ll have to tell him something came up.” The deliberate drag of her tongue from the base of his cock to the tip sent a surge of pleasure through him.

“I doubt those are details he wants to hear.”

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something.” Her tongue swirled over the head of his shaft then her mouth opened, letting his cock slide inside. The heat of her mouth seared him, made his heart beat faster and his breathing stutter. She took him deeper, sliding the sensitive underside along her tongue.

Louie had to hold on to something, had to anchor himself. He gripped one of her shoulders and slid his other hand into the mass of her hair. She worked his cock, humming, the vibration in her mouth and throat echoing the length of his body. The heat—it fired through him. So good. So bloody good. And the sexy sounds she made, her sighs of approval.

“Mac, I…hell…please let me move.” His hips jerked even as he said the words, the need to thrust, to feel more of his cock surrounded by the hot moistness of her mouth. The rest of their surroundings faded away, his narrow focus on Mac and the pleasure she sent reeling through him.

She sucked hard and did something wriggly with her tongue, stroking all the good spots at once. His seed bubbled in his tight balls. Damn, this was good. He wanted to make it last, wanted to do this with her forever.

His woman
.

The possessive thoughts flooded his mind, filled his body as he came, unable to hold back a second longer. “Mac,” he whispered hoarsely, the pleasure holding him in its grip, the spasms of his cock seeming to go on for a long time.

She pulled back and grinned up at him. “Worth waiting for?”

“Hell yeah.” Louie hauled her to her feet and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her slow and deep with every bit of the possession he felt. He lifted his head, taking pleasure in the dazed expression in her golden-brown eyes, the swollen red lips. He smoothed his thumb over her bottom lip, tempted to rip off his clothes, her clothes and spend the next hour loving her. Only Simon’s disapproval stopped him. “I guess I’d better go.”

Mac wrinkled her cute, freckled nose. “We don’t want Simon thumping on our bedroom door again.”

Louie released her with real regret, wanting to kiss each of the freckles that had popped out with the sunshine. He yanked up his pants so he didn’t trip and went looking for a T-shirt and some shorts. “Later,” he promised, loving the flash of emotion in her eyes, the silent agreement.

Oh yeah. Mac belonged to him and soon, very soon, he’d prove it to her.

* * * * *

The next morning Mac signed in to her email with the usual trepidation. At least she hadn’t received an irate phone call from the director. No news was good news.

“Anything from Nikolai or Summer?” Louie asked from the bottom bunk.

She glanced up at him, smiling at the picture he made. His hair stuck up a bit and he had a hickey on his chest to the right of his left nipple. Kind of difficult to explain that to the curious. “I marked you.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t you mind about gossip?”

“We’re not letting this affect our jobs. If anything we’re both functioning better than most of the guys. I won’t go around showing it like a badge, but I’m not ashamed of it either.”

Warmth danced inside Mac as she glanced back at the laptop screen. Ah, she was in. She tapped in her password and waited. “Summer has emailed.” Mac clicked on the email and scanned the contents. “Well, hell,” she muttered.

“What?”

“Your friend Nikolai and my father have busted a marijuana grower. They had a special shade house and were growing the stuff. The police arrested five people. I don’t believe it.”

“Your father is sharp,” Louie said with a chuckle. “Just as well we got Nikolai on the job.” He glanced at his watch. “Do you want to ring Nikolai later to get the details?”

“I’d like that. I’d like to thank him.”

“When we get back from our morning sortie. We’re escorting a reporter to the airport and picking up a couple of new recruits.”

Mac fired off a quick thank you and mentioned they’d ring later, around nine in the evening New Zealand time. “Aren’t you getting out of bed?”

“Nope. Not until I get a morning kiss and cuddle.”

Mac stared at Louie, wondering how they’d reached this point of intimacy when she’d intended to keep away from emotional entanglements.

“Mac?”

“I might have a little time before I hit the shower.”

“Move your ass then. We need to make good use of your free time.”

Mac found herself walking to the bunk and sliding onto the narrow mattress into Louie’s arms without an argument. Their lips met in a hungry kiss, as if they hadn’t touched each other for weeks. Her womb clenched with need, her tissues swollen and damp. Louie dragged her under him, parted her legs and worked his cock inside her channel before she could blink. He pulled free and slid deep again with a slow stroke. She sighed, melting into him and enjoying the lazy build of pleasure. It flared hotter and brighter until she exploded, dragging Louie with her. As they came down from the high, Mac wondered how she’d manage when Louie left and she had to re-up because she had no other option.

* * * * *

The planning for Carolina Eastern’s third interview took much longer than the others, held up by an increase in military action in the area they wanted to visit. Now, a month later, they were finally on their way to the small village outside the city.

Heat shimmered on the road in twisting and glistening patterns. Sweat coated Louie’s body beneath the protective vest. The sky was a vivid blue with not a cloud in sight.

A helicopter passed overhead, and over to his right, a plane circled, ready to land at the airport. Three-quarters of an hour into the journey to the village everything had gone to plan and they hadn’t come across anything unusual, not even a roadblock.

“All quiet.” Simon’s voice crackled through the radio.

Carolina Eastern snorted, her dark brows drawing together. “What does he expect? You’ve both behaved like old women with this trip.”

“Better old women than dead,” Garrett snapped.

Louie sent Garrett a warning glance even though he appreciated the sentiment. Carolina was frustrated. Hell, they were all edgy after the on-off nature of this last interview.

Ahead, a burst of gunfire shattered the peace. It sounded close. Too close.

“I don’t freaking believe it,” Carolina spat. “Please tell me we’re not returning.”

“Do you practice being a bitch or does it come natural?” Mac asked.

There was a startled silence before Carolina laughed. “I guess it comes natural. Sorry. I’m aggravated with the holdups. I don’t mean to take it out on all of you.”

“I’d never have guessed,” Mac said, lifting her chin in defiance.

Louie bit his inner lip, trying not to laugh at the two women. Garrett didn’t even try. He chuckled out loud.

“Should I keep going?” the driver asked, slowing when another volley of fire sounded to their right.

“Yeah, keep going.” Louie hoped he was doing the right thing.

Their driver continued, the gunfire gradually receding. They all relaxed a fraction, eyes scanning the road on both sides as they continued their journey. Gradually, the road opened up and they saw fewer military vehicles, although overhead the
whop-whop
of helicopters continued. Sometimes they drew return fire, spurts of
rat-tat-tats
echoing around them. Smoke filled the air and flames licked at a building. No one bothered to try to put out the fire.