I wrapped my arms around him without thinking, holding him just as tight.
Neither of us moved.
Eventually, he shifted carefully, rolling onto his side and pulling me with him so I stayed tucked against his chest. He stayed inside me a moment longer, like neither of us was ready to break that connection yet.
When he finally pulled out, I whimpered at the empty feeling.
His hand came up immediately, cupping my cheek, thumb brushing under my eye like he was checking for tears.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
I nodded. “More than okay.”
He exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for weeks.
We lay there tangled together, my head on his shoulder, his arm heavy and warm around my waist. The room felt different now. Quieter, softer, like the storm had passed but the air was still charged.
After a minute, reality crept back in.
I could feel it in the way his body went alert beneath me. In the way his breathing evened out, his mind already shifting gears.
“When I get back,” he said, voice low but steady again, “we talk. I’m not done with you.”
Something twisted in my chest. “Just… come back safe.”
He tipped my chin up and kissed me once. Slow. Gentle. Nothing like before.
“Always,” he said.
He got dressed fast after that. Vest, weapons, boots. Like he’d done it a hundred times before. Like he hadn’t just wrecked me in his bed.
At the door, he looked back once more.
Then he was gone.
The door closed behind him with the same final click.
I lay there alone, sheets twisted around me, my body still trembling. Not from fear.
From clarity.
Because somewhere between his mouth on my skin and his cock buried deep inside me, something had shifted.
I loved him.
God help me, I loved him.
And I had no idea how to survive that.
11
WRECKER
The engines rolled low under the moonlight, disciplined and restrained. No revving. No wasted noise. Just motion and intent.
We rode the same way we always did on recon. Ghost out front in the blacked-out truck, Smoke riding shotgun, ears twitching at shadows I couldn’t see. Ranger followed close, posture loose but coiled, eyes tracking everything. Brutus and I held the rear, steady and silent.
The formation didn’t change.
