Her face lit with a smile. “I’ve never felt this way before,” she said. “It feels…I don’t know, but I like when you take charge.”
He palmed the back of her head again, being careful not to disturb that frustrating bun. “Bring me home, babe. I’m close.”
The air crackled between them, moving over the sensitive skin of his shaft. He shivered even though the night still retained much of the heat of the day. Her lips stretched over him once again. He pressed his shoulders back and tilted his head to gaze at the stars. A deep groan vibrated in his chest as his balls drew up, and his muscles tensed. A quickening gathered at his spine, growing with each drag and flick of her tongue. His body jerked and pulsed. Then, pleasure coiled and exploded as he shot his load down her throat.
He bit down on his lower lip, afraid of making too much noise, while she licked and lapped and sucked him until he was spent.
A devilish grin took control of her face. Perfectly pink lips, swollen from use, quirked up at the edges. “I could do that all day long,” she said.
His jaw tightened as he stared down. “Be careful, or I might just take you up on that—tie you down and force you to feast on my cock at my whim.”
She gave a flippant shrug. “You make that sound like a punishment.”
“We haven’t explored punishments,” he said. “Best not to rush in to those kinds of things too fast.”
Her dark eyebrow winged up. “Now, Ryker Lyons, who’s making promises?”
He gripped her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I suppose that would be me.”
He imagined many scenarios, all of them edgy and erotic as shit, and wondered if Tia might be his perfect fit. Only time would tell. He tucked his semi-hard cock into his fatigues and buttoned up the fly.
“It’s time to head back,” he said.
The guys were probably wondering what had happened to him, and he didn’t want to think about what Forest thought. As long as he and Tia remained discreet, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“I’ll head back first,” he said, kissing her on the forehead and then lovingly on the lips. “I’ll see you back at the hangar, but remember…”
“What?” she asked with a demure smile.
“You’re mine tonight,” he said with a possessive growl.
THIRTY-TWO
Reckoning
TIA
Tia waiteda few minutes before heading back to the hangar. Leaning against the pallet, she tilted her face to the heavens. So many twinkling lights shimmered down, bathing her in countless wishes and the possibilities of what might be. Her lungs filled and emptied. With each breath, the tumultuous beating of her heart eased, and in its place, a quiet surrender filled the void.
She supposed it had always been like that around Ryker even if she’d never noticed before now.Hadn’t it been there each and every time he helped her adjust her pack, gave her a hand up from the dusty ground, or paced her faltering stride with his quiet assurance that she would hold her own?
When he’d sheltered her from that sniper not too many days ago, part of the flutter in her heart hadn’t been from fear. But she’d known him as a player, a man who refused to allow a woman to tie him down. Women had moved in and out of his bed with the relentless coming of the tide. She’d hated that about him.
Somewhere along the way, things had shifted for him and for her as well. With a smile fixed on her face, she pushed off from the pallet and headed back to the hangar. They had a future filled with nothing but time.
The hard-packed ground refused to yield beneath her combat boots, and gravel crunched beneath her feet. A heavy tang of dirt, sand, and earthy smells hung thick in the air. Dust was an ever-oppressive force in this place, always managing to creep into every nook and cranny. It was a constant reminder that this was not home.
Turning around the last row of pallets, she pulled up short as a shadowy form separated from the door leading back inside the hangar.
“Major Meyers,” the voice said.
She peered into the man’s face, trying to pick out his features.
Colonel Vane’s gaze cut back to the way she’d come. “I think we need to have a conversation.”
Her step faltered, and she came to a thudding halt. “Sir?”
Her first instinct was to give a salute, but the area around the hangars was designated a no-hat, no-salute zone. She would’ve felt far more comfortable rendering the salute because she didn’t know what to do with her hands.
