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  Then Jo moved in on him again and jabbed him in the chest with her finger several times as she tore through a verbal attack on the loser. “When a woman says no, it means no. It does not mean that you can call her pet names and think it will change her mind. You are absolutely repulsive, and any woman who ever falls for your pathetic attempts at courting is worthy of your idiotic company.”

  Ghoul blinked at her like he didn’t understand a word that she was saying. Which, in his state, I doubted he did. He was drunk as a skunk and dumb as an ox on a good day.

  “Now get the fuck out of here before you make a bigger ass out of yourself,” Jo finished, planting her hands on her hips.

  Ghoul didn’t even try to retort. Instead, he slinked off, head down, shoulders slumped. Grady and I watched him go in chortling laughter and snorts, and when the door closed behind him, a couple of people who had overheard the exchange whooped and hollered for Jo. I joined in as she turned back to me.

  “Holy hell,” I breathed.

  Grady patted me on the chest. “Go get her.”

  Jo grinned up at me, cheeks still bright pink, eyes twinkling, and leaned against my shoulder. “Care for another drink?”

  “Actually, I was thinking maybe we should get the hell out of here?”

  For a second, I thought I was being too forward. Maybe I had misread everything. Maybe the chemistry between us was a figment of my imagination or just a side effect of the booze in my system.

  But Jo smiled brighter and nodded. “Let’s go.”

  4

  Josephine

  Zach and I piled into the back of the first taxi that was empty in the parking lot of The Stripe. We were both giggling and high on the adrenaline rush from my confrontation with the buffoon called Ghoul, and the pounding of my heart in my chest had the blood rushing in my ears.

  “Where to?” the cab driver asked, not turning to look back at us as we drunkenly tried to buckle our seatbelts.

  “Uh.” Zach paused and glanced at me.

  “I don’t have a place we can go back to,” I mumbled, realizing we hadn’t really thought this through.

  Zach leaned forward. “Where’s the closest hotel?”

  “A few miles that way,” the driver said, nodding north out his windshield.

  “Is it a dive?”

  The driver shrugged.

  “Come on man, help me out here. You see how beautiful this girl is? Is it the kind of place I can take her?”

  I buried my face in my hands to hide the burning of my cheeks.

  The driver sighed. “No, but there’s a nice one not far past that. Will that work?”

  “Thanks,” Zach said, falling back against the seat beside me. The driver pulled out of the parking lot, and we sat in breathless silence for the drive.

  Was I really doing this? Was I about to have sex with Zachary Flynn?

  Holy shit, I was.

  I considered telling him that this was a bad idea. That it wasn’t professional and that we should both just head back and rejoin our groups. But the heat between my legs and the ache below my stomach were overwhelming. Sex—and any form of physical pleasure—had eluded me for months now. Maybe longer. Being constantly surrounded by people and pushed to the physical limit had a tendency to make intimacy hard to come by. Even solo intimacy.

  You’re going to fuck him, I thought to myself. And you’re going to have the best night you’ve had in a long time. And then you can move on. You just need to get it out of your system.

  Zach reached over and put a big strong hand on my knee. I sucked in a breath. Just that touch, which wasn’t even sexual, had me burning with need. His hand wandered up my thigh to rest in the groove of my hip.

  I wanted him to touch me. No, I needed him to. I needed to feel his hands on my naked body; everywhere. The whole cab was beginning to smell like him, and my panties were turning into a sloppy mess. My nipples were taut beneath my bra, and with every second that passed, I found myself wanting to climb into his lap and stick my tongue down his throat.

  But I didn’t want to scare him off.

  The cab dropped us off outside the lobby doors of an average hotel. We put on our best sober faces and went inside, where Zach booked us a room. He paid, much to my protest, and then we both hurried to the elevator, which opened as soon as we pressed the button.

  We got inside, and Zach punched the button for level six. The doors closed, and we started to ascend. I shot him a sideways look at the same time he looked over at me. We both smiled, and my willpower crumbled.

  I pushed him against the back wall and hooked my leg around his. As I pinned myself against him, he cupped my face in his hands and crushed his mouth to mine. He tasted like beer and tequila and sex. His tongue slipped between my teeth and explored my mouth as I hooked my thumbs in his belt loops, pulling his hips to me to feel the length of his cock along my stomach.

  Holy Hell, he was big.

  My need burned fiercer, and I fumbled to pop open the button of his jeans. He smiled into our kiss and nibbled playfully at my bottom lip, then walked forward to pin me against the opposite wall.

  Zach grabbed my hands and lifted them above my head to stop me from stripping him naked in the elevator. He held me by the wrists above my head with one hand, while the other slipped up the inside of my shirt.

  I sighed as he ran his thumb beneath the underwire of my bra.

  Then the elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, and we were exposed to the hallway. Thankfully, no one was there, and we poured out, attached at the hip and unable to keep our hands to ourselves as we half ran, half fucked down the hallway to our door at the end.

  Zach had to insert the key card three times before the door unlocked. He pushed it open with his hip and pulled me inside by the waist. Neither of us bothered to flick on the light. I flicked the lock on the door and hurried back to Zach as he pulled his shirt off over his head.

  Even in the near pitch darkness, I could see the outline of his abs and chest.

  “Take it all off,” I told him.

  He did, stepping out of his jeans next and his boxers. He tossed everything aside and stood naked before me. My breath hitched in my throat, and it became hard to swallow. His cock was stiff between his legs and curving up toward his belly button.

  “Damn,” I whispered.

  “Your turn,” he said, his voice husky.

  I swayed on the spot as I struggled to get out of my skin-tight jeans. I stripped them off one leg at a time and almost pitched forward when they got caught up around my ankles. I managed to kick them off and tugged my shirt off over my head. Then I stepped out of my panties and reached behind my back to unclip my bra. Once I was naked, we both stood soaking in the sight of one another, our loud breathing filling the small space between us.

  “Are we doing this?” Zach asked.

  This was my chance to switch gears and change my mind. He was offering it up and making it so easy for me to say no. But his concern for what I wanted only turned me on more.

  “Fuck yeah, we’re doing this,” I said.

  “Thank God,” he breathed.

  And then he was on me. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the bed, where he dropped me on my back. I giggled and wriggled across the mattress. Zach grabbed my ankles and pulled me back to the edge, where he dropped to his knees and pushed my legs open.

  “You don’t have to—” I started, but his tongue already tasted me, and he was pushing my legs farther and farther apart until the sides of my knees rested on the bed. “Oh God,” I moaned.

  Zach started with slow caresses with his tongue along the sides of my opening. When I thought I couldn’t take any more, he pulled my clit between his lips and suckled gently, rolling his lips and pressing his tongue to my most sensitive spot. The ache below my belly tightened into a hard knot, and a familiar pressure began to form as he released my clit and ran his tongue up and down the length of me once more.

  This routine continued until I was a breat
hless, writhing thing beneath him. He had to use his hands on my hips to hold me in place.

  When I came—for the first time in months—I saw stars. Bright little lights popped behind my eyelids, and I screamed his name to the ceiling for all I was worth. Nothing had ever felt so good, and I knew I would do anything he wanted in order for him to keep going.

  He kissed the insides of my thighs and moved back. I propped myself up on my elbows to peer down at him. “My turn,” I said.

  “No, I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “I won’t be able to last, and I want to fuck you.”

  His words rippled through me and set my veins on fire. “Then fuck me.”

  He chuckled. “I intend to.” He stepped between my legs and stroked himself before tilting his hips forward and pressing the head of his cock against my clit. I gripped the sheets and bit my bottom lip. Then he said, “I don’t have a condom.”

  “That’s all right,” I assured him.

  “You’re sure?”

  I nodded as white-hot need clawed at my insides. “I’m sure. Please. I can’t wait any longer.”

  He didn’t make me wait. He leaned in deeper and pressed his cock lower, slipping himself inside me. He stretched me, and I moaned as he gave me every inch he had, which was more than I had ever felt before. My body opened up for him, and a brief flicker of pain rushed through me before giving way to glorious pleasure.

  Zach braced himself with a hand on either side of me. I reached up, hooked my arms around his neck, and pulled him down to me so I could kiss him while he thrust in and out of me.

  He cupped my cheek as he kissed me, then let his hand wander to the back of my neck. He gripped me tightly and held on as he bucked against me.

  I was going to come again.

  I held on to his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist as my second orgasm washed over me. I moaned into his mouth as he continued to kiss me. His grip on the back of my neck tightened, and I loved the power in him. I traced his shoulders, his biceps, and then let my hands wander over his muscular chest. I followed the line of his spine and gripped his ass as he fucked me, and then I let my fingers wander over his hips to trace the grooves of his abs.

  “I want to feel you come inside me,” I whispered. He shuddered above me, and the soft groan that escaped him was the sexiest thing I had ever heard. I pulled him down and forced him to turn his head so that I could nibble his earlobe and suckle his neck. I pinched him gently with my teeth. “Please. Oh God. Please, Zach.”

  He crushed his mouth to mine once more as his thrusts deepened and quickened. I whimpered into his mouth with pleasure, and he groaned as his orgasm took hold. He tightened his fist in my hair as he filled me with warm, silky wetness.

  Even after he came, he continued kissing me. He teased me with little pecks and then indulged me with long, deep, desperate kisses that had me gasping for air. When he did finally straighten above me and pull out, I ached for him to be back inside me.

  Zach padded over to the bathroom and flicked on the light. He was forced to shield his eyes from the glare, and he turned back to me before closing the door. The light from the bathroom fell upon me and the bed, and I still lay on my back where he had left me.

  Zach let out a long, slow whistle, gave me a sideways grin, and closed the bathroom door.

  5

  Zach

  Headache.

  Holy balls. Headache.

  Forcing my eyes open at the crack of dawn to stare up at the cream-colored hotel ceiling was no easy feat. The room spun and wobbled for a good three minutes or so before everything straightened itself out. Then I turned my head to the side to look at the alarm clock straight out of the nineties with red square numbers winking at me through the hazy morning light, and everything starting spinning again.

  I pressed a hand to my forehead as my vision blurred. What time did the clock say? Six o’clock?

  “How much did you drink last night?” I mumbled to myself before gently rolling to the other side to wrap my arm around Jo. My searching hand found only sheets. Cold sheets.

  I sat up and fought against another wave of half-drunken dizziness and peered around. The room was empty. There was no trace of her. No shoes lingering by the door, no jacket or clothes on the floor, no running shower in the bathroom.

  I tore the blankets off and swung my legs over the side of the bed to pad across carpet that was a little too plush for my liking in a hotel room. My inner germaphobe winced as the carpet hugged my feet while I walked to the bathroom. Too much space for germs and dirt and grime to linger in a place shared by new people every damn night. Gross.

  I must have been absolutely obliterated last night to not have noticed or been bothered by it.

  In the bathroom, I turned on the sink and splashed cold water on my face. I would have to shave later today. Coarse stubble was forming along my jaw, and that was a no-no. Facial hair had an uncanny knack for breaking the seal of an oxygen mask while in the air. I padded my face dry with a towel that was too thin and then stared at my reflection in a mirror covered in toothpaste spray.

  “Ugh, disgusting,” I grumbled. Had the place not been so sub-par, I would have showered before heading back to base, but I had no interest in seeing what lay on the other side of the pale yellow shower curtain. Who knew if the fabric was even supposed to be yellow? Maybe it started out white.

  I wet my hands and ran them through my hair. “I can’t believe you brought Jo here.”

  I was ashamed that neither of us had seemed to notice the state of disrepair the place was in. We both had a few too many shots and beers apparently. I wondered if she had woken and been as repulsed as me. Maybe that was why she left.

  I found myself wishing she had stayed, which was a strange thought for me to have. I was no stranger to one-night stands. In fact, I was a seasoned expert at them. I couldn’t count how many times I’d stumbled into hotel rooms with a stranger and spent the night rolling around the bed with her—tasting her, fucking her.

  But last night had been different. I guessed a part of me was hoping Jo might feel the same way. Her absence this morning proved me wrong. It was just a fling for her. A chance to get it out of her system before she went back to life on the water.

  I dressed quickly and called a cab, and then I found a bench outside the front of the hotel to sit and wait. My ride showed up within ten minutes, and I was heading back to base with a pounding head and acute regret for not having sunglasses with me to protect my eyes from the bright morning sun.

  “You lucky son of a bitch.” Grady moped as he rolled his deodorant on. “I should have known when I saw her that she’d hitch her wagon to yours.”

  “It’s not like that,” I said, pulling my shirt down over my head. “I know her. We grew up in the same town. You remember me telling you about my buddy Ryan from high school, right?”

  “Sure. The PTSD counselor guy?”

  “Yeah. Jo is his baby sister.”

  Grady whistled low and shook his head at me. “You broke the bro code big time.”

  I chuckled. “Ryan’s not like that. Besides, Jo is a big girl and more than capable of making her own decisions. Ryan’s not the kind of guy to tell his sister who not to sleep with.”

  “Every guy is the kind of guy who will tell his sister who not to sleep with. Take it from someone who has a sister, all right?”

  I shrugged and buckled my belt. “Whatever.”

  We both headed out of our quarters and made for the base chow hall for lunch. I hadn’t eaten all morning, and the gut rot from the alcohol had subsided to a dull ache. We grabbed our food and sat down at our usual spot in the big room amongst a few others from our squadron.

  Dylan, the young kid who had gone out with us last night, looked up from his food and grinned at me. “Sup, Flynn?”

  “Hey, kid,” I said. I unscrewed the cap on my water bottle and drank greedily.

  Dylan picked up his nearly finished tray of food and shimmied down his bench to sit
across from me and Grady. He leaned forward on his elbows and raised his eyebrows at me. “Ghoul’s been talking a lot of shit about you.”

  I put my water bottle down and snorted. “I’d forgotten what an ass he’d made of himself until you just reminded me. What a clown.”

  Dylan’s eyes darted up and down the length of our long table. “He’s pretty pissed.”

  “I don’t care.” I shrugged. “He can be pissed if he wants. His ego took a big hit last night.”

  The three of us ate in silence for a while. My first few bites of potatoes and meat were hard to get down, but once I got halfway through, my hunger outweighed my hungover stomach, and I was able to enjoy the rest of the food. Grady went on beside me about the girl he had almost managed to take home last night. Dylan listened in awe and looked back and forth between us as Grady’s mood soured closer to the end of his story.

  “And,” he said, “if I’d had my wingman like I was supposed to, I probably would have been able to get laid last night. But he had his head up his own ass and was too busy chasing that pretty redhead around the dance floor.” He shot me a flat look.

  “You were too shitfaced last night to take a girl home, Grady. I wouldn’t have helped you, even if Jo hadn’t shown up.”

  “The bro code really means nothing to you, hey?”

  “It did when I was a teenager. But now? No.”

  Grady sighed and nodded toward Dylan. “How ‘bout you, kid? Any luck with the ladies last night.”

  “No.” Dylan shrugged. “That’s okay, though. It was fun to just get out and have a good time and not think about routes and missions and shit.”

  “Speaking of,” I said. “What time are we heading out tomorrow morning?”

  “Oh seven hundred,” Grady said.

  The rest of the day was spent preparing for the mission the following day. I cleaned my plane and made sure she was ready for flying. I cleaned my gear and prepped it, and after dinner, set to tidying my room. When the work was done, a few guys got together to sit outside and play cards.