Ryan clenched his jaw as the secure feed from the Pentagon appeared on the massive screen.  The same roomful of admirals and generals he’d had a video conference with the other day were there, dressed in uniform.

“Captain Mitchell,” Admiral Davis said.

“Sir.”

“I understood your men were under fire during the convoy back to airport.”

“Affirmative.  Two insurgent’s vehicles were destroyed.  It was possibly an attempt to make a statement rather than to disrupt the convoy.  The men were in old vehicles with minimal firepower.  Didn’t stand a goddamn chance.”

“What’s the condition of the Senator’s daughter?  The SITREP indicated she was on the outbound flight back with your team.”

“Yes, Sir.  She was in good health.  Dehydrated with some minor scratches and abrasions, but she hadn’t been harmed.  My men reported that the insurgents had packed some of the vehicles to move out in the morning.  The decision to move up the rescue operation may have saved her life.”

“Then I’m damn glad we arrived in time,” Admiral Davis barked, clearing his throat.  “The Senator is being escorted by Capitol Police to Andrew’s Air Force base to meet his daughter upon arrival.  Your team will fly back to Little Creek after making the drop.”

“Affirmative.  They should land at Andrew’s at 2100.”

“I’m planning to meet the Senator there personally.  I spoke with him briefly earlier, and he was eternally grateful to your men for rescuing his daughter.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Any word on your wounded man?”

Ryan stiffened.  “Awaiting further word from Landstuhl.  He had surgery to repair the shrapnel wounds and is slowly waking up.  The doctors are expecting a full recovery.”

The Admiral nodded.  “You saw the latest over the wires?  A new SITREP indicates a second woman was kidnapped a few days ago.”

“Damn it,” Ryan muttered.  “Is Delta team still there?”

“They’ll remain at the forward-operating base in Afghanistan until we get confirmation.  A young British aid worker was taken from her convoy.  It’s possible your team will deploy again nearly immediately after escorting the Senator’s daughter home.”

“Sir,” Ryan nodded, pressing his lips together.

As if he needed another shitstorm right now.  They’d just put the Senator’s daughter on a goddamn plane home.

“Thank your men for their work,” the Admiral commended.

The secure feed disappeared, and Ryan scrubbed a hand through his hair.  Hell of a few days.  His phone ringing had awoken him from the dead of sleep earlier, and he’d left Sarah soundly sleeping in his bed to rush back to Little Creek. 

His bed.

He fucking loved the sound of that.

Hopefully she was still asleep when he got back, because he planned to kiss her awake and then make love to her.

He pictured her nestled in his sheets where he’d left her, her hair spread out on his pillow, her breasts covered by that sexy as fuck lace bra.  He’d wake her up with kisses all over her entire body.

Go down on her and make her beg him to bring her to orgasm again.  Then he’d make love to her, like he’d wanted to do earlier.  Slowly.  Thoroughly.  And fucking hell if she had to go back to Norfolk tonight.  He’d drive her back himself and let her rest in the car just to have some more time with her.

He smirked as he imagined her surprise at his planned wake-up call.  Hopefully she hadn’t even noticed he was gone. 

He nodded at the other men in the bullpen as he headed back out for the night.

“Sir,” a young lieutenant said as he approached.  “Commander Foster is awake.”

“Ice?” he asked, snapping to attention.

“Affirmative.  Want me to connect you to Landstuhl?”

“Yes, put me through immediately.”

“Captain Mitchell,” Patrick said over the phone, his voice weak.

“How are you feeling, Ice?  You gave us all a damn good scare.”

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” he admitted.  “The damn shrapnel in my side was some painful shit.”

“You’ll heal,” Ryan said, smirking.

“Damn straight.  I’d love to get a piece of the bastards who did this.”

“Wouldn’t we all.  The rest of the men are on a flight back with the Senator’s daughter.  They’re taking her directly to Andrew’s before returning to Little Creek.”

“I’d love to be on that flight with them and not stuck in a damn hospital,” Patrick said.  “They want to keep me here for a few days though.”

“Give yourself some time to heal,” Ryan ordered.  “Everything else can wait.  And give Rebecca a call.  She and your sister were quite worried about you.”

“You got a hold of Sarah as well?”

“Affirmative.” He cleared his throat.  “And I’ll need to speak with you about that when you return.”

Patrick chuffed out a laugh. “Hell, that hurt. I’m guessing she wore you down with her charm.  Because I’m damn sure you wouldn’t chase after her.”

Ryan clenched his fist.  Ice would have every damn right to throw a few punches at him when he returned—never mind that he was his commanding officer.  A man didn’t go after another guy’s sister.

“Hell,” Ice continued.  “You’d be good for her.  She’s such a free-spirit, she could use someone whose head isn’t up in the clouds all the damn time.  Just don’t let her cook those vegan tofu burgers for you.  I tried one at the barbeque and it tasted like recycled cardboard.”

Ryan smirked.  “Not something I eat often.  I expect you back here on base soon, Ice. Don’t give us another damn scare like that again.”

“Roger that, Sir,” Patrick said, and Ryan disconnected the call.

Fucking hell.  That was one conversation he hadn’t been planning to have for a few more days.  Patrick didn’t sound as upset as Ryan had thought he’d be though.  Maybe nearly getting blown to bits put things in perspective.  Life was too damn short for all of this nonsense.

“I’ll see you at 0600,” he said to the lieutenant as he walked out of the bull pen.

“Captain Mitchell,” the lieutenant replied with a salute.

Time to get the hell out of here.

***

Sarah finally pulled into her driveway as the sun began to sink below the horizon.  She loved the longer summer days, but they were a tease, too, because it was already night, and she needed to prepare for her patients in the morning.  Reschedule the clients she’d had to cancel on today.  Find out what was going on with her brother.

She narrowed her eyes as she realized she still hadn’t heard a thing from Ryan.  If he regularly left women alone in his bed without a clue to his whereabouts, then it was no wonder the man was still single.

And what was this afternoon about, anyway?

The more time and distance that she put between their afternoon together, the more her gut clenched as she realized what a damn mistake it was.  Falling into bed with him was nothing but trouble.

She pulled her phone from her purse just in case she’d missed a call or text from him, and Rebecca’s name was the only one that showed up.

A text popped up a moment later, and Sarah’s eyes widened.

Patrick woke up! Just got off the phone with him.

Tears filled her own eyes, and she wasn’t sure if they were tears of joy that he was really okay or tears of hurt that Ryan hadn’t even let her know about her brother.  Although she could understand if he’d needed to rush back to base for an emergency, certainly he could’ve left her a note or sent a quick text.

It had been hours and she hadn’t heard a damn word from him.

Did he regret bringing her home with him?  I mean, what even had been in it for him?  He’d pleasured her then held her as she fell asleep.  They hadn’t even slept together yet.  Technically they had slept together, she supposed as tears filled her eyes.  But they hadn’t had sex.

God, this entire thing was ridiculous.

She thumbed a response to Rebecca.

Awesome news! So happy to hear that.

Slamming her car door shut, she walked into her house.  What she needed at the moment was a long, hot shower.  And she’d open that bottle of wine she bought last night but never drank.  Drown her sorrows and all.

She called Morgan and pushed the “speaker” button on her phone as she dumped her overnight bag onto her bed.

“Hey, I made it back.  Patrick woke up from his surgery.”

“Oh, hun, that’s awesome news!  How is he?  When can he come home?”

“I don’t know, Rebecca just sent me a text.”  She moved toward her dresser, pulling out a clean camisole and boy shorts.  She eyed her pile of lacy bras, thinking of Ryan kissing her breasts through the lace earlier.  Sexiest damn thing ever—too bad he’d pulled a freaking disappearing act after.  “I just got home and am going to jump in the shower.”

“God, you’ve had a crazy few days.  I’m glad it sounds like your brother will be okay though.”

“Yeah, me, too.  Hopefully I can find out more soon.”

“What’d Commander Hottie say about it?”

Sarah paused, hurt filling her chest.  “Don’t know, don’t care.  I haven’t talked to him since he left this afternoon.”

“He probably went to work or something,” Morgan said.  “I mean if they were all on a mission, doesn’t that mean he has nonstop work, too?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing he did have to go back to base.  But I haven’t heard a word from him since.  He left me at his house without saying goodbye, without my car, without calling me all evening—without anything.”

“I told you military guys were jerks,” Morgan joked.

“I don’t know,” Sarah muttered.  “It was stupid of me to go home with him.  I think I got distracted by all those big muscles and when he pulled me onto his lap at the beach—anyway,” she said, cutting herself off.  “My mistake.”

“I’m sorry.  Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding?  Like he thought you’d wait for him to get back?”

“Well he knows I live in Norfolk.  It’s not like I can stay there waiting all night—I’ve got a job.  A life.”

“I know,” Morgan said, blowing out a sigh.  “Listen, I’d love to chat more, but I have about a million projects to finish for camp tomorrow.  It’s the last week and then I’ve got a month off before school starts.”

“Right, sorry.  I need to call or email some of my clients from today to reschedule anyway.  I said I had a family emergency, but now that I know Patrick’s okay, I need to get back on schedule.”

“All right, hun. Talk to you soon!”

Sarah said goodbye and stared at the discarded pile of clothing on her bed.  She gathered it up from her bed and dumped it into her overflowing wicker hamper, then grabbed the ripped panties from her purse and tossed them in the trash.  Stupid egomaniac telling her he’d buy her more.

Right.

What made him think she’d be around for that?

She pulled her gauzy curtains shut then stripped out of her clothes, leaving them discarded on the floor, and padded into the bathroom attached to the master bedroom.  Turning the shower on, she stepped under the rainfall spray, letting the warm water wash down over her.

Letting it wash the entire past twenty-four hours away.

She had a feeling Ryan would call her tonight, because he’d be an ass not to, but seriously.  What could happen, anyway?  He was a nonstop workaholic wed to his job.  It’s not like they could see one another until the weekends.  And by then, they’d probably both realize that rolling around his sheets together had been a bad freaking idea.

A total mistake.

Turning the water off, she towel dried her hair before stepping onto the soft organic cotton rug outside her shower door.

The doorbell rang, and she rolled her eyes.  If those door-to-door landscapers were coming around again, she was going to read them the riot act.  She lived in a townhouse for heaven’s sake.  She didn’t need to pay $200 a month for someone to mulch and weed her tiny bed of flowers.

Clutching her towel around herself, she stopped in shock as she saw Ryan through the front windows beside her door.

“Why’d you leave?” he asked in confusion as she opened her door, his eyes running over her, as if checking to make sure she was okay.  He’d changed and had on a pair of broken-in jeans and a tee shirt that hugged his muscular frame, and it was the very first time she’d ever seen him so casual.  He’d showered, too, the scent of his aftershave mixed in with soap stirring her senses.  Why’d he have to be so damn appealing when it was clear he knew absolutely nothing about dealing with women?

His jaw was set in a firm line, and she couldn’t read the expression on his face.

“What do you mean why’d I leave?” she asked, clutching the towel more tightly around herself. “Why’d you leave me alone in your bed without so much as a note saying where you were?”

“I had to go to base—there was an emergency.”

“And what—you figured I’d just wait there all night?”

“It took longer than I thought,” he ground out.  “I didn’t want to wake you when I left.  I thought I’d be there for a quick briefing then head home.  To you in my bed,” he said, his gray eyes blazing.

“You could have called me or something.  Left a note.  Sent a message by carrier pigeon.”

His lips quirked.

“Don’t laugh at me,” Sarah said.  “It wouldn’t have freaking killed you to send me a text or something.  What was I supposed to think?”

“I was planning to surprise you when I got back.”

She raised her eyebrows.  The headlights of a car driving down the street lit up the road, and Ryan grumbled.  “Let’s go inside.  The entire world can see you standing here in nothing but a towel.”

“The entire world?” she asked sarcastically.  “Maybe my neighbors—at most.”  She stepped aside though and let him in, feeling in disbelief that he’d driven an hour and shown up on her doorstep.

“You couldn’t really have thought that I’d leave you there half naked in my bed and not come back,” he said, his voice gravel.  He crossed his arms, the corded muscles in his forearms flexing, and as her gaze drifted to his muscular hands, she was reminded of him dragging them all over her body earlier.  Touching her intimately.  Thrusting his fingers inside her.

“What are you doing here?” she finally asked.

“I drove an hour after you, and you’re seriously asking me that?”

“You didn’t even let me know that Patrick was okay,” Sarah said, tears smarting her eyes.  “I had to find out when I got home from a text Rebecca sent me.”

“I was planning to tell you in person,” he said, his voice softening.  “Jesus.”

He ran a hand through his cropped hair, looking frustrated.  “I drove home and you were gone.  I didn’t even know what to think.  I’m used to doing everything on my own.  On my own terms.  People take orders from me on base—not the other way around.  I had to deal with something critical that came up during the mission.  I can’t believe you’d think I’d just abandon you there.”

“Well, you need to learn to communicate better,” Sarah said.

He hooked his thumbs into the pocket of his jeans, somehow still looking in command and control.  His jaw ticked.  “It’s not like you left a note either when you vanished.”

“I left because you did!”  Tears once again filled her eyes to her utter embarrassment, and she turned away from the imposing man filling up her foyer.

“Sarah.” His voice was low.

“Just forget it.”

“I came for you,” he said, taking a step closer.

A large hand landed on her shoulder.

Sent heat blooming across her skin.

“To make sure you were okay,” he said, stopping right behind her.

A second hand curled around her hip.

His lips hovered near her ear.

“We’ve been dancing around this for an entire year.  I like you.  I want you.  Not just tonight.  Not just tomorrow.  I want you with me at those damn barbeques your brother throws all the time.”

She smiled, wiping a stray tear away as he slowly turned her to face him.

“I want you asking me for another drink when you choke down those God-awful tofu burgers.  I want you to be the one arguing with me when I say I’m buying the biggest gas guzzler in history.  I want you to be the one I see when I leave base on Friday evenings.  I want you to be the one in my bed at night.”

“Ryan…”

“I’m sorry about today,” he said, his voice low.  “I figured you’d know I’d be back later.”

His gray eyes searched hers.  And then suddenly she was in his arms, yielding to him once more as his lips found hers.

He kissed her thoroughly, until she was gasping for air.  Until his tongue slid intimately against hers and he was all she could see and feel.

Ryan bent down and easily swept her into his arms, carrying her down the hall toward her room.

“You’re wearing less and less every time I see you,” he growled.  “Who were you expecting to come over when you opened the door in your towel?”

“Just some door-to-door salespeople.”

“Jesus,” he muttered.  “You’re far too tempting to be answering the door in a damn towel.  You’re lucky I didn’t rip it right off you.”

“Have some self-control,” she teased.

“Around you?  I have none.”

Ryan lowered her onto the bed, ending any further discussions.  He eagerly unwrapped the towel, his eyes widening with arousal as he gazed down at her.

The cool air rushed over her bare breasts, her nipples pebbling.  Ryan ducked down and captured one in his mouth, kissing and sucking and teasing until she felt arousal slickening her folds.  His large hand kneaded and caressed her other breast, and just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he captured her nipple between his teeth and lightly tugged.

Lightning bolts of desire shot straight through her, and she arched off the bed, pleading with him.

He kissed his way down her body, grazing his teeth over one of her hips, before moving toward her core.  She trembled as large hands kneaded and caressed her thighs, and then he was spreading her legs wide, opening her for him.

His hands gripped her inner thighs as he nuzzled against her sex, and then she held her breath as he softly kissed her folds.  He tongued her gently, holding her legs wide as she moaned at his touch.  Kissing his way higher, he slowly licked her clit as she shrieked and arched up off the bed.

Slinging her legs over his broad shoulders, his hands gripped her hips, holding her in place.  She squealed in delight as he gave her a long, hard lick and then breathlessly cried out as he returned to her clit.  Ryan flicked his tongue lightly over her swollen bud, teasing her mercilessly as she gasped and writhed on her bed.

He pushed even closer, his shoulders spreading her thighs even wider.  She was vulnerable and exposed to him.  At his complete and utter mercy.  And she loved every second.

Ryan growled with approval every time she gasped or moaned at his touch.  His tongue began faster ministrations, and she felt the rise of pleasure building inside. Every tease of his tongue sent her closer to the precipice, and as he held her to him, wickedly tickling her with pleasure, she detonated.

She saw stars as she exploded, her release drenching her swollen folds, and Ryan didn’t let up, wringing every last ounce of pleasure from her as she screamed out his name.

Her orgasm went on and on until she panted and pleaded with him to let up.  Her inner walls clenched down around nothing, and she needed him there inside of her immediately.  Gasping for breath, she barely was aware of him shucking off his jeans and boxers.  His thick erection sprang out, and she looked on in awe as she saw the thick vein running down one side and head glistening with pre-cum.

“Holy crap,” she whispered.

“Sweetheart, you’re going to feel so damn good.  You were so tight when I fingered you.”

“Come here,” she pleaded.

“Do you need me?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“Please!”

He prowled atop her body, his cock jutting against her clit as he ducked lower to kiss her.

She gasped aloud as he prodded at her again, and then moments later, he lined himself up and slowly began to sink in.  She moaned in awe at the exquisite pressure as Ryan filled her, easing in inch by painstaking inch.

At last he bottomed out, the base of his penis rubbing against her still swollen clit.  He stretched her completely, he was so long and thick, and she could do nothing but gasp as he pinned her in place beneath his muscular frame.

“Sarah,” Ryan rasped, meeting her gaze.  “You’re so beautiful.”

He thrust into her gently, taking her breath away.  He filled her completely, and she had the feeling every other man she’d been with had just been about sex.  Ryan made love to her, stroking her inner walls with his thick length.  He gauged her reactions and drove deep, causing her to cry out with pleasure.

“Say you’re mine, Sarah.”

Her walls clamped down around him as he growled his approval.

“I’m yours,” she gasped, barely able to catch her breath as he began thrusting faster and faster.  She clung to him desperately as his large, muscular body curled around hers and he claimed her, driving in and out with the force that was Ryan.

She couldn’t do anything but hold on for the ride, and as he stretched her inner walls, moving more quickly, she clamped down around him and screamed, unable to do anything but surrender to the intense pleasure.

Ryan tensed above her then released as well, his erection seeming to grow even larger as he came.

He rolled them to their sides, still balls deep inside her, and she was shocked to find him hardening once more.

“Already?”

“You drive me crazy, Sarah.  I could take you all night long.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Hell yeah.”