Down Range (Shadow Warriors - Book 2) (23 page)

He snorted. “I’ll go to bed as long as you’re in it with me. You have no idea how many dreams I’ve had of us in bed together.” He gave her a wicked smile.

“You’re incorrigible,” Morgan said, feeling the love radiating off him toward her. There were new, pink scars, along with deep bruises, on his tightly muscled arms. “I was given access to your op. I went over to General Stevenson and asked her permission to get a copy of it. I read the mission report.”

Jake grabbed a second piece of toast, piling on the jam. “Good, because you know I couldn’t tell you anything.”

“Yes,” Morgan said softly. “I’m glad you got Khogani’s younger brother.”

“Makes two of us,” Jake agreed, sitting back, finally feeling full. “I’m sure they’ll find another leader. Like you said, nature abhors a vacuum. Someone else will replace them. Maybe another member of the Khogani dynasty will start it up all over again.”

“Kind of depressing,” Morgan said quietly, “but that’s how it is the world over, for better or worse.”

Jake looked contented, his eyes starting to droop closed. He set the toast on his plate, his long, scarred fingers laced across his flat, hard belly. “You’re crashing.”

Rousing himself, he muttered, “Yeah, I am. It’s hitting me like a ton of bricks now.” Jake roused himself. “Come to bed with me? Let me hold you? I’m too friggin’ tired to do much else at the moment.”

She smiled a little. “I’d love to, Jake. You’ve been in my dreams, too, you know?”

He got a little cocky and sat up. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“What’s the status on your leg?” he asked, pushing the chair away and standing. She still looked fragile to him.

Morgan knew why he was asking and slowly stood up, reaching for her cane. “I can bend my knee, which is a big improvement. But I can’t have any weight on top of my leg.”

Nodding, Jake walked around and pulled the chair back so she could turn with the aid of the cane. “Roger. Read you loud and clear. We’ll figure something out. SEALs are pretty inventive.” He slid his long fingers across her jaw and pushed a veil of red hair away from her cheek. “Besides, I don’t have any condoms on me. Where would I use them over there? Only thing around us were those damned goats for four weeks, and they sure as hell didn’t interest me.”

Laughing, Morgan soaked up his unexpected touch. Her ear tingled as he gently eased strands of her hair behind it. “Ramsey, I swear to God, you’re certifiable at times.” She melted into that feral smile spreading across his face.

Jake felt a ton of exhaustion avalanching him. It was the emotional and adrenaline crash from the op, twenty-four hours of nonstop flying halfway around the world, and a month of sleep deprivation pushing him. “Come on,” he urged, catching her left hand and holding it. “Lead me to the bedroom. I’ve got to crash and burn.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

It was so easy
for Jake to turn over on his back, awaken and find himself lying next to Morgan. He barely opened his eyes, seeing a watercolor-pink wash of light around the bedroom window where the drapes were drawn. An incredible peace filled him as he felt Morgan snuggle into his arms, her brow pressed against his jaw. Her arm came across his hard abs. It was as if even in sleep, she felt his presence, wanting to be as close as she could get to him. Jake curved his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. He took in the scent of cinnamon among the strands of hair tickling his jaw. He slid his fingers slowly down her arm as she slept.

Jet lag, time differences, the decompression of suddenly leaving a war zone and having her soft, naked body against his, overwhelmed Jake. Morgan’s breath was warm and moist, flowing across his darkly haired chest, her left arm curving across his hard, flat stomach. Closing his eyes, Jake simply savored all his senses where Morgan was concerned. His mouth quirked as his thoughts ranged from the first time he’d met this red-haired hellion at Annapolis.

Morgan’s bright copper hair had stood out in that sea of plebes. Jake thought it was remarkable. She was the only person there who hadn’t appeared scared by the screaming instructors. Her mouth had been determined, jaw thrust forward, green eyes narrowed. But no fear. God, she had no fear, and that beckoned to Jake. He’d never seen a woman
not
scared or fearful. Only now did he realize he had been looking through the filter of his chronically ill mother. Now he felt sad for the opportunity that had been there but he’d failed to recognize and grab. Whether he knew it or not, Morgan was a good dose of medicine for him in every way. It had taken him nearly a decade to figure it all out.

Lifting his right hand, he grazed Morgan’s firm upper arm, absorbing the satin feeling of her flesh beneath his exploring fingers. She had never accepted his view of women. Not ever. When he’d finally met her in his third year and they’d come together like two colliding comets, his life forever altered. Jake slowly outlined each of her long, tapered fingers resting against his chest.

Morgan stirred. For just a second, Jake wanted to remember what had brought him to this moment, and he laid his hand gently over hers and waited.

Lying there, the pink color now flooding the room as dawn stretched across the East Coast, Jake’s heart opened with a fierce love for this courageous woman whose spirit challenged him in every way. He found it so damned amazing and humbling that Morgan had never given up on him. Not then, not two years ago, and not recently.

Whether she knew it or not, she’d rescued his soul, infused new life into him with her body, her unbending spirit, and healed him with her incredibly loving heart. Morgan had the courage to meet him on the battlefield of life. She had not retreated emotionally from their heartbreaking past.

With a slight shake of his head, Jake felt like a man who had more luck than he’d ever deserved. Morgan was at his side. He had sixty days with her.
Alone.
He couldn’t believe his good fortune.

The flush of pink dawn light flooded Morgan’s shadowed face as he absorbed her softened, parted lips as she slept. Long, red lashes against her high cheekbones emphasized those pale freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. His gaze lingered on her broken nose. Pain flitted through him as Jake leaned over, his mouth barely brushing that area, as if to try to remove the pain of that memory away from her. He’d caused her so much damn pain. He was going to spend the rest of his sorry-assed life trying to make it up to her.

Morgan roused from sleep, feeling Jake’s mouth moving slowly from her brow, down across her temple, caressing her cheek until his lips lingered lightly over hers. Stretching languidly against his hard body, her softer curves perfectly fitting against his angled ones, she barely lifted her lashes. Morgan drowned in Jake’s stormy gray eyes, feeling his breath mingle with her own. His mouth hovered a bare inch above hers. A lazy smile pulled at her mouth, and Morgan lifted her left arm and followed the line of his broad shoulder with her fingers. Wordlessly, she leaned up, a heartbeat of space between them, and curved her mouth softly in greeting against his.

Her world anchored as Jake kissed her. It wasn’t a hungry kiss. It was a welcome-home kiss of the deepest, most wonderful kind. As their mouths moved and clung to one another, Morgan felt her heart burst open with such fierce love for this battle-hardened warrior that she wanted to melt into his body and give herself to him in every way.

Jake eased up on his side above her, his arm beneath her neck, curved around her shoulders. As she pressed against his chest, Jake groaned. He pulled Morgan gently against him, holding her tightly to feel the rise and fall of her breasts. He was more than mindful of Morgan’s wounded leg, every gesture on his part designed not to aggravate it. She would let him know if she was in pain or discomfort. Jake wanted nothing to intrude upon this heated celebration shared between them.

Morgan reveled in his roughened hand trailing slowly downward toward her hip, his long fingers splayed out, easing her lower body against his own. She felt his erection press against her belly. Moaning, the sensation sent wild, flamelike sensations blooming throughout her lower body. She felt him leave her mouth, and she opened her eyes. The feral look in Jake’s hooded gray gaze made her shiver with anticipation. Morgan knew that look so well, a man wanting his woman.

“Good morning,” he said huskily, smiling down into her drowsy green eyes. He lifted a number of strands of crimson hair away from her cheek. “Before we get started…”

“I don’t have any condoms, either, Jake.” Morgan slid her fingers across his powerful shoulder to his neck and then came to rest against his jaw. “Why would I have any with me?”

His mouth pulled into a wry grin. “You had goats around here, too?”

She laughed, feeling the heat building between their bodies. “Something like that.” Morgan saw Jake grow serious. They had never talked about children. About starting a family, and she could read the concern in his expression as he lay beside her, his fingers threading slowly through her strong, silky strands. She still didn’t know where he stood with her. He’d loved her before and walked out of her life. He could do it this time, as well. “I don’t care, Jake.”

“What if it’s the wrong time?” He was stunned by her answer. Before, Morgan had always been adamant about a condom and that she did not want to get pregnant. Jake saw her eyes grow warm with love for him. She reached up, her hand caressing his cheek.

“I love you, Jake.”

He hesitated, shock rolling through him. He stared down at Morgan, confused. She had a military career path. She was fierce about proving women could handle combat. What the hell had changed?

The changes were coming too fast for him to adequately assimilate. An old pain rose up through Jake, the loss of Joshua. Was Morgan telling him she would willingly carry his child? The thought was as emotionally charged as it was freeing. The fearlessness was back in those green eyes of hers, silently challenging him. Telling him that if he loved her, the possibility of becoming pregnant and carrying his child was being gently placed before him to consider. Jake wrestled with her willingness.

“Are you sure?” he rasped, leaning down, meeting her lips, tasting her, skimming the warmth of her returning kiss.

“Never more sure, Jake. I want to love you with everything I have.”

That was the answer Jake needed. “Then there’s something I need to do first,” he told her.

Morgan frowned, the silken moment broken. Jake looked like a man on a mission. A black-ops one that he knew about and she didn’t. Carefully sitting up, she moved from beneath his arm as he rested his back against the headboard.

“What are you up to?”

Jake leaned over and opened the drawer of the bed stand. “Well, I was waiting to spring this on you when you were at the hospital, but this unexpected op changed the course of my plans until just now….”

Morgan’s eyes widened as he produced a Ziploc bag. He placed it in her palm.

“This is for you, babe.”

A gasp flew from her lips. There were two rings in the plastic bag.

“Jake!” Morgan jerked a look up at him as a boyish smile came to his mouth. It was a smile filled with love—for her. Jake took the Ziploc from her palm, opened it and pulled out one of the rings.

“Give me your left hand,” he murmured.

Heart pounding with disbelief, Morgan placed her left hand into his large, calloused one. “Jake…I never expected this….” And she hadn’t.

He slid the gold engagement ring with four rectangular channel-cut emeralds onto her finger. “I was busy when you were at physical therapy getting the ring made by a jeweler in San Diego. I sent him the design, and he made it for you. I got them just before I left on the last op.” Jake gave her a sheepish grin. “I kept them in my Kevlar pocket while I was in Afghanistan. When I was making a run to the rally point, all I was worried about were those rings. I didn’t want to take a hit and have them destroyed. I did get hit, but not where the rings were. When I finally got on the chopper, I had Big open up my Kevlar pocket to make sure the rings made it, and they did.”

Jake held her hand and looked deeply into her eyes. “I want to marry you, Morgan. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life. I love you. Will you be my partner? My best friend?”

His words were low, filled with emotion, his eyes locked on to hers. The ring tingled around her finger. His hand encased hers, warm, strong and so solid where she presently felt like an unraveling ball of emotional yarn. “Months ago you told me you were in a dangerous career and you didn’t want me to be a widow again. What changed, Jake?”

He became pensive. “I had a lot of time out in the mountains to think long and hard,” Jake admitted, sliding his fingers into her hair, moving it behind her ear. “I realized I’d said it because of my past. Not only would I leave you a widow, but I might lose you, too.” He shook his head. “I had to figure it out, Morgan. I finally realized it was stupid to think that way. Both of us have always been risk takers. And I knew you were willing to take the risk on me regardless of my being a SEAL. I got clear it was me knee-jerking.”

Jake leaned down and kissed her wrinkled brow, seeing the worry in her lustrous green eyes. “I’m clear now. I want to risk marrying you and settling down. Now… Will you marry me?” His mouth curved as he smiled down into Morgan’s widening eyes that glistened with unshed tears.

“You know I will, Jake.”

His smile increased. “Good. You can call your parents later and tell them you’re officially engaged to this good-looking SEAL who thinks his world just got a helluva lot better because you said yes.”

It made Jake feel good he’d decided to ask her to marry him now. Intuitively, he knew it would give Morgan a stake at looking toward the future. Their future. It would help her continue her amazing recovery even though he couldn’t always be at her side to be a cheerleader and supporter.

“You’re crazy! But I love you, Ramsey,” she whispered unsteadily.

“I’m really a nice guy,” he said, absorbing her strong arms around his shoulders. If a child resulted from their union, Jake was more than okay with that. He would not be like his father, a shadow in his child’s life. He moved and smiled against her lips. “This is the first day of the rest of our lives together, babe.” He helped Morgan to lie down beside him. Jake began a slow, concerted worship of her body.

Morgan closed her eyes, feeling the last of her fear dissolving as Jake’s lips moved from her mouth, brushing small, light kisses down her slender neck. He nipped her flesh, kissing each spot, sending heat surging downward. Her breasts automatically tightened. Her nipples grew hard and achy. He outlined each of her collarbones with his tongue and lips, sensing he was memorizing her as he cherished her.

Jake had answered her question. Only he could honestly tell her if he was ready for marriage and fatherhood. And he was. As his lips followed the curve of her breast, her skin tightening, a soft whimper slipped from her lips. Morgan pressed her hips against him, feeling his need of her. Her fingers dug into Jake’s shoulders as his mouth settled upon the first nipple, suckling slowly, sending slivers of living fire arcing hotly into her womb. Trembling as he curved his hand beneath her arching back, she strained against him, wanting so much more of him. Wanting him inside her.

Jake left her nipple and leaned up, grazing her lips, taking her mouth, tasting Morgan more deeply. She felt his calloused hand slide slowly down her rib cage, fingers outlining each one. Her flesh contracted beneath his touch, more heat building with each stroke. Her mind melted as his tongue moved against hers, inviting her, challenging her. As Jake’s hand left her side, her breath hitched. His fingers moved against her belly, sliding between her thighs, opening her. As he felt how damp, how ready, she was, his mouth left hers, settling on the other breast, his moist breath fanning across the achy nipple. Groaning, she pushed against his hand, wanting so much more.

Morgan’s world turned molten as he took the nipple, suckling strongly at the same time as he eased his finger into her needy core. A soft cry tore from her as her entire lower body seized up, burning with fire, mounting pressure making her twist in his arms, bucking against his hand. Her hips writhed against his hand, wanting him deeper, and she made a sound of frustration.

He used his thumb to find that small pearl of knotted, sensitive nerves at her entrance. A keening sound caught in her throat, suddenly frozen against Jake, the scalding ripples widening throughout her, making her gasp. Morgan’s entire body shuddered with pleasure as it flowed outward like molten lava. Jake growled, taking her mouth, absorbing her cries, continuing to milk her body, sending more sheets of liquid fire and searing pleasure throughout her.

Morgan felt diffused, her body glowing and throbbing as the last of the orgasm began to ebb. Jake smiled down at her, a pleased expression on his face, his eyes narrowed and intense upon her. He eased his fingers from her. Her entire body was damp, and she saw him give her a very male smile. She felt his hand curving about her breast, feeling his erection insistent against her belly. Unable to speak, only feel, he leaned down, capturing her lips, tasting her, cajoling her.