Heat of the Storm (11 page)

His cock demanded to be inside her, to feel her wet pussy fisted over him, but Mac refused to release him.

Her mouth devoured him, making its own demands, until his climax exploded inside him like a volcano erupting, and he came into her mouth.

Heart pounding, he sucked in a lungful of oxygen, wondering how she did this to him. Made him lose control, evoked such raw pleasure in his body.

“Okay, we’re even,” Mac teased, kissing his tip quickly before rising up on her knees. Her bare breasts were tinted red with arousal, but before he could reach for those delectable mounds, she swatted his hands away. “Go order that pizza, Charleston. I’m hungry.”

“Fine,” he grumbled.

Hopping off the bed, he picked his boxers off the floor and slipped them on. Mac settled herself under the covers, shooting him a little smile. “I’l just wait here.”

He released a groan. “And make me go downstairs and order a pizza knowing you’re lying up here naked?”

“Incentive to be fast,” she answered with a shrug.

Smiling, he left the bedroom and padded barefoot down the stairs. His smile widened when he entered the kitchen and spotted a slice of bread lying haphazardly on the tiled floor. He and Mac had come down to make sandwiches earlier in the afternoon and wound up screwing against the counter. He’d probably never look at bread the same way again.

He found the number for the one and only pizza place in town clipped to the fridge. Grabbing the cordless phone, he dialed the number and placed a quick order, bending down to retrieve the fal en slice of bread as he spoke to the woman who owned the pizza parlor. He was assured the pizza would arrive within half an hour, and his mouth curved. Thirty minutes was plenty of time to make Mackenzie come again.

When he strode back into the bedroom, his cel phone was ringing again.

Rol ing her eyes, Mac held it out to him and remarked, “Mr. Popularity.”

He took the phone and glanced at the screen, then stifled a groan. “Damn it.”

Concern fil ed her eyes. “Who is it?”

“My commanding officer.” Letting out a breath, he lifted the phone to his ear and said, “Charleston.” He listened to Commander Warner’s brisk orders, hung up and released another breath, this one tinged with regret. Raking his fingers through his hair, he glanced at Mac. “I have to go.”

The concern in her gaze deepened, joined by a flicker of panic. “Why?”

“The team’s been cal ed. We’re flying out tonight.” Since they’d been in this position a bunch of times before, him getting cal ed out while visiting her, the horror that widened her blue eyes shocked him. He instantly sank to the edge of the bed. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

A shaky breath flew out of her mouth.

“Mac, talk to me. What’s going on?” She stayed quiet for so long he began to worry, and just as he was about to pul her into his arms, she spoke.

“Don’t go.”

Her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, laced with such agony he wondered if he was missing something.

Blinking, he said, “What?”

“Don’t go,” she echoed, her shoulders shaking as she sucked in a gulp of oxygen. “Please, Wil , you can’t go.”

Mac’s heart thudded so loudly she could barely hear her own voice. Her own pleas. The entire weekend she’d tried not to think about the vision, tried to pretend it never happened. And it had worked.

She’d spent the past two days in Wil ’s arms, kissed him, made love to him, laughed with him.

She’d been wrong when she’d thought sex would complicate things. If anything, she’d never felt closer to Wil .

Yet those awful images—the smoke, the helicopter

—had lingered in the back of her mind, reminding her that any minute, any second, she could lose him.

She’d thought about tel ing him, warning him, but she hadn’t wanted to spoil things. The last two days had been too incredible, too magical, and her vision would only have destroyed that.

But now she couldn’t hide from it anymore.

Tears sprang from her eyes, pouring down her cheeks, and her throat was so tight she couldn’t get any words out.

Wil had her in his arms in a flash, his hand delicately pushing her hair away from her face. “It’s okay, baby,” he murmured, stroking her bare back in soothing circular motions. “Tel me what’s wrong.” She final y lifted her head and let out another soft sob. “I don’t want you to leave me.” His dark eyes softened. Then he sighed. “I thought we got past this already. I told you, I’l never leave you.

I love you. You need to believe that.”

“I do believe it,” she choked out, swiping at her wet cheeks. “This isn’t about…that. It’s…please, Wil .

Don’t go on that mission.”

A heavy silence fel . She could feel his gaze on her, could practical y hear the puzzle pieces snapping into place in his mind.

His voice low, he said, “You had a vision.” She drew in a ragged breath. “Yes.”

“About me.”

“Yes,” she said again.

He swal owed, his throat working hard. “How bad?”

“Real y bad,” she whispered.

A tear slid down her cheek. Instantly, Wil ’s warm thumb wiped it away. She met his gaze, surprised to find it calm and steady, as if what she’d just told him was no big deal.

“What is the matter with you?” she burst out, panic returning to her chest. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I heard.”

“Then why are you so calm?” A thought suddenly occurred, fol owed by a rush of relief. “You’re not going, right? That’s why you’re not freaked out. You’re going to stay here.”

“No, I’m going.”

Her head snapped up. “No. You
can’t
. If you go, you’l die.”

He spoke in a husky tone. “Did you actual y see it?

Did I die in the vision?”

Chopper falling from the sky, hurtling toward the
canopy of green below.

“I saw…your helicopter was shot down,” she whispered.

“Did you see my body?”

“No, but—”

“People survive helo crashes al the time, baby.

Your vision doesn’t have to end in death.” His calm composure infuriated her. “You
can’t
go!”

“It’s my job,” he said quietly.

“Screw your job! What about your life?” Her breath came out in sharp pants. “What about everything you’re always saying to me, how you’l always be there, how I won’t lose you?”

“I’ve always meant what I’ve said.” He reached out for her, but she shoved his hands away. “Come on, don’t be like this. I’m a SEAL, Mac. I deal with dangerous situations al the time, and I always come back.”

“You’re not invincible.” The tears returned with ful -

force. “What if you don’t come back this time, Wil ?”

“Then I go to the grave the happiest man alive.” He shot her a crooked smile. “I just spent the weekend with the woman I love.”

Her hands began to shake. “Stay with me. Please.” He sighed. “Mac, this is my job. You’ve always accepted it before.”

“Yeah, when you were my best friend, not the man I lo—” She halted.

Wil ’s dark eyes glimmered. “Finish that sentence, baby.”

“Only if you promise not to go.”

“Finish the sentence.”

She fought another wave of tears, her heart squeezing so hard she thought it would stop working altogether. “The man I love,” she squeezed out.

“There. After fifteen years, I’ve final y quit being a coward and said it. I love you, Wil . I love you so damn much and I refuse to lose you.”

Pleasure shone on his face. “I love you too. And you won’t lose me.”

“If you go—”

“I have to go,” he cut in. “Being a SEAL is who I am.

It’s a part of me. Just like the visions are a part of you.

They make you who you are. I accept that, and you’ve got to accept this.”

Her chest ached so badly it felt like someone was scraping it with a dul blade. Wil shifted, and the next thing she knew he’d flipped her over. She lay on her back, with Wil propped up on his elbow next to her, gazing down at her with those gorgeous black eyes. “I love you, Mackenzie. And no measly helicopter crash wil keep me from coming home to you.” She closed her eyes. “God, Wil , if something happens to you…”

“Then it happens.” He placed his palm on her bel y and traced her bel y button with his fingers. “Which means we need to take advantage of the time we have now.”

Her breasts began to tingle as his fingers drifted toward them. His touch was warm, gentle, and her body swiftly responded. Nipples hardening, clit swel ing. It bothered her that she could stil get turned on when her entire body felt bruised, when her stomach stil churned with the fear of losing him and the anger that he was putting himself in the position for that to happen.

She intercepted his hand before it reached the bottom of one breast. “I was wrong,” she said shakily.

His forehead wrinkled. “About what?”

“You.” When a frown creased his sensual mouth, she hurried on. “You’l always be there for me, won’t you, Wil ?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tel you al along.” He framed her face with his hands and took possession of her mouth, his lips firm and reassuring.

The kiss brought the tears back to her eyes.

She loved him. She’d always loved him. She’d never felt like she’d truly belonged until Wil moved to Hunter Ridge. And fifteen years later—God, how had he waited this long?—fifteen years later she was final y ready to admit it. Admit how much she wanted him, needed him.

As if he’d read her thoughts, he moved over her body and rubbed her opening with the tip of his cock.

“Let me in, baby,” he muttered.

Since she’d widened her legs the moment he initiated the erotic intrusion, she knew he wasn’t talking about sex. It was hard to form a coherent sentence when he was stroking her entrance like that, teasing her clit with his cock, but she managed.

Moistened her suddenly dry lips and said, “I love you.” His breath hitched. He pushed his cock into her, and then moved inside her. At each thrust, she neared the edge, close to toppling right over it. She wrapped her legs around him and dragged her fingers up and down his back, digging her nails into his sweat-soaked skin.

He captured her lips with his and quickened his pace. Faster. Harder. Until her body quivered beneath his, her inner muscles squeezed against his dick and a wild moan flew out of her mouth. She came hard and fierce, her sex throbbing, her heart thumping in her ears. He let go a moment later, his cock jerking inside her, his lips pressed against hers. She gripped his neck and pul ed him closer, relishing the way his heartbeat thudded against her breasts.

“I love you,” he whispered hoarsely, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

She breathed in his spicy, masculine scent, smiling when she felt his cock twitch inside her.

Slowly, he withdrew, then wrapped one muscular arm around her waist and pul ed her closer. They lay there, silent, sated, until final y he disentangled himself from her embrace and sat up.

“I have to go now,” he said, his voice soft.

Tears pricked her eyelids again. “I know.” He slowly rose from the bed and began gathering up his clothing. She said nothing as he dressed, just watched him through a sheen of tears. God, let him be okay. Let her vision be wrong. For the first time in her life, just let her be wrong.

Sliding his cel phone in his pocket, Wil approached the bed, where she lay tangled in the sheets, her body stil feeling the effects of him.

With a sexy smile, he bent down and kissed her, his tongue warm as it found its way into her mouth. She responded frantical y, kissing him back so hard she was almost embarrassed. But he didn’t seem to mind. Their tongues dueled, breaths coming out heavy, and then he pul ed back.

“I’l see you soon,” he murmured.

Her chest throbbed with pain. “Promise?”

“You fucking bet I do.”

Smiling through her tears, she watched him walk out the door.

“So…let’s not do
that
again,” Carson remarked dryly as the chopper set down on the helipad at the Coronado Naval Base.

Wil managed a shaky chuckle then glanced around the smal space, assessing the other men. Like him, they were covered in mud and reeked like the swamp they’d crawled through for ten hours. Garrett had soot on his face from the explosion. Ryan Evans’ right arm was bandaged from the bul et that had sliced through it. But other than that, they were al in good shape.

He experienced a flicker of pain as he thought about their pilot. Craig hadn’t survived the crash. God, Wil didn’t want to be there when they told the guy’s wife.

“I’m stil pissed off that you knew this would happen,” Matt O’Connor grumbled, shooting Wil a dirty look. “Some warning would’ve been nice, Lieutenant.”

“You can’t change the future, man. Tel ing you guys would’ve achieved nothing.”

Ryan cocked his head, looking intrigued. “So your girl real y saw it happen? She saw the crash?” Wil nodded.

“Think she knows who I’l be screwing tonight?” He rol ed his eyes. “You were shot in the arm. I doubt you’l be screwing anyone.”

Ryan glanced at Matt and grinned. “He underestimates my sexual prowess.”

As the pilot set the chopper down at the base, Wil noticed Carson glaring at him from the seat across.

“What now?”

“Just thinking about how you kissed my girlfriend, that’s al .”

He groaned. “How many times do I have to apologize for that?”