Hot & Bothered (A Hostile Operations Team Novel - Book 8) (20 page)

Didn’t want to say no.

Ryan rose above her, settled himself between her legs. And then he paused, looking down at her while she held his cock and tried to guide him into her body.

“I want you to know that I realize what a gift this is,” he said softly. “Your body. Your pleasure. I’m thankful you chose me.”

Her heart felt like it might crack wide open and spill all her feelings out into the air between them. She swallowed hard, unwilling to let that happen. Sex was one thing, but love would surely make him think twice.

“This isn’t the time to make me cry,” she whispered.

He grinned. “Not unless you’re crying my name, sweetheart.”
 

Before she could think up an appropriate answer, the head of his cock slid inside her slick walls.
 

“We good?”
 

She blinked up at him. “You aren’t even there yet. Barely there. Of course we’re good!”

“Hey, for all I know, you’re supersensitive now that you’re pregnant.”

“I am—in my nipples. This is all good—and that little bit of you is a huge tease.”

“Huge. I like the sound of that.”

“Ryan.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“This isn’t the time to make jokes.”

“Honey, I’m hurt. You saying my cock isn’t huge after all?”

She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist and tried to pull him into her by force. It didn’t work because he was much bigger and way stronger than she was. She growled at him.

“Stop teasing me, Ryan!”

He slid deeper inside her, her body stretching to accommodate him. No, he definitely wasn’t small. The walls of her pussy gloved him tight, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“Still good?” He didn’t sound so humorous now. He sounded… strained.

“Yes. Still good. Please, please finish it.”

He reached down and put a hand under her ass, lifting her to him—and then he slid home and they both groaned.

“God, that’s good,” he said.

“Yeah… wow.”

He pulled out and pushed back inside her again and again, slowly, until she made a sound of frustration. The next time he slammed into her a little harder.

“Yessss…”

That was pretty much all he needed to hear, because he started moving harder now, faster, driving her deep into the mattress. The bed frame was old and it squeaked like crazy.

She didn’t care. She also didn’t care that she was moaning his name, begging him for more. He took her mouth, kissed her deeply, his tongue like hot velvet. They moved frantically, bodies slamming together, bed rocking, hips meeting forcefully with each thrust.

If she could get closer to him, she would. If she could be a part of him, she would. But this had to be enough, this beautiful melding of two sweat-slick bodies.

“Ryan, Ryan…”

“I’m here, Emily. I’m with you.”

He reached between them, found the sensitive pearl of her clit, stroked it in rhythm to the way he pounded into her. She gripped him tight, her hands raking down his back, grasping hard muscle and hot skin.

And then she flew apart, her orgasm hitting her like a truck she didn’t see coming. She might have screamed. She might have sworn. She didn’t know what she’d done except that she knew she was coming hard and it wasn’t over yet.

“Fuck me,” Ryan muttered. “That’s beautiful, Emily. So damn beautiful. Keep coming just like that.”

She did, even as he withdrew and slammed into her again and again, not letting her down from the high, not giving her an ounce of reprieve. Her pussy squeezed him tight, gripped him hard, increasing the friction until he lost control of his response.

She knew he was coming by the way he stiffened, by the way his hips jerked into hers. The cords of his neck were tight as he threw his head back. He withdrew a couple of inches and then slammed back into her, his cock jerking as he came. She felt the hot wash of his semen inside her.

Even while he came, he still managed to continue stroking her clit, eliciting even more pleasure from her body.
 

“That was fucking amazing,” he finally said when she’d stopped shaking, her limbs too tired to even tremble. He withdrew, his cock still hard, and then surged forward again.

It still felt amazing, even if she was spent.

“I want to stay right here forever,” he told her. “Right here deep inside you. My cock and your pussy, together forever.”

She couldn’t help but giggle. “Joined at the groin, huh? What about food and drink?”

He dropped a kiss onto her shoulder, her collarbone. “I don’t care. Someone can bring us food and drinks. We’ll fuck all the time, and we’ll be blissfully happy.”

“I think the baby might want out at some point.”

“Yeah, probably so. We’ll stop for that. Soon as he’s out, we’re fucking again.”

She pushed his shoulder. He made her blush and he made her want him all at the same time. “You’re silly. No one fucks twenty-four seven.”

He licked a path around one of her nipples and she gasped. “Maybe they should. The world would be a better place if everyone was more concerned with fucking each other and less concerned with other things.”

“Can’t argue with that. But unfortunately not everyone is as enlightened as you are, Ryan.”

“As
we
are, honey.”

“Right.
We.
” She sighed and pushed her fingers through his hair. It was damp and curly, and she loved that she had the right to touch him like this. What would it be like if she could touch him like this every day for the rest of her life?

Her heart flipped. If she married him…

But, no, if she married him and he was only doing it for the baby’s sake, then it wasn’t the same thing at all. Because he would resent her eventually. Resent that she’d trapped him into marriage.

You don’t know that.

No, she didn’t—but she knew that a marriage built on duty wasn’t quite the same thing as one built on passion and love for each other. He hadn’t yet said he loved her. She hadn’t said it either—but why would she? She was terrified to do so.

“I’m still hard…”

“I noticed.”

He sucked a nipple between his lips and she moaned, clutching his head to her body. Fresh excitement began to build inside her core, rolling outward in waves of sizzling heat. If she couldn’t have his love, at least she could have this.

“You feel like coming again?” he asked as he trailed his mouth over to her other nipple.

“Yes… definitely, yes…”

“Me too. Hold on, Emily. It’s about to get crazy in here…”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“MORNING, FLASH.”

“Morning.” Ryan picked up a plate and dished out some eggs. No bacon, dammit, because this was Acamar and pork wasn’t allowed.
 

Fiddler watched him with a lifted brow as he approached. The dude knew something was up, but Ryan wasn’t telling him exactly what. The other guys barely glanced up from their plates other than to nod. They’d all been witness to the fight he’d had with Brandy. They might not know the whole reason, but they knew Emily was at the center of it.

“Missed you last night,” Fiddler said.
 

Ryan forked up some eggs. “Missed you too, baby doll.”

Fiddler snorted. “Asshole.”

“Is that what you missed about me, sweetie?”

Fiddler tossed a piece of bread at him. Ryan gave him a grin and put the bread on his own plate. Man, he was tired. And his back ached. Emily’s bed was too fucking narrow for two people. Or three, if you wanted to be technical about it.

But goddamn, he wouldn’t trade a second of last night for more comfort. When he’d insisted on sleeping on her floor, he hadn’t expected he’d spend a good part of the night in her bed. Or in her body.

Fuck, what a night. What a damn night. His body was tired in all the right ways, but it wouldn’t take much to get him hard again. Just thinking about Emily would do the trick if he wasn’t careful.

Brandy walked into the room then. His face didn’t look much better as he grabbed a plate and filled it. Then he came over and sat across from Ryan. Not an accident, that.

“How you doing this morning, Flash? Sleep good?”

Ryan forked more eggs into his mouth. “Never better. You?”

“She agree to marry you yet?”

Fiddler’s head swung toward Brandy. A couple of the other guys nearby overheard and looked up as well.

“I’m working on it.”

“Why won’t she agree to marry you, dude? She can’t get any more knocked up than she already is.”

“Whoa, man,” Fiddler said. “Emily’s pregnant? You got her pregnant?”

Ryan’s good mood was fast evaporating. But he’d started this, hadn’t he? Last night, when he’d insisted on telling Brandy against Emily’s wishes. Shit. He was feeling about two inches tall right now, especially when Emily walked into the room then, her long blond hair tied back in a ponytail, that gorgeous body he’d worshipped encased in a black utility jumpsuit. It wasn’t a sexy garment, but on her it was. It hugged her breasts, tapered to her waist, and then flared over her hips like a lover’s caress.

She stopped and stared at him. Or maybe at the table of men who were currently staring back at her.
 

Ryan shot to his feet and went to her side, drawn to her like she’d reeled him in. Maybe she had.

She looked up at him, her brown eyes softening, her cheeks growing pink. “Hi.”

“Hi. How do you feel this morning?”

“Much better.” She glanced behind him, presumably at his team, and then lowered her voice. “Maybe a little sore. But in a good way.”

Fuck
. He had to fight not to get hard when she said that, because every single memory of last night scrolled through his head like a dirty movie. A hot, sexy, sweet, dirty movie in which they’d been the two stars.

“Sorry about that.”

Her gaze sharpened. “I’m not… Okay, want to tell me why all the guys are staring?”

“Brandy said something about us getting married.”

Her eyes shuttered. “We aren’t getting married.”

“Not arguing about that with you right now, but I’m not done with the subject.” He reached for her hand, clasped it in his. “Brandy might have mentioned the reason we need to get married.”

Her jaw tightened. “Well, shit. Why’d he go and do that?”

“Because he’s pissed at me. And he cares about you.” Ryan drew in a breath. “But it’s my fault. He wouldn’t know if I hadn’t said something in the first place.”

She didn’t let go of his hand. Instead, she turned it over and looked at the back of it. Then she looked up at him. “I only wanted to protect you. It wasn’t about hiding from anyone. I’m not ashamed of you, Ryan. You have to know that.”

He knew she was concerned about his place on the team, about what the colonel would say when he found out. But it was odd to hear her say she’d wanted to protect him when that was his job. Protecting her. Keeping her safe.

“I know. But you let me worry about me, okay? You’ve got enough to worry about with the baby. I need you healthy.
He
needs you healthy.”

Her smile was soft. “Or she.”

“Yeah, or she. I don’t much care so long as everything is okay.” He tipped his chin at the food. “Why don’t you sit down and let me get it?”

“I can manage, Ryan,” she said, her eyes sparkling with humor now. “Save it for when I look like I’ve got a bowling ball in my belly.”

She peered over his shoulder, her expression firming. Then she tugged him back toward the long table where his team, and much of Echo Squad, sat. When they got there, she didn’t let go of his hand.

“Yes,” she said to no one in particular, “I’m pregnant. Yes, Ryan is the father. No, it’s none of your business what happens between us. If we get married, you’ll all be invited to the ceremony. And if we don’t, you’ll still be invited to the baby shower. Is that enough for you jerks, or do you need more details?”

There was coughing and the shuffling of feet.

“Uh, congratulations,” Fiddler said. “I’m good.”

“Yep, good,” Dexter “Double Dee” Davidson replied. Knight Rider and Big Mac echoed him.
 

Iceman stood up and came over to give her a quick hug. “Congrats,” he said. “Babies are awesome.”

Billy the Kid tipped his chin. “Awesome news. Congrats.”

Matt’s grin was huge. “Our kids can play together,” he said. “Evie’s going to be excited as hell.”

Echo Squad’s guys merely shrugged and offered their congratulations. Brandy was the only one who looked kinda confused. Then he stood and offered his hand to Ryan. They stood there for a long moment, neither speaking, the tension in the air evident.

“You take care of her, Flash. She deserves the best you’ve got.”

“I know that, man. It’s what I intend to do.”

They exchanged a long look that Ryan knew had little to do with Emily being pregnant and everything to do with the idea she was planning to meet with Hassan Mustafa while carrying half a million in cash. Neither of them wanted that meeting to take place.