High Octane Heroes (23 page)

“Yeah, he was the goalie, and I kicked him when I should have kicked the ball.”

“Ouch.” I laugh, comforted by Calder’s magnetic presence. I can see why Dean got on with him, although what I’m feeling is
totally
different.

“You should know that Americans aren’t really good at soccer. Give me any other sport, and I’ll kick your ass.”

“Yeah, he said they won, what, eight goals to one?” I say with a smile, checking the winding lane before crossing over to the path. I unhook the gate, letting Calder pass through before securing it again. “Now,
that
had to hurt.”

“Yeah, it kinda dented the unit’s pride, but we became friends after that.”

“Friendship was the least you could offer. I mean, you did kick him in the jewels.”

Calder laughs so deeply a cow grazing in the next field looks up at us.

The silence extends as we walk side by side, close enough I can feel his jacket brush mine.

“Were you there?”

“When it happened? No, I was flying in another part of the country with my own unit.”

I exhale deeply, eyes blurring, and come to a halt.

“Hey…” Calder’s hand goes to my shoulder as he faces me.

“If you say something like, it was quick and painless…” I draw myself away.

“I’m not going to say that…” he says darkly as we both know
the awful truth. The casket had been sealed for a reason.

“Good, bullshit doesn’t help.” Tears sting the backs of my eyes as I try to walk away.

“Stop.” Calder turns me around, putting both his palms against my face. “You’re not sleeping are you?”

I lower my eyes

“Nightmares?”

“Calder…”

“You can tell me.”

“No,” I say shakily, “what you guys face is worse than whatever I’m going through.”

“Estella,” he says quietly, his thumbs brushing my cheekbones, the tears. “War zones are wherever you make them.”

We arrive at the village pub, and once I’ve introduced Calder to the landlord, I’m touched by the offer of free drinks: a coffee for Calder and a tea for me. We drink in silence. I’m affected by what he said in the field so I focus on the roaring and crackling fire we’re sitting beside.

“We better head back to your mom and dad’s,” Calder says reaching for his jacket once we’re done, his head nearly scraping the beams of the ancient building.

“That’s okay. Your hotel is right around the corner, I’d just be driving you back anyway…”

“I’m walking you home, Estella.” He reaches for my coat, and helps me into it, “Let’s go.”

Once we’re outside, he puts his hand into mine.

The hope inside…
ignites
.

We approach the house. “Why don’t you stay at my place?” The suggestion seems to throw him as he looks down at me with something in his eyes I can’t quite read. “Er… I mean…you’ve never been to London right? Why don’t you take some nice memories back home at least?”

“I’d like that.”

“I mean…you’ll be sleeping on the couch…maybe a hotel would be better?”

“Estella,” his fingers lightly squeeze mine, “the couch is fine.”

Three hours later, Calder and I arrive at my flat on the outskirts of London.

“So what do you want to do first?” I flip through my phone checking out some of the tourist information apps I’d downloaded when we’d returned to my parents house.

“This.”

He’s got me in his arms suddenly, his lips to mine. The hunger, the urgency steals my breath and puts a tingle in the backs of my knees.

“I wanted to do that all morning.” His palm, big and broad, presses into my back, rubbing softly. “Come with me.”

We find ourselves at my bedroom door.

Color heats my face, which Calder notices.

“Relax… I just want you to rest, sleep, okay?” He brushes the hair off my shoulders with such care I break down, bawling my eyes out. Calder holds me until I’ve composed myself enough to climb onto the bed with him. He takes me into his arms so that I can rest against his chest.

I don’t know how long I stare down at the length of his denim-clad legs, but when my eyes droop shut, I don’t fight it.

The nightmare attacks with its usual bite. This time I’ve made it through the body-strewn war zone, my hand reaching for Calder, the tension in my chest reaching the boiling point as I anticipate the arrival of the missile.

His fingers curve around mine, and the white light doesn’t come. He brings me up against the warmth of his body, his uniform rough against my clothes, a gun at his side, poised and
ready to take down anything that will hurt me…or us.

“Hey.” Softness in the dark, a cool voice brings me home. I open my eyes. Calder. “You were dreaming?”

I swallow back the worry. “It was different this time.”

“How?” Calder traces a finger along my lips.

“You got to me in time.”

A victorious smile makes his lips part as he leans in for a kiss. Calder sighs against my mouth, his erection hard against my thigh.

“Estella…” he groans, “are you sure you don’t want me on the couch?”

I smile against his lips, laughing softly, “Maybe later.”

The soldier looks at me, eyes hot. “Done.”

My laughter ceases when his hand travels to my zipper. With an achingly languid and erotic pace, he slides it down before slipping his hand inside my panties to cup me.

I screw my eyes tight shut, vaulting into something sparkling and definite.

Slowly, with one fingertip, he rubs, drawing a cascading wetness within that heralds a complete shift of my senses.

He kisses my throat reverently. I uncurl my fists and reach between us, panting as I reach for the buttons of his shirt. He’s hard. All over. I run my hands over his torso, fingers falling into the dents and design of his muscles, especially the ridges of his abs. His groan of pleasure is a sound I know I’m going to be addicted to.

I push the shirt off his shoulders, before working his belt, followed by his button fly.

I push the material, but can’t get past midthigh.

“Here…” He sits up, swiveling his feet to the floor before standing. Quickly, he drags his denims and boxers off, revealing his erection.

Absorbed by his visually arresting arousal, I quickly haul my shirt off; I reach around for my bra.

“No…” He kneels beside me. “Let me.”

Without breaking eye contact, he reaches for the clasp at the back, snaps it apart and slowly brings it down my arms. His inhale is broken once he lets his gaze travel down to my breasts. I sink back against the linens and he kisses each nipple before reaching down and tugging my panties off.

I trace the muscle of his shoulder with my lips, awed by his build. I close my eyes as he places soft, light kisses against my neck which make me part my legs. I feel his searching cock, which he guides into me. I watch fascinated as inch by inch he disappears inside of me.

His thrusts are slow, steady, creating a heat within that threatens to obliterate anything in its path. Including my grief. Tears push into my eyes and fall.

“Estella? What’s wrong? Jesus! Am I hurting you?”

I shake my head. “Just don’t stop… Calder, don’t stop.” I am astounded by the fit of him and the power of this sudden union.

Calder kisses my temple, reverently whispering my name. And that does it. My tears explode and something within breaks free. I drag his head down, opening his mouth with mine, pushing my tongue inside.

Calder’s thrusts get stronger, faster, deeper as the fury of emotion makes us both breathless.

I come first, grabbing his buttocks for support as I shake with a momentous curl of passion that finally shuts out the darkness I’ve been walking in.

“I’m close,” Calder whispers against my mouth.

My heartbeat breaks through into new territory, and I encourage his climax by squeezing my muscles around him,
which makes him groan. I clutch at him, marveling at how hard he is, making sure he’s gaining what he needs from this moment.

“Estella…” With one final, hard push, Calder comes inside of me. He collapses against my breast and this time, I welcome the weight.

Later, I watch him dozing beside me, sprawled out on his back. I pull the comforter, tugging it over our naked bodies. Calder wakes and reaches for me. I fit my back against his chest; his arms loop around me.

Delicate, soft kisses meet the back of my neck. I push my buttocks into him, feeling him stir.

“More?” he says sleepily.

I laugh.

“Couch?” he asks.

I toss back the covers and run, Calder following. Catching up with me, he puts his warm hands on my hips, which unleashes a squeal of delight as we stumble nude into the living room.

He guides me to the couch, and I kneel on it, facing the wall, bracing my hands against it. He drops barely there kisses along the length of my spine. “I like hearing you laugh,” he says, as he gently pulls my legs apart.

I gasp shakily. “I like that sound too.”

Settling behind me, he then reaches around my hip. Calder slides a finger, then another along my wetness. My head tips back, resting just below his shoulder as he winds his other hand around my waist, his hard cock pointing north as it presses against the base of my spine. He works slowly, achingly slowly, until he’s knuckle deep inside of me. Withdrawing, he then rests the pads of his fingers on my clit, circling it.

I’m soaked and on the way to being sated in a way I’ve never felt before. I can’t help but moan his name as I come, trembling
breathlessly from the vibrancy of the orgasm.

I twist my head, reach for his mouth with my own before Calder withdraws and makes me sit astride his hips and pushes up inside of me.

“How will you watch over me when you’re so far away?” I whisper, placing my hands into his, our fingers looping, enhancing our connection.

“Your name, it means ‘star’, right?” he whispers back, his voice rough with passion as he looks up at me.

“Right,” I sigh, getting wonderfully hot all over again as I undulate over him.

“Then I’ll be with you in the sky every time I fly,” he says, eyes luminous with duty.

I close my eyes and breathe, letting the light fully break free within.

 

 

 

 

 

G
iven the right company and a soft bed, Danny Crispin would have welcomed the hot summer storm. He’d have opened his bedroom curtains, tossed up the window and let the wet wind howl right inside. Wouldn’t matter if his bed got saturated. The thought of a certain redhead covered in rain and sweat, green eyes glinting hotter than any flash of lightning, tightened his body.

However, a thunderstorm spelled trouble this night. He gazed up from behind the wheel of the prison pickup and watched yet another brilliant flash dance and pop across the strands of the concertina wire high atop the chain-link fence.

“Sarge, did you see that?” the radio squawked, all formal radio protocols forgotten by the new guard in the South Tower.

Danny understood Officer First Class Hughes’s concern. The towers were open metal cages, no glass in the windows to protect the guards from the elements. No doubt the young officer had parked his weapon in a corner, his metal chair beside it, and
stood in his rain poncho with his rubber-soled boots on the iron grating while rain sliced sideways, soaking him. It’s what he’d done when he’d been a rookie corrections officer, before he’d been promoted to sergeant a year ago.

Another jagged bolt sparked on the wire, and he cursed, wishing he was back in his hub keeping watch on the restless prisoners. Jenna Hurly was scheduled to be in the barracks. If the power went out, she’d be trapped in the dark with eighty murderers. He hoped like hell the storm blew over soon, and he could head back to the Hub One cell block. Half an hour ago, the lieutenant had ordered him to assume his rover duties outside the fence so he could be inside the walls in case the power went out and generators had to be cranked to replace the feed from the electric company. Something that occurred with annoying frequency in this remote region of Arkansas.

Danny drove a slow circle around the dirt track surrounding the walls. The rain fell harder, the wiper blades useless against the deluge, his headlights barely piercing the darkness.

Moments later, another flash was followed by a loud explosion. Then the lights in the two towers in his line of sight went dark, confirming his worst fears. The transformer had been hit.

Danny pressed the gas and clicked the button on his radio. “Grayson, meet me at the North Tower!”

Moments later, he skidded to a halt in the mud. Because the automatic locks wouldn’t be working, he had his keys in hand, his flashlight held at his shoulder as he ran toward the gate. He opened it just as Grayson came running. “You take rover. I’m going inside.”

Corporal Grayson gave him a curt nod as they passed each other. Danny turned to lock the gate behind him then ran toward the entrance of the prison, the pitch darkness inside the glass
doors ominous. Again he fought the lock then raced through the corridor toward his hub.

He ran to the North Control booth. They couldn’t pop the button, so again he was delayed opening the locks to first the outer door, then the inner door. Not slowing, he ran right, passing Central Control, then hit a quarter turn to the left and arrived at the Plexiglas corridor that usually gave a bird’s-eye view into Hubs One and Three.

Eerie darkness spread beneath him. At the end of the corridor he entered another door and another, then passed Hub One’s control booth where he spared a second to wave at Officer McGee, whose concern was etched in his wrinkled face.

As Danny raced through a rabbit’s warren of doors and stairs, his heart thudded dully against his chest. He hoped like hell Jenna had kept her head, followed their preset plan, and that she’d be waiting in the tiled shower area of the barracks. With the power out, the prisoners would be making the most of the unsupervised time. Images of vicious beatings and rapes flashed through his mind. A male officer faced horrific dangers, but a female caught on the floor…