CLASSIFIED

The Elite #3

Brooke Blaine

Ella Frank

Copyright

Copyright © 2020 by Brooke Blaine & Ella Frank

www.brookeblaine.com

www.ellafrank.com

Edited by Arran McNicol

Cover Design: By Hang Le

Cover Photography: Roberto Viccaro

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

Synopsis

Also by Brooke Blaine

Also by Ella Frank

1. Panther

2. Solo

3. Panther

4. Solo

5. Panther

6. Solo

7. Panther

8. Solo

9. Panther

10. Solo

11. Panther

12. Solo

13. Panther

14. Solo

15. Panther

16. Solo

17. Solo

18. Panther

19. Solo

20. Panther

21. Solo

22. Panther

23. Solo

24. Panther

25. Solo

26. Panther

27. Solo

28. Panther

29. Solo

30. Panther

31. Solo

32. Panther

33. Solo

34. Panther

35. Panther

36. Solo

37. Panther

38. Solo

Epilogue

Thank You

About Brooke Blaine

About Ella Frank

Synopsis

Classified is the conclusion of Solo and Panther’s story and should only be read after books one & two.

They train to serve their country.

They strive to be the best.

But only a select few can be...

The Elite

* * *

MATEO MORGAN

CALL SIGN: SOLO

Reckless, arrogant, and bold, Solo is as known in the U.S. Navy for his bad-boy reputation as he is for his skills as a fighter pilot. It’s a surprise to his peers, then, when he’s chosen to train and compete at the most prestigious naval aviation academy in the world.

MISSION RULES:

1. Kick everyone’s ass.

2. Do whatever it takes to win.

3. Do your best to distract the competition.

4. Especially when that competition is a gorgeous blue-eyed perfectionist who makes your blood run hot.

* * *

GRANT HUGHES

CALL SIGN: PANTHER

Disciplined, smart, and confident, Panther can’t afford not to play by the rules. As the son of a top Navy commander, all eyes are on him, and being anything less than number one is unacceptable.

MISSION RULES:

1. Keep it safe in the air.

2. Prove you’re more than Commander Hughes’s son.

3. No distractions. Stay focused.

4. Don’t fall for your competition—especially not the rebellious heartbreaker with lips made for sinning.

In the heat of the hot California sun, tempers flare and desires ignite as Solo and Panther try to resist their attraction while fighting to be number one.

With passion this intense, the question remains:

Who’s gonna come out on top?

Also by Brooke Blaine

South Haven Series

A Little Bit Like Love

A Little Bit Like Desire

The Unforgettable Duet

Forget Me Not

Remember Me When

L.A. Liaisons Series

Licked

Hooker

P.I.T.A.

Romantic Suspense

Flash Point

PresLocke Series

Co-Authored with Ella Frank

Aced

Locked

Wedlocked

Fallen Angel Series

Co-Authored with Ella Frank

Halo

Viper

Angel

An Affair In Paris

Elite Series

Co-Authored with Ella Frank

Danger Zone

Need For Speed

Standalone Novels

Co-Authored with Ella Frank

Sex Addict

Shiver

Wrapped Up in You

All I Want for Christmas…Is My Sister’s Boyfriend

Also by Ella Frank

The Exquisite Series

Exquisite

Entice

Edible

The Temptation Series

Try

Take

Trust

Tease

Tate

True

Confessions Series

Confessions: Robbie

Confessions: Julien

Confessions: Priest

Confessions: The Princess, The Prick & The Priest

Confessions: Henri

Confessions: Bailey

Prime Tine Series

Inside Affair

Sunset Cove Series

Finley

Devil’s Kiss

Masters Among Monsters Series

Alasdair

Isadora

Thanos

Standalones

Blind Obsession

Veiled Innocence

PresLocke Series

Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine

Aced

Locked

Wedlocked

Fallen Angel Series

Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine

Halo

Viper

Angel

An Affair In Paris

Elite Series

Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine

Danger Zone

Need For Speed

Co-Authored with Brooke Blaine

Sex Addict

Shiver

Wrapped Up in You

All I Want for Christmas…Is My Sister’s Boyfriend

1 Panther

FROM THE MOMENT I’d entered the convention center, where the Navy Ball was being held, I felt sick to my stomach. Actually, strike that. From the moment I’d gotten into the limo with Houdini and the others and caught sight of Solo watching us drive away, I knew in my gut that I had made the wrong decision. The further away I got from Solo, the more agitated I became, but it wasn’t until we all made our way inside the lobby of the convention center that I knew there was no way I could go on pretending everything was okay. That I wasn’t dying inside.

As the others headed toward the main hall, I could only slink into the shadows and wait. It felt like forever, but then…I saw him.

Solo trailed the group of fellow trainees he’d ridden with, looking every bit as unenthusiastic as I felt about having to go inside, but damn he looked gorgeous. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. His tanned skin paired perfectly with the brilliant, crisp dress whites his leanly muscled body filled out so well, and he walked with a confidence I knew wasn’t faked.

Look at me, I willed him. Turn around. Don’t go without me.

As if I’d said the words out loud, Solo looked over his shoulder, and those whiskey-colored eyes widened slightly.

Damn. If I’d thought he’d looked good from behind, it had nothing on the perfect vision he made as he walked toward me.

I licked my lower lip and fidgeted with the hat in my hands, and when he stopped a couple of feet away, I told him exactly what I thought.

“You look…really good.”

“So do you.” Solo tried for a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Good enough to eat.”

I knew he was trying for a bit of levity, but I couldn’t make myself see the humor in the situation right now.

“Hey,” he said, taking a step toward me, though he still kept himself at a distance. “What’s going on? How come you’re out here instead of in there?”

“I—I can’t do this.”

I could tell immediately that Solo had taken my words the wrong way, because a shadow of fear entered his eyes.

“You can’t do what?” he said.

“I can’t pretend anymore.” I took in an unsteady breath. “I can’t go in there pretending.”

“Pretending…what, exactly?”

“You know what, Mateo. I can’t go in there and lie and tell people I couldn’t find a date when the person I want by my side is standing right in front of me.”

Solo’s entire body went still. So still that I wasn’t even sure he was breathing, and shit, that couldn’t be a good sign.

Oh God, why did I say that, when he obviously didn’t—

“Everyone would know.”

Three words, ones I knew had the power to change everything, but what if it was worth it? What if we were worth it?

I kept my gaze steady on him, showing him I wasn’t afraid. “I know.”

Solo took another step toward me, and then he did something I didn’t expect.

He held out his hand.

I swallowed hard, looking from his hand back up to his face, to that sly half-grin, and then he winked at me. “Do you trust me?”

If you had told me weeks ago that I’d choose to put my life and the fate of my career in Solo’s hands, I would’ve said you were crazy. But now, nothing had ever felt so right.

His eyes widened slightly as I put my hand in his, like he wasn’t expecting me to so readily agree. That he hadn’t expected me to jump when he jumped. But this was exactly where I wanted to be. It was where I’d wanted to be from the moment I’d shut the door of the limousine and driven away from this man, and nothing would stop me from taking this next step.

“I trust you. The question is, do you trust yourself?”

Solo’s fingers tightened around mine, and then he tugged me toward him and gave a slight nod.

“You make me want to.”

The vulnerability in his voice made my heart thump a little harder. Solo might be out and proud, and appear as though he didn’t give two shits about anyone else’s opinion. But I was well aware that ninety percent of that bravado was a front, a show he put on for those around him, and knowing he was just as apprehensive about walking through those doors made my confidence resurface.

“Then that’s all we need, right? Each other?” I knew I was putting it all out there. I was placing not only my trust but my emotions in this man’s hands, and when Solo’s lips curved into that sensual smile I loved, my knees nearly fell out from under me.

“Hmm, I think you might be right.”

Damn. Those dress whites, that smile, and the implication lacing Solo’s words made my cock stand up and pay attention. Not exactly the best position to find myself in, especially since this uniform was fitted in all the right ways.

“Okay, you need to stop looking at me like that.”

Solo licked along his lower lip. When my fingers automatically tightened on his, he chuckled. “Like what?”

“Like we’re alone and have the entire night to explore everything your eyes are suggesting.”

Solo looked around the empty lobby. “I don’t see anyone else out here, lieutenant.”

I shook my head. “Be serious. My father is standing just through that door.”

Solo’s eyes all but twinkled, and just when I thought he’d say screw it and drag me off somewhere more private, he turned on his heel and tugged on my hand. As I followed behind him, my eyes traveled down to the perfectly fit cut of his jacket and pants. When we finally got to the lobby doors, he stopped and glanced back over his shoulder at me.

“Jesus, Panther. Stop staring at my ass. Your father is right on the other side of the damn door.”

My lips twitched as he reached for the handle, and it was in that moment that I realized one of the main reasons I’d fallen for this heartbreaker, this bad boy, who had the ability to calm and excite me all at once.

Where I was cool and calm under pressure, Solo was ballsy and reckless. He took delight in shocking the hell out of those around him, and tonight was going to be no different.

2 Solo

I WASN’T FOOLING Panther. I knew he could see right through my devil-may-care act, but he wasn’t giving me hell about it. Wisecracks were how I dealt with things that were too heavy, moments where the pressure was so high that there was a possibility that everything could go wrong. And make no mistake, once we walked through those doors, everything could go wrong.

But Panther’s hand in mine meant he was willing to risk the safety net of his life for what he wanted—and what he wanted was me.

If I could bottle up the high that I was feeling, I’d make fucking millions. As it was, it felt like my heart had grown five sizes too big and was going to burst out of my chest at any moment, but I had to reel it in if I had any hope of making it through those doors.

“You ready?”

Panther put on his cap and blew out a breath. Then he looked at me, eyes shining with determination, squeezed my hand, and nodded. “Ready.”

Without taking my eyes off his—and before doing something crazy, like hauling him back to the barracks to have my way with him—I threw open the door to the main hall.

Blue lights flashed across the dimly lit room to the beat of the live jazz band playing “Summertime,” and as my eyes adjusted, I could see the sheer amount of people crowding the large room. Elaborately decorated round tables took up the majority of the space, though there was a sizeable dance floor in front of the band, but it was what lay directly before me that made Panther squeeze my hand in a death grip.

He didn’t have to worry, though; I wasn’t letting go of him.

Intimidating was the word I’d use to describe the high-ranking officers that stood in a seemingly never-ending receiving line down the navy and gold rolling carpet. When Panther and I stepped into the room, all eyes landed on us.

It wasn’t often that the top brass betrayed their surprise, but several pairs of eyes widened, and among those…Panther’s father. He stood a few feet away among his peers, respected and feared in equal measure, and I waited to see his response. There was no way he’d make a scene, not here, but I didn’t want him or anyone giving Panther a hard time, either. When I didn’t see any telltale signs of displeasure—no clenched jaw, no balled fists—I almost sighed in relief, though we weren’t in the clear yet.

“Lieutenant Mateo Morgan, call sign Solo, currently enrolled in the Elite,” boomed the loudspeaker, announcing my arrival. “Joined by Lieutenant Grant Frederick Hughes, call sign Panther, currently enrolled in the Elite.”

Now every pair of eyes in the entire fucking place was staring our way. It was like with that announcement, the ball had come to a halt to see the new arrivals, including our fellow trainees, some of whom needed to pick their jaws up off the floor.

Not one to back down from curiosity, even when it was directed our way by hundreds of nosy fuckers, I shot them a wink and brought Panther around so that we could make our way down the receiving line.

That meant I had to let go of him to greet the higher-ups, but our statement had already been made: we were together, here together, and if anyone had a problem with that, they could kindly fuck off.

Or my fist could not-so-kindly tell them to fuck off later.

“Lieutenant Morgan.” The first man in line wasn’t someone I’d met before, but I’d heard enough about him to know who he was instantly.

“Captain Perry,” I said, shaking his hand.

“I’ve heard quite a bit about you, young man.”

He may have meant that as an admonishment, but I grinned broadly. “And it’s all probably true, sir.”

His bushy eyebrow rose, but his smirk made me think that this was a man who didn’t seem to mind someone shaking things up a little—thank fuck.

It was nice not to be met first thing with someone who had a pole shoved up his—

“And you must be Lieutenant Hughes. The base has been buzzing about you since you decided we needed to upgrade one of our planes.”

Yep, this Captain Perry was definitely not a stuffed shirt. Not like— “Good evening, Commander Levy.”

“Lieutenant Morgan,” Levy said with a clipped nod, as his eyes ping-ponged between me and my…date.

I straightened my shoulders and schooled my features. I mean, what was the worst he could do? Throw us out? Okay, then we’d head back to our barracks together. I didn’t really see a downside to that.

But it seemed Commander Levy was smarter than that. He wasn’t about to embarrass himself by drawing even more attention to his students. Instead, he let out a sigh, probably wondering when the hell he’d be rid of me so his life could go back to normal.

Just a little longer, Levy. Just a little longer.

“Nice to see you made it on time. I thought for a minute there I’d have to send out a search party.”

I could hear Panther making small talk with Captain Perry beside me, and as he finished up I decided what the hell, and reached for his hand again, pulling him by my side.

“Was just waiting for my…partner,” I said with a broad grin, letting Levy take that any way he wanted. When Panther squeezed the ever-loving shit out of my hand, I realized that maybe I’d overplayed the whole throw-caution-to-the-wind thing.

Eh, Panther knew who I was when he signed up for this gig.

“Lieutenant Hughes.”

“Commander Levy.”

The exchange was made with such formality and such finality that I knew that would be the end of that, and it didn’t take a genius to know why. I could feel the ice-cold stare-down from the man standing to Levy’s right, but as I moved in his direction, I thought, Well, at least I have my pants on this time.

Bracing myself for what was sure to be an epic dressing-down on a public scale, I tightened my hold on Panther’s hand and waited for whatever Captain Hughes had to say. His eyes lowered to our hands and then roamed back up to my face. Just as I was about to let go of Panther’s hand so I could shake his father’s, Captain Hughes said, “You’re late, Lieutenant Hughes.”

Oh, shit. Not only had he completely ignored me, he was looking at Panther like he wanted to take him outside and ream him a new one. That look was fucking terrifying, and I didn’t easily scare.

Neither, apparently, did Panther.

“I was waiting for my date.”

My head whipped around so fast that I was surprised I didn’t snap my neck. I wasn’t sure why I was so shocked. Panther had told me he wanted to do this. But somewhere in the back of my head, I’d been waiting for him to change his mind. I’d been waiting for him to, what…disappoint me?

Seemed I’d be waiting a lot longer if that was the case.

“Solo, I know you two have met before, but I’d like to formally introduce you to my father. Captain Hughes, this is Lieutenant Morgan.”

My jaw joined everyone else’s in nearly hitting the floor. Panther flashed that crooked smile my way, and I couldn’t help but wonder where the nervous guy from outside had gone, because the man now standing beside me seemed one hundred percent confident in what he was doing. And fuck me, that was hot.

“Son,” Captain Hughes said, and then cleared his throat. “I think we should maybe—”

“Dad. This is Solo. He’s important to me.”

Captain’s Hughes jaw twitched as he turned his eyes my way. He swallowed and held his hand out to me, and Panther let go of my hand so I could shake it.

“Good evening, Lieutenant Morgan.”

His handshake was firm, and no one was more surprised than me when he didn’t try to break it.

“Good evening, captain.”

He swallowed—probably all the words he really wanted to say—and said, “You two have done very well in the Elite program so far. I hope you have a nice evening.”

“Thanks, uh, we’ll definitely try.”

He nodded and released my hand, and, not being stupid, I took that as my cue to keep on going. Panther stopped in front of his father and they exchanged quiet words.

It wasn’t until Panther sidled up beside me at the end of the receiving line and slipped his hand into mine that I realized we’d managed to weather this storm together and come out the other side intact…for now.

I glanced around the room, trying to locate the rest of our class, but it wasn’t hard to find them, since most were standing at our table with their mouths wide and their eyes round as saucers.

So I plastered a smirk on my face—I mean, let’s face it, my date is the hottest—and sauntered toward them, Panther following. When we stopped in front of the nosy bastards, I said, “Okay, assholes, who’s buying the first round? I could do with a drink.”

3 Panther

“IT DOESN’T USUALLY take you more than one try to get it in the hole.” Solo’s breath tickled my ear as he chuckled and pressed his body more firmly against my back. “Need me to take over?”

“I can get it.” And really, I could. I just needed to figure out which of the two holes staring back at me was the right one. I closed one eye, and when one of the holes disappeared, I tried the one remaining.

“Mmm, yes,” Solo whispered. “Success.”

I chuckled, twisting the key so the lock popped, and then practically fell as the door swung open. Solo grabbed me from behind before I could face-plant, his strong arm wrapping tight around my waist, and then laughed.

“I guess those shots in the limo just hit.”

“I’m not drunk.”

“No? Where’s your hat?”

I looked around me, felt on top of my head, and looked down again.

Solo laughed and produced the hat from behind his back. “Looking for this?”

I grabbed the hat and tossed it across the room like a Frisbee. Then I reached for his and did the same.

So handsome… Solo in his dress whites would never fail to take my breath away. As much as I wanted to strip him naked now that I finally had him alone, I also wanted to take my time just looking at him.

He smirked. “See something you like?”

“Oh yeah.” I ran my hands over his chest and stepped in closer to nuzzle his neck. “Why do you have to look so good?” I breathed him in and sighed. “And smell so damn good.”

Solo vibrated with laughter as he wrapped his arms around me. “Okay, that tequila is kicking in.”

“Don’t need tequila to see how hot you are.”

“Both of me?” Solo’s lips quirked as I pulled back to look at him.

“Mhmm. Which one to kiss first…”

Solo’s grin grew, and then he reached for me, bringing his hands up to hold my face. I closed my eyes as his lips brushed against mine.

And then I was lost.

He deepened the kiss slowly, running his tongue along my lower lip before diving in to taste me. I couldn’t stop my groan as I finally got the connection I’d been dying for all night. Even though we’d walked into the Navy Ball together and made our status known to everyone in that room, we’d still shied away from any PDA, especially with our superiors watching. Not to mention our fellow Elite trainees, all of whom had looked a little shell-shocked and not sure what to say. It hadn’t been my plan to drink much, but I couldn’t deny the way the beers sent my way had helped, and by the time we’d crawled into Houdini’s limo, I’d been relaxed enough to take every shot thrust my way. All while Solo watched from beside me, his hand on my thigh, stroking his thumb across my pants lightly…

Solo broke our kiss, his lips swollen and looking more delicious than I’d ever seen them. I leaned forward again, not wanting to sever our connection, but he held his finger up to my mouth.

“Where are you going?”

Solo strolled over to the nightstand and took his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled for a moment and then looked up at me. “I wanted to do this all night.” He set the phone down, and as the sultry sound of “Stormy Weather” by Etta James filled the room, Solo said, “Dance with me?”

The sensual light in his eyes and husky cadence to his voice had my knees just about giving out from under me, and when he held his hand out to me, there was no way in hell I was about to deny him. I slipped my hand into his, and when his fingers enveloped mine and he drew me into his embrace, I placed my palm on his chest to steady myself.

Damn, who knew Solo was such a romantic?

As we began to sway back and forth around my living quarters, Solo brushed a kiss across my temple and whispered by my ear, “This song is exactly how I felt when you drove away from me tonight. Like I couldn’t breathe…couldn’t go on knowing you were going to be so close but I couldn’t actually touch you.”

My heart thumped as he continued to slowly lead me in this seductive dance that made me feel as though I were floating.

“But then,” he continued, kissing his way up the shell of my ear. “Then I got to the ball and there you were, waiting for me like some kind of dream…”

My eyes fluttered shut as he tightened his fingers around mine.

“But you’re not a dream.”

I took a deep inhale of his delicious scent, then raised my head and opened my eyes. The raw emotion swirling in those beautiful brown eyes was breathtaking. It was full of trust, honesty, and absolute devotion. Solo had barreled into my life like a hurricane and made me fall head over heels for him, and with every minute we spent together, I got more caught up in his pull.

I touched the strong line of Solo’s jaw, then brushed my thumb over his lower lip and shook my head. “Not a dream. I’m standing right here.”

Solo’s body vibrated against mine. I drew my hand away and whispered, “Kiss me again.”

As Solo took a nice, long taste of me, I groaned. Tonight might have gotten off to a stormy start, but now that we were together, I knew we could navigate anything that came our way.

4 Solo

PANTHER’S LIPS WERE intoxicating. All night I’d been careful not to overdo it with the alcohol, knowing that Panther would likely need the liquid courage more than me. But as we continued to move to the sound of Etta, I felt as though my head were starting to spin.

Tonight had completely taken me by surprise, from Panther waiting for me outside that ballroom, to the ballsy way he’d told his father how much I meant to him, and I couldn’t help but believe that every single one of those moments had led us right here.

I could feel his nose nuzzling against my ear, his warm breath as he sighed in pleasure every now and then. When his hips brushed up against mine, it was easy to tell that Panther was enjoying this dance just as much as I was.

We’d waited for it all night, watching as other couples casually made their way to the dance floor, but each knowing on some subliminal level that we wanted our first dance to be one we could enjoy—not one where we’d be under scrutiny from everyone around us. I tightened my arm around his waist and drew him flush against me. Panther groaned and raised his head.

His eyes were dilated now, his cheeks a little flushed, and when I drew his arm up over my shoulder, he got the picture and looped his other hand there to move in even closer. I slid both hands down to his tailored pants and pulled him in nice and tight. When he thrust up against me, I smirked.

“You know, you surprised me tonight. You took a really big risk doing what you did.” Panther licked along his bottom lip as I grabbed a handful of his tight ass.

“Some things are worth the risk.”

“Yeah?”

Panther nodded and ran his fingers up the back of my neck. “You’re worth the risk.”

I grinned against his mouth. “That you or the tequila talking?”

He bit down harder on my lip before pressing a kiss there to soothe it. “Me. I’ve never met anyone worthier.”

I chuckled. “Okay, that is definitely the tequila talking.”

“Shh.” Panther softened the order with a kiss so sweet it made my stomach flip. When the song shuffled and The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes for You” filled the room, he raised his head and gave a heart-stopping smile.

“What?”

“I was just thinking how perfect this song is.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm.” Panther trailed a hand down my spine to my waist, then pivoted, taking the lead from me. “I love it. It’s very…romantic.”

“I can be romantic.”

Panther kissed his way along my jaw to my ear. Goosebumps covered my arms as he whispered, “Apparently so. Who knew?”

I looked him in the eye and grinned. “No fucking one.”

Panther tugged me in closer. “You saying I make you feel romantic, Mateo?”

Fuck. Panther saying my name always made my body respond. But add in the night, the mood, and the way he was eyeing me like he never wanted to stop looking at me, and I was a goner.

I licked along my lower lip. “Among other things…”

Panther flattened his palm and smoothed it over the round curve of my ass, much like I had to him, then pulled me in so he could rub his hard cock up against mine. I looped my arms around his neck, more than happy to let him do with me what he wanted.

“Probably smart we didn’t do this at the ball, then, huh?”

“Probably,” I said as I tipped my head back. Not a second later, he was kissing his way up and over my Adam’s apple.

“Pretty sure we shocked everyone enough without me doing something like this to you out there on the dance floor.”

“Fuck everyone else.”

Panther scraped his teeth along my jaw, brought his other hand down to join the one on my ass, and began to walk me back toward his bed. “I’d rather fuck you…”

When the back of my legs hit the mattress, he ran a thumb across my swollen lips. My pulse raced at the hunger in his eyes. He reached for the brass buttons on my dress jacket and began to unbutton them.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?”

I scoffed, but before I could respond, Panther shook his head and said, “Before you even ask, that’s also me talking.”

As he got to the final button and my jacket hung open, he touched my cheek and his eyes roamed over my face.

“Beautiful. Sexy. And mine…”

In the past, the idea of belonging to someone had always filled me with a sense of panic. A need to run, to get away from any kind of commitment that made me give my heart over to a situation or someone who could hurt me. But as I stood there in front of Panther, I thought, Please don’t break my heart. Because no matter how hard I’d tried to keep this fun, to keep this thing between us casual, there was no mistaking that tonight, everything had changed.

“Yours,” I said before I could stop myself, and then Panther slipped his hand under my jacket and drew me to him. “Now prove it.”

As we fell onto his bed and the rest of the world disappeared from view, I thought what a perfect song and ending this was to our night, because in that moment, I only had eyes for Grant Hughes.

5 Panther

IT WAS ALL I could do not to grab Solo’s hand as we entered NAFTA the Monday morning after the Navy Ball, but since PDA of any kind between any pairing wasn’t permitted, I held myself back.

But just barely.

“Care to take bets on who’s gonna give us the most shit?” Solo asked after we’d made it through the security check. He looked at me, eyes gleaming with mischief as he slid his phone back into his pocket.

“Everyone?”

“Maybe. Gooch has already been blowing up my phone, but I’ll go with Utah. He was staring fucking daggers our way at the party.”

“What else is new,” I said as we headed toward the locker room. “The guy’s a dick and hates everyone.”

“Probably because he’s at the bottom of the pile. How’d he even get in?”

“Don’t start anything.”

“Who, me?”

“Yes, you. We don’t need any more attention.”

“What if he asks for it?”

“Solo…”

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll behave.”

“I didn’t say to make promises you can’t keep.” I shot him a wink and then stepped into the locker room, where the rest of the male trainees were already in various states of undress. As soon as they saw the two of us, almost all of them began to clap and whoop, and Gucci even had the balls to start making sex noises as he thrust his hips in the air.

I didn’t embarrass easy—usually—but while Solo just laughed, I could feel heat creeping up my neck.

Houdini threw his arm around me. “You could’ve told me.”

“You were a little busy.”

“Damn right I was. How about I get a little applause for that.” Houdini dropped his arm and turned around. “Go ahead. Pat me on the back.”

“Whiplash is gonna kick your ass when she hears about this,” Gucci said.

Houdini looked around. “Please. She’s probably in the girls’ locker room bragging about my dick right now.”

I groaned and popped open my locker. “If you don’t shut up, there won’t be a second date, dumbass.”

“How do you know there wasn’t one already?” When I raised an eyebrow, Houdini grinned. “Speakin’ of second dates, you didn’t answer your phone all weekend.”

“So?”

“Sooo, I’m guessing you had a good second and third orgasm—ow, I mean date.” Houdini rubbed the back of his head where Solo had smacked him. “What? It’s public knowledge now.”

More than aware of all the eyes staring my way, I kept my focus on the contents of my locker and kicked off my shoes as Solo said, “If you were so satisfied with your own sex life, you wouldn’t be so eager for details about ours.”

Snickers rang out in the room, and Houdini held his hands up in surrender. Solo winked at me, and I could only shake my head as I stuffed my sunglasses and phone into the locker.

I’d been surprised that none of the guys had asked any questions at the Navy Ball, but there were so many of our superiors hanging around that it served as a decent enough block. It didn’t stop the curious glances, and I knew there would be more questions, especially from Houdini, later, but for now, I needed to refocus and think about the day’s upcoming—

“Well, if it isn’t the lovebirds of the Elite.” Utah walked in from the showers, a towel around his waist. He looked between Solo and me, crossed his arms, and leaned against his locker.

Solo rolled his eyes. “Give it a rest, Utah.”

“So is this a true love thing, or are you two in cahoots to make sure you win?”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Phantom said, shooting Utah a look that didn’t do anything to shut him up.

“I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.” Utah pushed off his locker and walked toward us. “Tell us. How long have you two been fucking around?”

Solo’s jaw twitched. “None of your damn business.”

“Isn’t it? Pretty sure you made it our business when you walked into the Navy Ball pulling this stunt.”

Solo lunged forward, and I had to act fast to haul him back.

“He’s just trying to get a reaction. Don’t give him one,” I said.

“Isn’t it convenient, though,” Utah continued, “that you two happen to be partners, Panther’s dad happens to be a legacy here, and then you both happen to be sitting at the top of the leaderboard. Coincidence? Or cheating?”

“We don’t have to cheat to win,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, even though the insinuation of my father having anything to do with me being here or doing well rankled.

Utah turned his attention to me. “I thought your old man would stroke out when he saw you walk in with that one, and I can’t blame him. If you wanted a decent date, you could’ve done better than the degenerate of the Elite.”

Before Solo or anyone else could stop me, I had Utah pinned against his locker with my hand tight around his throat.

“I’ll only say this once, so you better listen close, you piece of shit,” I said, my voice low and menacing. “That so-called degenerate of the Elite? He could outmaneuver you in the air blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back.”

Utah snarled at me, his eyes ping-ponging between the two of us. “Yeah, well, if anyone would know what he’s capable of in a blindfold, I guess it’d be you.”

I dug my fingers into his throat a little tighter as I leaned in real close. “You know, we haven’t quite gotten to that. But now that you mention it…”

I glanced back at Solo, who was watching me with a mixture of awe and—lust? Yes, it was, fucking troublemaker. So much for behaving. Hell, if anyone was out of line right now, it was me.

But I’d be fucked if I could find it in me to care.

Instead, I smirked at Solo, and I knew he could tell exactly where my mind had gone. “Write that down for later, would you?”

6 Solo

WRITE IT DOWN? Uh, pretty sure there was no need, considering that idea was now permanently ingrained in my brain. Me, Panther, and a blindfold? Count me in—or him; I wasn’t picky.

“Get your fucking hands off me, Panther,” Utah said. My lips tipped up as I thought of Panther’s warning that I behave before we’d arrived today.

Call me juvenile or immature, but seeing Panther riled up in my honor was all kinds of hot, and if anyone in this locker room thought I’d put an end to this display of testosterone, they were delusional.

“You think you should maybe step in?”

I turned to see Gucci eyeing the new wall hanging Panther had decided the locker room needed. “Why? You don’t think Panther can handle it?”

“Uh, no. I think the real problem might be he’s handling it too well. But if he goes much further, it’ll be grounds for suspension.” He bumped shoulders with me. “Unless, of course, that’s your goal.”

“What?”

“You know, knock two birds out with one stone.”

What the fuck? Did Gooch actually believe I would do something like that? And did Panther? Not about to give him the opportunity to even go there, I shoved forward, took hold of Panther’s bulging bicep, and shook him.

“Panther, come on. He’s not worth it.”

Panther’s penetrating stare found mine, and as the ice melted away and the heat resurfaced, he dropped his hands and took a step back.

I turned to Utah. “How ’bout you get the fuck out of here and go over today’s flight plan? Prove there’s an actual reason you’re here other than to run your mouth and act like a fucking asshole.”

Utah shoved off the wall and straightened his spine, puffing his chest out like he hadn’t just been overpowered and shown as the lowlife he was in front of his fellow trainees. Then he shoved past us and headed out to the bay area.

As everyone else followed, Panther turned his attention to me. “What?”

“Don’t start anything, huh?” Panther arched a brow, and I chuckled. “I can see you were really committed to that.”

“Did you hear what he said about you?”

“Yes.”

Panther took a step forward until we were toe to toe. Though the anger had drained out of him, the fire still flickered just beneath the surface. “And you’re okay with that?”

“I don’t give a shit what Utah thinks of me.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “Really.”

“Well, I don’t fucking like it.”

“Hmm, I know.” I cocked my head and took in the flush that still lingered on his cheeks. When I lowered my eyes to his mouth, Panther licked his lips. “That’s hot as hell.”

“What is?”

“The way you got all protective. Utah’s lucky I want to watch you kick his ass in the sky today, otherwise I might’ve settled for watching you kick it in here.”

Panther shoved his hands into his pockets and scowled. “I don’t like people talking about you like that. Talking about us.”

Something about the tone of Panther’s voice sent a frisson of excitement racing through me. It was a thrill knowing that this smart, confident badass thought I was worth fighting for. But at the same time, I wasn’t about to let him throw away his chance of being number one in the Elite because of some dipshit like Utah.

We’d earned our places at the top of that damn leaderboard, and there would be no question about it when this was all said and done.

“I know,” I said. “But you can’t let him get to you. Not about me, and not about us. That’s what he wants. To psych you out. It’s the only way in hell he has a chance of climbing his way up from the fucking bottom.”

Panther took in a deep breath and let it out. “You’re right. I know you’re right. I don’t know why I let him get to me like that.”

Wanting to ease the tension as much as I could, I placed my hands on Panther’s chest and grinned. “Because you have a crush on me.”

Panther’s lips twitched, but just as I suspected, it worked. “A crush? What am I, a schoolgirl?”

I glanced around the empty locker room and then smoothed a hand below his belt to cop a quick feel of his growing hard-on. Panther groaned and grabbed my arms, and I placed my lips to his jaw and said, “Definitely not a girl…”

“Jesus, Solo. You gotta stop. We have to get changed and outside before Levy comes looking for us.”

“You’re right,” I said, and reluctantly let him go. “But just know that the whole time I’m up there flying today, I’ll be thinking about blindfolds and the fact that you think I’d look really fucking good in one.”

His muttered curse as I walked out the locker room made me laugh. I was well aware that the rush I felt had nothing to do with suiting up and getting in the cockpit, and everything to do with the anticipation of being alone again with Panther.

When the hell had that happened?

7 Panther

“SORRY, LADIES AND gentlemen, but you won’t be flying today.”

We’d barely sat down for the first class of the day when Commander Levy dropped that bomb on us. Yesterday had been a grueling fourteen hours of physical and mental fitness tests, and I knew I wasn’t the only one who had been looking forward to getting up in the air.

A chorus of groans confirmed my thoughts, but before I could get too settled in for a day in the classroom, Commander Levy snapped his fingers.

“All right, on your feet. Leave your belongings here.”

As we all stood up, I could see the same curiosity written on everyone’s faces.

Commander Levy led the way, all of us single-filing it out of the room after him. Behind me, Houdini whispered, “What do you think is goin’ on?”

“Public flogging?” Solo suggested. “Maybe Utah’s finally getting what’s coming to him.”

I laughed as we pushed through the doors leading to the airfield, half wishing that were the case, but once I saw what was waiting for us, I stopped dead in my tracks.

“Holy shit.”

“What?” Solo asked, but as he came to a stop beside me, he let out a whoop. “What are the Blue Angels doing here?”

I stared out at the navy and gold F/A-18 jets parked along the runway and wondered the same thing. The Blue Angels were the definitive Navy pilots, the ones who were handpicked to represent the fleet and showcase what we could do. It was a huge honor to be selected, and it was one thing my father never did do. One of the only things, I thought.

We followed Commander Levy to the hangar, where the pilots stood stock-still, hands behind their backs and dressed in their blue flight suits. There was something about seeing them that always sent a thrill through me. It’d been that way since I was a boy and my father had taken me to their first show. The insane aerobatics, combined with all that speed, had been one of the things that made me want to pilot a fighter jet in the first place.

Commander Levy stopped in front of the man at the far end of the lineup, the “boss.” He was the commanding officer of the Blue Angels and the one who flew the number one jet. They greeted one another with a clipped nod before turning back to face us, and we moved to form a similar lineup opposite the Angels.

Murmurs rang out through the trainees as our excitement grew. We knew exactly what was about to happen today. The Blue Angels were scheduled for a show here this weekend, and we were about to get a VIP seat for their practice. It was clear we were all pumped to watch instead of do for a change.

As we waited silently for Levy to address us, Solo bumped shoulders with me.

“Think I’d look good in that getup?” he said quietly enough that no one else would hear. When I looked in his direction, he waggled his eyebrows at me.

Ignoring his teasing, I returned my attention to Levy, who pivoted on his heel and walked up the center of the two lines.

“I don’t know about you, but one of the most inspiring things to me as a young man and eventually as an experienced pilot was to watch these incredible pilots standing before you soar through the sky at rip-roaring speed and execute some of the most eye-popping moves I have ever seen in my life.”

All of us agreed, and Levy continued down the line, a tight smile on his lips.

“Not only are they some of the best fighter pilots the Navy has turned out through the years, they also go on to be some of the best showmen and women in the world.”

He wasn’t lying. If you asked anyone if they’d ever seen a flyover by the Blue Angels, the response was always the same—It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. They inspired a sense of awe, patriotism, and wonder that not much else could do, and no matter how many times you saw them, the feeling never changed.

“You are the best of the best when it comes to combat flying. You are quick, focused, and methodical. We train you to take to the sky, hunt down a target, and neutralize the threat. Today, I want you to remember why you became a pilot. Remember the joy of taking to the sky and relax a little. You’ve been here for weeks with one goal and focus. Take the time now to really think about why you’re here, because after this comes real life, and what you’re signing up for is not a show.”

As Levy passed by, he locked eyes with me, and something in his stare made my hands twist behind my back. What did that look mean? Surely he wasn’t questioning my desire to be here. After that one freak-out I’d had my first day back, things had pretty much gone back to normal—if you didn’t count the occasional nightmare.

But that wasn’t all that unusual after what I’d been through, right?

Solo shuffled in close to me again as Levy walked by. “What was that look about?”

Great, so it hadn’t just been in my head. “I don’t know.”

Solo’s eyes narrowed, and I could tell he knew I was lying, but I wasn’t about to get into it here.

“Okay, guys,” Levy said when he again reached the head of the group. “If you’ll all go take a seat outside, we’ll let these guys get up in the air and do what they do best.” He turned to the Angels. “Be safe up there, and show us what you got.”

8 Solo

IT’D BEEN YEARS since I’d seen the Blue Angels flying overhead in perfect formation, their maneuvers so tight it looked like you couldn’t fit a penny between them. They were even closer than they looked. I’d heard at one point they were something like eighteen inches from each other, which blew my mind, considering the point of combat was to get the hell away from the other jets. Or, you know, blow them the fuck out of the sky.

The six jets broke apart suddenly, two going left, three going right, while the number one shot straight up and began a series of solo maneuvers that I wasn’t sure were choreographed. Did they all have a chance to show off with whatever they wanted when the spotlight was theirs? Or were even their individual moments planned in advance by someone else? The latter didn’t excite me much, but if each pilot got to make up their own shit? Badass. I made a mental note to ask them later.

The remaining jets roared toward each other below the number one, and from our vantage point, they looked like they were headed for a collision.

“Oh, shit, I can’t watch,” Gucci said, and I found myself holding my breath as the jets passed each other in such close proximity that I couldn’t see the sky between them.

Panther whistled from where he sat on the ground beside me, his long legs pulled in and his arms resting on top of them. His eyes were wide with interest, and I found my lips curving as I watched him. He looked so innocent right then, like a mesmerized kid who was seeing planes for the first time.

“You’re staring,” he said, his eyes still on the sky.

“Can I help it if I find you more interesting?”

He shook his head and then looked at me. “Be serious.”

“I am being serious.”

Panther narrowed his eyes like he was calling my bluff, but the loud rumble of approaching jets made him look back up. The Angels were diving down from the sky, splintering off in different directions, contrails left in their wake. It looked seriously impressive, and the smile that lit up Panther’s face told me he thought so too.

“You like this,” I said.

“Who doesn’t?”

“To watch, maybe. But some of us don’t play well with others.”

Panther snort-laughed, dropping his hands behind him and stretching out his legs. “Yeah, I’m not sure if I can see you doing this. You’d be more likely to play bumper jets if you got too close.”

“Now that sounds like fun.” I cocked my head, thinking. “Maybe if I was the number one and they had to follow my rules.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Then yeah. Bumper jets or I’m out.”

Panther grinned.

“What about you? Do you play well with others?” I said, moving my hand so that it lined up alongside his.

“You tell me.”

Damn. The answer to that was fuck yes he played well. In my bed, in his, in the shower…

“I’d tell you, but I only want you playing with me.”

Panther’s eyes turned heated, and he opened his mouth to respond, but Gucci was right there, cockblocking fucker.

“Seriously, you two go get a room or shut the hell up. My ears are bleeding.”

I leaned around Panther to glare the asshole down. “Aww, you jealous? I know you’ve always had a thing for me.”

Gucci flipped me the bird and then looked to Panther. “You only hooked up with him so you could shut him up whenever you want, right? I mean, there really is only one way with him.”

I wasn’t sure how Panther would react to such a blunt statement, but when he turned to face me and chuckled, I thought it a testament to just how relaxed he was. His eyes fell to my mouth, and he grinned.

“It’s definitely one of the reasons.”

Gucci groaned and rolled his eyes before looking back to the sky, but Panther, that teasing bastard, kept his eyes locked on me.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what the other reasons are?”

Judging by the twinkle in his seriously blue eyes, I wasn’t sure I could handle hearing them in public. Not if they were half as good as the first one. As if he sensed my hesitation, a wicked grin curved Panther’s lips.

“Scared?”

Hell no. I was just worried I’d do something I shouldn’t, like attack him right there in front of everyone.

“Do I look scared?”

“Honestly? Kinda.”

“Fuck you.”

Panther laughed and leaned over, placing his hand on the seat behind my ass, his fingers grazing the back of my pants. Then his mouth was by my ear, and just as the jets flew by, he said in a raspy tone that made my balls tingle, “The other reason is because I would’ve done just about anything for the opportunity to get my dick inside you.”

Thank fuck the roar of the jets tore through the sky, because there was no way in hell I would’ve been able to stop my groan. Panther raised his head and locked eyes with mine, and I swallowed.

“That works both ways, you know.”

“Oh, trust me, I know.” Panther moved back to his original position and winked at me. Then he looked to the sky. “That’s the other reason.”

And fuck me, I was done. I was so damn done when it came to other guys.

I knew it, he knew it, and judging by the morons all around us looking our way now…they knew it too.

9 Panther

THE WEEK ROLLED on, and so did the competition. I was neck and neck with Solo on the leaderboard, both of us taking out our opponents with relative ease. Normally I’d feel the pressure of having someone hot on my heels, trying to take the trophy out of my unwilling hands, but right now? To my utter surprise, I found myself…unbothered. Whether that was because the challenger was Solo or whether winning and proving myself to my father suddenly didn’t seem so important, I didn’t know. Would I like to see my name at the top of the winner’s plaque? Fuck yeah. But the all-consuming desire to win at any cost no longer haunted my every waking hour.

“Time to flip.” Solo rolled onto his back on the beach towel beside mine, and as all that tanned, naked skin came into view, I had to bite down on my lip and remember we were on a public beach. I couldn’t just reach over and grab what I wanted, but I sure as hell could look.

“You want to help me out with this?” Solo dangled a bottle of tanning oil from his fingers. Uncapping the bottle, I poured a liberal amount into my palm and then leaned over and began to rub it over his built chest. As my fingers molded to the muscles, Solo let out a soft groan that made my dick twitch.

“You keep up with those noises and I can’t guarantee you’re gonna get much of a tan.”

“Oh yeah?” Solo turned his head in my direction, and even with his Aviators on, I knew those dark eyes were traveling over my naked chest, because the heat they left in their wake was hotter than the rays beating down on my face.

“Yeah. But I have a feeling I’ll end up with a hell of a burn on my backside.”

Solo licked his lower lip, and I leaned down and followed the path with my tongue. It was hard to believe this was, in actuality, our first date. Our first public date, anyway. The one where we didn’t have to worry about someone seeing us that shouldn’t, and the one where we didn’t have to worry about what others thought. This was the first time I could actually let my guard down and be who I was behind closed doors. However, as my cock went from interested to ready to go, I realized there were certain things that should be done without onlookers.

“Seriously,” I said as I raised my head and studied the sinfully attractive face looking up at me. “Stop teasing me. These shorts only hide so much.”

Solo grinned and then placed his hands behind his head, stretching that spectacular body out for me to see, and suddenly I wasn’t sure that was the smarter option.

“Okay, I’ll behave—”

I scoffed, not believing that for a second.

“For now.”

My lips twitched as I went back to oiling him up.

“But don’t think for a second that this date is going to end in any way other than your hands on me, just like they are right now.”

A feral sound I barely recognized rumbled out of me, that idea one I wasn’t about to let him forget…later. But there was no way I was going to continue that line of conversation right now, not with families and kids playing just a little ways up the beach.

“Change the subject, Solo. Or we’re about to get arrested for indecent exposure.”

“Really?” He reached up and slid his glasses down so he could look at me over the top of them. “It might just be worth it to see you in a pair of handcuffs.”

Jesus. “That’s hardly changing the subject.”

“I know, but come on, I’m only human. And with you stroking your slippery hands all over me and looking like you want to attack, did you really expect me to start talking to you about the weather?”

“Maybe not the weather.”

Solo chuckled and lay back down. “Fine. How many kids do you want?”

I choked on my water and had to sit up as a coughing frenzy took over. “What?”

“Look at all those cute little brats down there. You could have a whole soccer team.”

Staring at him in shock as he lay there grinning, I wiped my mouth and said, “Kids? Soccer?”

“Or baseball. Football. I mean, that’s a brutal sport, but look at the way they’re jumping around trying to kill each other.”

I looked to where a gaggle of dark-haired kids of varying ages under maybe ten splashed and played in the ocean, and my stomach flipped. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Panther?” Solo waited until I looked his way, and then he laughed. “You should see your face right now.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because if you think I want a soccer team full of little beasts then you’ve lost your mind. I’m totally fucking with you.”

Relief passed through me, and I scrubbed a hand over my face. “What the hell?”

“You wanted something to take your mind off stripping me naked. You’re welcome.”

I glanced down at where my erection was well and truly deflated. “Yep. Talking about little beasts definitely did the trick.”

Solo chuckled and sat up on his elbows. “Well, that tells me where you stand on that subject. See? This is the getting-to-know-you shit we’re supposed to be doing.”

“Oh, is there a checklist?”

“How the fuck should I know? This is the first relationship I’ve ever been in.”

I lifted my sunglasses and squinted at him, making sure I had the right guy. Relationship? Kids? “Who are you and what have you done with the rebellious asshole I met a few weeks ago?”

“Guess I’m your asshole now.”

I laughed. “Which makes me either insane or a lucky bastard. I can’t decide which.”

“Well, if you ask anyone at NAFTA, you should get your brain checked.”

“It’s a good thing I don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone there thinks.”

Solo tore off his glasses to look at me. “Okay, now who are you and what have you done with the by-the-books hotshot I met a few weeks ago?”

I turned onto my side, resting my head on my propped-up arm. “Maybe we both know better than to let a good thing pass us by when it lands in our laps.”

“Pretty sure I had to work to land in yours. You’re not an easy one to catch, you know that?”

I leaned in toward him. “Good thing you like a challenge.” I reached for his jaw and pulled him in close so that I could get a taste of him. I was finally able to do this out in the open where anyone could see, and I planned to take full advanta—

Something wet and sandy smacked us both in the head, and I jerked away to see the group of kids—little beasts, as Solo referred to them—laughing as the rubber ball they’d launched our way rolled off behind us.

Solo sat up and glared as he wiped the sand from his head. “I wonder if those little bastards have ever played dodgeball with a pro,” he said, but before I could answer, he was off. As he stared them down and aimed for one in the middle, I hoped the kids knew how to run like hell.

10 Solo

TEN MINUTES LATER, I wiped my sandy hands off on my shorts and stood in front of Panther, blocking the sun from his sexy body. He’d been watching as I knocked out every one of those punks without breaking a sweat, and he had a crooked grin on his face.

“Have fun with the soccer team?”

“I wanted to aim for their heads, but their dad looks like he could bench-press my ass.” I held my hand out to Panther. “Care to help me get all this sand off? I’ll let you rub me down…”

Panther was off his towel in two seconds, grabbing my hand and taking off, running so fast that he practically jerked me down the beach until my legs caught up.

“Oh fuck me,” I yelled as my feet hit the water. “Why’s it so damn cold?”

Panther looked over his shoulder and smirked as he pulled me along behind him, heading deeper into the water. “Is it supposed to be hot?”

“It’s the middle of fucking summer, so it’s not supposed to be coming off a goddamn snowy mountain.”

“Don’t worry. In a minute you’ll be numb enough not to feel it.”

“I think this is far enough,” I said once the water reached the tops of our thighs. “I don’t need my dick freezing off.”

Panther turned around and walked back toward me, keeping our hands linked. “Oh yeah? So you’d like me to rub you off right here?” As a wave crashed into the back of him, his grip on my hand tightened, and then he pulled me down into the water with him.

Frozen needles pricked my entire body as the ocean engulfed me, and I immediately pushed up to the surface, sputtering and ready to murder my boyfriend.

“You think you’re really fucking funny, don’t you?”

Panther braced himself as another set of waves rolled in behind him, and when the water sprayed up around him, I swear on all that was holy that he looked like some kind of sea god.

“You seemed to need a little bit of a cooldown, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone.”

I ran my hands back over my hair, and when Panther’s eyes roamed over my torso, I grinned. “Sure you aren’t the one who needs a bit of a cooldown? Eyes above the waist, Lieutenant Hughes.”

Panther turned to wade out farther into the water, and now that my body had, in fact, become numb to the frigid temperatures, I followed. It was clear he’d grown up spending his summers on the beach with the perfectly executed dives under the cresting waves. As I hurried to catch up with him, I marveled at how at home he seemed here.

When I finally made it out past the breakers to where the water lapped against our chests, I swam over to him and reached for the waistband of his shorts. Panther automatically moved in closer to me, and as our bodies bumped up against one another, I let out a low hum of pleasure.

“You know,” I said as I tipped my face up into the warm rays, “I think I could get used to this.”

“This?” Panther wrapped his arms around my waist, and I wound mine around his neck.

“Yeah. The sun, the surf, you… Seems like a pretty good way to spend my weekends, if you ask me.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I love this place. Always have.” Panther placed his lips to my jaw and kissed his way up to my ear. “But now, I seem to love it even more.”

I smiled and opened my eyes, and I noticed Panther looking at me the same way he had the night of the Navy Ball—with that deep intensity I felt all the way to my bones.

“Jesus, Panther. I swear, you get this look in your eyes and it makes it hard to breathe.”

Panther traced his fingers down the side of my neck, then around to the back of it, and brushed his lips over the top of mine. “And what look is that?”

“Like, I don’t know—”

“Yes, you do.” Panther let me go and floated to his back, bobbing up and down over the cool water, and as he relaxed into the steady rhythm, my heart began to thump.

He was right. I knew exactly how he looked at me. Like he loved me. But since neither of us seemed ready to say it just yet, I’d leave it as is, because as far as I was concerned, life seemed pretty damn perfect to me.

11 Panther

I WEAVED EASILY between lanes, giving Solo just enough of a lead to make him think he had me. The fading light from the setting sun winked off the back of his bike, beckoning me to come closer, but I hung back because the view of his shirt riding up his muscular back was too enticing to miss. After spending the entire day at the beach, his skin was now a dark golden brown with the faintest hint of red, and I couldn’t wait to get back to the barracks so I could run my tongue along the warm lines of his body.

Solo veered off suddenly, catching me off guard as he headed down a side street that definitely didn’t lead back to the base. Curious, I followed. The road was narrow, not a main thoroughfare, and it made me wonder if Solo actually knew where he was going.

As the road began to wind up the side of a mountain, we flew by several drives that disappeared behind gated fences and luscious landscapes, and I knew whatever view they had would be worth the twists and turns to get up there. The very reason, I was sure, Solo had picked this particular road in the first place.

Nothing like the thrill of the chase, especially up a death-defying road that could barely squeeze two cars by, if that. As we rounded the last hairpin turn and climbed the final few miles, I saw Solo pull off to the side and cut his engine right beside a For Sale sign.

I slowed to a crawl and maneuvered my bike in beside his, and as I came to a stop, Solo drew his helmet off. Fuck me, he was sexy. Sitting there straddled over his motorcycle with wild eyes, I could tell he’d enjoyed the trip up here almost as much as I had.

I tugged my own helmet off and placed it between my spread thighs, looking past Solo’s shoulder to the slightly overgrown foliage behind him. This place was a little less manicured than the rest, probably due to being on the market for some time. Solo flicked his kickstand down and climbed off his bike, and I did the same.

“What is this place?” I said as I stopped beside Solo.

“Have no idea. I stumbled across it one night when I first got here.”

“Just stumbled over it, huh?”

Solo glanced over at me, a wide smile on his face, and shrugged. “Yeah. I took a joyride one night after this guy I had a thing for had a fight with me and got me all hot and bothered. He was still working out that he thought I was the sexiest thing on the planet…and since I wasn’t about to go and fuck just anyone—”

“Something I’m sure he’s thankful for.”

“Mhmm. I found this place instead.” Solo winked at me and then held out his hand. “Wanna take a look?”

“Uh, as in go inside? We might need to call the realtor for that, and I’m pretty sure”—I looked over my shoulder to the sign—“Patty Hinkle is done for the day.”

Solo chuckled and tugged on my hand. “Not inside. I’m talking about the outside.”

I looked at the gate in front of us and was pretty sure that scaling it constituted as trespassing, but when Solo waggled his eyebrows and said, “Come ooon, we’re not going to do anything to the place, just look at the view,” I relented.

“If my ass gets in trouble for this—”

“I promise I’ll kiss it better after the spanking.”

“I was actually going to say don’t think I won’t tell them it was your idea.”

Solo scoffed as we reached the gate. “As if they’d ever believe it was yours.” Then, quick as a cat scaling a tree, he was up and over it before I could blink. Clearly he’d done this before. “Come on. It’s your turn.”

“Why do I feel like this is the beginning of some movie where the cool kid coaxes the strait-laced one into doing something he really shouldn’t…”

Solo grinned like a fiend and reached for the edge of his shirt. “I mean, if you want to miss out on getting your hands on this”—he smoothed his hand up over his rigid abdomen, and my mouth practically watered—“you can stay out there like a good little boy.”

I narrowed my eyes on his taunting ass. “Little, huh?”

“No problem with being good, though, I see?”

I reached for the bars and took a good grip before looking to the top of the fence, measuring the distance. “No problem at all,” I said, and then looked back to Solo, making sure to give him my most arrogant smile. “We both know I’m good at anything I…do.”

Solo let out a loud laugh and then turned to jog off into the dark. “Prove it!”

12 Solo

THE SOUND OF Panther scaling the fence had me smiling as I headed down the side of the empty house. I hadn’t been lying about the first time I’d come to visit this place, and as I crept through the shadows like a thief in the night, I felt the lingering adrenaline from the ride up here resurface.

A gentle breeze whipped up through the hills, cooling my skin on this warm summer night. As I made my way to the back of the home, the property opened up wide in front of me. There was a deck directly off the back of the house with some outdoor furniture and a hot tub nestled in the corner, and the grassy yard extended to the fence that bordered the property and protected anyone from taking a tumble off the edge.

The view from up here was un-fucking-real. I made my way across the lawn to look out at the smattering lights from the houses below and took in a deep breath.

Ahh, the salty air was something I could definitely get used to. In fact, this entire scenario was pretty damn awesome. When Panther came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, I made sure there was a spot in my fantasy for him.

“This place is incredible.” Panther’s voice was low by my ear and sent a shiver up my spine as I moved back into him. Damn, he felt good. Rock-hard muscles from head to toe, and those strong arms holding me in place gave a sense of belonging that I’d never felt before.

“You feel incredible, so I guess it was meant to be.”

“Mmm, I guess so,” Panther said as he rested his chin on my shoulder. “What exactly am I looking at? Other than a spectacular view of the night sky.”

I turned my eyes upward to the stars shining above us to see he was right. Up here, the stars looked unreal. Clear, bright, and so close you felt like you could practically touch them.

“Well, down there is Huntington Beach,” I said, pointing directly in front of us. “And over there to the left of it is Black Rock Cliffs.”

A delicious growl left Panther’s lips as they moved to my temple. He kissed me there and said, “Our Black Rock Cliffs?” I knew he was remembering that first explosive moment we’d shared down there between the jagged pillars of stone.

I reached for his hand and slowly urged it down to where my cock was making itself noticed. As he smoothed his palm over the zipper and curled his fingers into the denim, I thrust my hips forward and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” My voice sounded strained as Panther’s lips made their way up the rim of my ear and his hand began to move. “During the day you can see— Fuck.”

A low chuckle rumbled in my ear as my head fell back on Panther’s shoulder.

“If that’s what you can see down there during the day, I think someone needs to call the cops.”

I let out a low groan then turned my head to see Panther’s eyes fully dilated as they roved over my face. He was aroused, and if his expression wasn’t indication enough, the hard cock rubbing against the crease of my ass was.

As the summer breeze swirled around us, I licked my lips, and Panther’s gaze dropped to my mouth. Jesus, that look was something else. It was full of hot summer nights spent naked and tangled up with the person who made your head spin. I turned in his arms, wanting more of him than this, then reached for the button of his jeans and undid it.

“Or…we could just join them.”

Panther took a step forward and placed a hand on either side of my body, caging me in against the fence. “Right here, right now, huh?”

“Well,” I said as I slowly slid his zipper down, “we don’t have to go all the way.”

Panther eyed me steadily as I slipped my hand down inside the jeans and briefs he’d changed into back at the beach. When my fingers found his hot flesh, he sucked in a breath.

“But I can’t have you riding home like this now, can I?”

Panther’s lips twitched. “I mean, it would be uncomfortable, and it is pretty dark out here.”

“Very dark,” I agreed. “And if we stand real close, no one would even know I had my hand wrapped around your hard cock.”

“Oh shit, Solo,” Panther growled.

“Stop?”

Panther’s arms flexed where they were braced on either side of me, and then he punched his hips forward, sliding his thick dick through my fingers. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

I nipped at his lower lip and squeezed my fingers tight around him. As I took his length with a nice, long pull, Panther groaned.

“Hmm, not so little now that I have you in hand.”

Panther’s eyes squeezed shut and his jaw clenched, and once he seemed to get himself under control, he said, “Won’t feel so little later when I’m pounding it into you either.”

“Fuck, now that sounds promising.” I scraped my teeth along his jaw to his ear. “You better come through on that when we get home.”

Panther turned his head, and when a feral smile twisted his lips, I knew I was gonna get it when we got somewhere he could unleash. “Start moving your hand, Solo. Or it’s gonna be here against this fucking fence.”

While the idea certainly wasn’t a bad one, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself from waking up the neighbors if Panther got his stiff rod all up inside me. Instead, I took his mouth in a scorching kiss.

Damn. I wasn’t sure if it was the man, the kiss, or the public situation, but I was nearly coming in my jeans. I tangled my tongue with Panther’s, teasing and tasting him as I continued to milk his length. When he tore his mouth free of mine and pinned me with a wild look, I knew he was close.

I licked over my lower lip and drew my fist up his length, then I swiped my thumb over the swollen head of his dick and raised my hand to my mouth. As I sucked my thumb between my lips and the taste of him exploded on my tongue, Panther grunted and jammed his hips forward.

“Fuck.” Panther’s curse fell from his lips right before he took mine again in a sinful mating of the mouths, and I reached back down to take him in hand.

Still braced against the fence, Panther’s arms flexed and bulged as he began to fuck into my hand like it was a matter of life and death. I wrapped my free hand around the back of his neck and kissed my way up to his ear. “Stop being such a rule follower, lieutenant, and mess me the fuck up.”

Panther hauled me flush against him, and I made sure to add a tight grip to his steely length as his entire body began to shake. Then his head fell back and a shout tore from his chest as he exploded all over my palm.

“Jesus Christ.” The reverence in Panther’s voice made me chuckle. “You’re a bad fucking influence.”

“I am?” I brushed a kiss over his lips. “You’re the one who just came all over my hand at the back of some stranger’s property. Really, Panther, you should have some better control.”

Panther eyed me and let go, then took a step back to zip up his jeans. “Oh, like you just did?”

I looked down to the hard-on I was still sporting. “I think I showed immense control. Actually, I think it’s going to take something extra big to break it. Got anything in mind?”

Panther licked his lips, his eyes narrowing on me as a hunter would its prey. Yeah, that’s right, come get me.

I adjusted myself to a more comfortable position inside the denim, knowing the ride back to the barracks would be uncomfortable as hell. But the promise of Panther pounding me into the bed made the discomfort worth it.

“Solo?”

My entire body trembled. Unlike a second ago, when he’d been relaxed and satisfied, Panther now sounded…provoked.

“Yeah?” I said as I turned to see him heading my way, his long legs eating up the distance between us. The predatory look in Panther’s eyes had something primal stirring in me.

“You better go straight fucking home, and don’t even think about stopping along the way.”

Yep, I was about to get it and get it good, and I couldn’t fucking wait.

13 Panther

“YOU CHEATED.” MY Ducati purred as I slowed to a crawl and pulled in beside Solo’s cherry-red crotch rocket. I cut the engine, swung my leg over the seat, and watched as that wicked tongue that had been in my mouth minutes ago slipped out and slid along his lush lower lip.

“So what if I did?”

I pulled my helmet from my head and secured it on the bike. “Not very sportsmanlike of you.”

As I slowly stalked the man who had just given me one of the most fantastic handjobs of my life, Solo smirked and backed up a step.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was supposed to be playing by a set of rules.”

I stepped up onto the sidewalk as Solo’s back hit the door to my room, and as I kept coming for him, he reached down and adjusted what had to be one hell of a hard-on behind his jeans.

“But if we are trying to be sportsmanlike”—Solo flashed a shameless grin—“then fair’s fair, and you owe me.”

I planted my hands on either side of his head. “And what exactly do you think I owe you?”

Solo lowered his eyes to my mouth then leaned forward so his lips were by my ear. “You owe me an orgasm that makes my knees give out.”

A shiver raced up my spine and I plastered my body to his. As I slipped the key into the lock, I ground myself up against his erection. Solo groaned, and I said, “Get inside.”

As I turned the door handle and shoved it open, Solo stumbled in. I pulled him in close until he was again head to toe with me. His eyes blazed full of lust and desire, and I lowered my head and scraped my teeth along his stubbled jaw. Solo reached for my arms, his fingers digging into the leather of my jacket, as a rumble of arousal bubbled out of him.

“Fuck, you smell amazing,” I said as I nuzzled under his ear and made my way down to the collar of his jacket. “Like leather and sea salt, and that delicious cologne you wear…” I bent my knees a fraction to take in the intoxicating scent lingering on the V-neck of his shirt.

“Jesus, Panther. My dick’s already hard; you don’t have to take your time here.”

I straightened and rubbed my palm up the front of his jeans. When Solo cursed, I tightened my hand around his stiff cock.

All afternoon I’d been thinking about this moment where I could get him naked and alone, where I could have my way with him, and as that idea settled in, so did the memory of a recent conversation we’d had. A conversation I hadn’t been able to shake. A conversation that both intrigued and aroused me.

“What if I want to take all night?”

Solo’s chest rose and fell, his breathing much heavier now as I massaged him through the denim. He reached down to wrap his fingers around my wrist and thrust into my hand, and my dick began to throb.

“Then I hope you got everything you wanted back there at the house, ’cause I’m seconds away from coming in my jeans.”

“You better fucking not.” I nipped at his lower lip. “I have plans for you.”

I released him to undo the button of his jeans, and then reached for my own. “Strip and wait for me on the bed.”

Solo arched an eyebrow. “And where are you going?”

I knew I was being overly bossy, but that was all part of the fantasy. If I suspected for one second that Solo wasn’t into it, I’d call it off. As it was, I’d felt the proof he was very much enjoying himself.

“Solo?”

“Yeah?”

“For once in your life, do what you’re told.” I eyed my bed, then ran a fingertip along his treasure trail. “Get naked and get on my bed. I’ll be back in a second.”

Solo shrugged out of his leather jacket and tossed it on one of the chairs in the room, then took his shirt off. He balled it up and tossed it to the floor, and the picture he made in nothing but his boots, open jeans, and dog tags made my erection throb like a motherfucker.

He eyed me as I walked back toward the bathroom, and when I ran into the wall, he chuckled.

“Hurry back, Lieutenant Hardass.” Solo shoved his hand into his open jeans and freed his dick. “I want to make sure I’m following your orders to a tee.”

Fucking Solo. Just when I thought I had the upper hand with him, he managed to take it right back. Not that I was surprised. He was the sexiest, ballsiest fucker I knew—and lucky me, he was all mine.

14 Solo

IF I’D KNOWN that daring Panther to come get me would result in this, I would have done it the first night we met. Not that I was complaining now. But holy hell. The heat in his eyes had almost made me come right there.

Thankfully, I’d held my shit together, because there was nothing I wanted more than to know where he was about to take this. So with my clothes now fully removed, I headed to his bed and climbed on top of it, then I plumped two pillows up behind me because, hell, I wanted to see everything that was about to happen next.

With my eyes glued to the bathroom door, I wrapped a hand around my eager dick and slowly began to stroke. I was a hair trigger away from exploding, and anything other than that was going to send me straight over the edge.

Watching Panther come undone for me earlier at the house was one of the hottest things I’d seen in my life. But as I lay there, naked, spread-legged, and hard as a steel rod, I had a feeling whatever was about to happen next would blow that right out of the water.

That was just the way it was now with Panther. Every time we touched, every time we kissed, the connection we’d forged grew stronger, and the hunger intensified. I’d never had that happen before. Never had the desire to keep coming back to the same person over and over again. But with him, everything was different.

The sound of a handle turning made me refocus. The bathroom door opened and Panther stepped out naked as the day he was born. My hand tightened at the root of my dick in an effort not to come from the sight of him.

Fuck me, he was hot. His tight, toned body had muscles rippling all over it. As he began to walk into the room, my hand automatically began to move again. Jesus. I wanted that body over me, inside me, fucking me, until I couldn’t move.

Panther stopped by the set of drawers on the far wall, and took a nice, long look at the X-rated picture I made, then he smirked and tossed the bottle of lube he held in the air, catching it on the downfall.

“Very good, Lieutenant Morgan. I’m pleased to note you can follow orders.”

Shit, this little game was just as hot as the jaw-dropping visual he made standing there—and that was before he pulled out a blindfold.

Where the hell had he gotten that from?

“Now, let’s see if you can live up to my high expectations…”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuck.

“Expectations?”

I wasn’t sure what was pounding harder, my heart or my cock. But when Panther stopped by the bed and tossed the bottle of lube by my side, my dick jerked and pre-cum coated my palm, and I had my answer.

He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine. “I want to see if you are as talented blindfolded as I think you are.”

I groaned and reached for him, but Panther quickly moved away. Then he dangled the black blindfold on one of his fingers. “You game?”

Fuck yes. Though it was a shame I wasn’t going to be able to stare at that rock-hard body as it pounded into mine. “Give it to me.”

Panther dropped the soft fabric on my chest. I placed it over my eyes and made sure the elastic at the back was holding it firmly in place. At the loss of my vision, my other senses began to kick in, and the first thing I noticed was the distinct sound of Panther moving away from me.

“Where are you going?” When I got no response, I added, “This isn’t some kind of joke like last time, is it? Where you tie me to the bed, blindfold me, and then run off?”

The footsteps stopped, and then Panther’s deep voice filled the room and sent a rush of adrenaline through my veins. “No. This is where I give you the bottle of lube and watch you stretch yourself for my cock.”

“Fuck.”

Panther chuckled, then I felt him place the bottle in my hand. “Do this for me, and we will.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I felt around the bottle for the top and uncapped it, then poured a liberal amount in my hand and then refastened it and tossed it—thump—on the floor, apparently.

Oh well, I didn’t care. This wasn’t going to take long, as far as I was concerned, and when I bent my legs and placed my feet on the mattress, Panther growled, letting me know I wasn’t the only one thinking that.

I slid my slick hand down over my stiff dick, and as my fingers grazed my balls, I sucked in a breath. Damn, I was so worked up that I had to stop for a second and count back from ten.

“You okay up there?”

I bit down on my lower lip and somehow managed to rein in my desire to get myself off right then. Then I nodded and pumped my hips up, widening my straddle a fraction.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Panther muttered, and the satisfaction I felt was enough to keep my head in the game.

“Oh I’m real good up here.” I flitted my fingers down the tight skin of my perineum, then back up to cradle my balls. “Just feeling my way through this since I can’t, you know…see.”

I could hear Panther’s breathing become heavier and more rapid as I again trailed my fingers down to my hole. Then, just as I was about to tease him again, he issued his next order.

“Get ’em in you, Mateo.”

I swallowed, jacking my hips up off the mattress. When they came back down, I felt the end of the bed dip.

Hell yes, come to me, I thought, as my fingers found my hole and I imagined Panther moving up the bed between my legs. I pictured his face all strained and serious. His mouth, tight and unsmiling, but not because he was pissed, because he was resisting his own impulse to devour every inch of me. I gave a tortured moan as I pushed the first finger inside me.

“Damn,” he whispered like a prayer. “Mateo…Jesus.” Panther’s voice was rough as sandpaper, which made me fuck up onto my long digits a little harder. “Do it again.”

I withdrew my fingers and pushed home again a little harder, and when I widened them and grazed my prostate, I squeezed my eyes shut behind the soft black fabric. That was when a hand clamped on to my ankle and I was hauled down the bed.

My fingers slipped free and I reached for my cock. Panther smoothed his hands down the inside of my thighs, pushing them wide, and made a sound I knew I’d replay over and over whenever I wanted to get off.

Half growl, half groan, he sounded like an animal about to go wild. He hooked his hands under my thighs and raised my hips a fraction to nudge the wide head of his dick against my empty hole. Panther was done waiting, was done watching, and before I could tell him to hurry the fuck up or this would all be over, he surged forward and filled me in one hard thrust.

“Fuck.” I shouted so loud that I wouldn’t have been surprised if everyone on base heard me. But damn, Panther was so fucking deep, and it felt so unbelievable that there was no way to hold back. I desperately began to milk my cock, my senses now on overdrive as Panther began to thrust in and out of me at a relentless pace.

God, it was intense. The sounds echoing off the walls, the smell of sweat and arousal as my cock leaked all over my hand and stomach, and the feel… Damn, the hard, thick feel of his cock destroying me was more than I could’ve ever imagined.

Panther came down over me, batted my hand out of the way and took my dick in his fist, then flicked his tongue across my lips. “Open for me.”

I did better than that. I craned my head up and blindly aimed for his lips, and his mouth crashed down on top of mine. As his tongue dove inside, I groaned and wrapped my legs around his waist, and he began to fuck me hard into his mattress.

It was fast, it was hard, it was everything the two of us lived for, and as I began to shake, I felt Panther tense as he gave his final order.

“Come on me, Mateo. Come on us.”

Like anything was gonna stop me. The next time he tunneled inside, Panther came hot and hard, filling me with his arousal, and I exploded in a sticky mess between the two of us.

Holy fucking shit. I felt like I’d been hit by a Mack truck. As my hands and legs fell limp to the bed, I heard a satisfied laugh, and I smiled. Even that felt like an effort.

“Pleased with yourself?” I asked as Panther pulled out of me.

“I think you should be able to feel how pleased I am for at least a couple days. Don’t you?”

I was about to answer when gentle fingers stroked over my cheek and then slipped under the blindfold, removing it from my eyes. I blinked at the handsome face hovering over mine then grinned.

“So, what’s the verdict? Am I as talented in a blindfold as I am out of it?”

Panther tossed the material aside and then lowered over me until our bodies were connected head to toe.

“I’d say that’s a resounding yes, but…”

“But?”

He traced his fingers down my temple to my chin and then angled my face up.

“But as much as I loved that little fantasy, nothing compares to watching you fall apart, and then having you look at me like I hung the fucking moon.”

My heart thudded hard, but instead of responding, I pressed a kiss to his lips and laid my head back down on the pillow.

For once in my life, I had no smartass response and no quick answers, because he was right. As far as I was concerned, he did hang the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. That’s the way he made me feel when we were together, and unless someone could prove otherwise, I had a feeling I would forever feel that way about Grant “Panther” Hughes.

15 Panther

“SO HOW’D YOU two wind up friends?” Whiplash dipped a couple of fries into the community ketchup in the center of the table and shoved them both in her mouth. Somehow, the four of us—Whiplash, Houdini, Solo, and me—had ended up at a local burger joint after working out for two hours and were now stuffing our faces full of greasy food and milkshakes. That probably negated the workout, but it was worth it because damn, this shit was good.

“He thought I was a handsome bastard, hit on me, and, sadly, I had to turn him down,” Houdini responded, making me choke on my bite of food.

I reached for my glass and swallowed down some soda as my eyes watered. When I could speak again, I said, “You’re so full of shit. Tell them how it really happened.”

Houdini’s lip curled, and as he turned to Whiplash, I braced myself for whatever was going to come out of his mouth.

“Okay, the truth? We were partnered up in officer training and Panther asked if he could use my long, thick pencil…”

Solo snorted, and I rolled my eyes. With his blond hair grown out a bit on top since our buzz-down, Houdini was able to run his hand through the longer strands. His eyes damn near twinkled, and he gave me the pretty-boy smile he used to win over the ladies.

“Then he felt my ass up and told me it was the nicest one he’d ever seen.”

“Never fucking happened. You didn’t even know I was gay then, dipstick,” I said, grabbing a handful of fries and throwing them across the table at Houdini.

He picked one off his shirt and popped it into his mouth. Around chews, he said, “Oh, right. Must be thinkin’ of someone else. Although I really do have a hot ass.”

“No offense to you, Whiplash, but really?” Solo shot her an incredulous look. “You find this asshole attractive?”

Whiplash leaned away from Houdini and trailed her eyes up and down him. “Eh, I just felt bad I’d shot him down so many times.”

“In the air?” Solo grinned.

She laughed. “That too.”

“Excuse me, I’m sittin’ right here,” Houdini said, waving his hands in the air. “And I let your sweet ass take me down.”

Whiplash reached for his milkshake and toyed with the straw, pinching it between her fingers and then sliding them up and down. Houdini’s eyes grew large as he shifted in his seat. “Sure you did, darlin’. Sure you did.” Then she took the straw into her mouth in an obscene move that made Solo and me avert our eyes.

Poor Houdini had been asking for trouble going after the likes of Whiplash, and from the looks of it, she was more than he could handle. I had to admit, that was what I liked about her. That and she was a badass in the cockpit.

Still, even with the hell we all gave each other, it felt good to be sitting in a booth on what I guessed was something of a double date. Not that I’d ever been part of one, but seeing as I was with Solo and Houdini and Whiplash had something of their own going… That counted, right? It felt nice…normal. Something I’d been missing even though I hadn’t realized it.

I was out in public on a double date, and not one person was looking our way as if there was something wrong with it.

Damn, that felt amazing.

“So do I get a real answer or what?” Whiplash asked, cutting into my thoughts. She’d given Houdini back his milkshake and turned her focus on me, probably expecting I’d give her the truth and not some outlandish sexual innuendo.

“Well,” I said, “we did meet in officer training, so Houdini was right about that. But as I recall, I’d just watched him strike out with one of the visiting instructors and took him out for a beer to lessen the sting.”

Houdini cocked his head. “I don’t remember that.”

“You wouldn’t after getting as shit-faced drunk as you did that night, which was entirely the point.”

“Nah,” Houdini said, resting his arm along the back of the booth behind Whiplash. “I think ya made that up.”

“I don’t know,” Solo said as he eyed Houdini. “That sounds more legit than any of the stories you’re trying to tell.”

Houdini narrowed his eyes on Solo, and it was all I could do not to verbally remind them to play nice. From day one there’d been a protective tension from Houdini where Solo was involved. But now that we were together, I was hoping to show him that what we had was a good thing, that Solo was so much more than a loud mouth and an attitude.

That was the plan—until, of course, Solo had to go and run his mouth.

“You’re trying to convince us that Panther hit on you? I mean, if you’re going to tell a lie, at least make it a good one.”

“And why isn’t that a good one?” Houdini asked.

“For two glaringly obvious reasons. One, it took Whiplash feeling sorry for your sad ass to actually give in and say yes to a date. And two, Panther didn’t hit on me even though I made his cock hard every time he looked my way. So I highly doubt he was grabbing your ass and playing with your—”

“Okay, I think we all get the point,” I said, and placed a hand on Solo’s thigh.

“You sure? If you move your hand a little higher, you could use my pencil to write it all down for your friend here.”

Whiplash let out a laugh so loud it made others look our way. She leaned across the table to give Solo a high five.

“Good one.”

“I thought so,” Solo said as he leaned back in the booth and widened his straddle, fucking tease.

“Yeah, yeah,” Houdini grumbled as he mirrored Solo’s position. “I was just fuckin’ around.”

“Well, don’t,” Solo said in a tone that was much more serious than the conversation warranted. “I don’t like the idea of people touching what’s mine.”

Fuck, okay, that was seriously hot. I shifted on the seat beside him.

“What’s yours, huh?” Whiplash looked my way. “So this thing you two have going is serious? Not just some fun to blow off steam while we’re all stuck here on base?”

Like a deer caught in headlights, all thought left my mind. I stared across the table and tried to think of an appropriate response. I knew there was more between us than simple fuck buddies. But since neither of us had actually broached the subject at length, it was difficult to know just how deep our feelings ran, and this was the last place I wanted to have that discussion.

Solo apparently had no problem discussing it at all. His hand found mine under the table and he drew it up between his spread thighs.

“Oh, it’s fun, all right, and there’s definitely a lot of blowing going on. And other than kicking your asses at every opportunity I can get, I’d say this is the only other thing in my life I’ve ever taken seriously.”

Silence fell as Solo leaned over and brushed a kiss across my lips. When he pulled back, I felt a French fry hit my cheek as Houdini groaned.

“Oh, for the love of God, can you two quit? I’m gonna revisit my lunch.”

16 Solo

THE SHOCK ON Panther’s handsome face was worth the risk of putting myself out there and opening up in front of our friends about my thoughts on our relationship. As I settled back into my side of the booth and reached for my burger, I was happy to note that he was still staring at me.

We’d been skirting around this issue for weeks now, the “are we or are we not more than just a hot roll between the sheets.” While it was pretty obvious that the answer was a resounding yes, neither of us had started the conversation that would officially confirm it.

It was as if talking about it might somehow change the dynamics between us, might make one of us—or both of us—feel hemmed in. But fuck that shit. There was no way I could hide how I felt about Panther, and no reason I should. This thing we’d found together was real, scary, and totally amazing, and I wanted him to know just what I was thinking.

“Well, I think it’s great,” Whiplash said as she chomped down on another fry. “Maybe a little sketchy that the two of you are partners up there and down here. But I have to believe your dicks won’t get in the way of your competitive side.”

That seemed to get Panther’s attention. His head whipped in her direction, a frown between his brows.

“Of course it won’t. Is that what people think?”

Houdini shook his head and took another sip of his milkshake. “Nah. Only that tool Utah, but you already knew that.”

I nodded as I swallowed my bite of burger. “Yeah, but he’s a fucking idiot, so he doesn’t count.”

“Agreed,” Whiplash said, and then grimaced as she turned Panther’s way. “How’d your dad take all of this? I did not envy you two that night of the ball. I mean, I was so proud of you both, but shit. I would’ve been pissing my pants having to face down with Captain Hugh—I mean, your father.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. That night had been tense. Coming out to not only our fellow trainees but also Panther’s father had been a huge deal. Although that seemed forever ago now, and luckily there’d been no repercussions as far as I was aware.

“He’s fine,” Panther finally said. “He was shocked, but he just wants what’s best for me.”

God, I hoped that was true. But since neither of us had seen his father since that night, I was just going to have to take Panther’s word for it. He’d know if his father was on the warpath…right?

“That’s cool. I mean, what’s he gonna do?” Houdini said, with a raised eyebrow. “Forbid you two to see each other?”

Panther shook his head, but I could sense he was starting to get uncomfortable with all the personal questions.

“What about you two?” I said. “Talk about an unlikely hookup. I get there’s limited choices, Whiplash, but even my boy Gooch would’ve been a better option than this guy, don’t you think?”

Houdini scoffed. “What? Muscle man? I’m surprised he can fit in a cockpit.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m surprised they let you in one, period.”

Whiplash eyed the man beside her, a smile on her glossed-up lips, and it was clear from the dopey expression on Houdini’s face who the boss was between these two. “You feeling a little bit ganged up on, lover?” she asked.

Oh God. Houdini was gonna lose his lunch over Panther and me, but I wasn’t far behind thinking of him in that role.

A sentiment Panther clearly shared. “If you don’t mind, Whiplash, the last thing I need you to do is get him wound up.”

She flashed us an unrepentant grin. “Okay,” she said, then turned back to Houdini. “I’ll make it up to you later.”

I rolled my eyes and looked to Panther as I feigned gagging, and when he grinned, I returned the smile. This felt good, being out with him like this. It felt natural to joke around with Whiplash and Houdini. When I turned back to face them, Whiplash had slipped her hand around her man’s arm.

“As for your question of why I ended up with Houdini, I find it odd that you, of all people, have to ask.”

The fuck? Why would I know anything more than anybody else? It wasn’t like I was tallying up Houdini’s good points. Did the guy even have any?

My expression must have relayed my confusion, because Whiplash started to laugh, a relaxed, easygoing chuckle that made me arch an eyebrow.

“He’s persistent. I figured if anyone could understand how that could break someone’s walls down, it would be you.” She turned her attention to the man beside me. “It’s also insanely sexy to be so ruthlessly pursued, right, Panther?”

Panther’s grin was slow and sensual, and holy hell it did insane things to my insides. My heart raced, my stomach flipped, and when he answered, “Oh yeah, totally sexy,” I looked at Whiplash, who was kissing her way along Houdini’s jaw.

“You two mind taking the rest of this food to go?” Panther squeezed his hand on my thigh, and I added, “Fuck it,” pulled out two twenty-dollar bills, and tossed them on the table. “I don’t need the extra calories.”

We all slipped out of the booth and headed for the door, getting somewhere in private the only thing on all of our minds now.

Houdini looked over the hood of his Jeep to where I stood by Panther and his bike. “You two gonna be at the pool party tomorrow night?”

Panther nodded, and that was all he managed before my mouth was on his and I heard Houdini and Whiplash pulling the doors shut on the car. As they backed out and sped off, I whispered, “Meet you back at base?”

Panther reached for his helmet. “You bet. Oh, and Solo?”

“Yeah,” I said as I backed away toward my bike. “Make sure to bring that long, thick pencil of yours. We might need it to make a list of things to buy for that pool party tomorrow.”

17 Solo

“I’M GONNA RUN to the store and grab some Heineken for the pool later,” I called out, loud enough that Panther could hear me over the running shower. “Want anything?”

“Yeah,” he yelled back. “Lube.”

I smirked as I wrapped my leather band around my wrist and then stuck my head inside the bathroom. “Are we out already? It’s only been two days.”

Panther pulled open the curtain, and a billow of steam escaped, briefly obscuring the satisfied grin on his face. “Someone’s insatiable.”

“Mmm,” I said, following the streams of water trailing down his neck. I wanted to lick them. Get him dirty all over again. “Make that two someones.”

As I stepped into the bathroom, Panther laughed. “You sure you’re going out and not joining me instead?”

“It’s your fault. You shouldn’t be so fucking tempting.” I brushed my lips against his, the spray behind him misting my hair, but I didn’t give two shits. I’d already showered, but fuck it; I could use another one if that meant rubbing down Panther.

My phone, of course, chose that moment to ring at top volume, making me groan.

“Get it,” he murmured, then gave me one last kiss. “Then hurry back.”

I sighed and reached for the phone in my pocket as I backed away. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“Sure you will.”

“Ten. Time me.” I grabbed my sunglasses on the way out as I assured Gucci over the phone that I’d make sure to grab some extra limes for the pool party—something that was beginning to be a weekly occurrence with the other trainees.

It was a two-minute walk to the store, and it didn’t take much longer for me to scrounge up the few items I needed. Beer, limes, lube. If that didn’t scream I’d be having a good time later, I didn’t know what would.

As I finished tying off the bag of limes so they wouldn’t go flying everywhere, I heard a throat clear behind me. “Lieutenant Morgan.”

My spine stiffened. You’ve got to be kidding me. I set the limes in the cart and slowly turned around to see Panther’s father standing there, immaculately dressed, as always, even on a day off, his gaze on the items in my cart.

Great. Under any other circumstances, I wouldn’t be ashamed in the slightest, but I was more than aware of my delinquent status in Captain Hughes’s eyes, so adding alcohol and five bottles of lube to corrupt his son with? Definitely winning him over.

But I gave him an easy smile anyway, because he hadn’t made a scene at the Navy Ball, and Panther hadn’t been disowned. Both of those things were progress in my book. “Captain Hughes. Good to see you. Out shopping for you and the missus?” See, we could have a casual chat. Maybe the old man was coming around to the idea of our relationship.

Or, I thought as his eyes narrowed, maybe not.

“Is Grant here?”

“He’s back at base in my room. His room,” I corrected myself quickly, though I wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Fine. It’s you I’d like to talk to.” Captain Hughes folded his arms across his chest, and I prepared myself for whatever would be launched my way. From the tight set of his mouth, I guessed it wasn’t anything good. “Do you think you’re right for my son?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what he thinks.”

“So you’d agree with me, then, that you’re not an ideal partner?”

No fucking shit. “I don’t think I’d be your first choice, no.”

“And why is that?”

Suddenly feeling defensive, I crossed my arms, mimicking his pose. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“Grant has been at the top of every class he’s ever been in. He may think differently, but it’s not my name that’s gotten him to this point. He’s got the talent and work ethic to take him wherever he wants to go.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. I see it every day.” Where the hell was he going with this?

“Then why would you let him risk it all?”

The comment should’ve offended me, but I couldn’t help but laugh. “Let him? I love that you assume I have the power to let Panther do anything. You should know your son better than to think he’d need anyone’s permission to do what he wants.”

Captain Hughes broke eye contact, looking away. “I thought I did.”

“But you don’t trust his judgment now? Because of me?”

His jaw twitched, and I realized I’d hit the nail on the head. It wasn’t a surprise to know he didn’t approve—hell, he hadn’t wanted us to even be flight partners—but it still stung.

“Look, I get it. You don’t like my reputation. You think I’m reckless and that I don’t care about anyone but myself. And yeah, maybe you would’ve been right a couple of months ago. But I care about Pan—Grant. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.”

“Maybe not intentionally.” His eyes met mine again, and I saw it. Behind the seemingly uncaring facade, there was a flicker of worry. “What do you suppose will happen after graduation?”

I swallowed. “We haven’t really discussed it yet.”

“Hmm.”

I knew exactly what that hmm meant. It meant there were only two weeks left of our time with the Elite, and the fact that we hadn’t given any thought to our future meant we weren’t taking things as seriously as we should be. Captain Hughes wasn’t just judging our relationship—he was judging if we even had one.

“We’ll figure it out,” I said.

“Hmm.” That was all he said. Again. Hmm.

I was beginning to fucking hate that sound.

“We’ve got a lot to consider. We’ll figure it out. Together,” I said, but I could tell from the look on his face he was correctly reading the apprehension behind my words. Obviously I knew how much time we had left, that we’d have to make a decision about what happened next, but I hadn’t expected the panic seizing my chest. It felt like we had an expiration date looming. I’d never done this shit before; how the hell was I supposed to know how to navigate a future?

“This is not what I would’ve chosen for Grant.”

“I know.”

Captain Hughes lowered his chin, looking down his nose at me. “Then I expect you’ll do the right thing.”

A surge of defensiveness made me straighten and drop my arms as I stared my superior down. “And what is the right thing, according to you…sir?”

“Making sure my son’s best interests are looked after. I’m sure if you care about him, you can figure out what that is.”

As he turned on his heel and strode off, I could only stare after him, my heart pounding out an erratic rhythm.

Fuck. I knew what I was feeling for Panther was more than I’d ever experienced with anyone. Just the thought of going our separate ways after graduation had my chest tightening and my stomach roiling.

Do the right thing.

What in God’s name was the right thing?

18 Panther

SHOWERED, SHAVED, AND fully dressed, I looked at the clock and watched the seconds tick by. Ten minutes my ass. That had come and gone nearly five minutes ago. As I sat there in my silent room, I realized just how much I’d grown accustomed to having Solo there.

Not that I didn’t appreciate my alone time. But I was starting to discover I only enjoyed that when I knew the next time and date I would again meet up with Solo.

Damn, I was in deep. So deep that I was greedily making plans for the two of us at every opportunity, knowing that our time here, this close to one another, was quickly drawing to an end. I tried not to think about it too much, though, always pushing it off into the background whenever we were together. But when I was alone, with nothing but my thoughts and time ticking away, I found myself staring at the clock and hating the handful of minutes we weren’t together. That was time we could never get back.

The turning of my door handle drew my attention away from my diligent timekeeping. When Solo pushed inside with a case of beer on his shoulder and a brown grocery bag in his hand, I was on my feet and over to him before he took two steps.

“Here, lemme get that.” I took the beer from him and put it down by the door. “Ten minutes my ass.”

I’d expected some kind of sexual comeback from the man I’d had to kick out of my shower earlier. But the silence that followed Solo into my room made me turn on him with a frown.

“Hello, earth to Solo…”

Solo placed the bag on the table, and when he turned to face me, I noticed a distinct shift in his demeanor. Gone was the relaxed stance, the cocksure attitude, and in its place was a tightly wound version of himself.

“You get everything we need?” I said, hoping to coax some kind of reaction from him.

“Yeah, everything’s in there. I’m gonna go get dressed before we go.”

Okay, what the fuck happened at that grocery store?

He headed back in my direction as though he were about to leave, but I stepped into his path and put a hand on his chest.

“Hey. What’s going on with you?”

With his Aviators on, it was difficult to see his eyes, but the tight line of his lips was easy enough to read. Whatever had happened between the time he’d left and now was something he didn’t want to talk about.

What the hell was going on?

“Nothing. I just need to go and get ready, and my clothes are next door.”

I narrowed my eyes and wondered if maybe the phone call he’d gotten as he left my room had something to do with his foul mood, because I didn’t think a trip up and down the aisle of the local Quick Mart was enough to put him into such a funk.

When it was clear he wasn’t going to say more than that, I stepped aside to let him pass, but just as he reached for the door, I put a hand on his arm.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, or what happened between you leaving and coming back—”

“Nothing’s going on.”

I arched an eyebrow and just kept going, because he was smart enough to know I wasn’t buying that bullshit answer. “Okay. But if there is something, you can talk to me about it.”

“I know. But there’s nothing. I’ve just got to go get ready.”

I stared Solo down, he held my gaze, and I wondered if maybe he just needed some space. Just because I wanted to spend every minute with him didn’t mean he felt the same. Maybe he was feeling suffocated, overwhelmed? If he needed a second without me in it, I needed to step aside and give it to him.

I let go of his arm, and as he turned the handle, I felt something in my gut twist. It felt as though he was…pulling away from me. But why?

Here I’d been sitting and wishing for his speedy return, only to find Solo was feeling the exact opposite.

“Hey,” I said before he disappeared out my door. “You still want to go to the party together later, right?”

Jesus, now I sounded like an insecure shit. But that was exactly how I felt.

“Yeah, of course.” Solo nodded and pulled the door open. “I just need to get ready.”

Right…

Solo stepped out and headed toward his room, and I watched him go. He didn’t look back as he unlocked his door and stepped inside.

I shut my door then leaned against it and stared at the groceries he’d put on the table. As the silence engulfed me, the only other sound in the room was the ticking of the clock, reminding me that every second apart was one we’d never get back.

19 Solo

“FUCK!” I SHOUTED as I stormed into the changing bay and threw my helmet against the locker door. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

I’d just come off the flight hop from hell and was still fuming at how that shit had gone down. Namely, how I’d gone down and Utah had gotten the jump on me—Utah.

Today was the first time I’d come in second place in a long while, and it didn’t take a genius to work out the reason behind it. For the last couple of days I’d been stewing over my run-in with Panther’s dear old dad, and while I’d tried to push that shit aside, it was pretty fucking obvious I was doing a piss-poor job.

My performance in the air today had been shit. From the second we’d engaged up until the moment Utah had gotten the lock on me and never let go, my flying had been average to say the least. I was all up in my head, courtesy of Captain Hughes, and if his goal had been to psych out his son’s best competition so he’d stay at the top of the class, then he should be pretty damn proud of his efforts after today’s disaster.

I kicked out at the concrete base of the bay, and then cursed as pain ricocheted up my leg. I hopped around on one booted foot and berated myself for yet another awesome decision, and then yanked off my Aviators and tossed them down on the seat to my left.

This day could fuck right off as far as I was concerned, and so could Captain Hughes.

“Ah, so this is where you tucked tail and ran after I spanked your ass good and hard just now.”

Utah…great. He was the last fucker on the planet I wanted to see right now. But with the way my day was going, I wasn’t surprised to find out that even the universe had it out for me.

“Fuck off, Utah. I’m not in the mood.”

“Oh, my bad,” Utah continued like the dumb shit he was. “Not so fun being on the receiving end of the smack talk, is it?”

No, it fucking wasn’t. But if Utah kept on, he was going to be on the end of my fist. Usually I was all about the competitive digs and bullshit smack talk, but the tension of the last couple of days had finally caught up with me.

Tension with Captain Hughes…

Tension with Panther…

Tension with my own self and every little move I made, and I knew I was pretty damn close to blowing.

Deciding it was best to ignore Utah, I unclipped the flight harness from around my legs, waist, and chest and shrugged out of it before hanging it up on its hook. I needed to get out of here, the sooner the better. Maybe I’d take a ride and try to clear my head, or maybe—

“Solo?”

At the sound of Panther’s voice, I winced, and Utah’s derisive chuckle made my fingers ball into fists.

“Aww, look, your boyfriend’s come to make sure you aren’t back here crying like a little bitch.”

“I swear to God, Utah, if you don’t get the fuck away from me right now, I’m gonna—”

“What? Kick my ass?” He laughed. “Pretty sure you proved out there that the only thing you’re interested in doing to an ass these days is fucking it.”

I whirled around on him so fast that my head spun, then I grabbed hold of his harness and hauled him in until our noses were practically touching. My chest was heaving, my anger at an all-time high. Utah stared me down with a look of contempt in his eyes.

“Solo?”

Panther’s voice echoed around the bay again, but I wasn’t about to take my attention off Utah.

“Are you in—Solo? What are you doing?”

Utah’s eyes narrowed on me, and a smirk curled his upper lip. I wanted to wipe it right off his face.

“Solo, let him go,” Panther said from somewhere behind me, but I wasn’t in the mood to listen.

“You know,” Utah said in a voice that made my spine stiffen, “maybe if you weren’t so busy thinking about sucking Panther’s cock while you were flying today, things might’ve gone better for you.”

I’d wondered when I would reach my breaking point. As I twisted my hands around the straps and rammed Utah back against the cage wall of my bay, I knew I’d just reached it.

“Say that again, motherfucker,” I growled. “I dare you.” My jaw clenched, my entire body shaking, and as I let go to throw the first punch, I felt a hand clamp around my wrist and jerk it back.

I turned my head to the side to see Panther standing beside me, his eyes boring into mine.

“He’s not worth it. He’s not fucking worth it, Solo. Let him go.”

20 Panther

WATCHING SOLO IN the sky today only confirmed what had been on my mind for days now: something was seriously wrong.

And from the look of things in the bay area, shit had gone from bad to worse. Solo had Utah backed up against the wall, the straps of Utah’s harness in his tight grip, and he looked two seconds away from bashing the guy’s face in. Something that would get him discharged from the program.

“Solo, let him go.”

It was like he didn’t even hear me. I picked up the pace, rushing toward them. Solo’s entire body was vibrating with rage, and I knew it wasn’t entirely Utah’s fault, even though the guy was a mouthy shit. Whatever had been eating Solo up was finally breaking free, but using his fist on Utah wasn’t the way to get a release.

“He’s not worth it,” I said as I stopped beside him, holding my hands up like I was taming a wild animal. I used the same words he’d said to me when I’d had enough of Utah’s shit too. Hopefully they’d work as well on him as they had on me. “He’s not fucking worth it, Solo. Let him go.”

Time seemed to slow, and I held my breath as I waited to see what Solo would do. I was close enough to interfere if I had to, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.

After what felt like forever, I saw it, the change in Solo’s eyes as he looked at me. Behind all that rage still simmering was the anxiety I’d been sensing from him, along with… No, it couldn’t be fear. What could Solo possibly be afraid of?

Solo slowly dropped his arm and then faced Utah—who had the good sense to keep his mouth shut for the moment—and let go of the harness. As Solo stepped back and took in a deep breath, I shot Utah a glare.

“Get out.”

I didn’t have to tell him twice, though he shook his head, a smug look on his face. Once he was out of the bay, I reached for Solo’s arm, wanting to give him some comfort, but he pulled away from me. Running his hands through his hair, he turned his back to me. All I could do was watch the way his body expanded as he took in several more deep breaths.

“What’s going on? Talk to me.”

Solo kicked off his boots and then peeled off his flight suit, his silence deafening. I’d been trying to pinpoint the change in him, what I could’ve possibly done, but all I could trace it back to was the day he’d gone out to grab a few things from the store. Had he run into Utah? Or someone else? It just didn’t make sense, and he wasn’t talking to me, so…what the fuck.

“I know whatever this is isn’t just about what happened in the air.”

With his back still to me, Solo snorted. “Sure it is.”

“Then how do you explain your mood for the last couple of days?”

Solo slammed his fist against the locker so hard that the sound echoed off the walls. “What the fuck do you want from me?”

“I want you to tell me what’s going on. You won’t even look at me.”

“Can’t I just be pissed I fucking lost up there? Isn’t that enough?”

“No. Everyone does eventually—”

“I don’t.”

“It’s not a big deal—”

“It is to me,” Solo thundered, the rage back and overflowing into the space between us. I’d never seen this side of him before. Annoyed Solo? Sure. Pissed Solo? Definitely. But tormented Solo was a new one.

“Solo, look at me.”

He dropped his head into his hand, rubbing his face, his back still the only part of him he’d let me see.

“Please,” I said, wanting so badly to touch him but forcing myself to stay where I was. “Just look at me.”

Finally Solo turned around, but it was clear he was on the defensive. He crossed his arms and his eyes met mine. There was an emptiness lurking there now, and I didn’t understand it. I didn’t know what the hell had changed. All I could feel was this gnawing in my gut that told me I was losing him and there was nothing I could do about it.

I swallowed hard and said the words I dreaded the response to: “Is it me?”

For a moment I didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he opened his mouth, and his words were colder than I’d even imagined.

“Yeah, you know what? It is.”

I felt as though he’d punched me in the chest, all the breath leaving my lungs in a whoosh. “What?”

“I’m all up in my head, unable to focus because of you. I never lose, and definitely not to a jerk-off like Utah, but I lost my shit today, and why? Because I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Too stunned to say anything, I could only stare as Solo paced the room, venting all the frustration he’d been keeping inside. Which was what I’d wanted, right?

“Maybe that was your plan all along, huh?” he continued. “Get in close, fuck with my head and my dick, knock me off my game so you could win.”

My mouth fell open, his words a slap in the face. “You don’t actually believe that.”

“What should I believe, then? That we actually have some kind of future? That we’re doing anything other than screwing around before the real world comes crashing back in?” He shook his head. “This whole thing was fucking stupid. It can’t go anywhere, and we were delusional to think otherwise.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“No? Then what’s the brilliant plan, Panther? You’ve got one, right? Golden boy of the Elite, ready to claim that top spot to make your old man proud.”

I clenched my jaw. “If I wanted to make my father proud, I wouldn’t have given you the time of day.”

Solo stared at me and then began to laugh. A chuckle at first before morphing into a full-blown belly laugh. “Right. Of course. Good boy turns rebel to piss off his dad. Oldest story in the book.”

I took a step toward Solo. “Are you accusing me of using you to get at my father?”

“You said it, not me.”

I searched his face, trying to find a glimpse of the man I had fallen for. “Who are you?”

Solo shrugged. “Just a guy who got caught up in something he shouldn’t have.”

“Are you saying being with me is a mistake?”

“I’m saying there’s a big warning sign written all over your forehead, so I shouldn’t be surprised this shit ended up a disaster.” Solo grabbed his bag, but before he left, he took a few steps forward so that we were practically toe to toe. “You and me? We were never meant to work. Not in this fucking lifetime.”

21 Solo

THE WAVES CRASHED against the pillars at Black Rock Cliffs beach, one after the other, the sky overhead a dark grey that matched my mood.

I’d gone too far today, I knew it, yet I couldn’t stop torturing myself by replaying the scene with Panther over and over again. Lashing out at him hadn’t relieved any of the pent-up frustration that had been building since I’d run into his father. In fact, I regretted every word that had come out of my mouth. But in the hours I’d spent sitting on the beach, I’d convinced myself that this was a good thing, that pushing Panther away was the right thing to do, because wasn’t that what his father had said? I expect you’ll do the right thing.

Obviously, in his book, the right thing was to leave his son the hell alone. There. Done. I’d managed to do that with a few angry words, because there was no way Panther would look at me the same way now. And really, did I want him to? I’d spent most of my adult life avoiding anyone who wanted to get too close, and it had worked out for me just fine up until now. If I never spent another day with Panther, I’d be fine.

Fuck. If that was true, then why did it feel like someone was ripping my heart out of my chest with their bare hands? I hadn’t felt this way since…well, since I got the news about my brother, and that was years ago. I hadn’t cared about anyone but myself in so long that the feeling of loss that came with dismissing Panther came as a shock, but what else was I supposed to do? We were two men on similar but different journeys, and I didn’t have the first clue how to navigate something like that. How was it even possible? If we were sent six thousand miles away from each other for months and months…well, what then?

So, yeah, better to cut our losses now, because the inevitable heartbreak would be much worse if I allowed this shit to carry on.

I ran my hands through the sand, grabbing a fistful and letting the grains fall through my fingers. It was exactly how my relationship with Panther felt: time sifting through my fingers, running out faster than I thought possible, and all the while the walls were closing in, suffocating me under the pressure.

Damn it. This was why I didn’t do relationships. Why I kept a wall between me and anyone else. This empty, hollow feeling that swallowed you up like a black hole. I felt lost, alone, and there was only one reason for that. I’d gotten used to having someone around. No, not just someone—Grant.

Somewhere between that first night in the bar and now, that sexy, straight-arrow flyboy had broken through all my usual defenses. He’d looked past my reputation, loud mouth, and bravado and seen the real me.

I couldn’t remember the last time someone had cared enough to dig that deep. We’d each entered this relationship knowing there was an end date, but instead of talking about it, what did I do? I ran at the first sign of trouble because his father had, what? Told me I wasn’t good enough for Panther?

Since when did I give a shit about what others thought of me? It wasn’t like I didn’t already know Captain Hughes would want anyone other than me to be in love with his son, but that was too damn bad.

Wait—in love with his son?

Yes, holy shit… I’m in love with Panther.

As that realization slammed into me, so did the fact that I was a total fucking idiot. Over the last couple of days, Panther had done everything in his power to get me to open up. He’d backed off, given me space, and still that hadn’t been enough for me to get out of my head.

No, I’d shoved him all the way out of my life.

Sure, why not end this now before things got too hard? Use his father’s doubts and disapproval to cover up the real reason I was trying to run. Graduation. I didn’t want to face what was coming. I didn’t want to listen to the man I was in love with—and yes, I was in love with him—tell me he was choosing to take a job a million miles away from me.

I wanted…what? Panther to give up his dreams? Fuck no. But I sure as hell wanted to be part of them, and that meant I needed to pull my head out of my ass and talk to him. I needed to tell him how I was feeling.

I dusted off my hands and reached into my pocket for my phone. Nothing like a little self-sabotage to make you reflect on the amazing thing you just fucked up. And I had royally fucked this up.

I shot off a text. I’m sorry about earlier. Can we talk?

The blood ringing in my ears was loud enough to block out the crashing waves as I stared at the screen, waiting for some kind of response. When nothing came, I cursed and tried a different angle. I was a total dick. I know. Maybe I could stop by in an hour and you could kick my ass? You don’t even have to be gentle.

When the response was yet another empty screen, my stomach began to twist around on itself, and I told myself to give it a minute. But after five had passed, I knew nothing was coming. Panther was clearly pissed, so instead of trying another text, I took a deep breath and hit his number. When his phone went straight to voicemail, I cursed.

Yeah, this wasn’t good. Panther had turned his phone off. If that didn’t scream, I don’t want to fucking talk to you, then I didn’t know what did. But that wasn’t going to stop me. I needed to see him. I needed to talk to him. I needed to explain why I’d been such a fucking douche these last couple of days, and if he wasn’t going to take my call, then I would go bang on his door until he answered.

I shoved to my feet, brushed the sand off my ass, and hightailed it back to my bike. My heart was hammering and my palms were sweaty, Panther’s silence more effective than words in letting me know just how upset he was.

I jammed my helmet on my head a little harder than necessary, trying to knock some fucking sense into myself. Then I started up the bike and pulled out onto the main road. As I gunned the engine and roared down the street, I thought over what I would say to Panther when I finally reached the barracks.

I mean, what could I say? A whole lot of I’m sorry to start with. I had a feeling I’d be apologizing for this for a long time to come. But I also needed to tell him about his father, about what had started all of this, and I wasn’t sure how that part would go over.

Would Panther agree with him? I was afraid to know the answer.

As I pulled onto base, I tried to shove aside the nerves that had grown progressively worse on the drive back, telling myself to man the hell up. Panther was a reasonable guy. Surely he’d had moments where he’d let things boil over and get the better of him. In fact, I remembered a time he’d almost knocked my teeth out after I’d taunted him about wanting me.

Granted, things had been wildly different back then, but the same principles applied…right? Yeah, no. Things were vastly different this time around.

I should’ve trusted him, talked to him about what his father had said, and then maybe I wouldn’t have panicked about everything else. But instead, I’d let everyone other than Panther get in my head, and I’d pushed away the one I trusted the most.

Pulling into my parking space, I looked over at his shut door and wondered how exactly this was going to end.

End… I didn’t like that word, and just thinking about it made my gut clench all over again. I pulled off my helmet and took in several deep breaths. When I felt I could stand without falling on my ass, I climbed off my bike and headed toward Panther’s room.

Just knock on his door and tell him you’re sorry. It seemed so easy when I thought about it like that. But when I reached his door, I found myself frozen, confused, disoriented, and wondering how the hell I’d ended up standing on this side of the door.

Shoving that thought aside, I took in another breath and knocked. Then I waited.

I waited, and waited, and when there was nothing—not even footsteps behind the door—I knocked again, and again, and again.

Still nothing.

Fuck.

“Panther!” I called out, and began banging on the door, desperate for him to hear me out. “Panther? Are you in there?”

I rested my forehead on the door and shut my eyes.

Come on, Panther, I thought, hoping by some miracle I’d hear him coming closer, that I’d hear him unlock the door. But when all that greeted me was more silence, I cursed myself for the fool I was.

What did I expect? That he’d open the door and welcome me inside? I’d done everything in my power to drive a wedge between us, so I didn’t know why I was so shocked that I’d succeeded.

I took a step back and was stunned to find my vision had blurred. I wanted back in there. Not just in that room, and behind that door, but back in the arms and heart of the man inside. I made a promise to myself right then and there that I wouldn’t rest until I was.

22 Panther

SEVENTEEN HOURS—NO, that was wrong. It’d been seventeen hours, thirty-five minutes, and approximately fifteen seconds since my entire world had gone to hell in a handbasket. I stepped inside the classroom for this morning’s brief, scanned the room for Solo, and wasn’t surprised to find his usual seat empty.

Damn Solo. I had no idea what had gotten into him over the last few days, but after yesterday’s blowup, I was done trying to work it out. If he didn’t see that what we had was something worth fighting for, then there was nothing I could, or would, do about it. Blaming me for the problems in his life? Accusing me of using him to win and get back at my father? He was fucking delusional and not the man I’d come to know.

I’d shut off my phone as soon as I walked back into my room yesterday, then woken up this morning with missed calls and texts that I didn’t bother to read. I assumed it was also Solo beating my door down last night while I slept. Maybe that meant he’d thought it over and realized what a selfish, narrow-minded asshole he’d been.

Or maybe he’d just wanted to argue some more.

I dropped into an aisle seat beside Houdini, not wanting to give Solo an opportunity to get close enough to pick a fight. All I’d wanted was to spend time with the bastard while we still could, but he just had to be stubborn and fuck everything up, didn’t he? I didn’t understand his about-face, but I didn’t have to. It was obvious he wanted to blame me for everything going wrong, including, somehow, his loss to Utah, which I knew wasn’t the real source of whatever was going on.

Just forget him right now. Go back to focusing on why you’re here.

Easier said than done, especially when the scent of Solo’s body wash and cologne wafted by as he headed down the aisle to his usual seat. My whole body went rigid as I watched him. It was completely unfair the way he looked even better in person than when I thought of him. Even a picture wouldn’t do him justice. Not the way his dark hair spiked a bit in the front, or the golden brown of his sun-kissed skin. Or the way anything he wore molded so perfectly to every lean muscle that you could practically picture him naked.

Solo settled into his chair, flipping his pen through his fingers. When he glanced over his shoulder at me, I schooled my expression and averted my gaze. No need for him to see my emotions playing out all over my face, not when feelings were the last thing I needed to focus on.

“Hey, man.” Houdini leaned in and nodded in Solo’s direction. “What’s goin’ on?”

I shrugged, and he rolled his eyes.

“Trouble in paradise with you and Solo?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But—”

“Give it a fucking rest,” I snapped, and Houdini reared back, brows raised.

“Okay then.”

I knew I was being an asshole, but I just needed to get through the day without thinking about, or talking about, Solo.

A paper plane sailed across the room, landing on the edge of my desk, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who’d sent it my way. I didn’t bother looking in Solo’s direction as I flicked the plane off my desk and then crushed it under the heel of my boot.

“Ouch,” someone said—Gucci was my guess, but I didn’t fucking care. I wasn’t dealing with our issues here, and Solo bringing attention to the fact that we weren’t speaking wasn’t helping.

I heard Solo sigh, and a minute later, another paper plane landed on my desk. This time, he’d written on the outside of the plane, since he probably figured I wouldn’t open this one either.

I’m sorry. Can we talk?

I slid the plane underneath my notebook before Houdini or anyone else could see what was written there, then glanced at Solo. It would be too easy to give in when he was looking at me with such a repentant expression, but the words he’d used as weapons had made their mark, and the wounds they’d inflicted still smarted.

Solo lifted an eyebrow in question, but I only stared back at him, refusing to give him what he was asking for.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” Commander Levy’s voice boomed as he entered the classroom, but Solo didn’t take his eyes off me, so I held his stare. “Your time here is almost up, which means things are only going to get more difficult from here on out.”

I barely heard a word he said, but as Commander Levy passed me in the aisle, it forced me to break eye contact with Solo. I didn’t look back at him, but I could feel the weight of his stare.

“Lieutenant Morgan, is there something more interesting to you than winning this competition?”

Solo turned toward the front reluctantly, still flipping his pen through his fingers. “There might be one thing.”

Gasps rang out around the room as my whole body froze.

Commander Levy’s eyes narrowed. “And what might that be?”

Oh sweet God of all that was holy. Solo couldn’t mean me…could he?

Solo glanced back at me, a sly grin on his lips, and then he faced Commander Levy and said, with absolute confidence, “It’s classified, sir.”

In a move completely out of character, the commander rolled his eyes. No doubt he was used to Solo’s mouth at this point, but it had to be exhausting getting defied at every turn. “Lieutenant Morgan, may I suggest you consider making this class and this program your top priority for the remainder of our time together. That is, if you’d like a recommendation to get you somewhere other than back in the hangar washing jets for the next round of hotshots.”

As everyone in the room laughed and Commander Levy moved on, I shook my head. Solo going out of his way to screw his career wasn’t funny. Using me—if that was what he’d meant by his “classified” remark—wasn’t funny.

I frowned at the back of Solo’s head. What the hell are you doing?

23 Solo

OKAY, SO I was back to being a mouthy shit, but after my attempts at getting Panther to talk to me had failed, could anyone blame me?

As soon as we were dismissed from morning session, I was up and out of my seat. Panther was faster. But he couldn’t get away from me. Not this time.

I pushed past Utah—who really should be glad I wasn’t slamming him face-first into the door—and as I hauled ass in Panther’s direction, I heard him snicker.

“Give it up, lover boy. You’re not getting the trophy or the guy.”

My jaw clenched and so did my fists, but I didn’t turn around to give him exactly what he wanted from me: a physical reaction. Instead, I kept my focus on the tall, fuming man ahead of me. I closed the distance between us and called out, “Hey, Panther. Hold up.”

He kept moving, ignoring me, because of course he did, but after my little revelation on the beach last night, I wasn’t letting him get away so easily. Or at all.

I called out his name again, and when he kept walking, I cursed under my breath and picked up the pace. “Are you seriously gonna make me chase you?”

No surprise he didn’t bother responding to that, so what did I do? I ran after him. Me. I chased someone.

No, not someone. Not just anyone. Panther.

I could feel the stares from the other trainees as I raced after the man I’d fallen in love with—the one who didn’t know it yet and was too stubborn to listen for one second so I could tell him. But I didn’t care what anyone else was thinking. All I cared about was having the opportunity to make things right.

“Panther, we need to talk.”

He shook his head. “Nah, I think I’ve heard enough.”

Well, shit, at least that was a response, which was more than I’d gotten so far. Jesus, this was what desperation felt like. Fuck that.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I finally caught up to him and grabbed his elbow.

Panther whirled around and looked between me and my hand. Before he could open his mouth to object, I said, “I know I was a dick, but I’d like to apologize. Can we go somewhere? Anywhere.”

The hurt in Panther’s eyes was almost more than I could take. I wished I could somehow kick my own ass for that. Maybe I didn’t deserve to have him, but I was a selfish fucker and wanted to know I’d thrown everything I could at him. I’d have to accept whatever he decided, but he couldn’t make a fair decision without knowing what I had to say.

“Something wrong with this hallway?” he finally said.

I frowned. “What?”

“You want to apologize. Here’s as good a place as any.”

“Oh. Right.” I swallowed, and an unfamiliar sensation filled my gut. Was that…nervousness? Shit. It was. I was standing here in front of Panther, palms sweating, anxiety riding me like a wave, all because I needed to apologize and he needed to hear it. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I said some really shitty things to you, things I didn’t mean, and—”

Panther pushed me to the side abruptly, toward the wall, and it wasn’t until the maintenance crew passed by that I realized we’d been blocking the hallway.

I looked down to where Panther’s hand was still on my arm, and he jerked away as though I were on fire. No, that wouldn’t do. I didn’t want him to pull away from me. It just wasn’t going to go down this way.

Steeling my spine for the inevitable shutdown, I said, “Look. There’s a lot I need to say, more apologies I need to make, but it would be better said in private. I’m not taking no for an answer from you this time, so if you’re not cool with meeting me later, we can have it out right here, right now, in front of everyone. The choice is yours.”

The incredulous look on Panther’s face would’ve been funny if I hadn’t been so serious about this ultimatum. He wasn’t a guy you did that to, and though it looked like he wanted to tell me to fuck off, I could see the curiosity winning out.

His ice-blue eyes held mine, like he was trying to mine the truth out of me. “After our last class. The abandoned park.”

I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath until it poured out of me in relief. I’d expected more pushback, so I was caught a bit off guard at his easy acquiescence. “I’ll be there.”

Panther shifted his bag on his shoulder and nodded before heading back to wherever he’d been going to before I stopped him.

But as he walked away from me this time, I didn’t feel the sense of dread that had followed me around for the last day. Instead, I felt hope, hope that the odds were in my favor, because there was no way I was letting go of him without a fight. And after tonight, he’d know it too.

24 Panther

HOURS LATER, I pulled into the lot of the abandoned park, the one I’d come to after first kissing Solo at NAFTA what seemed like years ago. That day was the first time I really felt like I’d gotten to see a glimpse of the man behind the rebellious act he put on.

I shut off the bike and placed my helmet on one of the handles, then headed over to where the long-deserted merry-go-round sat empty. It felt like déjà vu being back here, all up in my head after another round with Solo. The start of his apology had seemed genuine enough, but I needed more than “I’m sorry” to make things right. I needed to know what was going on in his head that had caused him to lash out, and if he couldn’t give me that, then there wasn’t a present or future with him, no matter how much the thought of it stung.

Gravel crunched under the weight of Solo’s bike approaching, and I felt my stomach twist around itself in anticipation. Was this going to be the beginning or the end? I certainly knew which way I thought things were going, but after Solo’s outburst, I was starting to second-guess myself.

As he stopped his bike and climbed off, I wiped my sweaty palms on my thighs, my nerves shot to shit after everything that had gone down. But when he pulled his helmet off, the look of relief that crossed his face told me I wasn’t the only one.

Solo secured his helmet to the back of his bike and climbed off. As he made his way in my direction, I took a second to drink him in like this—like a lover would—just in case it was my last.

He was in jeans and a white t-shirt, and before he’d gotten off his bike, he’d slipped his Aviators back in place. It was one of the most casual outfits he could possibly wear, but Solo exuded this certain kind of swagger, this effortless sex appeal, that made every single part of my body respond—especially my heart.

He was it for me. I’d known it for some time now. But with the possibility of it coming to an end, of Solo feeling differently, I made sure to memorize this moment, this picture he made, for fear it would be the last thing I got.

“You’re here,” Solo said, coming to a stop in front of me, and it took everything I had not to tell him I would’ve gone anywhere if it meant him finally talking to me. He’d hurt me, and while I wanted nothing more than to stand up, kiss his frustrating mouth, and tell him everything was okay, I needed more than that. I needed an explanation.

“I told you I would be.”

“Yeah, but I kinda thought you might ditch me. I wouldn’t blame you.”

“I wouldn’t blame me either.” When Solo grimaced, I blurted out, “You were a real dick yesterday, you know that?”

Solo nodded then gestured to the empty spot on the merry-go-round beside me. “Do you mind if I sit?”

“No. But only if you’re going to talk. I’m not really in the mood for the whole there’s nothing wrong speech again.”

Solo didn’t say anything to that, but he didn’t need to. The fact that he sat next to me spoke volumes.

“Panther, I…” Solo paused and looked over my shoulder for a second, and I could see the wheels turning as he tried to work out where he wanted to begin. Then his eyes came back to mine, and the pain there nearly made my heart break. “I’m so sorry for what I said to you yesterday.”

I could tell by the tone of his voice that he meant it, but that still wasn’t enough for me. “Which part?”

Solo’s eyes widened a fraction. “Which part? Um…all of it? I’m pretty sure yesterday’s flight caused my brain to melt and word vomit to just pour out of my mouth.”

“Yeah, but it came from somewhere, Solo.” I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. “You’ve had bad days in the air before and never lost your shit quite so spectacularly. So, I need more than that. I need you to trust me more than that if you want this”—I stopped short of saying “relationship,” because I had no idea how he viewed us at this stage—“whatever this is to continue.”

Solo stared at me as though I was speaking in another language. But then he took one of my hands in his and wrapped his fingers around mine.

In the last couple of days I’d realized two very important things about Mateo “Solo” Morgan: he had the power to make my world feel complete and the power to make it fall apart, and that scared the ever-loving shit out of me.

“This,” Solo said, as he brought my hand up and placed it over his heart. “You mean everything to me. Everything, Panther. So much so that the thought of losing you has made me lose my brain these last couple of days.”

I sat there staring into his deep brown eyes, and as his words played on a loop in my head, I kept getting caught up on one thing in particular. “Why would you ever think you were going to lose me?” Solo lowered his eyes, but I wasn’t about to let him shut down, not now that we were finally getting somewhere. I raised my hand and cradled his cheek in my palm. “Tell me.”

25 Solo

I’D KNOWN THIS conversation was coming—and had been dreading it. It was ninety-nine percent of the reason I’d been a total shit this week. But I knew there was no way out of this. Panther needed to know about the conversation I’d had with his father, and I wasn’t quite sure how he was going to react.

If it was anything like me, it wouldn’t be positively.

“Solo?”

I took in a deep breath and entwined my fingers in his.

“Do you remember that morning I ran out to the grocery store? The morning of the pool party?”

The pained look on his face told me he did. “It’s kind of hard to forget. You left my room with a smile on your face and came back looking like someone had run over your favorite pet.”

“Not someone, your dad.”

Panther narrowed his eyes. “Okay, back up a second. What about my dad?”

Well, here goes nothing.

“That morning, I ran into him at the store.” I let my words sink in, and when it was clear Panther wasn’t about to say anything, I continued. “I’m not sure if you remember what I was there buying, buuut it wasn’t just beer.”

“I remember.” Panther’s voice was calm, low, and a little bit…tense.

“Yeah. Uh, well, he said a few things to me that—”

“That what?” Panther demanded, drawing his hand away from mine.

I wanted to reach for it again, but the vibe rolling off him right now didn’t exactly scream, Comfort me. It screamed, Hurry up and finish the fucking story.

“What did he say to you, Solo?”

I licked at my lips, wondering how much to divulge, but in the end decided to go with the CliffsNotes.

“Nothing I didn’t already know.” I leaned back against the handrail on the merry-go-round and slipped my hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t do something stupid like try to reach for him again.

“Such as?”

“Such as, he’s not happy about this…us. He doesn’t think I’m a good choice for you, and I’m certainly not the one he would’ve picked out.”

I looked over my shoulder. Anywhere but at a silent Panther. I couldn’t seem to get a read on him, but when he shot to his feet and started to pace, I knew the smartest course of action was to wait.

Wait and let what I’d said process.

“He told you that?” Panther finally said. “He told you that he’s not happy about us?”

His icy tone sent a chill up my spine, and so did the tic in his jaw. Panther was pissed. When I nodded, he cursed.

“What else did my father say to you that morning?”

“Um…” I swallowed, and Panther leaned down and placed his hands on the rail I was leaning against, effectively caging me in. “He said that if I cared for you then I should do what’s best for you.”

“What’s best for me?”

“I believe his exact words were ‘I expect you’ll do the right thing.’”

If anger had a shade, it would’ve been the red tinge now staining Panther’s cheeks.

“And what exactly is that supposed to be? Pushing me away? Treating me like a piece of shit for the last couple of days?”

“No.” I got to my feet, and Panther took a step back, but I wasn’t letting him go anywhere. “Trust me, that’s the worst thing I could’ve done. The dumbest fucking thing. He just…he got in my head, okay?” I threw my hands up in the air. “He got in my head, made me doubt myself—”

“And me.”

“Yes,” I admitted, as Panther went back to pacing. “And you. And, well, I started to think that maybe he was right and you would be better off without me. I mean, let’s face it, you deserve way better than someone like me.”

“I deserve better?”

“Yeah. I’m not stupid, Panther. You’re practically Navy royalty. You’re smart as hell, you fly like you own the sky, and you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. I love you, but I’m under no delusions. I’m aware that I probably only have you for a limited time here.”

Panther stopped and slowly pivoted. “What did you just say?”

As I thought back over my words, three that I’d never said to anyone stood out like a flashing neon sign.

As Panther began walking in my direction, I found myself backing up, not because I feared violence or rage, but because the emotions in his eyes mirrored everything I’d felt over the last couple of weeks and been too afraid to say out loud.

“You said you loved me.”

“I…”

Panther’s blazing blue eyes held me in some kind of trance, and his lips curved into a smug smile. “You said you loved me.”

Just hearing him say those words made my heart feel like it was going to burst, and that smile was designed to bring me to my knees. “I did.”

Panther reached for one of the belt hooks in my jeans and tugged me in as close as he could. Then he lowered his head and whispered across my lips, “Say it again.”

“I love you,” I said, and reached up to take hold of Panther’s face. “I just didn’t realize how much until I’d almost lost you.”

“Never.” Panther’s eyes fell shut and he leaned his forehead against mine. “You could never lose me because I’d refuse to go. I love you too, Solo. And I don’t care what anyone has to say about that, especially my father. These last few days have felt like forever.”

I pressed a soft kiss to Panther’s lips. “I’m so sorry for everything I said to you—”

“It’s okay.”

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s not. I should’ve trusted you, trusted us more. You’re right. I let your dad get in my head when I should’ve come and talked to you.”

“Trust me, I get it. If anyone understands the kind of mind games my father can play, it’s me. But next time, don’t shut me out, okay? We can deal with anything, even him, as long as we’re doing it together.”

“Deal,” I said, and then took Panther’s hand, an idea suddenly taking hold of me. “So, um, will you let me make it up to you?”

Panther arched an eyebrow and looked me over. “Well, I’m certainly not going to say no to that.”

I started walking backward toward my bike, a grin on my lips, his hand in mine. “Hmm, I was hoping you’d say that.”

Panther licked his lips as we continued toward our bikes, the heaviness from before replaced with a levity that made me feel like I could float on air.

“Okay, I have to do a few things first, but…how about you knock on my door at eight and I’ll treat you to a night you’ll never forget?” I pressed a kiss to his jaw. “A night that will remind you that you are exactly who I want and who I want to be with.”

A shiver racked Panther’s body. I stepped back then dropped his hand and climbed onto my bike. As I gunned the engine, I flashed a grin his way. I took a mental snapshot of him standing there, looking at me like I’d hung the moon, and I promised myself as I rode out of the parking area that by the time the night was over, I’d make sure he saw the stars too.

26 Panther

I WASN’T SURE why I was nervous, but as I stared at the clock, waiting for eight to arrive, I became more and more anxious. It was ridiculous, but at the same time made total sense after everything that had happened today.

Solo had promised me a night I would never forget, a night that would remind me that I was exactly who he wanted and where he wanted to be. That sexy smirk as he rode away from the playground told me he knew exactly what his promise had done to me.

I’d never felt such anticipation in my life, and he knew it.

I looked down at my jeans and shirt and wondered if I should change for the fiftieth time in the last thirty minutes, and then told myself to stop being an idiot. I looked fine, and I doubted I’d be wearing it for long anyway.

When it finally turned eight, I got to my feet and headed next door. Things had been surprisingly quiet over there, considering I could usually hear some kind of movement. But any worries that Solo wasn’t home disappeared the second I knocked on the door and he pulled it wide open, and holy hell, the sight of him took my breath away.

He was dressed in nothing but a pair of cargo shorts that sat low on his hips, and it was clear Solo hadn’t worried at all about what he was wearing, and why the hell would he? His body was a work of art. Any nerves I’d been feeling vanished in the face of all those rippling muscles begging me to touch them. Add in the dog tags hanging around his neck and the sexy smile curving his luscious lips, and I was done.

Nothing had ever made me feel the way Solo did. He’d not only managed to capture my attention but my heart. Now that I knew he was in this—really in this with me—I allowed all of those feelings I’d been wary of to take over. I gave myself permission to let go.

“Good evening, Lieutenant Hughes.” Solo’s smooth cadence was an invitation I couldn’t refuse.

Damn, he was beautiful. His brown hair, buzzed short, enhanced the thick lashes surrounding those dark eyes, and his high cheekbones and full lips spoke of his Spanish heritage, as did the spectacular tan. There was no way I could stop myself from touching him.

I ran my fingers down the silver chain hanging around his neck. “Evening, Lieutenant Morgan.”

Solo licked his lower lip, and for a second I thought I saw the same flash of nerves I’d been feeling a second ago. It was as though we both understood that this was a new beginning for us. The beginning of…forever.

“Would you like to come in?”

I nodded. “More than my next breath.”

Solo chuckled and stepped back to let me pass by. My eyes swept around his room and my breath got caught somewhere in the back of my throat. Sometime between him leaving me at the playground and now, Solo had turned his room into something straight out of my dreams.

The room was awash with a soft, flickering glow courtesy of God only knew how many candles set about the place. As I walked farther into his room, it became clear they weren’t the usual wax-burning variety but those battery-operated ones.

There were tall ones, short ones, tea lights, and even some little lanterns. I heard the door shut behind me and turned to see him leaning up against it watching me. The shadows of light playing over his skin made him impossibly sexier, and when my eyes traveled to the bed to see that he’d already pulled back the covers for us, my cock began to pound in time to my heart.

Solo had put a lot of thought into tonight, and the idea of him setting this stage for us, of him planning out the perfect night, made me love him even more.

“Solo, this is…”

When he pushed off the door and sauntered over to me, my knees buckled. Damn he was sexy, and even better, he was mine.

“You like?”

I looked around and nodded. “Mhmm. I like.”

Solo ran a finger down the buttons of my shirt. “Good, because I had this urge to see what you look like in candlelight.”

I understood that, because he looked fucking amazing. “Where on earth did you find all these candles?”

His low rumble of laughter made my dick jerk. Oh yeah, I loved this sensual stage he’d set up for us tonight.

“Um, let’s just say if anyone is looking for battery-operated lights at any local stores, they’re going to have to wait until they’re restocked. I cleared them out. Of batteries, too.”

I laughed as Solo slipped his fingers under the top button of my shirt and began to flick each one open. “I love you.”

Solo’s fingers stopped and he angled his face up toward mine. “I love you too.”

I reached for his face and swept my thumb across his cheek. His eyes fluttered shut and he took in a deep breath. I lowered my head and brushed my lips across his.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “For all of this.”

Solo slid his hand beneath my shirt to my chest and flashed that heartbreaker smile, and I knew no matter if it was tomorrow or the next day or one hundred days from now, I would do whatever I needed to to see that smile every day of my life.

“I mean, if you’re impressed with the candles, then I can’t wait to see your reaction to this.” Solo leaned over and picked up his phone from the nightstand and hit play, and when a familiar melody filled the air, I couldn’t hide my amusement.

“Excuse me,” Solo said as he sidled in close to me. “Are you laughing right now? I’ll have you know this song is very sexy.”

“‘Sweet Love’?” I wound my arms around his waist.

“Mhmm,” he said as he kissed his way up my jaw to my ear. “I like dancing with you.”

“I can tell.” With his hips swaying against mine, there was no mistaking his arousal.

“You like it too, I see.”

“Very much,” I said, and pulled him a little tighter against me. “I’m just afraid that every time I hear Anita Baker now, I’ll get hard.”

Solo chuckled and trailed his fingers down my body until he was flirting with the button of my jeans. He undid it then found my neck and pressed a kiss there.

“So it’s the song doing this to you, huh?” As he flattened his palm over my erection and squeezed, I groaned.

“The song, the man, this moment you planned for us…”

“Good. Because I’m not nearly done.” Solo nipped at my lips and drew my zipper down. “Never will be.”

It was amazing how powerful words could be, and just knowing that Solo was as committed to this relationship as I was made me feel like the luckiest man in the world.

Reaching for the back of his neck, I pulled him in and slid my tongue across his lips. “Let me in.”

Solo didn’t hesitate, and I slipped inside. As his tongue tangled with mine, he slid his hand inside my jeans and wrapped his fingers around me.

Jesus, that felt amazing. When Solo began pumping me nice and slow, my eyes fell shut. I began a slow bump and grind so I was shoving in and out of his fist, and as if that wasn’t enough, the taste of him was flooding my senses.

“Solo…”

He gave me a final pull and then let me go. “God, I want you. I’ve never wanted anyone more.”

The flush on his cheeks, the love and desire shining in his eyes, made every single part of this night perfect, just as he’d said it would. I reached out and brushed a thumb over his swollen lips. “Then take me.”

27 Solo

I NEVER COULD have imagined that accepting a spot in the Elite this year would lead me here, into the arms of the man who should’ve been my competition, should’ve been my rival, but had turned out to be my everything instead.

Grant “Panther” Hughes had moved into my sightline, and I’d locked on to him and never let go. He was everything I’d ever wanted, and never dreamed I could have. But as he stretched out on my bed, naked as the day he was born, I stopped that bullshit thinking.

Panther was mine, in all the ways, and I would spend every day of my life making sure he never regretted or questioned that. I walked over to the side of the bed, Panther’s eyes tracking my every move, and when his hand moved to circle his engorged cock, I smiled.

Panther groaned and pumped his hips up, and I quickly reached for the button of my shorts and popped them open. With his eyes following my every move, it felt like I had flames licking over my skin.

As my erection came into view, Panther bit his lower lip. The flush that hit his cheeks was so damn sexy that it was all I could do not to come right then and there.

“Jesus, Mateo. You’re so fucking beautiful.”

My breath caught, the truth of his words there in his eyes for me to see. I climbed up onto the bed, stretched out beside him, laid a hand over his heart, and kissed his temple.

“I think you have that the wrong way around, lieutenant.”

Panther turned his head on the pillow and cradled my cheek. “No way. This face, this soul, it’s beautiful, and it’s all mine…”

Panther took my lips in a kiss that made my heart swell to bursting. This man made me believe in words like love, forever, mine, and yours. I wanted to have, and be, all of that with him. I stared into those piercing eyes. “I’m all yours.”

Panther trailed his fingers over my cheek before he rolled to his right side and glanced back over his shoulder at me. I knew exactly what he wanted. I shifted in close behind those broad shoulders and tapered waist. As our bodies aligned with one another, I placed my lips to his shoulder and ran my hand down the side of his torso to the swell of his ass.

“God…you look fucking unreal,” I said as I gripped his hip. I pulled him back so I could fit my cock in against the crack of his ass. “And you feel even better.”

Panther arched back against me. I played with the short strands of his hair, kneaded the tight globe of his ass, and slowly began to rock my hips against him. A pleasure-filled groan left him, and as I picked up the pace, Panther looked back at me. I leaned forward to take his mouth in a tongue-tangling kiss that just about blew my head off.

His body was so hard in all the right places. I let go of his ass to reach over his waist and start stroking his cock, and all of those muscles began to shift and flex as Panther began to writhe against me.

Damn, this was hot as hell, the way he was moving against me as though he wanted something in him, and now. Panther tore his mouth free and said, “I need you,” and I wasn’t about to make him wait any longer.

I grabbed the lube off the nightstand, poured some into my palm, and quickly lubed up my eager dick before trailing my slippery fingers down Panther’s crack and teasing his hole. As I slid one finger inside, he moaned. When he angled his body toward the mattress and bent his left leg toward his chest, I cursed at the erotic picture he’d just made.

“You have no idea how goddamn hot you look right now,” I said, and slipped a second finger in. Panther reached down and worked his cock, all the while making sounds so damn sexy that I wanted to hit record on my phone so I could get off to them later.

But the look in Panther’s eyes when he looked back at me guaranteed I was going nowhere that took me away from him. Shit. His light eyes were close to black with how dilated they were, his arousal now at a fever pitch. When I brushed up against his prostate, Panther squeezed his eyes shut as his tight ass all but strangled my fingers.

Not able to hold back any longer, I pulled my fingers free and reached for my cock. I lined it up with Panther’s eager entrance, pressed a kiss to his shoulder, and slowly pushed forward. Panther groaned, and as he eased back against the wide intrusion, I scraped my teeth along his shoulder blade.

“Yeah,” I said as his ass continued to swallow up my length. “Fuck, Grant. Oh, fuck, you feel amazing.”

I tightened my fingers on his hip, and as my dick tunneled inside and I bottomed out, I sank my teeth into his shoulder.

“So do you,” he said through labored breathing. When his head fell forward into the pillow and his arm began to move, I knew he was ready, ready for me to bring us the high that we could only get in each other’s arms.

My fingers digging into his supple skin, I watched the shadows from the candlelight flicker over the two of us, and when his body began to shake against mine, I knew it was time. I slowly pulled out and then thrust back inside, and when he cried my name, I did it again. I could see the strong line of his neck and muscled arm as it worked his thick, leaking length. As he strained and thrust back against me, the pure masculine beauty made my climax race down my spine to my balls.

“Grant,” I said, beginning quick, sharp punches as my orgasm threatened.

“Yeah. Right there, Mateo… Harder.” He gripped the pillow with his free hand as I tunneled into him. Then, just when I thought I would lose my mind, Panther’s entire body tensed and clenched around mine, and the two of us exploded in an orgasm that made my eyes roll to the back of my head.

Sweet Jesus, nothing compared to the way I felt when I was with Panther. I’d always said my first love was flying, and that nothing could ever take its place. But as Panther shifted and rolled over so we were facing one another, I realized how very wrong I was.

This was my first love, and if I had anything to say about it, it would be my last.

28 Panther

THE SUN HAD barely begun to peek through the curtains when I rolled over onto my stomach, stretching out against the warm sheets. There was a delicious ache in my muscles, the kind that only came from a night of pure, body-devouring bliss. I opened my eyes to focus on the man sleeping soundly beside me and smiled.

Solo lay on his back, one arm curved up over his head, his breathing steady and quiet. It was amazing how innocent and peaceful he looked when he slept, especially when you considered the wild, unrestrained man he became during his waking hours. I knew him well enough now to know that wasn’t all there was to him, that beneath his exterior lay a vulnerability he wasn’t willing to show to just anyone.

And he’s mine, I thought, tucking my arms under my pillow so I could get a better view of him. All mine.

Solo’s brows pulled together and he made a light groaning sound as he rolled to his side, facing me. I couldn’t resist reaching out to touch him. I brushed my fingers lightly over the side of his head where his hair was the shortest, content to watch him sleep for as long as he wanted to. But a few seconds later, he yawned and struggled to lift his heavy lids.

“You’re really fucking cute when you sleep,” I said, running my fingers down his stubbled jaw. Before I could pull away, he grabbed my wrist, keeping my hand on his face.

“Is that why you didn’t wake me up?” He stifled another yawn. “I’m not as cute when I’m awake?”

“Cute is not the word I’d use to describe you unless you’re sleeping, trust me.”

Solo grinned and kissed my palm. “No? What, then? Irresistible? Devastating? Exceptionally…large?”

Laughing, I pushed Solo onto his back, leaned over him, and planted a kiss below his ear. “All of those things,” I murmured, then kissed my way up his neck, over his jaw, landing on my favorite part of him, his mouth. I swept my lips over him once, twice, three times. Solo groaned and squeezed my ass.

“Just so you know, we’re not leaving this bed today,” he said, burrowing his face into my neck.

“No? Gonna chain me up and force me to stay?”

“If I have to. Or maybe that’ll just be foreplay.”

I grinned and rolled back to my side of the bed, grabbing my phone from the nightstand. “Let me just clear my busy schedule.”

“What, a play date with Houdini?”

“Close. We were gonna hit the gym later.”

“You mean I didn’t do a thorough enough job of wearing your ass out last night?” Solo scooted closer to me. “Guess I’ll have to bring it today.”

I chuckled and shot off a text, letting Houdini know I was out for the day. It was only after I’d sent the message that I realized how early it still was. Eh, the fucker would get it eventually.

After turning my phone off, I flipped onto my side so that Solo and I were facing each other. Last night had been so incredible, and he’d said exactly what I needed to hear, but there were still conversations that needed to be had—and with our time together at NAFTA running out, they needed to happen sooner rather than later.

Solo must’ve registered the change in my thoughts, because he sighed and reached for my hand, lacing his fingers with mine as it rested on the sheets between us. “I guess we need to address the elephant in the room, huh?”

Unable to resist, I lifted the sheet with our joined hands and took in an eyeful of his long, thick cock. “Pretty sure I already did last night. Several times.”

Solo groaned and pulled the sheet back down. “Don’t start with me or we’ll never stop, and that would be a huge fucking problem, because I know we need to have this conversation. So…let’s just get it over with already.”

Right to the point. That was my man.

“Okay.” I cleared my throat. “I guess we start with what we know.”

“Right,” Solo agreed, and then frowned. “So what do we know?”

“Well, we know we have a week until graduation.”

“Right.”

“And I’m pretty sure after last night we decided we want to try this thing out permanently.”

“Pretty sure?”

“Definitely sure.”

Solo smiled. “That’s better. What else do we know?”

“Uh… I think that about covers the known factors.”

“And the unknown would be”—he let go of my hand and began ticking the list off with his fingers—“we have no idea where we’ll be sent off to after graduation should we choose to accept our orders. We have no idea how long those missions will last or when we’ll see each other again.”

“Yeah,” I said, swallowing hard now that we were throwing our future out into the open to dissect. “So we just… I don’t know. Hope we end up within a thousand miles of each other? FaceTime on the regular? Visit during our time off?”

“I guess so.”

“I mean, what other options do we have?”

Solo looked down at our hands and stayed silent for a long time. So long that I began to wonder if there wasn’t some other elephant in the room I didn’t know about.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I said. “Just rip the Band-Aid off.”

When Solo’s eyes met mine, there was such a look of determination mixed with apprehensiveness that it made me wonder what the hell he was about to say.

“I’ve been having some thoughts,” he said slowly, as if whatever he was about to say was so foreign he had to roll them around on his tongue first. “What if…we made a different choice?”

29 Solo

IF SOMEONE HAD told me that during the last week of training at the Elite I would be contemplating anything other than kicking ass, taking home the trophy, and getting my orders to fly off to God knows where for my next mission, I would’ve told them they were fucking crazy.

But as I lay there next to Panther, the only thing I could think about was how we could be together if we were a million miles apart. Sure, there was the whole long-distance thing. But the idea of not being able to see him every day, of not being able to touch him, talk to him, and share my highs and lows was like a dark cloud hovering over us—one I had a feeling I wouldn’t shake if it became permanent.

“A different choice? Other than flying?” Panther’s eyes narrowed a fraction.

“Yeah. I mean, flying would have to be part of it—can you really imagine trying to ground me?”

Panther shook his head and laughed. “Not in a million years. Wouldn’t want to, either. Flying is in your blood. It’s who you are.”

“It is, but the missions? The kills? They get harder every time.”

Panther’s expression turned serious. “Have you had many of those?”

“Four.” I kicked the sheet down from our waists and rolled to my stomach.

Panther reached out to run his fingers over the star tattoos decorating the back of my thigh. “That’s what these represent?”

I nodded as Panther traced one of the stars from one point to another. “I got them so I would never forget, but they’re painful to look at, so—”

“You put them back here.”

“Right.”

Panther leaned over toward me, and I craned up to meet his lips. The kiss was gentle, almost reverent, and when he raised his head, the wonder in his eyes made my heart thump.

“You constantly surprise me, you know that?”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Panther pressed another soft kiss to my lips and then propped his head up on his palm. “Actually, I’ve been feeling a bit of a disconnect myself lately.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm.” Panther started to fiddle with his dog tags. “I mean, like you, I can’t imagine not flying in some capacity. But the idea of being shipped off somewhere you’re not? I…I hate it. God, is that crazy? That after a handful of weeks with you I can’t imagine even a day without you?”

“Grant?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s about the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.” As a blush bloomed on Panther’s cheeks, I chuckled and scooted over to kiss him. “And guess what?”

“What?”

“I want to be where you are too. So…now what?”

Panther shifted to his back. I moved into the crook of his arm and placed a kiss to his chest, and he smiled down at me.

“Now we think. We finish out our training, and then we look at our options.”

A silence fell, heavy but not uncomfortable as we each thought about what the other had said. This was big. As in life-changing. Here we were, two guys who came into the Elite Academy with one goal in mind: to come out on top. We wanted to rule the air, be crowned the king of the sky, and walk away with every opportunity such a prestigious title would afford.

Now? Now we wanted all of those things, but so we could choose what we wanted next with each other, and that was huge.

“You okay?” Panther’s voice was a whisper in my ear.

“Yeah, I’m good. Was just thinking.”

Panther’s arm tightened around me, and I felt his lips in my hair. “About?”

“About how quickly things can change.” When Panther tensed, I pressed a kiss to his chest. “In a good way. How quickly they can change in the best possible way.”

He let out a sigh of relief and shut his eyes. I pushed up so I could look down at the face that had captured me from the second I’d seen it.

A strong jaw lined with dark stubble, arresting blue eyes that saw everything and promised the world, and a mouth that made me want to get close enough to taste forever. It was a face I wanted to wake up to and go to sleep seeing each night, and no matter what happened after graduation, I knew I would be with him and he with me.

“Stop staring.”

I grinned and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Never.”

He shifted to roll me up on top of him, then spread his legs so I could nestle between his thighs. “That sounds promising.”

I placed my hands on either side of his head. “That’s a threat, not a promise. You, Grant Hughes, are stuck with me forever now. There’s no getting out of it.”

“No?” Panther said, and began to wind his long, muscled legs around me. “Damn. And here I thought if I told you I loved you, you’d run.”

I rocked my hips over the top of his. “Bullshit.”

“Hmm,” Panther said, and smoothed his hands down my sides to my ass. “Tell me again…”

He didn’t need to say what it was he wanted to hear. I already knew. “I love you.”

Panther grinned. My stomach flipped and my heart began to pound, and I felt as though I was experiencing the best high of my life.

As I pressed kisses down that strong jaw, along his neck to the center of his collarbone, I said, “I love you… I love you… I. Love. You.”

“Forever?”

My answer couldn’t come quick enough. “Forever…”

Panther ran his hand over my hair. As I closed my eyes and relaxed into his arms, never had I felt more loved and more secure than I did right there, in the arms of my forever.

30 Panther

“YOU REALLY THINK this is the best move right now?” Solo said when he took off his helmet. His long legs still straddled his bike, and he didn’t make a move to get off it, which told me he was more than fine not going through with today. But if we were going to really do this thing together—and after our day in bed yesterday discussing our future, that was no longer negotiable—some confrontations needed to happen ASAP to get things out in the open. After what Solo told me about running into my father? That shit was not going to fly, and I definitely had something to say about it.

“The sooner we do this, the sooner it’s over,” I said.

Solo nodded, but when he still didn’t make a move to follow me toward the house, I turned back and placed my hands on his handlebars. “You chose us, which means you’re my family now. And it’ll make both our lives easier if we can all choose to accept each other sooner rather than later. Unless…you’re having second thoughts.”

“Hell no,” he said, finally sliding off his bike. “Not one. Lead the way.”

“That’s more like it.” I held my hand out, and when Solo took it, my stomach flipped. This was what it was like to finally find your person, to know that they chose you, you chose them, and nothing would get in the way of what you shared.

Now we just had to make my parents see that.

The house I’d grown up in was a mid-size Spanish colonial, nothing over the top, but the landscaping my mother paid meticulous attention to made the house seem like it was more than it was, surrounded by such a lush oasis. Palm trees and tropical plants of every shape and color lined the walkway, and judging from the way Solo was taking it all in, he was impressed.

Wait until he saw the backyard.

I knocked on the door as a courtesy but didn’t wait for anyone to answer before walking inside. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air, a scent I identified with home. My mother had never worked outside the home a day in her life, but that didn’t mean she didn’t spend every spare minute learning how to garden, cook, sew, play the piano, learn new languages, or whatever else she woke up thinking she’d conquer that day. She’d never been the type to sit still, always making sure everyone and everything was taken care of.

Her short black bob was tucked behind her ears as she headed toward the dining room carrying a basket of the bread that smelled so good, but when she saw us in the hallway, she stopped.

“Grant,” she said, smiling. “And Mateo, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you for having me.”

“Oh, it’s our pleasure.”

Solo cocked his head. “You know, my mom had that exact same apron. She used to wear it every Sunday.”

Mom looked down at the frilly pink apron tied around her trim waist, the one permanently dusted with flour even though she had nicer, newer ones. “Oh no, I’m sorry, I’m such a mess.” She thrust the basket of rolls in my direction and kissed my cheek. “Everything is just coming out of the oven, so how about you boys go on into the dining room and get settled and I’ll let your father know you’re here.”

“Sure. Thanks, Mom.” As soon as her back was turned, I lifted the towel covering the rolls to sneak one out and heard her say, “Grant, don’t you dare touch those.”

“Hah. Buuusted.” Solo chuckled.

And that pretty much summed up my childhood years. Eyes in the back of her head, same as my father, which meant there was no getting away with anything in this family. No wonder Solo thought I was so strait-laced when he met me. I’d never done a rebellious thing in my life.

“Come on,” I said, dropping the towel back in place and leading the way to the formal dining room. Because my father entertained high-ranking military on a regular basis, there was an elegantly carved cherry table surrounded by ornate high-backed chairs that looked more like something you’d find in a throne room. Even without guests, the three of us always ate our meals there at my father’s insistence. Something about sitting in that room surrounded by such grandeur forced you to be on your best behavior, and I had to admit that I was curious to see how Solo reacted. Was it even possible that he had a “best behavior” side? I sincerely doubted it—which was also one of the reasons I’d fallen for him.

As I set the rolls down onto the table already covered with bowls and platters of food—way too much for four people—Solo whistled.

“Just a simple lunch, huh?” He ran his hand over the black Elite shirt that he’d paired with a nice pair of jeans. “You didn’t tell me we were supposed to bust out the tuxes today.”

“Nah, you look great.”

“Does all this mean your father is gonna come in in his full formal uniform or what? I just want to be prepared to curtsy.”

I started to laugh, but then my father boomed, “A simple salute will suffice.”

If I’d expected Solo to react with an oh shit look, I would’ve been sorely disappointed, because the only hint of surprise on his face was the slight raising of his eyebrows.

With my father’s looming presence taking up most of the doorway, Solo started forward toward him, his hand outstretched.

“Afternoon, captain.”

“Mr. Morgan,” my father said, looking him up and down. To my surprise, he didn’t hesitate in shaking Solo’s hand.

“Mateo’s fine.”

“Of course. Good of you to come, Mateo.”

Solo grinned. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

My father hummed a response, and when he let go of Solo’s hand, Solo immediately lifted it in salute.

The smartass in my boyfriend couldn’t resist. I had to smother my laugh as my father gave him a look and waved him off. If this was the beginning of Solo’s “best behavior,” then it would definitely be one for the books.

God help us all.

31 Solo

CAPTAIN HUGHES MAY hold all the power when we were inside Navy walls, but outside of them he was just a man, one I wasn’t going to let get in my head again. I couldn’t believe I’d allowed him in there in the first place, but that was my own damn insecurity to blame.

No more, I thought, as Captain Hughes took a seat at the head of the table.

He gestured for us to join him. “Sit.”

Panther took the seat to the right of his father, so I slid into the spot beside my man, making sure to brush my hand over his thigh under the table. He winked my way as his mom came rushing into the room, carrying a large bowl of salad. She’d removed her apron, revealing a modest dress beneath, as impeccably put together as her husband. Both of them looked more ready for a night out than a lunch at home.

“Mateo, what would you like to drink?” she asked.

Panther went to stand. “We can get those, Mom—”

“Absolutely not. You two stay here and visit, and I’ll be right back with Mateo’s…?”

“Water is fine,” I said. “Thank you.”

She nodded and left as quickly as she’d entered, and once she was out of earshot, Panther said, “We need to talk.”

Unperturbed, Captain Hughes looked at his son, and I could see exactly where Panther got the look of nonchalance he put up to hide what he was truly thinking. Seeing the two of them staring at each other with those same blank eyes was a little unnerving.

“Would you like to explain why you thought it was a good idea to interfere with my relationship?” Panther asked.

“Interfere?”

“Yes. Telling Solo to cut me off? Why would you do that?”

His father took the artfully folded napkin from his plate, snapped it straight, and laid it on his lap. “Surely you know better than to come into my house with accusations you can’t back up.”

“So you’re going to lie to my face and say you didn’t tell Solo to leave me alone? Seriously?”

“I never said such a thing. And certainly not in those terms.”

“That’s bullshit,” Panther said, his skin flushing an angry crimson. “At least be honest about what you’ve done. About what you say.”

“I believe my words to Mateo were that he should do the right thing.” Captain Hughes turned his penetrating stare on me. “Interesting that you interpreted what I said as an opportunity to break things off with my son.”

What…the fuck.

I wasn’t often at a loss for words. “Excuse me?”

“If I remember correctly, and I always do, I asked you a series of questions you couldn’t answer about the future of your relationship with Grant. I told you this isn’t what I would’ve wanted for my son—”

“Which is none of your business,” Panther interjected, but his father continued.

“—and that I expected you would have his best interest at heart—”

“You told me to ‘do the right thing,’” I said, getting annoyed now.

Captain Hughes nodded. “I did. But not once did I tell you what that was.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but what he’d said struck me right in the chest. Had I really jumped to the conclusion that he hated me and wanted me to end things with Panther before graduation? I mean, it had definitely read that way to me at the time, and I never had reason to think otherwise. Obviously he wasn’t a fan of mine. He’d definitely said the thing about not wanting this for his son, but I’d assumed the “this” in question referred to my relationship with Panther, not anything else. What else could he have meant? Of course I’d take it the way I had.

I thought back, replaying our run-in in my head, and trying to pinpoint when he’d alluded to breaking things off.

Had he actually ever said it?

The roar of blood in my ears was all I could hear as my heart pounded faster, sweat beading on my brow.

No. No way. It was impossible that I’d read the whole thing wrong, that I’d formed an assumption that wasn’t true. Right?

Oh, Jesus Christ.

I looked at Panther and got out a single word: “Fuck.”

“What?” Panther asked, reaching for my hand. “Tell me.”

My mouth was suddenly dry, and I reached for my water only to realize Panther’s mom hadn’t returned with the drinks. A mix of emotions roiled inside me, and I wasn’t sure which was going to come out first. I turned toward Captain Hughes and said, “But you hate me.”

“Hate is a strong word. I don’t hate anyone.”

“You severely dislike me, then. You don’t think I’m good enough for your son.”

Captain Hughes inclined his head. “When you’re a parent, you’ll realize no one on earth is good enough for your child.”

“Especially me, though. That’s what you meant when you said you wouldn’t have chosen this for Grant. You meant us together.”

“That wasn’t a question.”

I set my jaw. “And that wasn’t an answer. Sir.”

The tension in the room ratcheted up a notch as we stared at each other, Panther’s head going back and forth between us like he was wondering whom he’d have to hold back first. It wouldn’t go that far—I did have some modicum of respect for his father’s rank, after all—but I wanted him to clarify what he’d meant.

Seconds felt like hours ticking by, and then finally Captain Hughes sighed. “There’s something the both of you need to understand. Wanting the best for your child is not a crime. Life is difficult, our jobs are dangerous, and adding something that would’ve had you banished from the military only a short while ago…makes me nervous. I’m sure your parents would’ve agreed with me, Mateo, and while perhaps they would’ve been quicker to accept your choices, they weren’t in our line of work and they wouldn’t fully understand the repercussions. Just like the two of you wouldn’t, having never experienced the backlash I saw firsthand. I know you think I disapprove of the two of you together, but that’s simply not true.”

Any second now, the enormity of what he was saying would kick in and my brain would explode.

Any second now…

“Then…” Yep, there it goes. Brain officially short-circuiting. “I don’t understand. What was that day in the store all about? Because, yeah, you may not have come right out and said it, but you led me to believe one thing, when…what? You meant another?”

“Easy mistake to make, considering he doesn’t know how to smile,” Panther said under his breath. His words would’ve made me laugh if I wasn’t still engaged in a stare-off with his father.

Captain Hughes raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t it obvious why? If I could choose an easier path for Grant, I would’ve. But that’s not within my control, and he’s made it clear that his choices are his own. He chose you. I only wanted to know if you would be doing the same.”

My mouth fell shut. It was clear that Captain Hughes cared about his son and that his words were genuine, even if his expression never changed. Or maybe it was the gruff, direct way he communicated that threw me and everyone around him off. Either way, what he’d just said had made a clear impact on Panther, whose head had lowered.

I squeezed his hand, guilt rising inside me. “I’m so sorry. I thought… I guess I took what he said the wrong way—”

“No.” Panther shook his head. “You may have projected your feelings onto what he said, but he was still giving you a warning.” He turned to his father. “I could’ve lost him because you interfered.”

Captain Hughes opened his mouth to respond, but then thought better of whatever he was going to say and nodded.

“You won’t do that again,” Panther said. “Solo’s not going anywhere, not now, not after graduation.” He squeezed my hand back. “He stays. Understand?”

“I do.”

“And you.” He turned back to me. “Don’t let anyone interfere again. You got that?”

I tried to bite back my grin, but it busted through anyway. “I promise.”

“Good.” He settled back in his chair looking like a weight had left his shoulders, but I still had one thing left to say.

“Captain Hughes? I love your son. I may have fucked—screwed that up royally once, but I won’t do it again.” I brought our joined hands up, resting them on the table. “You said you wanted me to do the right thing, and I’m here to tell you I will. Because the right thing for Grant is me, and like he said…I’m not going anywhere. Not ever.”

Panther beamed as I lifted our hands to brush a kiss across his knuckles. I chanced a glance at his father and was shocked to see a hint of a smile.

“Good,” he said hoarsely, and then he cleared his throat. “Well, now that that’s settled, Panther, would you go check on your mother—and Mateo, please pass the rolls.”

32 Panther

THE MOOD WAS tense between the trainees as we headed into the bay area to get changed for the day’s hop. The camaraderie and friendship we’d built during our time together over the past three months was on the back burner as we each thought about what today would bring for us.

Today was the final day of our classes. It was the day we’d find out which one of us was not only the most skilled in a fighter jet, but also the most cunning when it came to making quick in-air combat decisions.

The men and women who entered this course did so with one goal in mind: to come out on top. And while that was still my number one priority, so was getting home safely and starting the next chapter of my life with Solo.

We’d spent the entire morning going over the flight brief with Commander Levy, before he’d given us our final match-ups of the program, and it was no surprise that they’d kept the hardest hop until last.

Today we’d be going up in our original pairings, and tasked with up-close-and-personal dogfighting. During our time here at the course, we’d generally stuck to BVR—beyond visual range—missile training where you got a lock on your kill without them even seeing you. But this up-close shit was a whole other bag of tricks. It was a technique that was all but obsolete in today’s air-to-air combat, but something each of us fighter pilots had to learn on the off chance we found ourselves in a situation where everything had gone tits up, and all we had left to rely on was our quick thinking and maneuverability.

For today’s mission I would be taking lead and Solo would be my wingman. He headed over to his bay to suit up, and I followed close on his heels. He’d been unusually quiet during this morning’s brief, but I could tell by his furrowed brow and set jaw that he was merely processing all of the information we’d been given for this final flight—and there had been a lot.

This kind of combat was the most intense, and essential. It was missions like these that a pilot either excelled at or broke down during, and today we’d find out exactly which side we landed on.

“So, you ready for this?” I said as I stopped outside the bay where Solo was laying out his gear.

“To hand Gooch his ass one last time? You better believe it. Will feel good to give Whiplash another reason for her name, too. You know, when she’s looking behind her to see us on her tail.”

I chuckled as Solo pulled on his G-suit and began securing it around his thighs, then I moved into his bay to hand him his survival vest. As he stepped into the harness and pulled it up his legs, I made sure to keep my eyes on his so I wouldn’t get distracted by just how well that piece of safety equipment emphasized…well, his equipment.

“I had a feeling Levy was gonna pit us against each other,” he said as he slipped his arms inside the straps and secured it. “The four of us have been circling the top of the leaderboard for a while now.”

It was all up to us now, and what we did in the air today. The person who was named the best of the best was going to have to exhibit both exemplary piloting skills and top-notch leadership qualities, and I knew that the man standing opposite me was my biggest competitor.

Smart, sexy, and one hell of a pilot. Solo was everything I wanted wrapped up in a flight suit and a pair of Aviators. He was my partner in the air, on the ground, in my bed, and in my life, and no matter who came out on top today, I couldn’t help but believe we’d both be winners in the end.

“Hello… Earth to Panther. Did you hear me?”

I blinked, pushing my thoughts aside. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“Are you good? Is there anything else you want to go over before we head out there?”

We had already run through our game plan back in class, but beyond the initial setup, there was really no way to predict what would happen once we were airborne. We had been assigned the role of the aggressors today, but instead of getting down and dirty like everyone expected of us once we hit the air, I’d come up with a new plan: stealth.

“No, I’m good,” I said, then reached for the straps of his harness, tugging him in as close as I could get him with all his safety gear on. “But you be careful up there today. I want you back in one piece at the end of this, you hear me, Lieutenant Morgan?”

“I’ll fly smart and follow your lead, how about that?”

I knew that was as close to a promise of carefulness as I would get from Solo, especially considering what was at stake today. So I let him go and gave him a clipped nod.

“That works. Okay, I’m gonna go suit up. I’ll meet you out there in a few.”

I turned to head out of his bay and over to mine, then heard him call my name. I stopped and looked back to see him looking every inch the cocky, rebellious fighter pilot I’d fallen for.

Solo flashed that charming grin and said, “I love you.”

Wow. It was amazing how three simple words could make you feel as though you could conquer the whole damn world, and I felt invincible. I had the most talented, quickest-thinking pilot in the Elite flying by my side this afternoon. I was out to prove to Levy, our fellow trainees, and my father that I was worthy of Mateo “Solo” Morgan, and I pitied the poor fools who were about to have to face off with me.

33 Solo

THE SUN BARELY managed to slip through the clouds as we headed across the runway to where our planes waited fully fueled and ready for their pre-check. I could see Houdini and that asshat Utah coming in for a landing one runway over, and after the way they’d just annihilated Phantom and Alphabet up there, I had a fire lit under my ass.

From day one I’d entered this course with every intention of winning, and just because I’d gone and done the unimaginable—fallen in love—that didn’t mean my determination to kick everyone’s ass had flown out the window.

One ass I was particularly looking forward to spanking was Utah’s. The last time we’d gone head to head, I’d been all up in mine and that motherfucker had gotten the best of me. But today was a different story. I was one hundred percent focused, and the only way I was leaving that sky was victorious.

This newfound confidence also came because I just so happened to be partnered up with the best pilot in the program. Don’t get me wrong, I was a close second and nipping at Panther’s heels, but I’d have to be stupid to think that anyone who beat Captain “Razor” Hughes wasn’t a serious threat.

Panther had this cool, calculated way about flying that you couldn’t help but be in awe of. And when he flawlessly executed some of the most difficult maneuvers without breaking a sweat, damn, that was just sexy as fuck.

After running through all the checks, I caught Panther’s eye and gave a nod, then we climbed up into the cockpits and prepared for takeoff. As Panther was the lead on today’s mission, he taxied out ahead of me. When he moved into position, I drew to a stop behind him and waited. Seconds later he was hurtling down the runway at a breakneck pace, and my stomach dropped and my heart lodged somewhere in the back of my throat.

Okay, that was new, this feeling of total exhilaration coupled with terror as the nose of Panther’s F-A/18A Hornet lifted and he shot up into the great blue expanse above. I guess that was how you felt when you watched the man you love strap himself into a machine that would blast him into the sky. Excited, because you knew what a rush it was to be sitting in that cockpit, and deathly ill because you also knew how damn dangerous this shit was.

With Panther safe and clear, it was my turn now, and while I’d been nervous watching him, I felt none of that for myself. Instead, my adrenaline began to hum in anticipation of the rush I knew I’d get from takeoff.

I waited for the all-clear then gunned the engines and shot down the runway like a bat out of hell. Fuck me, this feeling never got old. I went straight up into the sky, then locked on to Panther’s coordinates and set out to find him.

The plan for today’s hop was to shake things up a little. Instead of coming in hard and fast, we were going to execute things a little differently. We’d been up against Gucci and Whiplash before, and if I knew my buddy, he’d be expecting my usual kind of take-no-prisoners flying. But today we were playing by Panther’s rules, and that bastard was a stealthy one.

As I pulled into formation, with Panther in the lead, the ten feet separating us felt like next to nothing out here in the never-ending stretch of forever.

I looked over to see him give a quick wave of acknowledgement, and then through the speaker in my helmet he said, “I’ve got you on my six. You ready?” and it took everything I had to be on my best behavior.

“I’m in position and got you in sight. Ready when you are.”

Panther gave a thumbs-up and then pulled ahead, banking to the left, and as I executed a turn to keep in position, the roar of the slipstream made the Hornet’s wings flex and the body of the jet shudder. Panther punched it into gear, until we were clocking some serious Gs, and as we tore through the clouds dotting the afternoon sky, I scanned every inch of blue I could see.

Come out, come out, wherever you are, I thought, as I searched for signs of Gucci and Whiplash, and like the universe decided to hear my call, the sunlight caught on something off to my right. Ahh, there you are.

“Bogey on your right,” I said into the comm, and I knew the second Panther spotted them because he leaned into that direction and began to dive low, implementing the plan we’d discussed back on base if all conditions were favorable—and they were.

I fell in beside him, and we found the cloud cover we were after and sped toward the unsuspecting duo above. The goal was to get in under them before they even realized we were there.

My senses were tingling now, as the high-risk portion of today’s hop was about to be initiated. Panther shot out from under Gucci’s tail and went straight up, and I followed suit, barely clearing Whiplash’s tail end as I began to climb toward the heavens.

The second they saw us was obvious—they broke formation, no doubt in an effort to try to see what the fuck was going on behind them. But it was too late now; we had them in our sights, and this hop was about to show who was more skilled at this one-on-one shit.

The skill set Levy wanted to witness in this final hop was of the highest caliber. He wanted to know that his pilots—the Elite pilots—knew how to handle themselves when up close and personal with the enemy. This kind of combat was all about geometry and piloting. It was about assessing the other pilot’s energy and willingness to go all the way. You had to watch and observe every maneuver they made, orient to what they were doing, then make a decision on what to do next. Once you’d done all of that, you had to maneuver yourself into position to counter it—all in a handful of seconds that could mean life or death.

This job wasn’t for the faint of heart. Panther and I topped out at our max altitude and then began the steep dive back to the two below, and the thrill of the chase kicked into high gear as I zeroed in on Whiplash and watched Panther pin Gucci.

“Looks like they’re gonna roll,” Panther said, and not a second after that, they veered off in opposite directions and barrel-rolled over and over at a nauseating clip in an effort to shake us free.

But with Panther and me this close, we could see each and every move before they even made it. Gucci tried for a nosedive, but Panther plugged that sucker up, and Whiplash decided to see how strong my stomach was with some major three-sixties—stratosphere style. No matter what they threw at us, though, we were right on their tails, and it wasn’t long after that that Panther and I locked on to our targets and the mission was called. Whiplash and Gucci were done. Sayonara, suckers.

The euphoria of victory that washed over me as the results were relayed through the comm made me whoop and fist-bump the air. Panther’s stealth tactics had been the perfect move for today’s mission—we’d been the hunters seeking our prey—and as I flew past Whiplash’s plane and she shot me the finger, I couldn’t help but laugh, my joy overtaking me.

You gotta love it when the dead can still flip you off.

The four of us leveled out, I moved into position by Panther to head back to base, and it occurred to me that this might be the last time I ever flew with him like this. It was almost enough to take away from the jubilant feeling of success, until I remembered that whatever path we chose to take after this, we were taking it together.

There would be other highs, other moments to share, so I needed to bask in this one now and then store it away as one of the best moments of my life. This was a time for celebration, and I was fairly certain there would be more where that came from.

I couldn’t be one hundred percent positive, but I was pretty sure that today’s win had also just secured the top spot in the program for one of us.

I touched down, climbed out of the plane, and rushed over to Panther, tearing off my helmet. When he looked at me and smiled, I got my first high from being on the ground.

That proud, joyous expression crossing his face as he pulled his Aviators off made me feel like I was still flying. We met halfway between the planes and embraced in a victorious hug full of back slapping, whooping, and, finally, a gentle stroke of fingers down the cheek.

“I can’t believe we did it. You were amazing up there today,” Panther said. We turned to head back toward the hangar, and I couldn’t help but puff my chest out a little. It felt good to have Panther’s approval, and even better to have his respect.

“You weren’t so bad yourself, Lieutenant Hughes. That plan of yours was genius. They never saw us coming.”

“Damn right.” Panther grinned then stepped my way to bump shoulders, as though not being able to touch was as hard for him as it was me. “Thank God the weather was in our favor.”

“Eh.” I shrugged as we stepped inside the hangar. “If there’d been no clouds, we just would’ve switched to plan B.”

Panther stopped as we reached the door to the locker and bay area. “Which was?”

“Fly like crazy, reckless motherfuckers and scare them straight outta the sky.”

Panther chuckled as he pulled the door open for me. As I passed, he whispered in my ear, “I think our time together has taught you a little bit of restraint, Lieutenant Morgan.”

I agreed—being with him had taught me how to have a hell of a lot of restraint. It had also told me that some things—the best things—were worth waiting and fighting for.

“Lieutenants?” At the sound of Commander Levy’s voice, we looked up to see him standing at the top of the stairs leading to the observation area above the hangar. “Get cleaned up and meet the rest of the class up here in twenty.”

“Yes, sir,” we barked out with sharp salutes.

“Nice flying today, the pair of you,” Levy added before he headed back inside.

I started down the hall then winked at Panther and said, “I’ll race you to the showers.”

34 Panther

TWENTY MINUTES TO the second, Solo and I headed toward the door that led to the observation area where we assumed everyone was waiting.

Along with Gucci and Whiplash, we’d been the last to arrive back at base after the hops, and since no one had been left in the locker room, we assumed they’d already assembled for this final, and very important, class.

We were about halfway down the hall, employing a little bit of extra get-up-and-go, knowing we were the last to arrive, when Whiplash called out from behind, “Hey, guys? Wait up!”

We turned to see her rushing our way. She joined us, pointed at Solo, and said, “Don’t even think about talking shit to me right now, do you hear me? That stunt you two pulled today was—”

“Genius?” I answered. It was clear who Whiplash was pinning all the blame on for her loss, but she was going to have to turn my way to find the culprit of this operation. Stealth was my particular brand of play, not Solo’s.

“It was rather genius,” Solo said. “Bet you thought I’d come in hard and fast, huh?”

Whiplash arched an eyebrow. We reached the door, I pulled it open for the two of them, and Solo leaned in and said in a low tone, “I keep that kind of activity for my man now. Don’t be jealous.”

When he started to chuckle, I groaned, and Whiplash rolled her eyes. But as she shoved past him, I caught her snort of laughter.

I said under my breath, “You’re ridiculous, you know that, right?”

“Maybe, but am I wrong?” Solo said.

My eyes fell to Solo’s lips as he licked them, and all I could think about was him coming in me, fast and hard—right now.

“Mhmm, that’s what I thought.”

“Lieutenants Hughes and Morgan, nice of you to join us,” Commander Levy interrupted. We made our way toward the rest of our class at the front of the enormous room facing the wall of windows that overlooked the airfield.

Solo took his seat next to Whiplash and Houdini. I moved in beside him and looked around at our fellow trainees. It was hard to believe that this was the last time we’d all be sitting here, but that was the reality. Our twelve weeks at Mesamir were up. All the hops, briefs, and tests were complete, and this was the moment we were finally going to find out who had come out on top.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Commander Heinz. Her dress uniform was immaculate as always as she surveyed our class with cool, assessing eyes. I knew that this final decision—whichever way it went—had been discussed at length between the two commanding officers now looking over the class.

“Well, then, now that you’re all here, we can begin,” Commander Levy said, beginning to pace the front of the room. “First off, I’d like to personally congratulate each and every one of you for completing the Elite program. There have been many in the past who have not made it as far. So the first thing you should all do is give yourself a pat on the back for making it through the entire course.”

Solo snorted. “If I pat your back, will you pat mine?” he asked me.

It was nearly impossible not to give in to his charm, but somehow I managed. “Later.”

Solo waggled his eyebrows, then we both turned back to Levy.

“We’ve had many highs and lows during this year’s course, one which almost cost us a trainee’s life.”

Levy looked my way, Solo reached for my hand, and I wrapped my fingers around his, the reminder of that moment a difficult one.

“Lieutenant Hughes’s rigorous training and quick thinking not only helped save him that day, but also helped him walk away from one of the worst air disasters I have seen here at Mesamir. Your ability to perform under such strenuous and life-threatening circumstances proved that not only do you deserve to be here at the Elite, training with the best, but you also deserved the spot you held at that time, at the top of the class.”

The room fell silent as Levy looked over the rest of the trainees.

“But that was eight weeks ago, and a lot has happened between then and now. Hops have been won, and some have been lost. Commander Heinz and I have spent the last two weeks going over not only your performance scores from when you're in the air, but also your test results from here in class, and while all of you are at the top of your field for a reason, three of you stood out.”

Oh shit. Shit. This was it. This was the moment we’d all been waiting for. My heart threatened to beat clear out of my chest. Solo’s fingers nearly strangled mine, and I knew he was thinking the same exact thing.

I closed my eyes and counted back from ten, and at five, Levy said, “Could Lieutenants Morgan, Castenada, and Hughes please join me at the front?”

Solo, Whiplash, and myself looked at one another as if to check we’d each heard him say the right thing, and then Whiplash jumped to her feet and climbed over Houdini to head up to the front.

Solo found his feet next. He looked down at me, and his smirk was the same one I’d seen that first night in the bar. It was full of arrogance, confidence, and a superiority that made my blood hum. As I got to my feet, I knew I’d found my equal in every single way.

As we headed to the front, we passed by Gucci, who congratulated Solo, and when all three of us stood side by side at attention, Levy looked down the lineup and gave a tight nod.

“Well, here they are, the Elite’s top three pilots of the year. If you’d all help me in giving your fellow trainees a round of applause, I think we can all agree they have proven their place here amongst the finest pilots to ever grace the sky.”

As the room exploded in applause, Gucci got to his feet and let out a loud whoop. Houdini brought his fingers to his mouth and gave a wolf whistle worthy of any top alpha. Even Utah gave a slow clap of appreciation—all the while glaring Solo into the ground.

“Each of you have shown impeccable skill both in and out of the sky over the last twelve weeks, and when it came down to the runner-up and winner, the points between the two places was minimal at best. So without further ado, I’m proud to announce that in the runner-up spot is none other than Lieutenant Tia Castenada.”

Whiplash gasped as she looked to Solo and then myself, her eyes wide with disbelief. But Whiplash was one of the fiercest competitors I’d ever come up against, and she deserved that spot. She was a kickass pilot who had fought tooth and nail like the rest of us to get where she was today. She’d probably even fought a little harder merely because she was a female.

But…shit. That meant it was down to me and Solo, and while I would’ve liked us to be the top two, that wasn’t going to happen.

Solo and I broke position to congratulate Whiplash and give her a hug. She shook Levy’s hand, thanked him for his time and tutelage, and then stepped back in line, where Solo and I awaited our fate.

My pulse was racing, my palms sweaty as the class quieted down and Levy took center stage.

I could feel Solo watching me. I glanced his way, and he mouthed, “You nervous?” When, I nodded, he said, “Don’t be. You deserve this.”

If I wasn’t already madly in love with him, that would’ve done it. He, like me, was ready to hand over the prize he’d come here to win, and if that didn’t speak volumes, I didn’t know what did.

“For the first time in the history of the Elite, we have a tie for the top spot.”

Solo and I whipped our heads in his direction, and my head began to buzz.

“It’s not impossible, but has certainly never happened on my watch before. However, after tallying up each of these two men’s points, there was just no way to separate them.” Levy paused. I was struggling to keep up with what he was saying, but then he spelled it out crystal clear.

“The joint winners of the Elite program this year are Lieutenant Grant Hughes and—I can’t believe I’m going to say this—Lieutenant Mateo Morgan. Congratulations, men. I have never witnessed such polar opposites work with such synchronicity in the sky straight out of the gate. The two of you are an unbeatable combination.”

As the deafening roar of boots on the floor joined the hoots and hollering, my heart nearly exploded as Solo tugged me to him and wrapped his arms around me.

“Well, if this isn’t fitting, I don’t know what is,” he said, then clapped me on the back and kissed my temple. “We both like it too much on top.”

He pulled back from me, his wicked grin guaranteeing I’d be thinking about that for the rest of the afternoon, and then the rest of our class engulfed us in a bone-crushing hug.

Life was good. Hell, it was close to perfect. As I stared at Solo over the crowd of people offering up their congratulations, I knew that with him by my side, there was nothing but clear skies ahead.

35 Panther

I NEVER UNDERSTOOD why we were given a whole day to pack up our gear before leaving the barracks. As Navy people, we knew the importance of packing light, and considering most of our belongings could fit into one bag, it didn’t take more than an hour to get our stuff together—unless, of course, you were Solo.

After our big win yesterday, we’d spent the night out with the rest of the trainees celebrating, and soon after crashed in my room wrapped up in one another.

It’d been the perfect end to a whirlwind twelve weeks, and I hadn’t seen hide nor hair from him since dawn when he’d crept out of my bed. His excuse had been he had a lot to do today. But as I stared at my stuffed duffel on the floor at the end of my bed, I wondered what exactly could have kept him so busy for the last few hours.

Tomorrow was graduation day, and I still couldn’t believe that twelve weeks had passed by so quickly. It seemed like just yesterday we’d arrived. Well, that wasn’t true—I’d changed a lot in that time. At the beginning of all of this, I’d been single in both mind and focus, and then Solo had stepped into my path and my entire world had shifted on its axis.

My hopes and dreams had taken a huge detour from the road I’d originally set for myself. But the more I thought about my options and this new road I now found myself traveling, it seemed like the exact right direction for me.

Here I was, completely and madly in love with a man I both cared for and respected more than I ever imagined possible. I was finally in a good place with my father, and as for my plans beyond graduation… Well, that was up to fate now. I knew what I wanted, and if my luck stayed strong and I somehow managed to get that last piece of the puzzle, I would be the happiest person on the planet. But it was best not to get ahead of myself just yet.

It had just turned six when I picked up my phone and opened up the app to text Solo. He better be bringing food if he was rocking up here this late in the day, but just as I was about to shoot off the request, there was a loud knock on my door.

I headed to the door and pulled it open to see Solo standing there with his newly buzzed hair spiked up at the front, a grin on his handsome face, and a pizza box in hand. I gave him a long, leisurely once-over before saying, “I’m not sure what looks better to me right now, you or that pizza box you’re holding.”

Solo chuckled and stepped forward. “Bet I can help you decide.” He leaned across the box for a kiss, and when his lips met mine, I had to grip the door a little tighter so I wouldn’t float off on cloud nine.

Damn he tasted good, better than anything that could be in that box, but before I got carried away, I made myself step back and let him inside. As Solo walked by, the delicious combination of his cologne and pepperoni pizza filled my nostrils, and I quickly shut the door, wanting to lock him inside with me here for one last night.

“So did you get everything packed up?” he asked.

“Yeah, about an hour after you left.”

Solo flashed that heartbreaker grin of his. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were being a little bit…snarky with me, Lieutenant Hughes. What’s the matter, you miss me?”

I took hold of his waist, tugging him back against my front, so I could wrap my arms around him.

“The second you left my bed,” I admitted. Solo’s hands landed on mine, and when he leaned his head back on my shoulder, I nuzzled in against his neck. “As soon as you’re gone, I want you back. Sorry if that’s a problem for you.”

Solo turned his head. “It’s not. But today I had to leave for a good reason.”

“No reason is a good reason.”

“No? Not even if it was to get you a graduation gift?”

I loosened my hold on Solo and shook my head. “We said no gifts.”

“Yeah, I know,” Solo said, turning and looping his arms around my neck. “But I ignored you.”

I blinked and leaned back to get a better view of his devilish grin. “You ignored me. Nice to know.”

Solo nipped at my jaw. “What? You didn’t think I’d become all sweet and compliant now that I admitted I loved you, did you?”

That made me laugh. “Hell no. But now I feel shitty because I didn’t get you a gift.”

“Well, don’t. This one’s kind of for the both of us.”

“The both of us?” Okay, now I was intrigued.

“Yep.” Solo gave me a quick, hard kiss, let me go, then took a step back and reached for the button of his shorts.

“Your gift is in your shorts?” I laughed, and Solo raised an eyebrow.

“Are you saying what’s in my shorts is not a gift?”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, what’s in there is definitely something special, and what you do with it a total fantasy. But—”

“But what?” Solo asked as he kicked out of his flip-flops, flicked open the button, and slowly drew down the zipper.

“But you don’t need anything extra to impress me.”

Solo licked his lips and slowly drew his shorts apart. “Oh, I already know that. My cock is a gift from God, Panther. This gift is from me to us.”

36 Solo

PANTHER’S BOOMING LAUGH made everything in my world make sense. Humor lit his perfect features and joy radiated off every inch of him.

Yesterday had been one of the best days of my life. Not only had Panther and I won our final hop together, we had—by some kind of miracle—ended up scoring the exact same on the leaderboard, securing us the top spot. Something that had never happened before in the history of the Elite, ever.

If that had happened to the Solo of twelve weeks ago I would’ve had a shit fit like no other, and no doubt demanded a rematch or some kind of face-off dogfight. But sharing this moment with Panther had only enhanced the victory. It had made it all the sweeter knowing that the guy at the top with me was not only one of the best pilots I’d ever seen in my life, but he was also one of the bravest men I knew.

All I’d had to do was get my ass up in the air, fly the jets, and try to keep my mouth from getting me thrown out of the course. Panther? He’d had to overcome the expectations of every instructor in the course, along with his father’s, and do it all while trying to get past the trauma of being ejected from a faulty Hornet.

Standing with him yesterday had made me proud as hell. There was no one I respected more than Panther, who was currently eyeing me like I was his meal for tonight instead of the pizza, and I hoped like hell he liked the “gift” I’d gotten for him.

“Okay, tease. How long are you gonna make me wait for this gift?” Panther asked, his eyes glued to my hands that were holding my now-open shorts.

“I don’t know. It might be fun to make you wait.”

“Remember, payback is a bitch.”

“Hmm, yeah. But maybe it’d be worth it.”

“Solo…” Panther growled, and the frustration in his voice finally made me inch my shorts lower. As I cleared my tight black boxers, the tension in the room became palpable, and when I let them go and they hit the floor, Panther cursed.

I waited for him to catch up and get past the erection I was sporting courtesy of his scorching once-over. His eyes finally latched on to the clear wrap around my left thigh then quickly flew back up to mine.

“You got a new tattoo?”

I stepped out of my shorts and kicked them aside. “I did.”

Knowing how much Panther liked the stars that decorated my right thigh, this idea had struck just recently, and seemed like the perfect gift for graduation. It was something I had a feeling both of us would enjoy.

Panther bit his lip and flushed, which did nothing to dissuade my excited cock from thinking it was about to get some action.

“Can I see it?”

If I had my way, he would see it, touch it, lick it, and do all kinds of things to it—when it was fully complete and healed, of course—but for right now…

I started to unwind the saran wrap from around my thigh, Panther watching with fascination. I knew he could see the dark shape and shading of what was below, but judging by his silence, he hadn’t yet clued in to what exactly I’d had inked onto my skin.

“You did this today?”

“I did,” I said. “I wanted something to remember my time here at the Elite by. Something to remember the first time I saw”—I pulled the final piece of wrap free—“a panther.”

As the bold outline and shading of the sleek jungle cat came into view, the silence that fell was like that of a church. It was full of awe and reverence as Panther took a step toward me and slowly went down to his knees, and when he was eye level with my newly inked thigh, he finally spoke.

“Solo… Mateo… This is…” He looked up at me, and the love and wonder shining from his eyes told me everything I needed to know.

“You like?”

“Like?” Panther’s eyes fell back to the intricate artwork that depicted the striking hunter with eyes the same shade of blue as his, prowling around my thigh toward its prey. “This is stunning, beautiful, and even those words seem inadequate for how much work has gone into this. It’s not even finished yet, is it?”

“No,” I said around the lump in my throat. The way Panther was looking over his namesake, completely enraptured by the image, made it difficult to concentrate, let alone talk.

“Turn around,” he whispered. I slowly pivoted. “I love the way his tail wraps around the back of your thigh here…”

I loved that too. When Panther touched me just beneath the ink and said, “Spread your legs a little,” I was grateful to be facing the table.

I braced my hands on the top of the surface and closed my eyes. I couldn’t wait until the tattoo was complete and Panther could put his mouth on me. Fuck, I was close to begging him regardless.

“I know I can’t yet, but the way the artist has shaded this makes his fur look so sleek that I just want to touch it.”

Trying to get a hold of my composure, I looked over my shoulder and saw him studying the image with hungry eyes. “Then I was right?”

“Hmm,” Panther said as gaze found mine. “This is a gift for you and me.”

A wicked smile curved Panther’s mouth. He got to his feet and took my face between his hands.

“This is by far the best and sexiest gift I have ever gotten in my life. I’m going to enjoy it—and you—often.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Unable to resist him any longer, I reached for the waistband of his jeans and drew him to me. The second our lips met, he opened for me, and as we stood in the center of his room on this last night here at the base, I knew it was the beginning of so much more. I couldn’t wait to see where the future was going to lead us.

37 Panther

“MY OH MY. Aren’t you a sight.” Solo whistled, and I watched him in the bathroom mirror as he strolled up behind me, his eyes trailing up and down my body. He stopped, so close his front pressed to my back, and then he set his chin on my shoulder and met my eyes in the mirror. “I don’t think this view will ever get old.”

“It better not. In case you’ve forgotten, you’re stuck with me.”

“Mhmm. Mine for life.”

I shot him a wink. “And on the Elite plaque.”

A huge grin took over Solo’s face. “No one else I’d rather be stuck with.” He kissed my jaw, his touch radiating heat through my entire body.

Would it always feel like this? Would I always crave him with such intensity that it scared me? God, I hoped so. I never expected that my time at NAFTA would change my life so dramatically, at least not my personal life. I’d had my eyes on the prize, but I’d won more than a trophy and bragging rights—I’d also won a partner in life. Solo had blown into my path from out of nowhere, just like the hurricane reputation that preceded him. My instincts had been on high alert from day one when I saw him in that shady bar, and they’d ended up being right on. I knew Solo would be dangerous if I got too close, but I never imagined how exhilarating or fulfilling my life would be if I just let my guard down and invited him in.

“Turn around,” Solo whispered.

“If I do that, we’ll be late to graduation.”

“Who cares?”

“You. You’ll miss all the adoration people will throw your way for being such a big shot.”

“On second thought, we should probably get going.”

I laughed as Solo dropped his hands from my hips, then turned to face him before he could go too far.

“I’m proud of you, you know,” I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back toward me. “When I met you, you were this cocky pilot who couldn’t play well with others, and now—”

“I play well with you?”

I shook my head, groaning. Leave it to Solo to lighten up a serious moment. “Well, you do that well too, but I meant how you are with others. You went from drawing sky penises to actually showing everyone you know your shit and are one of the best pilots in the Navy. That’s a pretty radical change.”

“Well, I haven’t grown up that much. I’d still like to go up there and draw something obscene in the sky for graduation.”

“You would not.”

“I would.”

“Solo, you can joke about it all you want, but you know as well as I do that you don’t have to do something crazy like that for attention. Everyone can already see how amazing you are, like Levy. Hell, even my father.”

Like he was uncomfortable with the compliments, Solo shrugged and looked away. But I wasn’t having that. Not today.

I held his chin, forcing him to look at me, because I wanted him to hear this next part, really hear it. “You know who would think you’re even more amazing if they were here? Your family. God, their jaws would be on the fucking ground watching you. And your brother? I know you idolized him, but I think he’d be thinking the same thing about you today.”

Solo’s eyes grew watery, his jaw quivering ever so slightly. “I hope I…” He shook his head, and I dropped my hand from his face as he wiped at his eyes. “I just want to make them proud. I fucked it all for so long—”

“You were grieving. You acted out. You’re human, as much as you hate to admit it, and hey, maybe drawing dicks in the sky was cathartic for you.”

A choking laugh left Solo. “Well, as long as we’re talking sentimental shit, the fact that you gave your father such an epic beat-down told everyone who the boss in your family is. You took out a fucking legend. I know you hated the fact that people assumed you skated through the Navy because of your name, but if anyone is still stupid enough to believe that, I will cut their shit off.”

My head fell back as I burst into laughter. “Oh God. My own personal bodyguard—”

“Fucking people’s shit up. Yes.” Solo grinned.

As my laughter faded, I leaned in and kissed him softly. “Thank you,” I murmured against his lips. “For saying what you did about me and my father.”

“What can I say? I’m your number one fan.” He kissed me again as a horn began to blare outside my room. Just like with the Navy Ball, we’d all rented a couple of limos, but this time I wouldn’t be going alone.

I pulled back and looked over my man, making sure everything was perfectly in place. Dear God, he was gorgeous. Seriously breathtaking, especially in his dress whites.

“Perfection,” I said, and as the horn blasted again, I held my hand out. “You ready to graduate at the head of the class?”

Solo laced his fingers through mine. “Damn right. Let’s do it.”

IT WAS STRANGE… I’d always expected this day, the day I proved my worth to everyone, to be the best day of my life. Instead, the ceremony had passed in a bit of a blur as I thought about what would come next.

The graduation itself was held outside on the tarmac under the glaring summer sun, a makeshift stage in the center with several jets stationed behind it. Speeches were made by our commanding officers, as well as the head of NAFTA, and then Solo and I had been presented with our awards. We each received the Elite trophy, and the plaque that had been updated with our names would be seen by all who entered NAFTA.

As proud as I felt to have made it through and come out on top with Solo beside me, the magnitude of what I’d accomplished no longer felt all-important. It felt good, don’t get me wrong, but even if I hadn’t won, I couldn’t say I’d feel any different than I did standing on the stage to the wild applause of my family and fellow trainees. Though seeing my father actually smile was definitely one of the highlights.

“Christ, it’s a scorcher,” Solo said under his breath as he pulled at his collar. “Who thought long-sleeved uniforms in the middle of summer was a good fuckin’ idea?”

“I think it’s almost over.” I nodded toward Commander Levy, who had taken over the microphone and seemed to be wrapping it up. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, he said, “Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen,” and several confetti cannons boomed, coating the crowd with the colored paper. On such a hot day I wasn’t sure sweat and confetti was the best combination, but hey, it looked festive, and today was all about celebration, after all.

“Finally,” Solo said, jumping to his feet. “The drinks and AC are calling.”

Trophy in hand, I followed him through the crowd, which was quickly migrating to the auditorium for the reception, clearly as in jeopardy of heat stroke as we were.

Once we were inside…sweet relief. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand and entered the room with Solo, only to stop in my tracks at the visual in front of us. The auditorium wasn’t just decorated for the occasion, oh no. There were so many balloons and streamers and photo background opportunities that it would suffice for any child’s birthday party.

“Is there a petting zoo too?” Solo said.

“I’m scared to find out. Come on.” I nudged his elbow. “Time for those drinks.”

But we didn’t manage to get even two feet away before someone behind us called our names. I turned to see what Commander Levy wanted, but all I could focus on were the envelopes in his hand.

38 Solo

I KNEW EXACTLY what was coming when Levy stopped us from our much-needed trip for alcohol, and the envelopes he carried only proved it.

He was about to give us our next missions. The time I’d carved out here with Panther had already come to an end, and once we opened those envelopes, everything would change.

“Gentlemen,” he said, holding out his hands. “Congratulations on being top of the class. How does it feel?”

“Well deserved,” I said at the same time Panther replied, “Incredible.”

Commander Levy shook his head and tried to hold back a smile, but I knew he’d miss my antics when I was gone. I mean, who wouldn’t?

“Well, no one can say you lack confidence, Solo, that’s for sure.”

“I’m pretty sure no one’s said that since the first hop, sir.” The one where the massive rendition of my cock and balls were on display for everyone in the city to see.

He let out a long sigh. “I see you’re going to make me regret this.”

“Regret what, sir?”

Commander Levy tapped the envelopes in his palm as he looked between the two of us. “As you know, the Elite is not just a training program for the best of the best. It also opens up job opportunities for those who do well, and you two weren’t just top of the class, you’re also two of the most talented pilots we’ve seen come through here. I don’t say that lightly or to blow up your ego”—he directed that toward me—“but to let you know that you have options, should you wish to consider them.”

“Options?” Panther said. “Like the ability to choose our missions? Or destinations?”

“It’s a little more than that.”

Panther and I looked at each other, the confused expression on his face matching the way I felt.

“Uh… I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Panther finally said for the both of us.

After we set our trophies down on the ground by our feet, Commander Levy handed me three envelopes and then gave three to Panther. “Based on your strengths, we’ve been in communication with those who could offer you a different path in your career. It’s up to you to decide what that may be.”

Oh, shit. My blood pumped harder through my veins to catch up with the rapid pace my heart was beating out. I didn’t want to get my hopes up that Panther and I could somehow end up in the same place, but…fuck. What if that was exactly what these envelopes meant?

I looked at Panther, who was still staring down at the letters in his hand. When he looked up at me, I could see the hesitation and excitement in his eyes.

“Please,” Commander Levy said, gesturing for us to open them.

I tore into the first one, trying to hide the fact that my hand was shaking, but fuck, this was my future, something I’d never given much thought to before Panther but was now all I could think about.

Please don’t be the maintenance crew of the next Elite team.

I read over the letter quickly, but when the full scale of what it said hit me, I had to read it again.

I jerked my head up. “Are you serious?”

“Like I said,” Levy replied. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“What does it say?” Panther asked.

What I held in my hand left me speechless. I handed Panther the letter, and as he read over it, his jaw dropped.

“Holy shit,” he said.

I nodded. “I know.”

“This is for real?”

“While Solo may be a bit of an unorthodox choice for our teaching methods, we believe his outside-the-box thinking could prove useful for future Elite trainees,” Levy said.

“You’re offering me a job here?” I said, needing clarification even though I’d read the letter twice. “As an instructor?”

Commander Levy inclined his head. “If you’d like to join us, we think you’d be an asset to our team. Provided you stay within the parameters, of course, but your growth over your time here hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

“Sir, are you telling me you think I can color in the lines now?” I couldn’t help the massive grin I gave him, because he had lost his damn mind. Never in a million years had I expected anyone to hand me an instructor position, and never one at NAFTA. But I would take it in a heartbeat—depending, of course, on what the rest of the envelopes contained and what Panther chose.

Commander Levy finally cracked a smile. “I’m telling you there’s potential in you, Lieutenant Morgan. Don’t let me down.”

I quickly tore open the other two letters, one an instructor position in Charleston and the other my choice of missions. By the end of the third letter, my head was spinning, but I still needed to know what Panther’s options were before I made any decisions.

Nudging him in the side, I gave him a small smile and nodded toward his unopened envelopes. “Your turn, Lieutenant Hughes.”

He swallowed as he slid his thumb beneath an opening in the envelope and made a clean break. As he read over the letter silently, my anticipation got the best of me.

“Okay, you’ve got to read that out loud, for the love of God,” I said. “What does it say?”

“It’s an offer…to join the Blue Angels.”

“What?”

“The Blue Angels.” Panther looked at me. “They want to offer me a spot in their upcoming season.”

Now my jaw dropped. “Wow.”

“Yeah…”

“I don’t imagine it gets much better than being a badass showpiece for the Navy.”

“It’s rare for anyone to get an offer from them,” Commander Levy said. “But the chief happened to have a meeting here the day you won against your father, and let’s just say she was impressed.”

I let out a low whistle. “Talk about good timing. They’ll be lucky to have you.”

“I didn’t say yes yet,” Panther said.

“What’s gonna beat that?”

“I don’t know, let me look.” The next letter he read out loud for my sanity, and it was a choice of missions also in prime locations. I skimmed my letter and compared it to his. We matched on two.

That was something. It wasn’t the Blue Angels, but it was more than we’d hoped for. With hope flaring inside me, Panther opened the third envelope, but he didn’t get a chance to read it out loud when I saw the same words that had been on mine.

“No fucking way,” I shouted, jumping in the air, and when everyone in the near vicinity turned my way, I waved them off. “Nothing to see here. Carry on.”

Panther looked up at Commander Levy. “You want me as an instructor here too?”

“We’d be crazy not to ask you. You exhibit the ideal conduct, skills, and talent of an Elite winner and of the Navy.”

“Thank you, sir,” Panther said, and then read over the letter again. “Wait—does this offer mean only one of us can accept it?”

“It’s extended to the both of you separately, so one or both of you can accept a position with us. On your own, the two of you are damn fine fighter pilots, but together you’re a force that almost can’t be beat. That’s something we could use here.”

With wide eyes, we looked at each other. This couldn’t be possible, could it? That we could somehow end up in the same place at the same time? Finding a way to stay together had been impossible ten minutes ago, and even now, with the letters in our hands, the offers in writing so that we couldn’t say we’d imagined it…it felt unreal.

When neither of us could say anything, Commander Levy cleared his throat. “Understandably you’ll need time to review your options, so please take the rest of the weekend to think it over. We’ll need your decisions first thing Monday morning.” He went to turn away, but then added, “Of course, if you choose not to reenlist, you also have the option to take on a civilian job.”

“That won’t be necessary, sir,” one of us said, but I couldn’t tell if it was me or Panther because my whole body had gone numb. I couldn’t feel a fucking thing.

Commander Levy gave us one last nod. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, gentlemen, and congratulations again.”

Panther and I didn’t move a muscle as Commander Levy walked away. Maybe Panther was as dumbstruck as I was. Actually, there was no maybe about it. I could feel the shock pouring off him, and it was long after Levy had left when we finally turned to face each other.

“I don’t think I’m processing what just happened,” Panther said.

“Neither am I.”

“Did we really just get offers, plural?”

“We did.”

“So I didn’t just make that shit up?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Fuck me.” When Panther tried and failed to shake off the dazed look on his face, I wrapped my arms around him, uncaring of who was around or the fact that we were in the presence of some of the higher-ups that had just offered us a job. I needed to hold him, my anchor, the one person who could keep my feet firmly planted on the ground even when my head and ego were swelling to the size of a hot-air balloon.

“We did it,” Panther said. “You and me.”

I pulled back just enough to look at him. Those blue eyes were lighter than I’d ever seen them before. Pure, unfiltered happiness radiated from them, and I grinned at the excitement vibrating out of every pore in his body. Hell, it matched my own.

Unable to stop myself, I kissed him, stealing his breath and taking it for my own. His mouth opened without hesitation, hungry for what so obviously belonged to him. The kiss was both velvety soft and utterly ravenous, melting my brain to liquid the way only Panther could do. Minutes, hours, they meant nothing when we joined together like this.

“Get a room!” Gucci shouted, and cheers and whistles followed.

Reluctantly, I let my lips fall from Panther’s, a temporary pause, because they’d be right back on him in a few hours.

“You know.” Panther cocked his head, his arms still firmly around my waist. “I think I’m liking this winning thing.”

It wasn’t what I’d expected him to say, and laughter bubbled out of my throat. “Yeah? Well, I think we’re gonna be pretty damn happy with this winning thing when it’s all said and done.”

“Mhmm. I guess we have a lot to think about, huh?”

“Yeah. I guess we do.”

As we stood there wrapped in each other like no one else in the room existed, I knew that no matter what we decided, this thing we had, this bond, was stronger than whatever job we took, whatever obstacle we faced. Nothing in the world had ever been so right since we’d found each other, so whatever happened next? Piece of friggin’ cake.

“Tell you what,” I said. “How about celebratory drinks first, make the hard decisions later?”

Panther’s handsome face broke into a brilliant smile, the one I lived and died for. “With you? Abso-fuckin’-lutely.”

Epilogue

2.5 YEARS LATER

PANTHER

“HOW THE HELL did all this stuff fit in our tiny-ass apartment? Are you sure they didn’t pack up someone else’s house?” Solo craned his neck up at the full-to-overflowing moving truck that had just arrived and shook his head. “That can’t all be ours.”

“It better be. We’re paying these guys by the hour.”

“Shiiit. Maybe we should’ve bought a bigger place.”

I hooked my finger over the waistband of Solo’s jeans and tugged him toward me so he faced our amazing view instead of the overwhelming pile of stuff we were leaving the movers to deal with. “Look at this place. If you think there’s anything better in the world, you can think again.”

Solo looked over my shoulder, and I knew he was taking in our dream house and the unbelievable views. “We’ve waited two years for this. I wouldn’t care if we moved in with just a mattress and some ramen. It would still be worth every second of living on base to finally get here.”

“And worth every penny we spent on the extension, which you haven’t even seen yet.”

I leaned in to nip at his lower lip and grinned. “Then I guess you should take me upstairs to see our bedroom, Lieutenant Commander Morgan.”

“Mmm, I like the way that sounds coming out of your mouth.” Solo placed a quick kiss on my lips, grabbed my hand, and waved at the movers, who were currently lowering the ramp to start the load-in. “Thanks, guys. Everything’s labeled.”

He didn’t stick around for a response, making a run for the front door so fast that my arm nearly came out of the socket as I was dragged behind him. I lost my grip on his hand as we stepped inside, and he bounded up the stairs to what had originally been a small loft and storage space, but that we’d both agreed when we bought the house would be the perfect master bedroom. Getting the work permit alone had taken over a year, and add in all the time spent building the addition and it had taken much longer than expected, but the timing couldn’t have been better in the end. With my tour schedule with the Blue Angels coming to an end, it meant my weekends were no longer dedicated to air shows around the country. Despite my time with them being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that had been nothing short of incredible, I was looking forward to sharing more than just four nights a week with Solo.

Here. In our gorgeous dream home in Mesamir. No big deal.

“Close your eyes,” Solo said from the landing, watching me climb up to the top.

“I can’t close my eyes. I’ll trip.”

“Just do it. I’ve got you.”

I stopped moving and did as he said, and a few seconds later Solo’s warm hands wrapped around mine, guiding me slowly up the rest of the way. If he wanted to build anticipation, he had me.

“This is what I get for letting you take over the project,” I said, carefully finding my footing on the steps.

“Letting me? Just when do you think you would’ve found the time to mastermind such a feat?”

“You of all people should know how well I multitask.”

Solo clearly got the sexual innuendo loud and clear, because he let out a tortured moan. “Fuck yes I do, and you’re going to thank me when you open your eyes. You can do that in a whatever form of payment you’d like: on our killer new bed, in the shower, bent over the kitchen island—”

“I get the picture.”

“Not yet you don’t. Okay, you’re on the landing now, but keep your eyes closed. Promise?”

“I promise.”

Solo let go of my hands, and I felt him move in next to me. “Ready? Okay…open them.”

The first thing I noticed was that I was staring straight ahead at the sky, because one entire wall of the bedroom had been turned into glass. The result was stunning, all that blue sky melting into the ocean below us…

“Wow,” I breathed. “This is…” I didn’t have the words, and I hadn’t even seen the rest of it yet.

Solo laughed and reached for my hand. “Speechless, huh? Just wait.”

He led me into the bedroom, and I tried to take it all in, but damn, there was so much to blow my mind that I barely knew where to start. Luckily, Solo was good at picking up on my thoughts and began to point out the new additions.

“We were able to track down the same wooden floors that were used in the rest of the house, which is a good thing, because I know that non-matching shit would’ve eventually driven you crazy.” He pointed to the bed, a massive focal point of crisp white sheets and a million pillows in varying shades of grey. “A California king, perfect for those sexy, long legs of yours.”

I sat down on the edge of the bed, ran my hand over the charcoal bedspread neatly tucked in on the lower half, and practically purred. “Oh, babe. You really do love me.”

“More than you could possibly know.”

“I think you’ve done a pretty damn good job of showing it.”

“Yeah? You like it?”

“Are you kidding? I fucking love it.”

Solo moved to the wall opposite the bed, where flames danced inside a sleek, modern fireplace. “What about this? Can you imagine spending all night in bed with this baby in the background?”

“Hell yes, I can. It’s perfect.” My eyes trailed up to the framed picture that hung above the fireplace, a picture of two jets side by side in the sky—

“Recognize this?”

I jumped off the bed to get a closer look, and when I realized what I was looking at, I gasped. “How did you… How?”

“I asked Levy to get a shot of us during instructor training. Not bad, huh?”

The angle of the photo meant Levy must’ve been in front of us, because it was a head-on shot that showed Solo and me in F/A-18A Hornets gliding over the clouds side by side. Even though I’d taken the offer with the Blue Angels, I still acted as a guest instructor during time off, which meant going through another round of training with Solo. How Levy had managed to get this shot of us was beyond me, but it was incredible.

“Solo, this is unreal.” I turned, gesturing to the rest of the room. “This is all unreal. I can’t believe you did all this. It’s just…” There I went again. Completely lost for words.

“I’m glad you love it.” A shy, proud smile crossed Solo’s face, and God… I couldn’t love him any more than I did right then.

My fingers twitched; I wanted to grab the ring I’d hidden in my pocket and give it to him right then, but no. I’d had this thing planned for so long that I could wait a little longer for the perfect moment.

After all, what were a couple more hours in the span of forever?

SOLO

PANTHER DIDN’T HAVE to say a word—it was all right there in his eyes. When I’d told him I was taking over the renovation, I knew exactly what he’d love, and no matter the price, I’d made it happen. It had all been worth it to see the look he was giving me now.

“There’s more,” I said.

“I’m not sure if my heart can take much more.” He pressed a palm against his chest and took a deep breath. “Okay, show me.”

“These,” I said, heading over to the glass doors, “are pocket doors. Check this out.” I slid one side open, the door disappearing into the wall of glass, and then I did the same to the other side. The effect was such that it looked like the bedroom was somehow outdoors, the space just one wide-open room.

I stepped out onto the terrace, where the retaining walls were low enough that, even sitting at the table in front of the outdoor fireplace, we’d still be able to see the ocean.

“Now this is heaven,” Panther said as he came up beside me. “Oh, hey, we can have dinner up here when it’s nice.”

“Which is every night in Southern California.”

He grinned. “Exactly. And lounges too, huh? Just how private is this terrace?”

“Damn near a hundred percent, unless there are perverts out in boats using binoculars. Why?”

Panther reached for me, gripping the front of my shirt and moving in close. “I was just thinking about that night we came here and jumped the fence…”

I groaned and, needing him even closer, reached down to grab his ass, hauling him against me. “Trespassing on our own property…”

“It wasn’t ours then.”

“No, but if you ever need a repeat of your one night of criminal behavior, feel free to let me know.”

Panther nipped at my lip, asking for entrance. “I think we could find ourselves enough trouble on this terrace, don’t you think?”

“Fucking count on it.” I closed the gap between us, but barely got a taste of him before we heard a loud thump outside the bedroom door, followed by footsteps, and then a couple of the movers appeared in the doorway.

“Mr. Morgan,” one of the guys called out. “We’ve got a chair here that was marked for the master bedroom. This it?”

I kept Panther right where he was in front of my body to hide my erection and nodded. “Yeah, come on in. There should be two, and they can go on either side of the fireplace.”

“You got it.”

As they hauled in the furniture, I brushed my lips across Panther’s. “I think these movers are going to get more than they bargained for if you don’t stop teasing my dick.”

“Guess I’ll have to be stealthy.”

I grinned. “Your specialty.”

I squeezed his ass, and Panther moaned against my lips, and fuck, who could resist that sound? I angled my head toward his and stole his lips again, sweeping my tongue into his mouth.

Good thing it always seemed to be what Panther wanted too.

Another loud thump made me look back to make sure nothing was getting destroyed in there. When I was satisfied nothing seemed to be wrong, I turned back to Panther.

“So,” he said, running his hand down my chest. “I’ve been meaning to ask. You sure you’re still okay with me coming on as an instructor at NAFTA? You’ve been there a couple of years now, so it’s kind of your territory—”

“Fuck that. You know I’ll be better behaved with you around more.”

Panther lifted a brow. “I don’t know about that.”

“Levy is practically drooling to have you, and trust me, I’d rather deal with those little punk hotshots with you whooping their ass in hops.”

Laughing, Panther nodded. “I did learn a few new tricks since graduation that I can put to good use.”

“Mhmm. But living together, working together now… I hope that’s not too much me for you.”

“Trust me, I’ve been counting down the days until I get you back twenty-four seven.”

“You might regret that countdown.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” I lifted his hand up to my mouth and kissed each of his fingertips before entwining them with mine. “As much as I can’t wait to see you back in your uniform at NAFTA, I have to admit I’m going to miss that sexy little Blue Angels flight suit.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I got to keep it. I’ll even let you take it off me later.” Panther winked, and shit, there went my dick again.

Over his shoulder, I could still see the guys in our bedroom, so I moved us out of the doorway and over to the edge of the terrace. This side had the best view, because not only could you see Huntington Beach directly below, but also the Black Rock Cliffs that would always, in my mind, be synonymous with Panther and the two of us together. It was one of the main reasons we’d been drawn to this house, but there was still one more thing Panther hadn’t yet seen.

“Look up,” I said, pointing at a spot off in the distance. “I want you to see something.”

Panther squinted up at the sky. “What am I looking for?”

“Just wait for it. You’ll know.”

As we stood there in silence, my chin resting on his shoulder, I thought back to how far we’d come to get to this moment. From getting shot down by Panther at that sketchy bar to being rivals at the Elite, to friends and lovers, and now, each other’s forever. Never once had I questioned that someday we’d end up here, in a home we owned together, watching sunsets and planning the rest of our lives together.

“There it goes.” Far enough away that we couldn’t hear the takeoff, but close enough we could see it from where we stood, a 737 ascended over the ocean at an angle. It left from the same airport by the abandoned park, where we’d watched takeoffs and landings from the rusted merry-go-round.

“Now we can watch from our place anytime we want. No tetanus shot required.”

Panther smiled, his gaze trained on the plane disappearing into the clouds. “I love you, you know that? I can’t believe you did all this.”

“Well, I didn’t arrange the plane—”

“You think that makes the rest of this any less impressive?” Panther shook his head and then met my eyes over his shoulder. “You thought of everything. Thank you.”

I kissed the tip of his nose. “I love you. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”

“I do.”

My heart skipped at those two simple words. Would I hear them again tonight, when I asked him the most important question of our lives? The one I’d been planning on asking for months now and had just been waiting for this day to finally arrive?

Fuck yes, I would hear those words from him. I never did anything halfway, never asked a question I didn’t already know the answer to. Panther was mine, and he had been from the first moment I saw him, even if at first he’d tried his best to deny it. He wouldn’t be denying me tonight, and goddamn I was ready.

As another jet took off in the distance, capturing Panther’s attention, I could practically feel the heat and weight of the ring where it rested in my jeans pocket. I ran through the timing of my plan in my head, making sure that even with the moving happening downstairs that everything was still on track. Then I grinned against the sun-warmed skin of Panther’s neck, loving that I had one last secret before he knew everything.

And just how was I planning to propose to the love of my life?

It was classified.

Thank You

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About Brooke Blaine

About Brooke

Brooke Blaine is a USA Today Bestselling Author of contemporary and LGBT romance that ranges from comedy to suspense to erotic. The latter has scarred her conservative Southern family for life, bless their hearts.

If you’d like to get in touch with her, she’s easy to find - just keep an ear out for the Rick Astley ringtone that’s dominated her cell phone for years. Or you can reach her at www.BrookeBlaine.com.

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About Ella Frank

If you’d like to get to know Ella better, you can find her getting up to all kinds of shenanigans at:

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Ella Frank is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Temptation series, including Try, Take, and Trust and is the co-author of the fan-favorite contemporary romance, Sex Addict. Her Exquisite series has been praised as “scorching hot!” and “enticingly sexy!”

Some of her favorite authors include Tiffany Reisz, Kresley Cole, Riley Hart, J.R. Ward, Erika Wilde, Gena Showalter, and Carly Philips.

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