It was as simple, and as startling, as that. Never before in her life had she reacted this strongly and this fast to a man, and she somehow knew she never would again. This was only for him. Rick was the One. Her present. Her future. Her destiny.

  She opened the door to her room and walked in, very aware of him following behind. She heard the door click shut, and she turned, waiting as he walked closer. She wasn’t sure who moved first, but they met in the middle, and she put her arms around him, resting her head against his chest and drawing comfort from his warmth.

  She felt him stroking her hair with one hand as the other wrapped around her waist. He felt so good. So strong.

  “You scared the hell out of me when you aimed your little arrows at those harpoon-wielding thugs,” Rick whispered as he held her. “But I was so proud of you. Even as I ran onto the beach, I saw you take them down in quick succession, and I nearly burst with admiration. You were so cool under fire. I didn’t expect that, though after the boat incident, I guess I should have. You’re hell on wheels, Doctor. And I don’t say that to just anyone.”

  She smiled and lifted her head. “I kept reminding myself that you and all those men were waiting in the wings to come to my rescue. I don’t think I would have been able to just stand there and shoot those shark shifters so easily if I didn’t know you were backing me up. To be honest, my knees were trembling the whole time.”

  He grinned down at her. “I couldn’t tell, but don’t worry. So were mine.” He shook his head just once. “I can’t believe how different this morning’s action was from anything I’ve done before. We never put civilians in front of us if we can help it, and we’ve never dealt with shapeshifters before, to our knowledge. It was weird all the way around.”

  “I’m just glad it’s over, and we prevailed,” she told him, reaching up to kiss him.

  She didn’t really want to talk about it. She didn’t want to talk about anything at all. No, right now, she just wanted to kiss him…and more…

  Lynn could have jumped for joy when he responded in kind, his kisses as ardent as she could have wished. They were definitely on the same page when it came to what they wanted to happen next, and she definitely didn’t want to wait one second longer to discover what the passion they could create together. She pushed at his clothing, and he took the hint, shrugging out of his shirt, all the while, helping her loosen and remove her own clothing.

  It didn’t take long at all until she had what she’d wanted…skin on skin. His warm, slightly rough skin against her softer body. His hard muscles against her hands, her arms, her breasts. It was just what the doctor had ordered, and she reveled in the feel of him against her.

  When he moved her suddenly, pushing her up against the wall next to the door, she almost whooped with both surprise and joy. She liked the unexpected move and the intensity of his need for her. She felt the same. She wanted him inside her as soon as possible. She didn’t want to wait. Not this time. There would be time for a slow build up later. For now, she wanted to revel in his body, taking him into her own with eager anticipation.

  Truth be told, she’d been wanting this since the moment the danger was over. Maybe, it was some kind of primitive response to the threat they’d faced, but she wanted to reaffirm her life—and his. She wanted to feel the pleasure he could bring her and give it to him in return. She wanted to share more than just the danger of the morning with him. She wanted to feel the ultimate thrill that closeness between two people could bring. And she wanted it now.

  “Don’t make me wait, Rick,” she breathed against his ear, straining upward to nibble on his earlobe. “Come into me now.”

  He stilled, his muscles tight like a coiled spring. “Are you sure? This isn’t too fast?”

  She shook her head slightly. “I need it fast this time. Finesse later.” She could barely get the words out, her senses climbing quickly as she sensed the nearness of what she wanted. All he had to do was move a little bit and join that hard rod she felt against her leg to her body. All he had to do…

  …was what he was doing. Thanks be to the Mother of All.

  He came into her, giving her what she wanted by slow increments that just about killed her.

  She took it all in, the feel of him, the power. He filled her and completed her in a way she hadn’t expected. She’d never felt this closeness with any man before…and they haven’t even really started yet.

  “Okay?” Rick whispered near her ear as he pinned her against the wall.

  She nodded against his neck. “More than okay,” she moaned back.

  What followed after that brief interaction was something Lynn would never forget. Rick pushed into her, trapping her between the cool wall at her back and his hard, hot body in front. She was surrounded, supported and completely subjugated to his whims in the most delicious way possible. She reveled in the feel of every thrust, the way he drove her passion higher and higher until at last she burst into a thousand happy pieces of pixie dust floating on a cloud of sublime sensation.

  She felt movement and realized Rick had lifted her away from the wall and was walking, still hard inside her, holding her close against his body. It was only a few steps to the bed, but that was enough to reignite the fire of desire in her body. Rick was so strong. And so hard.

  Lynn strained against him as he hovered over her in the bed, sliding into her, again and again, hitting home in this new position in a way that made her want to screech in pleasure. She bit back her cries, not wanting to let everybody in the building know what they were getting up to in her room. Rick was hot and hard and just about perfect as he brought her to another peak.

  Surely, this time, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him, but he coaxed her, and away she went…again. Riding the roller coaster of desire that he seemed to control. When she reached the highest peak yet, he finally fell over it with her, groaning loudly as he came, shuddering in pleasure as they rolled down the hill together. Blissfully aware only of themselves for this beautiful moment out of time.

  Totally wrung out, they cuddled together on her bed, falling into a sated doze after the tumultuous events of the morning and early afternoon. It wasn’t until dinnertime that they woke.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Rick’s phone beeped from somewhere on the floor. It was still in his pocket, in the clothing he’d dropped unceremoniously a few hours before. A second or two later, Lynn’s phone beeped on the bedside table. She reached out one arm and snagged it without moving her head off the pillow then brought it closer to her face.

  Every move she made was just adorable. Even the way she squinted groggily at the screen endeared her more to him. She read something then sat up.

  “I guess our siesta is over,” she said, yawning and looking glum enough about it to make him feel a sense of satisfaction. “Hal just texted me. I think it’s a group text, actually. He says he’ll be back after dinner and will hold a briefing then. We’re all expected to attend.”

  Rick sat up, as well, leaning in to kiss her just one more time. When he drew away—which wasn’t an easy thing to do—he sighed.

  “Duty calls. Let’s get downstairs before they finish serving dinner. We’ll have just enough time to eat before the briefing.” He rolled out of the narrow bed and began fishing around on the floor for his clothes.

  He didn’t don all the gear. Just his shorts and pants. That would be enough to get him through the hallway to his own room where he could change out his mission gear for a less lethal uniform. Gripping his boots in one hand, he walked barefoot toward the door.

  “Stop by my room and get me when you’re ready. We’ll go downstairs together. Okay?”

  He realized as the words came out of his mouth that this might count as a bit of a turning point. The more the unit saw them together, the more it would become clear to everyone that she and he were a couple. Did she want that? Was it too soon? He almost held his breath, waiting to hear what she would say.

  Oh, Lynn liked that idea. She liked it very much. Appearing as a couple after the intimacy they had just shared felt like a big step in declaring their new status to Rick’s friends—the people he thought of as his family. She couldn’t help herself. She felt the smile stretching her lips as she walked up to him.

  Without words, she reached up and kissed him. He was such a special man, and her heart was his already. When she drew back from the kiss, she was still smiling.

  “I like that. We’ll go downstairs together.”

  He grinned back at her. She felt his reluctant departure from her room like he was something being peeled away from her skin. It was as if they were joined, somehow, and any distance between them was both annoying and borderline painful.

  Lynn threw off that thought and quickly grabbed her robe and a change of clothes, heading for the ladies’ showers. She needed to clean up after the exertions of the day before she’d be ready to appear in public.

  After a quick shower, she felt ready to face the world again. The intensely pleasurable interlude with Rick had brought her back to equilibrium after the unaccustomed adrenaline rush of the earlier part of the day. She’d never shot anyone before with her bow, and although she’d done what she’d had to do and didn’t have any qualms about it at the time, the aftermath of realizing what she’d done and how much danger she’d been in almost got to her.

  Rick had known, though. He’d understood and held her through the shakes. More, he’d made her forget all about the danger she’d faced by giving her something so much better to focus on.

  She was so deep in love with the man, it wasn’t even funny. And she didn’t think it was just some sort of hero worship because he’d healed her. Not anymore. Even though their time together had been short, the number of crises they’d faced had expanded their exposure to each other’s deepest thoughts, somehow, creating a closer intimacy than she’d shared with just about anyone.

  She knew him. Deep down, where it counted. She knew the heart of him and the backbone of courage and commitment to a higher purpose that drove him. Certainly, there were many things she didn’t yet know about him. Most of his history was still a mystery, but those were details she looked forward to learning as they spent more time with each other. Nothing would shake her sense of him, now. Not when they’d been through so much in such a short amount of time. That kind of thing forged a strong bond. One that she hoped would last a lifetime.

  They hadn’t spoken of feelings. Not yet. Things had been too intense earlier, and all she’d wanted to do was feel. His warmth. His desire. His passion. She had clung to those things like a lifeline when her emotions were all at sea after the upsetting action of the morning. He’d given her his strength, his calm, and the incredible pleasure she’d only ever felt with him.

  Lynn left the bathroom, leaving her dirty laundry behind in the hamper designated for that purpose, and her shower gear in its caddy in the little cubbyhole with her name on it. She didn’t have to look far to find Rick. He was leaning up against the wall, checking something on his phone just a few yards away.

  He looked up and met her gaze, a slow smile coming over his handsome face. Lynn’s breath caught in her throat. There was an intimacy in the expression on his face that took her breath away. She felt warmed by his regard. A little flame flickered to life inside her, now that she knew just how much pleasure she could find in his arms.

  Then, her stomach growled, and she had to laugh. They had completely missed lunch and had been too busy with other things to worry about snacks. She hadn’t minded one bit. Not at the time. Now, of course, her insides were telling her it was time to refill. She had that hollow feeling that meant she had gone almost too long without a proper meal.

  Rick straightened from his leaning position and waited for her to reach him. He held out one hand, which she took as he tugged her in close for a quick kiss.

  A noise farther down the hallway broke them apart some minutes later. Rick looked up and nodded to one of his comrades. Lynn didn’t see who it was but knew their new status was well and truly not a secret anymore. If it ever had been. They hadn’t been going to any great lengths to hide their budding relationship, and it had all happened so very fast.

  “We’d better get down to dinner before the barbarians eat it all,” Rick quipped as she moved away, and they turned to walk down the hall together.

  She noticed he kept hold of her hand. She hadn’t taken this much pleasure in simply holding hands with a man since she was much younger. Somehow, though, everything was shiny and new with Rick. He made her feel like a teenager with her first crush, again.

  They entered the dining room, and the atmosphere was almost celebratory. The women were back from their little visit to the other side of the island, none the worse for wear. The couples and most of the others were sitting at the big table in the center of the room, and Rick and Lynn joined them.

  There was a difference in the way the room was set up tonight. The usual buffet was still there, but the main course was missing, and nobody had gotten their food yet. The little troop of kitchen staff were going back and forth, still setting things up, and Lynn noticed that some of the single men among the unit members were helping, chatting with the Navy personnel in a friendly way as they worked together.

  When the bustle at the buffet table settled down, the servers stood with the unit members who had been helping along either side of the table along the wall. Hal stood, and all eyes went to the unit’s commander.

  “I’d like to thank everybody for their work today,” he began. “We’ll talk more about the results later, but for now, I think we all deserve our little moment of celebration.” He smiled at his people. “We’re having a little feast tonight, and in honor of our newest team member, Lynn, the main course is fish.”

  Everybody chuckled as Hal gave the nod to the kitchen. The door swung open, and an older man with huge muscles brought out a giant platter with all kinds of cooked fish arranged artfully on it. Some was baked. Some was battered and fried. It all looked absolutely delicious, and Lynn was touched and amused at the gesture.

  The man, who had to be the chef, lay the platter down in the center of the buffet where a space had been reserved for it and stepped back to observe his handiwork. Nodding at the table, he turned and smiled directly at Lynn.

  “Young Liam sends his apologies about the fish you caught. His inner cat was craving a bit of sushi, and he couldn’t resist. But he sent all this along as a replacement,” the man told her, winking as he grinned.

  Everybody laughed once the shifters along the wall started, and a new sort of camaraderie filled the room. She realized then, that something had changed. The dynamic between the Navy shifters in the Army superheroes was definitely shifting. The two groups, which had started out the day quite separate, had begun to form new bonds by working together to defeat a common enemy. She saw it most in the way the kitchen staff seemed to be much freer in their interactions with the men from the unit. They hadn’t been that open before.

  And, if she wasn’t wrong, she thought she saw a few budding romances between the shifter women and some of the unit’s men. Okay. Maybe, they weren’t exactly true matings, but there was definitely a great deal of flirtation and innuendo that could mean a lot of pleasure for both parties, while it lasted.

  In fact, the kitchen crew were eating alongside the rest of the unit. Not at separate tables, as it had been before, but sitting together, intermixed. Lynn thought that was definitely a good step forward in cooperation between the two groups. She watched, amused, as the chef sat down with an older man Lynn had not met before. He wasn’t part of the Army unit, and while his clothing was military in cut and style, it didn’t have any patches or rank insignia on it.

  “That’s Wil’s dad,” Rick said, leaning in to speak in a low tone. He was nodding toward the older man. He must’ve seen the direction of her gaze.

  “He’s the one who was so sick?” Lynn looked even more closely at the older man. He looked hale and hearty. She found it hard to believe that he had been at death’s door only a few weeks before.

  Rick nodded. “He was teetering on the edge of this existence when I first met him,” he confirmed.

  “You’d never know it to look at him now,” she marveled. “Do you think he’d be willing to talk to me about your interaction? For my research,” she clarified, looking back at Rick.

  “I’ll ask him, but I doubt he’d refuse. Wil’s old man is officially retired, but he’ll always be a Green Beret at heart. I think he’d do just about anything for the good of the service. Cooperating with your research is well within those parameters.” Rick stood and politely helped Lynn to rise. They walked over to the buffet, to get in line with the others who were making their way down the table, stacking food onto their plates.

  They chatted with the others in line, commenting on how lovely everything looked. Lynn made a special point to go over and thank the chef. Rick stayed by her side and made the introductions.

  The chef, she learned, was actually Master Chief Santini, and he was a friend of Wil’s dad from way back. Wil’s dad, she also learned, was referred to as Lieutenant Colonel Owens, regardless of the fact that his uniform had no insignia on it. Santini’s didn’t either, Lynn realized, and she thought she understood the dynamic.

  Santini had to be a shifter and had probably been on active duty at the same time as Colonel Owens, back when Rick was just a kid. Maybe even before the majority of the people in the room had been born. The way the two men interacted was clearly a relationship between contemporaries. Lynn could see that from the way they were so easy in each other’s company, and the fact that Colonel Owens chose to sit with the Master Chief, rather than the younger people.

  Lynn and Rick paused only a few minutes to speak with the two, but she learned a great deal and also managed to get in her request to Colonel Owens for a later meeting to discuss his experiences for her research. He agreed readily, for which she was grateful.