“Oh God.” Jack sucked in a sharp breath, his head falling back against the couch, eyes closed.

  “Jack…”

  “Yes. Whatever you want. Anything.” Jack opened his eyes, his intense silver gaze locked on Fitz, who had no intention of unpacking all the emotions and unspoken words in that gaze.

  Unable to bring himself to reply, Fitz scrambled to unbutton Jack’s pants. He slipped his hand beneath Jack’s underwear and pulled out his thick, hard cock. Whoever said size wasn’t everything clearly had never had their hands on Jack. With a whimper, Fitz pushed the elastic waistband of his yoga pants down. They were both rock-hard, their rosy tips leaking precome, which Fitz used to ease the friction as he jerked them both off.

  “Fuuuck.” Jack sat forward suddenly, making Fitz gasp. He thrilled Fitz by wrapping an arm around his waist as he rolled them onto the couch, Fitz beneath him. He was strong, so much stronger than he looked. Their lips once again found each other, and Jack thrust into Fitz’s hand over and over.

  “Yes,” Fitz said with a gasp, his toes curling and his eyes practically rolling into the back of his head from how damn good it felt, at least until Jack started kissing his neck. Then he was on the verge of coming right then. “Don’t stop.”

  Jack propped himself on his elbows, one to each side of Fitz’s head, his fingers slipping into Fitz’s hair as he sucked, licked, and nibbled his way down Fitz’s neck.

  “Dolcezza,” Jack whispered into Fitz’s ear, and although Fitz wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, he heard the affection in Jack’s tone, along with the warning that he was close.

  “I want you to come.”

  Jack buried his face in Fitz’s hair, his growl muffled as he pumped himself into Fitz’s hand, his muscles stiffened as he came. Fitz quickly followed, his hot semen joining Jack’s over his hand as he trembled from his release, his body tight before he all but sank into the couch cushions, and not from Jack’s weight. If Fitz wasn’t careful, he could get used to the feel of Jack on him and the odd sense of peace that washed over him. Having Jack here like this, in his arms, shouldn’t feel as right as it did. As if he’d always been there.

  Fitz expected Jack to quickly get off him, either eager to leave or apologize, but he did neither. Instead he nuzzled Fitz’s temple, then placed a tender kiss there, the fingers of his left hand absently stroking Fitz’s hair.

  “Your hair is so soft,” Jack murmured, his voice a lovely quiet rumble that warmed Fitz from head to toe. Fitz wouldn’t have taken Jack for a cuddler. “Sorry.” Jack laughed softly. “That’s probably a weird thing to say after what we just did, but I’ve been thinking it for so long, I had to just say it.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I love it.” He pushed himself onto his elbows and met Fitz’s gaze. “Then again, there’s not a whole lot not to like about you.”

  Fitz smiled warmly at him. “How do you know? You barely know me.”

  “I know you’re not just beautiful, but incredibly smart, talented, strong, and driven.”

  “And you know this how?”

  Jack’s lips curled up, like he welcomed the challenge. “You weren’t one of the fashion world’s most sought-after hairstylists because of your looks. You’re incredibly talented. I’ve seen your work. Yes, I googled you. More than once.”

  “Are you blushing?”

  “Shush. You also decided you wanted to open your own business, and you made it happen. You had a dream home in mind, so when the time was right, you made that happen too. Your salon is high-end, but you’re always inviting people who can’t afford you to come see you after hours, where you style them free of charge. When I met you, you were almost in hysterics after a shootout, but not out of fear for your own safety, but because you didn’t know what had happened to your best friend.” Jack placed a little kiss on the tip of Fitz’s nose. “You, Fitz Harlow, are a good person.”

  Fitz swallowed hard and fought back the tears that stung the backs of his eyes. No one in his life, other than Laz—and his recently acquired friends—had ever believed that of him.

  “Thank you.”

  “I never say anything I don’t mean.” Jack’s smile widened. “Unless I’m getting back at Ace for something; then I’ll bullshit with the best of them.”

  It should have been strange, lying on the couch with Jack on top of him after giving the guy a hand job, but it wasn’t. He’d never had a guy just be with him, especially after sex.

  “Are you uncomfortable?” Jack asked him.

  “No. It’s a little intense.”

  “I’ll move.” Jack made to get up, but Fitz stopped him.

  “I didn’t say I didn’t like it. It’s just… new. Doesn’t this sort of thing happen after the date?”

  Jack shifted them so they were lying on their sides facing each other. “How’s that?” His smile reached his eyes, the little creases at the corners very attractive.

  “This is nice,” Fitz admitted, splaying his fingers on Jack’s chest. “You’re sticky.” He awkwardly removed his hoodie, then cleaned them both off before tossing it over his shoulder onto the floor. “You said something earlier. In Italian, I think.”

  “Oh, um, yeah. It means sweetness.”

  Fitz didn’t know why that made him feel so ridiculously happy. “I like that. Do you speak much Italian?”

  “I speak seven languages, in addition to English.”

  “Seven?” Fitz gaped at him. “Fluently?”

  Jack nodded. “Italian, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, and Farsi. The last three I learned during my years of service, the others while I was in school.”

  “How?”

  “I have a knack for communication. From an early age, I possessed the ability to retain detailed information after seeing or hearing something, and can duplicate or mimic it. I learn very quickly.”

  “And you don’t forget any of it?”

  “If I don’t practice something, I might get rusty, but it doesn’t go away.”

  Fitz traced the V of Jack’s T-shirt collar, his fingers itching to feel Jack’s skin. “I’ve heard the guys call you MacGyver.”

  “Duct tape can solve many a problem,” Jack said with a chuckle. “Sadly, I have never built a hot air balloon out of old clothes, a parachute, refrigerator parts, and glue.” Jack rubbed a hand over his hair. “You’re the expert. How would I look in a mullet?”

  Fitz snickered. “How about no. That’s one fashion trend that needs to stay back in the era it belongs.” He leaned in and kissed Jack, loving the way Jack returned his kisses, slowly, as if they had all the time in the world and he wanted to savor every second. He stroked Fitz’s cheek, like he couldn’t stop himself from needing to feel some part of Fitz’s skin. With a smile, Fitz let his forehead rest against Jack’s. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  “Never apologize for needing to take care of yourself. Self-care is important. I learned that the hard way a long time ago.”

  “Red mentioned you and the guys lived with King for a while when you got back.” Fitz snuggled close and inhaled Jack’s scent. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of Jack’s arm around him, holding him close.

  “Yeah. We were a mess, always angry, itching for a fight. But you don’t want to hear about all that.”

  “Talking about the darkness can sometimes bring a little light into it. I’ll always be here to listen.”

  Jack’s breath hitched. “Really?”

  Fitz nodded. He pulled back enough so Jack could look down at him and see he meant it. “It’s part of you, Jack. Whatever you want to share about that time in your life, the good, the bad, the painful, I want to know.” He cupped Jack’s cheek and rubbed his thumb across the light stubble that had grown in. “I want to get to know you. All of you.”

  “Okay. There are some things I can’t talk about. I can’t give you specific details of places we went to or what we did there.”

  “I understand.” Fitz laid his head back down. If he wanted to be with Jack, he had to accept the secrets. He should have hesitated at the thought, but somehow, with Jack, he didn’t.

  “I sort of shut down. Locked myself in my room and spent most of my time in bed. Not sleeping, mind you. Sleeping was something none of us wanted to do. If I went to sleep, we’d see them, the brothers who didn’t make it back.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Every time I closed my eyes, I’d see them, I’d see Sacha on the ground, bloodied and unconscious. I thought I’d lost him too. He was so still. I moved on instinct, had no idea who else was alive. There was so much smoke and dirt, my vision was blurry, and my ears were ringing. Everything was on fire, and my body hurt like nothing I’d ever felt, but I just kept moving. I had to get to him.” Jack absently stroked Fitz’s side beneath his shirt, his voice quiet and calm. “When I finally did, I checked him over and found he was alive and breathing normally. I cried with relief. That’s when I heard Ace shouting for us to move. I grabbed Sacha, got him over my shoulder, and went in search of the others. Sacha stirred, half in, half out, asking for Echo.”

  “Was he one of your fellow Green Berets?”

  “She was. She was Sacha’s K-9. A Belgian Malinois like Chip but fawn colored with a black mask. He wasn’t supposed to get attached to her, but Sacha’s never met a dog he didn’t fall in love with.” Jack chuckled. “He prefers them to most people.”

  Fitz smiled at that. Sounded like Joker all right. He swallowed hard. “What happened?”

  “Her job was to detect explosives, but something went wrong that day. We didn’t stand a chance. Echo couldn’t be found, so her body wasn’t brought home. It hit Sacha hard. I know it sounds absurd, mourning a dog when we lost good men, but Echo was a soldier too. She had our backs, looked out for us, and helped with morale. She made us laugh a lot.” Jack sniffed, and Fitz closed his eyes to fight back his own tears. He wrapped an arm around Jack and held him tight, offering what comfort he could.

  “Anyway, we got back, and it was bad. Sacha and I couldn’t even be in the same room. I couldn’t stop crying, and he just wanted to lay out anyone who so much as looked at him. The fights he, Red, Ace, and Lucky got into were scary. I shut down. Locked myself up in my room, scared the shit out of King. He was afraid I’d do something to hurt myself, or worse.”

  “Would you have?” Fitz asked softly.

  “I thought about it. A lot. We were all in therapy, but some of us were on the verge of quitting, feeling it wasn’t helping. Then King lost his shit and dragged us all out of the house, like literally dragged Ace and carried Sacha. He took us to Pip’s house. He was our other medical sergeant, the youngest of our group, and the one who gave everyone their nicknames. It’s like something inside all of us snapped. We started talking to each other, started trying harder at therapy, and visited the families of our fallen brothers. They needed us just as much as we needed them. The more time we spent around them, the more we wanted to help. That’s when King proposed the idea of opening a private security company owned by all of us, equal partners.”

  “Wait, you mean King isn’t the boss?” Fitz teased. It was no secret that the rest of the Kings, Jack, and Joker were more than happy to let King steer the ship.

  “We were used to following his orders, and we were happy to keep doing it. I mean, someone has to be the responsible adult, right?”

  “Right.”

  Jack grew silent long enough for Fitz to shift so he could look up at Jack. “You’ve gone quiet.”

  “Yeah, I’m waiting for you to decide you want off this crazy train.”

  He was so cute. Fitz sat up, and Jack followed him, his legs to either side of Fitz so Fitz’s back was pressed to Jack’s chest. He wrapped his arms around Fitz, who let his hands rest on Jack’s, smiling when Jack laid his chin on Fitz’s shoulder.

  “Or maybe you’d like to join me on this little adventure. See where it takes us?”

  Fitz hummed and pretended to think about it. “On one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  “You don’t go anywhere near my espresso machine.”

  Jack threw his head back and laughed. “You got it.”

  Fitz stood and Jack followed, turning Fitz so he could kiss him. Their tongues danced as Fitz melted into Jack, loving the intimate and gentle way Jack held him, caressed him, made him feel like he couldn’t get enough of Fitz. “I should go,” Jack said against Fitz’s lips. He took a step back. “Even though I don’t want to.” With a groan, he pulled Fitz back into his arms, making Fitz smile. “One more kiss. For the road.”

  “For the road,” Fitz agreed, cupping his face and kissing the breath out of him.

  “Wow. Yeah, that… that doesn’t give me incentive to leave,” Jack said with a pout.

  “Aw, sorry not sorry.”

  Jack shook his head in amusement. He walked backward toward the door, and Fitz was amazed he didn’t bump into anything.

  “Jack?”

  “Yes?”

  “You’re forgetting something.”

  “I haven’t forgotten about our date,” Jack assured him, reaching back for the doorknob. How did he know he’d already reached it?

  “That, and you’re forgetting your laptop.”

  “Oh shit. I need that.” Jack hurried back in, and Fitz put a hand to his mouth to keep from laughing. The guy had no idea how damned adorable he was. Jack shut his laptop, shoved it into his backpack, zipped it up, and then pulled Fitz in for another kiss. “Last one.”

  “God, I hope not,” Fitz said, smiling at Jack’s chuckle.

  “I meant for now. Last one for this second.” Jack kissed him again. “Tell me to go.”

  “Go.”

  “Okay.” After a quick kiss on the lips, he jogged to the door. “I’ll call you.” He paused with the door open. “Do you want me to call you? I can text instead.”

  “Either’s fine,” Fitz said, the butterflies in his stomach going crazy.

  “Okay. Now I’m really going. This is me gone.” He walked out, then poked his head in, a big grin stretching across his handsome face. Of course he had a dimple. “Bye, Fitz.”

  “Bye, Jack.” The door closed, and Fitz turned when his phone went off. With a smile he could barely contain, he picked it up and answered the call. “Hi, Jack.”

  “I don’t have a car.”

  Fitz barked out a laugh.

  “I mean, I have a car. It’s just not here. I was dropped off. Why am I telling you this? Tell me to shut up.”

  “Never.”

  “Ooh, you’re trouble. Don’t encourage me.”

  Fitz couldn’t remember ever having this much fun with someone he was dating. That was what Jack meant when he asked Fitz to join him on this adventure? No one had ever asked him anything like that before. The men Fitz had dated had been vague about their relationship status until Fitz decided to press them on the matter. “Jack?”

  “Yes?”

  “Would you like a ride?”

  “I would love a ride. In your car. Don’t know why I felt the need to clarify that. Not that I’m opposed to a different kind of ride, and oh my God, tell me to shut up!”

  Fitz chuckled. “I’m going to get changed. You are allowed to wait inside the house, you know.” It was probably, like, a million degrees out there.

  “I’m afraid if I go inside I either won’t be able to stop kissing you or won’t be able to stop talking, and I really like you.”

  “I really like you too,” Fitz said, walking into his bedroom. “Do I make you nervous?”

  “What? Pft. No. You don’t—yes. Yes, you do.”

  Jack was killing him. Fitz didn’t know whether he wanted to hug him, kiss him, jump him, or tease him so he kept rambling in that sweet way of his. All the things. Definitely all the things.

  “Come inside,” Fitz said.

  “Oh no. No. Your voice did that sexy, low purring thing. I’m going to wait right here.”

  Fitz hummed. “Suit yourself. If you’d rather wait outside and let the sun heat you up instead of me—”

  “You. Always you,” Jack said from the bedroom doorway.

  Fitz turned, letting out a yelp that turned into a loud laugh when Jack playfully tackled him onto the bed. Happiness Fitz hadn’t felt in a long time bubbled up inside him, making him almost giddy. He’d never felt this before with anyone. It was both exciting and terrifying. As Fitz lost himself in Jack’s kisses, he dared to hope that this time the adventure didn’t end in heartbreak.

  SIX

  “What’s that?” Fitz glanced over at Laz, whose attention was suspiciously focused on the TV. No taco commercial was that amazing, no matter what Ace said.

  “Why, I do believe that’s a helicopter, Fitz.”

  Grabbing a throw pillow, Fitz chucked it at Laz’s head.

  “I know what a helicopter sounds like, Lazarus. What I want to know is why there’s a Four Kings Security helicopter landing in Colton’s backyard.”

  Laz blinked at him. “Um, I don’t know. Maybe you should ask Jack.”

  At the mention of Jack, Fitz’s heart thundered against his chest, trying to escape. Most likely to get to Jack first. Easy. Play it cool. So what if the guy he was more than a little crazy about flew a helicopter to pick him up for their date. It happened all the time. Probably. Maybe.

  It had been two weeks since Fitz and Jack started seeing each other, and they’d spent almost every day of those two weeks together. Jack would come over after work, and although great intentions were made to go out to a restaurant or movie theater, they always ended up getting distracted. All it took was one kiss, and suddenly they were half naked on the couch with Fitz learning how talented Jack was with his hands and tongue.

  They’d spend hours kissing, licking, sucking, making each other’s toes curl. Fitz lost count of how many times he’d come in one night. Their rumbling stomachs would wake them up, and Fitz would fix them something to eat before they were all over each other again. Fitz attributed their insatiable appetite for each other to their relationship’s newness. He hated that he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. As hard as he tried to bat away the little voice of self-preservation in his head, it continued to pop up, like the world’s most annoying game of whack-a-mole.