Page 86 of Strike Fast
Holding his gaze, she slipped her fingers into the denim pocket and pulled out a small pink envelope. she turned the envelope over in her fingers.For Tess, with love from me and my dad, it read in Autumn’s printing.
“Open it,” he murmured, standing so close his breath brushed over her temple and his clean, spicy scent enveloped her.
A little dizzy, Tess did, and pulled out a key tied to a pink velvet ribbon with a tiny silver helicopter charm attached to the end. Awed, Tess looked up into Reid’s eyes, afraid to believe what it meant.
He cupped her face in his hands, looking into her eyes as he spoke. “I’m in love with you, Tess Dubrovski, and I can’t stand being away from you anymore. So Autumn and I went out and found a new two-bedroom apartment just being finished outside Alexandria. We want you to move in there with us when we get possession next month.”
Her chin wobbled and her throat thickened. She’d already looked into getting a transfer to D.C. and they had an opening for her there if she wanted it. “You’re in love with me?” She was still stuck on that part.
Reid nodded, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. “I love you so much it hurts.”
“I love you too,” she whispered, trying like hell to hold it together.
His teeth flashed as he grinned. “I’m damn glad to hear that, sweetheart. And what about—“
“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll move in with you.” She threw her arms around his neck and clung, laughing even as tears flooded her eyes. It seemed surreal, to have found a love like this after she’d become a widow and thought that part of her life was over forever. Reid had made her brave enough to love again.
He made a low, hungry sound in the back of his throat and then his mouth was on hers, his body pressing her into the side of the vehicle. Tess kissed him back with every ounce of love and passion in her, letting out a squeak when he hauled her off her feet and bodily put her into the SUV.
“Should we tell the others?” she asked breathlessly, shoving her hair out of her face as he climbed behind the wheel.
“Later.” He started the engine and reversed, swinging them around so fast on the driveway that gravel spewed from beneath the tires. She laughed as he shifted into drive and shot them down the long, straight driveway.
“Looks like someone’s in a hurry to get somewhere,” she teased, climbing to her knees to lean over and nibble on the side of his neck. Her heart felt like it might burst from happiness. She felt free, the rest of her life with him a warm, beckoning glow on the horizon, full of possibility.
He groaned, reaching one hand up to clench in the back of her hair. “Wish we were in a Blackhawk instead. Would be way faster.”
She laughed lightly, her hands busily undoing the button of his jeans. “Oh, but taking the long route is going to be so much more fun.”
His chuckle ended in a tortured groan as she freed his hot, hard length and curled her fist around him. “Whatever you do to me in this car, I’m gonna tease you twice as bad when we get inside that hotel room,” he warned, not doing a thing to stop her.
“Who said anything about teasing?” she murmured, bending down to brush her lips over the swollen head. She knew exactly what he liked now, knew precisely how to take him to the edge…and over it. Just like she knew he would return the favor and then some once they reached the hotel, making her fly higher than she’d ever flown before.
He hissed in a breath, his hand clenching tighter in her hair. “Dammit, Tess, I’m—”
Whatever else he was going to say ended in a strangled growl as she parted her lips and started the real torment. Tess smiled inwardly and set to work driving her big, badass alpha male out of his skull. Because this was the first night of the rest of their lives together, and she was going to make sure neither one of them ever forgot it.
—The End—