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Panther stood beside the bed stretching what had to be sore limbs if he was feeling even remotely the way I was. How the hell I’d manage to peel myself off the bed I didn’t know, because my body was so spent I’d be feeling it for days. Damn. Who knew what an insatiable animal lay under all that good-guy behavior?
As Panther searched the room for his clothes, I toweled myself off with the sheet and then kicked it away. Folding my arms beneath my head, I watched Panther bend over to grab his ruined shirt, that spectacular, well-used ass on full display. I knew he worked out—I’d seen him in the weight room and going for runs—but having a naked Panther standing in front of you was something else entirely.
He took one look at his ruined shirt and shook his head. “What am I supposed to do about this on the ride back?”
“Keep it off. Your body is sexy as fuck. Keep your pants off, too.”
Panther chuckled, and even that low laugh was attractive, the fucker. “I think that might make for an uncomfortable ride.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Plus, I don’t want you to damage anything I might wanna use later.”
Panther looked around the room, clearly searching for a workable solution.
“Just wear your jacket. Mmm, yeah. Jeans, boots, a leather jacket and nothing else—now that’s a visual I can work with after you leave.”
“After I leave?” Panther made his way over to the bathroom door. “You need to get your ass up and get to base after I leave or you’re going to be late.”
“Eh, I’m not worried about a few minutes.”
“A few minutes every day adds up, you know.”
“Yes, sir.” I saluted him from where I lay in bed, and Panther flipped me the bird. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
“A few minutes,” he said. “We’re up against the instructors today, so get your ass out of bed and pretend you care about your spot at the academy.”
“I do care. I’m just focused right now. Is it my fault your ass is distracting me?”
“Get up. Now.”
I sat up and pulled the pillow from under my head, hurling it across the room. It hit Panther’s bare ass right before he disappeared behind the closed door.
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I’d been late a couple times now, and honestly, Commander Levy was probably looking for an excuse to tear me a new one. So I swung my legs over the side of the bed and cracked my neck. From behind the bathroom door I could hear the faucet going—Panther doing a quick cleanup before pulling his jeans on was my guess—and as I got to my feet and stretched my back, I reveled in the delicious ache.
Damn, I’d wanted to feel it this morning, and boy did I. Panther had worked me over, and good. I hadn’t felt this satisfied…ever.
Just as that thought entered my head, the bathroom door opened and Panther stepped out dressed just as I’d suggested. With the overnight stubble and slicked-back hair, it was a miracle my knees didn’t give out.
He looked hot as fuck.
Not worried in the least by my lack of clothing, I walked over to him and reached out to finger the chain of his dog tags, then I hooked my finger behind them and tugged him down to take his lips one last time.
Panther opened to me immediately, taking this final moment before we had to head back to base and pretend nothing had changed since yesterday. But when he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me flush against his body, there was no denying it—everything had changed.
As we pulled apart, Panther reached behind him for the door handle, and I walked to the bathroom, about to go and get ready. But before I could shut the door, I heard him call out my name. Not my real name. But my call sign: Solo.
I glanced back at him, and that was when it became crystal clear that Panther was also feeling things he hadn’t felt the day before, because he’d plastered on that familiar, inscrutable expression. “Don’t think this changes anything. We’re still competitors, you know.”
I knew he was trying to re-establish some distance before we had to see one another in class, but that ship had sailed. There was no erasing this from my mind, no pretending it hadn’t happened. So I ran my eyes down over him and reached for my cock to give it a bold stroke.
“As far as I’m aware, we never stopped being competitors. The only question that’s really left now is which one of us will come out on top next time.”
And with that, I kicked the bathroom door shut behind me.
38 Panther
I ARRIVED AT training with only minutes to spare, after a record-quick shower and change of clothes. The rest of the guys were already in class waiting for today’s brief, and as I stepped through the door and spotted Solo sitting in his usual chair at the back next to Gucci, I had to do a double take to be sure I wasn’t seeing things.
