“I’m so close,” she writhed, grinding against him. “Please … Lachlan.” She held nothing back, didn’t care if he knew how badly she wanted him. “Faster.”
Lachlan chuckled against her skin. "Impatient as ever." He rolled over, bringing her on top of him. His hands movedpossessively to her hips, guiding her as she repositioned and slid down on him. A surge of confident power raged within her.
“Take what you want,” Lachlan commanded.
She rode him hard, bouncing against him as he bucked into her, triggering sensations that made them both gasp and moan. Sweat dripped from their bodies as they increased to a frenetic pace. With each thrust, the bed thudded against the wall, but neither noticed nor cared. Everything around them fell away until there was only Britt and Lachlan.
"Britt …" Her name was a prayer on his lips. “I’m not going to last much longer …”
“Neither am I,” she cried as her climax ripped through her body, tossing her through rolling waves of pleasure. She clutched his shoulders, nails digging into his flesh as she lost control. “Yes, yes, oh … Lachlan … yes,” her whimpered cries tumbled from her lips.
And Lachlan wasn’t far behind, his orgasm bursting inside of her. As the waves of pleasure calmed, he pulled her tightly to his chest, holding her like his life depended on it.
She snaked her arms around his neck, never wanting to let go. His final words lingered in her ears as she drifted off to sleep. “I love ye, Britt. Thank ye for coming back to me.”
Chapter 37
“I hope you being here means you’re ready to rejoin the land of the living.” Everett held the door open.
“Not exactly.” Ike limped inside, grimacing from the pain from his hike down the mountain to the Stingray Security compound. He’d wanted to push himself, increase his endurance and conditioning, but he might have gone too far. Recovering from the muscle atrophy and weakness would take longer than he anticipated. The setback was frustrating. A delay that made him increasingly impatient to get back to pursuing the truth about what happened to his parents in Africa.
The bronze key burned a hole in his pocket, a constant reminder of the answers waiting for him across the ocean. Every day he spent recovering was another day the truth remained buried. And with each passing day, the mysterious Ava remained absent. Her promise to save him felt incomplete—she'd rescued him from the Russians and returned him home but left him with more questions than answers.
Lachlan jumped up from the table in the war room and grabbed a chair, pulling it toward Ike. He should’ve been pissed by the move. But it was clear to everyone in the room, including himself, that he needed the help.
Ike gave him a grateful nod. Their friendship had weathered impossible storms—from Lachlan losing Britt to Ike's self-destructive spiral after his parents disappeared. Now, with Britt miraculously back, Ike was determined not to fail his friend again.
“Where’s your best friend?” Everett asked, peeking into the hallway.
Ike grunted at the reference to Tucker, the stupid white labrador who always followed him around. Today had been no different. Tucker was right beside him, barking with enthusiastic delight and pestering him as he made his way along the trail to the compound.
“You mean the bane of my existence?” Ike shook his head. “He’s outside, and before you ask, I filled up his water bowl and gave him some doggy biscuits.”
“I’m glad to see you moving around, but I’m curious to know what was worth the risk of possibly being seen on the grounds by your family,” Lachlan said. “What brings you down to the compound?”
“You,” Ike said. He’d gotten a text from Sebastian an hour ago about figuring out how to eliminate the threat on Britt’s life. Ike was restless. Tired of being on the sidelines.
His father's note—the one that had given him a reason to live again—remained folded in his wallet, a constant reminder of the man he wanted to become. A man who would protect those he cared about, not sit in hiding while they faced threats.
And he’d made Lachlan a promise. He wouldn’t sit idly by. He wanted in on the op.
“Guess you heard about Wesley’s visit to my house last night,” Lachlan said, leaning back in his chair.
Ike grimaced, muscles tensing as he nodded.
“What’s with you and that guy?” Everett asked. “It’s obvious you don’t like him. Want to fill us in on why?”
“Wesley Thomas made a career for himself as Galloway’s bitch. Willing to do whatever, whenever the Commander wanted, on or off the books, and was rewarded for it,” Ike could barely get the words out through clenched teeth.
“But Sebastian said you were still the Commander’s favorite. That must not have sat well with Wesley,” Lachlan said.
Ike pondered this. He couldn’t deny that Franklin Galloway revered him above all the PISCOs on his elite team. Likely because Ike was the only one with the balls to stand up to the man. Challenge him. Question his decisions. Tell the old bastard no. Instead of garnering the Commander’s ire, he’d gained the man’s respect. Respect that Wesley coveted. But in the end, they’d both become the same deplorable kind of special operative—elite-trained assassins for the Palmchat government.
A fact Ike hated.
The reason he walked away from the PISCOs.
He'd sworn to himself he'd never again be a weapon for someone else's agenda. His new path with Stingray Security was about protection, not elimination—using his skills to shield rather than destroy.
