You didn’t get second chances in life easily. I was a lucky bastard and had somehow won the fucking lottery with Daniel. He was everything I liked in a man. Stable, mature, intelligent, and beneath it all, a spine so strong that it didn’t bend for anyone.
His smile widened. “You look star-struck, Major Harmon.”
My stomach did crazy somersaults at his use of my military title. When we had first met, before he knew of my massive crush on him from day one, he had said this exact same line inside the one-story rundown building we were using as a makeshift clinic.
What I didn’t tell him that day was that he was spot on. So I told him now.
“I am, sir. You’ve stolen the wind right out of my sails, Lieutenant Colonel Park.”
Daniel’s eyebrows rose, and he laughed in delight. Seeing him this happy messed up my head so badly.
I quickly checked the horizon, the instrument readings, and confirmed everything was A-okay. When my gaze turned to him again, his smile was gone. He wasn’t even looking at me. He was looking at my crotch. I got hard so fast that I had a moment of light-headedness. My grip on the cyclic slipped.
Daniel’s eyes snapped back up to my face. “Reed?”
I half chuckled, half groaned. “I’m fine. Blood rushed south too fast.”
“Shit. Sorry.” He changed his position and looked away. “Please focus on flying.”
I blew out a breath. “I can’t.” I adjusted myself with one hand, but the brief touch only made me more desperate.
“What do you mean?”
“I…I’m wound up too tight. We didn’t get to finish what we started, and now… you’re right here. How can I focus?”
He swore under his breath. “Just ignore me.”
I laughed.
Below us, the dark waters of the Southern Ocean flew past. On my right, through the window, the midnight sun hung unnaturally over the horizon, blotting out the moon and stars with its brightness. The altimeter read 350 feet. Over open water and flat ice, there was no terrain to clear. I was not used to flying this low, but it improved visibility of the surface and reduced exposure to upper wind layers, which were reasons enough to do so. My pre-Antarctica training had gone over all of this.
Two birds flying in tight parallel caught my attention. I watched them as they flew side by side, so close that their wingtips touched. One led, the other mirrored—banking together, riding the same thermal, adjusting simultaneously without visible signaling between them. It was absolutely breathtaking.
They moved as a single unit, matching each other’s altitude and direction with precision. My brain must have really gone off-kilter because the thought that came unbidden to me was Daniel riding on my hard cock. How we would move in tandem, like in everything else in life, just like that mated pair of birds.
I would drive into him, and he would slam down on me. The sounds of our skin, the sight of him losing all composure… fuck. We had never been together in peacetime. Never had access to a bed. Suddenly, I desperately wanted it.
The chopper tilted.
“Shit! Reed!”
I blinked and hastily brought us back to level.
Daniel was leaning over and staring up at me. “You look… red.”
I swallowed. “I can’t last, Daniel. I’m going crazy. I want you so bad, I think I’m about to lose my mind.”
He stared at me, glanced out through the windshield, and back at me. I could see the cogs in his brain turning. This wasn’t some road trip where we could just pull over. It wasn’t even like flying anywhere else in the world. I couldn’t land. Ihadto keep flying.
His eyes dropped to the straining tent in my flight suit. “Fuck. You’re… leaking.”
I didn’t dare look down.
“Ignore me.” I attempted a smile, but I don’t think I managed it. “Sorry. I am trying. I’m fighting to focus.”
I heard his sharp intake of breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this compromised.”
I stole a quick glance. “No one but you, my prince. You’re the only reason I am compromised. You… you make me…” I trailed off, ending on a ragged moan, because saying all this aloud was making it worse.
