Need for Speed (The Elite Book 2) Read online

  “Don’t tell me you’re suddenly worried someone might overhear us.”

  I looked back and licked my lips. “I’m not worried for me.”

  “Hmm, but worried for me, huh?” Panther waggled his brows and then unbuckled his belt. “All signs that point to caring.”

  As he climbed out, I followed suit, grabbing my water and towel and meeting him in front of the car. “Or signs that I’m being cautious, in case it turns out you sustained a serious head wound from your accident and will wake up tomorrow and regret half of the things you’ve said to me.”

  Panther’s eyes narrowed as he took a step forward until our toes were all but touching. Then he lowered his voice and said in a throb-worthy tone, “The only thing I would regret tomorrow morning was if I woke up and you weren’t there.”

  Fuuuck. I swallowed down the curse and lowered my eyes to his mouth. “No fear of that happening.”

  “Good. Solo?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Get in my room, and get naked.”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. The door was unlocked in seconds, I was naked in moments, and just when I thought he’d pull me to the bed, Panther reached for my wrist and tugged me toward the bathroom.

  Hell yes, I could work with this.

  As we entered the tight confines, I kicked the door shut and then leaned back against it to watch Panther strip out of his gym shorts and shirt. With his bruises now a faded yellow, they were much less jarring to look at where they colored his shoulders and chest, and when he kicked aside the final piece of clothing, I reached for my dick.

  It felt like months since I’d had him that night in the hotel, years since that day out by Black Rock Cliffs. But as he stood there now, eyeing me like I was the one thing he’d survived for, I began to slowly stroke myself for him, showing him just how much I liked the view.

  Panther took hold of his hardening cock, and as he began to match pace with me, I punched my hips forward, increasing my speed.

  Damn, he was gorgeous. That jet-black hair, those fierce blue eyes roving over me, the rippling muscles of his arms bunching and flexing as he milked his cock. How in the world he ever thought he could look weak was beyond me. To me, he’d never looked stronger. He looked like a man who had faced death head-on and come out on the other side alive, and that strength and power made me want to fall to my fucking knees for him.

  “Do you know how goddamn sexy you to me look right now?”

  Panther gave a deliciously wicked smirk. “Just right now?”

  “All the fucking time.” I eyed his cock, the slow way he dragged his palm down the length of it, squeezed the head, and then dragged it back. “But you already know that. Don’t you?”

  “Mmm. I might have had some idea.”

  “Oh yeah?” I shoved off the door and sauntered over to him. “What gave me away?”

  Panther’s eyes lowered to the stiff dick pointing at him. I stopped in front of him and reached for his hips.

  “No clue. It couldn’t have been your huge cock.”

  As I rocked my hips up against his, eliciting a low moan, I leaned in and dragged my tongue up the side of his neck. “Huge, you say?”

  Panther turned his head and reached down between us to circle my dick with his fingers. “Fucking massive.”

  I chuckled and nipped at his lower lip. “Sweet talker.”

  As I took a step forward, Panther took one back toward the shower stall, then he let me go and leaned in to flick on the water. “Trust me, I’m not thinking anything sweet right now.”

  I sidled up close to him again, not willing to let him get too far away, then I lowered my head and scraped my teeth along his jaw. “No?”

  “Uh ahh…”

  “So…you thinking about shutting me up again?”

  The fierce hunger swirling in his eyes made my balls tighten and my cock ache. He looked like a starving man sitting down to his favorite meal, and lucky me, I was it.

  “Oh yeah, I’m right, aren’t I?” I said, and this time I circled his thick shaft with my hand. “You’re thinking about how good it would feel to shove this between my lips, slide deep inside my mouth, and fuck it until you come down my throat.”

  17 Panther

  THAT MOUTH. THAT dirty fucking mouth of Solo’s was enough to make my knees weak. But I’d be damned if I hit the tiles first today. Solo had been taunting me with the promise of an epic blowjob from the second he’d woken up this morning, and by the end of this little shower session, I planned to get it.

  With his hand still wrapped firmly around my shaft, he boldly eye-fucked me as he slid his palm up and down my sensitive flesh, waiting for my next move. So I stepped in under the warm spray of water, where he all but glued himself to my front.

  Like a person hypnotized, I watched as the water sluiced down over us, memorizing the lines and grooves it trailed down over Solo’s body, promising myself that one day I would trace them all with my tongue.

  But not today—today I had different plans, and while the idea of shoving my dick between Solo’s pouty lips was high on my list of things to do, kissing them needed to come first.

  As water droplets clung to his long lashes, I reached up and gripped the back of Solo’s neck, and when I tugged him forward I said, “I want to do all those things to you. But first, I want to taste this smart-talking mouth.”

  I lightly traced his lower lip with the tip of my tongue. His sensual moan made me buck my hips forward, and when his hand tightened around me and he angled his head to offer more of himself, I sank my tongue between his lips and lost myself inside him.

  My eyes fell shut as the pleasure of touching and tasting him again enveloped me. When he moved against the front of me, my heart began to pound in time with my eager cock.

  “Grant…” Solo panted against my mouth, and I could tell by the way his body vibrated that he was feeling the same urgency, that same desire for more.

  I dug my fingers into the supple, wet skin at the back of his neck and licked the water from his cheek, then added a slight pressure to my hold and slowly urged him down to his knees.

  Angling himself out of the direct line of the spray, Solo kneeled at my feet, where the water pooled and drained away, and aimed his lust-laden eyes up. My dick jerked, eager to get between his lips, and as I wrapped my fingers around myself and offered it up, Solo rose on his knees and placed his hands on my thighs.

  “Damn, you have a nice cock.”

  As he flicked his tongue over the head, a loud groan left me. “Nicer than your sky penis?”

  Solo grinned at me, and I couldn’t help smirking.

  “I mean, I wouldn’t go that—”

  I bumped the head of my dick up against his lips, and when his eyes widened, I said, “What was that?”

  Solo circled his fingers around the base of my cock and then swirled his tongue around the tip. “I said, it’s the nicest fucking cock I’ve ever had in my mouth.”

  “Hmm.” I smoothed my hand over his wet hair and twisted my fingers into the longer strands on top. “That’s a much better answer.”

  I pushed between those wicked lips and slid deep inside, and as I bottomed out, I locked eyes with Solo. His raw pleasure made any and all blood in my head take the quickest route south.

  Solo was looking at me like he’d never get enough of what I was giving. He began to slide his lips back and forth along my length, smoothing his hands up my thighs and around to my ass to keep me still.

  I dropped my head back and shut my eyes as the warm water fell down over my back and Solo swallowed me from root to tip. It was everything I wanted, and even more, as I allowed myself to fully enjoy him, to be there in the moment. When his flirty fingers crept between my cheeks and began to play with my hole, I cursed and thrust forward. My eyes flew open.

  Solo’s eyes found mine as I pulled out, and when I tunneled back inside, he reached between his legs and took his own cock in hand.

  “Yesss,” I growled. The sight of him getting himself off drove me faster and closer to the finish line I was greedily chasing. As my groans of pleasure echoed off the tile walls, Solo fucked faster into his palm as he took me in deep. His cheeks hollowed out, his lips stretched wide, and not once did he look away from me, not once did he falter.

  My balls started to tingle, and I twisted my fingers in his hair, knowing this was all about to be over. “If you don’t want—”

  Solo grunted and let go of himself to grab my ass and pull me in deeper, and as he swallowed, that was it. A hoarse shout left me as hot jets of cum exploded all over his tongue. After my body shook and a wave of delicious satisfaction took hold of me, I moved down to my knees and took his luscious cock in my fist.

  “Ahh,” Solo gasped, and reached for my shoulders, as his eyes slammed shut and his head fell back, the water cascading down over us. He was hands-down the sexiest man I’d ever met, and that mouth was beyond talented.

  “Do it…” I said, wanting to see him lose it. Solo opened his eyes and cried out my name, then his dick pulsed in my hand and his warm, sticky cum coated my palm.

  “Fucking gorgeous,” I muttered, as I reached for the back of his neck and pulled him to me. I brushed my wet lips over his, and just in case he hadn’t heard me, I said again, “You are fucking gorgeous.”

  Solo chuckled. “That’s the blowjob talking.”

  “That’s me talking. Learn to take a compliment.”

  Solo smiled against my mouth. “Bossy.”

  “Sometimes. But so are you.”

  Solo nodded and then pushed away from me to get to his feet. “You’re right, and I think it’s time we washed up and took a nap.”

  He held a hand out to me, and as I got to my feet, I said, “A nap? It’s not even noon.”

/>   Solo reached up and wound his arms around my neck. “I know, but you’ve had a big morning, and I think you should spend at least an hour off your feet and, you know, on your back instead.”

  I laughed and automatically wrapped an arm around his waist. “And what will you be doing during this time?”

  Solo gave that heartbreaker grin of his. “I’m going to be watching over you, as in watching from over the top of you.”

  I nodded and laughed. “Of course.”

  “Of course. So let’s wash up, lieutenant. I take my job as nurse very seriously, you know.”

  And who was I to argue with that? Under Solo’s strict ministrations, I’d never felt better in all my life.

  18 Solo

  “I HOPE YOU enjoyed your vacation, lieutenants, because things are only going to get tougher from here on out.” Commander Levy paced the front of the room, his arms clasped behind his back and his assessing gaze landing on each of us. “We’ve got a full day ahead, beginning with a discussion regarding the investigation from Lieutenant Hughes’s incident.”

  I glanced down at Panther sitting two rows below me, beside Houdini, and wondered if having to sit through a reenactment of the crash was the best way for Panther to ease back into training, but there wasn’t shit I could do about it. He was already too far from me as it was.

  “But first, I’ve been asked to remind you about the upcoming Navy Ball taking place in two weeks. Each of you is expected to be in attendance, and you’re permitted to bring a guest for the evening. The dress code is strictly formal, and you’ll find all the pertinent information in your lockers by day’s end.”

  Shit. I’d forgotten all about the annual military ball, and had the event not been required, I would skip out on it entirely. But no. I’d have to go, and Panther would have to go, and we’d both have to bring dates because no one ever went to these events alone.

  God, that was the last thing I wanted to do.

  As Commander Levy hit the lights to begin the brief, Panther looked over his shoulder at me, a question in his eyes. It was a good thing I was starting to read him pretty well, because I caught it right away: What the hell are we gonna do about the ball?

  There was no way he’d ever consider going together, and bringing another guy was out of the question too. So, what? He’d bring some random female? The thought of that happening had my insides roiling, my body physically protesting Panther showing up with anyone other than me.

  Fuck me, I thought, gripping the pencil so hard in my fist that it snapped in half. If it hadn’t been so damn quiet, no one would’ve noticed, but of course Gucci shot me a quizzical look.

  Waving him off, I dropped the remnants of the pencil and leaned back in my seat, crossing my arms and pretending I was paying attention to what Commander Levy was saying. I didn’t need a brief on what happened up there with Panther; I’d fucking seen it, and it wasn’t something I wanted to relive. Besides, I had more important things to think about. Like who the hell was Panther taking to the ball?

  The more I thought about it, the more I ground my teeth, because why did I even care? It wouldn’t mean anything to bring a friend or whoever to the event. No, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that something inside me was tethering itself to Panther, and there wasn’t one fucking thing I could do about it.

  No attachments. No letting anyone in close. That was the way I’d lived my life for years now, and somehow in the course of a few weeks Panther had weaseled his way into my mind, and damn if I didn’t mind him being there.

  If I were honest, though, I’d admit he had taken up residence in more than just my mind, but since I was content to be a lying bastard for the time being, I wouldn’t think about that. Whatever was happening between us wasn’t serious. It was fun and sexy as fuck, and that was that.

  Or was it?

  Two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and by the end of the brief, I could not have spouted back one fact about the official investigation for all I’d been paying attention.

  “Hey. Solo. Solo? Dude, wake up.” Gucci elbowed me, and when I jolted up in my seat, he shook his head. “Never seen anyone sleep with their eyes open before. That’s creepy, man.”

  “I wasn’t asleep.”

  “You sure about that? ’Cause your eyes are lookin’ a little glazed over.”

  “Well, that was some shit I didn’t need to sit through.” When I noticed everyone was getting up and heading out of the room, I frowned. “Where we going?”

  Gucci snorted. “Sure you weren’t asleep? We’ve gotta change into our suits. They want us back here for the hop briefing in twenty.”

  That woke my ass up. “What? We’re going up already?”

  “That a problem for you?”

  “No, it’s just…” I searched out Panther, wondering what was going through his mind at having to fly again on the first day back, and as I spotted his familiar head of dark hair heading out the door, I leaped out of my seat, pushed by Gucci, and practically ran to catch up with Panther.

  “Panther,” I called out, reaching for his arm, and when he turned around, I pulled him off to the side.

  He nodded and smiled at the others passing by us, their expressions full of curiosity, and then he focused on me. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” Shit, now that I’d gotten him alone, I didn’t know what to say. “How was, uh”—I gestured toward the room—“all that?”

  Panther blew out a breath, gripping the back of his neck. For almost two weeks I’d had him all to myself, and it was suddenly hard to not want to grab him and kiss the fuck out of that mouth.

  Remember where you are.

  “It wasn’t the best morning of my life, but I’m glad it wasn’t my fault. I kept thinking I missed something in pre-check, or that it was somehow on me.”

  “Of course it wasn’t—”

  “I know, but we’re in control, right?” He gave me a small smile. “We’re control freaks, and that’s why we’re good at what we do. It’s just an eye-opener when something out of your power happens and you’re fucked.”

  There was something in his voice, something off, and it took me a second to pinpoint it. “You’re nervous.”

  Panther looked away from me. “I wouldn’t say nervous.”

  “Scared, nervous, fucking terrified, same thing.”

  He sighed, still not meeting my eyes. “I’m fine. I just need to get back up there.”

  “You can tell me if you’re not fine.”

  “You can’t tell your competition you’re not fine. You tell them you’ve got this. And I do.” Panther looked at me then and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m fine.”

  Before I could protest that I knew damn well he wasn’t, he walked off, heading toward the locker room to get suited up. I followed after him, knowing I needed to do the same, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was watching a train wreck about to happen.

  19 Panther

  I SUCKED IN a deep breath, held it in my lungs until it burned, and then blew it out slowly. I’d never felt anxious in the cockpit before, and I wasn’t going to start now. I’d gone through pre-check three times, I knew the hop details, and I was in line and ready to go. This would be just like any of the other hundreds of times I’d flown, bar the last one. So why was it that final hop had my head fucked and my pulse racing so fast I was surprised I hadn’t blacked out?

  “You’ve got this,” I said, because saying the words out loud meant they were true. I didn’t need to fear a repeat of last time. That wouldn’t be happening again, and even if it did, I’d come through it fine once, and I’d come through it fine again.

  So why the hell was I in such a state of panic? I didn’t have a clue, and I didn’t have time to think about it either, because the all-clear came through, and it was time to rev up and go.

  With my hands shaking, I navigated the jet toward the runway, trying to keep my breaths steady as I focused on the mission ahead.

  “You’ve got this,” I told myself again, and then I began to accelerate. Faster and faster I pushed, the familiar vibrations of the jet racing down the runway doing nothing to calm my nerves. If anything, I felt my pulse racing faster than ever, my hands sweating and my vision blurring.