Nori's Delta (Delta Team Three #1) - Lori Ryan Page 0,65

her, but he couldn’t stop himself as he pounded into her and she cried out, gripping his shoulders and urging him on.

When they lay sated together afterward, he kissed her temple and closed his eyes, sinking into her hold. Being apart from her had been too hard and it was something he’d never do again if he could help it.

Chapter 41

Two weeks later, Heath was still pulling extra duty and he had two more months of reduced pay to look forward to, but he’d been lucky. Roe had handled his violation locally instead of letting it be handled up the chain of command.

And extra duty and lost pay were fine by him. Eleanor would be arriving later tonight for the weekend and he couldn’t wait to see her again. Their last visit in DC had been too damned short.

For now, he was sitting in The Ugly Mug, a bar next to the firing range owned by BF, a former airman who made sure the beer prices were cheap and the jukebox was always working. It was the kind of place that had three spots outside reserved for combat injured veterans. That pretty much said it all as far as Heath and his team were concerned. It was their kind of place.

From what Heath had seen, BF’s manager, Kelle, was the one who kept everything running smoothly at the bar while BF ran the firing range.

“Woof, what time is Eleanor getting in?” Jangles asked, taking a handful of corn nuts out of the bowl on the table they’d commandeered at the back of the room. It was in a dark corner and they liked it that way. People tended to leave them alone more if they couldn’t see them as much.

Heath couldn’t stop the grin that spread over his face. “Three hours.” Which meant he’d be heading to the airport in one to be sure he didn’t miss her. It was overkill, but that’s how he rolled where she was concerned. He was coming to accept that.

“Lucky bastard,” Zip said, his usual smile in place to soften the words.

Heath only grinned wider. He was a lucky bastard. He’d almost been stupid enough to let her go. Thank God he hadn’t.

He saw Trigger and Lefty walk in, their women on their arms. Heath had been so fucking jealous of them only a month ago and now he only smiled wider at the sight of them so fucking happy.

He and his team had spent months with Lefty’s woman, Kinley, protecting her while she testified against a serial killer. She’d been so damned strong through all of that and it made him happy to see her back with Lefty with all of that behind her.

She reminded him of his Nori with her strength and tenacity. He checked his watch again. Not time yet, but soon. He didn’t know how Lefty had waited seven months to be with Kinley.

Kinley tugged Lefty’s arm toward where Heath and his team sat and Trigger and Gillian followed. Gillian was an event planner who was in the wrong place at the wrong time on a hijacked airplane but she stayed strong through all of it and ended up helping to trip up the terrorists and take them down.

As they all stood to greet the newcomers, Heath realized it took a really strong woman to be with them. He hoped the other guys on his team found that soon. It was sappy and cheesy as fuck, but he didn’t care. He wanted them to find the kind of love he had for Eleanor. The kind of woman who was strong enough to return that love.

Merlin was headed their way. The look on his face had Heath looking up. Grim didn’t begin to describe it.

Fuck, if they were about to be deployed, he’d have to cancel with Eleanor and she had already boarded her flight. That was the life she’d signed on for, but he still hated for it to happen so soon after they’d finally figured out how much they wanted to be together.

“What’s up?” Jangles asked as they all turned to Merlin.

Merlin waited until Trigger, Lefty, Gillian, and Kinley had moved away to a table and then leaned in, speaking low enough that they wouldn’t be overheard.

“We just got word.” He looked to Zip. “Someone’s been trying to track you in some dark places. The analysts think it might be Demir.”

Shit. Demir had to know it was their group that was responsible for the raid on the bunker, but