Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) (44 page)

“It’s not a gun,” stated J
ustin. “It’s a weapon. Cops carry guns, soldiers carry weapons.”

Connor laughed, raising his hands in surrender.
“You three are too much.”

“May I?” inquired Tori, pointing at the
M4. “Can I break it down and set it up to start?” she asked.

“Have at it,” he stated, sitting back down. “Nothing says Christmas until the Littlemoons have weapons out on the table.”

Clarissa laughed. “I just didn’t expect Julian’s date to be the one with the gun this time.”

Both his sisters snickered. “I think any woman that dates him would want
access to a loaded weapon,” stated Liana.

Julian
ignored his sisters and ran his hand down her back as he watched her break the M4 down efficiently. Tori placed it on the table in the eight or so pieces, and in a specific pattern that only she and his brother seemed to understand.

“Justin, your bolt carrier group is a hot mess. You forget to clean your weapon, Soldier?” she asked, getting ready to reassemble the M4.
“Or do all Marines disrespect their life lines?”

Justin laughed. “I didn’t clean it since I used it last. I just got home; it was on my list of things to do.” He noticed she broke the weapon down completely, all the way down to the pins.
The babe was going hard core and serious about the challenge.

“Julian, can I borrow your hair tie?” she inquired.

Immediately, he pulled it from his hair.

“I’m ready,” she stated. “Someone pull out a stopwatch.”
Tori pulled her hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of her way.

Connor pulled out his phone and placed it on the table. “
And…GO!” He hit the button and the clock started ticking away the time.

Tori went on autopilot. She’d broken down and reassembled her M4 Carbine about a thousand times. She went into the zone, blocked out the sound and cheering around her. Julian’s hand on her back disappeared, and all that mattered was getting the gun back together again
, as if her life depended on it. She began the most tedious part of reassembling the bolt. Tori noticed it only took her less than twenty seconds. On to the firing pin placement, she slipped it in and found the center hole on the first try, and then she glanced down checking her time. The stop watch was at thirty seconds, as she moved into the easier portion of the gun the upper and lower halves. Popping in the firing part, she secured the pins and popped the gun together. At the audible click, she then took the last fifteen seconds to test it to make sure it was assembled correctly. In the streets, it meant life or death. When the ‘thunk’ sounded, she placed the gun down.

“Done.”

Connor hit the button, and everyone looked at the time. Tori had it finished in fifty four seconds.

Julian grinned and handed her a napkin to wipe the gun residue off her fingers.
“Wow, Justin. Can you beat that?” asked his brother.

The man laughed. “I can and will.”

Tori sat back down and grinned. “You also have to test fire it at the end, no short cuts. Three pins and broken all the way down.”

“You’re tough, Army.”

“You have to be when you’re the bull’s-eye, Marine. You know that.” Tori leaned back against Julian and got chills when his lips touched her ear.

“That was incredibly hot. A babe with a weapon apparently turns me right on,” he whispered, and nibbled at her
lobe.

She somehow managed to keep a straight face, even as he tormented her body.

“I’m ready,” stated Justin, grinning wickedly. There was no way he was letting an Army girl show him up. He was a Marine and pride was at stake.

Connor reset the stopwatch on his phone and looked up at his brother. “Ready, set, go!”

Justin hustled through the process, popping in the firing pins and reassembling the bolt. Making sure it was functional; he slid it into the gun and popped the pieces together. Struggling with finding the hole to the firing pin, he was glad when it was finally located. Popping the upper and lower halves of the gun together, he clicked in the pins and prepared to discharge it. When there was no
‘thunk’
he started worrying. He back tracked the process and popped the previous piece back in, and then retested it.

Tori grinned at the clock.

The
‘thunk’
sounded and Justin placed his gun back on the table shouting done, only then looking at the stop watch. He couldn’t believe it. She beat him by half a second.

“Well shit,” he muttered
, in shock and awe.

Julian laughed
maniacally. “I can’t believe I just watched my brother getting his ass handed to him by my girl. This one is a day to remember.”

Tori stood and held out her hand. “Great time
there, Marine. Send me a shirt; I’ll proudly wear it on my run.”

“But you won,” stated
Claire, lifting a brow.

Julian was proud of her and knew that one way or another, he was going to get her to marry him
-even if it took the next twenty years.

“A soldier doesn’t revel in
another soldier’s failures, only in his victories,” she answered. “Ooh-rah, Marine.”

Justin really liked his brother’s girlfriend. “Hoo-ah, Army.”

Clarissa made her mind up right there. If Roger didn’t already tell her that the woman was quality, this did. This girl would be a welcome addition to their family.

“Dessert anyone?” she asked. “Tori helped me make the strawberry jam for the fry bread.”

Julian couldn’t take it anymore, as half his family got up to help his mother, he turned her around and planted a deep one right on her mouth. Instead of fighting him, she wrapped her arms around his body, melting into the kiss.

He lost track of time until his nephew ratted him out again.

“No making out at the table!” yelled his mother. “I raised you better than that! The dining room is for eating not KISSING!”

Julian laughed, breaking a
way. He desperately wanted to tell her what was in his heart, but he knew she’d freak out. “Thank you for coming with me, Tori.”

She smiled up at him, finally at ease. “Trust me, the pleasure was all mine.”

                                *    *     *

Ca
llen Whitefox heard the words. Elizabeth was pregnant and before that moment, he had believed they were the only words he ever wanted to hear in his life. Now the rush of nerves was hitting him. It was one thing to hope he could have a child with the woman he loved; it was another when reality set in. This was his brother’s wife, and even though Ethan never said otherwise, he couldn’t help but be worried about the possibility. If the baby was his, would that fracture the relationship they had? What if the baby wasn’t his? Could he bear to see her have another child without the possibility of it being with him?

Glancing over at Ethan, he waited until he made the first move, and he only hoped it would include him.

Ethan Blackhawk didn’t know what to think. At first there was the rush that his wife was having a baby, and then the sharp pain of the possibility it wouldn’t be his child. Part of him wanted to run around like an idiot, the other half wanted to ask who the father was, even though she couldn’t possibly know.

There was such a
flood of emotions, and he was struggling to figure out which ones he needed to let lead the way. Ethan could feel his brother’s eyes on him, and he didn’t want to hurt the man. After all, he’d just invited him into their life by offering up his anniversary. By doing that, didn’t it say that Ethan was willing to accept the outcome of their union?

THEIR partner and wife was having THEIR child. Ethan remembered the words his grandfather
had whispered into his ear on his deathbed, and he tried to release the jealousy. If the baby wasn’t his, then maybe the next one would be. He’d let Callen have this moment if it was meant to be, without animosity and anger. At least he was going to attempt to do just that.

“We’re pregnant?” he asked, again.

Elizabeth nodded, her nerves all stirred up. “Yes.” She was about to burst into tears when both men looked at each other, and offered themselves a congratulatory fist bump.

The laughter came, and then the happiness erupted from both men as they rushed her. Elizabeth was closed between them and they hugged.

“I love you both,” she said, laughing and crying at the same time.

“Callen, carry her upstairs, I’m pretty sure we have a bottle of sparkling cider in the wine cooler. “I say we get naked, have celebratory sex, and get sugared up on bubbly juice!”

Elizabeth giggled as she was picked up by one of the men in her life.

“Don’t start without me,” ordered Blackhawk, grabbing three more glasses and laughing.

Whitefox ran for the stairs, the woman he loved cradled in his arms. “Are you happy, Elizabeth?” he asked, walking up to the second floor.

“I am now,” she said, kissing him and pulling the
tie from the back of his hair. Then she buried her hands in the silky strands. When he moaned against her mouth, Elizabeth shivered in his arms.

“God,
it feels like forever since I touched you,” he began kissing her throat. “I just want to climb all over you.”

“How about I go get something special out of the lingerie drawer to commemorate the event?” she offered, dying to see what he placed in
there earlier.

“Yes, please,” he begged, feeling his body tense. “I’d really love that and I’m sure Ethan would too.” He placed her on her feet, and she went up on her toes to kiss him again. When she broke away, he was breathless.

“I’ll be right back,” Elizabeth purred, running her hand down his chest. “Lose the shirt, Callen.”

It was gone in less than four
seconds. He watched her walk across their bedroom to the closet. Once inside she closed the door. Whitefox raced to the nightstand and grabbed the zippo lighter that they kept in there. As fast as he could, he began lighting all the candles that were all over the room.

Ethan rushed into the room, to find his brother alone. “Where is she?” he asked, placing the sparkling cider on the bed stand
, dimming all the lights.

“Lingerie.”

It was all he had to say.

“I sincerely hope you placed some really amazing things in that drawer.”

Whitefox laughed at how desperate his brother sounded, but then again so was he. “Leather.”

Blackhawk pulled off his own shirt and hopped onto the bed to wait for his hellion wife.
“Yee haw!”

“Are you boys ready for me,” she called from the walk in closet.

“Yes,” they both answered, waiting for the unveiling.

“Really good choices, Callen,” said Elizabeth as she stepped into their room in a wickedly high pair of heels and a black corset that was made of leather. It laced up the sides and accentuated her
body, pushing her breasts up like they were an offering for the taking. The tiny G-string covered nothing and was simply there to draw the attention of the men.

“
Okay,” muttered Blackhawk. “That’s some really great shopping skills, Cal.”

Whitefox couldn’t even speak. His brain had drained of all the blood and it w
as currently pooling elsewhere. When he bought it, the picture in his mind was amazing, but it had nothing on the reality of it all.

Elizabeth walked towards the bed effortlessly.
Despite their varied tastes in lingerie, once it was put on, both men became immediately focused.

“Ethan, help me up, please,” she
requested, holding out her hand. 

He jumped fast and lifted her onto the bed. “Yes,
baby.”

Callen was already three days past excited. His body was hard and taut as he waited for her to make her way to
kneel between them.

“Happy Callen?” she asked, running her hand down the
leather slowly. His eyes tracked the movement. “If both of you would prefer me to go with milder celebratory baby sex, I can slip out of this little number.”

Blackhawk listened to the words
, and he started losing the ability to think too.

“No!” They both answered at once.

Elizabeth expected just that. “Director Blackhawk, get back on the bed,” she said softly, knowing Ethan got wild whenever she called him that during sex.

Ethan swallowed
and did what she asked. He’d be crazy not to. His wife was driving this fantasy now.

“Tonight here are the rules, boys. No one touches but me. Got it?” she said, running her hands down both of their chests. When both men
nodded, she knew she was going to enjoy tormenting them.

Slowly she pulled the string on both men’s pajama pants at the same time setting them free. “Remember no hands.”

Callen swallowed, praying he could follow her instructions.