Her Fierce Warrior (X-Ops #4)(50)

At best, he and the others would be heading back out to Tajikistan. At  worst, they'd be going back to a Commander's Inquiry on why their team  had been involved in an unauthorized combat operation in a friendly  nation. Either way, he probably wouldn't have much of a chance to say  good-bye to Minka after they stepped onto the tarmac.

He and Minka waited until everyone else but the crew chief had left. The  man pointedly ignored them, going about his business of conducting  ground checks as if they weren't there.

Turning in his seat, Angelo carefully cupped Minka's cheek and kissed  her. "I love you, Minka," he said softly. "I'm coming back to you, I  promise. You just need to hold on for a little while. Can you do that?"

Tears filled her eyes, but she nodded, and he liked to think she was  happy. "Yes, I can hold on and wait for you. Because I love you, too."

He couldn't believe how amazing those simple words made him feel. God,  he wished they could stay there, just like that, but if he was right  about Bennett-or anyone else from the battalion waiting for him-it would  be better to go out and meet them on the flight line. Forcing them to  come inside and get him would only make things worse.

Giving Minka another kiss, he stood up and offered his hand to her. She  wiped away her tears, then took his hand and rose gracefully to her  feet. Even after getting shot in the hip, she moved like a dancer-or a  cat. That would be a better way to put it.

Outside, they joined Landon and Ivy, then walked around the aircraft  toward the row of buildings that lined the runway. Sure enough, Major  Bennett was there, standing beside a somber-looking Lieutenant Watson  and the rest of the team. Bennett gave Angelo a disapproving look, but  that expression paled in comparison to the one he directed at Landon.

"Homeland Security invading foreign countries these days, Captain?"  Bennett asked, then held up his hand. "Don't answer that. I don't want  to know." He eyed Minka and Ivy next, no doubt wondering what they were  doing with members of his A-team. He opened his mouth as if he was going  to ask, then shook his head. "I don't want to know about them, either."

Bennett held out a thick envelope to Angelo. "I don't have a clue why  the hell this keeps happening, Sergeant Rios, but you've been  transferred to Homeland Security. Can't say I'm shocked, but I am  disappointed." He scowled at Watson. "By the way, Lieutenant, your  promotion orders to Captain are waiting for you back at the S1 shop.  Maybe as your first official act as the new captain and commander of  this fucked-up A-team, you can try to hold on to the rest of your troops  before the fucking DHS takes them all."

Giving Watson a nod, the major turned and strode off.

Angelo stared at the envelope in his hand. He didn't have to open it to  know what was in it. Ten copies of his transfer orders, an  out-processing form already completed by someone in the admin section,  and a copy of his close-out performance evaluation report-the last eval  he'd be getting with the 5th Special Forces Group, at least for now.

He was still wrapping his mind around that when the guys gathered around  him, clapping him on the back and congratulating him. He didn't know  what they were congratulating him for. His head was spinning so fast, he  couldn't keep up.

Less than a minute later, Watson herded the guys away, saying he had to  get them back to the battalion for another ops brief. The next thing  Angelo knew, he was standing with Ivy, Landon, and Minka.

"What the hell just happened?" he finally asked.

Landon grinned. "Obviously, John must think you'd be a good addition to  the DCO, as Minka's partner I'm guessing. And when John wants something,  he usually gets it. You're moving to DC, man, to be part of the covert  crap you hate so much."

"What do you mean, ‘partner'?" Minka asked, looking excited and a little  scared at the same time. "I love the idea of being Angelo's partner,  but I can't go out and kill people all the time."

Ivy smiled. "John isn't like that, Minka. He would never ask you to do  something that isn't in your nature. He's very good at finding what  people and teams are good at and having them do that for the DCO. There  are lots of jobs that don't require killing people. Conducting  surveillance, reconnaissance operations, tracking down kidnap  victims-the list is almost endless."                       
       
           



       

Minka turned to look at Angelo, the excitement in her eyes quickly outpacing the fear. "Is this really happening?"

He nodded, his heart pounding as the revelation grew that his life, and  Minka's, had suddenly taken a complete 180-degree turn. "I think it is."

Minka bit her lip. "And you are okay with this? I know how close you are with your teammates. Will you be okay leaving them?"

Angelo considered that. In some ways, he felt like he was turning his  back on his team, on the army, on everything he'd been for the entirety  of his adult life. But one look at Minka's face told him it was what he  needed to do. A thought suddenly hit him then, putting everything into  perspective. If his father had been given an opportunity like this  fifteen years ago, would he have taken it? And if he had, would his mom  still be alive?

He smiled down at Minka, knowing in his heart he was never going to regret doing this for her. "I'm very okay with it."

Minka laughed and threw her arms around his neck. Angelo hugged her  back. If anyone was looking at them, they were probably wondering what  the heck was going on out there, but right then all Angelo cared about  was the fact that Minka was happy. And so was he.

She suddenly stepped back to give him a confused look. "Does this mean we'll be staying at Landon's apartment?"

Ivy laughed and put her arm around Minka's shoulders, turning to lead  her toward the military passenger terminal where they'd be getting a  flight to the States.

"You're going to find this out soon enough, but people like us get paid  better than trigger pullers like Landon and Angelo." Ivy threw a grin  their way. "So no, you won't be staying at Landon's small apartment  because you'll be able to afford a much nicer one."

Angelo couldn't help but chuckle as Minka's eyes widened. "I'm going to  get paid? Will I be able to buy one of those iPod music boxes, too?"

"Yes, you can buy an iPod if you want," Ivy said. "You can even buy two, so Angelo can have his own."

"That would be silly," Minka said. "Angelo can just listen to mine anytime he wants since we'll be living together."

Angelo only half listened as Landon reminded them about the DCO's  no-fraternization policy and how he and Minka would need to keep their  relationship a secret. Ultimately, he didn't care what games he had to  play to keep Minka at his side. That was where she was supposed to be,  and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Minka slowly rode up and down on Angelo's cock in their big, new bed.  She was still getting used to that word-cock-and hadn't been able to say  it out loud yet, but she thought she might soon. She was getting very  comfortable making love with Angelo and was very eager to learn  everything there was to know about sex. Right then, he was showing her  how much fun they could have making slow, gentle love. He was buried  deep inside her, and she was rotating her hips in small, tight circles,  which created an absolutely magical sensation between the folds of her  pussy-another new word for her.

Angelo had a firm grip on her bottom and refused to let her move any  faster. It was torturous, especially since she could have orgasmed in  ten seconds if he'd just let her. But he liked to tease her, and she  liked to let him.

The past several weeks since learning they would be a team had been  amazing. First, before coming back to the States, they'd taken a few  days to stop by and visit her parents. It had been a complete surprise  to her, but Angelo had insisted.

"They need to know you're okay," he'd told her.

Her parents had been in tears when she and Angelo showed up at the door.  She'd given them a very abbreviated version of what had happened, only  saying she'd been kidnapped by evil men and that Angelo had rescued her.  The most important part was that Angelo had saved her life and that  they were in love. When she'd explained she'd be working with him in the  United States at a very good job and have her own apartment, her mother  had been tearful but happy. Her father, on the other hand, had bluntly  asked Angelo if he loved Minka. When Angelo said he did, her father had  just as pointedly asked if Angelo intended to marry her. Both Minka and  her mother had been mortified, but Angelo only smiled.

"Yes, I do," he said. "As soon as she'll have me. But she's a strong woman. She'll only marry me when she wants to."

Her father had laughed at that and brought out the vodka.

After coming back to Washington, DC, they'd found this beautiful  apartment. Minka still could not believe she had enough money to live in  a place like this. Even better, John had arranged it so Angelo could  officially live here too, even though they had to maintain a silly story  about him sleeping in the spare bedroom and that he was only living  there so he could help her maintain control over her hybrid nature.