Page 32 of Target Me
Avery chuckled, flipping her pale blonde hair as she pulled back the flap on the tent.
A fireball billowed in through the opening, eviscerating my lover as I was thrown headfirst into a storage container. Everything went white.
“Logan!”
I threw myself toward the voice, half asleep and violent with panic after witnessing the death of someone who had been my responsibility. Landing hard, a soft body beneath me, I curled over it as though able to protect it from the fireball that was still vividly blooming in my mind.
“Logan,” the voice called my name a second time, and I felt the cool brush of a hand over my heated skin.
Slowly, the dream receded, and I became aware that I was lying on the floor on top of Avery. When had she come down here?
I cursed, rolling away as it occurred to me that I was crushing her. She came with me, her arms wrapped tightly around my body until I was the one playing mattress. When she showed no signs of letting up, I returned the embrace slowly, allowing myself the space to breathe in her scent. Feel her whole and safe in my arms.
As my pulse returned to normal, and the sweat cooled on my skin, she pulled back enough to look me in the eye.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really, but I probably should,” I said, sitting up slowly and adjusting us so my back was against the sofa, and she was straddling my lap. Her core was warm against my lap, and I felt my dick sit up and take notice, but now was not the time.
Scrubbing a hand over my hair, I found the scar on the back of my skull from that night. Grasping her fingers, I guided them to the line of misshapen flesh I hid with my ball cap. My hair had grown out enough to hide it, but the paranoid part of my brain insisted I keep it covered, just in case. In case what? Fuck knew. Trauma was fun.
Avery’s brow pulled low as she traced back and forth over my skin in gentle strokes.
“The night this happened, someone died. Well… more than one person, but one person’s death was my fault.” Christ. I’d never said the words aloud. Not even the Army shrink knew I held myself fully accountable for Lana’s death. But I did, and I was.
Instead of protesting or interrupting, Avery nodded and waited patiently while I found the words.
“Lana and I… we had a casual thing. Not a relationship; more of a mutual exploration of kink and Dom/sub dynamics. Lana was an experienced sub and taught me a lot about the lifestyle. I liked her. Anyway, we were deployed together. Middle of nowhere, and it had been quiet for long enough that we were all edgy. Your father was keeping everyone in line and insisting we hold position, even though there was buzz about us receiving orders to move out. Anyway, we snuck out one night to see each other. Take the edge off and… shit.” My eyes burned as my throat tightened to the point of suffocation.
Wordlessly, Avery leaned in, pressing feather-light kisses over the side of my face and down my neck. Each kiss drawing a little of the tension from my throat. She lifted her head to check on me, but I didn’t want to see the sympathy there. Fisting her hair, I pushed her face back to my skin, and she took the hint, working her way over my collarbone and down onto my chest.
As she swirled her tongue around one nipple, I dropped my head back and spoke to the ceiling.
“She was leaving the tent. Distracted from being freshly fucked. She walked straight into a fireball.”
Avery hummed against my skin, leaving wet kisses as she moved to my other nipple.
“The enemy had taken over the camp while we slept. The security team were all killed, and explosives set around our supply tents.”
Her mouth moved lower, licking over my abs, and she dipped her tongue into my navel. My hips lifted eagerly, the memory of her mouth almost enough to chase away the images of my dream.
“That night haunts me. Steals my sleep. But tonight, the dream changed.”
Fingers hooked into the waistband of the basketball shorts I had been sleeping in, and she folded them down, releasing my erection.
“Avery, it was you. In my dream, I watched you get destroyed by the fire. You didn’t stand a chance. I couldn’t protect you.” My voice sounded weak to my own ears. Lost. I hated the uncertainty I felt.
“I’m right here,” she said, mouth brushing over my aching head. Locking eyes with me, she made sure I watched as she took me deep into her mouth.
Any other time, I would punish her severely for taking charge, but in this moment, the warmth of her mouth was the grounding I needed. As she worked her tongue over me, groaning in pleasure, I found the words came more easily by the minute.
“The way they were able to take over camp. Something wasn’t right. They had to have received intel about our position. I tried to look into it after I was released from hospital but the trail ran cold. Have you ever known something with absolute certainty, but been unable to find the proof? Or even known what exactly you were looking for?”
Avery hummed, and jolts of arousal spiked along my spine. Fuck, she felt good.
“I looked until I felt like I was going mad. No one else thought it was weird. I even asked Damon to look into it. Your father told me it was PTSD, but…” I shook my head in frustration.
“Fuck, Avery. I need you,” I groaned, pulling her off my cock.
