Page 4 of Romancing Rayne

“It wasn’t the hard-on.”

“No?”

“No. It was the promise behind the kiss.”

“The promise?”

“The promise of a beautiful life. Something I never thought I’d have. The promise of you.” Ghost’s hand came up and covered mine where it rested on his chest before he brought our combined hands lower until he finally stopped over his crotch and held them there. “And every day since then, all I have to do is think about you and this happens.”

“Even on a mission?”

“Yes. Even then.”

“That sounds uncomfortable.”

“It is.” I couldn’t contain my laughter at the images he was provoking. “What’s funny?”

“All I can picture is you chasing a terrorist with a tent pole in your pants, leaving them to wonder if you’re hiding another pistol in there.”

“A pistol? Try a .50 cal BMG.” Ghost lifted his hips and pushed his hard-on into my palm, reminding me exactly what he had hiding under his cargo pants.

Ghost tightened his arm around me, making me feel safe and protected, just like he’d done the day he’d rescued me in Egypt and every day since.

My nervousness turned to excitement, and I couldn’t wait until we landed.

3

Ghost

Turbulence jostled me awake, giving me the perfect opportunity to watch Rayne sleep. I thought back to the pregnancy test she’d given me in the limo and my pulse began to race. We’d debated whether or not to tell our friends and after some consideration, we’d decided to keep it to ourselves until we got back.

Mary knew, Rayne had confessed to telling her first and, in a way, I was happy she had. Their friendship had suffered some blows in the past few months. Even though Mary and Rayne had repaired what had been broken, they needed this. A secret between them. Something just the two of them knew. Besides, I was sure there was some woman code that said the best friend must know all the important stuff before the husband.

It sounded counterproductive considering a secret was what had torn our group apart in the first place. If I’ve learned anything since being with Rayne, it was that women thought differently than men. There was no use trying to figure out why they did and said what they did. After Emily, Harley, Kassie, Casey, Wendy, and even Bryn and Sadie came into our lives it was confirmed that women will stick together and gang up on the men whenever they could. And not a single man on my team would have it any other way. We go into battle together; we fight, kill, and are willing to die for one another. But the women? They’re just as much a team as we are. They rally around each other when we’re gone and none of them would allow any of the others to be alone. They’ve forged deep bonds and had the same commitment to their girl pack as the guys had to the team. No woman was ever left behind. I loved that Rayne had that. It made going on missions a little easier knowing her girls would take care of her while I was gone. And our baby would have that, too.

Annie was going to flip. The little spitfire had barreled into our lives with a determination I’d never witnessed before. There was never a question she was Fletch’s child and that meant she was ours, too. Between her new brother and honorary cousins, I had a feeling she’d be roping them into a whole lot of trouble and I couldn’t wait.

“Ghost?” Rayne’s sleep-rough voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Yeah, Princess?”

“Are we almost there?”

“About another hour,” I told her after consulting my watch.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking around the plane, and I could see the trepidation was back.

In the dark recesses of my mind, I was happy she’d have to quit her job at the airline after the baby was born. Hell, I’d be fucking thrilled if she quit now. Not that I’d ever tell her that. I wanted her to do whatever made her happy, but I’d be lying if I said her flying around to different cities didn’t make me uneasy. Especially while I was out of the country. If that made me an asshole, I didn’t care. I needed to know she was safe at home, around her tribe, while I was gone.

“Let’s play a game,” I suggested.

Rayne put the bottle of water she’d been drinking back in her purse and smiled.

“A game?”

“Word association.”

Recognition dawned, and she laughed.