Fly With Me (Wild Aces #1)(12)
“Aeronautical engineering?” Her brow rose as her finger traveled from my bicep to my chest, her hot pink nails trailing across my collarbone.
My stomach muscles clenched.
“So you’re really smart.”
I shrugged, releasing her bathing suit ties, my palm settling against her ass, cupping her there, squeezing, my eyes greedy as I watched her arch against my hand.
“I like science. There was a brief period of time when I played around with being an astronaut, but it’s pretty much always been jets for me.”
My other hand left her hair, drifting down to her waist, lower still, until I grabbed two perfect handfuls. I could die a happy man now.
It was a moment before she spoke.
“So how does it work exactly?” She grinned. “Clearly, I know nothing about the Air Force. Do you have any control over where you go?”
I marveled at her ability to string together a coherent thought. The hard-on raging between my legs was definitely making it more difficult for me to speak. When I finally did, I had to push the words out. It was a miracle I was functioning at this point.
“Officially? Kind of. Certain bases have specific airframes. Only a few locations have F-16s so I’m usually limited to those assignments. Typically, you can list your preferences, but in reality, it’s very ‘needs of the Air Force.’ You go where they want you to go.”
The last words came out in a strangled gasp because my throat closed up as she shifted in my arms, and then I was on my back, staring up at her, her body straddling mine.
“I gotta say, this is hands down, the most interesting conversation I’ve ever had about my job.”
She laughed. “I figured it beats the interview-style first date awkwardness.”
“Is this a first date?”
She hesitated for a second, a smile playing on her lips. “Yeah, I think it is.”
“Does it count as a date if I didn’t buy you dinner?”
“I think it’s whatever we want it to be.”
My eyes narrowed speculatively. “If you have any strange habits I should know about, please spare me and tell me now, because I’m pretty sure in another minute or so, I’m not going to care if you collect creepy dolls or save your toenail clippings.”
She cracked up. “That’s pretty not-sexy.”
“And yet, I’m still turned on.”
Her eyes gleamed. “Yeah, you are.”
This girl was killing me.
“Does collecting creepy stuffed animals count?”
She could tell me she collected porcelain clowns and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t care. I must have made a face, though, because she burst into laughter again.
“You should see your expression. Totally kidding about the creepy stuffed animals. No weird habits that I know of. Of course, if I did have them, I’d probably think they were normal and not flag them as weird at all.”
I grinned. “True. I guess I’ll just have to take my chances.”
“I guess so,” Jordan teased.
She brushed her hair over her shoulder, drawing my attention up to her breasts.
“So where have you lived?” she asked.
Apparently, we were back to informational foreplay. God, that answer took me a while to come up with, too, although not entirely surprising considering all the blood in my head had rushed to my lap.
“The whole list?”
She nodded.
“Okay, I was at the Academy in Colorado Springs for college, then I went to Texas for pilot training, then Phoenix for the B course.”
“B course?”
She reached between us, her fingers tracing my abs and a few more brain cells died. Being stroked by her was heaven, and I was pretty sure I could lie here all day long.
“Basic course. It’s learning how to fly the F-16. Then South Korea, followed by Germany, then a stint in Vegas for weapons school, then almost three years in South Carolina, and now I’m stationed at Bryer Air Force Base near Oklahoma City.”
“So you’ve lived in eight different places since you joined the Air Force.”
Her hands went a little lower on my stomach, skimming over my belly button, and I sucked in a deep breath.
Go lower.
“Not including the times I’ve deployed? Eight places in sixteen years, if you include my time at the Zoo.”
“The Zoo?”
“Air Force Academy.”
Her touch stilled, her expression intent. My dick protested, but my brain welcomed the reprieve. There was only so much a man could take.
“How many times have you deployed?”
That took a minute, too. “Three. No, four.”
“For how long?
“The first two were four months each, the last two six months each. Fighter deployments aren’t as long as some of the other deployments.”
“And you like this job?” she asked, the doubt in her voice clear.
I grinned. “I guess it kind of makes me sound insane when you put it like that, but yeah, I do.”
She remained still, staring down at me, her hands on my stomach, her gaze locked with mine. Emotions flashed through her eyes, altering the tension between us as if a switch had been flipped. I didn’t know what had happened, just that something had changed.
I’d have been lying if I didn’t admit that I felt pretty far removed from the civilian population. It was hard to explain what my lifestyle was like. That it was difficult to predict where I’d be living in a couple years, or if I was free to go to a family member’s wedding even with a year’s notice. Dating could be tough considering not many girls liked playing second fiddle to the Air Force. And no matter how hard I tried, I could only make so many promises. Right now I had a job I couldn’t quit and a life that wasn’t my own.