And then my goddamn phone rang.

“Oh, fuck!”

“What?” she gasped. “Don’t stop, Sebastian!”

I had no intention of stopping, but I had to take the call whether I wanted to or not.

I carried her to the bed, taking care not to trip over her trailing jeans while we were still joined together, then I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket.

“Sebastian,” she whimpered.

“Just a minute, baby, I’ve got to take this call. It’s my CO’s ringtone.” I pressed ‘accept’ while she glared at me. “Hunter, sir.”

She huffed quietly against my chest and wriggled on my cock, sending tremors through my body. I gave her a warning stare. I wasn’t going to be able to concentrate if she did that again, but to keep her quiet, I started to move slowly, sliding my dick in and out of her in a way that I knew she loved.

“At last!” my CO snapped. “Are you still in Europe, Hunter?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Geneva?”

“No, Italy, sir.”

I must have thrust too hard, because Caro moaned loudly.

“What’s that noise, Hunter?”

“Um … I’ve just been out for a run.”

“Hmm, keeping in shape then?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good man. So it’s like this: the word’s come down that they want to move up the mission. Operation Moshtorak has just gone to status critical. There’s friction between Quetta and Peshawar and that appears to have reduced the Taliban’s ability to maintain a strong presence in Helmand. We need to capitalize on that. Our contact is Gal Agha. Your job is to find him and bring him in. We have to move fast because now intel says that the local Taliban are making noises and stopping anyone who’s thinking about collaborating with us. It’s imperative we get to Gal Agha first. It’ll be a political coup, but more importantly, it’ll keep the boots on the ground safer if we can make Southern Helmand a no-go area for Taliban recruitment for at least six months. We can’t trust the ANA interpreters, so we need one of our own. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m sorry, Hunter, but all leave is being cancelled and key personnel are being flown out via Ramstein at oh-nine-hundred hours on Thursday. Once you’re in Kabul, you’ll meet up with Captain Ryan Grant of MEU who’s the mission leader, and he’ll give you your orders. This is important, Hunter, so don’t fuck up. I had a helluva job persuading the powers-that-be that you were the man for this job and to overlook what happened in Paris. Don’t make me out to be a liar. I know it doesn’t give you much time to pack up your place in Geneva, but that’s the way it is. I’ll send a staff car to pick you up at oh-six-hundred.”

“I’ll be there.”

He disconnected the call and I threw the phone in the corner. I’d worry about the implications of that conversation later. Right now, I had a mission of my own to think about.

I dropped Caro onto the bed, raising her hips and grinding into her in a way that made her gasp. She threw back her head and I sank my teeth into her nipple, feeling it harden even through her bra and t-shirt.

She screamed my name so loudly, I thought I’d lose hearing in my left ear. Not that I gave a fuck. It was worth it just to hear her coming apart like that. As she clenched around me, I lost it too, my cock swelling as I pumped into her, then collapsed on top of her, my weight pressing her into the mattress.

We lay there, trying to catch our breath.

“Sebastian?” she gasped, her voice shaky and astonished.

I pulled out carefully and looked down at her, my smile wide and relaxed. “Did you get what you wanted, baby?”

“Excuse me?” she huffed.

“You said you wanted some devil inside you. I aim to please.”

She scowled and slapped my arm, trying to squirm away from me, but my body was still pinning her down.

“Sebastian, you just fucked me while you were talking to your CO!” she hiccupped, sounding breathless and a little pissed.

“What, you think men can’t multitask?”

She stared at me in disbelief.

“I can’t believe you did that!”

I couldn’t help laughing at the outraged expression on her face. She didn’t fool me—she’d needed to come as badly as I had.

“Felt good! Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that because either it was you moaning, baby, or my CO had a stomach ache.”

“I … you … that … unbelievable!”

I rolled off of her and lay down, pulling her firmly into my chest.

“I haven’t even taken my boots off,” she muttered.

“Me neither,” I reminded her.

Reluctantly, I sat up and peeled off the condom, tossing it in the garbage. Then I stood and yanked up my pants, before heading to the bathroom for a much needed piss.

She was still lying on the bed when I came back, not even caring that she was naked from the waist down, her panties and jeans caught around her ankles. I picked up her foot and started to undo the laces, tossing the boot over my shoulder where it landed with a thud. When I tugged off her sock, I couldn’t help wanting to kiss and suck her perfect little toes.

“Sebastian,” she whimpered, “you’re supposed to do foreplay before sex.”

I smiled down at her but didn’t reply, just copying my movements with her right foot. Finally I was able to free her legs from her clothing.

“Very nice,” I said, planting a soft kiss on her belly button.

Then I lifted her limp body so I could take off her t-shirt and reached around to unhook her bra.

Just a quick taste.

“Mmm,” I said, taking a bite of each nipple.

She pushed me away.

“Don’t start what you can’t finish, Sebastian,” she snapped, obviously still a little annoyed with me although I wasn’t sure why.

“Who says I can’t finish? You were the one who said we should be creative. I’m just doing as I’m told, ma’am.”

I turned to unbuckle my motorcycle boots, kicked them into the corner, and dropped the rest of my clothes onto the floor in one quick movement.

Then I scooped her up and carried her into the shower, enjoying the feel of the hot water as I soaped her carefully and kissed every inch of soft, warm skin.

“You want some more, Caro,” I offered, as I massaged between her thighs.

“I’d love to say yes,” she said, yawning, “but really I just want to go and sleep. Rough sex during phone calls always does that to me.”

“Always?” I questioned.

“Always,” she stated with a subtle smile.

“Hmm.” I wasn’t sure I liked that answer. Who else had taken the idea of phone sex to a whole new level with her?

“By the way,” she asked, “why was your CO calling? What did he want at this time of night?”

Damn. I was hoping she wouldn’t ask about that until morning.

“He wanted to know where I was.”

“I gathered that. Because?”

“I’m sorry, Caro; I’m going to have to be back in Geneva in four days … and then back to Afghanistan.”

“Four days?” Her voice shook as she spoke.

“I’m so sorry, baby.”

“Well,” she said, trying to smile even as her lips quivered, “we’ll just have to make the most of the four days then.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” I said quietly. “I promise, Caro.”

“Sebastian, don’t worry,” she said, putting some grit in her voice—for my benefit, I guessed. “Every day with you is a bonus. And we’ve got the rest of our lives to see Italy.”

Hearing her words was the best fucking thing ever.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

And there was no doubt in her voice as she said the words. Then she pulled me into her arms and we stood together, letting the hot water flow over us, trying to reassure each other that it would be okay.

When the water began to cool, she turned off the faucet.

“Come here, let me dry you, tesoro.”

God, this woman. It had been years since anyone had tried to take care of me. Even as a kid, I’d had to look after myself.