Final Target (SEAL Team Blackout), page 18
Teigen issued a throaty laugh that floated with the notes of the reggae. Crew couldn’t resist hooking her close again and skating his lips over her forehead. “You look so damn natural holding a baby. I can’t wait to get started, angel.”
Her eyes glowed with happiness. “I’m so excited too. I’m really excited for the practice.”
“Mmm. Not in front of the baby.” He kissed her again.
Just then, a flat baby hand splatted against his cheek.
They drew away, laughing that Kobe had slapped him.
“I guess he has to break up his parents a lot,” Crew mused. He rubbed a finger at his cheek, which was slightly damp and sticky from whatever Kobe had on his hand.
A squeal sounded from behind them. They turned to see Gia and Sparrow making their way across the patio. Gia rushed up to Kobe and made a fuss over his cast, which he flapped like a penguin.
While the ladies fawned over the baby, Crew and Sparrow faced off. These parties were for the Blackout family, and right now, Sparrow wasn’t his commanding officer—he was his brother.
He clapped Sparrow on the back. “You look rested.”
“I was gonna say the same. We had one hell of a run, didn’t we?”
Abubakar had kept them on the chase for years, and all of them were relieved to sink into a spell of peace. This time, Crew was looking forward to time off. He already had plenty of alone time planned with Teigen, but the following night they’d been invited to a Kevin Costner marathon at Gunnison and Kit’s place.
Crew nodded at Sparrow’s question. “Wanna grab a drink?”
“Yup.”
They headed over to the coolers and each grabbed a beer. They were officially on leave for the next few weeks, something that rarely happened. In fact, it had never happened before in Crew’s time with Blackout.
Crew set his bottle cap on the edge of the metal bar top and gave it a smack to pop the cap. It fell perfectly into the bucket below. Sparrow chuckled and did the same. His cap hit the rim and fell to the paver. After that, more guys joined them to try the game too.
Pretty soon, they were all laughing and joking. Ramsey came out carrying several covered dishes and set them down so he could hurry to the grill and save the steaks from burning.
A loud scream sounded that had them all turning. Crew clapped eyes on Teigen and saw that Kobe’s face was screwed up in anger and beet red. Panic swept her features, and Farah darted forward to rescue her from her offspring.
“Don’t worry. He’s starting to get separation anxiety and screams if he realizes he can’t see me.” Farah plucked the boy from Teigen.
Laughing under his breath, Crew grabbed another beer for her and carried it over. She met his eyes with a look of relief. “I can crack any code, but I have no clue what to do with a screaming child.”
He handed her the ice-cold beer.
She wrapped her fingers around his, and they smiled at each other. God, she was gorgeous. He loved her with any color hair, but since she’d changed it back to her natural reddish brown, he couldn’t stop looking at her.
“You’ll make a great mother. I have total faith in your skills, angel.”
“Whoa. Look who showed his face. Talk about a dead man walking!”
The statement had everyone turning to see Apollo entering the patio. He had another case of beer tucked under his arm, and he was wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and a pair of shades.
“I never turn down a steak.” Apollo walked over to the cooler and set the case of beer next to it.
He didn’t push up his shades, though, and Crew knew it was because of the concussion he was still recovering from after that blast.
Slipping his arm around Teigen’s waist, he led her over to Apollo.
“Hey, Mustang. How’s it goin’? I see you brought your lovely wife.” Apollo’s grin spread.
“Teigen,” she said, holding out a hand for him to shake. “We met briefly when you barged into the office and asked for Indika’s help. You caused quite the surprise that day.”
He shrugged and looked around as if searching for the woman everyone knew had once been linked to him, before news came that he died in the line of duty. But Indika wasn’t there, so he swung his stare back to Teigen and grasped her hand.
“You two caused your own sensation when everyone heard Mustang was married and they still gave him Blackout papers,” Apollo said.
Crew nodded. “Surprised us too. But after talking to Commander Barrett, I learned that my suspicions were right. They already had Teigen in their sights at the time my SEAL team pulled off the big op that got me on Blackout’s radar. Guess we were a two-for-one deal too good to pass up.” He gazed at his wife’s profile, his heart stirring with all the love for this woman.
“Who wants a steak?” Ramsey called out.
Everyone made a rush to grab plates and hurry to the grill. When Crew got that sizzling slab of beef on his plate, he was eager to dig in.
He and Teigen took seats with Lena on one side of them and Apollo on the other. The conversation was good, the food, great. Crew couldn’t feel more satisfied with the way his life was headed.
Glancing around the table at the other smiling faces, he could hardly believe how far he’d come in a few short weeks. From his sullen attitude to the way he felt now, a lot had changed. Of course it mostly had to do with having his wife back in his arms…but it was also knowing that the world was rid of one more terrorist too.
They’d made the world a better place for future generations. That was Crew’s whole reason for joining the military, but never in a million years would he have thought he’d be sitting here in the sunshine, listening to steel drums, with the Blackout family.
He didn’t know what was to come for Apollo, but he seemed to fit right in with both Alpha and Charlie teams. Who knew where he’d land or if he’d leave Blackout altogether.
Loud laughter coming from the end of the table brought him from his thoughts. He looked up to see Lachlan on his feet, all the buttons open on his floral shirt, doing a hip gyration to the music. Beside him, the love of his life Anastasy was pink-cheeked and laughing at his antics.
Yeah, they were all in a good place right now. There would always be another fight, another op to come, yet they had each other’s six.
Teigen’s hand roamed along his thigh under the table. He reached down and covered it with his own, lightly smoothing his thumb across her knuckles.
Her eyes twinkled up at him, making his heart thump faster.
He leaned close and rumbled in her ear, “You better quit eyeing me that way or we’ll have to leave the party early.”
She dug her fingers into his thigh muscle. “Is that a promise?”
“Maybe we can find a private spot around here somewhere, angel.”
She gave him a playful slap but pressed her hand to his chest and searched his eyes. “I’ll never get enough of having you around, Crew.”
“I’m the luckiest man alive.”
Their hands intertwined on his leg. “No more secrets between us.”
He searched her eyes. “What does that mean?”
“It means…I have something to tell you. At least I think I do.” She pressed her palm over his heart harder.
“Teigen, what’s going on?”
“After I broke things off with you, I kind of stopped taking my birth control. There didn’t seem to be any point.”
Understanding struck him. He shifted his gaze to her beer and saw the line of liquid through the glass. It was still full. She hadn’t taken a sip.
He clamped his hand over hers tighter. “Does that mean you’re…”
“I might be…” she pitched her voice to a whisper, “pregnant. I made an appointment at the doctor for tomorrow. My cycle’s late, but with all that’s been going on in my life, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just stress—”
He cut her off with a kiss. The tender sweep of his lips over hers wasn’t enough, but he hoped it showed her exactly how he was feeling right this minute.
In love. Excited for their future and the possibility of their own child.
When they broke apart, Lena jabbed him in the side with an elbow. “Congratulations, you two. I’m really happy for you both. No one deserves a happily ever after more than Mustang and his equally wild wife.”
Teigen burst out laughing and hooked her hand around his nape, pulling him back in for another kiss. “To us.”
“Forever.” He pressed his lips to hers.
DON’T MISS DIRTY JUSTICE, APOLLO’S STORY UP NEXT!
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Em Petrova is a USA Today Bestselling Author who was raised by hippies in the wilds of Pennsylvania but told her parents at the age of four she wanted to be a gypsy when she grew up. She has a soft spot for babies, puppies and 90s Grunge music and believes in Bigfoot and aliens. She started writing at the age of twelve and prides herself on making her characters larger than life and her sex scenes hotter than hot.
She burst into the world of publishing in 2010 after having five beautiful bambinos and figuring they were old enough to get their own snacks while she pounds away at the keys. In her not-so-spare time, she is fur-mommy to a Labradoodle named Daisy Hasselhoff.
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SEAL Team Blackout
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