His hair was too dark for it to be Wesley, and if Austin always guarded their base, then it must be Caleb. Too easy.
I chuckled quietly to myself at their foolish move, sending Caleb against me. He was by far the least likely to shoot me with a paintball, so protecting our flag should be a breeze. I took aim from my raised structure and waited for him to dart out from his hiding spot. I grinned with a surge of glee when he emerged in the exact spot I had anticipated. I squeezed my trigger several times in quick succession.
Damn. So close!
As much practice as I had been putting in with Austin at the gun range, this was my first real experience firing at a moving target. My pellets had missed him by mere inches, splattering glittery pink paint all over the hay bales he had dived behind. Wesley, of all people, had presented me with the girly ammo when we were getting ready, a cheeky smile on his face at my reaction to the sickening color. I was not a pink girl.
“Give it up, Caleb!” I yelled, laughing. Paintball wasn’t so bad after all. “I’ve already spotted you, and there is no way you’re making it across this clearing without getting painted head to toe in my sparkly Barbie paint!”
There was a long pause, and then he called back cautiously, “How about a truce… Kitty Kat?”
“What sort of truce?” I asked suspiciously, watching his hiding place like a hawk for any sign of movement, my gun at the ready. I didn’t believe for a second he’d given up that easily.
“Let’s agree not to shoot each other, and we can just hang out in your base until the others finish the game!” he suggested hesitantly.
“Hah! Yeah right, you must think I’m stupid!” I scoffed. Caleb was most definitely not above using sneaky tactics. Even as tempting as his offer was.
“Come on, Kitty Kat. I saw Cole and River are both taking on… Austin… so I bet they’ll have this thing won in no time,” he coaxed, and I wavered. Despite how good Austin was, with Cole and River teamed up together, he wouldn’t last long.
“I suppose you have a point… What about Wes? Won’t he be backing up Austin?” I wasn’t silly enough to assume just because Wesley wasn’t the most active field agent that he wasn’t just as well trained.
Caleb made a noise of frustration, and I realized how much closer he was than before. He must have been army crawling behind the low hay wall because I hadn’t seen him move at all.
“Wes had some tech emergency like five minutes into the game; he’s not even playing anymore.” He sounded annoyed and was close enough that he no longer needed to yell to be heard. “So, are we calling a truce? It’s really cold down here!”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.” I sighed. “I can’t believe Wesley isn’t even playing after giving me this care-bear ammo and you guys all giving me grief about the team bonding!”
Caleb hesitantly stood from his hiding place and approached my base. The way he was carrying himself suggested he didn’t trust me to keep my word on the truce or something. I took a moment as he prowled closer to admire his form. Even wrapped in the saggy white jumpsuit, he still managed to look hot as hell. His dark hair was disheveled, and the white fabric was stretched tight across his biceps as he climbed the short ladder up to my sanctuary. By the time he reached my platform, I was practically drooling with the need to run my hands through that hair and feel those arms around me.
Goddamn, what is going on today? It felt as though my libido was making up for lost time, having been practically non-existent for the past two months, because I could not seem to keep my mind out of the gutter ever since arriving at the paintball park.
“Geez, don’t look at me with such suspicion, Cal.” I smiled, placing my gun on the floor in a gesture of good faith then climbing to my feet and wrapping my arms around his neck in what was meant to be a friend-hug. My body pressed against his a little harder than I had initially intended, and my inner sex goddess reared her head, pulling us in tighter.
“Thanks for coming to break my boredom,” I whispered, meeting his surprised gaze. He was probably a bit shocked that I was all of a sudden initiating more than friendly contact again, but that mounting desire inside me just wouldn’t back down. I bit my lip, debating my next move. His deep, emerald green eyes seemed to widen even further, and with a little voice in my head cheering like we were at a sports game, I plucked up a bit of courage and dipped my head forward, pressing my lips to his. For a moment, we were both frozen.
Oh fuck, have I completely misread this situation?
I’d been positive he was interested, with all the flirting and borderline sexual contact prior to the Simon incident, but his lack of response was making me second guess whether it was all in my head. My face burning with embarrassment, I hastily pulled back.
“Sorry, I—” My mumbled apology was cut short as he grasped the back of my head, slamming his mouth back onto mine. I gasped in surprise, and he took advantage of the opening, plunging his tongue in to caress my own, the hard metal of his tongue stud clicking against my teeth. Huh, I hadn’t noticed he was wearing it earlier. Not that I’m complaining! Oh God, the things he could potentially do to me with that piercing…
I knew his tongue was pierced, of course; he had it done a month ago when Austin had decided to get his done. Being identical twins, they often needed to exchange places on undercover missions, so they mirrored each other’s appearance changes exactly. The only variations were in their tattoos, but I had seen them both using heavy duty concealer to erase the beautiful designs whenever they were on a job.
The incredible sensory contrast between the hard metal of his piercing and the soft heat of his tongue was something I’d never experienced before, and I moaned a little in pleasure, desperate for more. The sound seemed to spur him on, and he grasped the backs of my thighs, hoisting my legs around his waist as his lips continued to explore my own as though committing them to memory. My fingers threaded into his dark hair exactly the way they had been wanting to since we had met at CFA, which felt like a lifetime ago. It seemed hard to imagine now, how we hadn’t done this sooner, but fuck if I didn’t plan on making up for lost time.