Afterburner: A DADT Novella Read online

  Afterburn

  Lex Valentine

  Contents

  Author Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Breath of Heaven

  About the Author

  Also by Lex Valentine

  Praise for Lex Valentine

  Afterburner, 2nd Edition © January 2019, Lex Valentine, Lexicon Publishing

  All rights reserved worldwide. This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover art © 2019, Winterheart Design, http://winterheart.com

  Interior Design and Graphics by Winterheart Design Book Services

  Edited by Kris Jacen

  Formatting by Marissa Dobson

  This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  WARNING: This work contains graphic language and explicit sexual content between two consenting adults. Intended for adult readers only. Not intended for readers under the age of 18. Please protect your copy of this work from access by underage readers.

  This book was previously published. The content has been revised only slightly from the original publication.

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  To the men and women of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team, especially those pilots who have flown the number five lead solo. It’s been my privilege to have seen them perform numerous times and every single time, number five has taken my breath away.

  Author Note

  There’s a lot of information out there on jets and fighter units. While I did do quite a bit of research into the fighter units I may have bent some facts in order to have them fit in the framework of my story. It is a work of fiction and the characters in no way are based on real people. Any mistakes in the research are solely my own or can be attributed to my artistic license for the purposes of this story.

  The little town of Forza, California is entirely a figment of my imagination. Having been through most of the small towns in the area around Edwards AFB, I know they are little “pocket” communities. For this story, rather than use an existing town, I wanted to create one that had been built around Sebastian’s family, one that his father and uncles founded, someplace Bas would always have felt that he belonged. We should all have somewhere we feel we belong, no matter who we are or what happens in our lives.

  Chapter One

  Sebastian heaved a sigh of satisfaction as the Slick 360 aerobatic plane performed every maneuver he asked of it flawlessly. It made the hours he’d spent working on it worthwhile. Now, he could be sure his brother Cristiano would be flying a perfectly prepped plane at next week’s air show in Northern California. As he brought the plane in, visually lining it up with his family’s private airstrip, he noticed a car sitting just to one side of the runway, near the hangars. Since he wasn’t expecting company, he wondered who it could be.

  Shifting his focus back to the plane and the task at hand, Bas brought the light aircraft in for a perfect landing. Once on the ground, he taxied toward the hangar, intent on putting his brother’s “baby” away. It would stay locked up for the next two days until Cris and Max came out to prep for the next show. The Flying Marchettis were scheduled to be in half a dozen air shows over the next three months. Bas figured maintaining the equipment would keep him busier than the accounting usually did especially since his brother had purchased some new planes in preparation for the new routines he planned when Bas joined them next year.

  Bas turned the Slick into its hangar and shut it down. By the time he’d gotten out of the cockpit and finished tethering the plane, his visitor had appeared in the open hangar doorway. Bas noted that the man’s height was similar to his own six foot two and they had similar builds. Back lit by the bright desert sun, the visitor’s features lay in shadow.

  “Can I help you?” he asked as he walked toward the stranger.

  “I’m looking for Marciano Marchetti.”

  The man’s voice was deep and sexy. Bas suppressed a shiver, telling himself that he’d only reacted because he spent too much time alone and it had been nearly a year since he’d been with anyone. Celibacy had never been his thing, yet he’d learned to live with it over the years, knowing that his chosen career and his sexual orientation would never mix well.

  “My father.” Bas stepped out of the hangar and punched in the code to close the door. “He died six months ago. He’d been ill with cancer for several years. Did you know him?”

  He turned to face the stranger and had to bite back the urge to suck in his breath. Cobalt blue eyes set in a rugged, tanned face–a Marlboro man kind of face– stared back at him. Dark blond, honey colored hair crowned the man’s head. Almost absently, Bas registered the military haircut, but then focused on the broad shoulders, lean hips, and washboard abs defined by the t-shirt plastered to his visitor’s torso by the hot desert wind.

  “Yeah. I rented the apartment over the garage from him when I was here for test pilot school some years back.” the man said. “I thought maybe I’d get lucky and find the apartment available again.”

  “It is, but no one’s lived in it for a couple of years. It’s probably a mess from neglect,” Bas told him, all the while admonishing himself to stop mentally drooling over the guy. He’d admitted he was an Air Force pilot and his haircut and bearing confirmed it. And besides, there was no way in hell the guy could be anything but straight. In his entire Air Force career, Bas had only ever come across one gay pilot.

  The man took a few steps toward Bas, holding out one hand. “I’m Ryder Beckett.”

  Bas shook the hand, trying hard not to think about the little zing of electricity he got from their palms meeting. “Sebastian Marchetti.”

  Ryder grinned. “I know. You’re ‘Babe’ Marchetti. I recognized you.”

  Eyes narrowed, Bas went on alert when Ryder spoke his call sign, a nickname given to him when he’d drunkenly joked that he’d learned to fly before he could walk. “You do?”

  Ryder tipped his head to one side, his grin still evident. “Yeah. I got your plane when you left the Thunderbirds.”

  Shit. Just what Bas needed, a former Thunderbirds pilot living over his garage. He forced an easy smile to his face. “Number Five. I took good care of her.”

  “You did.” Ryder’s blue eyes twinkled. “So if this apartment is in good enough shape, do you think I could rent it?”

  Bas bit back a sigh. Maybe it would do him some good to have someone around. He’d cut himself off from people in the last year, only spending time with his family. It was time to let go of the past. At least he and Ryder had a few things in common. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities that maybe they could hang out and have a few beers together at the local tavern in town.

  He gestured toward the classic Mustang convertible sitting at the edge of the airstrip. “Let’s go take a look at
it.”

  Ryder’s grin widened impossibly. With infectious enthusiasm, he led the way to his car. “No wheels?” he asked as he opened the driver door.

  Bas shook his head. “Since it’s only a quarter mile to the house, I usually hoof it.” He got in the Mustang, stroking the silver blue paint. “It’s beautiful. Very nicely restored.”

  The engine started with a muted roar and Ryder put the car in gear. “I did the work myself. It’s kind of my hobby.”

  “Must have been hard to work on when you were at Nellis. Being gone so much with the team and all,” Bas remarked casually. Inside, he felt far from casual. Ryder’s long fingers turned the wheel with an economy of movement that most jet pilots displayed. With jets, the sensitivity of the stick meant that the smallest movement could put the plane into a roll or dive.

  “Oh, I’d finished by the time I got to Vegas. I did most of the work before I went in the academy, back when I was in high school.”

  Ryder’s words reminded Bas of his own journey in the military. It seemed they’d had similar paths. Not that what he’d done had been unique. The only thing unique about him had been the fact that he was one of the Flying Marchettis. He’d entered the academy with a commercial pilot’s license and airshow certification at age eighteen, the only cadet ever to have that certification at entrance. Of course, the military course in acrobatics turned out to be somewhat different from what he knew, but the basics were the same. Learning to do acrobatics in an F-16 with the Thunderbirds was a big jump from a plane like the Slick 360.

  The Mustang pulled up to the garage and Bas got out, feeling acutely conscious of Ryder Beckett’s lean body. He led the way up the stairs attached to the side of the garage and pulled a set of keys from his jeans pocket. The door opened easily and he stepped inside, Ryder on his heels. Shockingly, the place seemed fine. A little dusty and musty and certainly way too hot from being closed up, but all it really needed was some elbow grease.

  “Hey, the furniture is newer than when I was here,” Ryder remarked as he looked around.

  Bas walked over to the windows and opened them wide. “My brother replaced it all when he lived here for a short while after my Dad was diagnosed.”

  With all the windows and blinds open, Bas could see that the tiny living room slash dining area looked fine. The kitchen counters and breakfast bar all had a serious layer of desert dust on it, but nothing that a sponge and some cleaner wouldn’t take care of. He walked across the room and opened the bedroom door. The same musty, dusty smell greeted him. He opened the blinds and windows, noting that the king sized mattress looked brand new and took up much more of the room than the old double bed had. A check of the bathroom told him it needed cleaning in much the same manner as the kitchen.

  When he came out of the bathroom, Bas found Ryder sitting on the bare mattress.

  “This is great,” Ryder said, looking up at him. “If you’re up for a neighbor, I’d definitely like to rent it. Is there garage space?”

  Trying not to think about how sexy the pilot looked sprawled on the edge of the bed, Bas jerked his chin toward the window. “There’s some in the boathouse behind the garage. My brother Cris used to have all kinds of watercraft in there but it’s mostly down at his house now.”

  “Great! How much you do want for this?”

  Bas rubbed his head thoughtfully. Since he’d come home, he’d not given the apartment a second thought. He’d had no plans to rent it. The only reason he was doing it now was because he felt a huge tug of attraction to Ryder Beckett. He turned away and walked back into the main room of the apartment before his cock sprang to life and told Ryder how much he wanted him.

  “Utilities, a damage and cleaning deposit, I guess,” Bas said gruffly, trying to control his intense reaction to the other man. “But other than that, you wouldn’t be in anyone’s way or anything so I wouldn’t feel right charging you a large amount of money.”

  “I can afford to pay rent. Uncle Sam does pay me.” Ryder chuckled. “I’m sure you have a good idea just how much, since according to my CO, you had my job until a few months ago.”

  If Ryder had the same commanding officer as Bas at Edwards Air Force Base then he had to be a test pilot. Bas had gone to test pilot school before he’d been selected for the Thunderbirds. His goal had always been to come home to the desert and fly jets for the testing wing. Just as planned, he’d retired from the Air Force after twenty years. Unfortunately, his father’s illness and death and Bas’s own circumstances had changed his retirement plans somewhat. Instead of joining the Flying Marchettis right away, Bas had elected to wait until next year’s season while teaching as a civilian contractor at the test pilot school. His father’s lingering illness had left the family’s business and monies in disarray and Bas figured it would take at least another six months to get everything straightened out and probate settled.

  “So you’re my replacement.” Bas flashed a smile at the other man before crossing the room toward the door. “They were quick.”

  As he spoke, a hand gripped his elbow and spun him around. Surprised, he got a glimpse of dark blue eyes sparkling with excitement before a hard mouth came down on his. A bolt of sheer lust rocked him. As Ryder’s tongue pressed for entrance, Bas opened his mouth, thrilling to the taste of the other man. Minty, smoky, and fueled with high octane arousal. Hard hands swept his back, his shoulders, and finally his buttocks. Involuntarily, Bas thrust against Ryder’s body and through the layers of their clothes he felt the erection that rivaled his own.

  And then the kiss ended.

  Standing with chest heaving, two full feet between them, Sebastian stared at Ryder Beckett in pure shock. An Air Force officer, a jet pilot, had kissed him. Blatantly. Sexually. Forcefully.

  “I figured I should just get that out of the way before we went any further,” Ryder said, his voice deep and husky with arousal.

  “What the hell do you mean?” Bas demanded, confused.

  Ryder ran a hand through his already ruffled hair. Then he stared hard at Bas. “I could see you were thinking the same thing I was. You’re attracted to me. I’m attracted to you. I just thought I’d show you that your feelings were reciprocated.”

  “You’re a pilot. An officer.” Bas stared at Ryder, feeling a little shocked.

  “I’m gay.”

  The words hung in the hot, musty air between them. Bas felt his heartbeat increase. Air Force officers did not say the word gay. Not to someone they didn’t know and trust. And Bas didn’t know Ryder. Despite being a civilian now, he could not say the word to the man. Twenty years of holding it in, twenty years of repression, twenty years of yearning, held him back.

  Anger flickered on Ryder Beckett’s face. “You’re such a die hard,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Somehow, I didn’t expect that. You’re retired, aren’t you? They don’t own you anymore.”

  Bas swallowed hard and watched Ryder’s gaze flick over his throat, the color of his eyes deepening to midnight. “Technically, they don’t. But…I don’t…I can’t…” he broke off. He frankly didn’t know what to say to a man who was still in the military but who’d admitted to being gay.

  Ryder nodded crisply. “I get it. I know it’s hard to admit to when you’ve lived your life in the Air Force. Everyone expects jet pilots to be macho men who fuck anything in a skirt that comes into range and then suit up and shoot ten MiGs out of the sky.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Bas muttered, leaning back against the apartment wall as he stared at the pilot. The other man, despite being younger, had much more confidence in himself and his sexuality than Bas ever had.

  “I’ve never hidden who I am, Sebastian,” Ryder admitted in a low voice. “I’ve used caution and exhibited extreme discretion to avoid the witch hunt ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ can be sometimes. Usually, people just assume I’m straight, and I let them. It frees me up to be who I am in private. I’ve never been with a woman. I don’t want to. But I’ve been with quite a few men. You’d
be surprised how many of us there are in the service. And you’d be surprised at how many people actually know what your real preferences are, but would never turn you in for being a homosexual.”

  After a moment of hard thinking, Bas realized Ryder probably had the right of it. Why he’d never picked up on it, he didn’t know. It had just been ingrained in him to hide his sexuality. Only in the last year had he begun to loosen up a little and not worry so much about others finding out. Only in the last year had he decided he needed something more than his hand, gay porn, and furtive encounters. And his first and only try at a relationship hadn’t been anything to write home about. When it ended badly, he knew he needed to get out of the service and get a real life. Hiding didn’t cut it any longer.

  Drawing a breath, he stared into the very dark blue eyes of the man he’d just met and said, “I’m gay too. And yeah, I’m very attracted to you.”

  A gorgeous smile broke out on Ryder’s face. “So what are we going to do about that?”

  With a short laugh, Bas pushed off from the wall and pulled the door open. “Right now, we’re gonna agree on a price for this apartment. Then I’m going home to make lunch which you are invited to. Unless you’d rather just start moving in.”

  Ryder laughed and the sound made Bas’s breath catch in his throat. “I think I’ll give it some soap and water before I bring my stuff over from the motel,” he admitted. “But lunch sounds great.”

  On legs that should have felt shaky after their frank conversation, Bas led the way down the stairs and across the yard to the kitchen door at the back of the Marchetti house. The simple ranch style house he’d grown up in had been added on to a couple of times by his dad. The first expansion had been a deck with a built-in barbeque pit and spa. Then had come the in-ground swimming pool. And finally, not long before his Pop had gotten ill, Bas’s brothers-in-law, the two brothers who had married his twin sisters, had done an expansion and renovation of the kitchen for Bas’s mom.