by Krista Wolf
“This place is bigger than the last one,” I said. “But not by much.”
“Only the best,” Ryan laughed, pulling his boots off. “Only the best.”
Dakota returned in less than twenty minutes, absolutely drenched in sweat. He peeled every piece of clothing off and headed straight into the shower without a word.
“You made him really run,” I chuckled at Ryan. “You know that?”
“Of course.”
“Your plan all along?”
He threw me a rare wink. “Could be.”
I walked over and straddled Ryan where he sat on the bed. I could still feel the heat coming off him as I pulled his head into my chest.
“Listen, I’m sorry if I almost got us all caught,” I said.
Ryan stopped nuzzling his way between my breasts just long enough to look up. “What?”
“Back there, in the woods. I slowed you down. Dakota even carried me at one point.” I sighed. “You guys were right, I shouldn’t have come.”
“You’re forgetting, you were also the one with the good ears,” Ryan told me. “You heard and saw them coming. If it weren’t for you, we might not have had time to run.”
That part I hadn’t considered. It made me feel immeasurably better.
“Also,” he said, sliding his arms around my legs, “you make a lot better company than Dakota. You smell better, you feel better, you taste better…”
His fingers ran up and down my ribs, tickling me so badly I jumped back with a giggle.
“You sure know how to make a girl feel better.”
“I know how to romance them too,” Ryan offered. He waved one arm around the room grandly, like a game show host. “Just look at this place.”
Dakota eventually emerged in a tiny, threadbare towel that barely covered anything. Immediately my eyes traveled down his broad shoulders, crawling over every curve of his gorgeous, well-defined arms. His chest was still rising and falling from all the exercise. Steam radiated upward from his unblemished skin, making him look like a sexy phoenix rising from the ashes of some minuscule shower-stall.
“Water’s hot at least,” he shrugged.
“You look like a stripper,” laughed Ryan.
“Fuck you.”
“No, seriously. You look like—”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Everyone froze. The room went from playful mockery to deadly serious in just three sharp knocks.
Ryan was nearest to the door. He inched over, somehow without making a sound, and bent to peer through the tiny peephole. For three long seconds, the world stood still. Then he turned back to us, his expression crestfallen.
“Ah, fuck.”
Fifty-One
SAMMARA
Ryan opened the door with all the enthusiasm of a pall bearer. No less than five men stood on the other side, all armed, all with one hand resting on holstered weapons.
The one in the middle was Markus Ladrone.
“You guys move fast,” he said. “Like a bunch of ninjas.”
Ryan stood his ground, relaxed but ready. I knew firsthand how fast he was. How quickly he could move from a complete standstill, when he needed to.
But there were five of them. Five mercenaries, too.
Armed mercenaries.
“So you ended up betraying us anyway,” Dakota spat from behind me. “After all that bullshit talk, you sold us out.”
Markus smiled. “Oh I wouldn’t say that,” he said slowly. Moving boldly, he stepped through the doorway. “Actually, it’s probably not as bad as you think.”
He still had his hand on his gun. None of us had anything. Shit, Dakota wasn’t even dressed.
“You scheduled your meeting before we even got there,” said Ryan. “And you alerted Goddard ahead of time. You had his men waiting for us.”
I watched Markus’s expression carefully. There was definitely some amusement there. But also something else. Something… different.
“If I did all that,” he said, “don’t you think they would’ve caught you?”
“They almost did,” said Ryan. “They almost—”
“Goddard was suspicious, yes,” Markus interrupted. “But he wasn’t tipped off. You tripped his proximity sensors.” His gaze traveled to each of us in turn. “One of you, anyway.”
Dakota stepped forward, still holding his tiny towel. “You were inside, Markus! It wasn’t supposed to be that way. You were supposed to—”
“I know what I was supposed to do,” he said, “but Goddard changed the plan. He refused to walk with me. He invited me in — something he’s never done before. If I’d refused he would’ve known something was off, right on the spot.”
Markus sat down on the bed, casually. His men stayed exactly where they were.
“I’m sorry the timing was off,” he said. “But I had to go with the flow. Goddard’s paranoid,” he nodded toward Dakota, “especially when it comes to you and Briggs. But he’s also desperate, which lucky for us worked out in our favor.”
Ryan’s shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Dakota cleared his throat.
“So… So you’re saying…”
“You want the good news of the better news?” Markus asked abruptly.
“Both.”
The mercenary captain smiled and stood up. “The good news is I’m giving the company back to you,” he said. “Or rather, back to Briggs.” He shrugged theatrically. “Whether he deserves it or not, Di Spatia is his now. His to fuck up all on his own. His to run into the ground without me, or—”
“What’s the better news?” I asked.
Markus’s gaze shifted to mine and a look passed between us. I saw a flash of resentment, but also underlying glimmers of respect, maybe even admiration. Without looking away, he pulled something from his pocket and offered it to Ryan. My lover opened his palm, and a tiny memory card fell into his hand.
“The better news,” said Markus, “is that we got what we needed.”
Ryan’s eyes went wide. All the tension went out of his face.
“Really?”
“Really,” said Markus.
Dakota let out a long, heated breath. As Markus stood to leave, I noticed none of his men had their hands on their weapons anymore.
“What do you want for this?” Dakota asked suddenly. “What’s the price for helping us?”
“I’ll take that up with Briggs,” shrugged Markus. “But for now, just nailing Goddard?” One side of his mouth curled into an evil-looking grin. “It almost makes us even.”
His men moved away as he stepped back through the tiny threshold. Once outside he turned around.
“And Jesus Bradley, would you put something on? That towel’s the size of a wash cloth! You look like an exotic dancer.”
Ryan whirled on him comically. “See?”
Dakota grumbled as Markus looked around one last time.
“I don’t know if this would’ve been my choice,” the mercenary said glibly, “but you’re good here for tonight. I’ll send a car for you in the morning, to take you back. Or you can send for your own car, if you still don’t trust me,” Markus winked. “Your call.”
With that he walked off, his men falling in behind him. He got a half dozen steps before Ryan stopped him.
“Hey… Markus.”
The man turned to looked over his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow.
“Thanks.”
The door closed, and the room fell silent. I was finally able to breathe again.
“Did that just happen?” I asked, after a while.
Ryan blinked. “I think so.”
“So then we’re in the clear?”
“Will be,” said Dakota. “Should be.”
My whole body flooded with sweet, beautiful relief. It crashed over me in waves, relaxing me, rejuvenating me, even after our long day.
I dropped to the mattress and stretched out sexily across the bed. I reached my arms high overhead, arching my back, reveling in the feel of being exhaustedly, blessedly free.
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“We staying here tonight?”
Dakota and Ryan both nodded in unison. Smiling impishly, I spread my legs and beckoned them down by crooking a finger.
“Then take my clothes off already,” I purred. “And let’s make this filthy hotel room even dirtier.”
Fifty-Two
SAMMARA
They shared me over and over again, tag-teaming me mercilessly. Taking me both alone and together, from both ends, despite our exhaustion.
I lost track of the number of times they’d made me come.
The half-day car ride and sprint through the woods had left us emotionally and physically drained. We were running on fumes — pure adrenaline only. Still riding out the high of having screwed up and escaped, and yet somehow still accomplished what we’d originally set out to do.
I think it was the near-delirium of being so tired made the sex even better. My boys screwed me lazily, pinning me to the bed. Taking turns holding me down and digging me out until my eyes rolled back into my head and I saw silvery, shooting stars. The whole thing was indescribably hot. Trippy, even. But as hallucinogenic as it sometimes felt, the euphoria I felt sandwiched between these two gorgeous, and powerful alpha men was all too real.
Halfway through we broke the bed — actually broke it by sheering off one of the cheap metal legs holding up the box spring. We fucked on a strange but fun angle for a little while, until Dakota flipped it over and snapped off the other three, leveling us out flat against the floor.
Every time I thought it was over, it somehow picked up again. Dakota nailed me from behind as I raked the headboard, while Ryan went out for ice. Then Ryan took over, pulling me down onto his incredible cock. His hands guided my hips as I rode him to completion, while Dakota stretched his great body out lazily alongside me.
It was almost like a victory celebration. Like we’d shared some wonderful triumph together, and not one of us wanted the day to end. We got some sleep eventually, but not much. Between the broken bed and our racing minds, none of us were able to stop our libidos from spinning out of control.
By the time the curtains shrouding the front window were illuminated by the sun, we were all snoring soundly in a naked tangle. We woke up to a broken world; the room a complete and utter wreck. The bed was shattered, the sheets were obliterated, and everything smelled like a mixture of sweat and sex.
On top of all that, the three of us were absolutely starving.
The car Markus sent showed up bright and early of course. We sent the driver out for breakfast while we showered quickly and cleaned up as best we could. After that we were speeding home, devouring our food hungrily from the cool, climate-controlled back seat of a much nicer vehicle than the one in which we’d arrived.
Then we crashed out all over each other… and slept the entire rest of the way.
Home never looked so good as when we finally pulled up.
We were greeted in the driveway by Sarge first, running up to pounce on us while Kyle struggled to catch up. Already my little puppy looked bigger. Kyle seemed like he was limping less too, and had defiantly ditched his crutch.
“Where’s Briggs?” asked Ryan.
Kyle motioned us into the house. Jason was in the kitchen, hunched over an incredibly expensive-looking laptop. He jumped up to hug each of us in turn, patting Ryan and Dakota on the back before sweeping me into his arms and giving me the mother of all welcome home kisses.
“You have it?” he asked.
Dakota dropped the memory card into his hand. It was so small, so ridiculously flimsy-looking. Yet it was our future, our safety. Our insurance policy against anyone who’d seek to harm us.
Somehow I knew all that.
“Give me a few minutes,” said Briggs. “I’ll call you in.”
Kyle threw one arm around Dakota and one arm around me. Ryan followed as he ushered us into the living room, where we all fell into our usual positions on our big, comfortable couch.
“Tough gig?” Kyle asked.
“Nah,” Dakota said, waving him off.
“Unless you count the run,” Ryan smirked. “Not sure Bradley’s doing a ten-five in the hundred meter anymore.”
Dakota bolted upright. “Oh no?” he challenged. “Wanna go outside and mark it off?”
Ryan shrugged. “I would, but it would only embarrass you. And you just got back. Maybe you should relax a little. Right now I think Kyle could beat you.”
I sat there smiling with Sarge’s chin in my lap. Scratching the place behind his ears he loved so much, while the guys continued their normal competitive banter. It was good to be home. Good to be surrounded by the beautifully paneled walls of our old Victorian, with every one of my gorgeous fiancés right here where they belonged.
Soon the light went out of the sky, and Ryan started a fire. I stared down as the orange light was caught by the diamonds of my rings. It flickered wildly between the facets, mesmerizing me, drawing me into an introspective trance as I wondered what came next.
I knew of course, and I couldn’t wait. Still, a big part of our future was now uncertain. A part I couldn’t control. A part that might prevent me from giving the guys something they desperately wanted. And of course, something I wanted too…
“Markus is here,” Jason announced, poking his head in from the other room.
I hadn’t even seen him come in. One minute I’d been staring at the fire dancing in my rings, and the next everyone was getting up, moving into the kitchen. It left me alone, sitting there with Sarge. Then Kyle reached back, holding his hand out to me.
“It’s time,” he smiled. “Come.”
Fifty-Three
SAMMARA
The screen blinked once as the beeping stopped. An image appeared; a white-haired man with a grey mustache, squinting back at us from some dimly-lit room. Music played softly in the background. Maybe classical, it was hard to tell.
“Hello Colonel.”
The man squinted even harder before moving off-screen. He returned wearing a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.
Almost instantly his eyes went wide.
“B—Briggs?”
“Yes Colonel,” Jason said calmly. “And also Bradley. And Dunham. And Murphy.”
Colonel Goddard couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable if he’d just sat on a cactus. He leaned back a bit, and I saw a definite shift in his body language. It went from curious to defensive.
“You’re calling me at home?” the Colonel asked indignantly. “On my private line?”
“Yes.”
The man actually guffawed. “Whatever this is, it couldn’t wait until—”
“If this is inconvenient for you,” Jason said nonchalantly, “just imagine how inconvenient things have been for me. Stuck in Anbar for the past few months. Caged like an animal, on your orders.”
Colonel Goddard’s eyebrows knit together in anger. Trying to look as furious as possible, he even pointed a finger at the screen.
“Let’s stop the manufactured outrage,” Jason jumped in, before the man could say anything else. “You know what you did. Moreover, we know what you did — all of us. As well as what you’re still planning to do.”
Goddard laughed, but it was unconvincing. Despite the front he was putting up, he was clearly rattled.
“Direct threats against a superior officer? I thought you were smarter than this, Briggs.”
“Smart enough,” Jason smirked into the camera. It was a terrifying smirk. One that made me uneasy, and I was on his side.
“I see a court-martial in your future, son,” growled the Colonel. “Hope this little call was worth it.”
“That all depends on you,” Kyle spoke up.
“And what you do next,” added Dakota.
Goddard made a sour face and reached out with one arm. “I’m terminating the connection,” he spat. “Expect to hear from—”
“Might not want to do that just yet,” said Jason. “At least not until you’ve checked your email.”
“My email?�
�� he laughed. “I have people for that. I don’t—”
“The one on your private server.”
Goddard’s lips pursed together. His expression froze.
“Go on,” said Jason. “We’ll wait.”
For a few seconds the Colonel did nothing. Then I saw his arm move. He glanced sideways, into another screen, and the spectral glow of his own laptop illuminated the skin of his stubbled jaw.
A recording began playing, somewhere off-screen. I could hear voices. Even laughter. Two men speaking casually, talking back and forth.
Colonel Goddard’s body language changed again, and this time it was drastic. He seemed to shrink on the screen before us. His back arched, his head shifted forward. Hunched over, with a worried look in his eye, he suddenly looked very old…
And very scared.
When he spoke again, his voice was low and gravelly. Like he’d just woken up from a long, restless sleep. “H—How did you get this?”
“I gave it to them.”
Markus Ladrone shifted forward at the crowded kitchen table, pushing his way between Kyle and Ryan. He got so close, his face took up most of the camera. And he was smiling from ear to ear.
“Ladrone?”
“Oh yeah,” said Markus. “It’s me Colonel.”
“You disgusting piece of—”
“Easy now,” smiled Markus. “You might want to be careful, especially when talking to someone who has your balls in his hand. You never know when he might squeeze…”
The man on the other side of the screen had been scowling, but that faded too.
“Remember when you said that to me?” Markus went on. “When I tried to quit, when I tried to tell you everything we were doing was all wrong? I believe those were the words you used, weren’t they?”
Goddard swallowed hard, but I was pretty sure his Adam’s apple never moved up and down. His color was gone now, too. He looked white as a ghost.
“What is it that you want?”
