by MLJ Quigg
MLJ Quigg
Mike
Henderson Security Book 1
MLJ Quigg
Copyright 2018 MLJ Quigg
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organisations or places is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. This book is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author. All songs, song titles, and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.
Trigger warning: This book contains triggers that may be too much for some readers. It is a book about a gay couple. It includes references to rape, has foul language, and male on male action. You have been warned.
If any of these are triggers to you, please don’t read.
If you have ANY problems personally, don’t bottle it up. Talk to someone—a professional, a friend, a family member, or a pet. Anyone. Just talk. You are not alone. Help is ALWAYS there if you ask for it. More information is provided here.
Book design by Swish Design & Editing
Editing by Swish Design & Editing
Proofreading by Swish Design & Editing
Cover design by MLJ Quigg
Cover Image Copyright 2018
All rights reserved
“The first time I laid eyes on you, I knew I was a goner. You’re the most loving, beautiful soul I’ve ever uncounted, and the sexiest man I have ever seen. You make my heart race just looking at you.”
Mike Williams knew from an early age he was joining the military. After meeting the sassy, sarcastic, and foul-mouthed Monique at a training course for the elite of the Australian Army, he was introduced to the man who would become his life and soul. Dave Harris was the most stunning man Mike had ever met. He was taken from the moment he met him, and he’d stop at nothing to have this man and make him his for the rest of his life.
After a horrific event which changed his life, Mike left the military and joined Henderson Security. Life was good; life was quiet until it wasn’t.
Can Mike keep his man’s family safe and see the man he loved happy and healthy or would he fall down on the job?
To Mum and Dad.
I wouldn’t be who and what I am without you.
I miss you both. I hope you’re living it up with the big guy upstairs.
Love you always.
xxoo
To all my readers. Thank you for taking the time to read this book. I hope you love it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
To my husband—for letting me bounce ideas off you, and for giving me the direction on some topics. You are an amazing man, and I couldn’t be happier to be linked to you for life!
To my kids—you are a pain in the arse, and I couldn’t be any happier. I love you brats so much.
My bestie, Melissa—I couldn’t have done this without your support and direction. You have been a constant sounding board for me, and I’ll cherish our friendship forever. Love you, woman.
My parents—for giving me the ability to be the strong, loving woman I hope I am. You are my heroes and my role models. I miss you both so much. I love and think of you every day. RIP in the loving arms of each other.
My beta readers, Leah, Renee, Beth, Melissa, and Robyn—thank you for helping in the plot and storyline of this book.
To my Editing Team – Kayleen from Swish Design and Editing. Thank you for taking me on, you’ll never know how much I appreciate the help you have given me. You helped me build this book to one I am proud of. Thank you.
Special thanks to fellow author, Leah Sharelle. I have laughed with you, cried on your metaphorical shoulder in real life and relating the book. I have bounced ideas, suggestions, and guidance off you, and you took it like a trooper. I can’t thank you enough for being the wonderful, amazing woman you are and what your friendship has done for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Last
Blurb
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Epilogue
Connect With Me Online
About the Author
Mike
Growing up, I was always a big kid. I was always the tallest in my class. I was quiet and pretty much stayed to myself. I was bullied badly. It didn’t matter that I was bigger or stronger than everyone else, and that fact never stopped them from calling me names frequently like ‘freak’ and ‘giant’. I guess me not biting back and being shy didn’t help. I only wanted to be accepted and not have to worry about them. I ignored them, but their words still hurt.
I wanted to do martial arts, so I started Karate when I was young. I loved it so much that I learned all the different disciplines like Judo, Kickboxing, and Taekwondo. My parents were all for it, encouraging me fully.
As I got older, the teasing continued until I was a year eight in high school. I was still the tallest in my class, and I guessed because of the size of me kids were scared and stayed away. I remember a year twelve boy had decided to pick on me and hit me, so I defended myself and ended up laying him out. From then on, my life was so much easier. I made friends and ended up becoming buddies with the year twelve kids as well.
My dad was a massive guy at six-foot-five inches, and my mum was five-foot-nine inches, so I was destined to be tall. Mum was a preschool teacher, and Dad was a retired Army vet. He was injured in the Gulf War when I was ten. After Dad came home, he opened a bar with some of his Army buddies.
My mum came from old money and was left everything by my grandparents when they died in the seventies. I’m not exactly sure what they did to get their money as my parents never talked about them much. All I knew was that there was a massive fallout with them when Mum and Dad started dating way back in the day. But, I guess to try and mend bridges between them, they left their wealth to Mum, or maybe it was because she was the only living relative alive. Who knows?
We lived in a large house on the outskirts of Perth, Western Australia. We may have been rich, but my parents never let it get to them. They were both down to earth and had many close friends who got together constantly.
As soon as I finished school, I moved to Sydney and joined the Army.
I was recruited as a runt and was in for three tou
rs and was deployed all over the world. I managed to meet some fascinating and colourful people and loved it. I’d had a few hook-ups and boyfriends over the years, but none of them could handle the distance between us. I guess they simply weren’t the one. I valued the military, and the honour to serve our country was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I was in this for the long haul and would take it right to the top if I had the chance. It would take something huge, and the right person, for me to leave and make a civvy life.
I was a Staff Sergeant in the Australian Army, and we were there for our recruitment into the Special Air Service Regiment better known as the SAS. They’re the elite strike force of the Australian Military. These were the guys they send in first especially if you want the job done right. I’d had my initial training and direction, and we were now at the SAS recruitment course. I’d always wanted to be a part of the team, and I finally had my chance.
I watched my commanding officer stalk towards us. His lips were pressed together as he clenched his jaw tightly. Narrowed eyes and brows drawn so close they were joined in the middle—to say he was pissed would be an understatement.
He was definitely on a mission of some kind. My fellow trainees and I were lined up like good little soldiers. I wondered what was up Captain Brooks’ arse right now. The man seemed to be perpetually annoyed at something.
“Well, boys, looks like we have a new recruit today. Let’s try to make Lance Corporal Henderson welcome, shall we?” he shouted.
Jesus, why did he have to shout all the fucking time? We were like five feet in front of him, it’s not like we couldn’t hear him if he talked normally.
“Sir, yes sir,” we all shouted back.
“Staff Sergeant Williams. Henderson is assigned to you. I want you to push, I want Henderson gone ASAP.”
“Sir, yes sir.”
Oh, man. This was going to be bad.
I kinda felt sorry for Lance Corporal Henderson if he wasn’t even here yet, and they already had a target on his damn back. God only knew what Brooks would want us to do with the poor soldier. But then again, he had to be tough if he was trying to get into the SASR. No pussies got into this training—only the toughest of the toughest.
A commotion had us all on alert. We straightened and watched out the corner of our eyes as a small figure marched up to Captain Brooks. He stood at attention and waited for Brooks to acknowledge him. “Can I help you, honey?” Brooks snapped.
“Sir, yes sir. I have transfer orders from Colonel Anderson. I was told to report to you, sir,” declared a husky female voice.
Okay, not a guy. I knew they were starting to enlist females into the course but hadn’t heard of any with us. Guess I was wrong.
“I see. Well, show them to me.” He snatched it out of her hand.
God, the guy was an arse. Manners would go a long way, dick. I took a quick glance at the back of her. She was tiny, probably about five foot four. What the fuck was she doing trying out for this? Honestly, she was going to be smashed to pieces.
“Oh, this is just fucking great,” Brooks muttered softly reading the papers given to him.
“Right, well… get in line, Lance Corporal Henderson. Williams, make room for her. Welcome to the big boys. Hope you make it.” Sarcasm dripped from Brooks’ voice.
“Sir, yes sir,” she and I stated at the same time.
Henderson turned around, and all the guys sucked in a breath.
Fuck, she was gorgeous.
She had bright blue eyes, a small button nose, high cheekbones, and full lips. From what I could make out under her hat, her hair was black. She came to stand next to me, and she only reached my shoulders. Solid looking, she wasn’t a stick figure at all. Well-defined muscles, from what I could see anyway. Big tits for her size. She was wearing the regulation T-shirt, camo pants, and boots like we were all wearing.
I gave her a slight nod, and she returned it.
“All right soldiers. You’ve had it easy. You think the last eighteen to twenty weeks were hard. You thought wrong. You may have had basic training and six weeks of infantry training, you may have your commander’s recommendation and your medical assessment, you may have had your psych eval, Special Forces screen test, and gone against the Special Forces Panelling Board… but the hard part is only now beginning. Over the next twenty-one days, you’ll be tested beyond your limits. You will bleed. You will cry. You will want to give up…” he grins, “… and most of you will. You’ll be a walking shell by the time you’re finished. This is no fucking G.I. Jane shit. You’re with the big boys. We will not go soft on you. At all. Eighty to ninety percent of you won’t make it. For the ones who don’t make it… better luck next time. For the ones who do… see you at the finish line. Follow the Directing Staff better known as DS. They will call you into teams. These are your commanding officers. Don’t fuck up. You start now,” Brooks yelled.
“Sir, yes sir,” was shouted by everyone assembled.
We were called into teams, and Henderson was on mine, of course. We were issued our weapon, given a number, and photographed, then we were escorted to a hanger and given a camp bed.
We weren’t allowed much time before our first task was to be given. We had to write a fucking essay, yes, a damn essay.
What the fuck!
Oh well, here goes nothing.
We were all sitting around on our camp beds getting ready for some sleep while introducing ourselves. So far there were twenty-two of us in our introduction group. There was Henderson, Seb, Benny, Tweety, Bazza, Max, me, and about fifteen more. It would take a while to remember all their names.
“Sooo… what’s your story, Henderson? No, you know what? I’m dubbing you, Tiny. Henderson’s too fucking long. What’s your first name?” I insisted.
“Monique. Tiny’s fine. My dad calls me that all the time. I’m in this course for a special mission I have to go on after I’ve finished. Other than that, there’s not much of a story to tell. I live a pretty boring life.”
“Well, that can’t be right, you’re here, aren’t you? There has to be something?”
“Umm… I’m a mum to triplets. They’re nine. They live with my mum and dad, and my best friend, Dave.”
“Holy fuck, you have triplets. That’s fuckin’ cool. I want kids someday. Way, way, way, down the road,” Tweety commented.
“I have a three-year-old girl. She’s the cutest fucking kid. My wife’s a trooper, though. Don’t know how she puts up with my arse.” Seb sighed happily.
“How do you do it? I miss them so much. I hate being away from them.”
“It’s not easy. I take it day by day and feel that at the end of the day, I’m doing this for them. They’ll be there when I get out, and we can have the rest of our lives together,”
“True. I feel the same. This isn’t forever. I’m making a better life for my kids in the long run.”
“We better get some sleep, guys. I have a feeling we won’t be getting much from now on. I suggest you get it where you can,” I suggested.
“Sir, yes sir,” they all replied.
“Shut the fuck up. You guys are bloody wankers.” I chuckled.
We bunked down and slept while we could.
Over the next ten days, more than half the candidates had gone home. Our original group was still intact, though, but we were all fucking rooted. We’d been paraded naked in front of female officers. Yes, even Tiny.
Woken at godforsaken hours.
With little to no sleep, we were interrogated by DS as part of simulations.
Physiological interviews.
Woken up again.
Punished for indiscretions. I knew it was to try and beak us, but fuck, these guys weren’t playing.
Woken up once again.
I watched as guys broke down and couldn’t go any further.
Inspections of our equipment and weapons constantly.
We were put through a training course multiple times. Twenty-kilometre pack march carrying twenty-eight-kilogram b
ags and our weapon. We had to complete the march in less than three hours fifteen minutes. Half didn’t finish. All I knew was that Tiny and I were there at the finish line.
Woken up once again.
Water was the only thing we were given liberally. Food not so much.
Solo navigations for two days, which to me felt like more than two hundred kilometres, but I was told afterwards it was only seventy-five kilometres. Got back to Base and had a sleep.
Woken yet again.
Role-playing games where we had to plan different outcomes for differing purposes. Walked up a steep hill for another gruelling PT session wearing our webbing and weapon.
Sleep and food deprivation were just the start. We were all exhausted mentally and physically.
Surprisingly, Tiny was still there. She had guts that was for sure.
Finally, we made it back to Base. I was fucking knackered. Everyone else was faring not much better. My muscles were cramping from food deprivation, and all I wanted to do was sleep. I was considering giving up at that stage. Fucking hell. We still had like eleven days to go.
“Man. I’m fucked. And, not in an enjoyable way. I was considering giving up, but fuck that… no way. I’m seeing this through as far as I can,” Bazza said.
“Yep. Just wake me up before I die. I wanna catch some zzzs before that happens,” Benny comments thought a yawn.
“So, Tiny. What’s your story? Why the fuck do you wanna try out for this? Fuck! I’m shattered. I can only imagine how you’re travelling,” Tweety stated.
“Yeah, it’s hard. I’m worn out, but I’m not giving up. I’ll give this one hundred and ten percent. I know after we’re finished, I won’t be going into the field, but I have no idea what happens when I’m finished. My superior wants me to report to him as soon as everything’s completed, so I guess we’ll see what happens,” she told us.
“You have any family besides your kids, parents, and best friend?” I asked.
“No. I’m an only child. Mum was an only child, too. Dad’s brother was a marine, and he died in active service many years ago. Grandparents on both sides all gone, too.”
