Stone (The Elite Forces Series Book 3)

by Kathy Coopmans

  “Show me what ya got?” Ignoring her little remark, I hand her back the water and find myself watching her a little too closely as she takes a few gulps.

  “You’ve already seen everything I’ve got.” She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, and I shake my head.

  “Not talking about your body, Emmy. I’m talking about shooting that pistol I saw you holding the other day.”

  “Spying on me?”

  “Nah. Checking out the goods.” I point at her gun case.

  “Whatever, Beau Harris. I’m about to beat you down. Then we’ll see who gets to hold the power and the bragging rights.” With that, Emmy Maverick proceeds to take her mean-looking pistol out of her case, puts a pair of protective glasses on, then loads that bad bitch of a handgun. She does it all with perfection and with her ass in my periphery. She spreads her legs and takes a stance before she places her finger smoothly across the trigger. All I hear is the ping of the bullets hitting a tree, but what surprises me the most is watching a woman other than those I’ve trained with since I was eighteen years old have this kind of precision. My damn dick is hard just watching her.

  “Tell me about yourself, Emmy?” She turns and looks at me with a strange expression.

  “What would you like to know?” I shrug at her question. Has this woman never had anyone want to know who she is, what makes her tick?

  “What made you decide to become a doctor?” I position my rifle just to look through my scope, dialing in until I find her target. Shit. She nailed it. “Nice shooting.” I pull the trigger and hit the furthest target on our course. That’s just the difference between a pistol and a rifle.

  “I’m not sure. I’ve always wanted to help people. It also runs in the family, I guess.” She speaks of it all so nonchalantly. We both grow insanely quiet until I peg out another tree.

  “It takes a lot of patience to do what you’re doing. I honor you for that.” I lost the spark to talk to anyone about anything the day I lost Mallory. This is a little awkward, but I keep talking because she’s actually the first person to intrigue me since that day. I’m not sure why I feel the need to talk to Emmy about anything at all. I just do.

  “I think a man sacrificing his life for his country is the most honorable thing a person can do.” I grow tense; my muscles stiffen. Not from her words, but because I truly do miss what I loved to do for so many years. I miss the adrenaline from hunting down the enemy and taking a successful mission home. I need back in the game.

  I flash back to last night when Kaleb asked me if I was ready to help find the person responsible. I was hesitant at first, because honestly, I’m not sure I can handle it and stay level-headed when it comes to the mission surrounding Mallory.

  “You miss it, don’t you? I can see it in your face.” She nails it. “You need to get yourself together and get back out there.”

  “I plan to. Just need some time.” She stops talking as I admit out loud that I’m not in a good place.

  “Time is different for everyone. Some find that work helps with the chaos.” She turns and sends another round into the trees. Hearing her words starts to make me think more about going to work. I lose myself in the targets and let the chaos of my life float through my mind as I find peace in this. It’s the best therapy I could’ve asked for.

  I can find her killers. I can ruin them. It won’t bring the two of them back to me, but it’s a justice I have to see met.

  I have a new outlook on this day and decide to make the most of my time here with Emmy. She looks at me with a teasing smile, and I wink at her. That only starts the fun while we begin to play.

  For the next hour or so, we continue to shoot, the thundering crackle of the guns echoing as we continuously battle in this dangerous game of cat and mouse we play. Back and forth we tease and taunt one another to the point where she’s pressing her tits to my back, tempting to distract me. I’m stroking my dick through my shorts to try and divert her eyes away from her target. Like me, she remains fearless and focused.

  She’s been trained well, and even though I want to throw her ass down in the grass and show her who’s boss around here, I hold it in. I let my training take over and block out my surroundings, and every fire of my gun, every pull of the trigger has my sad cluster of a messed-up head remembering the sound, the way it feels to kill the enemy the first chance you get. It electrifies me, my body hums, and awareness sets in.

  We may be playing a game by shooting guns out in the open, one no one should play unless they know what the hell they’re doing, but this is the best kind of healing I need right now. Proving I can handle the sound of a gunshot is major improvement for me. And I feel better knowing I haven’t lost my steady finger or aim.

  I may not be trained like Jade in the sniper field, but I sure as hell have been taught in the best organized unit around. I’m a soldier, a United States Army specialist, and whoever is out there waiting for us to make a move better pray like a man on his knees. Captain Beau Harris is back, and I’m going to seek revenge, vengeance, and the satisfaction of blowing their goddamn heads off and pissing down their fucking necks.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  EMMY

  I know I’m a goner the minute I watch him begin to shoot his rifle. He’s focused, and his muscles move perfectly as he hits the target. I’ve always found a man who could handle a rifle very sexy. He tries not to bring attention to his hard-on, which I’m not sure he got from watching me or from shooting his own gun. All I know is, I can’t help but feel the smile grow wide across my face as I watch this man completely in his element after I’ve seen how torn he truly has been.

  A part of me knows this is a big step for him. I can feel how much he’s relaxed since we got out here.

  I don’t think either one of us is concerned about the bet anymore. This has turned into something else. It’s training and healing for him, and as insane as it sounds, I’m happy to see this side of him. This is the guy Jade told me about, the kind and laid back Harris who would do anything for his friends and loves life.

  “Harris is one of the best soldiers I’ve met. He needs to get back into the game. It’s in his blood,” she told me one day while talking on the phone. My response to her was to tell her I knew exactly how she felt. In a way I did. I proceeded to tell her how Kaleb was when he returned the last time from his final tour in Afghanistan. He wasn’t my brother; he was void of emotion.

  You couldn’t touch him, let alone talk to him. Even though our circumstances are entirely different and my brother is still living, at the time, it felt like he was gone. The man who returned was not the same man who’d left. So I got it. I understood better than anyone how it felt to see someone you love become lost in themselves. You feel helpless; you tiptoe around them not knowing what to say or do, afraid to talk and yet needing to, because the love you have for them is so strong you want to do everything in your power to bring the person back. You love them, miss them, and hate to see them walk around like a stranger in the body of someone you once knew.

  “You give up yet?” His sultry eyes skim up and down my body. His deep voice has my skin alert and ready to see what he plans to do next.

  “I never give up, although I’ll admit defeat in this. You’re an amazing shot.” I twist my body in his direction and purposely bend forward to give him the perfect view of my breasts as I grab my rag to wipe off my gun.

  “Since I won and you seem to want to tease me with those perfect tits of yours, I want you to take that tank top off.” I didn’t realize he was going to try to do something out here, but honestly, the thrill of just thinking about it has me excited.

  I finish what I’m doing, stand up, and drink him in from head to toe with a gaze that tells him I surrender. He can have all the control he wants right now as long as he does what his eyes are promising he’s about to do.

  I slowly slip my hands down my stomach until they reach the hem of the top, then seductively hoist it up over my head before letting it drop to the gr
ass. His eyes stay glued to my chest. I didn’t think my nipples could get any harder than they were this morning, but they just did. They both ache to be touched.

  “If you love that lace bra, you better take it off now, or I’m ripping it right the fuck off of your body.” Jesus, the way he’s demanding me makes me want to drop everything and just let him take me without a chase, but I do like to play.

  “You want these?” I have to tease him. I turn around and unsnap my bra, giving him a view of my back before I cup both of my breasts and turn around to face him. He’s looking at me with a hunger I can understand, because I feel the same way looking at him.

  “Pinch your nipples.” I close my eyes and do what he says, still hiding them from his view. I pinch, rub, and almost lose control imagining what he’s about to do to me. The rustle of his shorts dropping springs my eyes open again. I gasp when I see him stroking his cock.

  “I told you before I’m not gentle. I like to fuck hard, Emmy. I’m going to fuck you. You’re going to slide those tight shorts off, lie down in the grass, and let me watch you get that pussy ready for me. Use your fingers and tease me.” Oh my God. I almost want to say ‘yes, sir’ to him from the way his voice demands me to move with urgency. He has me on edge, ready to explode, and he hasn’t even touched me.

  I let go of my breasts, shimmy my shorts down my legs and over my shoes, and lie down in the soft, long green grass. The sun shines brightly, yet the trees block it out from directly hitting me in the face.

  “Spread your legs, wet your fingers. Let me see you.” He drops to his knees in front of me all the while still stroking himself, never taking his eyes off of mine. I do what I’m told, expecting him to move his eyes to my fingers, but he doesn’t. He’s watching my reaction to all of this, and I can’t tell you how sexy that is.

  I’m wet and ready, and the longer this goes on, the more eager I’m getting to have him over me. My fingers slide into my heat, coating my fingers. When he finally directs his gaze to my hands, his nostrils flare as he takes in the vision of my fingers sliding in and out of me.

  I’m on the verge of a climax; he senses it, grabs ahold of my hand, and leans in far enough to coat his dick with my arousal. Good God, this has to be the single most erotic thing I have ever done. I love it.

  Without another word, he straddles me. That beautiful dick slides easily between my legs. He grinds into me, and we both begin to move in the grass as he thrusts his hips into mine over and over, each time getting deeper.

  “Jesus Christ,” he mumbles without ever slowing his hips from moving furiously. The friction is raw, primal, and leaves me completely incapacitated. All I can do is watch him as he fucks me like this is his last fuck. Hard and fast with a fury of desperation that is breathtaking to watch. The muscles in his neck twitch, and his tight ass is all I grip as he continues.

  I know the moment he’s ready to come when he starts to bellow out a string of incoherent words that has me arching my back, giving him the access to the deepest part of me. He pulls out quickly before he explodes, his cum coating my breasts and stomach. He looks different. There’s a determination in his eyes I’ve not seen before.

  “I didn’t go inside of you, because I want to taste you. I want to taste what I’ve done to you, Emmy.” He shifts his weight off my body and lifts my ass in the air effortlessly as he takes another look at me. The awkwardness of this is silenced by the fact I was so close to a release that I’m teetering on the edge, and he knows it. He blows just slightly, and I begin to squirm in his hands.

  My hands are sprawled out flat on the ground. With one strong stroke of his tongue, he licks from the top of my opening all the way to my ass, then back up again. I scream his name when he bites my clit, sucking it hard into his mouth.

  “Oh my God. Beau!” I yell out as I moan. He’s relentless. His stroking and sucking sends me clawing at the grass in an attempt to get a grasp on reality. Fighting against his hold as he presses his tongue onto my clit and nibbles it again, I almost lose it. I feel him lay me back down on the ground before his hands go to my thighs, pushing them outward. His fingers delve into my pussy while his tongue teases my clit, and he sends me swirling around a release so violent I’m not sure my body can take it.

  I want more. I grip his hair and grind into his face. He’s pressing his tongue into me with the same desperation, and I’m so fucking close. He keeps up the pace, and I don’t stop grinding against his facial hair. The second he bends his finger inside of me is when I let go and come. Harris doesn’t stop though; he keeps going, fucking me with his mouth and fingers until he draws one more long, hard orgasm out of me before he stands up.

  He turns away from me and pulls up his pants with haste and frustration. It leaves a ping of guilt in my chest as I watch him move around the space, never once looking back at me. I know this is fucking with his head, and I hate that I can’t stop it for him.

  “You ready to head back?” His voice is deep, and his dick is showing hard through his shorts. He slides his shirt off and tosses it to me. “Use it to clean yourself up.” He finally looks right at me when I sit up and take the shirt from his hands. There’s no smile. No emotion. Nothing.

  It’s as if something has shifted in the clean air out here. Like a storm is brewing deep within his soul, and I know there’s no reaching him. I know what he said this is, that he has nothing left inside of him to give. He has more to give than he thinks. I can see the pain in his eyes and know he’s still feeling. He’s not dead inside. It’s what he lost he can’t get past. Who can blame him?

  What he said about never forgetting them earlier sits right there on my heart. I want to console him and make him feel better, but I know there’s nothing I can say to make that hurt lessen, and I can only imagine that I’m the source of some guilt he’s trying to work through.

  He’s struggling with all those inner demons he has. The guilt, shame, and betrayal he feels. I can’t help him with any of that, but what I can do is keep his mind occupied on something else. Something that has nothing to do with sex.

  He helps me stand by holding out a hand for me to take. I make quick work of getting dressed and gathering my things while I remain quiet. It’s odd in a way after what we just did for neither of us to speak or for him to shift gears and go from dominating my body to shutting himself down as if nothing happened and that I disgust him.

  I have to give him his space. The sincere thing is, I like this guy and want to get to know him. I’d love to discover the things he likes and dislikes outside of the bedroom. I think it’s clear we have a lot in common when it comes to sex, but other than that, I really don’t know much about him.

  “I’ll wash my shirt,” he tells me as he takes it from where I sat it on my case and shoves it in his bag. He hoists his bag over his shoulder and doesn’t speak as he begins to walk again. I follow him quietly, trying to decide if I should break the silence. I’m one to speak my mind when I feel the time is right, therefore, I go for it.

  “So. Beau. Tell me about you? I know you’re in the ARMY. You’ve known Jade for a while. Do you have any siblings? Are your parents still around?” I know he has a mother. I remember seeing her sitting beside him at the funeral. I really don’t recall seeing anyone else, not that I was looking. I tried to focus on Jade and my brother. Even though my heart was breaking for the man sitting in the front pew with his shoulders slumped and his head lowered.

  “It’s just me and mom. She adopted me when I was two. Her husband left her for another woman before I came around. She’s retired from teaching fourth grade in Tallahassee, where I grew up. She lives in Zepherhills now, which is a small retirement community.” His answer is short and doesn’t give away any more than the simple answer to my question.

  “The two of you must be close. I bet she’s very proud of you and all you’ve accomplished.” I step over a large tree branch and halt when he stops a few feet in front of me.

  “Look. I get what you're trying to do here, making sm
all talk, trying to get me to think about something else. It won’t work. This up here,” he taps his head, “is not interested in talking about my mom. Yes, she’s proud, and yes, she’s worried about me. I don’t want to make small talk. I’ve fucked up, and now I need to deal with some bullshit before I fuck up even more. So please leave me alone before I say something I don’t mean.”

  I don’t know what it is that has my heart constricting in my chest. The way he’s looking at me with those eyes that are stirring crazy thoughts, dreams, or whatever he has running through his mind is enough for me to say the hell with this. I’ll be cordial, play the good girl for the sake of his sanity. What I won’t do is allow him to fuck me like he can’t live another second without me, then treat me worse than the dirt we’re walking on. The pissed-off part of me wants to slap him, while the logical part of me keeps my mouth shut and follows him without another word.

  “I’ll be damned. How the hell did you get him out shooting?” Steele strolls out of the office with his handsome looks and confident approach. He’s changed so much in all the years I’ve known him. Going from a buzz cut to long hair, from a smooth face to a beard. One thing that hasn’t changed is the way his eyes can pierce through your soul. Or the way he flirts with those eyes that could suck you in.

  “She didn’t. It was my idea. Felt fucking great to shoot. I needed it.” Beau’s tone is on the verge of shitty.

  “How’s the shoulder?”

  “A little tight, but much better. Is everyone in there?” Beau lifts his chin toward the office. I’m not sure if Steele notices Beau’s change in demeanor, but I do. His eyes start shifting back and forth. He’s debating whether to go in there or not. I have no idea if they’ve found what they’re looking for. I know it has to do with the murder. None of these men will give up until they find out who it is and why. They will seek justice. Basically, they will kill whoever took one of their own. There’s no other way around it.