Secrets in Battle: Secrets of Savannah Series Book 3

by S. M. Donaldson

  Princess smiles at me. “Hey, let’s go take a walk. You can show me what you did to the apartment.”

  “Yeah. I need a break from the crowd.”

  As we walk across the yard, she asks. “So, do people ask you stupid shit like that often?”

  I shrug. “Yeah, unfortunately. I mean, people act like it’s really something I should be bragging about or something. I don’t get it. It’s not something I wanted to do, it was something I had to do.”

  She shrugs. “Yeah. Sorry if I stepped on your toes back there.”

  “No. You were awesome. A cute little spit fire. I’m afraid if I would’ve hit him, I wouldn’t have stopped.”

  She smiles. “The way I’m feeling today, I’m not sure I would’ve stopped you.”

  “So how did things go at the Country Club?”

  “Well, besides my parents trying to set up with a creepy perv? Not bad, a couple of my brothers are coming in a bit with their girlfriends. They aren’t like my oldest two brothers, Chris and Vic are pretty cool. Greg and Shane are dickheads.”

  “Wow, tell me how you really feel about your family.”

  “Ha. Then I might scare you off.”

  I think about the mouth full she just said. “Wait a minute, your parent’s were trying to set you up with a creepy perv?”

  She laughs. “Well, I don’t know if they know that about him. Chris says that Patrick is a prick. Anyway, the guy gave me the creeps. I think he’s more in love with my dad or my dad’s money.”

  We make it to the door of my apartment. I open the door and she walks in. “So, here is my home sweet home.”

  She sits down on the small futon in the corner. “Nice. Sometimes I’d love to live in a little place like this. At least then I’d know it was mine. My parents have this way of still trying to run my life since I still live with them.”

  I smile at her. “Well, you are welcome to crash here anytime.” I say before thinking about my nightmares. Shit.

  She gives me a sly smile. “So, how are things going? You know, with the dreams and stuff.”

  I nod. “Better. They have me on some medicine to help me sleep. That coupled with some shots of Jack help.”

  “You know you shouldn’t be mixing the two, right?”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  We sit there quietly for a few minutes when she starts laughing.

  I look at her. “What are you laughing about?”

  “Us. We are so nervous around each other.” She stands up and walks over to me, then straddles my lap. “You know, once upon a time we knew each other quite well.”

  “Hmm. Yes we did.”

  She starts kissing my neck. “Well we should get to know each other again.”

  I stand up, grabbing her under the ass as she wraps her legs around my waist. I tilt my head down, taking her nipple in my mouth with her teeth, through her dress.

  I walk over to the bed and lay her down, then pull my shirt over my head. She goes to take off her shoes and I shake my head. “No, you leave those on.” I reach up under her dress, pulling her panties off.

  She sits up and unbuttons my shorts. Then she starts pushing them and my underwear down. “My my, some things don’t change.”

  I reach over and grab a condom out of my nightstand. She takes it from me as I feel her warm, wet mouth on my cock. After sucking and humming on my dick, she leans back, smiling as she rolls the condom on. I lean over and start kissing her neck. I snatch down the top of her dress, revealing her great breasts.

  “Fuck. I’ve missed you, Princess.”

  I crawl over her on the bed. She smiles up at me through hooded eyes. “Well, let me welcome you home, soldier.”

  I thrust into her. “Fuck, baby. I wondered if I’d ever get to do this again.”

  “Oh fuck, Judd.”

  I start moving faster. “Baby, I’m embarrassed to say this probably isn’t going to last long. It’s been awhile.”

  She’s panting and moaning. “It’s okay, it has been for me- ah, too.” Her eyes widen. “Oh shit, Judd, harder!”

  I start pounding into her warm center faster and harder. I feel her start to tighten around my cock as she starts to scream. I thrust into her hard and find my release. “Oh shit, baby. You feel like home.”

  She wraps her arms around me. “Oh handsome, you, too.”

  Chapter 8

  I didn’t realize Judd and I had dozed off until I heard my phone chirping. Fumbling around, I finally find it on the futon.

  Scarlet: Hey your brothers are here. Where are you?

  Me: Fuck I’ll be there in a minute. Stall for me.

  Scarlet: LOL don’t guess I should ask where Judd is then huh?

  Me: Shut it.

  He slaps me on the ass as I’m bent over digging around looking for my panties. “Hey, where you goin’?”

  “My brothers are here. I gotta get out there.”

  He jumps up from the bed. “Shit.” He starts snatching his clothes back on.

  I look in the mirror, trying to tame my just fucked hair, then straighten my dress and put my heels back on.

  Finally feeling put together enough to go back out, we both laugh and he looks at me. “Hope your brothers don’t want to kick my ass.”

  I laugh. “I doubt it. Vic was banging his girlfriend, the cart girl, before I left the club.”

  “Come, let’s go, you little harlot.”

  We walk out to the party. My brothers are standing there talking to Ryder and Scarlet. “Hey, guys.”

  “Hey, Prissy Pants. Where have you been?” Vic asks.

  “I don’t know. Where were you right before we left the club?”

  He laughs and puts a hand up in defense. “Annabelle, this is Kari, Kari this is my little sister, Prissy Pants.”

  I pop him on the arm. “Hey Kari, nice to meet you.”

  Chris steps forward. “Guys, this is Angie.”

  We all wave and greet her. I smile looking at Judd. “Vic, Chris, this is Judd. Judd, these two jackasses are my brothers.”

  About that time, Gable and Ivie come in. I’ve missed them. There are times when I’m closer to Gable than my own brothers, even though he’s Scarlet’s brother.

  Ryder laughs and throws his hands up to his mouth like a teenage girl screaming for Elvis back in the day. “Oh shit, the stars just got here.”

  Angie and Kari gawk momentarily at Gable and Ivie.

  Ivie hugs me. “Hey girl, long time no see.”

  I laugh. “Shit, I’ve been crazy busy at the hospital and with classes.”

  I turn to Angie and Kari. “Ladies, this is Gable Johnson and Ivie Butonelli.” Not letting on that Ivie is actually Gable’s wife. “Gable, Ivie, these are Vic and Chris’s girlfriends, Kari and Angie.” I say as I point out everyone.

  Gable hugs me. “Hey ya, sexy. You look good.”

  I laugh. “Well you look like shit. Is Ivie not taking care of you?” I pat his arm, like I’m fawning over him.

  He laughs. “Oh, she knows how to take care of me alright.”

  Ivie’s mouth drops open and Scarlet looks like she may get sick. “You guys, we have guests.”

  Ryder pulls all the guys to go grab drinks for everyone. I try to spend some time getting to know the girls my brothers are dating.

  Angie is very smart, probably too smart for my family. Kari is a sweet country girl who is very intimidated by my parents. Hell, I can’t say as I blame her.

  ~*~*~

  After a few hours, it’s gotten dark and we are enjoying the pool and drinks are flowing.

  Judd and I are taking a walk when suddenly the fireworks start.

  I’m thrown to the ground with Judd on top of me.

  “Shit, Judd. What the hell?”

  He rolls off of me. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Princess.”

  More fireworks start going off and Judd grabs me and just holds me tight.

  He’s shaking. “Judd, let me go tell Ryder to stop them.”

  “No. It’s okay.”
>
  “NO, it’s not.”

  I try to get up and he grabs me. “Stop. Don’t go. I don’t want to look like the freak.”

  I put my hand on his face. “Baby, you’re not a freak. Don’t you ever say that about yourself.”

  “What do you call it then? Hell, I’m scared to sleep in the same bed with you because I might hurt you. I can’t hear some simple fireworks go off without damn near crying.”

  “Baby, you have been through more than most any of us could imagine. Give yourself some credit.”

  He nods. “Sorry if I scared you.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. Did Ryder tell you that he was going to do fireworks?”

  He shakes his head. “No.”

  I sit up. “I’m gonna kick his ass.”

  “No. Don’t say anything, okay? Please. I just want to get past it.”

  I nod as we both stand up. “What do you want to do?”

  “Can you walk me back to my apartment?”

  “Yeah, I’ll even stay the night. Well, if you want me to.”

  He holds my hand tight. “I want you to, but I’m scared.”

  I put my arms around him. “Don’t be scared, you have me. I promise.”

  “You’re wonderful, Princess.”

  I smile, taking his hand as we walk back to his apartment. I have a feeling he’s going to need me tonight.

  Chapter 9

  Looking out the windows of the Humvee, I’m a little excited and nervous. This is my first time out as team leader/truck commander. I just got my promotion to Sergeant and I’ve never been so pumped. I’m actually kind of young to have gotten promoted so soon, but it’s all part of my plan to go Special Forces. I can’t tell my guys, only my commander and first sergeant know I’ve already been doing a little work with them. I’ve picked up on the local language really well and they needed my help.

  I hear the radio with our lieutenant talking. “Johnson, turn that down. It’s distracting. Smith, keep looking at that ridge over there. Russell, you okay back there? Is Mack’s truck still okay behind us?”

  I hear Russell’s deep voice. “Roger, Sarge. They’re good.”

  Russell doesn’t ever say much but he’s going to be a good soldier. The squawking of the radio is still driving me crazy. This fucking butter bar lieutenant is going to drive me insane.

  Johnson laughs. “Sounds like the LT is giving out his fucking grocery list on there. I’m waiting for him to ask us to pick him up some ice cream, Midol and tampons.”

  I chuckle. “You know, those college boys are book smart but they lack a lot of common sense.”

  I still hear the rambling of the radio from the lieutenant. “Shit! I’m going to talk to First Sergeant when we get back. He’s gotta talk to the Commander, that fucking LT needs to learn how to talk on the radio and how to shut the hell up. This is fucked up. We couldn’t get through if we really needed to.”

  Smith laughs. “Thank God. I swear, I don’t understand a fucking thing he’s saying, so it’s not like it’s doing us any good. He sounds like Charlie Brown’s fucking teacher.”

  Looking ahead, I see some garbage on the side of the road. I motion to the pile for Johnson to see and avoid. He does a good job of steering around it without slowing down. You never know if it’s just a trash pile or an IED. Dead animals and trash are normally the places they hide them.

  “Good job, Johnson. So, I hear you are getting out after this tour. We hate to lose you, man.” In our unit we try to do a lot of retention. It’s always good to keep a team that has trained together, together.

  He shrugs slightly. “Yeah, my wife is tired of living alone. She wants to have kids. She sees how crazy some of the moms are on post when they’re left for a year to raise a kid by themselves. She told me she’s not doing it. I have an uncle that runs a security firm in L.A. for some big name clients and he wants me to come work for him. It’ll be some great money.”

  “Hey man, I understand. Family is the most important thing.”

  Smith leans up. “So what about you, brand new Sergeant? What are your plans after this tour?”

  I shake my head. “I plan to retire with the military. That’s always been my plan. I’m looking into going SF after this though.” Even though I know I already am, probably before the end of this tour.

  Smith barks. “Come on, Sarge, we know you gotta have a girl. We saw you talking smack to that singer chick from the USO group.”

  I laugh, thinking about Ivie. “She’s just a friend of the family.”

  Smith damn near gets in the front seat with us. “Damn, if she’s just a family friend, I want to meet her. I thought she was your girl, Sarge, so I was staying away. Shit, I’d have tried to hit that.”

  I put my hand up. “No way, man. That big ass guitar player is her guy. I know you could probably kick his ass, but you’d know he’d been there, trust me. He loves her enough to kill for her.”

  Johnson laughs at Smith. “So no girl for you, huh?”

  I laugh. “You two are as nosy as Nana Pearl. There is kind of a girl, but we are friends right now. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Smith stops laughing. “Wait, are you calling us old? Like an old lady old? That’s fucked up, Sarge.”

  “Trust me, Nana may be old, but she’d still kick your ass, take your money at poker, out smoke you and drink you under the table. She’s a badass old lady.”

  I sit up in a jolt and look at Annabelle curled on her side. It was a good memory, not my normal nightmare, but I still have to wipe sweat from my forehead. She rouses a little. “Hey, you okay?”

  I sit there for a minute. “Yeah, I think so. I just had a dream about my first mission as a team leader.”

  She sits up. “Was it bad?”

  I pull her to my side and breathe a sigh of relief. “No, it wasn’t. That day was a good day.”

  She smiles. “Well I’m glad you have some good memories, too.”

  “Oh, I have a lot of good memories. When you are in the military you are truly a band of brothers. As bad as some of the memories are, trust me, there are so many more good ones.”

  We lie back on the bed and she rubs my chest. “Tell me a good story. A funny story.”

  I chuckle. “Okay, let me think.” I think for a minute. “Okay, we had this guy in our unit from Texas. He was a big son of a bitch. Most new guys that came to the unit were a little intimidated by him. I had known him since basic training, we’d bonded when we were assigned as battle buddies. His last name was McAllister but we called him Mack, like a Mack Truck. Anyway, one night I came in to our tent with some of the younger guys. Mack had gotten into some of the wine that Nana sent me and there he was, dancing around in nothing but a towel that was a little too small for him to some damn Katy Perry song. The guys and I gave him shit about that for weeks.”

  She laughs against my chest. “Well yes, I imagine that was a sight to see.”

  “So tell me something funny that happened here while I was gone.”

  She puts her finger to her chin like she’s thinking. “Okay, let’s see. Oh, okay. This happened to me so you can’t laugh too hard.” I nod and she continues. “So I had to do a rotation at one of the bigger hospitals for school first. I was so nervous and well, really scared. Anyway, I’m bustling through all of the rooms doing what I’m supposed to be doing. The nurse in charge of us at this hospital was a real bitch, so when she came to get me to help her with a patient, I was terrified.” She stops. “Is this boring you? I take a few minutes to tell a story.”

  I laugh. “No, keep going.”

  She nods. “Okay. Well anyway, we had this guy from the psych ward in. He thought he was a fire truck, he was running around the room with no clothes on, roaring like a siren. Anyway, we are trying to get him to calm down to keep him from hurting himself. Well, we have to try to wrap him up so the doctor can sedate him. When the nurse and I try to wrap him up, I get shoved into the corner of one of the cabinets. It catches the thin material of my scrubs and tears the sea
t of them, but I’m too busy wrangling this patient to worry. After we finally get him settled down, the nurse looks at me and says, “Annabelle, honey, if you’re done showing your ass for the night, I’ve got some extra scrubs you can borrow.” I was so embarrassed. When my scrubs ripped, they ripped right across my ass cheek and since I was wearing a thong, my whole ass was practically showing.”

  I’m laughing so hard by the time she finishes because I can just picture her cute little ass jiggling while she wrestles with a crazy guy.

  She pops me on the arm. “Stop laughing at me, asshole.”

  “I’m laughing with you, really.” I try to calm my laughter. “Okay, so did you get into trouble with the nurse lady?”

  She smiles. “No, actually she’s become a really great mentor, even with me moving to a different hospital. I still call her. She said she liked the fact that I was too busy trying to do my job to worry about my own embarrassment.”

  I chuckle. “Or BareAssment.”

  She shoves me. “Stop it, you jerk. Here I was trying to make a good impression and I literally made an ass out myself.”

  “Hey, I’m rather fond of your ass.” I pull her to me, looking over at the clock and seeing it’s a little after three. “Let’s go back to sleep for a bit. Okay?”

  She nods. “Sounds good.” She mumbles into my chest.

  I stroke her back up and down until I feel my eyes getting heavy again and doze off.

  Chapter 10

  Waking up curled into Judd’s chest reminds me of the weekend we met. Before life had to go and complicate things.

  It was nice sharing funny stories with him in the wee hours of the morning. It makes me wonder if this is the kind of thing couples do.

  I stroke his chest, playing with the dog tags he still wears. I get a little startled when I see the sheet lift up below his waist.

  His chuckle echoes through his chest. “What? You can’t expect him not to respond when the most beautiful girl in the world is touching me.”

  I let out a small giggle. “Oh, really?”

  He rolls me on to my back. “Yes, and he also thinks you should be punished for giggling. It’s not good for his self-esteem.”